F A M I L I A R

Setting Up Camp

My eyes were closed, my breathing slowed, and the only sound I could hear was my own blood rushing through my ears. All of my concentration was centered in the palm of my hand, which was currently submerged in the ground before me. Usually, I keep my hands above ground when I use my jutsu, but I can sense farther distances this way. I focused on the ripples of chakra that flowed from the dirt into my hand and back out again, each ripple reaching farther and wider than before. After a few minutes of stillness, I reopened my eyes and pulled my hand from the ground.

"Everything seems clear, I don't sense any suspicious movements right now. Its all wildlife." I stated, brushing the excess dust from my hand on my pants.

Dusk started to settle in about twenty minutes ago, and Shino thought it wise to stop for the night. Since my feet were screaming from all the walking, I definitely wasn't protesting. He sent his bugs out to search our immediate area, and had me search the extended area, about a 1 kilometer radius all around us to be exact.

"Good. My bugs haven't sensed any threats either," Shino said. "Let's go ahead and set up camp here then."

As if to punctuate his sentence, Kiba dropped his pack onto the ground in a dramatic fashion. "Thank god, I thought we were never going to stop."

"Oh, don't be so dramatic Kiba. It wasn't that bad," I said, sticking my tongue out at him. He rolled his eyes and shook his head in response, but sent me a quick smirk as he turned to sit down.

"N-not so fast Kiba," Hinata spoke, "W-we should probably go find some firewood, r-right?"

"Nah, I can make that stuff in a second," I said, snapping my fingers for effect.

"While that is true, we should still replenish our water supply," Shino added. "My bugs say they witnessed a small spring not far from here to our east." He gestured to Hinata, "You and Kiba go ahead and take our canteens. I'm sure Asuna wont have a problem building our shelter."

"Of course I get stuck walking more," Kiba said with an aggrivated tone. He bent down to grab his water container and I threw my canteen at him, attempting to catch him off guard. He caught it with ease even though he wasn't looking in my direction.

"Hm, I didn't know dogs had cat-like reflexes," I said sarcastically. He only looked up and winked at me as a response, before turning his attention to Hinata. 

"Come on, Hinata. Let's get this water."

As they turned and began walking away, I realized that this meant I was going to be alone with Shino for at least a couple minutes. I looked over in his direction and noticed he was already looking at me. My eyes widened slightly, surprised that I didn't notice his stare. 

I wish I could see his eyes.

I bit back my nervousness and decided to make conversation, even thought I wasn't sure how to talk to this guy.

"Soo... Shino... What should I start with, firewood or shelter?" I stretched my arms out in front of me, interlacing my fingers and cracking my knuckles as I did so.

"Do I make you uncomfortable or something?" He spoke slowly. I guess he noticed my mood.

Well, might as well be honest.

"No, not uncomfortable exactly," I faltered, trying to pick my words carefully. "You just don't give off a friendly vibe? I'm not sure if that's your intention or not, but you make me feel like you don't want me around."

He seemed to hesitate and I bit my lip out of habit. I really hoped that I didn't offend him.

"I'm sorry you feel that way. That is not my intention at all, but I do feel like our team could have accomplished this mission without you." As he spoke his shoulders seem to relax, which told me he was also being honest. "It's not that I doubt your skills, but we already have three tracker ninja on our team, I do not particularly understand why Tsunade wanted you to accompany us as well... and firewood first if you don't mind."