A/N: Hi there! Kiina3, here. I'm new around the site, and this is my first story. Well, I supposed you could call it 'stories.' See, what I'm planning to do is a 100-themes sort of thing, based upon the Naruto world. What can I say - I'm obsessed. Anyway, I hope you enjoy, and please, remember to review!

One - Introduction - Team Kurenai

Everyone knows that when you're looking forward to something, it seems to take so much longer for it to arrive. Combine that fact with a state of chronic impatience, and the time can almost double. Especially for one Kiba Inuzuka.

"Seriously, what's taking her so long?" he said, hands shoved deep in the pockets of his jacket. "She was supposed to meet us right after the orientation - that was ten minutes ago."

Shino turned slightly to look at his new teammate. "Exactly. It's only been ten minutes, so calm down. She'll be here."

Rolling his eyes, Kiba looked around again - still no sign of their sensei. "Hey, Hinata - you're the only one of us who's actually met her - what's she like?" Barely giving the timid girl time to answer, he immediately launched into speculation. "I've never heard of her before, so she's gotta be new. Oh man, what if she's one of these 'prove her worth' types and is a total pain? Or where everything has to be done according to the rules, or we get the blame for it? Or -"

"No, she's not like that at all!" Hinata burst out, unable to take it anymore. "Kurenai-sensei is a really nice person! She came to my house and talked to my father -"

"Yeah, but that's with your dad," Kiba pointed out. "What if she was only pretending to be nice because he was there?"

Hinata shook her head hard. "No, she wouldn't -"

"But how do you know?" Kiba pressed, grinning in spite of himself. "I mean, I know you're supposed to be able to see pretty much anything with that Byakugan stuff, but you can't read minds, right?" Akamaru, zipped into the front of Kiba's jacket barked twice in agreement.

"Kiba." Shino's voice cut firmly across the noise. "Stop scaring Hinata."

There was a barely-audible rustle from behind the dog-handler. "Yes, Kiba. You really shouldn't speak like that about people behind their backs," said a new voice. The boy spun to find himself staring at his sensei; patches of red rapidly coloured his cheeks. Akamaru whimpered and ducked down out of sight.

"K-Kurenai-sensei . . . ."

One dark eyebrow arched over a dark red eye. "That's me. Now - do you have something you'd like to say to Hinata?"

Kiba dropped his gaze, knowing full well he'd been caught. "Sorry, Hinata."

"It's okay."

Kurenai nodded, apparently satisfied. "Well, now that that's out of the way - I'm your sensei, Kurenai Yūhi. I already know you, Hinata, and the boy with the big mouth is obviously Kiba . . . ." A fresh blush worked it's way onto the Inuzuka's face. " . . . . Which means that you must be Shino," she finished, looking to the last person in the little group and receiving a nod in return.

"Excellent. Now, let's see . . . . Kiba Inuzuka."

The boy jumped. "Yes, ma'am!"

"Unless you've faked your last name, you're of the Dog-User clan, correct?" The boy nodded warily. "Ah, good. Am I to take it then, that the lump inside your jacket is your dog?" As if on cue, Akamaru popped out, yapping twice before leaning forward to sniff curiously at Kurenai's proffered hand.

"Yes, ma'am. This is Akamaru."

Kurenai smiled, before turning her attention to the team in general. "Excellent. Well - with formalities out of the way, I believe it's time to get down to business." And so it was that Team 8 came together for the first time.