Full Moon At Midnight P2

Kiba awoke to the sounds of the forest - birds calling to one another, rodents rustling, the wind in the leaves - damp with dew and shivering slightly despite being snuggled up to Akamaru.

He shifted and stretched.

"FUCK!"

His back! His ass! Even his knees were killing him!

But his butt was the worst - it felt like something had torn inside.

Akamaru wuffed at him in apparent sympathy and then he noticed.

Shino was gone.

He sat up and looked around - his clothes had been gathered and folded neatly into a small pile a few feet away. Except his jacket, that was still draped over his hips.

He harrumphed and crossed his arms, a petulant look settling onto his face.

"Well, fuck."

---

Kiba sincerely hoped the Hokage would rot in Yomi for all eternity. He really did.

For three days he had looked for, and been unable to find, Shino Aburame. Oh, he knew precisely where he was, Kiba's nose could pick up the scent of a gnats fart three miles away - the other youth was just hiding on his family's estate, somewhere Kiba couldn't go without either written permission, a personal invitation or in a dire emergency.

He was pretty certain that being fucked by the most promising Aburame son in quite a few generations, didn't exactly count as a 'personal invitation' - so he had been at a loss for what to do.

And then, on the fourth day, Kiba was sent on a bloody mission, thus being taken further and further away from the explanation (and the body) that he so craved.

So now, here he was, five days after the best fuck of his entire life (ok, the only fuck of his entire life) - with the guy he thought he loved, no less - sitting in a tree, sandwiched between Izumo and Kotetsu, being rained on.

How was that fair?

He really wished the Hokage would rot in Yomi.

He also suspected that his superiors had figured him out and were laughing at him behind his back. That just made him paranoid. Of course, it didn't help that Akamaru had been left behind to guard their camp. Kiba always felt a little naked whenever he was separated from Akamaru.

He tugged the hood of his Konoha issue cloak farther over his head, further blocking the rain and the imagined stares of his two superiors. He pulled a face at the ground far below them, watching the ripples in the puddles, distorting the reflected forest.

They waited another half an hour before Kotetsu signalled they should leave. It looked like their mark wouldn't be showing up today.

Great. A whole day wasted, sitting in the rain, eating nothing but ration bars (and the occasional stashed dog-biscuit, he didn't care what Hinata said, they tasted great) waiting around, for nothing.

Kiba always hated these types of missions. The Intel was vague - at best - with only a time and place certain - the date was rough. There were another four possible days that their mark could appear. Already, Kiba was loosing patience - something that wasn't his strong suit anyway.

Hopefully, the guy would turn up tomorrow and they could go home.

And then he could go find Shino.

And then he could pin the elusive bastard down.

His brain stalled over the next thought, not entirely sure where to go with it.

Breaking into the small clearing where they were holding camp, he dropped from the high branches to all fours, catching up to Kotetsu. Izumo dropped down behind him a moment later.

Akamaru came bounding out of the shallow cave they were using for shelter, wuffing quietly in greeting, tail wagging furiously. Kiba grinned as the great furry body connected with his own, knocking him to the ground. He pushed his fingers through the long mane-like fur behind Akamaru's ears, scritching as he hugged him.

"Missed you too, 'Maru," he whispered into his dogs neck.

"Did we have any visitors?"

Kotetsu aimed the question at Kiba, but was really asking Akamaru. Kiba raised an eyebrow at his dog. Akamaru snorted and shook his head.

"No, sir, nothing but the local wildlife."

Kotetsu nodded and they all relaxed a little, dropping bags and heavy cloaks. It was too wet to start a fire; so instead, they huddled together in the shallow cave - Akamaru serving as cushion and heater for all three of them.

As darkness fell, Kiba couldn't help but let his mind wonder back to the night with Shino.

He drifted off to the soft pattering of rain and Akamaru's steady breathing, a gentle smile on his lips.

----

He woke to sniggering.

Startled by the sound, body reacting on automatic, Kiba launched himself from a prone start and pinned his unseen assailant to the ground, claws digging into pliant flesh as he growled, low in his throat.

"Whoa, Kiba!"

He blinked and realised he had just pinned Izumo - he'd drawn blood from a superior!

"Shit! Sorry Izumo!" He jumped back, claws retreating, mental hackles lowering.

Izumo gave him a rueful look as Kotetsu helped him to his feet, "You got good reflexes, kid, that's for certain."

Kiba detected a hint of respect in the mans tone, but wasn't sure what to say - one does not normally attack one's superior, even if one is asleep and doesn't really know what one is doing.

As they went about their business - washing, cooking, tidying - Kiba watched the two older men like a hawk. He remembered the sniggering with a frown. He told himself he was imagining things, but he swore the two of them were laughing at him.

Not only that, but he could tell - through their mingled scents, as well as their body language and behavioural cues - that they were obviously a couple. You'd have to be an Inuzuka to notice though, Kiba's clan were notoriously good at reading body language (which, incidentally, was the reason Kiba had never been as exasperated by Shino's oddness as Hinata or Kurenai.)

As it was, Kotetsu and Izumo basically performed a dance around the campsite, so attuned to one another were they that they moved without recourse to higher brain activity. Kiba was fascinated by the sight.

He sat back, sharing his bacon with Akamaru, wondering if he and Shino would ever get to this stage. Eventually they noticed him watching them and (with Izumo blushing slightly) broke camp. All four of them - Akamaru was joining them this morning, as they were switching campsites - set off for the familiar meeting place.

Much to Kiba's eternal satisfaction, it wasn't raining this time. Ahead of him, his superiors were holding a whispered conversation that set his paranoia off again. By all rights, they could simply be discussing the day's plans, but he couldn't shake the belief that they were talking about him.

He had a vague recollection of the dream just before Izumo woke him up. It had been hot, steamy even, with naked flesh and writhing bodies. He had the horrible feeling he'd muttered Shino's name in his sleep.

Kami, he hoped not. That would give his superiors fuel for days, weeks. And he still had at least a week left with them, if today went as badly as yesterday. Alone. It was going to be frustrating, to say the least.

Crap. Crap crap crap.

----

It did go badly. Halfway through the day it started raining again.

Cold, wet and miserable, Kiba shifted into a more comfortable position against the rough bark of his tree. Izumo and Kotetsu were in a tree of their own across the track, Akamaru was settled in the crook between trunk and branch off to his right, dozing lightly, completely ignoring the rain.

It really looked like it was settling in to continue for the next few days. Big drops kept trickling through the leaves above him, each and every one of them apparently making their way directly to his head.

The world hated him. The very universe hated him.

But that was just fine with Kiba, because he had decided to hate it right back.

Three drops hit his head in a short, sharp tak-tak-tak against the canvas of his hood. He hunched further into himself, fighting back the growl, glaring moodily at the track below him.

At this rate, they wouldn't be able to find any dry places to sleep. They'd probably have to set up some lean-to's and hope for the best. He missed warm food. He missed being dry. He missed Hinata's stuttering. He especially missed Shino's bundled visage. He really hated Autumn missions. Really, really hated them.

Glare still trained on the empty track, Kiba began to compile a mental list of things he hated about Autumn missions.

They're cold, wet, muddy, windy, brown, and full of rotten-leaf smell. They currently lacked certain ex-team mates. There were mushrooms everywhere, and stupid berries that his mom made him go collect for her. Akamaru always got wet and then smelled of wet-dog for hours. You couldn't start fires to cook decent food.

He chewed absently on a thumb. At least in winter you could have snow-fights. He relished the thought of rubbing snow into Naruto's hair. That always made him laugh. Well, until Sasuke got in on it, and then he ended up in the nearest snow-drift. Upside-down. With snake-bites.

That bloke needed a holiday.

He caught movement far down the track and signalled Kotetsu.

His heart raced, pushing adrenaline into his body. But it turned out to be only a warthog.

He really hated Autumn missions.

----

"So, who's Shino?"

Kiba nearly choked on his dinner.

Kotetsu was grinning at him.

They had ended up having to set up lean-to's. Made of canvas stretched between two trees and weighted down with rocks, they kept out the rain, but not much of the wind. Kiba and Kotetsu were currently huddled under one together for warmth, Akamaru was across the small clearing under one of his own, Izumo was on watch.

Kiba coughed, clearing his throat. "No one – just an old team mate, from my Genin days." He swallowed a mouthful of tea.

"Sounded like he was a bit more than that, last night."

Kiba nearly choked again. Akamaru whined at him, letting him know he was being an idiot. So he really had spoken in his sleep. Crap.

He didn't know how to respond, so he didn't.

Eventually, he slept again.

----

Finally, the mark showed up.

They stayed in their respective tree's until Kotetsu was certain of the mark, watching the man and his entourage warily walk down the track.

There were eleven men, including their mark, of varying sizes and chakra strength. Kiba sniffed. Varying idea's of what counted as hygiene as well, from the smell. None of them were in the Bingo Book, so it wasn't expected to be a hard job.

Watching them carefully, Kiba counted a half-dozen swords, carried in varying degrees of expertise, a pair of axes and three staffs. Five of the men were wearing marked hitai-ites, all from Mist. Brilliant. Even though they weren't in the Bingo Book, simply being from Mist meant they were going to be trouble.

Kotetsu signalled and the fun began.

The mission was to capture their mark and take him back to Konoha for questioning. He didn't know what about and he didn't particularly care, but from the scroll, it had looked urgent.

Izumo attacked first, trapping as many as he could with his Suiton-Mizuame Nabara. The Mist ninja dodged it, yelling in surprise, weapons drawn. But the mark and the other body-guards were not so lucky.

Kotetsu summoned his weapon, dropping the scroll as he ran, Kiba dropped from his tree right on top of a Mist ninja. With a growl, he slit the ninja's throat with his claws, before the man even registered the attack.

Loosing sight of Kotetsu, Kiba face two more ninja, Akamaru at his side. He had a feeling they were going to taunt him. He was right. The taller of the pair brandished his sword (Kiba noted how inexpertly he did that, compared to Sasuke or Sai) "Here, doggy!"

Not terribly inventive, but he'd heard worse.

Akamaru growled, Kiba grinned, showing off sharp canines, and they launched. In perfect synchronicity, the two ninja's went down, one throat torn out by Akamaru's teeth, the other impaled on his own sword.

A damp mist suddenly spread over the forest, snaking through the trees, turning everything to formless shadows. There was a whistle from Kotetsu – the mark was captured. Now it was only the clean-up.

The problem with a mist like this was that only the Mist ninja new how to fight in it – the remaining body-guards were useless. Kiba didn't worry though – it didn't bother him in the slightest.

He closed his eyes and relied on his sense of smell.

Six were already dead, the mark taken, that left four, three of them Mist ninjas. Taking a deep breath, he sorted through the scents. Kotetsu and Izumo – knowing his talents – had retreated, taking the mark with them. But they weren't so far away they couldn't help if he needed it. Akamaru was slinking through the mists off to his right.

Six corpses were strewn in haphazard fashion all over the area. Sniffing again, Kiba noted the three remaining Ninja were in the tree's above and around him.

The lone body-guard was ahead of him, stinking of fear and blood. He headed for him first. It was the axe-wielding man. He was big, bulky, bald. Slow. Far too slow to best Kiba. The man heard him coming and swung around, murder in his eyes.

The axes swept over him, one missing him by mere inches. They swung back up, he was using them like clubs and not very well, at that. In mere seconds, Kiba broke through the body-guards defences and broke his neck.

This was boring. He hadn't even had to use any of his real skills. Taking a deep breath, he realised the ninja's were on the move. He whistled and Kotetsu appeared, "They're running. Three Mist ninja, heading north. Want I should go get them?"

Kotetsu nodded, "We can't leave witnesses on this one. Eliminate them while we get the mark back to camp."

Kiba nodded sharply, barked for Akamaru and they set off into the trees.

----

It didn't take long to catch up to the men. There was no way they could hide from him.

Sliding a kunai from his bag, he palmed it, tracking the slowest of the three. Akamaru wuffed at his side and he looked – shit!

He ducked just in time – the water clone nicked his cheek, cutting through the tribal tattoo. Now that was just plain annoying. He left the clone to Akamaru and continued after the ninja.

It was just his luck that it had been raining for days on end. There was plenty of water around for the Mist ninja to play with. As he ran, he formed seals, muttering 'Shikyaku No Jutsu' under his breath, moments later; he was tearing through the forest on all fours.

It was so much easier this way. His claws lengthened, his sense of smell sharpened exponentially, his strength and agility went through the roof.

He caught up to the ninja in no time – the rear never saw him coming. It was a simple matter of using one of his simplest Tsūgatechniques, launching himself at the man, spinning, growling, claws and teeth and kunai. The man went down almost immediately, a mess of blood and flesh, nothing but a shocked scream announcing his death.

The other two caught on quickly and suddenly the forest was crawling with a deep, thick mist again. He paused to take a deep breath. He could barely scent them – what was going on?

Suddenly the ground shook and he looked around – the two men were slightly to his right and ahead of him – standing close together, forming seals. The ground under his hands and feet cracked and began issuing streams of water upwards.

He growled as the puddles began streaming into the air, all the water in the area collecting into one large suspended globe. He had to end this now. It looked like they needed to pool their chakra to pull this move off, so he really only needed to kill one of them. Good.

"Akamaru!"

The great dog barked and was by his side in a moment. "Lend me your chakra." Akamaru wuffed and pressed against him, the transfer was almost instantaneous and he felt himself change. The Kitsune Jutsu worked its magic on his body. His face contorted into a muzzle, his legs became wolf-like, his ears stretched and reformed, a smattering of chestnut fur covered his body. A tail ripped through his trousers. In a matter of seconds he looked part wolf, part man.

He launched himself at the pair of ninja, feeling their chakra slipping – they were obviously attempting a Jutsu too powerful for them. One broke off, forming quick seals. A blast of water from the slowly spinning globe hit him in the ribs, throwing him to the right, but he simply shook it off and leapt at them again.

This time the water was solid, almost knife like – he dodged most, but took two in the thigh, before he reached the man.

He swept the ninja to the side. As the ninja fell, more seals were formed and hands grasped ice-kama. In the split second between being struck and falling, the kami were created and swung at Kiba's head.

He caught one on his forearm, feeling bone crunch as he did, the blunt point nearly splitting skin and muscle as he blocked its impact. Growling, he jumped to the side, flexing the broken arm, testing his claws. Not enough damage to put him out of action.

He eyed the kami warily, ears twitching in thought. The second ninja had completed the jutsu – they now had a substantial amount of water to work with. He had to end this quickly.

Tail lashing, he crouched and launched at the kami-wielding ninja. He ducked the weapons this time, crooked his fingers, splaying razor-sharp claws, and slashed. The man was struck; he dropped a kami, his left arm now hanging uselessly.

The second ninja formed seal after seal and Kiba had to dodge ice shuriken. Dull thuds could be heard as they struck trees in his stead. Using the mist to his own advantage, he used the split-second confusion over whether he had been struck or not, to disappear into the trees.

He stalked around, all sense trained on the two ninja, enjoying the thrill of the hunt. He knew he had to end this soon, for his own sake as well as the missions. If he stayed in this form too long, he could become too accustomed to it. As fun as it sounded to spend his life in half-wolf form, better able to understand Akamaru and the others in the pack, he had a vague sense that someone important wouldn't approve.

He shook his head. Too much thinking, not enough action.

Before either of the ninja knew what was happening, he was upon them. A single swipe of his claws sliced through the air, the first ninja and the ground behind him, opening deep welts in the ground. The ninja fell dead, blood, gore, the scent of death. Oh, this was fun!

The second ninja tried to stop him, forming seals that made the water snake towards him, almost like solid tentacles – some managed to wrap around his limbs – but to no avail. He was far too strong now.

Despite the snake-like water clinging to him, he lunged forward and caught the ninja. A kunai found its way into his ribs, another into his shoulder, but he didn't care. He tore out the mans throat with his teeth.

And just like that, it was over.

Panting, he stood over the bodies, as the water fell back to the earth and the mist dissipated. When he looked up, Akamaru was approaching him, ears flat, tail tucked between his legs, almost crawling on his elbows.

He had to change back. He pulled the kunai from his shoulder and ribs and allowed Akamaru to touch him. Immediately he became more aware of himself as a person, not a wolf and dropped to his haunches.

"…ow…shit…"

----

Izumo gave him a dire look when he finally returned to camp.

"Can we safely assume you stopped the witnesses from escaping?"

Kiba nodded and allowed the older man to fuss over him – he pulled his jacket off and received a withering glare for the welts and kunai wounds. The welts were left behind after the snake-like water had dropped from him; apparently it had been holding him tighter than he thought.

He winced as Izumo inspected the puncture to his ribs. "Nothing much we can do about these 'til we get back to Konoha, I'm afraid."

Kiba nodded his understanding and lifted his arms to allow Izumo to wrap bandages around his ribs and over his right shoulder.

Kotetsu simply nodded to him and handed him a bowl of (finally!) warm stew.

"We'll set off for home once you've slept."

Kiba was grateful. He really shouldn't have allowed the hunt to get to him like it had. He'd overdone it again. His Ma was going to kill him – not to mention how Sakura would react.

As he ate, he wondered how Shino would react. He smiled to himself as he pictured the slight quirk of an eyebrow he would no doubt receive.

Well. He would receive if the guy wasn't still avoiding him when he got home.

----

TBC