Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor its characters.

Author's Notes: Written for the 30 Smiles Livejournal community. I claimed the ShinoKiba pairing! X3 I'm so proud of myself...So this is going ot be a 30-shot, if I can finish it all the way through.

Back to the drabble-ish kind of writing. I decided to do a variety now.

Enjoy the fourth-shot!

Warning/s: DRAMA! Tons of drama. (I think) Mushy-ish. Shonen-ai. Implied character death.

Title: Trust and Promises
Theme(s): #3 No Promises
Summary: Kiba begs Shino to stay. In an incredibly mushy way.

"Demo, Shino, I—I don't…I just…"

Shino moved close to his boyfriend and planted a light kiss on his forehead. Kiba looked up hopefully, looking deep into Shino's uncovered dark brown eyes for some sort of comfort.

"A shinobi's life is dangerous, Kiba. You know that," said Shino quietly, not wavering his gaze from Kiba's.

"But you can just cancel the mission! And take a B-ranked one!" pleaded Kiba once more. He grabbed Shino's hand and held on to it helplessly.

Shino smiled sadly at Kiba. "I know you don't want me to end up like Akamaru," he said softly, caressing Kiba's tattooed cheek with their intertwined hands. "But I won't. You can trust me. Tell me you trust me, Kiba."

Kiba buried his head in Shino's chest hopelessly. Of course, he could trust Shino. But the experience of losing someone he loved was too much to bear. He had lost Akamaru, and he did not want to lose Shino as well.

Shino sighed as he ran his free left hand through Kiba's brown hair in an attempt to calm him down. "Kiba, do you trust me?"

"Promise me you'll come back first," begged Kiba, wrapping his arms around the taller ninja's waist tightly.

Shino hesitated. When the Hokage had briefed him on the mission, it had sounded dangerous and risky. Shino couldn't just make any promises and break them in the end.

"Shino?" came Kiba's helpless voice. "You can't promise, can you?" He looked up to kiss Shino gently.

"I'm sorry," whispered Shino as he leaned their foreheads together. They both managed a sad smile.

"You can go. I know you'll come back," said Kiba in a firmer voice. "I trust you." He broke away from their embrace as he wiped away unshed tears.

Shino nodded, missing the warmth of Kiba already.

The shorter shinobi turned back around to face him. "That was incredibly mushy. Let's not do that again."

Shino chuckled before pulling his boyfriend in for a kiss. "Hm. No promises on that."

Sigh. I know I haven't updated in a while...I can't say I've been busy, because I wasn't busy. It's just that inspiration wouldn't get to me! So my updates won't be regular. Updates will kinda be...there when they're there?

Reviews are greatly appreciated!