Shino awoke, groggy in the mid-morning. He sat up, rubbing an eye and putting his feet on the floor, getting up off the couch. Shino had left the bedroom before things had gotten too out of hand, and had to send Hinata back in there once. Grabbing his glasses off the end table, he slid them on, getting up to his feet and stretching some of the kinks out of his back. Time to figure out what was up with that plant.

Shino went to the kitchen where it was temporarily being stored, and examined one of the little yellow flowers. Using about half a dozen insects, he used them to examine it, see what's in it. While the kikai did that, he picked up the pot, examining it. On the bottom, the word "Damiana" could be seen. His brow furrowed; he had heard of the plant before. It had plenty of medical uses, sure, but what was it known best for? It's aphrodisiacs. Ino knew exactly what she had been doing, didn't she? The blonde wasn't stupid when it came to plants; there was no way that it was accidental. Damn her.

His insects returned to his skin, and he processed the information they returned with. He was correct in assuming the aphrodisiacs. Well… It should have worn off by now. He set the small shrub down and turned heel, heading back towards the bedroom to wake Hinata. Assuming she was still asleep, he didn't bother to knock, instead just walking in. He found her, not only awake, but sitting up with her knees drawn up, back against the headboard with her face buried in a pillow.

"Hinata?" he asked cautiously, setting on the edge of the bed.

He heard a sniffle, like she had been crying. Why? She looked up wordlessly, eyes pink.

"What's wrong?"

He had a vague feeling it was connected to what happened last night, knowing she would full well remember what she had been doing. He scooted up next to her, keeping his hands in his lap.

"I'm s-sorry… What you must think…of me…"

He shook his head.

"It's not your fault. If anything, it was Ino's. That plant? It's called "Damiana". It contains an aphrodisiac, which explains your…actions yesterday. It's excusable."

Hinata looked at him. An aphrodisiac? She had been drugged? The leaves of the plant… She sniffed. It wasn't below Ino to pull a trick like that. Her eyes closed, and she leaned her head back against the headboard.

"You haven't slept, have you?"

She didn't respond. There go the plans for the day. He sighed. That was alright; she needed sleep and he wasn't going to interfere with that. Perhaps he should pay Ino a visit…

"Why don't you stay here? I have an errand I need to run, and you could use the rest."

She looked at him again as if to argue, but the look on his face deterred her from protesting. He got up, leaving the room with his day-clothes.

-

"Yes, that'll be 1400 yen, please."

The customer counted out the bills and handed Ino the money.

"Thank you! Come again!"

She put the money in the register, and turned towards the back to continue working on an arrangement. The door jingled, signifying another customer. Shikamaru, who had been behind the counter, dozing, and awaiting her shift to be over so the team could meat, opened one eye.

"Uh… Ino?"

She groaned.

"What is it, Shikamaru? Can't you see I'm… eep!"

She had turned around to face the front… and found herself face-to-face with cold black lenses. Angry ones.

"Shino!"

He growled, punching a fist to the wall next to her head.

"That was a cheap stunt for you to pull, Yamanaka."

She smirked, blue eyes shining in mischief.

"Come now, Aburame. I wouldn't doubt you had yourself some fun last night."

Shikamaru, who hadn't really been paying attention, turned his focus on the pair. What had the blonde done this time? Shino, however, just growled at her.

"Some fun. It was drug-induced, Ino. I'm not going to get involved with something like that."

Shikamaru stared at Ino. What the hell had she been doing!?

"Such a shame, Aburame. That right there would have probably been your only chance of ever getting any action."

Oooh…harsh. Shikamaru winced, edging away from the scene. It was about to get ugly, and quickly. Shino pushed his fist into the plaster, cracking it slightly, before grabbing her by the front of the shirt and lifting her off the floor.

"I will advise you to keep your greasy hands out of my personal matters. Likewise, I advise you stay away from Hinata. I will not ask again."

Ino's hands went straight to the hand that held her off the floor, choking her slightly. He dropped her, and she stumbled, a little off-balanced. She coughed.

"Impressive upper body strength… Yes. I'll keep away from your troublesome affairs."

Ino's eye twitched. The boy had lifted her off the floor with one arm. Not only that, but she was starting to sound like Shikamaru. This situation was getting a bit more fun as the time progressed. She watched as he turned and promptly left. The only way this could get better is if…

Jingle.

"Hey, Shino!"

Kiba.

-

"Hey, Shino!"

Kiba spotted Shino coming out of the flower shop, and ran to greet him. Why was the bug freak there? A special rendezvous with Ino, perhaps? The thought made him laugh aloud.

"What is it, Kiba?"

"Whatcha doin' at the flower shop, eh bugboy? Trying to get a flower for a little romance?"

Shino's eye twitched. What the hell was it with everyone and his personal affairs?

"No. Actually, I just thought I'd wake up and smell the roses."

Kiba's grin dropped. Smartass.

"Whatever. Hey, Kurenai wants us to meet up today. I've just got to go get Hinata and we'll be-"

"I'll handle Hinata."

Kiba blinked.

"Uh… alright. See you there, then!"

The large dog at his side gave out a "woof" before following his master up the street towards the training area. Shino shifted a bit; Hinata should sleep. He headed back home, knowing he'd have to drag her along to meet the rest of the team. After a few minutes, he slipped back into the compound, and loped back to his house.

-

Hinata lie in Shino's bed, snuggled under the covers and cuddling up to a pillow. Even though she was dead tired, she couldn't get to sleep. She felt truly sorry for her actions towards Shino last night, but the thing that troubled her was that she didn't feel regret for any of it. That uneasy feeling kept her awake, and she lied, thinking about the situation. There was a knock at the door.

"Hinata? I ran into Kiba. It seems Kurenai wants us to meet."

She called out a "hai", not particularly feeling like talking a whole lot. She heard him sigh behind the door. Shino had actually been hoping she wouldn't respond, signaling she had gone to sleep. Well, there was nothing they could do about it now. She didn't move when he came in.

"Go get dressed. I'm going to make up a bento or something."

He left, and she groaned, pulling herself away from the warm blankets.

-

"Where are they?"

Kiba looked up at his sensei, hearing the slight worry, with a hint of impatience, in her voice. Shino and Hinata were never this late.

"I dunno. I ran into Shino, and he said he'd get Hinata."

Kiba's head turned; Akamaru was barking at something. He spotted two figures loping up the road. So, they finally decided to show up? He noted their appearances mildly. While Shino didn't look too different, merely mildly tired and wearing his hood down, Hinata looked like she had a rough night. Her clothes were different than usual, and her face showed the distinct signs of lethargy.

Kurenai immediately picked up that something was wrong, but held it to herself. She'd handle Hinata today; the boys would be fine working together.

"Alright, team. We're going to pair off. Shino, you go with Kiba, and Hinata, you'll stay with me. We were assigned a D-Rank mission. It seems Tora went on another adventure."

Kiba exploded.

"WHAT!? That's a job for genin! We're all chuunin now! And you know how Akamaru gets! WHY US, DAMMIT!?"

Kurenai's mouth set in a hard line.

"All the genin teams are currently busy at the moment. I figured I would have up do something easy for once. Now. Get a hold of your dog, focus on the task, shut your mouth, and do your damned job."

Kiba stared blankly at her, mouth twitching in disbelief. Shino wasn't even phased. He simply turned and left. Kiba snapped out of it, and he and his dog tore after the bug-nin.

Kurenai turned to Hinata when the boys were out of earshot.

"Hinata."

The girl jumped, turning her tired eyes to her sensei. She put on a determined face, as if she wanted to put her all into this mission. Kurenai motioned for her to come with her head, and started off in the opposite direction. Hinata followed.

"Is everything alright?" she asked eventually.

Hinata kept her head down.

"Hai."

The jounin rested her scarlet eyes on the Hyuuga thoughtfully. She was lying.

"You know, Hinata, you don't have to lie to me. I've known you since you were a child. I know when something's wrong. Is it your father?"

The younger kunoichi gasped quietly; her teacher had hit the nail on the head. Kurenai stopped her, standing in front of her and looking her in the eye.

"It is, isn't it?"

Hinata merely nodded her head.

"It's alright, you can tell me. I promise I won't tell anyone. Not the Hokage, not the boys. No one."

Of course, that was a white lie. If it was something that needed attention brought to it, she would head directly to Lady Tsunade. Hinata stayed silent for a moment before deciding it couldn't hurt.

"W-well…"

-

"Damnit."

The Inuzuka growled, tracking for the rogue feline through the undergrowth. He pressed the button at his neck, and spoke into the receiver.

"Any luck?"

"None on my end. Will report back."

Akamaru whined. He hated looking for the cat as much as Kiba did, although neither of them could blame the creature for running away in the first place. Noses to dirt, the two went off, trying to catch a feline scent.

-

Nothing. Shino glanced around. It didn't seem that the cat was in this area at all. To make his search easier, he loosed a torrent of bugs, and they spread widely over the area. The cat would be found in no time.

-

Kurenai didn't really know what to say. Really, she was glad that Shino had been the one to find her. While Kiba had a kind heart and would never endanger Hinata, she doubted that the timid girl would even last a day with the Inuzukas. Even Kurenai herself got slightly intimidated by Kiba's mother every now and then. With the child she had on the way, Kurenai wouldn't have the room to house Hinata when it came to be time.

But, the gen-specialist knew other things as well, whether her students realized it or not. She had watched her kids grow from fresh-out-of-school genin to the chuunin they are now. She knew how close the three were. Hinata loved her boys like family. But, while Kiba's feelings were nothing more than that of a close friend, Shino seemed to care deeply for the girl. Really, it was subtle. He'd always Take note on her progress, notice details that everyone else misses, and know which exact points she would need to work on. He would always be the first to know when something was amiss, and the last to give a negative opinion.

A loud yowl broke her train of thought, and both women turned to the source of the noise. Shino stood, with a grimace to match the four long scratches on his face, holding a thrashing cat at arms' length. Kiba was concentrated on restraining his dog, who was giving the cat the evil eye. The cat thrashed harder.

"Mission Acc- Ahhhh!"

Shino hissed in pain; Tora had sunk four fangs deep into his hand. Kiba, if he had not been focused on his dog, would have laughed at the misfortune. Hinata's features fell into worry when the blood fell from the wound, the cat still not having let go.

"Get it off, Kurenai, before I kill it…" Shino growled through clenched teeth, trying his damndest to not chuck the small animal halfway across the forest.

Kurenai betrayed no hint of her amusement as she darted forward. Forming some hand seals, she directed her focus on the animal, who immediately went limp, releasing Shino's hand from her tiny iron grip. Kurenai took the limp animal from the Aburame before he did something he would regret later, and passed her off to Hinata.

"Heh, you alright, Shino?" she laughed lightly.

Shino wiped the blood from the wound into his pants, only for new beads to form at the puncture sites. It would be sore for a while.

"I'll live."

"BWA HA HA HA HA!"

The group turned their eyes on Kiba, who had finally become aware of the world around him, the large dog having calmed down after Hinata held the cat. Aware of the menacing glares, Kiba abruptly halted his guffaw, and the team fell into an awkward silence. They made their way back to the Hokage tower. Kurenai dropped her pace to the rear of the group, keeping pace with Shino. Kiba was up on ahead, talking to Hinata, who was producing monosyllabic answers.

"You know, Shino, you're doing the right thing."

He turned his head slightly, acknowledging his teacher.

"Hm?"

"Hinata. Take care of her."

He turned his head more, to look at her better. Had Hinata told her what had happened? Does Kiba know? He merely nodded once, turning to face forward again. Kurenai picked up her pace slightly, heading back to the front.

"Oh, and Shino?"

"Mm?"

"Don't do anything your father would do."

Shino froze in his tracks, jaw hanging ajar, and the group began to leave him behind. What the hell, Sensei!? He moved forward, speeding a little to keep up with the group that was a little ways ahead of him. Kurenai couldn't possibly think that he and his father even remotely thought on the same level!? He sighed, trudging on as the tower came into view.