Yuuhi Kurenai knows it's not easy being a jounin, but frankly, she likes it anyway. She gets some pretty kick-ass missions, people have respect for her, she can defend herself easily, and some of her associates are pretty damn hot.

Plus she gets to teach a new batch of genins. At first she was nervous, then she was sad, and finally she was happy. She was nervous because these were her first students, newly graduated genin, and she herself was still pretty new to her rank. She was sad because her students didn't really look all that promising. Then she was happy because she learned that appearances are very deceiving.

She and her students grew close, and they all treated each other like family. Kurenai was the protective mother who made sure people knew that if they messed with her kids, she would not hesitate to destroy them.

Aburame Shino, the prodigy of his clan who served as a house of a colony of destruction bugs, was like her eldest and wisest son who didn't let much faze him and looked out for his siblings.

Inuzuka Kiba, along with his beloved dog Akamaru, were like the rowdy middle child who wanted everything his way or no way, and always watched out for his little sister since his brother could take care of himself.

Hyuuga Hinata, though the eldest daughter from the Hyuuga Main House and its heiress, was the shy youngest who just wanted everyone to get along, and had a kind and caring heart of gold.

Everyone knows that no family is perfect and if it was it would be fake; so there were bumps. Kiba was always complaining about how he should be the leader, kinda like a little brother complains that his big brother gets better stuff. Shino was always far too silent then what should be considered healthy, kinda like an elder brother who ignores his (annoying) younger siblings. Hinata was always stuttering and stammering whenever she talked, much like they shy youngest who wanted nothing more than to hide in her room. Kurenai tended to drive her students to the breaking point with their training, much like the caring mother who makes her children do their homework and their chores before they can play.

And every family gets into fights. Kiba was always trying to tempt Shino into fighting with him, just to get a reaction out of the stoic boy; much like the younger who annoys his elder brother just to see when he'll snap. Like the rebellious child, Kiba tended to argue with Kurenai over things like missions, and Kurenai would argue right back, just like a mother would when she was irritated with her son. And sometimes Kiba or Shino would get Hinata to train with them to try and toughen her up, like the older brothers who didn't want their baby sister to be bullied; and if so, to be able to defend herself.

Their interests varied as well. Kurenai wanted the names of she and her students to be known, respected and remembered, she wanted her students to be the best. Shino wanted the name of his clan to be appreciated and acknowledged, rather than feared. Kiba wanted to be the best ANBU there ever was. Hinata just wanted to help people as a medical-nin.

It's just the way they were, they were apart of each other's worlds, their hearts. The loved each other.

That love for one another began to shine clearly when the chunin exam strolled around the corner. The three of them passed the paper test, were they were really just set up to test their information gathering (cheating) skills, with relative ease. The second part, in the "Forest of Death" where they were meant to gather scrolls, things got a little bumpy when they were almost killed by Gaara of the Sand. If Gaara's sister hadn't stopped him, they might not have made it out of that forest alive. It was the third part of the examination, where they had to actually fight, where things got messy.

During the preliminaries, Kiba's opponent, Uzumaki Naruto, defeated him when the other boy farted and damaged Kiba's over-sensitive nose, causing a domino effect until he was defeated. Kurenai felt embarrassed for herself and for him, Kiba felt humiliated, Shino thought Kiba was a bit of an idiot, and Hinata was worried for him. Shino emerged from his fight against Zaku with barely a scratch, pleasing Kurenai, annoying Kiba, Shino himself being secretly pleased, and Hinata happy for her teammate. It was Hinata's fight that opened eyes and hearts.

Shino and Kurenai had had to watch as she fought against her cousin Neji, while Kiba was in the hospital. Hyuuga against Hyuuga, twelve year old heiress to the Main House and the Clan, against thirteen year old genius of the Branch House...and the Clan. The shy little girl who never liked to fight, the girl they thought they knew so well, stubbornly getting back up each time her cousin, who had no qualms over killing her, knocked her down. Because she was in front of her crush, she didn't want to be weak in front of him. And where did it land her? In critical condition, lying comatose in the bleak hospital bed.

Kurenai had held Hinata after that fight and she glared at Neji fiercely. She may have considered Hinata as a daughter, but there was no way she considered Neji any sort of relation. She wanted nothing more than to pound the snot-nosed little bastard into the ground at that moment. Shino, behind the cover of his glasses, had glared at the older boy just as fiercely. Nobody messed with Hinata without her teammates, her second and REAL family, causing them pain beyond belief. Unfortunately, it was Naruto who would face Neji next; no matter, he had sworn to teach Neji a lesson.

Kiba had told her not to fight, and he was NOT pleased in the SLIGHTEST when he found out what happened to his teammate. He and Akamaru staid by her bedside almost the entire time she was out, looking at her with sad eyes, silently begging her to wake up. Shino would stay nearby at all times too, and if he had to leave her, he would have one of his bugs stay to alert him should she awaken. Kurenai watched over all three of them with a peculiar shine in her eyes, and took care of them even there. None of them relaxed until Hinata awoke again.

Kiba and Akamaru vanished with Naara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, Naruto, and Neji, after the examination was cut short and the five of them were sent after an AWOL Uchiha Sasuke. Hinata fretted nervously and could only train to keep her mind off of things, as did Kurenai and Shino. They also occupied themselves with making sure Hinata, in her odd stubbornness, didn't overdue herself. When Kiba and Akamaru came back, they were in pretty bad shape, but they were alive. And they completed the mission.

Of course, the five of them had their good times. Like when Kurenai had decided that they had had enough physical training and had just announced that they were going to spend a few days together when they showed up for training one day. Or when Hinata had blushingly brought them all a splendidly made bento for lunch and they had sat underneath a shady tree enjoying each other's company. Then there was the time that, when doing an overnight training mission when they were still getting to know each other, Hinata had shyly asked Shino what his bugs could do; in response, Shino had called some fireflies and had them "perform". And every moment with the endless abound of energies that are Kiba and Akamaru is bound to be fun, especially if you happen to be watching the two of them play together.

They had their fair share of bad times; they had their share of good times. In a way, they were like a pack of wolves. Close, not socializing much with anyone else, with a collection of quiet and stoic to rowdy and loud. They looked out for one another no matter what.

They were a family.

-Owari-

VDG: maa, odd beginnings and random typing comes out with stuff like this on occasion, believe it or not!

CEM: or maybe just a bad side effect of eating too much pizza...

VDG: shuddap...

Disclaimer: Do I own Naruto? In the words of someone I don't know: umm-ah-err-anou-umm-tsk-eh-aahh-NO.

-VDG-