Assassin

Shino x Hinata

By Moonwitch and Blackdragonflower

Chapter 2:

Shino glanced at Hinata from underneath sunglasses, a coy smile on his face hidden by his rather large collar. His hood was down so his hair and face were soaking up some of the sun's warmth. He unclasped his collar and bit into a rice ball that Hinata had brought for the whole group. Kiba was gobbling his down. Akamaru being a little more 'polite' then his human partner. Hinata giggled quietly and nibbled the end of hers. Shino admired the way the sunlight made her hair shine and her lavender eyes glimmer. All three were exhausted from training hard.

"Shino-kun... Kiba-kun... d-do you think... I've g-gotten better?"

Kiba smirked his cheeks full of the rice ball and shouted, though his mouth was full to the brim, "You bet! You can kick anyone's ass! Including Naruto's!" At this comment Hinata slightly blushed and tapped her fingers together her rice ball hanging in her hand by a few fingers.

"That was a little uncalled for..." Shino stated.

"S-Shino...what do you t-think?" At the moment Shino noticed that she seemed to stutter on his name more then anyone else's, her stuttering on his name was now worse than when she spoke of Naruto.

"I think, you've grown a lot in your training Hinata." She smiled seeming satisfied but he could see deep in her eyes she was still sad. He knew she was still seeking for her father's approval after all these years. His kikaichu buzzed underneath his skin warning him but before he could say anything what was happening was already set in motion.

"Hinata no!"

The drink went down Hinata's throat and Shino knocked it away. Hinata's eyes were wide and her hands flew to her throat.

"Shino..." she could barely breathe before spasms of coughing racked her body. Kiba frowned and looked at Shino.

"What can I do?" Though Shino hated to leave the girl he knew he could trust Kiba to take care of her.

"Kiba. Take Hinata to the hospital and hurry. There's poison in her drink... I'll stay here and investigate." Before Kiba could take Hinata she grabbed Shino's hand and squeezed it tightly.

"Shino..."

"Don't worry Hinata. Kiba will take care of you… promise." She blinked lazily before she began to cough blood.

"Kiba hurry!" Kiba picked her up and got on Akamaru's back. The large dog sped off towards the Konoha hospital.

"Hinata..." Shino muttered underneath his breath. He bent down and picked up the bottle of juice he couldn't see the poison nor could he smell it but he knew it was there. His kikai writhed and broke from his skin. They 'hissed' at the juice and drew away from it. Shino examined the trees nearby for broken branches or tracks but found none. Whoever had done it had been clever and sneaky. Shino frowned in frustration and grabbed onto a branch. His fist curled around it until it snapped into splinters. 'The drink must have been poisoned while we were all training. Hinata wouldn't have spotted anyone since she hadn't used her byakugan. We were so focused today...' Shino cursed himself and flipped his hood back onto his head. He knew he would have to report this to a ninja higher level then himself and that is what he sprinted off to do. 'I'll have to tell Kiba to have himself checked for any poison as well...' As he disappeared down the dirt path the assassin smirked from a tree.

'Let's see how this pans out... he's quite a looker. I'll keep him in mind... I'll have to keep watch on this girl. Failure will bring more ninja; however, it should be too late to save her.'

At the hospital Kiba paced outside the lobby since dogs weren't allowed. Hinata was in Sakura's skillful medic hands but this was one of his best friends. Kiba sat down in the grass and rubbed Akamaru's flank. "It'll be okay boy." Akamaru whined and put his muzzle on Kiba's knee. By the time they had gotten to the hospital Hinata had already passed out, it didn't take a genius to see she was choking on blood. Kiba wondered quietly aloud if Shino was taking it okay. Though he was often loud and obnoxious Kiba kept his friend's secrets. Shino had once muttered that he had taken a liking to Hinata, whether it was as a friend or something more he had never made clear but Kiba noticed little things. Kiba noticed the slight head cock when they were eating so Shino could watch Hinata, the way he pushed her until she was about to drop then he offered his hand to her which he never did for anyone else. Akamaru looked up into Kiba's eyes before barking.

"I hope she'll be okay Kiba."

"She should be fine" Kiba barked back patting his friend on the head. He was nervous though and though he didn't often do it, now Kiba prayed. 'Please let her be okay. If not for me, please let her be okay for Shino.'

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Please review!!

Chapter 2 by blackdragonflower