Author's Notes:

Thank you so much for those who have read thus far. I'm afraid I have been unable to update any of my work since school started, but finally break. I can write a little bit, thank god!

Also I'm going to say that my chapters are going to be getting more intimate. No worries, nothing blatantly sexual, but when I rated this Teen I had full intention of its content being for older readers.

Other than that, please enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 5

The Anger of Men

In her haste she had rushed out into the depth of the woods outside of Kazuo's home dressed only in her sheer sleeping yukata, the medical kit banging her leg as she walked. Her ebony tresses which had been tied up relinquished loose strands of hair that cascaded onto her shoulders as she ran. The air was cool and crisp causing Hinata to tense and immediately scoff herself for dashing out without a jacket, or at least telling Kiba of her whereabouts.

'He's probably fine. Why worry?'

Her practical thinking berated her for her foolish actions. The sloshing of water as it gurgled across the forest floor could be heard from a nearby stream. She saw her team mate, and couldn't help but release a breath which she hadn't realized she was holding. Her body heaved from her traverse through the woods, the two teammates standing in silence.

"Shino…"

His name fell from her lips as she heaved, trying to suck in the oxygen that had been deprived to her from her journey here. He turned around, his eyes hidden behind his glasses, her eyes trailed down to see him shirtless and a poorly bound bandage around his waist.

"You're hurt!"

A spike of worry grew within her. Certainly it was common to see Kiba injured with his reckless nature and tactless fighting style. But she had never seen Shino injured before, in all of her years with him.

"It's fine."

His retort was short and impersonal. Much like Shino usually was, but something about the tone of his voice caused unease in Hinata. She knelt down next to him and opened the medical kit and quietly began unraveling the bandages that were on Shino's injured chest, the patient not protesting, much to her surprise.

Her cool hands grazed against his flesh surveying the extent of his wounds.

'Strange.'

Her hands paused.

She had never seen Shino shirtless before, but something about the smoothness of his chest was strange to her touch. His chest for the most part was unmarred by scars like Kiba's. The wound in question was fresh and seemed to be an attack of a tiny parasite.

"What's wrong?"

His voice jolted Hinata back from her thoughts, she peered up to see his face inches from hers, their bodies in close contact since she had been unraveling his bandages. Behind his glasses intense blue eyes gazed back at her.

'Wait… blue?'

She instinctively tried to move her body away but she wasn't fast enough, Shino's face broke into a devilish smirk that was foreign on her comrade's features. The imposter grasped Hinata's wrist tightly.

"Wh-Who are you!?"

The kunoichi was immediately on guard, her free hand reaching for the kunai at her thigh only to realize that she had not only run out of Kazuo's home without a jacket, but without her kunai holster.

'A mistake only a genin would make! How much more pitiful could I get?'

The imposter's lips parted; his eerie smirk spread across Shino's features.

"Ah, so you finally realized… a bit slow aren't we Hinata-chan?"

His free hand began to brush her thigh, Hinata began to blush furiously feeling only more vulnerable in the sheerness of her yukata.

"What gave me away, pray tell?" He looked up smirking, enjoying the situation, his aloofness un-shattered.

"Your chest is unmarred …" As the explanation left her lips she was referring to Shino's body which lay host to his parasitic weapons.

"Shino's eyes aren't blue." She continued, wetting her lips trying to buy time as she reached her free hand toward the medical kit hoping to find what she was looking for.

"And your wound also gave you away." She concluded.

"Ah… so you noticed the wound that your friend left on me…" He commended her, his eyes gazing at her masterfully.

"No."

Her gaze was fierce from her lavender-white eyes, and a small smirk tugged at her lips.

"Shino would never have been injured in the first place."

She took pleasure seeing the imposter's expression falter slightly at her remark.

Her wandering hand had found what she was looking for as her fingertips grazed the cold metal of the medical scissors. In a quick movement, the blade was pressed against the imposter's neck.

"Show yourself!" Anger tinted her voice, all she could muster to cover her nervousness with the betraying of her rapidly beating heart.

"I'm sorry, I have yet to finish my mission, until then I can not reveal myself to you." His voice remained relaxed and calm, which only unnerved Hinata further.

"What purpose do you have in that guise?" She wetted her lips in futility. Though she seemed to be in a position of power with the blade of the scissors pressed across his neck, she had never felt more vulnerable.

"Does it bother you?" His inquiry touched a chord within her. Her position of power was quickly fading, and he seemed to notice.

Her hands preoccupied with holding the blade to his neck and the other still firmly in his grasp, she hadn't noticed the imposter's assault along her thigh. Her yukata was pushed up all the way, and his hand tugged boldly at the sash. She gasped, but before she could react her imposter quickly jumped out of the way as several kunai hit the spot where he had been resting just before.

Her gaze flew toward the origin of the assault, relieved to see her comrade.

"Shino!"

He stood in a branch above, the glinting wings of a vibrant violet butterfly on his shoulder.

The imposter's eerie smile faltered for a second.

"It seems our acquaintance has been cut short Hyuuga-sama, if only circumstances were different I might have been able to see the world through your eyes tonight…" And with the ambiguous message, the imposter disappeared amongst the rustling of the trees against the wind.

Her entire body collapsed with his leave, Hinata sucked in gasps of air. She had been unaware of the tension she had been experiencing and her body felt weak from the encounter. A wave of exhaustion swept over her. Shino had leapt to the forest floor next to her, watching as she regained her composure.

She had been frightened, when had she become this weak? Her heart's pace didn't cease its rapid beating against her ribcage, her breaths coming up short. Her body was cool with perspiration. After a few moments she looked up at Shino her black tendrils slick against her skin from the sweat, and her features managed to break into a smile.

"Thank goodness you're alrigh-"

"You were careless."

His voice was cold and carried a tone she had rarely detected, anger.

She felt stupid. Of course he was fine. She had been tricked by an imposter and would have been in trouble if Shino hadn't arrived. Could she really call herself a kunoichi?

Her gaze looked down at the forest floor in shame.

"I apologize." Her lips dry, "my carelessness may have cost us the mi-"

"That's not it!" His voice showed frustration, Hinata's gaze snapping upward to meet his eyes.

"Remember. Your safety will always be first and foremost in any mission." His voice was calm once again and his brows furrowed in concentration, he let out a sigh.

"Don't worry me like that again…" He whispered under his breath, a hint of defeat in his voice.

The journey back had been a blur; Shino had walked her to Kazuo's home afterwards returning to the forest to search for the imposter.

She needed to be protected again. That feeling of uselessness began to fester within her. A wave of that sickening possibility of the return of her timid younger years began to threaten her. She walked into the hallway toward her room. Her body was glazed in sweat and she was dazed from the evening's encounter, her heartbeat continuously pounded in her ear to serve as reminder. She couldn't shake off the chill of the imposter she had encountered.

The door to her left slid open and a body pushed her against a wall.

"Where have you been!?"

Kiba snarled, a growl emitting from the depths of his throat.

She couldn't respond, her heart already beating fast and her mind already full with the encounter that night.

After a while she managed to utter a few words barely audible amongst her rasps for air.

"K-Kiba…not now. I need…" She felt limp, mentally worn out.

He growled impatiently and grabbed her waist and shoved her into his room sliding the door behind him, watching as she collapsed onto his futon, sweating and her chest heaving with her breaths.

He watched her breathe and waited for her breathing to calm down. Whatever had happened had flustered her greatly and he summoned all the patience he had to wait for her to calm down. But something animalistic began to stir within him as he watched her yukata sticking to her body with sweat as her breasts swelled with each breath. He tore his gaze from her body. Curse hormones.

His eyes wandered back to her figure lying on his futon, a renewed ambition to find out about what he was suspecting.

She smelled of a foreign odor, that wasn't indicative to any of his teammates. He grew perplexed and continued to watch as Hinata's breaths slowed to a quiet rhythm. The hem of her yukata was hiked up along her thigh; he blushed and began to turn away quickly when something caught his eye.

He growled and straddled Hinata within seconds, his anger sweltering to new heights.

"Who touched you!?" His inquiry was a demand. He glared accusingly into her eyes that seemed to stare back blankly.

His mind was enraged by the dirty finger imprints that wandered along her upper thigh.

Continued in Chapter 6.