My face was red in embarrassment as Shino carried me to Eri and Kiba. As soon as he had helped bandage my wounds, I was picked up and put on his back. I was not embarrassed because Shino had to wrap the bandage close to my chest, but because of how much his point was proven that night.

I still believe in the goodness of people. However, it might be smart of me to acknowledge that there are bad people in the world. I pondered to myself as I laid my head on Shino's shoulder in exhaustion. My breathing was a bit heavy since I could feel my wounds throb.

"How are you feeling?" he asked me in his usual tone of voice.

"Let us just say, that I am not worried about your bugs at the moment." I replied and rested my eyes. "I am sorry that I yelled at you like that Shino. I was mad at you, but I think I was more mad at the fact that I was deceived. Sometimes things become so hard to be this optimistic." My voice had gone weak and I was even more embarrassed than before. "I am giving it my all though because I truly believe I will make a difference."

To think that a simple battle like that could cause me so much damage. Iruka Sensei would have been disappointed to see how much I stunk at telling if the enemy was lying or not. I wondered and buried my face in Shino's shoulder. Despite how uncomfortable it was, it was better than risking him see the red shade of shame on my face.

"If you are an optimist, then I think it is possible for me to be a pessimist." Shino said to me and had my full attention. "At a young age I have accepted that some people will dislike me. Even if they have no reason."

I wanted Shino to say more. My ears were ready to be filled with a life confession and a life story from him. Sadly, Shino must have thought that was enough to say or immediately regretted saying it. After that, he said nothing else to me. Part of me wanted to push him to tell me more things. The other part of me knew it was best to let him have his space. My second part had won over my conscious and I kept quiet.

After a few more mintues of Shino jumping from branch to branch, a group of bugs emerged from Shino's jacket and went ahead of us. The bugs did not make me jump in the slightest. That made me realize how exhausted I was. My wounds had been pretty deep, but I had had wounds as deep as those before. It made me question the battle a bit. Was it my mentality at the moment that was making me feel as crappy as I was?

As soon as I coughed and some blood came out, I realized that I was not as well as I thought I was.

"Shino, I just coughed up some blood. This does not seem alright." I said in a bit of a worried tone. Then, my eyes widened in horror as I realized why my blood had come from my mouth. "I think they hit some of my vital spots."

"You did not notice?" Shino asked me and I shook my head. "You need to pay more attention."

"I-I had some things on my mind." I said and felt my face go red from embarrassment again.

Shino seems to always be one step ahead of me. He had been able to defeat the enemy while I could not. I need to train more and become strong enough to protect myself and others. Or else all my training to become a ninja would have been a waste. I wondered and tried to ignore the pain that my body began to feel.

"As soon as we reach the others, we can give you some more medical attention. Our objective right now is to regroup." Shino said to me and I shook my head in agreement to the plan.

"Shino, thank you for being a good comrade and saving me." I said to him and breathed slowly as I felt more and more pain. Inside, I cringed as it began to sting.

He nodded his head and thought for a moment before he replied. "That is the duty of a comrade."

He is such a splendid ninja. It is no hassle for him to follow the rules and fight enemies. Shino could go as far as he wanted for ranks. I pondered and smiled a slight bit. I guess I am lucky to be able to work with him. Maybe we even each other out with our thought processes. This just leaves me to make a moment of mine to show him the goodness in people. That way even the moments are balanced out.

So Shino continued to carry me as he jumped from tree to tree. After a while, the sound of the forest and Shino's feet against the wood sounded like a lullaby. My eyes began to get heavy and I felt a tired spell take a hold of me.

Never would I have ever though I would take a nap on Bug Boy. I thought and chuckled a bit from the irony of it. Oh how unexpected life can be.

"Do not fall asleep." Shino commanded and I jumped a bit from the surprise. "It does not matter how worn out you are, you cannot fall asleep at the moment."

I blushed again from embarrassment. It seemed that within the past hour I had shown any and all of my stupidity to Shino. My best hope was to play it off. "Okay Shino, I will keep you company. We wouldn't want you to get too lonely." I had thought about pinching Shino's cheeks and had even moved my hand but decided against it. He and I were not as close as Kiba and I. It would have been awkward.

"You were about to touch me."

Damn it. Never try to get away with something when you are around a ninja like Shino. I thought. Mentally, I cursed myself at being caught.

"What made you stop?" His voice was his regular voice. I was unsure how to answer him.

For some reason, my heart started beating fast. Instead of focusing on the pain my attention had been pulled toward my heart. There were a few theories running through my head on why it was speeding up but I ended up just blaming it on nerves.

"I just thought that it might have annoyed you if I pinched your cheek." I said and gulped as I attempted to joke around. "Besides, you are the one carrying me so I thought that it would be a bad idea."

"Is that all?"

Shino was on a mission to get that answer out of me. Whether it was pulled lightly or from the depths of my soul. If anything was proven during my Academy days, it was that I was horrible at lying. I was the worst in the class at it and everybody knew it.

After I gathered my thoughts, I answered him. "I just thought that our friendship is different than other friendships I have. If you want a friendship where I pinch your cheek, then we can hang out once we get back to Konoha and see if we can have our friendship grow." I suggested with a bit of hope.

Shino was silent. His habit of being silent had begun to terrify more and more each time. It was crazy to think that just around ten minutes ago I was frustrated at him. At the present moment, I was terrified of him. Oh how things could change so quickly.

"Okay."

That answer put a smile on my face. I was not hesitant to pinch his cheek anymore. My smile went from ear to ear in happiness and relief. "I must warn you, a day with me will be a day you can never forget. So if something embarrassing or stupid happens it will be in your mind forever."

"I will keep that in mind." He replied back.

The rest of the trip to catch up to the others was silent. I do not think either of us minded that. It left both of us alone to our thoughts. My thoughts were about the sounds of the forest and how peaceful it was. The peacefulness made my wounds feel less significant. After a while longer, we saw the others.

"Hey Chika! Hey Shino!" Kiba yelled from the distance and Akamaru barked in excitement. When we were close enough and Shino moved to a rock so I could sit down, Kiba's eyes were wide. "What happened to you? Don't tell me you were clumsy in battle."

"No way." I said and crossed my arms over my chest. "Unlike you, I do not trip over my own drool."

"So you drool during battle?" Kiba asked me with an amused look on his face.

"It does not matter if I do or don't because I make sure I leave a nice pathway for myself. Unlike you." I retorted and chuckled. When I felt a shock of pain from my stomach I leaned over in pain.

When Eri saw me, she almost lost it. "Chika! I am so sorry you got hurt because of me. If I was strong enough I would have stayed back and fought with you." She was close to tears.

Lightly, I waved my hand. "It is okay Eri. I got hurt because I am not too well of a ninja in some departments."

"I am just so sorry." Eri choked out and began to cry. Kiba and I both attempted to calm her down. All of our voices made it sounds as though we had ten people with us rather than four and one silent person.

It was then that Shino spoke up. "Kiba and Akamaru, you guys calm down Eri. I will tend to Chika's more serious wound." He commanded and took a step towards me. Kiba looked a bit frustrated to have been bossed around, but he sucked it up and did it anyways.

Again, Bug Boy shows how much of a great ninja he is.

Ahoy there lovelies! What did you guys think of this chapter? How are you perceiving the characters? Is Shino out of character? I feel really good about this story and I am trying to put all of my best efforts to make sure this book comes out well. (:

Have a great day and smile! :D