Some days are just worse than others. Some days it seems like everything just fits to your will while others the world's against you.

Today is one of those days.

I, Shino Aburame, have been on a mission with my overly absurd teammate Kiba in the frigid snow country for about three days now. Already it's been far too long. That's not even including the fact we have yet to arrive in the lands of the feudal lord who hired us and so have yet to sit through all the long political meetings. Our job was overly simple; I almost think a team of genins should have gotten it, not me and Kiba, who were both advancing nicely toward Jounin status. All we had to do was watch over a plump feudal lord and make sure no one successfully killed him during his meetings. Most likely he was just being paranoid as are most feudal lords.

With a barking laugh to Akamaru Kiba flung himself onto a particularly large pile of frozen water and proceeded to make a snow angel. I shivered in my large coat by simply looking at the other boy, who was in a coat only slightly larger than his usual one.

I was cold. I was inconceivably cold. My insects were cold too. Beneath my skin they twittered and buzzed in an attempt to dispel the chill. Even under my coat and all the scarves and mittens I shivered and my insects quivered.

Aburame's were not made for cold.

It really didn't help that insects were cold blooded.

"C'mon Shino, lets take a break and enjoy the snow. You know we don't have this back at home." Kiba whined at me for the twenty-sixth time in the past hour.

That means he asks roughly every two point three minutes, I thought automatically. I'd gotten to doing math and counting, whatever I could to get my mind off the cold.

"Please Shino!" Damn it, why does he have to act like such a little kid? He even got the pitch high enough that his voice grated in my ears.

"No." I replied simply. I was afraid if I said any more my teeth would chatter and give away my discomfort. Would Kiba ever let me hear the end of this if he knew?

Kiba gave up his mission in a huff. I smiled to myself; it was a good thing Kiba was learning when he should just give up. Too bad it didn't last in the long term.

We walked in silence for a moment longer, the only sound the crunching of the annoying snow under our shoes. I decided that I would rather lose all my precious insects than ever have to do this again. Then I figured out that 372 divided by 6 was 62, meaning if we had eight more days in a year every month would 31 days, every single one of them. Then there would be none of this every-month-has-a-different-amount-of-days-than-the-last-one nonsense. That would make it a lot easier on the young ones trying to learn such things.

"Are you shaking, Shino?" Kiba's annoying voice broke through my thoughts, bringing the cold back in an inescapable wall. I noticed that we'd slowed down while I was thinking, and without the movement I'd gotten chilled.

"N-no. No!" Damn that infernal cold! Damn Kiba for being so annoying! I took a breath, which I noted frosted in the air in front of me, some of it fogging my glasses. "No." I repeated a last time.

He shrugged, turning back to our path. "Whatever, lets just get going, we're almost there."

I looked up, finally noticing the houses that were coming up fast. They stood out against the snow and smoke billowed nicely out of the chimney. The thought of the heat made me pick up the pace again.

We'd finally made it to civilization, and warmth, in this absurdly cold and un-welcoming place.

"So where do we go in the village?" Kiba asked, his nose obviously twitching in the direction of food.

I took out the map the Hokage had given us with our destination on it. "Through the town. The feudal lord's palace is on the very edge. No we can't stop for food." I answered all his questions at once. He dropped his head and continued on without a word. I was glad; I didn't want to stand around arguing with comfort from the cold so close.

Finally I could get warm and, with luck, get a break from Kiba. Even with years of experience dealing with him I can't say it was that easy after an extended period of time.

"You must be the shinobi the Master hired?" A servant greeted us at the door. Already my fingers were tingling in the thawing sensation. "Right this way, he will see you in a moment." And he left us outside a magnificently ornate red door.

"What a prig." Kiba whistled. My hand twitched in irritation, but I was in too good a mood to reprimand him, so he continued obliviously. "I hope their not all such prick nobles. Fucking bastards would annoy the hell outta me."

"Out of." I corrected quietly. I didn't know how to respond to his comments without ruining the happiness the warmth brought. Inside I could almost feel the calm my kikaichu had settled into. It was nice.

"The master will see you now." It was someone new, the previous servant must have returned to manning the door. This one was a woman, old, wrinkled, probably more of an advisor than a servant. She made a show of turning her nose up at us when we walked past. I had to put a hand on Kiba in order to remind him of his place.

The man in the room was unmistakably the feudal lord. He wore rich red robes that draped nicely, almost disguising the rolls of fat underneath. Then again they did nothing to disguise his multiple chins. He looked young, his face shiny and shaven. His eyes glinted like a child looking at candy; though he did have a big bowl of the stuff beside him. Every once in while he would reach over and stuff another piece of the refined sugar past his lips.

It took him a minute to take his eyes off a cute maid to notice us. Beside me I noticed Kiba was doing the same thing, but he was Kiba after all, I expected nothing less from him. It was the feudal lord I was slightly disappointed in. I'm not here to judge an inadequate lord, I reminded myself, and then gave my supposed partner a discreet elbow in the ribs.

"Are you the shinobi I ordered?" Even his voice was sending shivers of disgust down my spine. It was high, like a child's, and slightly squeaky. I was sure spit flew out with every word. There were even small spots of drool staining the red of his robe.

"Yes," I answered quickly before Kiba could ruin our first impression, "We are the guards you requested." I had to correct him, however subtly. I could tell that I wasn't going to particularly enjoy being with this man, despite the fact he provided me with warmth.

On that note my insects were finally settling down under my skin. Their buzzing was finally receding into the background noise. It was nice.

He clapped his pudgy hands. How childlike was this man? "Oh goody! Nana, show them to their room."

The cute maid returned and motioned us toward another door. We followed, Kiba like the love struck puppy he is. "The Lord wishes you to join him for dinner, so you may clean up in your room until then. We hope you find all to your liking."

"Oh, I find everything to my-" I sent a few of my insects to Kiba as a reminder that he should behave like his status requires. I think he got the message, more or less.

"Here's your room. The dining hall is down this hall to your left. I've been asked by the Lord to remind you that it's the room with the big table." So the feudal lord had no inhibitions against letting us know he thought us no more than trained monkeys. Oh well, I thought him no more than a fat slob with too much power and not enough brain, to put it as Kiba would.

"Room? Only one?" Kiba protested before I could stop him. Maybe it had been on purpose, seeing as I was thinking the same thing, but no one knew that.

"The Lord only had one room prepared for you guests. If you have any problems, please talk to him. I am merely doing as I was told."

"Thank you." I said, again before Kiba could get in his word, which probably would not have been nearly so pleasant. She bowed and left with a final reminder about the time and place of dinner.

We walked into our room, dumping our bags just inside the door until they were needed. Then I took the few seconds needed to survey our new living space.

It was small. Too small. It was the size one person might get for a bedroom when renting their first cheap apartment. It was certainly not made for two teenage boys to share.

And there was only one bed.

Now I'd read stories where this sort of thing happened, and usually the two ended up much closer the following day.

I wasn't about to ever let that happen with me and Kiba.

Kiba could sleep on the floor. Dogs do that, don't they?

"Only one bed..." Kiba muttered his face unreadable.

"Yes."

"...and one shower..." I hadn't though of that.

"It's not that big of a deal."

"...yeah..." He said slowly. I glanced at him, not perceiving a problem as he obviously did. "So, um, how are we going to do this? I mean-" His eyes flickered everywhere but at me, seeing thoughts that were only in his own mind. My brow furrowed, a reaction I gladly hid from him, what could he possibly be thinking?

"You'll sleep on the floor." I replied simply.

"Oh right." He seemed relieved. Why, I couldn't even begin to understand. This setback was nothing compared to what shinobi usually dealt with when traveling in groups. "Well, I think I'll just use the shower." His voice was set with an obviously fake lightness. He was hiding something.

I set about changing into cleaner clothing while he was away. I didn't even bother to try and think about what could be bothering Kiba, probably that he couldn't secretly spend the night with Nana the maid while I was in the room or something of the like. I jumped when a sudden thump and a string of curses came from the bathroom. Only Kiba being annoying even when not even in the room.

Against what the feudal lord thought we found the dining hall with no problem. Though the maid wasn't kidding that it was the room with the big table. The table took up the room. The table made the room. It was a complete waste of space. The feudal lord was the only person sitting at the table, the servants that stood throughout the room forbidden to sit. There were only three chairs as well; one on either side of where the Lord sat at the head of the table.

Kiba and I took our seats politely, waiting for the feudal lord to make the first move. We watched in silence as he finished ordering all his servants and cooks around. There was almost no table left once he was done; there were so many plates and serving platters of every sort of food imaginable. Kiba eagerly drooled in that disgustingly animalistic way of his, though for once he was out pigged. Beside me the feudal lord had a puddle of drool on his plate before any food was shoveled on it.

Soon mine was the only cleared dish on the table.

"Aren't you going to eat Shino?" Kiba mumbled past a mouthful of meat.

"Eventually," Once I get my appetite back, "it's been my experience that we go over the job before eating."

Beside me the feudal lord stop eating, a wad of steak halfway into his mouth, he looked at me for a moment then gave an attempt at a polite cough while he spit out what he was eating. "Of course. This was just…a test. To be sure you know your manners. Those are very important to a feudal lord, especially in front of others."

Which was why he wasn't worrying about how many peoples were sprayed with spittle while he talked. Right.

"O…kay." Kiba wasn't very happy with this. Knowing him he was probably either really angry with me or downright confused. Served him right. "What do you want to talk about Shino?"

"When should we expect to meet the other Feudal lords?" I fixed the lord with a stare that stopped his meaty hand halfway to his lips.

"A couple of days," He tried for smooth as he reluctantly put down his fork. "It'll take awhile to get there."

"Get there?" Kiba broke his own longing gaze to shoot a look at the pig-man sitting next to him, "I though they were coming here."

The Feudal lord let out a high pitched laugh that set my kikaichu buzzing again. "No, no, as if my little place could suit some of the other feudal lords regal tastes. And it's so far out here that quite a few would refuse to come altogether. So I have to go to them."

I don't think I'll be eating much tonight, I thought to myself as I was forced to watch the Feudal lord's skin bounce while he giggled to himself. Let's just say it was not the most pleasant sight. Across from me I could see that Kiba regretted his few bites earlier.

"When do we leave?" I asked after the feudal lord had calmed down some. How long will I have to bear the infernal cold again? I wanted to ask, but had to bite it back for fear of being rude.

"How long's it going to take exactly?" For a split second I was almost content with how obnoxious and oblivious to courtesy Kiba was, "Shino doesn't like to travel very much." And the feeling was gone.

At that possibly true comment the feudal lord treated me to a glance with fear that was just as badly hidden as a child playing hide and seek thinks they are behind a bush. As a side thought I wondered just how many peoples had given me that look throughout my life. Enough that it didn't bother me, anyway. I didn't even spare a thought as to why they seemed to think I was in the slightest bit dangerous.

"I'm sorry to say that we must leave tomorrow if we're to make it in time. It's about a three day trip."

"When should we be ready?" I asked politely, trying to get the feudal lord to stop his staring.

"What? I just said tomorrow."

"When should we be ready to leave your, um, castle tomorrow?" I clarified.

"Whenever I'm ready to go we'll go." He shrugged, sending his double-or is it a triple? - chin jiggling again. It was not pleasant.

Annoying little… "Thank you." I had to grit my teeth to stop from even breathing some of the things that were going through my mind. I nodded and hoped the two numbskulls I was being forced to eat with would get the hint that they could start their dinner.

They didn't.

"Anything else?" The lord was shaking with anticipation of the meal. Or perhaps withdrawal? I though to myself, He has gone a whole five minutes without something going past his lips.

"Nothing." I had to bite back a small growl that threatened to color my word.

"Then let's eat!" The feudal lord clapped his hands and servants rushed in to heap all three plates with food. One look at the impossible amount of food I was expected to eat and my stomach churned. Watching Kiba practically dive into his own mountain was the last I could take. I pushed my plate away and stood up.

"My apologies, Lord. I'm afraid I'm not feeling that well. If it's all the same to you I'd like to return to my room."

Kiba gave me a concerned look before asking if I was sure. It was almost sweet, but I think the beans that were cramming his mouth kind of ruined the effect.

"I'm just a little tired." Of putting up with you two. I added silently as I turned my back to them. "Feel free to eat my share."

The silence and seclude of the room provided was a relief. After days of walking and listening to Kiba and Akamaru it was like a breath of fresh air. Taking off my jacket I sat on the bed, closed my eyes and just reveled in the silence.

Notes- The usual disclaimer; I'm not the creator of Shino or Kiba or anything in the Naruto world, I'm just twisting them for my own pleasure. Well, i hope you enjoy i too. This is supposed to be part 1 of 3, but as I'm writing it, I'm realizing it might go on longer.

Reviews, both good and bad, are greatly loved and appreciated.