Five. Rain Over Me
Kiba
Tsunade is not known for her patient nature. As the Hokage, she has no room for patience. This explained why when she summoned my team to her office that night, there was no time for silly questions.
"Squad Eight," she began. "We have a mission for you."
"What sort of mission, Hokage?" Hinata asked in her small voice.
Tsunade handed her a scroll wrapped with pale blue cord. "The Land of Waves has asked for our assistance. As you may or may not know, several years ago there was a mob boss named Gato who ruled those parts. Some of his old followers seem to be acting up lately, and the townspeople are in need of assistance and protection. So I'm sending you."
Shino smiled and pushed his sunglasses up with one finger. "It's been a while since I've been out of the city," he said. "This could be fun."
Hinata was a bit more worried. "You don't think it'll be very dangerous, do you, Hokage?"
Tsunade shook her head. "Probably not. It's only a B-Rank mission, after all. Standard villains—nothing you can't handle."
Shino took the scroll from Hinata and untied it, carefully scanning the contents.
I was lost in my own thoughts. Kankuro—I couldn't get him out of my head. The way he had been in the market earlier—so violent and angry. He had blamed Konaha for his crappy mood, but I couldn't shake the thought that I was the cause of his bad humor.
Maybe it was recalling the way his voice sounded when he yelled, or the look of his eyes and the way his mouth curved up in a sort of half-sneer, but something stirred me. My breath quickened just by a fraction, and the pit of my stomach felt very warm and heavy and nervous, like I had a thousand bubbles rising inside me.
"Kiba?" Hinata's sweet voice broke my concentration.
"What?" I asked, sounding edgier than I had intended to.
"She just wanted to know if you were alright," Shino said, sounding a bit annoyed with me.
"Yeah, I'm cool. Why wouldn't I be?"
Shino glanced quickly at me, and then went back to scanning the scroll. "Your breath has quickened, you're clutching your stomach like you've been punched, and you're blushing like crazy," he said, not bothering to look up.
"It's the mission," I said, trying to sound convincing. "I'm just…very excited. It's been forever since I got to kick me some ass, you know."
"Kiba!" Hinata squeaked. "Not in front of the Hokage!"
I turned towards Tsunade and bowed. The feeling had faded now, and I felt normal again. "Sorry, Hokage," I said, keeping my head bowed. I turned to Shino and Hinata. "Tomorrow at dawn?"
They both nodded. "Good," I said. "See you then."
I turned and walked out of the Hokage's office, not looking back. I didn't want to see them stare.
All night I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned, but nothing helped. Even Akamaru's warm fur wasn't enough to help me slip off.
While I had time to think in silence, I came to the conclusion that this mission would be good for me. I could get away from my mother and Konaha and the voices in my head that kept telling me things I didn't want to think about Kankuro. I really, really, needed to get away. And this mission was that chance.
Finally I realized I was never going to fall asleep. So I sat up, shoved Akamaru's body off of my legs, and began to pack. Food, clothes, kunai and shuriken, food pills—they all went into the bag until finally it was bulging.
I went to meet Hinata and Shino, and I saw that they had both packed very little. But I had food for two—Akamaru needed something to eat, too.
Shino nodded his head. "Kiba. You ready?"
"'Course I'm ready. Why wouldn't I be?"
"You seemed off last night in the Hokage's office, as I pointed out. I just wanted to make sure you weren't coming down with something."
I shrugged it off. "It's nothing. Just allergies, I think."
"Good. If we're going to pull this off, you need to be in top form."
Hinata smiled. "I'm excited, myself," she said. "I mean, we're all together again! It's so nice, don't you think? Like old times, when we were Genin."
"Speaking of old times," Shino said, pulling out the scroll Tsunade had given us, "it looks like we're not going to be the only shinobi helping out. It says here that the Land of Waves has also asked Suna for aid."
I stiffened. Shino and Hinata kept walking, but I could not make my feet move. "Suna," I whispered underneath my breath. "Dammit."
Hinata turned to look back at me. "Kiba? Are you okay?"
Shino kept walking. "It's nothing, Hinata," he said. "Just his allergies."
By the time we reached the Land of Waves three days later, the skies had grown very dark and cloudy. It looked like more than just a light drizzle of rain—it was a storm.
People were waiting for us as we stepped into the village. One man came forward and told us we were to stay at his house. We could leave our belongings there while we patrolled the outskirts of the village.
"The visitor from Suna," he continued, leading us towards the center of the village, "is also staying with me. He's such a nice boy—even if his attitude does get in the way of his manners sometimes."
I gulped. We were so close to the moment of truth, it was almost painful. My stomach was doing flips and twists inside my body. Who was the visitor from Suna? I had to know. The not knowing was killing me almost as much as the knowledge. What if they told me straight out it was Kankuro—what then?
"What kind of shinobi is this Suna visitor?" I asked, trying to sound casual and not too curious.
"He's a strange one," the man answered. "Always so arrogant—you'd think he was the Kazekage of Suna, with that attitude of his. But still, he fights well, so it's not like we have too much to complain about."
He led us to a large house in the center of the village. "Here," he said. "This is where you shall stay." He slid open the door, ushering us into the kitchen. "Go on, don't be shy now," he smiled.
I glanced around. There were two Suna shinobi—jonin, from the looks of their costumes—sitting on the floor, cleaning off several kunai knives.
One was whispering to the other. "Can you believe him? Gaara says to stay with us at all times, but no; he just has to go off on his own." He glanced up towards us, then went back to whispering. "I mean, I know he's important—and it's not like we can't take care of ourselves—but still. Does he have to treat us like we're scum?"
I opened my mouth—perhaps to say something to one of shinobi on the floor—when the door behind me slid open.
"Ah," the man said. "There you are. I'm sure you're hungry, so I'm having some food delivered, if that's okay with you."
"It's fine," he answered. I could tell his attention was more focused on us than food at the moment. "So, these are Konaha's finest reinforcements?" he sneered.
Without even turning around, I answered. "You better believe it, Kankuro."
