A/N: Well, here's another idea that's been stuck in my head. Slight OOC.

Characters: Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Neji, Lee, Tenten, Gai, Naruto and anyone else that writes themselves in this story.

Pairings: None, except for some slight NaruHina

Summary: Kiba decides that Hinata needs help with her confidencearound Naruto, so he drags Shino to see Neji, who says they should talk to….Lee?

Confidence

"T-t-thank you, Naruto-kun."

"No problem, Hinata-chan!" exclaimed Uzumaki Naruto, his cerulean eyes lighting up as he grinned at the blushing girl in front of him. "It's the least I could do after you tipped me off about those guys that were sneaking up behind me!"

"I-it was nothing, really," mumbled Hyuuga Hinata, blushing furiously.

Team 8 had been assigned a mission to wipe out a few bandits that were terrorizing a small town near the Fire Country's border. Since their sensei Kurenai was pregnant, she had been unable to join the mission. Instead, Aburame Shino had been made the team captain and Naruto had joined them along the mission.

The mission itself had been pretty simple, but at one point during the fighting, two of the bandits had tried to sneak up behind Naruto. He hadn't noticed them, being caught up in fighting the leader of the bandits, but Hinata had. Her warning allowed him to dodge their attack and take them out. Naruto had decided to treat Team 8 to Ramen at Ichiraku's for a mission well done.

"Just take the praise, Hinata," grinned Inuzuka Kiba as he began eating his 3rd bowl of steaming ramen. "I mean, when does Naruto offer to treat us like this?"

The rest of the meal passed by quickly, with Naruto and Kiba talked loudly about the mission and the food, all while Hinata listened and Shino said nothing. When they were done, Naruto got up and stretched.

"Well, I'm gonna head home now. See ya guys later," he said as he gave Teuchi the money to pay the bill. He exited the shop and said, "Bye, Hinata-chan!"

Hinata blushed brightly and returned the goodbye quietly. When Naruto was gone, Kiba turned on his seat and grinned at Hinata.

"He totally wants you, Hinata," said the Inuzuka. Hinata's face was scarlet.

"Arf!" cried a massive white dog at Kiba's feet.

"See, even Akamaru thinks so!" said Kiba.

"Naruto-kun likes Sakura-san," Hinata mumbled quietly. "Not me."

"Well then he's an idiot ain't he? Any sane person would choose you over Sakura," Kiba told her.

"You're too kind," Hinata said, her face red once again, although there was a small smile on her face. "It's time for me to return to the manor. See you tomorrow, Kiba-kun, Shino-kun."

She bent down to pet Akamaru. "You too," she said smiling. She left, leaving Kiba and Shino alone sitting at the stand. Kiba frowned once Hinata was gone.

"We've got a problem," he said to Shino. The other teen raised an eyebrow.

"Which is…" Shino said.

"Hinata! She's got like no confidence when it comes to that idiot Naruto!" Kiba exclaimed. "I mean, how dense can that blond be that he can't see Hinata practically melts at the sound of his voice."

"I doubt Hinata is that smitten with Uzumaki," Shino said coolly. At Kiba's disbelieving expression, he reluctantly added, "Although it might be true."

"That's what I thought," Kiba remarked smugly as Akamaru barked.

"What would you do if Naruto got together with Hinata and then hurt her?" Shino asked.

"Kill him," Kiba said simply. "If it was the other way around though, then at least it'd mean Hinata worked up the courage to do it, which would be good…I think."

"Either way, Hinata has had confidence issues since we became genin. She's been improving as the years have gone by," said the bug user.

"Yeah, except when it comes to Naruto," Kiba said. "I wish we could do something."

"If you really want to help, you should talk to other females her age for advice," said Shino.

"Like who?"

"Sakura."

"I think she has a thing for Naruto, so no," Kiba said.

"Then In-"

"Not Ino," Kiba interrupted. "Akamaru and I don't like her."

"ARF!"

"Tenten," Shino said.

"She's a year older," Kiba said. Seeing Shino's raised eyebrow, he hastily added "and she might tell Neji."

Shino gave him a questioning (or was it? He could never tell with those shades and that hood..) glance.

"I don't like Neji," Kiba said. It was true. He had hated the guy for what he had done to Hinata, but he felt respect for him after what they went through together during the Sasuke Retrieval mission. He also knew that he had changed and that he got along with Hinata now. However, Kiba still didn't quite like him.

"Well," Shino said, "Neji lives with Hinata and spends a lot of time with her training."

"So do we," Kiba interjected. Shino ignored him.

"Maybe you should go to him for assistance," said the bug user.

"No," Kiba dead-panned. Shino glared at him through his shades.

"If you refuse help from Sakura, Ino, and Tenten, then Neji is the next logical choice," Shino stated.

"What about Kurenai-sensei?"

"No," Shino said.

"Tenten, then" Kiba said.

"Go to Neji."

"Tenten."

"Neji," Shino said. Kiba glared at him before sighing, defeated.

"Neji it is."

The Hyuuga Manor was probably one of the largest buildings in all of Konoha. No matter how many times he, Akamaru and Shino went there to pick up Hinata, Kiba still felt slightly intimidated. At least until they went inside. The large garden was the perfect place for him and Akamaru to roll around and play. Kiba looked at Shino, who was standing next to him, silent as usual. He had forced the bug user to accompany him, and Shino had only come because they were doing this for Hinata's benefit.

When the group of 3 arrived at the entrance, the current guard looked them up and down. "I was not aware that Team 8 had training today," he said.

"We don't," Kiba replied.

"Then you wish to spend time with Hinata-sama?"

"Not exactly," Kiba said. "You see-"

"We seek Neji," Shino said abruptly.

"Neji-san?" asked the guard, surprised.

"Yeah," Kiba said.

"Arf!"

"Very well then," the guard said as he moved aside. "Neji is currently training with his teammate in the training field located to the west."

"Thanks a lot," said Kiba, and he followed Akamaru inside, Shino bringing up the rear.

The training field was easy to locate, mostly due to the sounds coming from it. Kiba whistled as a rather large explosion shook the ground. "Neji's sure going at it," he told Shino. The other teen nodded slightly.

When they arrived at the training field, they noticed a multitude of weapons, which meant that the teammate Neji was training with was…

"Hey guys," said a bright voice. Kiba and Shino looked at Tenten as she smiled. She was covered in dirt and she was sweaty, but it did not take away from her beauty. At least that's what Kiba thought. He returned her smile with a grin of his own and beside him, Shino inclined his head his in acknowledgement.

"What're you doing here?" Tenten asked.

"We're looking for Neji," Kiba told her. Tenten looked slightly confused as she responded, "he'll be right back. He went to get some water."

Kiba nodded and Akamaru chose that time to run over and lick Tenten's face, who laughed and began petting him. Soon after, Kiba noticed Hyuuga Neji coming towards them. The older boy had a look of mild curiosity as he spotted his 3 guests. Tenten waved at him.

"They're looking for you," she said. His curiosity having been increased, Neji hurried to the field. When he arrived, Tenten took one of the water bottles he had and began resealing her weapons into her scrolls. Neji turned to the members of Team 8.

'Why are you here?" he asked. Kiba felt a twinge of annoyance at the way the question was proposed but ignored it.

"We need advice," the Inuzuka responded. Seeing Neji's confused expression and Tenten stop sealing her weapons, he added, "about Hinata."

Tenten's eyes widened. "So you do like her? God, now I have to pay Ino," she said. It was Kiba's turn to be surprised.

"Wait, what?"

"Ino thinks you have a crush on her and she bet against me," Tenten said bitterly.

"If I liked Hinata, why would I come to Neji for advice, and why would I say we need it?" Kiba asked.

"So you don't like her?"

"No."

"Oh, ok," Tenten said, relieved. They both noticed that Neji hadn't said a word, and noticed that he was conversing with Shino. After a few moments, Neji nodded and said, "I see."

"So," Neji said to Kiba, "you want to help Hinata-sama with her confidence?"

"Yeah," Kiba nodded. "Shino said you'd be the best choice since you spend so much time with her nowadays."

"Perhaps," said Neji. "However, I'm not the best person to ask. I've never excelled at teaching others, and Hinata-sama needs someone to teach her how to be confident." He seemed to ponder something for a few moments before nodding to himself. "Have you tried Lee?"

"Lee?" Tenten said, voicing Kiba's thoughts.

"Yes, Lee," Neji sighed.

"But Lee doesn't know anything about Hinata!" Kiba exclaimed.

"Lee is a very confident individual, perhaps too much so. Either way, he could really help Hinata-sama build up her confidence," Neji said.

Kiba turned to Shino. "What do you think?"

Shino seemed to hesitate before answering, "It's plausible."

"But the guy's a weirdo!" Kiba protested. Tenten and Neji both glared at him. "I mean," he continued, gulping, "he's an amazing ninja and I respect him, but he's weird. He might influence Hinata."

"So you have a problem with Lee?" Tenten asked.

"No, but, he's weird, you both know that," Kiba said cautiously.

"Maybe, but you run around talking to dogs, helping them master how to pee in midair, and your best friend has bugs living inside of him, no offense," Tenten said, looking at Shino.

"None taken," said the bug user.

"Anyway, you have no right to call anyone weird," Tenten finished.

Kiba sweatdropped. "Ok, sorry," he apologized. Seeing Tenten nod, he continued. "So, where can we find Lee?"

"The training grounds, where else?" Tenten answered. Neji snorted from beside her at such an obvious question. Kiba rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed.

"Gotcha. Let's go Akamaru," he said, and began walking away. Shino nodded his head at Neji and Tenten before following his teammate. When they were out of sight, Tenten rounded on Neji.

"Lee?" she asked, disbelief in her face. "Do you know in how many ways this could go wrong?"

"…"

"Idiot," Tenten said. She finished sealing her scrolls as Neji continued to drink his water, his face calm.

The trip to the training grounds was quiet and uneventful for two reasons. One, Kiba was thinking about how this plan could go wrong and how he'd kill Lee if Hinata started running around in green spandex. Two, Shino was thinking about the beating Kiba would take if he attacked Lee because Hinata started wearing green spandex. Either way, the teammates made no sound until they approached the training grounds and heard a very familiar voice.

"One thousand!" The shout was followed by the sound of wood smashing and a whoop of happiness. "I did it, Gai-sensei!"

"You did!" answered a booming voice. "And it took you 500 less kicks! Great job, Lee!"

"Thank you Gai-sensei. Your praise means so much," said the voice, sounding slightly choked up.

"Oh Lee, you know I work only so you can become the best ninja," responded the second voice, also choked up.

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"Where the hell did this cliff come from?" Kiba yelped as he realized the ground he, Akamaru and Shino had been standing on had morphed into a cliff overlooking a stunning sunset in the ocean.

"Genjutsu perhaps," Shino said as he brought his hands together. "Kai!"

"…not a genjutsu, eh," Kiba said.

"NOW LEE, STARE INTO THE SUN AND GRASP IT! LET YOUR FLAMES BURN ALL OPPOSITION AND LET YOUR YOUTH SHINE!"

"YOSH!"

Kiba, Shino, and Akamaru stepped into the training field and were met with the sight of two ridiculously dressed shinobi. They wore green spandex with orange legwarmers. Each also had a vest, although one wore a Jounin vest which was unzipped and one wore a Chuunin vest which was closed.

"Ah, it seems we have company!" said Maito Gai, looking at the new arrivals.

"Hello, Kiba-san, Shino-san, Akamaru-san," Lee said brightly.

"Arf!"

The two shinobi returned the greeting and bowed respectfully to the elder ninja.

"Have you come to join us for training?" Lee asked.

"No," Kiba said quickly, appalled at the very thought.

"Gai-sensei, may we borrow Lee for a few moments?" Shino asked respectfully.

"Of course! We are finished anyway," Gai replied. Looking at Lee, he said, "I expect you to continue practicing today and I'll see you tomorrow at 5 A.M. sharp for our morning run!"

"Yosh!" replied Lee. With a blinding smile, Gai disappeared.

"Can I help you with something?" Lee asked the members of Team 8, as he picked up a towel and began wiping his face with it.

"Yeah, we need a favor," Kiba said. Seeing Lee's curious expression, he elaborated. "You know Hinata right?"

"Has something happened to Hinata-san?" Lee asked.

"No," Shino replied. "However, we were hoping you could help her."

"With what?"

"Confidence," Kiba said. "You see, Hinata really likes that idiot Naruto, but he doesn't even notice! He like leads her on without trying to, and she's too afraid and shy to speak up. Neji said you could help her build her confidence."

Lee stayed quiet for along time and Kiba, getting impatient, asked "Will you help?"

"Of course! I know how Hinata-san feels, for I love Sakura-san yet my love in unrequited! However, youth shall prevail and both Hinata-san and I will obtain the people we long for! I'm simply thinking of the best way to go about this," Lee said.

"Right…"

"Yosh!" Lee shouted. "Tell Hinata-san to meet me her tomorrow and 9 A.M. sharp! Until then, farewell!" Lee whirled around took off, smashing a boulder along the way with a single kick.

Watching the enthusiastic boy leave, Kiba turned to Shino. "We made the right decision…right?"

"…"

"Right?"

"ARF!"

A/N: And that's that. This is just a fun side-project for when I'm bored, so don't expect quick updates. This was originally a one-shot, but I would have never gotten around to it if it stayed that way.

For those of you who read my crappy Digimon stories or have read my profile, you know why I'm not updating those.

I was originally going to put this under Friendship/Humor, but I'm not very funny _

So it'll just stay under Genral/friendship.

Review please. Constructive criticism and flames are welcome.