I do not own Naruto

Thank you, readers for being so patient with me. And many thanks goes to luvskakashi, jayanx, shae, Logophobia, twiggy-shino, LENNA, redbloodgoddess, and Fairy of Anime for all your reviews.

Here ya' go and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter Five

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!"

Ignoring the frantic swearing and skittering about on the rooftops, Shibi's heart was beating fast as he leaned down on the window sill while Kurenai stretched up from her seat. When they drew close enough for their breath to intermingle, the brunette closed her crimson eyes and tentatively brushed her soft lips with on his. His patience burning down faster than the exploding tag, Shibi reached with one hand behind the Kurenai's neck and pressed her onto his hungry mouth.

BOOM!

With the quick wind gust, Kurenai's long dark hair flew up and around her head while Shibi's mesh shirt flapped rapidly by the light of the fiery explosion. The blast heat surrounded the intertwined couple as they wrapped their arms around each other to deepen and intensify their first kiss.

'Hot damn,' Kurenai happily thought as her head went spinning like a few hours ago, but this time she was completely sober and loving every second. When Shibi's tongue pushed into her mouth and coaxed delightful moans from her, she was glad his strong arms were keeping her steady. She wasn't sure how well she'll be able to walk after this.

As Shibi delved further into her sweet mouth, he ran his hands over the woman's curves and felt her silk chemise slip like water between his fingertips. All he had to do was lift a couple fingers, hook each under a thin spaghetti strap, and the whole thing would come tumbling down. A deep growl rumbled from within Shibi as he imagined the soft treasures waiting underneath one slip of lingerie.

His eager hands began to move up her smooth arms, when they both heard polite coughing from behind and above.

Shibi's eyes opened from behind his shades and looked into wide crimson. The couple slowly broke their kiss and nervously looked around. There was Shino hanging upside down on the roof's eaves with a sly grin while a red-faced Sakura knelt behind her bed with her kunai peeking over the edge.

The young Aburame reached inside a coat pocket, pulled out an open notepad with a pencil, and poised them at the ready, "Still taking notes, Dad. Will tongue be on the final exam?"

Squeezing her eyes shut, Kurenai blushed and untangled herself from his neck while Shibi cleared his throat, "No, that's extra credit." The Aburame reluctantly dropped his arms away Kurenai's waist, who felt a little colder after removing herself from Shibi's body heat.

"Sorry about that, kids," said Kurenai as she moved back into the room, "We didn't mean to disturb your sleep."

Sakura relaxed as she gave them a small laugh from behind her bed, "Oh that's alright, Kurenai-sensei. Nobody's hurt and that's what matters."

Shibi sighed as he eyed Kurenai retreating to her bed, then glared over at his smiling son, "Everybody get some rest. Dawn will be breaking soon and I expect everyone to be ready." The others nodded and the Clan Leader flickered away.

Shino flipped from the roof to land on window sill and looked down at the street below to see a singed Jiraiya sprawled out on his back, coughing out sooty clouds.

Shaking his head at the Pervy Sage, Shino was about to take off like Shibi when his Kikai jumped erratically in his zippered pocket. Feeling Sakura's eyes boring into him, he knelt down on the sill and slowly turned to find the young medic standing alone in the moonlight.

Sakura saw Shino when he first landed on the sill and was impressed to see he managed to grab his coat in such short notice. However, he didn't have enough time to fully button up. His yummy torso and boxers were exposed with every billowy movement of his coat. She found herself standing up from behind the bed and peering in front of the window to get a better view.

'Yeeaah, baby,' leered Inner Sakura, 'I thought he'd be a boxer man! Eeee, I want to see what's under 'em. Let's pants him!'

Gasping, the girl grabbed the dresser edge with one hand and bit down hard on her bottom lip to keep herself from jumping the boy. Then she saw him turn around and lower his dark glasses to the tip of his nose.

His mouth gaped open to see the girl in next to nothing and he almost stumbled off the window sill.

The moonbeams lit up the lacy pink bra against Sakura's creamy skin and the matching teeny weeny bikini barely covered much of anything. A few choice slices with that kunai she still held and the girl would be completely divested of any clothing.

Sakura's normally pale skin flushed and she resisted the urge to hide from his penetrating gaze.

'B-beautiful naked girl!' His Kikaichu reminded him not quite naked, but definitely impressive nearly naked girl.

'So much... skin,' The scantily clad curves presented before him, caused Shino's libido to take over and his chakra control started to fluctuate.

Sakura frowned when she saw him begin to sway and she bent over to peer up at him, giving Shino a better view down her bra, "Um, you okay?" She saw him nearly fall over again.

She quickly ran up to the window sill, causing her pert bosom to bounce before his eyes, "Be careful! You need to relax when using your chakra for climbing. It doesn't help if you're stiff as a board!"

THAT did it. Blood spouted forth as Shino lost all chakra control. His dark eyes rolled into his head and he fell backwards off the perch.

"Shino-san," cried Sakura. She reached out with one hand to try to grasp his, but his fingers slipped right through hers.

Shino felt the rush of air around him, but it didn't quite register what happened until he landed right on top of Jiraiya, who was just standing up.

"Boy," The Senin groaned into the pavement, "Have you been putting on weight?"

The young medic winced as she looked down at the two shinobi laying on the street, "Whoops, maybe I should go down there and make sure he's alright."

But before she could turn around and look for clothes, Shibi appeared next to his son, shook his head in pity, then threw the boy over one shoulder.

"I don't remember bringing up a klutz", he sighed and disappeared to their hotel room.

"Don't worry about me, Shibi," grumbled Jiraiya as he picked himself up again, "I'm just FINE!" The Toad Senin had just finished dusting himself off when a potted plant dropped out of the sky on top of his head.

"OW!" Jiraiya looked up in time to see Sakura stick her tongue out at him then shut the windows for the night.

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Dawn peeked over the city skyline and morning's first sunlight revealed four shinobi already bounding through the treetops as they headed straight for the River Country boundaries.

As the Leaf nin continued their journey, Shibi and Kurenai shared the occasional longing glance, even a passing brush of hands, but remained focused on making good time to the Land of Wind.

As Shino traveled behind Sakura, visions of the lacy pink underwear kept appearing and he had difficulty concentrating on his footing. His father had to stop once in a while to slap him upside the head, but the young Bug Master eventually learned to keep ahead of the girl and keep his eyes on the branches ahead of him.

Kurenai smirked every time Shibi had to pull Shino off to the side, but she herself had to give Sakura a criticizing frown whenever the girl started burning red from staring at the boy.

But all it took to get Sakura to lose that lovin' feeling and buckle down again was one whispered word from Kurenai, "Sasuke-kuuuun."

Over the course of two days, the four shinobi ran straight through River, pausing long enough to sleep a few hours and eat. It was nearly the end of the second day when, they finally reached the first border post into the Land of Wind.

As they landed from the last of the trees, Kurenai calmly turned to Sakura, who walked up from behind, "Do you feel that?"

The medic nodded, "Hai, Kurenai-sensei, a few shinobi not too far from us. I'm not sure how many though, maybe five or six?"

"Five," said Shino and lifted a hand to receive his scouting Kikaichu, "And they are Suna nin."

Shibi waved for the team to continue, "We should be able to see the post soon. Just keep going. We'll be fine."

When the shadow of a deteriorating tower, loomed before the team, the Sand shinobi came out of hiding and appeared before the Aburame Clan Leader. Bowing respectfully, Shibi walked up to the Sand nin and handed several scrolls to the lead Chuunin. The tower guards nodded and vanished in a blur to report to the lead Jounin.

The Aburame returned to the others, "They need to send a hawk out to Suna so it'll be another hour or so, until we get permission from the Kazekage. Now's the time to get comfortable, we'll be here for a while."

Inside the tower, Kankuro tossed a kunai in the air, feeling completely bored to death. He welcomed the knock on his office door and a Chuunin came in holding communications from the Hokage along with a request for a clearance on behalf of a Konoha team. Kankuro looked through the listed names of the team and his dark green eyes lit up to see Haruno Sakura there.

As they waited for word from Suna, Sakura felt a familiar chakra signature appear from afar and raised a hand to block the sun so she could look up at the top of the tower wall.

Also feeling the particular chakra, Shino followed the medic's eyes and his Kikai automatically hissed to see Sabaku Kankuro waving happily to Sakura, "What's he doing here?"

Sakura shrugged and waved back to her former patient, "Dunno. Looks like he's on border patrol duty. Here he comes."

The handsome young man jumped over the edge of the battlement and landed on the ground with a thud, "Sakura-san! Fancy seeing you here. I was just thinking about my favorite doctor!"

Shino's Kikaichu hissed a little louder this time as he walked up to Sakura's side.

The nineteen year old Jounin paused to see the young Aburame then sneered, "Hey Bug Boy, good to see you're still alive and kicking. So what brings you guys all the way out here?"

Shino took a step forward, adjusting his shades while he looked the Puppeteer up and down, "Just passing through for a mission in Bird."

Kankuro carefully sized up Shino as he walked around to the other side of Sakura, "I see. Well, your team is welcome to come inside and rest in our canteen. I would love to catch up with you Sakura-san."

"That's very kind of you, Kankuro-san. It sounds very refreshing," said the pink kunoichi and she smiled her thanks as the Suna nin led the way.

As the Leaf Jounin stood up from leaning on a boulder, Kurenai whispered to Shibi with a sly smile, "Looks like there's some peacock strutting around our little medic. And here I was wondering what we were going to do for entertainment."

Shibi grinned under his high collar and whispered low in her ear, "I had some interesting plans for just the two of us, but if you prefer chaperoning Sakura-san, I'll be willing to go with that." He chuckled darkly as he caught her scent spike and stepped away from the blushing brunette.

Just before the group walked into the tower entrance, a loud voice bellowed from behind making the four Leaf nin jump, "WHY HELLO, KURENAI-CHAN!"

Kurenai and Sakura's jaws dropped as they saw Jiraiya marching happily up the dirt road.

Shibi frowned deeply, "How the hell?"

"There's just no way," stammered Shino who was too shocked from the Toad Sage's appearance to notice how Kankuro cleverly maneuvered a bewildered Sakura into the tower behind his back.

Kurenai pointed at Jiraiya and squeaked, "But we left you behind at Tanzaku Gai two days ago AND we were traveling at top speed!"

The Senin grinned proudly and straightened up his shoulders, "I am the Toad Sage! Top speed for you is a walk in the park for me!" Of course, in order to pull that speed record, he had to travel underground all through the night in the mouth of a giant toad with halitosis, but he wasn't going to mention that.

He didn't have to. When he came a couple meters of the group, Shibi and Shino easily caught wind of a foul stench that encircled the Senin.

Shibi grabbed Kurenai and pulled her down wind of Jiraiya, "Trust me," he said to her confused expression, but it was too late.

Jiraiya strolled right up to the kunoichi, who was sniffing the air, "The sun should be setting in a few minutes, Kurenai-chan. Would you care to join me? The view from the parapets is breathtaking."

Right now, Shibi and Kurenai were just hoping to take a breath.

'Oh Kami,' The woman worked hard to keep her gagging under control.

The strange funk rising from the man had the kunoichi turning green and Shibi's Kikaichu wondering what died. When he leaned in, Kurenai quickly covered her mouth with both hands and ran inside the building before she tossed her cookies.

The Aburame just shook his head and walked after his teammate, leaving the confused Jiraiya to check his breath then take a whiff under his armpit.

Shino was also about to warn Sakura about Jiraiya when he found the girl and the Sand nin gone, 'Why that sneaky son of a bitch!' He rushed inside and looked around the unfamiliar building. He was sorely tempted to release all his Kikaichu to search for Sakura, but that would be seen as an attack or at least an insult. Soon the young Bug Master came across a couple of Genin who gave him directions to their canteen.

"Oh there you are, Bug Boy," shouted Kankuro as he waved for Shino to join them, "Thought you got lost!"

Shino stalked up to the table where Sakura was sipping a mint tea, while Kankuro was happily munching on some pretzels.

He leaned down and growled for the Kankuro's ears only, "You're gonna have to do better than that."

The Sand nin sneered before turning back to Sakura whose green eyes were flitting back and forth between the two guys, "Obviously. So Sakura-chan, how's Naruto been doing?"

'Sakura-chan,' Shino's fists balled up inside his pockets, 'Why that cheeky bastard!'

The young medic just shrugged off Kankuro's forwardness and smiled, "Just fine. He's doing the usual griping about missions. And now he's trying to date Hyuuga Hinata, but he's got competition."

The Puppeteer smirked as he peered at Shino from one side, "I know the feeling."

"Ditto," murmured the young Aburame, who offered the same glare from behind his shades.

It wasn't long before Shibi and Kurenai walked into the canteen with the poor woman looking a bit queasy.

"Are you alright, Kurenai-sensei," Sakura stood up and held up her glowing hand to the woman's abdomen.

Kurenai sighed when the young medic relieved her upset stomach, "Yeah thanks, Sakura. I'm just feeling a little nauseous."

Sakura stiffened with her eyes growing wide and Shino raised a teasing eyebrow at his father, who scowled at the boy.

"Baka," said Shibi as he walked to a seat, "There are certain activities that need to occur for that to happen!"

"It's not what you think," said the blushing brunette, "You see, Jiraiya-sama..." She leaned in and whispered in the girl's ear.

"Uh," Sakura winced, "That'll do it. Here have some tea. It'll settle your stomach." She poured out a glass for Kurenai, who sat next to Shibi at the table.

Kankuro smiled as he watched his crush go into healer mode, "Always sweet bedside manners, Sakura-chan. You should consider applying for the Leaf-Sand exchange. We sure could use a skilled medic like you."

Inner Sakura wiggled her eyebrows, 'This Sand nin sure knows how to sweet talk a girl!'

Sakura blushed as she sat back down, "Oh Kankuro-san, Suna's medics are just as good. You don't need me."

The Sand nin looked her in the eye and lowered his voice, "Wanna bet."

Shibi turned to his son and the frown on his face sent a clear message, 'He's pulling a snow job on your girl and you're just sitting there?'

Doing his best to keep the Kikai under control, the young Aburame cleared his throat and glared at Kankuro, "You were certainly lucky that Sakura-san arrived to save you from that poison two years ago, Kankuro-san. Funny, you're quick to dish it out, but can't seem to take it yourself."

Kankuro narrowed his eyes dangerously, "I know you can't."

"Wanna bet."

Everyone at the table could feel both boys' chakra output creep higher and higher in an attempt to one up the other.

Inner Sakura had to pull out a fan to cool herself off, 'Oh kami, we got Hottie Number One in that chair and Hottie Number Two in the other. It's a damn heat wave!'

Sakura paled at the idea of an embarrassing international incident and smiled nervously, "Ano, has that hawk you sent to the Kazekage returned yet, Kankuro-san?"

The Puppeteer winced as he remembered the bird should have gotten back by now, "Probably, I'll go check on it for you, Sakura-chan."

Both Aburames glared behind Kankuro's back as he walked away until the kunoichi gave Shino and Shibi disapproving frowns.

"Shame on you, Shino," scolded the brunette, "I thought you had the social grace to be civil in a diplomatic situation."

Shino lowered his head in shame as Sakura crossed her arms and shook her head at him.

"He was just keeping the Sand nin from stealing Sakura from Konoha," defended Shibi.

"He wasn't being serious," scoffed the young medic.

Kurenai gave the Bug Master a slap on the arm, "You are no better for encouraging the boy! You were practically pushing Shino to fight. That was incredibly immature, Aburame-sama."

Shibi sneered at the brunette, "So what would you call what happened at the Lucky Star?"

Both kunoichi turned beet red, but Kurenai retorted, "That's different! And it certainly didn't have the potential to cause a break in ally relations. What would the Kazekage think if he hears that Shino-kun and his brother scrapped over Sakura?"

Shibi smirked into his tea, "Probably laugh for the first time in his life."

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Upstairs in Kankuro's office, the young man picked up the new message scroll from his brother. The Kazekage gave the Leaf nin his official permission to enter the Land of Wind under the accompaniment of at least one Sand shinobi.

Kankuro smirked as he rolled up the scroll. Apparently, the message he had sent back to Suna got his brother to assign him for escort duty with the Leaf nin. He knew begging and pleading wouldn't work with Gaara, but threatening to tell Matsuri about the Jinchuuriki's crush on her, would get the desired result.

"Heh, let's see, Bug Boy deal with this," chuckled Kankuro and strode out of his office. As he walked out on the battlements, the Sand Jounin came across a reeking Jiraiya sulking at the red sun setting behind the sand dunes. He took a breath, pinched his nose, and ventured closer to the Senin.

"Hello, Jiraiya-sama," he gave a polite bow and caught some more fresh air, before standing up again, "Dare I ask why you're looking so gloomy."

Jiraiya looked over his shoulder and sighed, "Oh, I just struck out again with a babe. Is that the clearance for the Aburame's team?"

"Hai," Kankuro nodded, "But they're going to need a Sand shinobi as escort to the Bird Country. They'll be passing by the Rain-Sand borders and that's been a troublesome spot lately."

Jiraiya closed his eyes and rubbed his chin in thought, "Uh huh, and will you happen to be this particular shinobi escort?"

Kankuro raised an eyebrow, "And if I am, would there a problem?"

The Toad Sage just smirked and shrugged, "I don't have a problem with it at all. That Sakura-chan is a cute one." The older man chuckled to see Kankuro's face turned nearly as dark as his kabuki face paint.

"You don't mind if I tag along, do you," Jiraiya asked hopefully.

"Only on one condition," The Jounin frowned deeply as he took a step back and pointed towards the showers, "If you take a bath... NOW!"

With a sly grin on his face, Kankuro strolled into the canteen and surprised to find the Leaf nin in the middle of tiff.

"This is a completely different situation from Lucky Star," said the brunette as she sat her tea down.

Shibi sighed patiently at Kurenai, "No, not really, Sarutobi-san."

The kunoichi leaned over and scowled at the smug bastard, "At least yen didn't pass hands."

"Ouch," Sakura winced with Shino. Kiss or no kiss, they were right back where they started. This time Sakura was in no hurry to fix this problem. For some reason, those two kept looking for way to fight with each other.

Shibi lowered his shades to glare at Kurenai, "Technically, the kyabakura cost me half as much as the dinner at The Palace, but it would be impolite to mention money in such a manner."

Interrupting the irritated couple, Kankuro walked up to the table and smirked at the Leaf nin, "Insurrection among the ranks?" Then he bowed to the scowling older Aburame and held up the Kazekage's letter for him.

Shibi opened up the letter and read the contents, "Very well then. Who will be escorting us to the borders?"

Kankuro bowed low to the other nin, "I will, of course." He looked up to see the surprised look on Sakura's face. He smiled warmly at the young medic for a moment before glancing over at Shino, who was fuming in his seat while drumming his fingers on the table.

"But seeing how the sun has already set, allow my humble post to give you lodgings for the night," The Sand shinobi caught Sakura's eye, "I'm sure you would appreciate a relaxing night in a nice warm bed."

Before Shino could stand up and throttle the Puppeteer, Kankuro waved an arm at the Genin in charge of the canteen at the moment, "Please, make sure our allies receive a hot meal and beds in the guest quarters. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to make preparations and I'd recommend going to bed early, 'cause I'll be waking you a couple hours before dawn."

"Sleep well," Kankuro gave the blushing Sakura a wink and walked away.

Kurenai bit her lower lip in worry as she heard Shino's body shake with loud hissing, "Okay, maybe it is the same."

"No shit," mumbled Shibi.

Soon their assigned Genin came up to their table and placed plates of curries and rice for them to dine on. She would give Shino a curious glance once in a while and even giggled when he gave her a friendly nod.

Inner Sakura growled inside the kunoichi's head, 'Oi, what does that twerp think she's doing?'

Sakura also noticed that the girl gave her a disapproving look then practically slapping her plate in front of the medic. The Chuunin was sure to check her food for any poison or lugies before diving in.

When the Genin returned to pick up the dirty dishes, she turned to Shino, "Did you enjoy the meal, Aburame-san?"

"Yes, it was very good," he responded politely.

The girl grinned as if Shino had just pinned a medal on her, "I am so glad to hear that. Kankuro-sama must think very highly of you for him to escort your team all the way to the Bird Country. Any good friend of Kankuro-sama, is a good friend of mine." She leaned closer to flutter her lashes.

The entire team looked at the Genin like she had grown a second head, which would be fortunate for her since she wasn't using her first.

Sakura could feel the dark clouds rise from Inner Sakura's fuming and tried to bottle down her anger before it came spilling out on the little gold-digger.

After dinner, the Genin led them to the guest quarters, located just a few doors down.

"You may stay here Aburame-sama, Aburame-san," she gave Shino a shy giggle then turned Kurenai and Sakura.

"You can have that one," she nodded across the hall and waved a hand, "Should be clean, but there might be sand fleas in the beds."

And the girl gave Shino a longing sigh before heading back to the canteen, "Good night... Aburame-san."

As the Genin walked away, the Aburames looked over at the kunoichi burning bright red at the girl's rudeness.

In an attempt to prove their jealousy, Shibi looked over at his son with a sly grin,"She seemed nice. Would you mind dating her, Shino?"

Kurenai frowned at the Aburame and gave Sakura a tap on the shoulder.

She lifted a hand to her cheek and gushed in the same breathy voice as the Sand Genin, "Sleep well, Aburame-san! Oh look, I'm a freakin' Sand shinobi who doesn't know the simplest jutsu for chasing away fleas. Goodness, I might get a promotion all the way to Chuunin if I sleep my way up the ladder!"

Inner Sakura grinned at Kurenai's impression and raised two signs up for a perfect 'Ten'.

Sakura snickered behind one hand as Kurenai mimicked fainting in the Aburame's awesome presence, "Hey, hey! Here's one I picked up from one of Gaara's fan girls! Oh, he's soooo filthy rich... I- I mean, dreeeamy!" The pink kunoichi poised on her tiptoes with her hands clasped under her chin.

"Into your foul dungeon, Rival in Love," With a sweeping bow, Kurenai swung their door open to reveal a perfectly fine room and Sakura skipped lightly through the doorway.

"Sleep tight, sweet princes," said Kurenai as she wiped away an imaginary tear, "While we waste away in our flea-ridden beds."

Then Sakura blew a loud raspberry at the scowling Aburames causing the brunette to double over in laughter then she slammed the door in the shinobi's faces.

To the sound of loud cackles and guffaws from across the hall, both shinobi finally turned around and walked inside their room.

Shino closed the door, but they could still hear the mocking laughter, "It's gonna be a long trip to Bird Country."

"Yep."