Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The name’s rolled one after another on the large screen looking over the rather plain room where the Preliminaries of the Chunin exams were being held. The names stopped.

“Kibana Inuzuka. Vs Naruto Uzumaki.”

“Alright, you hear that Akamaru we got an easy match!” Kiba shouted as she leapt out onto the battlefield, Akamaru landing down beside her with a mighty ruff. Kiba couldn’t help but smile as she watched Naruto nearly fall down onto the arena floor. He completely lacked grace and looked like he had a rough time in the forest.

“Kibana?” Naruto couldn’t help but smile at the ridiculous name. “What kind of name is that?” Naruto broke out into a rich belly laugh at Kiba’s rather unfortunate name. Kiba felt her face grow red at the comment and stomped her feet.

“Shut up!” Kiba barked letting out a deep growl. “My mom sucks at naming things!” Kiba glared hard at Naruto. At least he wasn’t afraid of her the same way the other guys were. Shame he was so attracted to that Sakura girl. “My name’s Kiba! Got it? Kiba!”

Then suddenly they were fighting. Kiba sought a quick victory as Naruto was struggling to even muster any chakra. However it quickly turned into a battle of attrition as pitting Kiba’s stamina against Naruto’s Endurance. Naruto countered Kiba’s aggressive jutsu and techniques with a nearly endless bag of tricks stemming from clones and transformations.

Thanks to Kiba’s All Fours Jutsu, she was pressing the advantage, causing Naruto to stagger and constantly keep on his toes. Unable to build chakra. As Kiba was going in for the final blow, Naruto caught the attack, twisting Kiba’s arm around behind her back and pulling her into a strong grapple.

Squish squish.

Naruto froze as he had one hand on Kiba’s chest. It was squeezing something soft. Kiba wasn’t that fat. Was he?

“Naruto.” Kiba growled as she felt him squeeze her breast. She had frozen too at the sudden contact. A dull fire was building inside of her. “Why are you squeezing my breast?”

“Why do you have boobs?” Naruto counted “Are you like fat or something?” Kiba might not be the girliest girl. There was almost nothing feminine about her personality. But she was still a girl.

“Why wouldn’t I have boobs?” Kiba asked as she began to struggle against Naruto’s grip. The dead last loser was stronger than she thought. Her nose was drinking in Naruto’s scent. That almost sweet earthy aroma that she had only gotten whiffs of before. Now she was drowning in it. It was different from before. Bloodsoaked and filled with sweat but that wasn’t it. The base of the smell had gotten stronger. It reminded her of her father. It was the smell of Strength. Of an Alpha.

“Guys don’t have boobs!” Naruto shouted as he twisted his grip and effortlessly threw Kiba away from him.

The entire room blinked at Naruto. With the exception of Sakura. Kiba landed on her back and scrambled up quickly Glaring at Naruto with a red face.

“I’m a girl you idiot!” Kiba removed her large heavy jacket revealing for the first time her shoulder length brown hair and developing teenage body she had on the standard Kunoichi undergarments, a chainmail shirt coupled with supporting cloth around the chest. The jacket really did hide a lot.

“No way!” That shout didn’t come from Naruto. Though the look on Naruto’s face indicated that’s what he was thinking. It came from Sakura who was looking around to see if anybody else thought it was odd.

“The Inuzuka have no male heir Sakura.” Kakashi said blandly as he continued to watch Naruto’s fight now twice as amused as he was moments ago. “Though I’m surprised both you and Naruto were unaware.” Sakura had the good grace to shut up and simply blush.

“Well whatever.” Naruto finally said after getting over his shock. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a girl there’s still no way I’m going to lose to you believe it!”

“No, You’re not getting of that easy Naruto!” Kiba barked at him. Her face was red with rage and her fists were shaking out of anger. “Did you really think I was a boy!?” And with that Kiba leapt towards Naruto.

XXXX

A weeks had passed since her humiliating defeat at the hands of Naruto. And Kiba was still flustered about it. It wasn’t that she lost. It was that Naruto thought she was a boy. It was also that Naruto didn't treat her like a girl. He treated her like Kiba. Even after the match. Naruto didn’t change attitude towards her.

“GARH!” Kiba buried her face into one of the large pillows on her bed, and pulled on her slightly damp hair. The worse part was that she could still smell him. Not the smell of his fart, that nasty smell had been purged from her nose quickly. But the sheer smell of Naruto remained. She smelt him everywhere. And that meant Naruto was constantly on her mind.

Naruto! That annoying hyperactive munchkin dufus that thought she was a boy! Sure, Kiba might have hung out with the boys in her academy days. Sure, she never fawned over Sasuke like the other girls. Sure, she never actually told Naruto that she was a girl.
“GA!” Kiba screamed again into her once again. Why the hell did it matter to her what that annoying loser Naruto thought of her anyways? Sure, he was technically stronger than her. Sure, Naruto technically beat her. But she was still going to be Hokage dammit. And she was going to make Naruto pay.

“Okay, that’s two screams into the pillow.” Kiba turned to glare at her older sister Hana as the know it all older sibling walked into the room. “What’s got you so worked up squirt?” Hana nudged the concerned Akamaru to the side as she sat down right next to Kiba.

Kiba glared at her sister for a moment a blush slowly creeping down from her ears. Hana returned the glare with one of her own. Sighing in defeat Kiba decided to let her sister know. “Naruto.” Kiba said quickly as she turned away from her sister's gaze focusing instead on Akamaru who had moved over to lick her hands.

“What, still got his fart stuck in your nose?” Hana said with a sharp nasally laugh at her little sister’s expense. An Inuzuka had never once been defeated by a fart before. Her mother told Kiba that thanks to her enemy ninja will now know of this weakness and try to exploit it by eating large amounts of beans.

“Not his fart.” Kiba said lamely. “I can’t walk through Konoha without noticing his scent!” Kiba kicked her bed with her feet in frustration. “I can’t ignore it either!”

“What’s it smell like?” Hana asked curiosity and amusement lacing her voice thickly. Kiba didn’t not trust the all too knowing smile on her Sister’s face. She didn’t trust it at all.

“What it smell like?” Kiba shot up, twisting her body so that she was directly facing her sister. “It smells like Naruto!” That was the simplest answer and most trustful Kiba could come up with. “It smells like Hard work, Sweat, Ramen, Leaves, Sunshine, and really cheap deodorant. But there’s more to it than that! I can’t put my finger on it!” Kiba spat out rapid fire things about what Naruto smelt like. Avoiding the obvious smell of strength that reminded her of her father. That was one of the more prominent traits in Naruto’s scent.

“Wow.” Hana said laughing again. Kiba growled at the laugh. No matter how helpful Hana was at times the teasing was rarely worth it. Stupid older sisters. “Well do you hate the smell?”

That caught Kiba off guard as her face twisted into one of confusion. It wasn’t that Naruto’s scent was bad, Kiba actually thought it was an alright smell. In that she didn’t really mind smelling it when she went out into to Konoha. She just didn’t like that it made her think of Naruto. “It’s not bad.” Kiba said meekly.

Hana giggled as she had a mental image of Kiba with dog ears saying that while the ears drooped. “Sounds like you have a crush.”

“No way!” Kiba shouted quickly standing up on her bed. The simple thought of having a crush on Naruto was to much to handle and she just had to move so that it didn’t get comfortable in her head. Shaking her head back in forth quickly. “There is no way I can like that idiot loser!”

“Why not?” Hana asked curiously.

“Because he thought I was a guy up until a week ago!” Kiba attempted to defend herself. “And he only found out I was a girl because he groped me during our fight!” She brought her arms up to cover her breasts as though attempting to ward off an imaginary Naruto groping its way towards her.

“Those sound like reasons for him not to like you.” Hana said swiping at her sister's feet to force her back down onto the bed. Kiba fell to the bed with an undignified gasp. Akamaru bravely rose to her defense by nipping at Hana’s hand. “Watch it pup.”

“He’s stupid!” Kiba growled from her now prone position. “He’s the deadlast and an idiot! He’s weak!”

“He beat you.” Hana interjected. But Kiba continued her rant.

“He’s short. He only eats ramen. He’s stupid. Hinata already has a crush on him. He likes that Sakura girl. So he obviously has crappy taste in women.” Kiba let out a long huff out of her nose. “And he’s a pervert!” Kiba finished by shooting both of her arms straight up into the air.

“Okay okay. Sheesh.” Hana got up from Kiba’s bed and made her way out of the room. She stopped at the door frame. “You know, often when girls your age have opinions like that they actually have a crush on the boy.” Hana ran out the door as a pillow flew towards her head.

“What do you think Akamaru.” Kiba asked her companion who just yipped at her. She understood exactly what that yip meant. Akamaru was teasing her that she liked Naruto. “What the hell do you know! You’re a dog!” Kiba growled.

Akamaru yipped again.

“Whatever. Let’s just head out.” Kiba suddenly grew very tired of looking at her room. She didn’t have to train with Shino today. Shino was doing most of it with his clan anyways. And with Hinata still in the hospital Kiba had almost nothing better to do but train, wallow and self pity and be endlessly frustrated by Naruto.

XXXX

Walking into Konoha proper proved to be a mistake. It was like Naruto rubbed his scent on every single street corner. The very air was thick with Naruto’s scent. It had always been Kiba realized as she stomped through one of the many streets of Konoha with Akamaru right behind her. Naruto’s scent had always been in and around Konoha. But now she couldn’t stop noticing it everywhere. Once she recognized his scent there was just no escaping it.

Ichiraku ramen? Naruto.

Academy? Naruto!

Mission table? Naruto!

Random apartment? Naruto!

Red bridge? Naruto!

Sakura? Strawberry shampoo… and then Naruto!

Bathhouse? Naruto!

Kiba was at Naruto! Where everything smelt like Naruto! It was everywhere!

“GAH!” Kiba shouted in the middle of the street before running off in a random direction. She needed desperately to escape Naruto’s scent. She needed him out of her head more importantly. Ignoring the whines of Akamaru at her sudden movement Kiba bolted out into the thicker forests that surrounded Konoha.

“Why is he stuck in my head.” Kiba asked herself as she rested her against the rough bark of a tree. Akamaru yipped and barked at her. “I don’t have a crush on Naruto!” Kiba snapped at the poor dog. “There’s no way I could do that to Hinata.” Kiba admitted as she continued to bury her head into the rough tree bark.

Kiba almost wanted to cry. Even out here in the middle of nowhere she could still smell Naruto. She could practically hear him. Akamaru yipped and growled at her pulling on her pant leg to get Kiba’s attention.

“What is it?” Kiba’s disgruntled voice was barely a whisper as she turned her attention to Akamaru. Akamaru barked and then turned around acting like a pointer. Kiba followed it and felt her heart sink.

Somehow without even thinking about it. She had followed Naruto’s scent right to him. Just across the wide river bend in a rather nice looking swimming hole was Naruto. The wind blew towards Kiba and she felt her knees buckle. It was getting worse. Her cheeks flared red as the raw smell of Naruto filtered into her nose.

Kiba wanted to scream. She hated the fact that she was liking the smell. She hated the fact that it was Naruto that was causing this. She hated the fact that Hinata was her friend. She hated the fact that she wanted to just talk to Naruto right then and there.

She hated the fact that she didn’t know what was even going on.

Watching Naruto train without a care in the world Kiba couldn’t help but think that life would be so much easier if she was actually a boy.

Kiba simply stood half concealed by the trees and foliage as she watched Naruto train. A large man with a lot of spiky white hair sat nearby laughing more often than he was giving instructions. The laughter seemed to be proving more effective than the actual instructions in getting Naruto to actually train. All Naruto was really doing was making toads appear over and over again. Most of them were tadpoles no bigger than Naruto’s hand.

“Why’s he wasting time with those weak things?” Kiba asked nobody in particular. She hadn’t realized that she was sitting down until Akamaru curled up in her lap deciding that a late afternoon nap was a good idea. “How on earth is he planning on beating a guy like Neji like that?”

It was then that Naruto froze. And suddenly looked right at Kiba.

Kiba froze as well.

“Hey Kiba!” Naruto shouted at the girl he used to think was a boy. Like a deer being caught by a wolf, Kiba bolted away in a mad scramble. “Hey Kiba wait!” Naruto shouted from behind her.

Kiba’s face was red now. Very red. Naruto had caught her practically stalking him. Naruto’s going to think that she likes him now! Naruto’s going to get the wrong idea about everything. It was just dumb luck that she stumbled upon Naruto and it was just curiosity that made her stay and watch as Naruto trained. Right?

Kiba tripped. Too flustered by the fact that Naruto was actually chasing behind her to fully pay attention to where she was going. Kiba’s foot caught under a root sending her flying towards the ground rather quickly. And sending Akamaru flying through the air. And off the cliff face.

“Akamaru!” Kiba saw Akamaru plummeting to his death. Even a ninja dog wouldn’t be able to survive a fall from the height she had practically thrown her companion, her best friend to his death. She struggled against the wicked root that was wrapped around her ankle.

“I got him!” Kiba twisted to watch Naruto leap off the cliff. With no sense of self preservation he caught Akamaru mid air in a rough somersault.

“Naruto!” Kiba shouted as she pulled her ankle out of the root. Rolling the fragile joint. They were both going to die now. Naruto and Akamaru were both going to die now because she tripped on a root.

“You okay Akamaru?” Naruto asked as he looked at the dog tucked into his arms. Akamaru whined and gave a yelp. Naruto had no idea what the dog was saying. “Well whatever let’s hope this works!” Akamaru held on for dear life as Naruto began going through the handsigns once again.

“Something big!” Naruto shouted as he shot his hand downward. “Summoning Jutsu!” From the ground to where Naruto was falling filled with smoke. Naruto crashed down upon the slick surface blue surface of the beast he summoned.

“Giro giro?” Gamahiro asked as he looked around. “Jiraiya-san?” the toad questioned as he began searching it’s head for it’s summoner. With a ginger pluck the massive toad brought Naruto down before him. “You’re not Jiraiya-san. Much too short.”

“I’m not short!” Naruto shouted as he kicked his legs while dangling in front of the massive toad. “And my Name’s Naruto! Got it! Naruto Uzumaki.” Akamaru barked in agreement. The massive blue toad’s eyes went wide at the noise.

“Ahh a dog!” Gamahiro squealed in a pitch unbefitting it’s massive size. Naruto’s jacket was torn from his body as he found himself being thrown through the air as the toad flailed its arms around before vanishing in smoke.

“I got you boy!” Naruto called as he caught Akamaru for the second time that day. Naruto managed to slam hard into the top of the cliff knocking the wind out of him but delivering Akamaru to safety. The pup returned the favor by biting onto Naruto’s short to try and pull him up the cliff.

Kiba limped over to Naruto with her ankle twisted into a painful degree she grabbed onto Naruto’s arm before the blond could pull himself up. The scent of Naruto was everywhere in that moment. It was stronger than when he grabbed her during the chunin exams. It was making her mind go blank. Kiba fought hard against it.

“Thanks.” Kiba said sharply as she scooped up Akamaru into her hands. “But this is all your fault you idiot.” Kiba’s harsh tone caused Akamaru to whine and whimper in her arms. Akamaru was on Naruto’s side to now? Just great.

“What?” Naruto spat out as he dusted himself off. “How’s it my fault! You’re the one that ran away from me!”

“Because you were chasing me!” spat back giving Naruto a sharp glare of her own.

“Only because you started to run away!” Naruto huffed as he put his hands into his pockets. “Whatever I need to get back to training before pervy-sage runs off again.” He was already missing his jacket.

Kiba frowned at Naruto. And at herself, she might have gone to far with that. Attempting to step out of Naruto’s way proved to be a mistake as she temporarily forgot about her ankle. Kiba winced and drew in a sharp intake of air. It was a good thing she didn’t have any missions for a while.

Hearing the wince Naruto sighed. “Let me help you back okay?” Naruto didn’t even wait for Kiba to answer as she brought her arm around his shoulder. For once being short was proving to be a good thing.

“What about training?” Not being directly opposed to not walking on a sprained ankle, Kiba didn’t openly protest Naruto’s help. She felt a lot of sudden urges then as she was once again being held by Naruto. Why on earth was Naruto making her feel like her stomach was doing fang over fang with her heart?

“The pervy-sage was about to call it quits for the day. Besides!” Naruto said excitedly nearly bouncing on his heels. “Did you see how big that toad was! It was huge!” Akamaru yipped from the ground before growling. “Right and he was afraid of Akamaru too!” Kiba had to suppress a giggle.

She failed and the giggle bubbled over.

“So is that how you plan on beating Neji?” Kiba wasn’t even thinking at the moment. That meant she wasn’t thinking about Naruto or his stupid smell. And the less she thought. The better things would be.

“What?” Naruto asked as though he was insulted. “No way, I’m going to beat neji without my summons! Believe it!” Kiba stared at Naruto for a moment before smiling.

“I know from experience it’s a bad idea to underestimate you Naruto.” Kiba said honestly. The mood was spoiled by Naruto’s stomach speaking up. Apparently trying to take credit for Naruto’s victory over Kiba. Which was true. “And that stomach of yours.”

“GAH!” Naruto suddenly shouted as he quickly became depressed. “I lost my jacket! I had coupons for Ramen in there!” Sighing in defeat Naruto had to wipe away a single tear. “Oh well, they expired today anyways.”

Akamaru yipped happily as he followed behind Kiba and Naruto through the thick Konoha forest.

“So why’d you chase after me anyways?” Kiba asked suddenly. Not wanting to deal with the thoughts silence brought.

“Oh I wanted to see if you would get ramen with me.” Those words had a profound effect on Kiba.

Was Naruto going to ask her out on a date? Did Naruto always like her but didn’t act on it because he thought she was a boy? Why was her heart racing? Why did she not entirely hate the simple idea of going on a date with Naruto? Why did she want to prove to him that she was a girl? Why was she good friends with Hinata?

“As an apology for thinking you were a guy and umm… squeezing your boob.” Naruto’s own face reddened at his first mammary memory. Naruto turned to see Kiba’s own blush on her face.

“Yea well.” Kiba half mumbled to herself as they made it to the main road of Konoha. “I’ll treat you to ramen tomorrow.” Kiba said suddenly. “Not that I want to or anything. Just as a thank you for saving Akamaru and helping me home.”

“You don’t have to if you” Naruto began with a frowned but was quickly cut off by.

“Idiot.” Kiba spat. “I said I’ll treat you to ramen tomorrow. So I’m going to treat you to ramen tomorrow got it?” Kiba’s ears were red now and she was once again thankful for her large hoodie covering much of her face.

“Got it!” Naruto said quickly not wanting to anger Kiba further.

“Good.” Kiba said smirking for a moment. Before she realized exactly what she did. She, Kibana Inuzuka had just asked Naruto Uzumaki out on a date. What was she thinking? What was she going to wear? What was she going to tell Hinata. How much ramen could Naruto eat? What did you even do on a date!?

She could practically hear Akamaru snickering at her. She could already feel Hana’s teasing. And her mother’s amused smirk. Kiba hated that smirk. It was a “Oh so close to actually winning.” Kind of smile.

“Well anyways. I think my ankle got better so, Uhh, I’ll meet you at Ichiraku's at noon okay bye.” Kiba quickly sputtered out as she ignored the pain in her foot to quickly. “And don’t be late Idiot!”

“Girls are weird.” Naruto said looking too Akamaru, who tilted his head in confusion. Before yipping agreeably at Naruto and bolting off after Kiba. “But hey, free ramen.”

Chapter Text

Kiba was not a girly girl. She was probably the very definition of a tomboy. Which is why her clothing selection wasn’t well suited for dates. Girls wore dresses on dates, after all. At least, that’s what Kiba thought. She had never actually been on a date before.

Which is why for the first time in her life, Kiba was experiencing a female freak out over her clothing.

“No!” Kiba shouted, throwing yet another shirt onto her bed. She let out a disgusted grunt and threw another shirt. Kiba examined a particularly old shirt for a moment it would almost work “Does this even fit me anymore?”

Akamaru barked and whined as yet another shirt flew on top of him. He remained seated in place, shrugging the shirt off to the side.

“What!?” Kiba shrieked at her companion, her face slowly growing redder.

Akamaru barked and whined in the same way once again, as though he was repeating himself.

“No! I don’t care what you would do, I’m not going to let Naruto smell my ass!”

Akamaru barked. Kiba’s face grew even more red.

“That’s different!” Kiba bit back. “That was during a fight. And that is not why I like him!”

Kiba paused as she realized exactly what she said. “No! I don’t like Naruto. I absolutely do not like him!” She felt like pulling out her hair. She was just going out on a date with Naruto because he had saved Akamaru and helped her back to the village - nothing more!

It had absolutely nothing to do with Naruto’s scent becoming a pleasant obsession to Kiba. Or how nice he was. There was just absolutely no way that Kiba could have a crush on Naruto. Sure - he was nice, strong, wasn’t that bad looking... and smelled absolutely amazing. But there was just no way that Kiba could do that to Hinata.

It was just a friendly date that Kiba was freaking out about looking nice for.

“Now what’s got your panties in a twist, squirt?”

A jolt of shock shot through Kiba’s spine as Hana poked her head through the doorway. Hana eyed the complete and utter Chaos of Kiba’s room. It was only slightly more chaotic than normal with Kiba’s entire wardrobe on the bed.

“I have a date,” Kiba whined, as she threw another shirt on the bed. The majority of them were dull greys and browns. And completely covered in dog fur. Kiba realized she said too much when Hana’s head vanished from sight - though her hands could still be seen on the inside of Kiba’s door frame.

“Mooooooom!” Hana yelled and Kiba instantly broke out into a cold sweat. She would be attending Naruto’s funeral soon enough. “Kibana has a boyfriend!”

“He’s not my boyfriend!”

Kiba’s protests were muted by what sounded like a hurricane suddenly blasting through their house. Dishes crashed, glasses cracked, and the very house itself shook at Tsume Inuzuka went on the warpath. There was an squeal as Hana dodged out of the way of their mother.

And Kiba suddenly found herself staring down at the feral eyes of her wild mother. Tsume was currently wearing a pink slightly frilly apron and smelt like dish soap. She was wild, but nobody could say she wasn’t a great mother.

“Who?” Tsume asked, clasping Kiba’s shoulders as she stared at her daughter with wild eyes. Tsume was naturally protective - she enjoyed scaring boys away from her daughters, and this one was exciting. It was the first boy going after her youngest. The smell of fresh meat was in the air.

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Kiba tried to defend, really not liking the crazy look in her mother's eyes. Kiba loved her mother dearly but she knew that her father left because of the raw intensity Tsume showed.

“Whoooooooooo?” Tsume came close to growling at the end of it. She needed to know who was seeking her daughter’s heart. She needed to make sure they were worthy. To make sure the Inuzuka clan would be made stronger by them. This was their way. Tsume tightened her grip on her daughter’s shoulders.

“Naruto!” Kiba squeaked out. Instantly Tsume’s grip lessened from uncomfortable to gentle as she blinked in confusion then recognition.

“Naruto…” Tsume repeated. “Uzumaki?” She watched as Kiba’s head bobbed once for confirmation. “Blond hair, blue eyes?” Tsume mused, as she watched her daughter’s head bob twice, once for each question.

“Well, alright then.” Tsume stood up leaving her daughters in shock. Truth be told, she might have been one of the few people to know Kushina as a person. She liked it when girls weren’t afraid to beat the tar out of guys. It had lead to something of a rivalry and friendship between the two in their youth. Such a shame adopting Naruto had been forbidden.

“Wait, what?” Hana asked in shock as her mother left the room. “How come Kiba gets off easy!?” She began to chase after her mother. “You’ve scared off and intimidated all the boys I’ve tried to bring home. And Kiba get’s an ‘Alright then’ when you haven’t even met the brat?”

“Get better taste,” Tsume retorted.

Kiba blinked as she considered what just happened. Her completely and utterly terrifying cross between a man-eater and man-hater had just approved of Naruto as a boyfriend. There was no good way of feeling about this. Not pursuing it would be throwing away the first boyfriend approval Tsume had ever given, but pursuing it would mean that Kiba liked Naruto. Which she certainly did not. At least, not like that.

“It’s just a date as friends,” Kiba reaffirmed to herself. “It’s just ramen.”

She breathed in and out for a moment, calming herself down.

Akamaru barked and yipped at her.

She threw an article of clothing directly at the pup. “Not helping!” .

Eventually Hana returned, assuming the typical older sister pose that involved leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed. “So why are you searching through all your clothes?”

“I’m trying to find something that makes me look like a girl,” Kiba grunted out as she began reaching deeper into her closet. She pulled out another plain looking shirt, and threw it on the bed along with the others in a huff,

The date was soon, and she was beginning to lose hope.

“Pfft, you might as well be a boy,” Hana said, walking over to Kiba’s pile and pulled out some clothing at random. “You have no idea how to dress like a girl.” She examined the clothing she picked out and threw one at Kiba. “Why’s it so important that you do?”

Kiba began to put on the top she was handed.“Naruto thought I was a boy,” Kiba reminded. “And it wasn’t just him. A girl - Sakura - thought I was a boy, too.”

That one hurt more. Naruto was an oblivious idiot, but Sakura was actually smart.

Kind of.

She did chase after Sasuke, which was stupid. Naruto was a lot better in that regard.

Kiba chose to ignore that thought.

“Shit,” Hana laughed. “I sometimes think mom is a guy.” Tsume certainly did wear the pants in almost any relationship. “But it’s not the clothes that make the girl.” Hana tossed another piece of clothing at Kiba who dutifully put it on. “It’s the girl that makes the clothes.” Hana smirked as she examined the top that she gave Kiba. “That one might have worked a cup-size ago.”

“Hana!” Kiba shrieked, blushing.

“Relax, squirt. Besides, showing them off is a great way to remind everyone you’re a girl.” Hana smiled as her little sister’s face began to heat up even more. Torturing siblings was so much fun. Especially when they got to have a boyfriend and Hana did not.

Hana grabbed a hold of Kiba’s hair. “Now,” she said, “Let’s make certain that Naruto knows you are indeed female.”

Akamaru barked and whined again.

“I will give you a bath!” Kiba shouted as she felt Hana comb and pull at her rough and tangled hair.

XXXX

Kiba bounced on her feet. Not out of happiness or of excitement. Or, god forbid, nervousness. There was no way having a meeting with Naruto would make her feel any of those things. She was bouncing on her feet because she was bored and impatient. Naruto wasn’t here yet.

It wasn’t that Naruto was late. It was more that Kiba was early. A good ten minutes early. Kiba was ten minutes early because she had nothing better to do. All she had planned today was to eat Ramen with Naruto. All she had to do was make it through this date and then totally not freak out.

And visit Hinata again.

“Oh, hey, Akamaru!”

Naruto casually walked up, greeting the dog first instead of Kiba. Kiba’s head instantly snapped to Naruto.

She didn’t quite recognize him without that jacket on. It wasn’t that he looked completely different - it was just that that stupid jacket was such a big part of what made Naruto Naruto. It was weird without him wearing it.

“Have you seen Kiba?” Naruto asked the dog who instantly made a sound that was probably laughter. Actually, it was laughter. That spark of anger that began to form in Kiba’s gut was instantly washed away by confusion - and then, for a second, amusement.

“I’m right here you idiot!” Kiba barked, stomping her feet. Naruto blinked at her.

His mouth fell open. “Wow.”

That was not the reaction Kiba was expecting. But she was rather glad she had gotten that reaction out of Naruto. Naruto’s shock turned to a kind and warm smile. “Your hair is really pretty like that.” This marked the day that Kiba would start to comb her hair everyday. (Well, almost everyday.)

Kiba’s blush did its best to make itself known. Fortunately Naruto was oblivious. “Whatever,” Kiba huffed crossing her arms in annoyance. “It’s not like I did it for you.” Feeling bold Kiba grabbed a hold of Naruto’s bare arm and quickly pulled him into the cozy ramen stand. “Now let’s get ramen.”

Naruto frowned as he was nearly thrown onto his stool by Kiba. “Hey, watch it!” Naruto grunted as he barely managed to catch himself on the stool. “You might be dressed like a girl,” Naruto recited from the big book of what not to say on a date, “but you don’t act like one.”

“Pfft,” Kiba snorted as she took her seat next to Naruto. “Not like Sakura’s any better.” She grabbed one of the menu cards. “Like, really... why do you let her hit you all the time?”

Kiba also had made a mistake: bringing up another girl.

Naruto frowned and shrugged as he easily took his seat next to Kiba. Compared to Sakura, that light shove Kiba gave him really was nothing. Though she hadn’t hit him in a while. When was the last time Sakura hit him? Not since the mission in the wave... right?

“Well, she hasn’t done it in a while,” Naruto huffed off handedly. He didn’t need to look at the menu in order to order. This was his stand, after all. His name was even written on one of the seats!

His mood improved the moment the smell of broth hit his nostrils. “One Miso ramen with extra pork, please!”

Kiba was looking at the menu. But she wasn’t really reading it. A sudden rush came over her as she once again smelled Naruto. He smelled really, really good - as if he had taken a shower in spring water… while fighting a lion. It was a clean, musky, manly smell that wafted over to her. Her nose twitched.

“And what about you?” Ayame asked Kiba, causing the young Inuzuka to jump.

“Oh! I,” Kiba gulped as she read the menu more intently. She turned, looking at Naruto. “What has the most meat?”

When she didn’t receive an answer, Kiba realized the boy wasn’t paying attention. She was going out on a date with him, and he was just going to sit there and ignore her. Kiba leaned over and shouted loudly into the boy’s ears. “Naruto!”

“Gah!” Naruto nearly fell from his seat once again. He spun around to face the loudmouth next to him. “What the hell was that for, Kiba?”

“I asked you a question,” Kiba snorted as she pointed at the menu. “What ramen has the most meat?”

“What, can’t you read?” Naruto asked as he leaned over to look at the menu.

“I’m not the deadlast, you idiot,” Kiba snorted. “But you are the ramen expert and this is your favorite place. So help me out and order me a ramen with a lot of meat!”

Akamaru yipped from the ground behind the curtain.

“Nobody asked you!” Kiba growled at the dog before directing her scowl towards Naruto.

“Here, The one called ‘MEAT lover’s ramen’ should have everything you want on it,” Naruto said, pointing directly at the menu in Kiba’s hand.

“So, one Meat lover’s ramen?” Ayame asked, a rather concerned and bemused look on her face. Naruto was acting like this was just lunch with friends. The girl was acting like this should be a date but she didn’t really want it to be a date. It was going to be fun to watch.

Kiba nodded quickly. “Yes please.” She kept glaring over at Naruto as they sat there quietly waiting for their ramen. She needed him to say something. Naruto needed to talk to her - this was a date, right?

“Hey,” Naruto said suddenly, shooting up in his seat. Kiba instantly stood at attention, looking at Naruto as she sucked her bottom lip over her teeth. “How come you’re on a team with Hinata if you’re both girls?”

“I...” Kiba blinked at the question. She had never actually thought about it. The only male on her team was Shino. And Akamaru. And neither one of them were particularly threatening to females. Then there was Kurenai; to say that she was a man-hater was wrong, but the Jounin sensei of Team Eight made her opinion known that Kunoichi were just as strong as their male counterparts. “Maybe Kurenai-sensei requested it?”

“I think Iruka assigned the teams, though.,” Naruto said, tapping his foot against the leg of the stool. A pang of realization went through him. “Do you think he thought you were a guy too?” Naruto’s tone almost sounded hopeful - as if it would make him feel like less of an idiot if Sakura and Iruka were both wrong about Kiba’s gender as well. After all, they were essentially the two smartest people Naruto knew.

Kiba frowned, her mouth slightly open, as she tried to think of a retort or an instance where Iruka had called her Kibana or made any indication. Even when they were split by gender for certain activities Kiba stayed with the boys. Largely because she wasn’t friends with any of the girls. She had always thought that Iruka was just understanding and didn’t really care.

Memories of Iruka shouting at her when she was making trouble with Naruto, Choji and Shikamaru flashed through her mind. It was always “You boys,” or “You guys.” She was never singled out as a girl.

“I hope not,” Kiba groaned out, her head meeting with the hard wooden counter top. “I don’t even want to know how many people thought I was a boy.” The number was already several times greater than she ever thought possible. It was bad enough that Naruto and Sakura were on that list. Kiba did not want to add any names to the list.

“Well it's your fault for dressing like a boy,” Naruto joked. Kiba crossed her arms with a mighty huff. Akamaru barked in agreement with Naruto.

“It was just a jacket!” Kiba protested. “Hinata wears a jacket!”

“Hinata acts like a girl.”

Kiba’s chopsticks snapped in two. “Shut up!” Naruto did just that - although he allowed a nervous chuckle to escape.

And then there was ramen. For a brief glorious few seconds Kiba’s senses were completely overwhelmed and all traces of Naruto vanished. The bowl before her was a hot steaming pile of Noodle and meat sex. Not a single vegetable was seen on the glorious mountain of meat and egg. Before her sat the manliest meatiest bowl of Ramen Kiba had ever laid her eyes on.

Its aroma was heavy and hung in the air like a thick viscous fog that seemed determined to fill her nostrils to the brim. The smell of the beef mixed with the sour smell of the chicken that performed the tango with the pork. All while having dirty sex with the noodles as they stewed in the thick broth.

It reminded her of Naruto.

Looking over at her date, Kiba allowed the tips of her lips to twitch as she saw how engrossed Naruto was with his meal. He was nearly inhaling the ramen like a mad animal. And if her ramen tasted as good at is smelled, Kiba would likely be doing the same.

Elegantly grabbing one of the beef strips and wrapping it tightly in noodles Kiba breathed on it once, enjoying the visual of the steam floating away from her before flowing back up towards her nose. The taste did not disappoint Kiba. This was her first time eating at this ramen stand. Bowls filled with noodles and liquid just didn’t sound anywhere near as good as barbeque where she could eat all the meat she wanted.

But this bowl was simply divine.

“Thanks for the meal, Kiba,” Naruto said as he was finished with his bowl of ramen. He practically inhaled his. Kiba was nearly envious of the speed at which Naruto consumed his ramen. She didn’t want to savor her ramen. She wanted it in her. Now. “I’ll see you later!”

Kiba blinked as she slurped up a piece of beef that was a bit long. Naruto was leaving. Now. In the middle of their date. What the hell?

“What the hell?” Kiba shouted as anger quickly rose up inside of her. Sure the date so far had been a shitty one the only positive was the ramen and Naruto saying he liked her hair. But that was it - other than that they’d been arguing for no good reason. But Naruto was leaving so soon. He could at least wait until she finished her ramen. Was that to much to ask for? “Why the fuck are you leaving now?”

“Ehh?” Naruto mused, confused, as Kiba angrily rose to meet him - once again demonstrating that she was, indeed, taller than he was. “I thought you just wanted to buy me a bowl of ramen?”

“You should at least wait for your date to finish her meal before you decided to end the dated!” Kiba shouted her hands were shaking and her face was flushed with anger. Akamaru joined her in growling at Naruto.

“What!?” Naruto asked this was the first he heard of it being a date. He thought it was just free food! “This was a date?”

“Whatever, fine!” Kiba shouted, turning around, huffing. “It’s not like I wanted to go out on a date with an idiot loser like you!” Kiba began marching off. “I hope you lose to neji you stupid bastard!” Akamaru followed dutifully behind his partner.

“Kiba wait!” Naruto attempted to chase after her but was instantly put in his place by the savage barks of Akamaru.

The small dog Snarled at the blond showing fangs and all. How dare this idiot boy make his Kiba cry.

“Whoa Akamaru settle down.,” The dog continued barking madly and snapped at Naruto causing Naruto to back away in shock not wanting to get bitten by the dog.

“Okay okay!” Naruto surrendered.

With a huff Akamaru turned to leave.

“Boy you messed that one up Naruto,” Ayame said with a deep frown.

“Who’s going to pay the bill?” Teuchi asked from behind the counter. Naruto frowned as he pulled out his wallet and paid for their meal. Things were going to be tight now. Meat lovers ramen was expensive. And now he felt rather guilty about what happened with Kiba and couldn’t even bother to finish her half empty bowl of ramen.

XXXX

“Alright Naruto,” Jiraiya said with a deep sigh. He’d been watching his most recent blond student struggle with summoning so much as a tadpole, compared to yesterday when he summoned Gamahiro. It was a large set back. However this was Naruto’s usual level of sucking. “What’s wrong.”

“Nothing!” Naruto shouted with a frown as he tried to summon another frog. This time absolutely nothing happened. Again.

“Really?” Jiraiya asked. “Nothing sure does sound like a whole lot of something.” It was the same nothing Kushina would say she was doing when she started appearing around Minato’s training sessions.

“Guh fine,” Naruto sighed as he crossed his arms in frustration. “Girls are weird,” Naruto started off. Being a connoisseur of women Jiraiya couldn’t help but nod at the truth of the statement

“Well I happen to know everything there is to know about woman so tell me your woes my boy,” Naruto wasn’t entirely certain he believed his sensei. “Getting off your chest is going to do more than summoning more tadpoles,” Naruto sighed in defeat.

“You know that girl Kiba I chased after yesterday?” Jiraiya nodded. “Well I was going to buy her a bowl of ramen to make up for thinking she was a guy,” Jiraiya laughed at that. “Shut up!”

“What? It’s funny!” Jiraiya defended himself meekly as his jovial smile began to irritate Naruto more than it normally did.

“Whatever,” Naruto said crossing his arms with a huff. “I couldn’t do it because I lost my jackets which had my coupons in it,” Naruto turned slightly towards the direction he lost his jacket. He still needed to try and find it. “So she said she would buy me a bowl of ramen,”

“So what’s the problem?” Jiraiya asked raising an eyebrow nice and high on his massive head.

“She thought it was a date!” Naruto wailed. “She didn’t act like it was, She didn’t say the word date. She just said that she would buy me a bowl of ramen!” Naruto whined as he began flailing his arms. “So after I ate my ramen she yells at me and then runs off!”

Jiraiya hmm’d as he began to pool his years of chasing women into Naruto’s problem. “Did she hit you?”

“No,” Naruto said after a moment. Sure she pushed him into his seat. But that didn’t really hurt it was more of a surprise.

“Was she happy to see you?”

“Not really, no,” Naruto said honestly. If it wasn’t for ramen he probably would have left after first saying hello to Kiba. It took Kiba all of five words before she insulted Naruto, though he might have earned it given how he didn’t see Kiba standing right in front of him.

“I see I see,” Jiraiya began to rub his chin as an image of what happened began to form in his mind. “Did she look any different than normal?”

“Yea!” Naruto replied quickly. “She had her hair down and wasn’t wearing her jacket!” It was a bit weird seeing Kiba without her jacket during the chunin exams. It was even weirder seeing her not dressed as a shinobi. With her hair down she might even be prettier than Sakura!

Naruto was reminded for a moment about the last time he was confused about somebody's gender.

“And did she say something like,” Jiraiya coughed into his hand as he prepared to do his best teenage girl impersonation. “Idiot!” It was comically bad how off pitch Jiraiya was like trying to make a trumpet sound like a triangle. “It’s not like I did it for you or anything!”

“Yea, how’d you know.” Naruto asked confused. That was pretty much exactly what Kiba had said to him. In almost the exact same tone. Just in less of an old man trying to sound like a little girl voice.

“You, my boy,” Jiraiya grasped Naruto’s shoulders tightly. “Have managed to attracted one of the most complex women out there,” Jiraiya paused for dramatic effect. “Kiba is a tsundere.”

“What’s a tsundere?” Only Naruto could ask such an innocent question.

“A woman, that hates the fact that she has a crush on you,” Jiraiya explained simply. It was the same story with Minato and Kushina. And Kushina was one hell of a tsundere. It tormented Minato for months until he finally kissed Kushina and calmed her down significantly.

“What there’s no way Kiba can have a crush on me!” Naruto protests fell on uncaring ears.

“Yea sure. Just don’t be surprised if she comes to give you a thoughtful present in the futur,.” Jiraiya ruffled Naruto’s hair as he smiled at his poor naive student. “Now get back to work! Unless you want me to throw you off a cliff because that’s the only way you can summon something bigger than a turkey sandwich!”

Naruto wasn’t entirely certain if Jiraiya was joking or not.

XXXX

“Stupid, annoying,” Kiba grumbled to herself. She was stuck up in a tree. Climbing wasn’t exactly something Inuzuka prided themselves on. They had dogs. Not cats. Her shirt had ripped at some point during the climb, and now her shorts were snagged on another branch.

Akamaru barked.

“Yea I see it! Just let me get it.” Kiba stretched out slowly reaching her target. Just a few more inches. The branch creaked and snapped. Kiba was falling and in a desperate swing she lurched forward grabbing on to the sleeve of Naruto’s jacket.

Her fall down wasn’t as graceful as it would have been for other ninja. She ungracefully crashed down along the tree brushing and banging against nearly every branch on the way down. But she still landed on her feet.

Akamaru whined at her.

“Shut up! I was careful, nothing broken!” Kiba said slapping her arms and legs. Still it did hurt. But she managed to get what she was after. Naruto’s Jacket. All it costed her was a couple of scrapes and bruises but she had gotten Naruto’s jacket back! Now all she had to do was give it to him and he wouldn’t be mad at her for their date.

There were two things that stopped Kiba from running off to find Naruto right then. Firstly Naruto’s jacket was ripped along the armpit on the right arm. The tear was repairable but it wasn’t wearable for anything more than walking at the moment. The second was that Kiba’s own shirt was little more than scraps. This was why she wore her jacket! It could take a beating and not rip.

Kiba sighed as she removed the scraps of her shirt and put on Naruto’s Jacket. “Guess, I’ll have to wear this and hope nobody sees me.”

It smelled just like him.

Kiba glared at Akamaru as she zipped Naruto’s hoodie all the way up “Don’t say anything” Kiba commanded “Not a goddamn thing.”

Chapter Text

Seamstress. On the list of things that Kiba was not, seamstress was pretty high up there. Right below male, crushing on Naruto, or a Tsundere. She was not a Tsundere - she, like all Inuzuka, wore her emotions on her sleeve.

“Ow!” Kiba swore for the umpteenth time, pricking her finger once again with the sewing needle. She had taken it upon herself to fix Naruto’s jacket. He had lost it while saving Akamaru, and she had torn it trying to get it back for him.

“Darn it,” whimpered Kiba, and she sucked on her finger when a bit of blood began to seep from the wound. It confused her how she was able to prick herself on the pinky of the hand that was holding the needle in the first place.

She wasn’t doing this for Naruto. She was doing this so she wouldn’t owe Naruto anything.

Akamaru barked and flipped a page on the book Kiba had found for repairing Shinobi attire.

Kiba smiled and rubbed Akamaru’s head. “Thanks, bud.” She continued to read, making certain she had the stitch right. She had the stitching manual her mother used whenever she tore her jacket or pants. She even had the idea to add in a couple pieces of armor inside of the jacket.

Akamaru yipped, and then bolted away Kiba lunging after him.

Kiba’s face flushed, and she made a mad dash to try and stop Akamaru. “No! Don’t you dare!” She reached out to grab him, but he slipped away just as her fingers began to close around the fur of his tail. “If you so much as growl at mom I’m going to tie you up and--”

Unfortunately for Kiba, Akamaru was quicker and far more clever.

Kiba crashed head-first into her mother, sending one of them sprawling down onto the floor below. Equally unfortunate was the fact that her mother was made of sturdy stuff.

“Watch it, pup!” Tsume barked, picking her daughter up. “What did I say about running in the house?”

Kiba pouted. Tsume had never actually said anything about running in the house. She frequently did it herself. Accepting her mother’s outstretched hand, Kiba attempted to come up with some sort of well crafted lie. Tsume didn’t take kindly to the truth at times. Although she often demanded it. Kiba had to think quickly “Uhh, not to break anything?”

“Right!” Tsume barked, pulling her daughter up to her feet with a rough tug. “And that includes yourself!” She examined her daughter’s hand: a dozen or so band-aids littered the fingertips where few scabs had begun to form. “What on earth have you been doing?”

Akamaru barked with authority.

Tsume eye’s went wild, and a feral, menacing grin spread across her face. she shoved past her daughter, nearly knocking Kiba onto the floor again. “Just one date and you’re already taking home his clothes? Let’s see what the damage is.”

Kiba chased after her mother, yelping in dismay when Tsume entered her room. “Mom, wait!” But it was too late: Tsume already had her paws on Naruto’s jacket. “I’m not done yet! I--”

“This stitching won’t hold,” Tsume plucked one of the strands of Kiba’s handwork with her nail, and the whole thing fell apart. At the look of dismay on Kiba’s face, Tsume snorted. “Let me help you.”

Kiba pulled Naruto’s jacket away from her mother, who gave surprisingly little resistance. Normally when her mother said ‘help’, she meant ‘you watch while I do everything and don’t you dare think about even breathing wrong’. “No! I need to do this. I tore Naruto’s jacket, so I need to fix it myself.”

Tsume let out a mighty guffaw that lasted several seconds, then gave her daughter a pat on the head. “There are three ways into a man’s heart,” Tsume began, ignoring Kiba’s groan of protest. “One is through his stomach. Your boy should be easy: his jacket smells like ramen.” Tsume pointed at Naruto’s jacket. “The second is to fix all of his small things so he can’t think about how he would live without you.”

Kiba nodded at the second point. It explained why her mother was so good at fixing just about everything. “The third?”

When her mother’s grin began to widen and she placed both hands on Kiba’s shoulders, regret pooled itself at the bottom of her gut. “The third way is the best! If you figure out how to make him moan when you ma--”

Tsume cut herself off as she sniffed Kiba. “Wait, you haven’t bled yet?”

Kiba’s face went red, and she shrieked in disgust. “Mom!”

Tsume’s smile shifted into one of amusement. “Ahh, don’t worry so much about it. Your sister was a late bloomer too!” She brought her hands to her chest and then cupped the air in front of her. “And boy did she bloom. I have no idea where she got those sweater puppies - certainly not from me!” Tsume then gave her daughter a wicked eye. “And from the looks of things, you’re going to follow after her bra-steps!”

“Mom!”

Tsume simply smiled even wider. “And didn’t that Naruto boy make the sexy Jutsu?” she mused. “Boy, you should see the cans on that thing! I think he’ll love yours when you finish growing!”

Kiba remained silent, shades of red previously unknown to the likes of mankind flashing across her cheeks.

Akamaru rolled on the ground, mimicking laughter.

Having thoroughly teased her daughter to the point where even the walls were nearly glowing red in embarrassment, Tsume sighed and looked over at the material Kiba had gotten. Her eyes sharpened, and she frowned. Her daughter was an idiot. “It looks like you were going to add armor to it.”

Kiba perked up. “Yeah! I was going to add it inside.”

“After you stitched it up,” her mother deadpanned.

Kiba shut her mouth so fast it made a slight pop.

“You also have leg plates here,” Tsume continued, holding the jacket in the air and squinting at it. “Not only are they heavier, but they’d also curve projectiles funny and simply let them just slide in, maybe even causing the attack to do more damage.” Tsume grabbed the fabric and string Kiba had been using. “These are mostly right, but your stitching is wrong.”

Kiba huffed and stomped her feet. “Mom! I’ll do it myself!”

“Yes you will, but I’m going to help,” Tsume said sharply. “Now sit down girl, can’t have your boyfriend get killed in battle because you did a crappy job fixing his jacket.”

Kiba sighed and surrendered to her mother’s demands. It was odd bonding with her mother in something that wasn’t related to the dogs or being a ninja. And while fixing and maintaining armored clothing was ninja-related, it was far different from learning techniques. or being trained.

It was a nice experience. It reminded Kiba of her early years before her dad left. “Hey mom?” Kiba asked, attempting to finish the last stitch. Her fingers had sustained significantly less damage than last time. She still managed to prick herself often, though, and burned herself when they melted the threads for the chest armor.

“You’re doing fine, pup,” Tsume said, watching her daughter’s hand carefully.

“Did dad love us?”

Tsume froze at the question. Even now, after six years, being reminded of the man who fathered her children froze her in her tracks. “Your father,” Tsume began, lightly rubbing Kiba’s shoulder, “loved you and Hana more than anything in the world.”

“Why’d he leave us, then?”

“I need to get started on dinner.” Tsume's eyes furrowed at the end of her words. She left the room, but paused at the doorway. After a moment of silent contemplation, she sighed. “He didn’t leave because of you. He left because of me.”

Kiba frowned and stared at Naruto’s jacket. She wasn’t entirely certain how she should feel about her father. He left his family... and yet she missed him - his jovial smiles, the strength he showed, the love he gave to his family.

It wasn’t until she looked up to ask her mother another question that she noticed the woman was gone.

Catching a small wiff of Naruto’s scent, Kiba sighed. One of her earliest smells was of her father’s scent. The smell of an alpha. And Naruto reminded her of it.

Akamaru whined and pawed at Kiba’s leg.

Smiling, Kiba bent down to pat her companion's head. “Thanks, boy. You’ll always have my back even when I don’t want you to, right?”

Akamaru barked affirmatively.

Grabbing Naruto’s jacket and her own, Kiba began to leave. “Let’s give Naruto his jacket before dinner.” It wouldn’t be to hard to find him with Naruto’s scent hard boiled into her nose.

XXXX

After his training with Jiraiya, Naruto had been ambushed. It was his own fault; he wandered in front of Ichiraku's largely to feel sorry for himself, having already examined his empty wallet.

It was then that he noticed Ayame marching towards him, a deep scowl on her face.

Naruto then found himself sitting in Ayame’s house above the ramen stand. An untouched glass of tea sat before him, and a scowling Ayame across from him.

Ayame took a small sip of her own tea. From behind her glass, she leveled a small glare at him. “Drink the tea, Naruto.”

Not wanting to question Ayame’s demands or make her even more angry, Naruto gulped down Ayame’s tea. It was bitter, with no sweetener. He let out a light laugh to try and ease the tension, but Ayame killed it with a look. “Did I do something wrong?”

Ayame sighed, taking another sip of her tea. She squinted, looking down at him. “What happened yesterday, Naruto?”

Naruto wasted no time in getting on the defensive. “That wasn’t my fault! I didn’t know it was a--”

Ayame slammed her hand on the table, and Naruto jumped. “That’s not the point!” Seeing Naruto shut his mouth with an audible click, Ayame calmed down and continued. “First, I understand that you didn’t realize it was a date. But you were still rude to her.” She sighed. “She kind of likes you, you know.”

“Hey, she started out calling me an idiot!” Naruto retorted, crossing his arms with a huff. “And there’s no way Kiba likes me!”

Ayame rolled her eyes. “I never said she wasn’t rude either. But you caused most of it.” She took another sip from her tea. “I suppose I should start with your positives. When you first saw her, you complimented her and said that her hair looked pretty, that was good. Did you see the look on her face when you did it?”

Naruto hmm’d as he attempted to recall the previous day’s events. A lot of it he didn’t want to remember; he was fairly certain Kiba hated him at this point. “She smiled and kind of blushed for a second, right?”

Ayame smiled and clapped her hands. “Good! You’re not completely oblivious after all.” Naruto grumbled at that. “Now, onto the second thing you did right. When Kiba ran away, you atleast tried to chase after her.” Ayame paused, and looked at Naruto with a scrutinizing gaze. “To say sorry, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Good!” Ayame happily clapped once again. “As for everything else, you should be glad you didn’t get a bowl of ramen dumped on your head with how you treated her.” Naruto’s retort was silenced before it even began. “Don’t get me wrong - you are both terrible dates. But I can’t fix her.” She jabbed her finger into his chest. “I can, however, fix you.”

The term fix made Naruto uncomfortable, and he had to suppress the urge to cross his legs.

Pouring herself more tea Ayame offered some to Naruto. When he refused she poured him some more anyways. “When somebody offers to buy you food, you shouldn’t just ignore them and start eating, You need to talk more. And not with your mouth full.”

Naruto looked confused. “But then when am I supposed to eat?”

Ayame wondered for a second if her eyes would roll out of her head. She really couldn’t blame Naruto; his only form of table manners were the ones she gave him when he came to eat at their stand. “In between bites. Wait until you finish your bite to ask or answer questions.”

Naruto looked at his cup of tea and took a small sip of it. “Like this?” Naruto asked after his sip and setting the gross beverage down again.

Taking a drink of her own, Ayame smiled and nodded. “Exactly.” She placed her cup down once again. “And when a girl asks you for help when you’re eating together, you should...?”

Naruto froze, waiting for Ayame to continue. When she didn’t, he furrowed his brows in confusion. “Oh! Uhh, help them?”

If Naruto was a dog, he would have gotten a biscuit.

XXXX

Kiba followed her nose directly to Ichiraku Ramen. The place smelled so much like Naruto it wasn’t even funny - Naruto didn’t smell like ramen… Ramen smelled like Naruto. Kiba sighed and walked into the stand, holding Naruto’s jacket in her arms.

Teuchi greeted her with a smile. “Ahh, hello again! Would you like a second helping of Meat lover’s ramen?”

Kiba shook her head no. Her mother would be rather displeased if she went out to eat just before dinner. “No, I’m actually looking for Naruto. Have you seen him?”

Teuchi smiled brightly at that. “Yes, my daughter decided to drill some manners into him during her break. She should be down soon; the dinner rush is about to begin.” It was then that Teuchi noticed Naruto’s jacket in Kiba’s arms. “Oh, so you’re the one that’s been keeping that from Naruto! He just doesn't look the same without it.”

Kiba’s blush bloomed like a lotus flower. “I only have it because I fixed it.”

Teuchi smiled grew wider at that - the same smile he wore when somebody offered to buy Naruto all the ramen he could eat.

“And I only fixed it because he lost it and it tore. Not because I like him or anything!”

Teuchi gave Kiba a great belly laugh at the way she was acting. “Say... you’re Tsume’s youngest daughter, right?”

Kiba gave a curt nod. “She’s why I can’t order; she’s making dinner.”

Teuchi usually left gossiping to his daughter; after all, Ayame had become the lovable face of his establishment. But the ramen chef saw all, and knew all that happened with in his stand. “You know, having a bad first date here is a good sign,” Teuchi said with a shrug, as he recalled years in the past. “I remember when your father, Tarou, came into the stand dragging along that tomboy Tsume. I had just opened up, and he had just asked her out.”

Kiba froze at that. She hadn’t heard her father’s name in years - it was taboo in their house. But what was more shocking was that Teuchi made it sound like her father had asked her mother out. “Wait... my dad asked my mom out?”

Teuchi nodded. “Yep! She used to be even more wild when she was younger. Scared all the guys away. But Tarou was fearless. Somehow, he managed to convince Tsume to go out with him.”

Kiba swallowed down a lump in throat. “No way.”

“Though they stopped coming here as often once your mother learned to cook,” Teuchi mused. “Your father ended up with a bowl of ramen on his head, and Tsume stormed away. Don’t really remember what for - I just remember it was a waste of good ramen.”

Kiba wasn’t entirely certain if she could even believe this ramen man. For years, her mother had told her that her father was a coward and that he ran away because of her. “Do you have some proof?”

Teuchi frowned at that. “Proof? Do you think I take photos of every couple that has a date at my shop?” Snorting at the ridiculous notion, he began to clean his ramen bar with a rag he procured from underneath the countertop. “You and your sister are all the proof I need. Ask your mother.”

A man, followed by his pregnant wife, entered the ramen stand, and Teuchi moved to serve them after taking their orders and beginning the prep work. Free from the man’s attention, Kiba’s senses began to drift elsewhere. She heard the small click of a lock coming undone from upstairs and the squeak of a rarely-oiled door as it opened, and several moments later Ayame appeared behind the counter...followed by Naruto.

For reasons unknown to Kiba, she bolted out of the ramen stand. Unfortunately for her, being quick did not equal being stealthy.

“Hey, Kiba! Wait!”

Kiba felt her sweat run cold and her blood boil, her heart beating to its own rhythm. Naruto was probably still mad at her for running away during their date (not that he thought it was a date) or maybe for leaving him with a bill and saying that she hoped he’d lose.

“Hey Kiba!”

Kiba turned on her feet, beginning a bow at the waist when she was facing Naruto.

“I’m sorr--”

Crack!

“Ow!”

The bow was cut short and they both shot back, each reeling from the feeling of having headbutted the other. It sounded like two coconuts banging into each other, and had the circumstances been different (and his forehead less in pain), Naruto would have (probably) found the situation hilarious.

If Akamaru could have laughed, he would have.

“Ow ow ow ow!” Kiba said, rubbing her face into Naruto’s jacket in an attempt to rub away the pain.

“Ow,” Naruto groaned, readjusting his forehead protector. For once, the object did its job. It still hurt a bit, though; Kiba had a hard head. Recovering first, Naruto stood upright and began his half-practiced speech. “Kiba.... I’m sorry for how I treated you yesterday. And...” Naruto paused, watching as Kiba eyed him curiously from behind his jacket. “Is that my jacket?”

Kiba yelped and threw the jacket at Naruto’s face. It was a good ten pounds heavier now that the armor had been added to it, and Naruto, not expecting it to be thrown at him (or for it to be several times heavier than he was used to), had to stumble backwards.

Kiba blanched. “Uhh, sorry!”

Naruto looked at his jacket and inspected it, noting that some of the tears he had gotten were taken care of and that there was a large stitch along one of the arm pits. “Oh hey! Did you fix this?” Naruto didn’t wait for her to answer, putting it on. “Wow! It feels heavier. What’d you do to it?”

“It’s not like I did it for you,” Kiba snorted quickly. She blushed, realizing what she had said again. “After yesterday, I went to go get your jacket, since I left you with the bill I thought this was a good way to say sorry.” Kiba examined her feet. “I even added a bit of armor to it to help your fight against Neji.”

Naruto couldn’t contain his excitement. Kiba had gotten him a truly wonderful gift. He loved his jacket, and now it was even better than before. “Thank you so much, Kiba!” Naruto yelled, pulling Kiba into a tight hug.

Kiba squealed when the boy leapt forward. Physical contact with Naruto - while not entirely unwanted - was still a surprise.

Naruto’s excitement was twofold. He got his jacket back, and he was starting to think that maybe - just maybe - Jiraiya and Ayame were right. Maybe Kiba really did like him.

Raw excitement flushed over him. A girl liked him. Him!

Kiba would have returned the hug with just as much enthusiasm, if she wasn’t freaking out, or if her arms weren’t pinned to her sides. Naruto was hugging her with more force than when he grabbed her during the chunin exams, and she could feel her vision starting to fade from the pressure.

Worse still was the warmth Kiba felt from the hug and the warmth in Naruto’s voice. It might have been pleasant... if she could breathe. “Naruto, air!” Kiba pleaded.

Naruto dropped Kiba quickly and took a step back, his cheeks red from embarrassment.“Sorry Kiba.” When Kiba puts her hood down, she definitely looks prettier than Sakura, he noted, after he took a long look at her. “I was just happy that you did this for me and that you’re not mad at me anymore.”

Kiba blushed. How could she hate Naruto after yesterday? The whole thing was her fault - she was rude to him from the start, and she never actually said the word ‘date’ until it was too late. “You Idiot,” Kiba whispered, steeling herself. “You should have been mad at me! I called you names and said that I hoped you’d lose. Which I don’t. You need to kick Neji’s butt for Hinata.”

Naruto’s smile widened at that. “Yeah! I beat you, so I’ll be able to go all the way to top, right?”

The implied compliment made Kiba smile. “You bet! I can’t have the guy I lost to losing in the first round!” Sticking her fist out towards Naruto, she waited for him to bump it. “You better win. I don’t want to waste my cheering on a loser.”

Naruto smiled and bumped Kiba’s fist. “Don’t worry! I’ll make chunin no problem.”

Dropping her fist, Kiba looked at Naruto, biting her bottom lip ever so slightly. “Hey,” She began, as the storm inside her raged. “After the chunin exams are over...” She trailed off, and Naruto let out an elongated hmmm. “Would you like to go out with me?”

Was she really doing this? Was she really going to actually ask Naruto out on a date just after their last one failed so bad?

“On some missions!” Kiba quickly added, shaking away the thoughts that plagued her mind.

Naruto didn’t allow his smile to fall. He was kind of hoping she would say date, but missions with Kiba sounded just fine as well. “Okay! just the two of us!”

Not wanting to be ignored, Akamaru jumped up between the two and barked.

“Three of us,” Kiba corrected, bending down to pick up Akamaru.

Naruto rolled his eyes with a smile and a huff, leaning down to ruffle the fur on Akamaru’s head. “Yeah, sure! I guess Akamaru can come.”

Akamaru wagged his tail, trying to play bite at Naruto’s hand.

Kiba smiled one last time. “Well, I need to go before my mom yells at me.” She turned on her heel and began running off. “You better not lose, you idiot!”

Naruto waved goodbye. Kiba had a weird way of wishing him luck.

Chapter Text

Kiba was running. She was late. Naruto and had probably left already. She was an hour late, so she would have done the same thing. If he was still there, she didn’t want to keep him waiting any longer than necessary. Her uncombed hair floated like a mudslide behind her.

It was a saturday! It was only natural to sleep in, after all. Kiba skidded around the corner of her home. Her exit, however, was blocked by a mirthful Hana.

With a wide stance and hands on her hips, it was clear that Hana wasn’t going to let her little sister off easily. “Late for your date, runt?” Hana barked, venom foaming from each word.

Kiba didn’t slow. It had been well over a month since her and Naruto had had their ‘date’. She had finally found him again, not that she was looking for him, and established a time for their second date. Not that it was a date.

Kiba juked right and Akamaru feinted to the left.

It was during this time that Hana had developed into a bigger bitch than normal, constantly teasing and tormenting Kiba about Naruto. It got worse with each failed man she tried to bring home. Which had been three.

In the last month.

Akamaru used the wall as a springboard and landed safely on Hana’s head. With Hana distracted Kiba used the opportunity to slip between her sister’s legs and make her break to freedom. “It’s not a date!”

Kiba backpedaled to stick her tongue out at her sister. Akamaru kept pace with her, a smug look on his puppy dog face.

Hana huffed and crossed her arms. Her little sister hadn’t been that happy in a while. She nearly let a smile slip. “Mom’s cooking tonight so don’t be late, I don’t want to have to spend my day off finding you.”

Kiba wisely chose to keep her mouth shut.

Akamaru didn’t. Running behind Kiba he let out a few yips.

Hana’s face went red as she sucked on her bottom lip.

Kiba snorted. “You know she’ll neuter you for that one right?”

At the whines Akamaru made, Kiba almost felt sorry for her smart mouthed companion. Almost.

XXXX

Kiba rounded the corner to the Hokage’s office just a bit too fast. She heard the sound of what could have only been two coconuts bouncing off of each other first. Followed by a deep pain on her forehead - once again, the forehead protector was proving to just be for show.

“Ow, ow, ow!” Kiba and another voice said at the same time.

Across from her on the ground sat Naruto, rubbing his forehead in a similar fashion to Kiba. She was hoping Naruto was still there, but she didn’t want to literally run into him like that. “Why don’t you watch where you’re going you idiot!”

Today was off to a fantastic start.

Naruto stood to his feet in one quick motion when he realized that it was Kiba he had butted heads with. A wide grin spread across his face. he was still here after he slept in! “Hey Kiba!” Naruto offered his hand. “Sorry I’m late! I, eh, slept in.” He grinned, shrinking back a bit in embarrassment. “I wasn’t looking where I was going because I thought you’d be gone by now.”

An odd mixture of relief, anger, and embarrassment raged in Kiba’s mind. She took Naruto’s hand quickly enough, using his bulk to hoist herself up with ease. She wanted to tell him that they were both late, so that they could laugh and just continue on with the day, but it came out as. “Whatever, it’s not like I was waiting around for you, dumbass.”

A smile spread across Naruto’s face. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes, which seemed to anger Kiba further. “Then what are you still doing here?”

Kiba froze. “I… uh…”

She was caught.

Akamaru gave a whine-bark.

Kiba snarled at him, and the dog shut up quickly enough. “I was late too, okay!” Kiba stared at Naruto, her ears slowly turning red. Her eyes kept darting away from his.

And then he was laughing. And then they were laughing.

Naruto calmed himself for a moment. “Let’s do it in the afternoon next time. We’re not morning people.”

Kiba could only nod in agreement. She pumped her left hand with extra enthusiasm. “Well let’s get this started! I’m ready to do some missions!”

“Aren’t you going to… um...” Naruto coughed as Kiba turned to face the door.

Kiba blinked at her saturday morning mission buddy. “Do what?”

“Uhh, let go of my hand?”

She never did let go of his hand when he helped her up. How long at they been standing there talking and holding hands? In front of the hokage tower, no less? Who saw them? Did it matter? Yes it mattered, no it didn’t. Did it matter because it was him? Did it not matter because of him.

Kiba yelped, quickly letting go of Naruto’s hand and taking an extra step away from him. Folding her arms and pouting at Naruto she gave him a weak glare. “Not my fault. You hit my head so hard I forgot about it.”

Naruto gave her a half smirk, rolling his eyes once more. “Whatever. Let’s go hit up Granny for some missions.” Like a true gentlemen Naruto opened the door for Kiba.

Kiba took the opened door and waited for Naruto to join her in the hallway. “So is she actually your grandma? It’d be pretty cool to be related to a Hokage.”

The rush of air that came out of Naruto’s nose was a clear indication that the idea was ludicrous. “Nah, she just looks young. She’s actually really old and uses a jutsu to make herself look young, so I call her Granny because it bugs her.”

Kiba let out a bark of laughter. “Annoying the Hokage doesn’t seem like a good Idea Naruto.”

They arrived at the Hokage’s office. It was Kiba’s first time receiving missions from the new Hokage. She wasn’t even certain if Lady Tsunade would give two genin a couple of D-ranks. Certainly not everything needed to be handled by a team of three with a sensei.

With her enhanced senses Kiba picked up on two rather worrying things. The first was that from the other side of the door there was a slight rumbling. Like snoring. The second was the unmistakeable smell of cheap Sake. Kiba knew the smell well it was the kind her mother got on certain dates.

With no sense of grace or manners Naruto opened the door and barraged in. Most people knocked. Naruto wasn’t most people.

Lady Tsunade, Fifth Hokage of Konoha was quick to sit upright. The empty body of Sake that was sitting on her desk tipped over and began rolling off the side. Tsunade caught it with her hand. “Do I need to teach you manners brat?”

With a huff Naruto crossed his arms. “Ayame has been giving me lessons every time I get ramen now.” He didn’t want to blame Kiba, but their horrendous first day had sparked Ayame to take Naruto’s lack of manners into her own hands. He still had no idea what he did wrong most of the time.

Kiba was quick to stand in front of Naruto and gave her new leader a deep bow. “Hello Lady Tsunade. I am Kiba Inuzuka.” She had a deep respect for a female Hokage, even if it did crush her dream of being the first female Hokage. “Me and this idiot are here to see if you have any missions we can do today.”

“You two trying to get enough money to go on a date or something?” Tsunade asked with a raised eyebrow. She wouldn’t have cared if they had said yes, it was normal for teens to date. It was also normal for teens to need money. A calm refusal would have been slightly disappointing.

With a deep blush that made her clan markings fade away, Kiba looked at Naruto quickly three times never once staring at him for longer than a blink. Her messy brown hair began to stand on it’s end. “What? No way! We’re not going to go on a date!”

Naruto turned into a tomato with blond hair. The mention of dating Kiba gave him a sinking feeling inside of his gut, the memories of their failed date came bubbling up to the surface. As did every single one of Ayame’s lessons. Worse still were Jiraiya’s.

Tsunade smiled deeply. Oh, she was going to have fun teasing these two. “Oh shame, you two make a cute couple.”

For her efforts, Tsunade was rewarded with more blushing. She might have to check on the girl at some point, that shade of red wasn’t natural.

Akamaru chased his tail.

“Whatever!” Naruto shouted flailing his arms. “Can we have a couple D-ranks or not?”

“Fine, fine,” Tsunade said, digging into a pile of D-rank scrolls. She pulled out three. “Here, Weed pulling should take about an hour, finishing the file work won’t take too long either and finally painting a fence.”

Naruto’s face crinkled in disgust as Tsunade listed off his tasks. “Don’t you have anything more exciting?”

A quick shove from Kiba stopped Naruto from complaining further. “Those are fine Lady Tsunade.” Kiba shot Naruto a ‘shut-the-hell-up’ glare and retrieved the scrolls from Tsunade.

“You could learn a thing or two from your girlfriend, brat,” Tsunade had to restrain herself from rolling over with laughter at the expressions the two made. It was so fun to tease teenagers. They were so obvious about their feelings and in such denial about them as well.

Kiba pushed Naruto out the door as quickly as she good, snapping her head back to yell at the Hokage. “He’s not my boyfriend!”

XXXX

Pulling weeds as part of her genin team was a boring mechanical process. It honestly was one of Kiba’s least favorite missions. Largely because she couldn’t do it quickly most of the time. The owners didn’t want their lawns to be dug up by a fang over fang. Perfectly reasonable. Reasonable but still boring.

With Naruto however Kiba couldn’t remember the last time she had laughed so hard. It helped that Naruto also used a few shadow clones to speed up the process slightly. It was then that Kiba realized that Shadow Clones smelled like Naruto as well. It was going to her head.

“And then after I got behind him, I took out my Kunai and stabbed him in the butt.” Naruto was animated as he retold one of his many fights. “Then when he knocked me away, the explosive tag went off!”

An exploding Kunai to the rear end just so happened to be in lines with Kiba’s sense of humor. Crude, effective, and just a little bit nasty. Kiba’s laugh helped her rip out a rather stubborn weed. She laughed to hard and let out an oink.

Naruto stopped and smiled at her. Kiba tried to stop her laughter. It only made it worse.

“You oink!” Naruto shouted happily pointing a finger at Kiba with much enthusiasm. The shock of the sound that Kiba made caused Naruto to enter his own giggle fit quickly after.

Kiba’s laughed devolved into hiccups as she tried to stop. She turned a slightly teary eyed glare towards Naruto. A few giggles still escaping her lips. “You jerk, don’t make fun of my laugh!”

“I’m not making fun of it,” Naruto said, calming his own laughter easily enough. A blush spread across his face as Naruto turned back down towards some of the weeds. “I think it’s kind of cute.”

Kiba froze. She had only have been made fun of for her oinks. And yet here Naruto was saying that it was cute. She was grateful that he was looking at the ground as he pulled up another weed. She couldn’t help but smile and blush. “You dumbass, what makes you think I care?”

The weed Naruto was struggling with finally gave way as he pulled up a giant glob of dirt with it’s roots and all. He fell to his butt and looked at Kiba. He presented the weed in his hand like an ugly trophy. “Doesn’t mean it’s not cute.”

XXXX

Shizune made them wash their hands when they arrived for their next mission. She didn’t want the files to get dirty. According to Shizune the old system was absolutely rubbish and that her new system for organizing things would much more effective.

“Today,” Shizune began by clicking a pen onto a clipboard. “You two will be responsible for putting our shinobi files in alphabetical order. Some of them are retired, MIA, or deceased, be sure to put them under the right category. Please sort them by last name first so that all the clans are together for quick and easy reference.”

A dead silence drifted between Naruto and Kiba as they stared at Shizune and the massive stacks of files next to her. Neither one of them liked paper. It reminded them of academy homework.

Of the genin team assigned to do her mission only the little dog looked like he understood her. But that might have been because it wagged it’s tail when she looked at it. “Any questions?” Shizune asked, desperately hoping to clear up any miscommunications.

Naruto and kiba stared at each other. Then at the large intimidating stacks. And finally back at Shizune. “Nope.” Naruto said, making a pop.

“Okay.” Shizune said, she slowly began backing away from the duo. “I’ll be back in a bit to check on your progress.” She’d be back in thirty minutes. They couldn’t mess up things that badly right? They were strong capable ninja.

“You got it, Shizune!” Naruto said happily as Shizune left. Looking at Kiba, Naruto stroked his chin in thought. “How do you want to do this?”

Kiba simply looked at the stacks once again. “I don’t know. You make a couple of clones, and I’ll read the file to find out where they’re supposed to go?” It sounded efficient.

Eventually they got a system down using just the right amount of clones for the job. They made fun of a few names, a few pictures. Naruto brightened up when his file came up and his ridiculous I.D. Picture he had taken was included with the do over one the old man made him take.

And then everything stopped.

Kiba wasn’t even aware of what she was holding until she was halfway through reading it. She froze. Her hands trembled as though she had just walked into the snow. In her hands was the profile of Tarou Inuzuka.

Her father.

It had been so long since she had last seen a picture of him. Her mother had seen fit to remove all such photos from their house one day. He was standing firm in his identification photo, a true ninja of the Leaf.

Right below his rank jounin, in big red letters was MIA.

Kiba fell to her knees. She hadn’t seen her father since he just left one day. Some of her earliest memories were of seeing him off on missions with her mother and sister. It had been so long ago.

Naruto’s voice sounded distant and gargled. Like he was trying to talk to her from the inside of a fish tank. The paper felt heavy as Kiba flipped through her father’s files to the last one. The final Mission that her father had been on. In the jumble of events and jargon Kiba found the words that described her dad’s fate in a heartbeat.

Separated in battle. Kiri Ninja sent him down stream in an ambush. Searched for him. Body not found. His ninken continued to search for him, fled during the night.

The paper was getting rained on. Tears streamed down Kiba’s face in thick globs. Her dad was dead. That’s why he left them. That’s why her mother got sad when ever she mentioned Dad. “My dad is dead. They never found his body.”

Akamaru placed his head on Kiba’s lap and looked up at his companion, a shared pain in his puppy eyes.

Kiba could hear his heartbeat as Naruto took her into an awkward hug, her face half buried in his orange jacket. He smelled so much like her father. That lingering scent of sweat and earth that blended together to form a scent that was uniquely Naruto. He smelled like an alpha.

Naruto couldn’t help but try to read the file that had brought Kiba to her knees. A lot of it was technical terms he didn’t quite understand. A mission near the capital, protecting a target, Kiri team as opposition. And then he read what Kiba read. “His ninken thought he was still alive.”

Kiba nodded into Naruto’s jacket.

Naruto took Kiba’s shoulders in his arms and pushed her to arms length. She attempted to hide her face by looking at the ground. Naruto ducked his head down and shook her shoulders roughly. “Hey,” Kiba looked at him with red eyes. “Akamaru is a ninken and he seems pretty smart. So if you’re dad’s thought that he was still alive then he must be alive.”

Akamaru barked in agreement.

Kiba knew they were offering her a false hope. A false sense of happiness. The same denial she now saw in her mother’s actions. It seemed so appealing.

“Kiba, I promise you I’ll help you find your dad!” The certainty in his voice shocked Kiba. It sent a tingle along her spin right behind her stomach. She liked that feeling. “He’s still out there so you just have to believe it, got it? Don’t give up yet.”

Kiba looked at Naruto in awe. She knew she shouldn’t believe him. She knew that he was promising the impossible. Impossible seemed to be what Naruto specialized in. “Okay Naruto.”

Naruto smiled at her with a brightness in his eyes.

Oh. So that’s why Hinata liked him.

XXXX

Kiba insisted that they do the painting mission. It was their pride as Shinobi that was on the line. She refused to have a mark on her record that she failed a D-rank mission. That was a blemish that she could not live with.

In order to make things go quickly, Naruto created far more clones than necessary. They had more Naruto’s than they did brushes.

Naruto watched as Kiba slowly painted a small section of the fence. She was simply going through the motions. A passive, not-quite-frown was etched onto her face. At least she wasn’t crying anymore. She was ugly when she cried.

“Hey, Kiba!” Naruto smiled as startled Kiba out of her thoughts. Before she could ask what he wanted Naruto took his brush and booped Kiba on the nose with it.

Her nose was suddenly wet. Kiba twisted her nose as though she was about to sneeze. “You bastard, what the hell was that for?” Kiba’s own brush flailed wildly, splattering paint all around. She took an aggressive step forward.

“I knew it!” Naruto said smugly, not backing down from Kiba’s challenging glare. His jacket was off and safe. He was ready to get dirty. “Blue totally isn’t your color.” That was a girl thing right?

Kiba looked at Naruto like he was brain dead as she tried to process what he just said. “What are you...?”

“So quit being so blue, Kiba.”

Kiba blushed at that. Naruto could have just said she was being a downer, he didn’t need to do something so... so... Naruto. She took her brush and flung it at Naruto multiple times, pelting him with droplets of blue paint. “You’re right! It looks better on you!”

Naruto’s retaliation came from behind. Two of the nearby clones began to use their brushes like whips to shoot large globs of pain at Kiba.

Paint got in her hair. The hair that she had been taking care of ever since Naruto had complimented it. Sure she didn’t comb it today. But now it was blue.

A few drops of pain managed to snake down her spine and caused Kiba to flinch. She glared at Naruto hard as he just smiled at her like the biggest idiot on the planet. “So that’s how you want to play is it?” Kiba asked with danger in her voice. In one motion she grabbed a paint can.

Before Naruto could protest Kiba began to spin violently, turning into a blue tornado as blue paint went flying everywhere. Not a single clone was spared and the fence was completely covered in an uneven coating. At least it was painted.

Naruto smiled underneath his blue paint mask Kiba had given him. After shaking off as much paint as he could Naruto finally opened his eyes.

Kiba was a sight to behold. Her hair was now a wild twister of blue paint, her own attack had covered her with just as much paint as everything else. With her hands on her hips she looked at Naruto with a satisfied smile. “Who’s blue now?”

With his now blue shirt Naruto looked up and down at Kiba’s paint covered form. She had done more to herself than he did. Naruto could only give Kiba a cheeky grin. “Both of us!”

A thick blush crept onto Kiba’s face that clashed with the blue paint that was splattered across her person. She really went too far. Their eyes met, they both looked completely ridiculous. Kiba was the first to start laughing. Naruto was quick to join her. The laughter came and went like the tide, growing in intensity whenever Kiba oinked, or when they managed to open their eyes and get a good look at one another.

Akamaru walked stiffly towards kiba completely covered in blue paint. He let out a soft whine.

Kiba’s laughter came to a giggly stop. She had to be careful when she picked up Akamaru so as to not get any more paint on herself. With the last few giggles Kiba examined Akamaru who gave her a pitiful look. “Sorry, buddy. Didn’t mean for you to get caught in the crossfire. Looks like I’m going to have to give you a bath.”

Naruto couldn’t help but frown at the situation. Tsunade’s teasing had actually given Naruto the idea to ask Kiba out for ramen once they were finished with the missions. But now because of the blue puppy they were going to be parting ways. Unless... “Can I help?”

Kiba bit her lip. It would be bad if she took Naruto home especially with both of them being covered in paint. “Yeah, sure.” And if her mother or sister were home she would have to sneak him in through the back. Wait... did she just agree to it without thinking it through? If the cheer of excitement Naruto let out was any indication, yes she did. “But it’s not like I need your help or anything.”

XXXX

Naruto was confused. “Hey Kiba?” Naruto asked, poking the girl in the arm to try and get her attention. Kiba had been staring at her home for a long time now. Just glaring at it.

“What?!” Kiba attempted to yell and whisper at the same time. She had almost jumped out of her skin when Naruto poked her. She was expecting it to be her Mother or Sister. Maybe even one of the ninken or other members of her clan.

Naruto looked around examining the brush that they were hiding in. “Why are we hiding in a bush?”

“Yes Kiba, why are you hiding in the bush?” Both young teens jumped at the deep growl of a voice that echoed from behind them. Their heads snapped to see who had found them. A large wolf like dog sat calmly behind them an eye patch covered his right eye and his coat was black on top with a white bottom. “And why is the pup blue?”

Naruto let out a shocked gasp and pointed at the dog like it was some kind of ghost. “It can talk!”

“Oh hey, Kuromaru, is mom or sis in?” Kiba asked. If she acted like she didn’t do anything wrong then she wasn’t doing anything wrong. “Naruto got paint on him and I didn’t want mom to find out.”

Naruto looked like he had just been thrown to the wolves.

Kuromaru gave the two a quick sniff. “I see. So that’s how it is.” The great wolf stood up slowly and turned away with a patient ease. “Your mother went shopping, Hana is still at the clinic so you have reign of the den for now.”

Kiba gave her mother’s companion a deep bow and grabbed Naruto’s hand quickly before Kuromaru changed his mind. If Kuromaru didn’t say anything it meant that he was okay with it. Probably.

It turned out that Kiba did need Naruto’s help washing Akamaru. As smart and as calm as Akamaru was there was a deep fear of taking a bath that Akamaru unfortunately inherited. Bathing Akamaru was also a loud process as the pup switched from whining about getting wet to barking and attacking the water.

Naruto was hanging into the tub holding onto the dog firmly. Kiba was doing her best to get all of the water onto Akamaru and not onto Naruto. Something that was funny at first had since lost its humor.

“Hey it’s okay Akamaru it’s just water.” Naruto said cheerfully. His own slightly blue hair was damped from splash damage. “See I’m wet and it doesn’t hurt any.”

Akamaru acknowledged the blond by attempting to bite out of his bonds. It wasn’t a hard bite and it stopped as soon as Akamaru touched the flesh. It was just a nip.

Kiba smiled at how well Naruto and her best friend got along. Anybody else would likely be bleeding and needing stitches in their hand. The two applied a generous amount of shampoo to Akamaru. “You’re almost done buddy. Just a little bit longer.”

“Yea just got to bubble you up!” Naruto began to happily rub the shampoo while maintaining a firm grip on Akamaru. At many points during the wash Akamaru had a mohawk or some other weird fur style.

Akamaru had given up on life at this point and simply stood there, giving Kiba a deep pleading look to just end it already.

The door slammed open and Kiba began to share Akamaru’s sentiment. Tsume stood in the doorway a feral look in her eyes. The room went silent even Akamaru stopped his whining.

Tsume took in the sight before her. The paint spattered look of Her daughter and Naruto. The currently wet, miserable and ever so slightly blue Akamaru. Looked like a wild date. She was honestly quite happy to see her daughter spending time with the brat. But it was a mother’s duty to torment her children. “Both of you wash up, dinner is in fifteen minutes.”

The door slammed shut.

Silence persisted as Naruto and Kiba turned to look at one another. “So,” Naruto began in an attempt to break the silence. “That’s your mom?”

Kiba nodded as her mind revved up for full on freak out mode. Everything came to a crashing conclusion in her mind. Her mother was home, Naruto had to leave! “Quick get out of here!”

Naruto found himself being pulled up to his feet allowing Akamaru to run free. “Hey, wait! What, is your mom that scary?”

“Yes.” There was no hesitation in that response. Kiba opened the window and attempted to usher Naruto out of it. Reality caught up to Kiba, with Half of Naruto sticking out of her window. “Wait! No, Mom invited you to dinner! You can’t run… but you really should.”

Naruto yelped when he was pulled back violently through the small bathroom window. “Stay, go - which is it?” Naruto complained, standing up to look Kiba in the eyes.

Kiba bit her lip again. She didn’t want to have an awkward dinner with Naruto and her family. That wasn’t something that should happen until he was her boyfriend. Not that she ever wanted him to be her boyfriend. But she also didn’t want him to leave yet. Only because if he left now her mother would be furious and hunt Naruto down and force him to eat dinner. Or worse. Kiba sat down on the side of the tub and let her head sink. “I don’t know!”

Not for the first time Naruto wondered if it was a good time to touch Kiba. Even when he hugged her earlier he wasn’t certain if he should have done that. It was weird touching a girl. She jumped when he placed his hand on her shoulder. “Do you want me to leave?”

Kiba’s head snapped at Naruto and a deep frown appeared on her face. “No,” She saw Naruto’s smile grow wide. “But not because I want you to stay, I’m just not the boss of you so you should do what you want!”

“Then I’m staying for dinner.”

Akamaru choose that moment to walk in front of the two teens. Naruto and Kiba swore that they saw Akamaru give them a smug smile. Then the dog began to dry himself in a very dog like fashion.

Chapter Text

There was a pugnant sense of awkwardness that lingered like a burnt home cooked meal.

With a grin that was nearly ear to ear, Hana sat on her side of the table. Try as she might, she couldn’t be mad at her little sister for being the first one to bring home a guy to have dinner with them. Not when her darling little sister looked like a strawberry with blue seeds. And Kiba’s little friend squirmed whenever anybody looked at him.

“So,” Both of the young genin jumped at Hana’s voice. She feasted on the awkwardness the two were feeling - like a dog would on the marrow of a bone. “Why so blue?” Hana gave herself a mental pat on the back for the cleverness.

The redness of Kiba’s face hadn’t gone down since she first sat down next to Naruto on their family’s small table. She wrinkled her nose at Hana for the lame joke, as though the smell offended her before pointing at Naruto. “He said that earlier.”

“It’s not her color,” Naruto mumbled, his eyes flickered to Hana’s and then Kiba’s before he continued to stare at the interesting plain table cloth.

A loud snort came from the kitchen. Tsume had heard them apparently.

Hana huffed and ignored the rising sense of shame that came from her own lame joke. “So why are both of you painted?”

Kiba smiled at the thought and was about to answer.

“Someone grab the rice!” Tsume yelled from the kitchen.

Naruto shot up like a rocket nearly knocking over the chair he was sitting on. Ayame’s lessons included helping people in the kitchen if they asked it. “I got it.”

Naruto and Tsume passed each other, Tsume carried with her a large pot that was giving off a lot of steam. “On the counter, pup.” Tsume gestured to the large pot with her chin.

Tsume all but slammed the pot down on the small table, a proud look on her face. In her professional opinion as a mother and housewife her children and Naruto were in for a treat tonight. In one dramatic motion Tsume made a show of revealing the night’s meal.

An explosion of steam filled the area followed quickly the thick meat aroma. Inside the pot, simmering lightly in it’s still bubbling juices, was a hearty beef stew. The hot scent of ginger blended perfectly with the rich beefy aroma that clashed and battle for fragrant dominance. Where the beef was strong and powerful, the ginger was subtle and fine.

All three Inuzuka inhaled deeply allowing their enhanced sense of smell to take in the mouth watering scent.

And then Naruto ruined it. He came in like a hurricane he was clutching the hot pot of rice on the bottom like an idiot as he made a mad rush for the table. “Hotatatatata!” Naruto fired off in rapid yelps.

Before Tsume could snarl at the boy for not using the oven mitts that sat on top of the pot he just carried in, before Hana could so much as smile, Kiba acted. Both of her hands slammed down onto the table.

“You Idiot!” Kiba growled. She snatched Naruto’s hands quickly. “I knew you were stupid, but did you really not see the oven mitts?” She spared a sharp glance at the red tenderness of Naruto’s burnt hands. He needed water on them. With a firm hand Kiba marched Naruto into the kitchen where she plunged his hands into the water.

For Naruto the physical pain vanished quickly. It didn’t really even hurt to begin with it was just really hot. But the embarrassment would last for a while. And then there was Kiba - who, in her own way, was showing concern for him. “Sorry, Kiba. I didn’t want to make your mom mad.”

Kiba eyes fixated onto Naruto’s dopey lopsided grin that he was trying to give her. “You dumbass, nobody is going to be mad if you ask for help, it’s just a family dinner.”

“Yea, but it’s my first one.”

Kiba inhaled sharply through her nose, unintentionally getting another sniff of the beef stew. This was Naruto’s first family dinner because he didn’t didn’t have a family. How could she have forgotten such an important fact about Naruto? “Yea well don’t make a big deal about it, okay?”

Naruto nodded happily and accepted the towel Kiba gave him.

“Does it hurt?” Kiba asked, ignoring that growing sense of hunger in her stomach. Though the hunger pains paled compared to the sudden itchiness she was feeling in her hands. An Itch only Naruto could scratch. She thought back on the day, she reacted so badly to finding her father’s folder. And Naruto who had no family comforted her without a second thought. Nor did he make it about him.

Naruto proudly presented his calloused hands towards Kiba. They were clean, and no redness from any burns. They looked like perfectly normal Naruto hands. “Nope, I’m good.”

Kiba blushed at her apparent over reaction. “Good wouldn’t want you to be beaten by a hot pot, that wouldn’t be good for my reputation,” Once again Kiba grabbed Naruto by the wrist and led him to the table.

“Took you two long enough,” Hana let out a bark of laughter. “I bet you did more than kiss his boo boo better.” Hana’s revelry was cut short by the single grain of rice that smacked her hard in the forehead. “Oww mom that hurt!”

Not sparing her immature elder daughter a glance, tsume focused on her own meal heartily scarfing down globs of meat and rice. “put a muzzle on it, we have a guest over for dinner.”

Any attempt at grumbling was cut short by a dangerous look from Tsume. Hana could only gulp and give her sister and that blond boy dirty looks. What was the point of having a little sister if she couldn’t tease them to death! “Fine.”

Still red faced from Hana’s teasing, Kiba and Naruto sat down at the table with an awkward shuffle to their seats. After bumping into each other several times to get their share of food, Kiba snapped. “You idiot!”

Kiba grabbed Naruto’s bowl from his hands filled it with rice and piled on a giant pile of meat before serving herself. “There, now eat.”

Tsume chuckled lightly, before getting seconds. Or was it thirds? “Eat as much as you want brat, there’s more than enough.” She watched the blonde's eyes light up as he tasted her cooking. Something told Tsume that her daughter would be needing cooking lessons soon enough.

The comfortable silence of people stuffing their faces quickly grew awkward for the motormouths in the group. Tsume especially needed some form of chatter. “So Naruto, I heard you beat Kiba in the chunin exams.” Tsume did enjoy the frown that was etched on her youngest's face. “Why don’t you tell us exactly what happened?”

“Just my fight with Kiba?” Naruto asked setting his bowl down. Tsume’s food was good! Almost as good as Ichiruka’s!

“We want the whole story, half-pint,” Hana smiled at the grumpy look Naruto adopted.

Naruto crossed his arms and pouted. “I’m not that short!”

“You’re shorter than me,” Kiba pointed out with a budding smile. It was true, she was taller than Naruto. Although only just barely. “But ignore, boobzilla, I want to know more about your exams too!”
Naruto proved to be an apt story teller, something that was enhanced by his recent time with Jiraiya. With just the right flair for the dramatic Naruto waved his arms as he began to tell the story of the chunin exams. He started with the written exam.

“Ha did, you really pass that test without writing down a single answer?” Tsume slapped her hand down on the table a jovial smile on her face.

Kiba frowned. Naruto was certainly a lucky idiot it seemed. Even their fight was largely luck. A tingle went up her spine as she remembered that horrible smell. She glared at Naruto hard, at least there was no trace of that foul odor in his normal scent. She felt her ears grow red as husky scent of Naruto began to overpower the beef stew. She wondered if Hana or her mother could smell it. She needed a distraction. “Of course a loser like you wouldn’t be able to answer any of those questions.”

Naruto frowned and returned Kiba’s glare with a low growl of his own. “Oh yeah? Well how many questions did you answer!?” Naruto pointed a free finger right in Kiba’s face.

Kiba swatted Naruto’s finger away. When it came back in her face a second time she swatted it again. The third time she bit at it. A part of her wondered if Naruto tasted as good as he smelled. That part was taken around back and put down. “I answered all of them,” Kiba said proudly.

“She got them all wrong,” Tsume spoke like a wolf that waited for it’s back to join in.

Before Kiba could protest Hana spoke. “That’s not all. You were one mark away from getting tossed out for cheating.” Hana joined her mother as they circled around Kiba. Then they leapt for in for the kill. “Did you not notice the two of us in the examination room?”

The reality of her failure became apparent as each word was a blow to Kiba’s ego. The weight of it all forced her head down and caused her shoulders to slump due to the depression she found herself in. Desperation to get some kind of coolness factor filled Kiba. “Well my team was the second one to the tower.”

Hana snorted. “That’s because you had shino on your team who set up a trap before the bell rang. Technically not cheating but you didn’t really help with that now did you?”

Naruto let out a fake scream. “Ah man! I wish I would have known we could do that! I would have totally sent in some shadow clones to set up a bunch of traps!”

“What did happen to your team during the forest? You guys looked roughed up,” Kiba’s curiosity only grew as Naruto shivered.

Naruto began slowly as he retold the days in the forest. They shrieked in horror when he told them about his time in the snake’s stomach. They cheered when he told them how he busted out of it. Their bowls slowly began to rest on the table as they began to eat up Naruto’s story.

When Kiba heard what Naruto said to Sasuke she couldn’t help but cheer. “Hell yea!” but the temperament was immediately hushed when Naruto began to tell of his brief encounter with that snake bastard.

“As he held me by my throat he did something with his hand and this weird purple flames appeared on his fingers and he slammed it into my stomach. I passed out after that. And when I woke up I couldn’t really feel my chakra,” Naruto explained trying to mimic the fight scene by struggling against his own grip.

Tsume’s frown deepened. She had been one of the trackers to try and find Orochimaru after that incident. But that technique sounded familiar. “Sounds like the five elements seal.”

Kiba let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. “What’s that?”

Tsume’s smile at the fond memories quickly soured. “It was a technique a friend of mine invented. It forms a tight seal around one of chakra gates. It sends people’s chakra control down the drain.” Tsume paused, hoping none of them were going to ask who that friend was. Truth be told she wasn’t really paying attention during the ‘Super secret Naruto meeting’. “Did you ever get it removed?”

Naruto nodded happily. “Yea the pervy-sage removed it for me when I was training with him. Who was your friend?”

That was the question Tsume wanted to avoid. Surely as long as she didn’t scream out that it was his mother everything would be okay. “Her name was Kushina, and she passed away years ago.”

The gears in kiba’s head began to turn. “Wait a minute!” She slammed her hands down on the table causing the empty bowls to rumble. “Do you mean to tell me. That you beat me with a seal on you that makes it hard for you to do jutsu?” She got right up in Naruto’s face. Daring him to say that the only reason why she did so well against him was because of some stupid seal. That she needed a handicap just to stand on the same level with him.

Naruto maintained eye contact with Kiba for as long as he could before he finally wilted under her fiery gaze. “What? No!” Naruto stammered trying figure out what to say to get Kiba to stop trying to set him on fire with her eyes. She was scarier than Sakura when mad. What did Jiraiya say? When a woman is mad give them a compliment.

“You’re really pretty when you’re mad.” It wasn’t even a lie.

Kiba’s face ignited like a firework instantly blooming into a rich crimson blush. She once again found herself flustered over something stupid Naruto was saying. He thought she was pretty. When she was mad. Why was she mad again? Something about Naruto. Was she mad at Naruto?

Yes.

The burning red on her face melted away into pure raw anger. Naruto was trying to weasel out of it by telling her she was pretty. “You Idiot!” Kiba yelled out as she harshly met Naruto’s stupid smile. That stupid everything is going to be okay smile that he seemed to give everybody.

The smile changed when she called him an idiot. That stupid Idiotic smile changed into something she had never seen before. It was still a smile. It was still stupid. But it was only for her. That stupid idiot had a smile that was only for her! Suck it Sakura! Wait what?

Tsume watched as her daughter went through wave after wave of emotions. It was so much like her and Tarou. No matter how hot headed she got, no matter how stubborn on idiotic she was being he would simply give her a smile and a few words and everything would seem better. And it appeared that Naruto had her daughter down to a T.

After a few moments of sputtering and twisting emotion, Kiba wordlessly sat down. She maintained a stubborn scowl out of principle. Something that was immediately directed at Hana the second the older sister opened her mouth. Kiba’s scowl was that of an angry puppy that promised poop in her shoes.

Hana met the scowl with a challenging glare. Oh, if her sister wanted to play that game, Hana could too. With the snap of her eyebrows Hana looked right at Naruto, with her elbow on the table and her hand cupping her chin. Hana entered one of her perfected ‘sexy poses’. “Why don’t you tell us about your fight with Kiba, Na-ru-to.”

Naruto looked at Hana. Then at Kiba. Then at Hana. Then at Kiba. Then at Tsume. Then at Kiba.

“Go ahead,” Kiba said through her teeth. She knew what her sister was doing. Trying to make her look bad. She hated the way Hana was trying to not only belittle her in front of Naruto, but also flirt with him at the same time. “Tell them how you beat me, Naruto.”

“I choose life,” Naruto said flatly. What ever was happening between Kiba and her sister was something Naruto wanted no place in. “And you and Akamaru were tough!” Naruto finally noticed a lack of actual canine. “Wait where is Akamaru?”

“The dogs eat with the pack on saturday night.” Tsume scrapped the bottom of the stew, getting a few scraps of congealed meat stew. “It’s a bonding thing.” She waved her hand around in a circle like it would help explain everything.

Naruto could only let out an “Oh” at that.

Tsume spared her daughters a glance. They were glaring at each other, Kiba with a red-faced glare of pure anger and frustration directed at Hana. And Hana returned the glare with just as much venom. Tsume let out a sigh. “Why don’t you tell us what happened after your fight before I end up with one less daughter?”

Naruto looked at the two girls and for a moment could have sworn he saw sparks flying. “Oh! Uh... right. So after they took Kiba away it was time for Hinata and Neji to fight.”

A hush fell over Kiba as she heard that. She knew that Neji hurt Hinata badly. If that bastard hadn’t have hurt Hinata so bad she might have been able to actually do something when the sound invaded instead of just sleeping on the floor like a useless idiot. Naruto fought a sand monster while she laid face down in the dirt.

Once again Naruto held his audience captive as he went over the fight between Hinata and Neji. As he progressed into his training with Jiraiya there were snickers of some of the things that happened. A few whoops and and jeers, he told them how he saved Akamaru and summoned his first toad larger than a tadpole.

They gasped when he told them that Jiraiya threw him off the cliff a few days later.

“When me and Neji got blow back I knew that he wasn’t going to go down that easy so I had to think quick.” Naruto had the chair on his head as he spoke, a clone sitting on top of it doing it’s best to look dead. “So I made a clone quickly and had it take my place while I dug under the ground, and then right when that bastard thought he was the winner, I punched him!” With a mock punch the clone disappeared and Naruto stood as the victor.

Tsume’s smile widened at that. “Way to go brat! Wish I had been there to see it!”

“Yea I missed the end of it.” Kiba said with a light blush.

“Better than my Chunin exams.” Hana said simply. “You see, I was up against a--”

“Nobody cares, Hana.” Kiba interrupted. “Besides, your stories are so boring.”

Tsume could only nod in agreement.

“Why do you two always gang up on me?” Hana whined.

“Because you can dish it,” Tsume said automatically.

“But you can’t take it,” Kiba finished with a giggle.

Even Naruto chuckled slightly at the scene.

XXXX

It was dark by the time Tsume kicked Naruto out. And Naruto couldn’t help but thank her for the meal over and over again. Tsume’s cooking might not be as good as Ichiraku’s but it was a strong second place. Certainly better than Tsunami’s.

Kiba smiled as she walked Naruto out of the clan grounds, using the proper entrance this time. It had been a good day, even with how uncertain she was about her father’s fate. At this point her largest frustration was Naruto. Specifically his hand. It kept brushing against hers.

The pace they had set was a slow comfortable one as they simply enjoyed a silence that was interrupted by a few words only to return to a silence again. Until finally they reached the end of their path.

“Well, here we are.” Kiba flapped her arm in a helpless attempt to point at the exit they were currently standing in.

Naruto could only scratch his head. “Yeah.” He had had a great time today. Doing missions with Kiba was a lot better than doing them with Kakashi and Sasuke. And today proved to be a good way to get his mind over what happened at the hospital with Sasuke. But mostly he was just happy to spend time with Kiba.

Kiba bit her lip, not certain what she should say at the moment. On the one hand she wanted to hang out with Naruto more, but it was already so late. Maybe she should skip out on doing dishes and go on a night time adventure with Naruto? A chill went up her spine. No, skipping dishes would be a quick way to a shallow grave. “Well, good night.” Kiba gave Naruto her best smile.

Naruto watched as Kiba turned to leave. He needed to say something. He didn’t want to have to wait another month to hang out with her again. “Are you free tomorrow!?”

Kiba froze and burned.

Naruto froze. His heartbeat going faster than his brain so his mouth took over. “We can like train and have a sparing match and stuff.”

Kiba let out a sigh of relief. She wasn’t ready for Naruto to ask her out yet! Not that she even wanted him to. “Yea, I should be, meet you at the academy?”

“Yea! At one, so we can sleep in.” Naruto added quickly.

Kiba smirked at Naruto, folding her arms over her chest. “Don’t think I’m going to go easy on you.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

XXXX

The dishes were a silent, miserable task. Only the clanging of the pots and the swishing of the water. It had always been that way since he left. Tsume would just silently do the dishes while one of her daughters helped her. For the sister’s it had been a mystery for many years, why her mother’s temperament was so different during the dishes.

And trying to avoid it was ill advised.

“Hey mom,” Kiba said finally breaking the dry silence between them. She placed the now dry plate with the others.

It took Tsume a while to respond, and when she did it was a low and quite “hmm?” She didn’t even look at her daughter. Her eyes distant while her body went on autopilot.

“I found dad’s file today.”

The pot Tsume was scrubbing fell down into the water with a large splash. Tsume’s face snapped to her daughter’s a horrified look on her face.

“Why’d you lie?”

Tsume erupted into a mad frenzy. Tears instantly mixed with the dirty dishwater that had splashed on her face. “He’s not dead, okay? He’s not dea. They never found his body and Rokimaru would have come back if he was dead. But they’re still missing, okay?” Her fingers dug into Kiba’s shoulders, she shook her poor daughter with ever word. Finally, after years of keeping bottled up, she could let it out.

Kiba felt her own eyes begin to water up. “I know, mom. I know.” Kiba smiled at her mother. It was the same smile Naruto gave her when she found out. “Me and Naruto are going to find him and bring him back okay?”

The hug that Tsume gave her daughter was all that needed to be said. Kiba returned the hug instantly and simply stood there for a long moment in her mother’s embrace.

Wordlessly the two went back to doing the dishes. A bright smile on both of their faces.

“Hey mom.”

“Hmm?”

“Can Naruto eat with us again next week?”

Tsume turned and looked at her daughter. The tears still stained her face. But Kiba didn’t trust that smile. “Sure... but you have to help cook.”

Chapter Text

For two weeks the cycle continued. Naruto and Kiba would meet up on Saturday, do a few extra missions, Naruto would join the Inuzuka family dinner, and then they would meet up on Sunday to train until they dropped. The time was mostly spent beating the tar out of each other, but it was still training.

So it came as no surprise to Tsunade when the rambunctious duo barreled into her office on Saturday. She had actually planned for them to show up.

Naruto froze in the door. He examined the room filled with other people that was probably a sign that he had probably just interrupted something. There were Tsunade and Shizune behind the Hokage desk. Sasuke and an incredibly red Hinata stood to the left.

The first a girl in rich formal clothes, she had deep red hair that looked like the ocean at storm, to Naruto she looked like a porcelain doll. The other a boy to her left stood tall probably taller than Jiraiya. He was dressed in much more comfortable clothes than his counterpart, he had short messy black hair, and his gaze was that a thunderous beast. He carried a large polearm under his arm.

Before Naruto could open his mouth, Kiba's face appeared next to his and she attempted to struggle her way in. Naruto turned to look at Kiba; she had been letting her hair grow out and had it down again today. It was a wild mess of chocolate brown that Naruto wanted to touch. But he wanted to live more. "Don't just sit there in the door, you moron!"

Kiba froze when she saw Hinata standing there next to Sasuke. HInata's milk white eyes were wide with shock at the scene. Kiba instantly felt like she had just betrayed her friend. Like she had somehow been caught cheating with Naruto. Not that it was like that. Right?

Tsunade clapped her hands. She always enjoyed it when Naruto got put in his place, it had become something to look forward to on Saturday, watching the two young lovers awkwardly shuffle around each other in a vague attempt to be as close as possible without actually being in a relationship. "Oh, good!" Tsunade said excitedly. "Hak, these two are going to be part of the escort as well."

The tall blue eyed young man looked rather disappointed at the two Genin that had fallen into the office.

It was Sasuke that spoke. "Really? You're going to send Naruto and Kiba on this mission?" he asked with a roll of his eyes. "They have the biggest mouths in Konoha."

Tsunade met Sasuke's eyes with a sharp glare and a wicked smile. "If you want I could send Sakura or Ino with you instead."

Any protest from Sasuke was silenced in an instant.

"Wait, what's going on?" Naruto asked, completely confused on what was going on. "And who are these two?" He pointed to Hak and the girl. "And what're Sasuke and Hinata doing here?"

Tsunade gestured to the girl and Hak with an open palm. "This is Princess Yona. She's the daughter of the Daimyo, and she requires an escort to the capital."

The girl stomped her feet. "I know daddy likes to use you ninjas for literally anything, but I really don't need an escort. It's just over the mountain pass, Hak and I can--"

The tall man flicked the girl in the nose, and she yelped in pain.

Hak ignored the glares of the princess. "It doesn't matter. Besides, these ninja have to head to the capital anyway to attend YOUR party anyways."

Kiba felt a great deal of sympathy for Yona. That flick looked like it hurt. And she hated it when people flicked her nose. "What's your party for, Princess Yona?" There might have been a bit of spite in her voice. It was because this was the daughter of the woman that had that horrible cat - Tora. And not because Naruto was staring at Yona. She didn't care who Naruto liked. Not one bit.

Yona frowned and wrinkled her nose in disgust. "It's my sixteenth birthday, so my father is holding a party to try and find a match for me. He decided that me having a ninja husband would be a good idea or something."

Tsunade smiled and rolled her eyes. It wasn't like she had shown the current Daimyo respect in their youth. At least Jiraiya had more tact than to say she had very beautiful breasts and that they should get married. "And the rude little punk is Hak, her personal bodyguard. He will be your commander for the escort mission."

Hak managed to get out an indignant "Little?"

Naruto immediately pointed a finger at Hak and shouted. "Hey, Granny! What gives? Why does he get to lead us? He's not even a ninja!"

The icy glare that Tsunade gave Naruto was one that he would not soon forget. "Because, brat, he's an adult and his full-time job is to make sure that Yona is safe."

"Why does he get to call you Granny, but you drop kick me whenever I call you Auntie Tsunade?"

A dead silence fell over the room when Hak asked that question. A scroll slammed into Hak's head with nearly enough force to knock him down.

Tsunade had one leg up on her desk and was glaring at Hak like she was ready to fight him. "Because we're cousins, you little punk!" she yelled, and some of her hair fell into her face.

Hak rubbed his now very red forehead, the Konoha leaf now branded in the center. "Okay, okay. Fine."

"That's what I thought," Tsunade huffed out and straightened her jacket, sitting down. "Now then, the four of you will be guarding Yona on her way to the capital. Once there, Naruto and Kiba, you are to wait for Sasuke and Hinata to complete their mission before you four all return."

It was Naruto who speak up once again. (Not that Kiba was far behind, as her mouth was already slightly open.) "What gives? Why does Sasuke get a special mission?"

Sasuke glared at Naruto before he gave a deep sigh. Naruto was not somebody that he would have picked for this mission. "To avoid a political marriage. Hinata will be acting like my girlfriend during the party so I don't get forced into anything."

Hinata turned crimson at that. Out of all the people, she had to be on this mission with Naruto. She wouldn't mind terribly much if she was on this mission with Naruto alone, however. But then there was the fact that Kiba was there, too.

"Why not have Sakura or Ino be your date instead?" Kiba asked. If one of those girls were Sasuke's fake girlfriend then they'd actually act like a girlfriend, and if it was Sakura and she actually ended up as Sasuke's girlfriend then that would be less competition for Naruto's affection. Not for Kiba - for Hinata. There was just no way that Kiba would ever see Naruto as anything more than a friend after all.

Sasuke visibly shivered at that question. "Could you imagine one of them acting like my girlfriend? I honestly wouldn't put it past them to use it as blackmail to stay as my girlfriend."

The three other genin could only nod in agreement. But Naruto still folded his arms in frustration. "Still, though, you sure you're okay with this Hinata?"

Hinata let out a small squeak when Naruto addressed her directly. She began to fiddle with her fingers directly in front of her chest. "Um, w-well, when Sasuke asked me to. I uh, c-could see why he, um, asked me."

Kiba crossed her arms and huffed. "Well why not me? If it was a mission I'd do it."

There was a clear silence in the room.

Kiba blinked. "Wait, is there something wrong with me?" When she received no immediate response, she stomped over to Sasuke and glared at him hard. "You don't think I'd be a good girlfriend?" She let out a deep growl. She might not want to be anybody's girlfriend. She might not like all that girly stuff. But she sure as hell could do that stuff.

Sasuke met Kiba's glare and did not flinch. "Kiba, you are not somebody I would bring to a Royal party."

"Alright, enough chatting. South gate, Twenty minutes ago, get out of my office," Tsunade command was absolute as even Hak jumped at the authority. "I got other Ninja that need missions!"

Naruto gave Kiba a pat on the back as they made their way out of the room. "Hey don't sweat it. You're just too wild for a fancy party. And I prefer wild."

To Kiba, being called wild was like music to her ears.

And she desperately hoped Hinata was Tone deaf at that moment.

XXXX

It came to no surprise to Sasuke that Naruto was instantly able to start a conversation with both Hak and Princess Yona. And he was quite happy with how Kiba was happily talking to Hinata. Which left him alone to think, and actually do their job of making certain that the princess arrived at the capital alive. It also left him with the ability to muse that Kiba was a girl. Who knew?

But what on earth was that growling noise he heard every so often? It wasn't Akamaru; the dog continued to shift positions between sleep on Kiba, walking, being carried by Naruto, and walking again. And if it was an animal, it would have stopped once they were past it - Animals don't growl when they stalked someone.

Sasuke watched while Naruto told of their fight with Gaara. Hak looked impressed while Yona continued to clap her hands in excitement. While it wasn't Naruto's only story, it was the one he felt less awkward about. Sasuke wondered if he should spoil Naruto’s fun; it would be so easy to mention the cat Tora.

"You know Naruto, you'd make a fine man someday," Yona said off-handedly. "If you want, you could come to the capital and help me rule one day."

The entire group froze. That almost sounded like a marriage proposal.

Naruto was completely unfazed by this. "No, I need to stay in Konoha. I'm going to be Hokage, after all!"

Hak nearly tripped. For years, Yona had said romantic things like that. She didn't mean them to be romantic; Hak was fairly certain that the woman didn't have a single romantic bone in her body. "Maybe you should marry him,” he said with a smile. “He seems to be the only one as romantically oblivious as you."

Sasuke looked around. There was that growl again. He managed to locate its source this time, however: and surprisingly enough, it was Kiba. With a glare that could frighten death, Kiba growled at Naruto and Yona. Hinata with a face flushed in shock was wisely taking steps away from Kiba. "Kiba You're growling."

The growl and the glare came to a hard stop. Kiba shook her head as though she had just come out of a daze. "What? No, I'm not."

Sasuke just rolled his eyes. "Whatever, just stop growling when Yona flirts with Naruto."

Kiba bristled. Why would she care who flirts with Naruto? It's not like they were dating or anything. The only reason she would care that anybody flirted with Naruto was if it was Hinata. And she wouldn't growl at that - she would be happy! Right? "Why would I growl if somebody flirted with that idiot?"

"Because you're jealous." With that, Sasuke attempted to ignore them all again.

Kiba froze. There was no way that Naruto could make her jealous. At least not like that. Sure, she would be mildly upset if he ever decided to go with somebody else for missions on Saturday. But that was just because missions with Naruto were fun and quick. It was a great way to earn a bit of extra money. But she was most certainly not jealous if Naruto liked somebody else.

She grit her teeth together. "No, I'm not."

"Um..." Hinata began slowly, she poked her fingers together and avoided eye contact at all costs. "I-I think you are jealous too." Hinata's eyes flickered to Kiba's and she let out a soft gasp. "I-It's okay if you… Um… Like N-Naruto as well." It was barely more than a whisper.

Those words hit Kiba harder than Naruto did in their match. Hinata just told her that it was okay to like Naruto. Hinata just told her that she liked Naruto. There was no way that that was possible. As a friend sure Naruto was an absolute blast to be around. He was fun and exciting and kind of not annoying, and pretty funny, and sort of, kind of cute.

Wait, no... she did not just think that.

There was no way that she would ever consider anything other than a puppy cute. Boys just didn't do that for her. Sure, who cared if Naruto smelled nice? But that was just because he was some kind of alpha thing that her mother still wouldn't explain. And what did it matter if Naruto probably thought that she was cute too? He even said as much! He liked her laugh. But that was no good reason to start liking him back, right?

Right?!

Akamaru's survival instincts kicked in. Naruto looked to be a much safer place to be than in Kiba's sweater at the moment. He dropped to the ground and made a quick dash towards Naruto.

There was just absolutely no way in hell that Kiba could ever like Naruto in that way. Not now not ever. And the whole world needed to know. They needed to know that no matter what it looked like there was just no way that she liked Naruto.

"You're growling again," Sasuke complained.

He may as well have used a fire Jutsu on a straw house.

Kiba glared at Sasuke. She glared at Akamaru; the bastard was snuggled between Naruto’s arms and leaning into Yona’s outreached hand.

She glared at Naruto, and glared at Yona.

The air felt charged and heavy.

There was no buildup; no fanfare

Kiba exploded. Violently.

"There is no way that I like Naruto!" her voice cracked. "There is no way that I could like somebody so stupid, so idiotic, so dumb, so... short! He's the biggest loser in the entire village. He is absolutely the worse possible ninja to ever become a genin in Konoha and there is no way in hell he is ever going to be the Hokage ever so why on earth would I ever consider liking him? He's just nothing but a giant short wannabe loser!” She clenched her hands into fists at her sides, and shook. “So no. I don't like Naruto. I never did. I never will. Not now, not ever. I will never like Naruto!"

For a long moment, the only sound in the group was Kiba's deep huffs as she struggled to reel in her anger. All eyes were on her, watching her as she shook and quivered and raged.

All eyes except Naruto's.

Naruto only stared down at Akamaru's head as he scratched the behind dog's ears. He said nothing, did nothing. Kiba needed Naruto to look her in the eyes. She wanted him to start an argument with her, to make it all a game, to make it lighter somehow.

It would have hurt less if he yelled back at her. But Naruto only turned and continued to walk along the path.

Yona was quick to join him. "Are you sure she's your friend?"

Those words stung. Not nearly as much as Naruto's silence, but still, they stung. Kiba clutched at her heart. The realization of what she had just said slammed into her. She felt that same hollow emptiness as when she read her father's file. This time there was no Naruto to cheer her up.

Naruto would be fine, right? He was tough, right? He didn't hold a grudge... right?

Hinata just stared at Kiba, a look of sheer disappointment on her face. "Kiba."

There was a firmness in that simple word that made Kiba wince. Hinata, kind, gentle, Hinata who saw the best in everybody was disappointed in her. She bit her lip and grabbed her arm. She let out a small shudder, the world felt colder. She messed up big time.

XXXX

They stayed at an Inn that night. Sasuke shared a room with Naruto. Yona was with Hak - there was a needless explanation of the fact Hak was not in the bed with her.

That left Hinata and Kiba to share a room.

For a pair of friends who had risked their lives for the other, the room was just a silent reminder that Kiba had gone too far.

Twice Kiba tried to eat. She tried to enjoy the simple smell of the meat on the table in the inn’s kitchen. She tried to enjoy the taste. It certainly smelled good, It certainly tasted good and looked good. But she didn't feel like eating. Naruto wasn't there when they ate.

This was the first Saturday in a while that she hadn't eaten with Naruto. It felt hollow.

Both Kiba and Naruto went to bed without food that night.

Akamaru had stayed with Naruto. And Kiba silently curled up into a ball on her cold hard cot and did her best to ignore the salty tear that seemed to fall from her face. She couldn't blame Akamaru. She didn't want to sleep with herself either.

XXXX

Kiba woke up not certain if she had even fallen asleep last night. There was a grogginess in her every movement - l she was awake while her body was asleep. There was no energy in her movements. The only motivation she had to get out of bed was that she didn't like this bed. It wasn't her bed. It wasn't the bed she would snuggle into and just ignore the rising sun.

She wanted Naruto to hug her again.

After forcing down a food pill because she didn't trust her ability to eat anything else, Kiba waited outside for the others. The pleasant sunshine from yesterday was replaced with a thick grey sky. It only served to compliment Kiba's current mood.

It smelled like rain.

Akamaru decided to be her lone company as the group made their way up the pass. For that, Kiba was grateful. At least her dog would stick around her when she was being an absolute bitch.

Kiba could only focus on one thing as they walked. It was the one thing that she didn’t want to focus on: that stupid orange jacket she had gone out of her way to find and repair. Naruto still had it on. She noted with a small sliver of happiness that there were still blue specs of paint in random spots.

She might not have given him the jacket. But she had fixed it. And if Naruto still wore it. Perhaps, then, she could fix what she had said?

Kiba noted that there was a sluggishness with Naruto's movements. That his responses to Yona's questions seemed less cheerful. That he failed to keep a smile on his face for very long. She had been put in a place where she could read Naruto's mood so easily.

Naruto had trusted her. And she failed at that horribly.

It was all Yona's fault. If that stupid princess hadn't come to Konoha, if she didn't need an escort, if she didn't keep flirting with Naruto... Then Kiba wouldn't have said those things. It was all that stupid girl's fault. If only they were still back in Konoha. Kiba would have woken up and gone to train with Naruto. To end up on the ground next to him, both of them laughing and groaning at the same time.

It was all her fault, though. It was all Kiba's fault that she was such a stupid bitch. Who cared if Hinata and Sasuke thought she liked Naruto? Naruto was a great guy! And he smelled good, too.

The cold mountain air caught Naruto's scent and dragged it towards Kiba. It had changed since their first battle. There was still the smell of hard work that Kiba doubted Naruto would ever be able to wash out. But there was also the now day-old scent of Sunflower shampoo. The day-old scent of a spicy body wash. The scent of an Alpha was stronger now.

Naruto was growing up. He wasn't as short as he used to be. Kiba wanted to know how Naruto would look if he grew as tall as Hak.

With the bite of her lip so hard she nearly yelped in pain, Kiba sighed. She needed to apologize to Naruto. She needed to do more than apologize to Naruto. She wanted him back as a friend. She wanted to talk with him - something that was hard in its own way, and easy in others.

Maybe she could talk him into a tour of the capital with her while they waited for Sasuke's mission to complete. Just the two of them in the capital.

The sky was darker now, heavy with thick, menacing grey clouds that swarmed and swirled high above them. To their right was the mountain that served as a natural defense for the capital, its peak stretching well into the clouds. Before them was a large wooden bridge that crossed a raging river.

If Kiba hadn't failed Geography class, she would have probably known the name of the mountain, name of the river, and the name of the bridge. (But she only knew the name of one bridge. And that was because it was named after Naruto. )

They were nearly over the bridge when the sky blossomed into a blinding light. The boom that followed sent Kiba and Akamaru into another set of whimpers.

Kiba clutched onto one of the supporting pillars of the bridge while she held on tight to Akamaru. The death grip that Kiba gave Akamaru calmed them down from the state of panic. It was all she could do to stop him from bolting away.

"What are you doing?" Hak asked. He looked halfway between offended and annoyed at the sight before him.

Kiba tried to respond. But a second flash sent her crying into the pillar again. She didn't even have the time to brace for the thunder. That one was close. "I can't stand thunderstorms!" Kiba shouted eyes closed tight. "I hate them. I hate them!"

"We're not too far from the inn." Yona's plea fell on deaf ears. "We need to hurry before it starts raining."

Kiba continued to hold onto the pillar. Out of everything in the world, thunderstorms were the only thing that truly terrified her. For a long moment, there was no thunder. She let go of her safety pole and stood on her feet. Her face was flushed with fright. "Let's hurry, okay?"

Akamaru barked in agreement.

They made it over the bridge before another lightning strike flashed through the sky. Kiba's screams of terror were immediately drowned out by how quick the thunder rolled. The lightning bolt had struck the side of the mountain and sent rocks flying with explosive force. Kiba covered her ears with her hands and hunkered down around Akamaru. She had her eyes closed.

She felt the ground shake as her heartbeat quickened. Another flash happened so close and so bright that Kiba was still blinded by it with her eyes closed and head covered. The ground continued to shake.

The mountainside gave way and rocks the size of houses began to fall down upon the group - one of which was on direct course with Kiba. Naruto did what he did best. Not think. "Kiba!"

His cry fell on deaf years. He sprinted towards her. The boulder was in the lead. "Kiba!" He shouted again. With great effort, Naruto arrived in time to push Kiba out of the way.

Kiba only saw bits of what happened as she was sent to the ground. She saw Naruto push her. She saw a boulder hit him. She saw the boulder tumble down into the river. She didn't see Naruto again.

Naruto had just saved her at the cost of his own safety. "Naruto!" Kiba shouted, even as another lightning strike lit up the sky like a fireworks display. "Naruto!" She shouted again. There was no sign of him. The rain had started now. She couldn't smell him. His scent was lost with the river. There was no orange dot.

"Up there!" Hinata's voice rang out through the clearing. Hinata pointed up the mountain side. "A man is casting a Jutsu! There's three of them!"

"We're under attack!"

Kiba didn't care who said that. She glared up in the direction that Hinata pointed at. She ignored the lightning bolt that struck the bridge and sent splinters of flaming wood flying. She ignored the thunder. She only growled and gave Akamaru a soldier pill.

Those bastards took her Naruto away. And they would pay for that.

Chapter Text

A warm wet gust of air blasted Naruto in the face. He tried to force himself to move but all he could do was slowly groan. A second gust of the weirdly humid air drifted across his face, followed by another, then another. Naruto managed to open his eyes just long enough to see a giant pink tongue bearing down on his face.

There was little he could do as a slow, wet lick completely covered his face. Naruto felt his spine tingle all the down to his feet. “Gleh,” Naruto groaned out and looked at the offending animal.

It was a large, brown, almost red furred dog. Its muzzle was grey from old age and it looked at Naruto through a single intelligent brown eye. The other was covered with a red cloth that wrapped up and around its head, covering its right ear as well.

The dog backed away from Naruto and sat proudly on his haunches. In an odd behavior, the animal took its paw and pounded on its chest as though attempting to clear its throat.

"Roh…. Noh… Rha?" The large dog barked out, taking the time to enunciate each word as clearly as it could. And then, despite its great age, it looked at Naruto excitedly, its large bushy tail flapping against the side of the nightstand.

Naruto found himself in a neat, well-kept room, it was small, smaller than his own room by a decent amount, which was saying something. He was in the bed near the window, and a cursory look out the window told him it was already sunny outside. There was a door on the other side of the room, past the dog. His jacket was hung on a hook there.

The dog barked again - far louder this time. “Roh Noh Rha!” It glared at Naruto.

“Sorry.” Naruto’s voice was rough and scratchy. “I don’t know what you’re saying.” Even after a few hours of practice with Akamaru, Naruto just couldn’t understand dog.

The dog let out a sharp howl and fell to the ground in a depressed heap of fur. The theatrics only lasted a moment until the dog stood up suddenly and all but pranced over the nightstand where it grabbed something with its mouth.

Naruto watched as his headband was placed on the bed. Iruka’s headband, in the short time Naruto had worn the thing, had been put through the wringer. He’d put twice as much wear on it than Iruka ever did. Naruto gripped the headband, and tried to remember how he got here.

There was the thunder. There was Kiba screaming. Why was he upset at her? Oh, right. What she said. Those words cut deep. He thought she was his friend. He thought that he was starting to like her as more than a friend. No, he knew he did. But that's not why he saved her. He would have done the same for any leaf ninja, right?

Naruto’s head pulsed with a sharp pain. He tried to get to it with his fingertips, but found the area was covered in thick bandages. Who did doctor things to him? Was he back in Konoha? Was he at Kiba’s house again? He didn’t remember this dog, but it was big enough.

He remembered the boulder slamming into him. He remembered pushing Kiba to safety. That was good. He hoped she was okay. Then there was blackness... and water. A lot of water. He couldn’t get his chakra to stick to it because of the rapids. Then there was more blackness. More water. A lot more water. And then... he was here.

The red dog placed a paw on the headband and whimpered.

Naruto looked at the headband again. He was on a mission. The mission! Was Kiba okay? Did they make it back to the capital? Was Yona okay? What was with that freaky lightning? Naruto leaped out of the bed and ignored the small amount of pain on his side. With pride, he tied the headband around his head.

“Thanks for the help, boy,” Naruto rubbed the dog’s good ear for a moment. “But I need to get back on my mission.”

That set the dog off. It barked much louder than before, this one was a deafening and panicked bellow. Once it barked three times the dog bit Naruto’s hand gently enough to not break the skin but hard enough that Naruto couldn’t get out.

Naruto attempted to pull out of the dogs vice-like grip, ignoring the creatures growls of protest. Naruto found a large paw on his chest as he was forced back onto the bed. “Let me go you crazy dog!”

The door slammed open and a tall, well-built man walked in. His dark brown hair with a few strands of grey was slicked back on the top before it exploded into a wild ponytail. The white shirt he wore was neat and spotless and the sleeves were rolled up to the elbow. His apron, however, was stained from years of heavy use. His strong and stern face shifted tones dramatically when he saw Naruto's position. "Loki, no! Down, girl! Down!"

The man picked up the dog with some mild strain, and continued to hold on to it even after Loki had let go of Naruto’s hand.

Loki had an undignified look on her face as she looked at the man.

"Don't look at me in that tone of voice," With a pat on the head that forced Loki's snout down for a second, the man stood. "Sorry about that, kid. I'm Wasumaru."

Naruto looked at the old man. He felt like he had seen him somewhere before. He seemed so familiar, but for the life of him, Naruto couldn’t figure out where he’d seen him. “I’m Naruto, where am I?”

Wasumaru smiled. “You’re in my inn. I tended your wounds as best I could when Loki pulled you out of the river. You slept for like a whole day, too.” Wasumaru’s pleasant smile slowly died down as realization dawned on him. “Wait, you were drowning! You have water in your lungs!”

Shock spread across Naruto’s face. He had never drowned before. “Is that bad? What do we do!”

"We have to get it out or else you die if you swallow any more water!" Wasumaru panicked and leaped towards Naruto. "I'll hold you upside down to get the water out! You do your best to cough it up!"

Naruto found his face being held about a foot away from the ground with Wasumaru's hands around his ankles. "How do we know if it's working?" Naruto questioned as he tried to cough up water.

Wasumaru’s response was to shake Naruto as he held him. “I don’t know, when water comes out of your mouth?!”

Loki whined at the display and quickly decided that these two were complete idiots. She tried to bark that they were doing more harm than good but she could only watch as the Ninja boy was shaken until he puked. Which, thankfully, was a clear bile that the two assumed was water from Naruto’s lungs. “Rum rhas.”

Naruto stood, the bitter taste of his own bile still in his mouth burning slightly. And his stomach was empty to the point where it hurt. Perhaps he should have tried harder to eat the night Kiba yelled at him. "Thanks, old man, how long have I been here anyways?"

Wasumaru's face twisted into a sour pout that made him appear like a child who had just been told to eat his vegetables. "I'm not that old!" He paused for a moment before his face adorned an embarrassed look. "At least I don't think I am. You've been here for about a day. Loki found you in the river early yesterday morning. You're lucky she has a tendency to pull random people out of the river. But hey, you have your memories right?"

Naruto froze. He had been out of it for a whole day and then some. What happened to the others? Were they okay? That storm was really bad and freaky. He hoped everybody made it to the capital okay. "I need to find my team! Which way is the capital?"

“Whoa now, I think you should rest a little bit before you head off. Most people would jump for a free stay at my inn.” Wasumaru placed a firm hand on Naruto’s shoulder.

“But I have to go find them! They might be in danger, and I don’t want to fail my mission!” Naruto’s protests ended in a long hungry grumble from his stomach.

Wasumaru ran his hand through his hair and let out a deep sigh. The kid had guts and stubbornness problems. “Look I’ll tell you what, I’ll tell you how to get to the capital if you let me feed you.”

Naruto’s instincts told him to not refuse a free meal. And his stomach grumbled again at the mention of food. His head felt light and his limbs felt heavy. It was not an unfamiliar feeling to Naruto, he’d been hungry before and he hated it. “Fine but make it quick please.”

With a smile, Wasumaru spun on his heels to head out the door. "Excellent I'll see you down stairs. You're lucky you get to have my beef stew fresh!" He paused at the door and turned towards Loki. "And you missy, leave Naruto alone, out with ya!"

“Roh rel rem ra ro ro!” Loki barked out, and took several prideful steps out of the room in anger.

“And sorry about Loki. She’s smarter than any other dog I’ve met, but she can be a bit temperamental.” He waited for Loki to be mostly out of earshot before he said that, of course.

Naruto could only laugh. He’d spent a lot of time around really smart dogs. Kuromaru alone was probably smarter than he was. The dog had offered to give him and Kiba history lessons last week. “That’s nothing! You should see some of the dogs in Konoha. Kuromaru knows more about history than I do! And he can talk!”

“Really?” Wasumaru asked excitedly. “You mean you ninjas have dogs that can talk?”

Naruto nodded happily. So far it was only Kuromaru that could speak so that everybody understood them. But the Inuzuka all swore that they could understand their dogs just fine. Naruto had a shaky understanding of what Akamaru said.

"Might have to visit Konoha to see what that crazy dog of mine is actually saying," Wasumaru said as the door clicked behind him.

XXXX

When Naruto arrived downstairs he was greeted by a pleasant yet familiar smell. Maybe it was just the smell of beef stew, but Wasumaru's smelt nearly Identical to Tsume's beef stew. It was just missing something. It still made his stomach gurgle with excitement.

The downstairs was a pleasant open room filled with many low tables and booths. The highest seats were at the bar which separated Wasumaru from the rest of the area. Overall the area felt open and homey.

Wasumaru either didn’t notice Naruto come down or was to preoccupied with the stew to care. He had a small bowl in his hands that dripped with broth. “Still missing something.”

"Wow," Naruto said as he sat down at the bar. It only smelled slightly of alcohol. "That smells great!"

Startled by Naruto’s loud and brash voice Wasumaru nearly dropped the bowl back into the stew. “Thanks kid, I’ve been trying to get it to taste just right for about eight years now, but I still can’t seem to get it right.”

Naruto snorted. “You’ve been working on it for eight years?” It sounded like he should have been able to make the best stew ever.

"Yea," Wasumaru admitted. "It's kind of the only thing I remember after Loki pulled me. The taste, that is. I think it was the last thing I ate before I lost my memories."

Naruto frowned and took a seat at the counter. “You lost all of your memories?”

Wasumaru nodded and set a large bowl of stew in front of Naruto. “Yeah, it was Loki that pulled me out of the river like she did you. I tried to find out if she belonged to anybody in the village but none of them had ever seen her before. I kind of thought that if I could get this stew just right I’d be able to get my memory back. Somehow, it kind of evolved into me having this inn. And Loki has been with me the entire time.” Wasumaru gave a heavy sigh before he broke out into a large smile. “But enough about me! Tell me about yourself, Naruto.”

Naruto smiled before he took a bite of the stew. "Well my name's Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm going to be Hokage one day!"

Wasumaru laughed and grew a mischievous smile "Well Mr. Hokage-to-be. Do you have a girlfriend back home?"

Naruto's face went red and the first bite of stew entered his mouth. It tasted almost like Tsume's stew. He was reminded of Kiba, and he felt her words once again. He had planned to ask her out for real after they completed missions again, or after their Sunday training. He really liked her and he felt like she kind of maybe liked him. But what she had said...

“Hey, don’t look so down.” Wasumaru snapped his fingers in front of Naruto’s face. “You have the look of girl problems, tell me about them.”

Naruto took another bite of the stew and sighed. "So there's this girl I like. Everything was going awesome with her, we went on missions on Saturday, and then I'd go eat dinner with her family and we'd train together on Sunday. It was really fun. I wanted to ask her out soon." Naruto trailed off. Kiba's words echoed in his mind once more.

“I’m sensing a ‘but’ there, Naruto,” Wasumaru said with a small smile on his face. “What happened?”

Naruto poked at the stew twice before he took a bite and began again. “Everything was fine, but during this mission, she shouted to her friend about how she doesn’t like me and could never like me.” Kiba could call him an idiot all she liked but it had actually hurt that time.

Wasumaru hummed at that. “Listen, kid. Does she act differently when you two are alone?”

Naruto furrowed his brow in frustration. He was pretty much only alone with Kiba and Akamaru, except when they all ate dinner. Kiba was still Kiba even when her family was there. The only time they were with somebody else was during this mission. Naruto could only shrug. “I don’t know... I guess?”

Wasumaru smiled. “Look, next time you see her, get her alone and talk to her about it. I bet you she’ll apologize real quick, probably before you even say anything.”

The idea was a pleasant one; the thought that Kiba didn't actually mean what she had said was kind of bittersweet to Naruto. "Okay, I'll talk to when I see her again."

“Atta boy. Now eat up, I need to kick you out before the regulars question why there’s a minor sitting at the bar.” Wasumaru ruffled Naruto’s hair in much the same way he would a dog’s.

Naruto could only grunt at the gesture, but it felt kind of nice. He finished the stew quickly. He needed to get to the capital quickly to try and find his teammates. "Hey, old man you should come visit Konoha sometime! Maybe you'll find somebody you know!"

Wasumaru shrugged and turned his attention to his cooking once more. “I’ll think about it, I went to the capital with the same hope, but didn’t have any luck. I even had Loki with me but she didn’t find anyone.”

“No no, the Old Lady - I mean, the Hokage Tsunade is a really good healer. I bet if you come to Konoha, I can get her to restore your memories,” Naruto tried to explain as he finished up his meal.

Wasumaru sighed again. “It’s been eight years. What if I’m a different person now? What if my family doesn’t want me anymore?”

That got Naruto’s blood boiling. If his parents were to suddenly show up to his door and say that they just regained their memories it would be one of the happiest days of his life. He had spent years dreaming about who his parents were, and why they weren’t with him. He didn’t want to think that it wasn’t because they didn’t love him. “No. Family loves each other no matter what! I know that they probably still miss you even if you don’t know who they are.”

Wasumaru could only give a small sad laugh to Naruto. "Fine. I'll tell you what, next time the slow season starts, I'll come to Konoha and you talk your Hokage friend into taking a look at my brain."

Naruto cheered and jumped out of his seat. “Alright! If you don’t show up I’ll come drag you there myself!”

Loki came scrambling around the corner. Her tail was going so fast it was more a blur. Despite her age, the dog looked as excited as a puppy. She barked and yipped happily with Naruto.

It was about noon when Naruto said his final goodbyes to Wasumaru and Loki. The capital was North and about a full day's journey away. The village Naruto found himself in was a small port town, much like the one where Tazuna lived. As he left, Naruto turned to remember the name of Wasumaru’s Inn.

Red Lady’s Rest. There was a large red dog on the sign as well that sat staring out towards the ocean.

XXXX

Two hours in his journey towards the capital, Naruto had to stop his sprint. He heard the familiar high pitch puppy bark of Akamaru.

There, standing near the side of the road was Kiba. She looked ragged. Her jacket was missing a sleeve, she had dirt on her face and deep bags under her slightly red eyes. Various twigs and leaves were stuck in her hair.

“Naruto?” Kiba questioned slowly. She wiped her eyes and took in a deep breath with her nose. She checked if it was Naruto by both sight and smell. It was him. “Naruto!”

Naruto could not help but smile at Kiba as she charged towards him. It looked like she had been looking for him for the last couple days. She looked exhausted. And it made him happy. Kiba cared for him. "Hey, Kiba."

Kiba leaped at Naruto with her arms wide open and pulled him into a tight, firm hug. "I looked everywhere for you. I'm so happy you're okay."

Naruto patted Kiba's back slowly.She was crying. "Of course I'm okay, I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I can't die until I become Hokage!" That earned him a small sobbing chuckle from Kiba.

Kiba tried to bury her face further into Naruto’s jacket. She had missed his smell. She had tried to find it after the fight, but the rain and the smell of lightning had removed any scent of Naruto. She had to find him - he needed to know she was sorry. “About what I said...” she mumbled into his jacket.

She felt Naruto tense under her still tight hug. There was no way she was going to let him go until she explained herself. She had problems just in explaining it to herself, but she had to try. "I'm sorry I said all those things. I don't think you're a loser, I don't think you're a monster, I don't think you're ugly, I don't think you're weak. I think you're really cool, okay, and an awesome shinobi and I think that you're going to be my greatest rival for being Hokage. And that you're kind of cute, okay?"

Naruto didn't know what to think, but he found himself wrapping his arms around Kiba as he returned her hug. He was smiling, though. Wasumaru was right and Kiba did care for him.

Akamaru, not wanting to be left out, stood on his hind legs and placed his front paws on Kiba and Naruto’s legs.

“I just hate it!” Kiba shouted as she began again. “I hate that I hate that I like that I like you. It’s so annoying. But I like you okay, I know I’m just not good at being a girl okay!”

Naruto gripped Kiba’s shoulders tightly and tried to pull her off his jacket. Kiba liked him and he wanted to see her face. He wanted to look her in the eyes when they said it this time. She resisted and tried desperately to keep her head buried in his shoulder. But slowly Naruto was able to separate them. “Kiba, you talk too much,” Naruto smiled.

Kiba sniffed and tried to wipe her nose. “You dummy, That’s not what you should say when somebody--”

“I like you too,” Naruto cut her off. He watched as her eyes went wide at his words as her smile hiccupped into existence.

It was probably the lack of sleep, but Kiba could not contain herself. She blubbered for a second, failing to make any real words, before she gave up entirely and threw herself at Naruto once more. “You stupid, stupid stupid stupid idiot dummy face head. Don’t ever leave me like that again, okay?”

A sense of bliss filled Naruto. It was similar to when Iruka said he was proud of him… only different. A girl liked him. Eager anticipation filled Naruto at what that could mean. Would Kiba become his girlfriend? His hands started to talk before his mouth did, and his mouth started to move before his mind could think. “Do you want to go on a date while we wait for Sasuke and Hinata’s mission?”

That brought Kiba back to reality. "Oh, right!" She snapped out of Naruto's hug. "The mission. Okay listen. So that thunderstorm and the boulder were caused by people trying to kill princess Yona. We beat them back, but Hak thinks that they were hired by the Daimyo's newest wife so that her daughter would be next in line for the seat. But we don't have any evidence, so Hak asked that I attend the party tomorrow with them to make sure Yona is safe!"

Naruto blinked twice in an attempt to process the information. “Do you want to go to the party with me, then?”

Kiba’s face turned sour. “You idiot, we’re on a mission!” Her face heated up as well. “We can go on a date when we get back to Konoha, okay?”

Naruto nodded happily. He hate a date! A really real date with a really real girl that really liked him! That just left one question. “Does that mean you’re my girlfriend?”

All of Kiba’s available brain power was diverted to stammering and turning her face as red as a strawberry. “You dunce, ask me that after the date!” She shouted loudly and turned away from Naruto with a huff.

"Hehe okay then Kiba," Naruto said cheerfully. "We should go find the others though before it gets too late.”

She slowly turned back towards him. Her hand was cold and Naruto's looked so warm and inviting. Without warning, Kiba grabbed Naruto's left hand and entangled their fingers. "But maybe."

They decided to walk the rest of the way to the capital, holding hands along the way. They talked as they always did - Kiba told Naruto about how she went wild on the ninja that had caused the lightning, how strong Hak was, and how brave Yona was during the fight.

Slowly, the distance between them vanished and Naruto found Kiba’s head resting on his shoulder as they walked.

A sudden breeze wafted towards the two that caused Kiba to shiver. Goosebumps already appeared on her arms. Her teeth were close to clattering. She bit onto her tongue. She went rigid, refusing to show any weakness to Naruto - Refusing to let it slip that she was freezing.

“Are you cold?” Naruto asked out of the blue. With that small warning he pushed her off his shoulder and released her hand for a moment.

Kiba missed his warm hand. It was so warm. But she would not beg for it. Kiba turned her head sharply away from Naruto. “Pfft, no, what would give you an Idea like that?”

“Your hand is cold.” Naruto presented his jacket to Kiba with a giant smile. This was something that boyfriends did for their girlfriends, right? He saw it in a movie he sneaked into once. It was a boring romance movie, but he went through the trouble to sneak into it so he watched the whole thing. Besides, he wasn’t that cold.

Kiba looked at the jacket that she repaired with a mild look of disgust. Why did it feel like if she put that jacket on she was submitting to something? It was probably the orange color that made it look so warm. It would smell so much like Naruto too. The great big grin Naruto gave her is what forced her surrender. “Fine,” She growled out. “But only because my arm is cold!”

The sleeves were at the annoying length where they were tight on her arms. The whole jacket was almost small enough to be uncomfortable. But it was just big enough not to be. It smelled like Naruto, and most importantly it was warm like Naruto.

It reminded her of when she took a nap in the kennel. Safe, warm and slightly smelly. Without thinking Kiba entwined her fingers with Naruto’s and with a long wide yawn rested her head on his shoulder once more. It would be more comfortable if he was taller.

Naruto’s smile grew wider and wider. There was something oddly satisfying about seeing Kiba wear his jacket.

When the sun began to sit Naruto found himself walking towards the capital with Kiba sleeping on his back.

Kiba smiled into his neck as she drifted off into sleep, completely swallowed in his scent. It smelt like Naruto - there was dirt, there was sweat, there was determination, cheap deodorant, and cheap shampoo. And there was that strong scent of an Alpha.

And a familiar scent that reminded her of family. The subtle smell of something familiar, something that she had not smelled in a long time.

Chapter Text

Mornings were never a strong suit for Kiba. She liked soft beds with a multitude of pillows to bury herself under and adored trying to stay warm in her blankets, ignoring the outside world. This morning was no different.

She snuggled deeper into the softest bed she ever laid in. The pillow was also soft and rather slick. The blanks were thick and warm, and Kiba's body heat surrounded her in a cocoon of warmth. With not a thought in the world, Kiba lets out a deep sigh that sounded more like a groan. She inhaled deeply through her nose.

Her bed smelled like Naruto.

Her eyes went wide. The events of yesterday flashed into her mind. She had spent hours searching for Naruto, trying desperately to find that oh so familiar scent. It frustrated her to no end that when she actually wanted to smell him that she couldn't. She turned over boulders, she scoured that river for him. She outright refused to believe that Naruto was gone.

She had promised herself and whoever might be listening that if she saw him again she would be… more honest about how she felt. Not three seconds later did she find him walking towards the capital looking rather like he didn't get hit by a giant boulder, nor did it look like he plummeted into a raging river.

She told him everything. How she was sorry about what she said, how she actually liked him. Or at least that’s what she meant to say. And now she was his sort-of kind-of maybe girlfriend? Which made Naruto her sort of kind of boyfriend?

But now that perverted little midget had decided that it was okay for the two of them to share a bed. She glared at his orange sleeved arm hard. At least he wasn't trying to grope her again. She attempted to bring her arm up to try and hit him. However, she realized that it was her arm in the sleeve.

"Oh," Kiba said to no one in particular. She allowed her arm to flop back down onto the bed. For a long moment, she just allowed herself to be glad nobody could see how much of an idiot she was. She rolled over and came face to face with her loyal companion Akamaru.

Akamaru sat on the edge of the bed with a knowing look on his face. He let out a small teasing bark at Kiba.

"I will let Hana neuter you."

Mornings were not a strong suit for Kiba.

She sat up in bed and looked around the large spacious room that was mostly bed. Hell, the bed was roughly the same size as her room at home. It was rather large and lavish. If she focused she could hear the sound of a rock garden in the background.

She licked her lips; they felt rather chapped. Chances are she was about to come down with a cold, having spent most of yesterday and last night looking for Naruto. She was happy that she had found Naruto... so incredibly happy that he wasn't dead. But was she really okay with being his girlfriend?

She hated that part of her leaped out and wanted to shout yes a thousand times and dance frantically. Did she really see Naruto as more than a friend? Yes, he had somehow quickly become her best friend. Well, best human male friend. If she didn't try to stop it how far would it progress?

The door slid open and Hinata walked in, dressed in a formal Kimono with just enough makeup on to appear just that extra bit more beautiful, and just the right amount to have males thinking she did not wear makeup. "Oh, Kiba! you're awake!"

"Hinata?" Kiba questioned. Why was Hinata dressed up so much? Was it time for the party already?

"It's good you're awake, I was about to wake you to get you ready for Princess Yona's party. It's due to begin soon and we still need to get you fitted." Kiba watched as Hinata practically glided across the floor. Hinata seemed like a natural for those fancy dress kimonos. Kiba just couldn't imagine herself in one of those for very long.

"Huh, wha?" Kiba asked as Hinata, with a surprising amount of strength and forcefulness, pulled her out of bed. During missions, it was often Hinata that woke Kiba up in the morning. Most often by poking her nose, but lately she had been getting more creative.

Hinata pushed Kiba out of the door, Akamaru following close behind. They went out into the outdoor hallway with an elegant looking rock garden to their left. A small waterfall poured into a bamboo chute which clanged against a rock, the hollow sound it made echoing throughout the area.

Kiba was quick to get under her feet as Hinata kept gently guiding her. "where are you taking me? Where's Naruto?"

"Naruto is fine!" Hinata said quickly. "I'm taking you to the bath because you smell worse than usual and I don't think you want to attend Princess Yona's party smelling that bad. Do you?"

Kiba snorted. "I like how I smell." She currently smelled like Naruto. But she liked how she normally smelled as well. The smell of earth, hard work, and dogs.

"And your hair is a mess."

Kiba ran her hand through her hair. It felt extra greasy and sticky. When she pulled out a whole twig she agreed that maybe she should take a quick bath. "I'm taking you in with me, Akamaru,” she said with a smirk. “If I have to take a bath, then so do you."

The dog whined, stopped, put its tail between his legs and ran.

"Hey get back here!" Kiba shouted, she tried to chase after her friend but Hinata's hand on her chest stopped her.

"Kiba, I'll get Akamaru. You take the bath." Hinata pointed towards the door.

It smelled more like a hot spring to Kiba - only much nicer than anyone she'd been to before. Perks of doing a mission for the princess, she guessed. "Okay fine, but just a quick one, I'm not scrubbing my nails!"

Hinata rolled her eyes and gave Kiba one more small gentle push towards the door. "I'll tell the servants that you're taking a bath now. they'll get your under clothes ready for your kimono."

Hinata smiled as Kiba entered the bathing area.

Sasuke walked around from the corner, dressed well outside of his comfort zone he wore a black and white Kimono that was strictly an Uchiha design. "You know Naruto's still in there, right?"

Hinata squeaked for a moment. "I, um... yes."

"Are you trying to do something?" Sasuke asked with one eyebrow raised. His arms folded across his chest as he gave Hinata the same half glare he gave everybody else.

Hinata pushed her fingers together, but kept her smile up. "I believe that they should be happy together. Now I should... go find the servants and Akamaru." Hinata excused herself.

Sasuke could only roll his eyes and wonder where exactly Naruto would end up landing once Kiba found him in there. "I really don't think having them see each other naked is a good idea..."

XXXX

Kiba examined the inside of the bathing area. There were more towels and oils in the undressing area than she knew what to do with. Who on earth wanted to smell like a cherry blossom in the wind? Or even a springtime brook. Those weren't good smells.

She pulled off Naruto's jacket and had to stop for a moment. Hinata had just pulled her out of bed and pushed her down a hallway while she was wearing Naruto's jacket. Did Hinata know? Why did Hinata seem so happy and cheerful? Was it all a ruse? Was she just covering up the fact that she felt incredibly betrayed?

Her clothing fell away piece by piece - some of it clung to her skin with sweat like mixture. Her left arm was caked with mud and she would certainly need new socks by the end of this.

Did Naruto tell them all already? He probably barged in the front gate with her sleeping on his back and shouted that they were a couple now. What on earth did that even mean? What did they do now? Did they hold hands? Did they kiss?

Kiba rustled her hands through her greasy hair in frustration. She had never had a boyfriend before and now she had one. One that she wasn't sure that she liked . He was just her really good guy friend, right? Would things be the same? Would they be awkward?

The just barely warm enough water trickled down her back as she quickly scrubbed away the majority of the dirt. What would her mother say? Hana would probably throw a fit about her having the first boyfriend. Tsume, on the other hand, would probably dance and shout ‘I told you so’ at least twice before just ruffling her hair. Her dad… what would her dad think of Naruto?

She stood at the edge of the hot spring a low seam pilfered the area. With her right foot, she tested the waters. It felt warm and pleasant. Like Naruto's jacket. Hell - Naruto in general was just so warm and pleasant. If they were boyfriend and girlfriend now, did that mean they could cuddle so she could leech away his warmth?

The idea of cuddling up to Naruto on a cold winter day sent a pleasant tingle up and down Kiba's spin. They'd both be wearing winter clothes, sweats and sweaters and Naruto would probably have some ridiculous hat that he thought was cool. And they'd sit on the couch wrapped up in a large warm blanket.

Naruto needed to get taller first. In her fantasy, he was taller. She hoped that he would end up being taller. He was still growing, right? She didn't want a midget boyfriend.

Kiba waded into the far end of the spring and allowed herself to melt down onto one of the stone benches just below the water. The water felt fantastic.

Kiba let out a low moan as she rolled her head to the side. She could already feel her muscles relaxing. This hot spring felt unreal like she was still wrapped up in a warm bed. It was a large open spring with several rocks for sitting and decoration. It was made to look natural while retaining the comforts of an artificial one.

The capital was an amazing place.

And she was alone in the hot spring.

Well, except for Naruto.

Kiba snapped to her left. Naruto sat there with a towel on his head, his eyes wide and staring off far into the distance. His face was a bright pinkish red that only served to make his whisker marks stand out all the more. He had his whole bottom lip in his mouth. His body looked tense - like he was bracing himself to be hit at any moment.

"Naruto?" Kiba asked. Her mouth kind of went off on its own.

The blond jumped at the sound and his head snapped towards her. His blue eyes looked everywhere that was visible for a second before he looked away again and brought his hand out of the water. He waved.

Kiba sank lower into the water. It felt cold against her face. Her ears felt as though they were in a tundra as the steam cooled them. How did she not see him? How did she not smell him? She always smelled him! Why did he say anything? Did Hinata know? Hinata did this on purpose, didn't she? Why didn't Naruto say anything? How much did he see? She was naked. That much was certain. She was very very naked. And when she was standing, the water was just at waist height.

She had just walked right in front of Naruto butt ass naked. She didn't walk. She practically strutted in front of him. Did he like it? Wait no, she did not want to know the answer to that question. This is far too soon. This should not have happened. It needed to unhappen right now. "Naruto."

Hearing his name repeated, Naruto's head slowly turned towards her He began to back away slowly. "Yeah?" He said, opening and closing his mouth with a pop.

"Get out." Kiba plunged her mouth down into the water after she said that and tried to glare at Naruto. But it was really hard to look at him at the moment. So she glared at the center Island rock.

"Okay." Naruto shot out from the water and quickly walked out the exit.

Kiba did not look at Naruto when he left. She did not find him weirdly attractive. She did not think that he maybe kind of had a nice butt. Not that she liked butts or anything - at least not like Akamaru did. She certainly did not like Naruto's butt. She remembered what happened the last time she got too close to that thing.

XXXX

"You knew." Kiba glared down into the back of her blue-haired friend's hair.

Hinata gave Kiba a practiced smile. It had always felt weird to Kiba how different Hinata could act when she was wearing a dress Kimono. She actually acted like she had backbone. "I knew what, Kiba?"

"That Naruto was in the bath when you shoved me in there." Kiba followed Hinata down the hallway wearing a comfortable bath robe. Akamaru was quick on her heels as well.

There was something unsettling about the way Hinata bobbed her head to that. "Did I?" Hinata stopped in front of one of the doors and opened it.

The room was filled with fabric and half-finished Kimono. Three young ladies all turned towards Hinata and Kiba and smiled brightly. "Oh goody! Princess Yona brought us another little ninja to dress up."

Every instinct in Kiba told her to run. But a quick side step and a shove from behind by Hinata sent her into the grasping hands and tape measure of the woman. Kiba looked at Hinata's sweet smile. That was twice today that Hinata had betrayed her. "Hinata, why?"

Hinata smiled and waved at Kiba. "Have fun in there, Kiba." She closed the door quickly, ignoring the sharp yells coming from Kiba.

Yona and Hak walked around the corner, both dressed in elegant Kimonos - though compared to Yona's, Hak's looked more at home for a summer festival. Her hair was dressed up in a loose bun that was held in place by a golden hair piece. She looked every bit the Daimyo's daughter.

Hak listened to the room for a long before he turned to the short little blue haired girl. She had earned his respect during the fight - her eyes allowed her to pinpoint the enemy ninja quickly enough. But he did not trust that smile. "Are you certain you don't hold a grudge?"

Hinata rocked on her feet for a moment and smiled at Hak once more. She gave a courteous bow to both Yona and Hak. "Not at all. I, uhh... I just want to have a little fun with Kiba is all."

Yona and Hak watched as Hinata walked down the hallway. "If I had known she'd act like this I wouldn't have made her drink that sake." She whispered just loudly enough for Hak to hear.

"You did what?" Hak said harshly. His voice snapped at Yona like a whip.

"What she was so nervous about the whole thing I felt like she needed to relax!" Yona shouted. She withered under Hak's intense glare. "It was only a little bit in her tea!"

Hak smacked his lips for a moment and continued his harsh glare. "And where did you get the Sake? You're nowhere near old enough to drink."

"It was a gift," Yona half muttered. She tried her best to look like a small child again by twirling a few loose curls of her red hair.

XXXX

For the second time that day. Kiba found herself standing in front of somebody naked. The women had stripped her of her bath robes the second the door was shut and had her stand on a soft stool. Every time she tried to lower her arms to cover herself they were pushed back out once again.

"Oh my, you're going to be a tall one, aren't you?" one woman said as she measured Kiba's vertical height.

"I gues--hehehai!" Kiba's reply turned into a squeal as another tape measure found its way around her chest.

"Oh my, and another early bloomer too," another woman said as she examined Kiba's bust measurements. "I'm telling you - all ninja are busty! They must have some technique that they use to grow them."

The other woman nodded in agreement. "I wouldn't doubt it. Have you seen their leader? You won't see tits like that on any normal woman that's for sure."

Kiba gave a sad whimper as the woman continued to measure her body in various places. She did not sign up for this kind of a mission. She was only to escort Yona, Sasuke, and Hinata to the party - not go to the party as extra protection!

Why did she have to agree to Hak's plea? Because she was in a hurry to try and find Naruto is why. The next time Kiba saw them it was going to be their last. Almost killing Naruto like that, and now making her wear a god damn Kimono was just a bit too much.

"Hey watch it! I--eee!" Kiba squeaked as one of the women measured her waist. "Why are you taking my measurements! I don't need anything fancy, just give me a basic Kimono."

The women looked at each other then back at keep. "Well certainly we could dear, but don't you want to impress some young man?" One woman said in a sickly tone, her voice nearly cracking.

"Yes, like that sweet blond boy that carried you here last night," the other woman said with a small smile on her face. "Oh, you two looked so cute last night."

Kiba felt her hair bristle at that. They had seen Naruto carrying her here while she was asleep. Did she really want Naruto's attention? She already had that, right? He had seen her naked just minutes ago on accident. But did Naruto think she was pretty? "You can make me pretty?"

The woman smiled at her. "Oh honey, he will be eating out of your hands."

XXXX

Naruto sat frustrated by the whole thing. Every time he blinked he saw Kiba. He saw her everything. Weeks after he first accidently grabbed her breast he could still kind of feel them... and now? The very image of her bare breasts would likely be burned into his mind for months.

He had meant to say something when Kiba first walked in. But, something in his brain shut down. It was his first time seeing a real life naked girl. He had seen some in the nudie magazines that he tried to peek into at the shop but those had nothing on the real thing.

The way she moved...

He was frustrated because Hak had just explained what he was supposed to do - which was absolutely nothing, if nothing happened. He and Kiba were expected to just act like normal guests and be ready in case the enemy ninja appeared during the party.

"I still don't get it, why do you think the Daimyo's wife is trying to kill you? Isn't she your mom?" Naruto asked in confusion. Truth be told he was only half paying attention to Hak talking.

Yona huffed. "Please. As if I could be related to that woman." Yona snapped her fingers. "And weren't you listening back at your village? I said that she's my stepmother. Hak thinks that she hired those ninja to kill me so that her daughter would be next in line and not me. But I think he's just being over-protective."

"Oh, so why do me and Kiba have to go to the party? Would we be better if we acted like guards?" A party just didn't sound like fun to him. There was just going to be a bunch of fancy noble people - the types that liked to look down on people like him. Hak and Yona were the exceptions to that rule.

"Because the other ninja might just be guests, Naruto," Hak explained with a deep sigh. "Besides, most of the palace guard will be on guard for anything like that; you guys are there as the last resort."

"And look on the bright side - you get to attend my birthday party!" Yona shouted pumping her fist.

Naruto crossed his arms and pouted. It still didn't sound like fun. He was about to protest further, but the door slid open.

For the second time that day, Naruto found himself unable to think properly at the sight of Kiba. He recognized her instantly thanks to the red fang marks on her cheeks.

She had her hair up in a neat bun. They had gone heavy on the makeup, adding to the distinct marks of the Inuzuka clan with a deep red eyeshadow and nearly ruby red lipstick. Her Kimono was an earthy red that shined brightly, highlighted with a white Haneri and an orange Obi to tie it all together.

Where Hinata had the practiced grace and beauty in her kimono, Kiba's was like a misplaced savage wearing one. She had a fierceness to her beauty.

Kiba smiled at Naruto's reaction to her. That near hour of suffering at the hands of those women suddenly seemed worth it. "Pick your jaw up off the floor, Naruto."

Naruto's jaw snapped shut. "I, er... That is, I…” He blinked once, twice, and his mouth bobbed open and closed like a fish gasping for water. “You look pre... bea... wond... wow. You look wow." Naruto struggled to find the words to describe Kiba. She literally took his breath away.

Kiba smiled. "You dress up nice yourself, Naruto. I see you kept the orange."

Naruto smiled and spun around in his orange and black Yukata. "It's a bit stuffy, but I kind of like it."

For a long moment, Kiba and Naruto just stared at each other. They could only smile and their eyes continued to dance with one another’s. Each time their eyes met they would smile and look away, completely lost to the rest of the world.

Kiba took another step towards Naruto - but it was more of an awkward shuffle, as her kimono was stiff and hindered her movement slightly. Her foot caught on something and she tripped.

Naruto caught Kiba before she really began to fall. Most of her weight was rested on his chest.

Kiba could hear Naruto's heartbeat from where her head landed. It sounded like a drum. It amazed her how even under what must a gallon of shampoo and other odors Naruto still managed to smell like Naruto. It was like the smell of cheap ramen was burnt into his very being.

They looked at each other. Their faces were so close. if either one of them wanted to they could kiss.

"Now kiss!" Hinata shouted suddenly. She had a wide sweet smile on her face.

Kiba and Naruto separated quickly at Hinata's outburst.

"Aww, Sasuke! Make them kiss!" Hinata pouted, and pulled on Sasuke's arm. "I'll push Kiba and you push Naruto, it'll be like the time you two kissed in class only less gay!"

Sasuke growled in annoyance and ripped his arm from Hinata. "What's gotten into you?" He had picked Hinata because she was quiet and not annoying. She was failing to be both at this moment.

"Nothing!" Hinata said sharply. Her eyes shot to Yona. "Oh, Princess! can you tell me how you made that tea! It was so good I finished the pot."

Yona sucked on her lips and began to sweat.

Hak leaned over to Yona and whispered in her ear for a moment. "How much sake did you put in the tea?"

Yona could only blush. "Apparently far too much."

Chapter Text

It wasn’t that she was avoiding Naruto. Kiba just felt like her time was better spent wandering around the guests. She knew kind of what the enemy ninja smelled like - a sort of ozone smell, mixed with rocks and pine, and underneath it all the scent of rice paddies.

And given how everybody here smelled like various degrees of pompous ass, Kiba was certain that she’d be able to sniff them out if they chose that night to attack. And with Akamaru posted at the entrance with a Naruto clone or two, they had the front door covered.

Kiba would never say it out loud, but she secretly hoped something exciting would happen soon. Fancy noble parties were boring. All everybody did was stand around and talk. Yona stood next to Hak and two other guards as she accepted the gifts as they came. The Daimyo and the thing he called his wife sat at the far end of the hall surrounded by fancy looking aristocrats.

Kiba wondered who the party was for, exactly. It seemed more like an excuse for the boring adults to talk about boring things. Parties were supposed to be fun.

“Kiba!” She heard Naruto’s voice even in the room that was filled with chatter. Kiba did her best to appear like she didn’t hear that voice and walked in the exact opposite direction of it.

It wasn't that she was avoiding Naruto. It was that he was her boyfriend now. And she had no idea what the hell that meant. Like, how was she supposed to act around him? Did she act differently? Did they act the same? Were they supposed to kiss? Like really kiss, as in lip on lip action where they did the kiss thing and kissed?

She had never had a boyfriend before.

“Alright! It is time for the dance! Will all couples take their places?”

As the people rushed about her Kiba felt a chill run up her spine. Couples? Dance? That meant her and Naruto, right?

“Kiba!” His voice echoed from behind her. Directly behind her.

Did she want to dance with Naruto? Yeah, that kind of sounded like fun. It sounded like a lot of fun actually. Did Naruto want to dance with her, though? Is that what couples did? She looked on in amazement as she watched Hinata drag Sasuke out onto the dance floor. They took the positions with practiced grace.

She felt somebody pull on her arm and twirl her around. She came face to face with Naruto. He had her hand in his own. “What gives? Why were you avoiding me?”

Kiba turned her head and scoffed out of her nose. “I wasn’t avoiding you.” It was true - she totally wasn’t avoiding Naruto. “I was just trying to do the mission and trying to sniff out the enemy ninja.”

It was technically true. But there was a certain redundancy to the task, as there were several Konoha Jounin already assigned to protect the Daimyo. Among them were members of the Hyuuga clan and other Inuzuka. And then there was Senju Mundok, grandson of the second Hokage and head of the Daimyo's security force.

She and Naruto were there as the backup of the backup.

Naruto only grinned at her. “Yeah, but Hak told us to act like we’re guests to the party too!” He raised her hand towards his face. “So wanna dance?”

He kissed her hand.

From her knuckle, a wildfire radiated outwards that caused every single one of her hairs to stand straight up. A slight shiver followed afterward as each hair fell back down. Her cheeks felt like warm honey had been dripped onto them and her ears were hot. Her mouth said "Dumbass." But her head bobbed yes.

Kiba found herself spun onto the dance floor with Naruto close behind. They were on the dance floor surrounded by other couples, all of them either noble or wealthy merchants. Even Sasuke and Hinata walked with prestige and finesse. Their names meant something.

For a moment, when Naruto took her hands, Kiba didn't mind the looks.

"Okay, so I think my hand goes here and then you grab my back and then we..." Naruto had his tongue out of his mouth, and he looked directly at Sasuke and Hinata, attempting to mirror what they were doing.

The music started and everybody moved with practiced elegance and grace. They flowed like a tranquil river, each motion coming with ease.

Naruto and Kiba were two drowning birds in that river. They moved with all the grace of a drunken penguin.

Kiba became aware of the eyes on her the fourth time she stepped on Naruto’s foot. Somebody giggled when he let out a small ow. She became embarrassed the sixth time Naruto stepped on her foot.

They were out of place. Some wild child that was raised by wolves from the hills and some no name street urchin punk did not belong in the middle of the capital dancing in front of the Daimyo. They had no prestige - the Inuzuka were respected, certainly, but they weren’t known for their courtly manners. And Naruto? Having him guide her was the blind leading the blind.

Everybody was watching them make a fool out of themselves. Neither one of them knew how to dance, and this wasn’t the time or the place to learn. Kiba wanted to leave; she wanted to be anywhere but here. She could hear their snickers.

Naruto smiled at her and leaned in close. His cheek brushed against hers. Kiba shuddered when she felt his breath against her ear. “Hey Kiba, Let’s go wild.”

Kiba had heard Naruto say those words before. But never to her. They carried a weight with them: a purpose of something greater, of something amazing. All the tension in her body left her and a smile spread across her face. There was something about the way Naruto said those words that made her willing to follow him anywhere. “Let’s do it.”

The sense of anticipation Kiba felt as Naruto grabbed her hands and moved them slightly only grew. Their arms were both folded and she just barely had any grip on his hands. The onlookers vanished behind them as Kiba’s sole focus was on what Naruto was planning.

She yipped in a mixture of excitement, surprise, and delight. Naruto had thrown her straight up into the in an elegant spin not unsimilar to how her fang over fang technique worked. Only instead of Akamaru, her partner was Naruto. At the apex of her spin, she was flanked by two other Narutos, each with giant grins on their faces.

The clones grabbed Kiba’s arms and sent her flying towards the ceiling. Kiba did a twist in the air and landed on the ceiling feet first. She had meant to stare down at Naruto and dare him to come up there with her. But Naruto was already one step ahead of her. A group of clones had just vanished and the original Naruto landed not far from Kiba.

They had the attention of the entire hall at that moment. And for better or for worse they couldn't care less. Up there on the ceiling, it was just her and Naruto and they could dance however they felt.

With a smirk, Kiba undid the lower part of her Kimono that kept her legs bound tightly. Women were meant to be dainty and have small movements in the capital. A quiet girl like Hinata would fit in well enough, but the Inuzuka had a wild, untamed nature. With the full range of motion back in her legs, Kiba jogged towards Naruto.

She made a slow punch towards Naruto's face. He blocked it, and redirected her into a spin. The flaps of her Kimono spun outwards as Kiba spun more than necessary to deliver a gentle backhand to Naruto. He intercepted her forearm with his own.

It was just like their spars. Each and every move flowed into the next in a steady grace that left those below with a sense of Awe. Time after time, Naruto or Kiba would look like they were about to fall from the ceiling only for the other to catch them and bring them back up. Naruto's shadow clones appearing at seemingly random times only added to the performance.

To the nobles and merchants down below, it was like watching the circus without the highwire. Many of them thought it was some show for the Princess's birthday.

“Sasuke!” Hinata loudly whispered into her partner's ear. “I want to dance on the ceiling too.”

Sasuke just looked at the apparently drunk Hinata that was barely able to do the dance they had practiced. Hinata already knew it, and Sasuke just used the Sharingan to copy it. And while Hinata had lost her shyness for the time being, she also lost what Sasuke considered to be her best feature: she wasn't annoying. "You can barely stand as it is, now shut up."

Hinata pouted and pointed in the vague direction of the ceiling. "You won't make them kiss, you won't dance with me, can we at least go see the ceiling people?" Hinata's Byakugan was activated. Hinata leaned in close to Sasuke's ear. "They're right above Yona. I think it's a big present."

Sasuke looked at the area above Yona. Nobody was over there. And there was nothing like a big present. "Hinata have you seen these people before?" His Sharingan spun into motion.

Hinata nodded with a sudden downward snap of her head. “Yeahuh, They were there when the rock hit Naruto in the head… Do you think that’s why Naruto is so stupid? He gets hit on the head a lot and Sakura does it a lot too. I wonder if...” Hinata took notice that her partner was now much further away than he was before. “Wow! Sasuke when did you learn to do that!”

“Naruto! Kiba! There!” Sasuke threw a kunai at the area above Yona. “Hak, Above you!”

Everything happened at once. The ceiling exploded with a bolt of lightning. Hak drew the lightning into himself with his forearm, protecting Yona in the process. Naruto and Kiba used the fang over fang technique to cut off the escape route. And a half dozen Ninja protectors appeared around the enemy ninja.

Yona ran over and touched Hak gently. It impressed her that he had taken the blow meant for her so readily and so easily. She didn't know what she would do if he was dead. "Hak, are you okay?" She asked softly.

"Never better, princess," Hak said through clenched teeth. His jaw locked shut due to the massive bolt of electricity that had coursed through him. "Just a little shocked is all."

XXXX

The next day Yona and Hak choose to see the group off. The party had been called off after the attack and as of then, there was little to no threat from the captured Ninja. They refused to give any information on who hired them, but Hak was certain it was the Daimyo's wife.

"I must thank you all for your protection," Yona said in a happy princess voice. It had the practiced legalistic sound but was backed by one of genuine happiness. "Should you ever need anything from me, feel free to ask and I will make it happen."

“Can you name a road after me?” Naruto asked happily. Kiba’s elbow instantly found its way into Naruto’s ribs. “Oww! What, I already have a bridge named after me! I’m trying to start a collection!”

Kiba just rolled her eyes. “Who would name a bridge after an idiot like you?”

Akamaru barked in agreement.

Naruto tapped his foot on the ground in frustration. It was seriously unfair how Kiba and Akamaru ganged up on him. It was like every argument was two vs one. He needed back up. “Hey Sasuke, tell them about the Great Naruto Bridge.”

“The idiot has a bridge named after him,” Sasuke droned, a deep scowl already working its way onto his face. He had wasted far too much time with this stupid mission. He needed to train and become stronger. Itachi was still out there.

Hinata groaned, her eyes squinted in pain. "Do you have to be so loud?" She whispered. She brought up the hood on her jacket and closed the drawstrings in in a vain attempt to make the world darker and quieter. Why did she have to have such a bad headache?

"I am going to search your room tonight," Hak whispered to Yona.

Yona stuck her tongue out and stomped her foot. “I already hid it somewhere.”

Hak choose to ignore his ungrateful young charge and stepped towards Sasuke. Mostly because Sasuke appeared to be the most responsible of the four ninja. He presented a small scroll. “This is a request for a Yamanaka to be sent the capital as quickly as possible, can you deliver it to Auntie Tsunade for me?”

Sasuke took the scroll with a curt nod. “I’ll make certain she gets it.” He was eager to get back to Konoha. It felt like he had wasted far too much time here. Not that his time in Konoha was any better spent.

XXXX

Sasuke set a quick pace on their return trip to Konoha despite Hinata’s quiet protests. Noise and motion didn’t seem to be things Hinata was quite ready to deal with at the moment, but she slowly managed to improve as the day wore on.

Kiba and Naruto, however, slowly kept inching closer to one another until an odd tree or small branch forced them to separate again.

"So." Kiba did not like the way Naruto started that sentence. They had only been in a relationship for, like, a day. Did something bad happen already? Was she a bad dancer? Did Hinata confess? "Why were you avoiding me so much yesterday?"

Kiba felt her hair bristle on end, and immediately felt a bit silly for her thoughts. “I’ve never had a boyfriend.” It came out more like a whisper than she wanted it too.

Naruto frowned. It was kind of hard to hear people when they were running through the treetops. Especially when they were whispering. “What was that? I didn’t hear you.”

“I never had a boyfriend, okay!” Kiba shouted, her face already burning up. “Like, I don’t know what to do with you. I mean, that dance was fun, but what do we do differently now? I’m confused, okay? I was just confused.”

Naruto bit his tongue for a second before he took a step and bit it slightly too hard. Now his tongue hurt. "Well it's not like I ever had a girlfriend before either. I just assumed we kept doing what we doing, except do the dates." Naruto smiled wider. "And do couple things… like hug. And kiss."

Kissing Naruto. That was not a foreign thought in Kiba's mind. If she was honest, her first thought about kissing Naruto happened during their first, not-a-date date. The idea was one that became more common with each passing day. "Pfft, what on earth makes you think I want to kiss you?"

Naruto frowned for a second, before a smart grin appeared on his face. With a quick step towards Kiba, he intercepted her mid-air and placed a small, light peck on her cheek. He was rewarded with a yelp from Kiba. It sounded like music to his ears. That, and he kissed Kiba! Sure. it was just a quick peck on the cheek, but still!

Kiba turned and tried to look angry at Naruto, but she could only muster a smile. Like the kiss on her knuckle, this kiss left a lasting effect on her. It wasn’t a bad feeling - it was like getting her back to pop first thing in the morning. “You idiot, why’d you do that?” Her volume died down as she spoke.

"Well it was fun," Naruto explained with a wide grin that only seemed to make Kiba even more flustered. "And besides, I think that's what boyfriends do."

"Well, what do girlfriends do?" Kiba asked. It felt so weird to ask that to Naruto of all people.

Naruto just gave her a full shoulder shrug. “Kiss back, I think.”

The long silence that followed that statement unsettled Naruto. He kept stealing glances at Kiba to make sure she was oka, but her face kept contorting from angry to happy, to embarrassed, to something that looked like constipation.

Finally, she spoke. "When I found you on the road, you said we'd go on a date when we got back." She trailed off, doing her absolute best not to look at him in the slightest.

“Yeah, did you want to go tomorrow? Oh! Or better - tonight?” Naruto asked excitedly. He could go for Ichiruka ramen right now! And he could definitely spend time with his brand new girlfriend. Kiba was his girlfriend! Those four words had quickly become his mantra.

"Tomorrow," Kiba said with a small smile. "It'll be kind of late when we get back." Truth be told, she wanted just a bit more time to be mentally prepared for the date. "And I don't want to just eat Ichiraku's with you and then have you take me to some secret spot like on top of the Hokage Monument to watch the stars."

“What’s wrong with that?” Naruto frowned. That was exactly the idea he came up with if Kiba wanted to go on one as soon as they got back.

Kiba gasped at Naruto. “You dumbass. That was totally your plan, wasn’t it?”

“No!” Naruto shouted back.

Kiba could only grin at him. "Ha, I knew it!"

"Well, what's wrong with looking at the stars from the Hokage's head anyways?" Naruto took a page from Kiba's book and turned with a huff. It seemed like a romantic thing that a girl would like.

"Stargazing sucks in Konoha. If you want to see the stars, we need to go camping or something." Kiba gave a small sigh. One of the few memories she had of her father was during a camping trip. Everything seemed so happy at the time. She knew exactly two constellations because of that trip: the fang that ancient Inuzuka believed was important, courtesy from her mother. And one that kinda looked like a sock if you squinted, courtesy of her father.

Naruto continued to pout about having been called out. It still seemed like a fun idea to him. Wait, did Kiba say ‘we’ just now? Did she want to go camping with him? He felt something wet press against his cheek.

He saw Kiba back away with a smile on her face. “We’ll think of something fun tomorrow, okay?”

Naruto brought his hand up to where Kiba had just pecked him on his cheek. Having a girlfriend so far was pretty awesome.

It was a shame that their date would have to be canceled tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Kiba was alive.

If just barely.

Those few all Sunday training sessions with Naruto had paid off in dividends -but it seemed like it was almost not enough in the end. The corpses of Sakon and Ukon lay mutilated at her feet - she was fairly certain a laceration like that was fatal.

But she was at the end of what she could do. Her and Akamaru were drained of chakra completely, and the side effects of taking those food pills would leave her drained for longer than usual. They really needed to find a better way to make those things.

She sniffed the air. Naruto's scent was easy to find. She was mad at him - Her stupid bastard of a boyfriend made a promise of a lifetime to Sakura while she was standing right behind him. Yeah, sure; it was important to bring back Sasuke. But still, her blond idiot had made a promise of a lifetime to the girl he had a crush on for years right in front of her.

It was bad enough that their date was canceled, but now she was jealous of Sakura. She knew she was being silly, but still; she wanted to slap that pink haired hussy!

Akamaru barked. He limped on one of his legs and there was a new tear in his left ear; still, drained and injured, the dog stood tall, ready to go forward.

Kiba smiled at her faithful companion. She took another sniff of air, honing in on the direction. She smelled Sasuke as well. When they caught up to that bastard she was going to tie every single dog in Konoha up to his toes and have Tsunade throw a steak. “Let’s go get our idiot.”

Akamaru barked in affirmation, then yelped when he tried to leap to his feet and follow after her. He couldn't move fast with a limp leg like that.

Kiba scooped him up and followed Naruto’s scent as fast as she could. The weather was taking a turn for the worse. She could smell the rain. And something in the pit of her stomach told her to worry.

The valley of the end. It was hard not to be born in Konoha and not know some of the history surrounding it. The sight of it sent chills up Kiba's spine. The way Madara's statue stood there as though to attack Konoha with the symbol of unity showed his betrayal. The First Hokage stood opposite in defense of Konoha.

Kiba could hear them now. They were fighting. The scent of Naruto was all over the place, and Sasuke's intermingled with his. Ozone and ash complimented the scent of the two like a horrible spice.

A thousand chirping birds echoed from the valley down below. Kiba ran towards the edge of the cliff and looked down towards the valley below. They were like ants, but she could still see it.
The bright light of Sasuke’s technique. The way he sped towards Naruto. The way Sasuke’s hand pierced Naruto’s chest.

The armor plates she put in his jacket did absolutely nothing.

Kiba felt light headed. Her stomach twisted over onto itself twice, and she couldn't focus. Everything faded to a painful white. The only thing she could see was the way Naruto fell backward, a visible hole in his chest.

Right where his heart was.

Her own heart stuttered in panic. Her legs felt twice as weak as they had been on the run there. Her muscles didn’t scream in agony: they simply stopped. She could feel herself breath deeply. Naruto was dead. “Naruto!”

She didn’t know why she yelled. It was a pathetic attempt to get him to come back to life as though removing all breath from her would somehow restore Naruto.

Akamaru joined in with a deep howl of his own.

Fresh tears poured down from her eyes. It scared her how much it hurt. She looked back down at the river. She needed to get down there, needed to get to him, to make certain that he wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be dead, right? It was Naruto! He still had so much to do!

He needed to take her out on a date. He needed to tell her that she was pretty. He needed to find her father. He needed to tell Sakura to shut up. He needed to become Hokage. He needed to eat dinner with her family. He needed to be alive.

She needed him to be alive.

She didn't even think when she started to climb down the cliffside. She was out of chakra. Her limbs felt numb. But still, she had to get to him!

She took one last look down below. The water glowed red. She watched as Naruto slowly rose from the water. The tears renewed themselves again.

Naruto was alive! She had to get down to him. She had to help him.

An explosion of power caused her to stop. Akamaru struggled to get away from her like a mad animal. Kiba could feel it too, the animalistic desire to run away. She watched in horror as a thin red veil of chakra surrounded Naruto. The hole in his jacket was still there. But she could see the back of his shoulder.

Then he roared. It was a bestial thing of animalist fury. To Kiba, it sounded like he was in pain.

“Naruto,” She whispered to herself. She wasn’t certain if she should be happy or afraid at the moment. Her hand moved down as she continued to climb down the cliffside. She ignored the need to run away. Her heart was telling her to go to him.

Inch by inch she focused on descending along the cliff side. Her arms and legs screamed at her with every motion. Her whole body was resisting, screaming at her to run away as she moved..

The battle raged on around her. She could hear the sounds of fist meeting flesh. The roar of Sasuke's fire Jutsu. The countless puffs of Naruto's clones. She felt the impact as one of them slammed into the side of the valley sending rocks flying out into the river below.

She heard them shouting. Naruto was winning.

“What would you know about it!” Sasuke’s voice echoed throughout the valley. “You never had a family in the first place!”

Kiba had to stop and stare as the two began to fight again. Sasuke was winning now, countering every strike Naruto sent his way. She had always thought that the Kekkai Genkai were powerful. The Sharingan was no exception. She watched as Naruto started to fight a losing battle.

Sasuke deflected clone after clone, moving with such fluidity that it seemed like he knew Naruto's every move. Then he was lifted into the air as a snake-like coil of Naruto's chakra whipped him around and slammed him into the far side of the valley once more. The entire area shook.

Kiba stared for a moment, finally on a relatively safe piece of the cliff. She hoped that Naruto had one, that that attack had finally put Sasuke down. The entire sky seemed to darken as the light from Sasuke's fire ignited the chain of Naruto's chakra.

“It’s too late now, Naruto!” She watched as the two figures fell to the ground. Sasuke held tight onto Naruto’s body. Naruto landed head first onto the rocky shore.

For the second time that day Kiba saw Naruto die. There was no way he could have survived that attack. Naruto’s body fell to the water, lifeless and still. It floated there, motionless. She watched it carefully.

“Please, no,” she whimpered out. To have her hopes crushed again, it was almost too much.

There it was: that energy again. It felt stronger than before. Her eyes, already glued to the corpse of Naruto, watched as the red glowing chakra took form. It was a foul thing.

Akamaru thrashed wildly - any sense her companion had was overridden by his need to run away.

She was finally at the base when they clashed again. Much to her surprise, Naruto appeared to be winning again.

She wanted to fight. But even at full strength, this was too much. Naruto attacked Sasuke, thick red chakra swirling wildly about him like a maelstrom. “Naruto!” she shouted, but it was in vain - Naruto couldn’t hear her.

For a second, it seemed like Naruto was going to win. Sasuke was powerless against whatever Naruto had turned into.

But then Sasuke changed too. He grew giant hand-like wings and was able to fight Naruto back. That chirping sound echoed throughout the valley once again.

Kiba could only watch as the two clashed once more at the base of the waterfall. The impact was large enough that it caused the waterfall to flow, upwards, seeming to defy gravity. It was so powerful, so immense, she had to brace herself against the shock wave that exploded outwards like some sort of volcanic reaction.

How were these two genin?

In a brilliant flash of light, everything stopped. Time stood still, and it seemed like the entire forest held its breath.

The dust settled, and Sasuke stood over Naruto.

Kiba ran towards them. She didn’t have any Kunai, so she grabbed a rock off the ground and threw it at Sasuke. “Get the fuck away from him!”

Sasuke stood and looked at her. His expression of absolute discontent left little room for debate.

"If you want to leave so bad, then just fucking go, you piece of shit!" she shouted, and threw another rock. She had nothing, but Sasuke had less, and time was on her side. The rain had started.

Sasuke backed away, turning away from Konoha, towards Orochimaru. But he hesitated, and stopped for just a moment.

Kiba glared at him. "You were wrong, you know. Naruto does have a family." Her mouth was moving without thinking. "He had you. He had all of Team Seven. He had me and my family. And now you took that away from us. If I ever see you again, I will kill you."

Sasuke was already moving again.

Kiba turned back to Naruto. She had seen him die three times today. She had seen him come back from the dead twice. Would it be too much to hope that he could go three for three?

The whole world felt hazy. Every nerve in her body was dull with weariness and pain. She placed her hand on Naruto's forehead. It was cold. She checked for a pulse. There was none. Despair began to set in. He wasn't breathing.

The air grew thick.

She placed her head to his chest in one last desperate attempt to see if Naruto was alive.

Ba-thump.

A heartbeat. Naruto had a heartbeat! He was still alive!

“He’s alive, boy! He’s alive!” Kiba cried once more that day. Naruto had done the impossible - three times. Each time she thought he was dead, he came right back up.

Akamaru barked in agreement, his tail wagged wildly against her stomach.

"Yeah... I guess he’s too stupid to die," Kiba sighed with a smile. For a second she sat there in the rain, just enjoying the fact that Naruto was still alive. "Let's get him back to Konoha."

She carried him thirty feet until she realized that she had no way out of the valley.

It was fortunate that Kakashi showed up shortly after.

XXXX

Kiba stared at the white ceiling of the hospital. Her entire body felt sore. Still, mostly out of stubbornness, she forced herself up.

“Woah there, Shorty. Where do you think you’re going?” Hana’s voice echoed throughout the room. She stood in the corner, hovering over a small bed where Akamaru laid. “You pushed him really hard you know?”

Kiba sighed. To be fair, Akamaru wanted to go after Naruto as much as she did. “Is he going to be okay then?”

Akamaru barked on his own before Hana could speak.

Hana gave Akamaru a quick bop on the nose. “You’re both lucky idiots. You overdid it on the soldier pills, but yeah, after a few days rest you’ll both be back on your paws.”

Kiba smiled. Still, she had to go check on Naruto. He was barely breathing before she allowed the medical ninja to take her. She winced in pain as she pulled the covers off of her body. Her ribs in particular hurt.

"Whoa whoa, where do you think you're going?" Hana barked at her. "You're not in bad shape but you shouldn't overdo it!"

Kiba ignored her sister's warning and placed her feet on the ground. She was barefoot and the ground felt cold on her feet. “I’m going to go see Naruto.”

Hana’s frown turned into a wicked grin. “Oh, going to visit your boyfriend, are you?”

It was hard to fight the smile that was growing on her face. Kiba had refrained from telling her family that Naruto was her boyfriend - not out of any real shame, but because she was waiting for a moment like this.

“Yes, I am. Jealous?”

There was something so satisfying about taking the wind out of Hana’s sails, and the way her sister’s face twisted from confusion to rage to an odd happiness and back to a sense of confusion.

“Wait, what? Really?” Hana asked, confused.

Kiba shrugged. Oddly enough, getting some payback against her sister made things hurt less. "Yep, we became official last mission." She didn't feel the need to go into much more detail than that.

Hana’s stunned silence lasted just long enough for Kiba to get out the door before it morphed into jealous frustration. “Just wait until I tell Mom!”

“She’ll bake a cake!” Kiba shouted back at her sister and stuck out her tongue.

The hospital never had a pleasant smell. It smelled like medicine, old people, and death. It was a place that Kiba never wanted to be in. But it was easy to find the faint tendrils of Naruto’s scent. She had come to enjoy his smell - it was like a pleasant summer day spent lying in the shade.

She followed the scent and was led to Naruto's room. The door was open, and after a moment Kiba realized there were other scents in the room too. She recognized a few instantly: The lavender scent of Hinata, the booze and cinnamon of Tsunade, the stupid shampoo that Sakura used… wait, didn't Kakashi's dog Pakkun smell the same?

Kiba smiled a bit at her future ammunition against Sakura, just in case she got any ideas about Naruto.

“Don’t worry Sakura, I made a promise,” Naruto’s voice echoed from the hallway. “I’ll definitely bring Sasuke back.”

Kiba whirled into the room. Naruto’s bandaged form did nothing to quell the spark of anger that grew inside of her, nor did Sakura’s tears. “The hell you are!” She barked, slamming her hand against the wall.

Both Naruto and Sakura jumped a bit at the sudden noise. “What? Of course I am, Kiba! Just like I’m going to bring back your dad!” Naruto smiled a wide smile.

But Kiba wouldn’t have any of it. “I was there, you idiot.” Her voice was low, like the rumbling of a faraway storm.

Naruto's smile fell. "Oh." He thought he had heard Kiba. But he wasn't sure if he had just been hearing things. In a way, it made him happy that she came for him. And even now, with the way she was bandaged up and her lack of clothes all showed that she cared.

But the look on her face was not something Naruto could ever be happy about - not when it was directed at him. "Three times," Kiba said in a normal volume. Her eyes locked in on the orange jacket that rested against a chair.

“Three what, Kiba?” Sakura asked. She had to fight back a yelp when Kiba stomped past her growling.

“Naruto died three times, you pink haired hussy. Because of that stupid promise he made you, he died three times!” Kiba snapped. She grabbed Naruto’s jacket and threw it at Sakura hard. “Look at that fucking hole.”

Sakura examined the hole. It was on the right side, right about where the heart was. “So what? Naruto’s still alive - and what does this have to do with you?”

“He’s my fucking boyfriend!” Kiba shouted. Sure, they had only been a couple for like three days, with more time spent in bed rest than on dates, but that was probably common for shinobi relationships. “I don’t give a shit what on earth let Naruto survive having an arm go through his chest, or how he survived getting pile driven into the ground from a hundred feet up, or how he survived a god damn stomach laceration, but I’m sure as hell glad he has it.”

That red chakra, no matter how horrifying it was to watch, still let Naruto live, gave him a fighting chance. She'd have to ask him about it later, though.

Naruto’s eyes locked on Kiba wide with horror for just a second. It had been because of the Kyuubi that he had lived through those things. His mouth went dry as his tongue felt heavy. He wanted to say something but for a moment words failed him.

Sakura looked down at the hole once again. She thumbed the material slowly. Bits of the jacket were burnt or seared. “Is it true, Naruto?”

Naruto looked between the glare of Kiba and the concerned look of Sakura. “Yeah.” He admitted it. “But I’m not giving up! I’m still going to bring Sasuke back!”

Kiba frowned and stomped her foot on the ground. "Why the hell are you so set on keeping your promise to some girl that uses dog shampoo! I'm your girlfriend dammit!" Dammit, she used that weapon too quick.

“Dog shampoo?” Sakura questioned. She had been using this shampoo for years, ever since she got it from… right. Pakkun.

“That’s not why!” Naruto shouted. His hands balled into fists, and he punched the mattress. “Sasuke’s like a brother to me! I can’t just give up on him!”

"He'd tried to kill you!" Kiba shouted right back. She walked to right in front of Naruto's bed, obstructing Sakura's view of the blonde. "Three times!" She grabbed him by the front of his shirt, her knuckles white from gripping it so tightly.

“If it was dangerous to get your dad, would that stop you?” Naruto shot back. Naruto leaned in close and glared right into Kiba’s eyes.

Kiba's fist stopped shaking. Naruto was right. If it meant getting her father back her entire family would charge headfirst into danger. "Fine," she snarled out and let him go with a shove to the chest. "But you have to promise me something!"

“I already promised to bring your dad back!”

“I’m your girlfriend, I get two!”

Naruto and Kiba glared at each other for a long moment. “Fine, what is it?”

Kiba sighed and allowed her face and tone to soften. “I saw you die three times.” She hated how weak she sounded. “So just promise me that you will come back.”

Naruto sighed into an effortless smile, Kiba had just given him all the reason he could ever need to make sure that he came back. "I promise."

“Let me finish!” Kiba cut Naruto off. “Promise me that you will come back even if it means that Sasuke will die. Your life is more important than his, you numbskull. And not just to me.”

The room was silent for a whole minute. Before at last Naruto sighed. “I promise that I will come back no matter what!”

Kiba rolled her eyes and smiled at Naruto. “We can have our date when you get out of the hospital, alright?”

“Can we get ramen?” Naruto asked his eyes bright and face elated. He hated hospital food - it was so gross and he hadn’t had Ichiraku's in like five days!

Kiba briefly wondered if her eyes would roll out of her socket before she smiled. “Sure, but you have to do something else too!”

Naruto smiled widely at her. “Believe it!”

Sakura stood there looking at not only the weirdest couple she had ever seen, ut also the first official couple of her classmates. She always felt like it would be her and Sasuke that would become official first. Part of her felt slightly jealous that Kiba was stealing away her teammate - which was absurd. There was no way she would ever like Naruto in a romantic sense.

XXXX

Kiba glared at Naruto’s bag. He was finally out of the hospital, and now she had about two hours with him before he was going to leave for three years. She wasn’t stupid. She knew that Jiraiya of the Sannin was strong and was a good teacher for Naruto.

But couldn’t they have waited a couple extra days? Even with Kiba visiting Naruto in the hospital for hours each day it still felt like they hadn’t had the time to do anything with their relationship.

It wasn’t like she wanted to kiss him or anything.

Still, she tried to enjoy the last little bit of time that she had with him. Three years just seemed like such a long time. What would happen to them? Would they stay the same? Would they still want to be boyfriend and girlfriend after three years? It just didn't seem fair.

She couldn’t even call this a date because Iruka was here as well. At least he offered to pay for their ramen.

"Say, Iruka-sensei..." Kiba asked drily. It was about time she got some answers.

Iruka turned to Kiba with a bit of noodle flopping out of his mouth. He slurped them up with about as much manners as Naruto had. "What's up, Kiba?"

“What do you think about Naruto being my boyfriend?”

She was desperately hoping that Iruka would just shrug and say ‘good for you two, you make a cute couple’.

Instead, she got a spit take as Iruka nearly coughed up the noodles he had just swallowed.

"What? Since when? I thought Naruto liked Sakura? Not that there's anything wrong with what you two are doing... it's just kind of not something that... should be." The scar on Iruka's nose blushed a funny almost purple color.

"Did you know I was a girl?" Kiba asked. She wanted him, of course, to follow it up with ‘being in a relationship is perfectly normal but some people might not like it when you are to open about it in public’. Or something along those lines.

“What? You are?”

Kiba’s chopstick broke in her hand and a deep growl escaped from her mouth. Just how many people thought she was a boy? It was getting so annoying! She was a girl, damn it, and proud of it! There was nothing wrong with being a girl!

Naruto attempted to make peace. "It's okay Iruka-sensei, I didn't know Kiba was a girl until the Chunin exams either. I think Sakura found out then as well. But yeah! She's my girlfriend, sorry for not telling you sooner." Naruto turned back to his ramen with a happy smile.

Iruka stood up quickly and slammed a couple bills onto the table. "I think the Hokage is calling me ,I gotta go, this should cover the meals! I'll pay the rest back later!"

Kiba smiled when Iruka sped away. Now she had Naruto all to herself.

“Yo Naruto, time to go!”

Or not.

The loud and boisterous Jiraiya entered the stall, and out left Kiba’s sense of joy.

"Oh... I, uh... okay," Naruto said quickly - done with his bowl of ramen, sadly enough.

Kiba stood with him. "I'll, uhh... see you out." She didn't mean for that to sound so meek. She took his hand as soon as his bag was on his shoulder.

The trio walked in relative silence to the gate.

"Alright brat, say your goodbyes to your girlfriend, It's time to go." Jiraiya rubbed the back of his head and turned away. It reminded him a lot of when he took Minato away from Kushina to train with the toads for a year. Except that was worse, Jiraiya mused to himself, as it was just after Minato had saved Kushina from those Iwa Ninja. She used her chakra chains to try to get him to stay.

He hoped Kiba wasn’t any worse.

"So, uhh... I guess I'll see you later?" Naruto asked with a chuckle. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. "I, uhh..."

“Just come back, okay?” Kiba said suddenly. It sounded too weak and pitiful. “Taller…. And with bigger muscles. I don’t want a scrawny boyfriend, got it?” She added quickly.

Naruto stared at Kiba for a moment. He blinked once. “Okay, but you have to grow bigger boobs.”

Kiba snapped away from Naruto and covered her chest with both of her arms. “What? You pervert! What makes you think you can ask me that! It’s not something I can control!”

"Well, neither is my height!" Naruto shouted back. "And I'm not going to stay short forever! Just you watch, I'll be taller than you by the time I get back!"

Kiba laughed. "Yeah you better, otherwise I'll tie your arms and legs to some dogs and have them stretch you out."

Seeing Naruto’s reaction to that was priceless. “So yeah. Uhh... bye.”

Kiba stood there for what seemed like an eternity. As Naruto slowly turned away. She needed to do something to get him to stay something for just a minute. “Wait!”

Naruto turned quickly, already making a kissy face towards Kiba. He was expecting (and wanted) a nice goodbye kiss from Kiba but didn’t know how to ask for one. Was he suppose to ask or just kiss her?

Kiba stared at Naruto's kissy face for a second. If he didn't look so ridiculous she might have considered it. Instead, she held out both hands and presented Naruto with a photo. "Here, my mom thought it'd be a good idea for you to have a picture of my dad in case you find him. And I'm there too… so yeah. I'm little… but still." She kind of wished they had a picture of them together so that she could have something to remember him by.

Naruto took the photo and examined it. That red dog seemed familiar. Hana was cute when she was young, and Tsume seemed so happy. Little Kiba was dirty and looked like a boy - not that he would ever say that out loud. And the father...

What was Wasumaru doing in the photo? Where was Kiba’s dad?

Naruto’s jaw slowly fell. He lurched forward and grabbed Kiba by the shoulders. “I know where your dad is!”

“What? Really?” Kiba asked frantically. “Where?!”

"I'll show you!" He quickly tore off his backpack and threw it at Jiraiya. "Sorry, Pervy Sage! We're going to have to delay the trip by a day!" He grabbed Kiba's hand tightly and began to pull her towards the capital.

Chapter Text

With every leap they took, Kiba could feel her heart dance like the ocean. She didn’t know what to think. Naruto was about to leave for three long years. And then, suddenly, he turns around and drags her off to find her father.

Naruto had found her dad. No matter how many times she repeated that, she thought it still felt strange. She almost didn’t want to believe him, just in case that it wasn’t real; then the disappointment wouldn’t hurt as much. “Are you sure it’s him?”

How many times was she going to ask that question?

Naruto turned back to smile at her.,. “Yeah, I’m positive. I kind of feel stupid for not realizing it was him sooner! He just doesn’t remember who he is. But we can totally bring him back and have Granny fix him right up!”

“But are you sure it’s him?” She wanted to believe him. There was an absolute, pleading tone to her words. Kiba wanted nothing more than for Naruto to be telling the truth - that he did find her father, that it was some weird twist of fate that him being knocked into the river that day was a blessing in disguise.

"Yeah! He even had a dog called Loki, that looked like Rokimaru, except I think she got hurt because her right eye and ear were covered up. And she tried to talk to me now that I think about it..." Naruto trailed off. It was becoming more obvious the more he actually thought about it.

Kiba frowned. "But why wouldn't Rokimaru come back? She was one of the best ninja dogs we had. She could easily make it back to Konoha in a day." It didn't make sense - it only took her and Naruto a few hours to get there. She remembered Rokimaru being so big and beautiful: a majestic creature that led the pack better than Kuromaru.

“Look, I don’t know, okay? She might be hurt or be worried about Wasumaru.” Naruto paused for a moment. The village where he had found Wasumaru was now in sight, just across a small river. He pointed at the inn with the red dog sign. “See? That’s his inn right there.”

Again Kiba allowed Naruto to drag her into the unknown. He leaped halfway across the river and she had to react quickly to the current or be swept away. It was a really good thing Naruto had helped her with water walking. Why wasn't that standard again?

Naruto dragged her through the town. She was glad he was, as her knees felt weak and her stomach churned in unsettled anticipation. She stood in front of the inn. A familiar smell peppered the area.

It was her mother’s beef stew.

But it wasn’t. It was different, yet familiar at the same time.

Akamaru perked up and barked, bolting down the road.

Kiba could only stand there in shock. Her body wanted to move, to act, to do something. But her brain didn’t want to do anything. It smelled so much like her mom’s cooking.

Naruto let go of her hand and gripped both of her shoulders tightly for a second. He was giddy. He liked happy surprises, and he always wished that he would be able to find his own parents one day. But helping Kiba find hers was the next best thing. "I'll go get him! You wait here, okay?"

Kiba nodded and watched Naruto run inside. Her heart was bouncing around inside of her chest like it was using the fang over fang jutsu. she knew that she should follow Naruto inside the building but her legs just couldn’t move. It took all of her strength to stand upright.

A duo of barks demanded her attention. Akamaru bolted towards her, his tail wagging fast enough that it nearly threatened to knock him off balance twice. But behind him was an old red dog that bounded towards her like a puppy would, even with the baskets she had strapped to her.

A lump formed in her throat. It was thick and made it hard to breathe. Tears swelled in her eyes and she could feel the corners of her mouth twitch upward. Through sheer force of will, Kiba spoke but a single word. "Rokimaru?"

The dog bounded up to her, passing Akamaru with ease and began to sniff wildly at Kiba. Pleased with the scent, Rokimaru sat down and licked Kiba’s hand lovingly. “Riba!”

Kiba looked at Rokimaru in awe. The dog that had become her father’s partner was alive. Rokimaru was alive. And that meant...

She heard the door to the inn open up.

“Whoa, hey! Jeez, Naruto. Watch where you’re pulling me! I was certain that I had the recipe right this time and you just had to--”

Wasumaru stopped in his tracks as he looked forward to the girl that stood beside Loki. “Mess it up,” he finished, so that his brain could completely comprehend the sight before him.

Tears flowed freely from Kiba's face when she saw him.

It was him. It was her father.

Her father was alive and Naruto had found him.

There was no doubt about it. Everything about this man that Naruto had dragged in front of her was her father. From the way he stood with that stupid smile on his face, to the way his shirt was tucked in on the left side and somehow untucked on the right side. From the way he did his hair, to the way he blinked twice when he didn't believe something.

Kiba did the only thing she could think of doing. She waved.

“Hi, Dad.”

A sudden pain ran through Wasumaru’s head. No, that wasn’t right. He wasn’t Wasumaru. He had a name - a different name. The pain became sharper for a moment and then so did the name, crisp and clear.

He was Tarou. He was from Konoha. He was a ninja.

No, there was something more than that. He was a husband. He had a wife. He was a father. He had a daughter - no, he had two daughters.

And one stood right in front of him.

There was no thought behind the motion; his body simply moved. He brought his daughter into a tight hug.
Tears washed down his face in unashamed joy when his daughter returned the hug. They gripped each other tightly, and he could feel her shaking as she cried into his shoulder.

. There was so much he didn't understand. How long had he been gone? There was so much of Wasumaru there, but still - more of Wasumaru was him.

“It’s you. It’s really you.”.

He needed to see her face, how long had he been gone? How much time had he been Wasumaru? He pulled her out of the hug and kept a firm grip on her shoulders. She was crying and her face was red. But that smile showed that years of sadness had finally been turned into happiness. "Oh, Hana, my beautiful daughter... I..."

Kiba gave a small sob of a laugh. At the very least, he was certainly her father. “Wrong daughter, Dad.”

Tarou blinked twice and stared at her daughter once more. She was right. She wasn’t Hana. Hana had a sharper nose and her eyes were a different color. But that would mean... “No, You’re my little Ki-banana?”

Naruto snorted at the nickname. It felt weird being so happy for another person. Even the slight twinge of jealousy that it wasn’t his parents that he found was nothing compared to how happy he was for Kiba and her dad. And, as a bonus, he now had the best nickname to call Kiba ever.

Kiba choked back a sob at her father’s ridiculous nickname. “Yeah, Dad. It’s me, Ki-banana.”

“What? No, but look at you! You’re a teenager now, and you look just as beautiful as your sister did when I left.” Tarou’s mind jumbled as it tried to put everything together. It didn’t make sense. When he left, before he was Wasumaru, Hana was just two years into the academy - and now his little Kiba was a fully fledged ninja. “How long was I gone?”

She couldn’t take it anymore. With a lunge, Kiba nearly knocked Tarou to the ground as she hugged him again. Her cheeks were starting to hurt from how much she was smiling.

Her father was alive.

“Way too long, Dad. Way too long.”

“I’m so late for dinner, your mother is going to kill me.” He rocked her slowly back in forth, rubbing large circles into the small of his daughter’s back. That little girl of his that liked to play in the dirt and run with the boys was now a grown up. He had missed so much. “You better not have a boyfriend.”

Kiba gave out another laugh and inhaled sharply through her nose causing it to gurgle with mucus for a second. “Uhh, about that.,.”

“What? No, you do? Does Tsume know?” Tarou pushed his daughter away from him to look her in the face. He looked at her as only a father could, and understood everything. “Well, you’re going to have to break up with him so you can be my little girl for a few more years.”

“Hey!” Naruto shouted and stomped his feet. “We’ve only been boyfriend and girlfriend for a couple days.”

Tarou’s head snapped towards Naruto. Then he turned back towards Kiba.

She nodded.

He turned back towards Naruto. “You mean that advice I gave you was to help you hook up with my daughter?”

Naruto snorted and crossed his arms. “Wasn’t much advice.”

It was true - what Wasumaru had said turned out to be true, but Naruto didn’t need to do anything to make it happen. It was all Kiba.

"I take it back!" Tarou shouted at Naruto and pulled Kiba into a tighter hug. He was a little conflicted, as Naruto was the one that reunited him with his daughter; but, more importantly, he was Kiba's father. And Naruto was some punk that was trying to take his daughter away when he just got her back. "She doesn't like you and you should give up on her."

“Dad!” Kiba shouted with a laugh from his tight and over protective hug. She couldn’t help it - she gave him a loving punch to the shoulder, her face now a fine red color.

“What? I was joking, I was joking.” Tarou gave a laugh and opened up his arm for Naruto to join in the hug. He saw how Naruto hesitated. There was something about this boy - something that felt important.

But he remembered his family. And that just mattered more. “Come on, don’t be shy. You brought me to my daughter, as far as I’m concerned you’re family now.”

That was all Naruto needed to hear. With no hesitation, he dove into Tarou’s arm and brought all three of them down to the ground in a laughing hug. In a strange way, Naruto had found his own family.

Akamaru and Rokimaru joined in with a flurry of licks on their giggling faces.

“Gack, Rokimaru cut it out.” Hearing Tarou call that name once more only spurred the dog into even more frenzied licks, whining and panting all the while.

Naruto was the first one off the ground a large watery smile on his face, and wasted no time in helping Kiba up off the ground. He was awarded with his own personal hug from Kiba. She squeezed him tight enough that he had a difficult time moving his arms and felt the air in his lungs forced out.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Kiba said each word faster and quieter than the last.

This was the day, this was the moment that Kiba would always look back on as the day she fell in love with Naruto. Even if she didn't know it at the moment.

With both the mental and physical ability to speak stripped from him, Naruto could only return the hug and began to sway Kiba back and forth for a moment.

“Alright, that’s enough.” Tarou jumped up and tried to wedge his hands between the two. Kiba shot away from Naruto the smile never faded from her face, even as it turned red. Naruto just smiled like a maniac and scratched the back of his head.

“So, which way is home?” Home. It felt weird to say that word again. He never considered his inn his home. It was just his inn - something he was just doing to pass the time. It was an excuse to try and cook Tsume’s beef stew again. He never could get it right.

Something in his heart stirred as that woman passed through his thoughts.

Tsume.

He remembered bits of her, small little moments of what was a massive picture. Holding her hand. Watching her walk away with ramen pouring down his face. The way she stopped when he kissed her suddenly.

The way he loved her.

He needed to see her too, to apologize for being gone for years.

And Hana. She must be a woman now.

‘Wait a second…’

“Does Hana have a boyfriend?”

Kiba snorted. “No, Dad. She tries - but Mom won’t let her date any of the boys she brings home.” Her sister was getting desperate. Kiba could have sworn that she saw Hana trying to flirt with Shino one day. Shino!

With a blink, Tarou pointed at Naruto, a puzzled look on both of their faces. “What about him? Does your mother know about him?”

Kiba bit her lip. “Yeah, she knows.” Her mother even made a cake and demanded that Kiba give Naruto part of it. (She would have done that anyways.) “She actually tried to get me to date Naruto for months.”

“What? Really?” Both Naruto and Tarou gaped. They both quickly turned to stare each other in the eyes.

Naruto’s face broke into a wide grin.

Tarou’s instantly soured. “Don’t look at me in that tone of voice.”

For a long moment, Kiba watched as her father and her boyfriend bickered with each other. They were kind of alike with how they randomly switched from one topic to the other and seemed to be able to bounce between different forms of happy so easily. A chill went up to her spine. She didn't have daddy issues, did she? "Okay, we should get home before more freak outs happen."

Naruto smiled at Kiba, and with both arms he pointed towards Tarou. “I found your dad! Your mom is going to freak out even if we’re on time.”

Torou gave a sad chuckle. He looked down at the blond with the kind of pity only a married man could give. "I don't remember exactly why, but I think my wife would freak out more if we missed dinner. Do we have a way to get to Konoha quickly?"

“Run?” Naruto asked sarcastically.

Kiba walked over to Naruto and gave him a small boop on the nose. “Can’t you summon a frog to give us a ride?”

"It's a toad," Naruto responded absentmindedly. Crap he was starting to sound like Jiraiya now. If he wasn’t careful, he’d end up writing boring romance books and peeping on Kiba at the springs.

Wait… he already did that. Stupid Hinata - what was she thinking? Better not let Tarou know anything about that…. Although he considered telling Tsume. "But yeah, that's a good idea!"

Naruto was about to start the summoning Jutsu, but Kiba stopped him. "Not in town, Naruto! I've only seen you summon stuff that’s either smaller than a cat, or bigger than a house." The town was small enough that Gamabunta would be able to easily reach from one side to the other. "Go behind it into the forest and summon something."

“Oh right, good idea!”

XXXX

“We’re never taking a toad again!” Kiba shouted from breathless lungs. She could spin for hours on end and not get the slightest bit sick. But an hour or so on a giant hoppy frog thing was all it took to make her insides want to become her outsides. One thing was certain - her father’s imitation of her mother’s stew only tasted good one way.

“Hey, it was your idea,” Naruto replied as he gently rubbed Kiba’s back in a circle. They had stopped outside of Konoha mostly for the sake of avoiding collateral damage.

And because Tarou had insisted on trying to surprise Tsume. His genius plan was the just sit down at the table and see how long it took her to notice he was home. “It’ll be great!” Tarou had said with a smile. “Your mom loves surprises!”

If Kiba’s lunch hadn’t been plotting its revenge at the time, she might have said something.

Naruto thought it was a great idea.

“Alright Ki-banana! Naruto!” Tarou shouted with authority. “Let’s go surprise my wife! Do the Yamanaka's still own a flower shop?”

There was surprisingly little fanfare as they made their way through the village of Konoha. Only a few shinobi bothered to comment about how Tarou was back from the dead. The majority of them commented on how they looked forward to attending his funeral once Tsume got a hold of him.

Tarou stared at the gate that marked the entrance to the Inuzuka compound. It was odd that he didn’t remember anything about this gate. He did, however, remember the feeling he associated with them. The dread he felt when he first came to pick Tsume up. The sense of impending doom when he brought her home late once. The loving feeling when he finally moved in as a member of the Inuzukas.

It seemed that each time he stood at this gate,something important was going to happen. But for the life of him, he couldn't remember it. The new Hokage was a healer, right? He should visit her as soon as possible.

After he conquered his wife.

He remembered that there was a trick to dealing with her - a way to get her to stop should the need arise... but he had no idea what it was. "If your mother kills me, no kissing until you're, like, eighteen or something."

Kiba stood behind her father and pushed on his lower back to make him move forward. Rokimaru joined in as well and butted her head on Tarou’s bottom. “We’re going to be late, so just start walking.”

“Yeah, Tsume’s not that scary!” Naruto shouted proudly. He liked Tsume! She was always nice and friendly. She even made him a cake.

Both Kiba and Tarou gave Naruto a dry look. “That’s because she likes you.”

XXXX

Tsume glared at the kitchen clock in a mild annoyance. Hana was going to be a little late, but at least she had advanced warning about that. Kiba, on the other hand - that pup was dangerously close to being late herself.

She didn’t care if it was Naruto’s last day in Konoha - that gave Kiba no excuse to be late for dinner! She swore that if that girl ran off with Jiraiya and Naruto she was going to tie them up and let the dogs eat them.

The sound of the door opening caused her anger to vanish for a moment. “Kibana Inuzuka, that better be you!”

More footsteps echoed from the doorway. If it wasn’t for the boiling pot of stew that required her attention, she would have gone over there to see who it was. “Yeah, Mom! It’s me!”

“And Naruto, too!” came Naruto’s cheerful voice.

Tsume frowned for a moment. She didn’t mind when Naruto came over for dinner, and this would be his first dinner here as Kiba’s actual boyfriend. But she had thought he was going on a trip with Jiraiya. “What happened to your big trip, squirt?”

There was a lot of awkward shuffling and a few hushs that didn't quite sound like Kiba or Naruto. Those two were up to something.

"Uhh, something came up." Kiba's voice echoed into the kitchen. "So Naruto got to stay an extra night, is that okay?"

Tsume rolled her eyes. Young love was such an innocent thing. “Sure, but he’s sleeping in his own bed!”

She smiled and counted down for her daughter’s shriek.

Three.

Two.

One.

“Mom! I didn’t mean it like that!” came Kiba’s whine of protest. Tsume could easily visualize the look on her daughter’s face. Teasing those two would only be fun for a little while longer. She was glad that she would be able to squeeze one more night out of it.

Tsume picked up the pot: everything was done and ready to eat. "If you say so! Set the table real quick, though!"

She entered the dining room and time stopped.

Standing there at the end of the table with a stupid grin on his stupid face was her stupid husband who she had stupidly fallen in love with nearly twenty years ago. From the way his long hair flowed into a messy ponytail, to the bit of gruff on his chin that seemed to be the only real facial hair he could grow.

It was him.

Tarou smiled as his wife. He was still alive, so that was good. He smelled her beef stew and grinned even wider when a realization struck him and he realized what it was he had been missing all those years - her love. "Hi, honey."

There was a clang, and the pot fell to the ground helplessly. Hot stew flew all over the ground. Tsume stood there, her mouth opened in pure shock. It slowly closed into a smile as tears threatened to pour out of her eyes. “Tarou?”

It was barely a whisper.

With a grin, Tarou opened up his arms wide for Tsume to come hug him. "Sorry I'm late for dinner."

Tsume started off slowly, taking a light step over the spilled stew. Her approach hastened as she stretched out her arms to hug Tarou, tears dripping down her face.

Tarou closed his eyes and began to purse his lips.

Tsume’s smile turned into a vicious scowl that looked like a rabid dog protecting it’s latest meal, and her right arm went back while her left went forward. “YOU!”

Tarou’s eyes went wide as he felt Tsume’s grip around the front of his shirt. Once again he was reminded with how much fun it was to live around Tsume she always kept him on his toes. He was reminded, then, that he thought Tsume was rather pretty when she was angry.

Her hand met his face with a loud, heavy smack that shook the room like thunder.

“Stupid!”

Another slap from the back of her hand echoed throughout the room. This seemed familiar, being slapped by her. How did he stop it again?

Oh. Right.

“Bas-”

There came no slap this time. Tarou grabbed Tsume’s hand by the wrist. Her words were cut short when Tarou closed the distance between them and kissed her. It was soft at first; his free hand grabbed her by the waist and pulled her in close.

Tsume’s anger and spite faded away and was replaced with that love she had been so desperate to feel again for the past eight years. She put all of her anger and frustration into those slaps - it was only right that she put all of her love into the kiss as well.

She left go of his shirt and snaked her arm around the back of his neck. They held that pose for a long time, just enjoying a kiss that tried its best to make up for eight years of being missing. Eight years of kisses, eight years of ‘I love you’s, eight years of stupid little fights that didn’t matter and a few that probably did.

Eight years of love.

Kiba stepped closer to Naruto. It was so awkward watching her father and mother literally make out. But still, she could help the feeling of happiness that her father was back. She looked at Naruto as he stood there with his own goofy smile on his face.

She wondered what it would be like when he came back in three years. Would they kiss like her parents did? Did she want that? Did she want to wait that long? No. She didn’t. And if Naruto wasn’t going to act, she was. “Naruto.”

Naruto turned to look at Kiba.

It was only for a second like a fairy landing on his lips. His cheeks felt warm and his brain no longer knew what exactly to do. He looked at Kiba who smiled at him, kind and genuine.

"Thank you, Naruto."

Chapter Text

"Why is everything so small?!"

Tsume smiled as she walked past her daughter’s room. Even after three years, some things never changed. Tsume opened to door to her daughter’s room to see Akamaru happily buried under a pile of clothes, barking as the pile grew taller. And then there was a daughter that was being strangled by a fancy bra. “Because nothing ever told your body to stop growing.”

“Mom!” Kiba shrieked and jumped at her mother’s entrance. Her undressed state became apparent, and she failed to cover herself with a too small dress.

Tsume gave Akamaru an ear scratch on her way into the room. She grabbed her daughter's shoulders and looked Kiba in the eyes, having to look up ever so slightly. "I swear, I'll never get used to you being taller than me. Also, you need to stop wearing your sister's bras - they're too small for you."

Kiba’s eyes went wide and she examined the overflowing bra she had on. She was just used to absolutely nothing fitting right. That stupid deal she made with Naruto just had to come true, though she probably should have demanded that he come back taller than her, not just taller. “I blame Naruto.”

"Ha, I doubt he'd be too upset over some spilled boob," Tsume howled in laughter as she examined one of the pile clothes. Eventually, she found it - a bland white bra that was only a few months old. "Here's one of yours, wear it."

With a whine, Kiba took the bra and frowned at it. "But it's so boring!"

Tsume’s smile grew wicked and Kiba quickly realized her mistake. “Oh? Planning on letting Naruto see the goods already?”

“What?! No!” Despite Kiba’s protests, her entire body seemed to blush at the idea. The idea of being naked with Naruto was not a foreign one. And technically, she had seen him naked before during the mission to protect Princess Yona. She wondered if his butt was still cute.

A pout formed on Tsume’s face and she crossed her arms in disappointment. “Oh, but I thought you loved him? You’re my only hope for grand pups; Hana can’t find a decent man to save her life and Cana is still a long ways away from boys not having cooties.”

“My mom is telling me to have sex with Naruto.” Kiba buried her face in the bra her mother gave her and groaned. They were only sixteen! It was far too early to be planning things like kids! Though if she had to decide right now, two girls and a boy and a house in the woods where she could have as many dogs as she wanted would do just fine.

“Oh don’t be such a prude!” Tsume slapped her daughter's back and rubbed it gently. “So, is this a date-date or a not-a-date-date?”

Kiba smiled at that. When Naruto asked her before his mission, it was an-actual-date-date. Aside from Naruto being ever so slightly shorter than her, Kiba thought that Naruto came back... actually good looking. He kept his end of their deal, and was now a far cry from the scrawny little boy he was before.

She wanted to squeeze his arms or hug him again. Maybe she’d even be able to finish that kiss Shino had interrupted. “It’s a date, Mom.”

“Okay, so is it casual or what? I can’t imagine Naruto taking you someplace expensive.” Tsume smiled. If Naruto was anything like Tarou, their first actual date would be in the outdoors - away from everybody else, with a nice picnic basket. That was a fun time.

"He said I looked the same," Kiba mumbled just loud enough for her mother to hear. She had been mortified when Naruto said she hadn't changed at all - that meant she still looked like a boy, even with hair down to the mid of her back.

“Pfft, knowing that numbskull he probably thinks it's a compliment, did he ever call you pretty or beautiful before?” She had seen the way Naruto looked at Kiba like she was magic. During the last time Naruto ate with them he snuck a look at Kiba whenever he thought she wasn’t looking.

Every time Naruto had ever looked at her with his mouth wide open, or every time he lacked the ability to speak properly around her flashed in her mind. Even when they first met after three years, he had the same dumbfounded look on his face. A fire grew in her stomach and she quickly took off Hana's bra. "That's why I want to knock his socks off!"

Akamaru gave a low guttural bark and shook a few pieces of clothing off.

Tsume howled in laughter. “Mutt’s got a point! Show up topless and you’ll knock more than his socks off!”

“Mom!”

Spurred on by Tsume’s reaction Akamaru stood up, his massive tail acting like a fan. He barked twice and began to roll on top of Kiba’s clothing pile.

“I will let Hana neuter you!”

XXXX

The pit in Naruto’s stomach was an immovable feeling of sadness, dread, depression, and resolve. He knew what he had to do - it was going to be hard and he so wished that he didn’t have to do it.

He leaned both elbows on the red bridge where he had asked Kiba to meet him nearly a week ago. He ran his hands through his hair in wild frustration. He felt twice as guilty, considering he was supposed to be going out on a date with Kiba.

The selfish part of him wanted to wait until after the date. To wait for one last kiss to hold onto until his final moments. Especially if it was anything like the first kiss Kiba had given him. Even now the memory of that kiss was enough to make his lips tingle in delight.

The part that loved her knew that it wasn’t fair. It wasn’t okay. He was stupid to think that he should ever have a normal life, a normal relationship. It was what was best for Kiba.

He had to break up with her.

"Naruto!"

His heart dropped when he turned to see Kiba jogging towards him. His iron will turned to slag under the passionate fire that she ignited. For three years he had dreamed of Kiba and fantasized about that kiss; it all started about the time that she had walked into the hot spring with him in it.

Naruto tried to smile and stand straight. His left leg felt longer than his right - he felt like he was falling. He needed to get this over quickly so that he could wallow in despair and then train harder than ever before. Maybe if he trained hard enough he could...

No, that was a stupid idea.

“Hey, Kiba! You look great.” He couldn’t help it. He wanted to see her smile.

Kiba glared at Naruto. He was dressed in his normal clothing. Something was wrong. “What’s wrong? Do you have a sudden mission or something?”

The lump in his throat refused to be swallowed. Life was so unfair - he shouldn’t have to do this. He had to look away from her before he could find the courage to speak. “Not exactly. Listen, Kiba... we need to talk.”

Those words sent a sense of dread into Kiba. She didn’t like the way Naruto said them; she had heard of them before from other couples and books. She tried to her best to not let it show. She failed. “Oh, what about?”

Naruto looked Kiba in the eyes. He could see the tears already forming in her eyes. She knew what was coming - he was past the point of no return. He spoke each word as his heart shouted in protest.

“I think we should break up.”

Heartbreak hung in the air like a thick miasma.

Kiba’s right hand instantly went to her heart and her left began to shake. She leaned forward, allowing her hair to cover her eyes as her body began to tremble. All the hopes and dreams she had for this relationship were gone in an instant. A wave of disappointment swallowed her whole.

“That’s fine. It’s not like I wanted you to be my boyfriend or anything.” Kiba’s voice cracked three times as she spoke. She choked out a sob and allowed the tears to flow freely from her eyes. If she wiped them, then that meant they were real. She wasn’t crying. There was nothing to cry about.

The only option for Naruto was to turn around. He didn’t want to see her cry. It was better that she cry now; it would hurt less for both of them. “I’m sorry Kiba. It’s for the best.”

He hated the Kyuubi now more than ever. If it wasn’t sealed inside of him, he could have a normal relationship with Kiba and be happy.

He tried to take a step away, but Kiba had grabbed the sleeve of his jacket.

“No!” Kiba barked, the fires of her passion had set the miasma of heartbreak ablaze into an inferno of anger. The tears still flowed from her eyes, but they lacked any kind of softness. It didn’t make any sense. “It’s fine if you want to break up with me but you’re going to explain why, damn it!”

Naruto almost turned around and said that he was sorry over and over again and that he was an idiot and that he didn’t want to break up with her. This whole thing was the last thing he wanted. But he wanted her safe more. “I don’t want to, okay! But it’s dangerous!”

He tried to shake her off and run away. But Kiba's anger was stronger. With little effort, she spun Naruto around so that he was facing her again. Her face was a maelstrom of emotion, showing rage, sadness, and love all at once. "We're fucking ninja, Naruto! So tell me the real fucking reason before I show you how dangerous I am!"

“The Kyuubi,” Naruto choked out. He refused to look at Kiba but it was hard. Even when she was blind with fury she was so eye catching. When she didn’t respond Naruto turned to look at her steady rage. “I have the Kyuubi sealed inside of me.”

Kiba blinked. That explained a lot, actually. “So when you fought Sasuke, that was the Kyuubi?”

Naruto bit his lip and nodded. “Yeah, and during this last mission, I lost control and I hurt Sakura. I don’t want to hurt you too.”

Kiba gave a snort of laughter at that. She lunged forward and brought Naruto into a tight hug a soft smile on her face. “Not good enough. If you’re going to break up with me you need a better reason than having the Kyuubi sealed inside of you.”

"But Kiba... there's also a group called the Akatsuki. They want to capture me and extract the--"

“Then I’ll just have to kick their asses for you now, won’t I?” Kiba cut Naruto off. She tightened the hug. All the despair she had felt moments ago had vanished. Though her anger still burned ready to be used at a moment's notice.

“But what if something happens to me or you?!” It occurred to Naruto then that he hadn’t put up any struggle to get out of Kiba’s hug. His traitorous hands had even found their way to the curve of her waist.

Kiba smiled at that and looked Naruto in the eyes. She leaned ever so slightly forward, just enough so that their noses touched. “What if something doesn’t?”

Naruto could feel her hot breath on his lips. They were so close - she was so willing. All he needed to do was close the distance. It wouldn’t take much. The last of his resistance began to shatter. “Please, Kiba I--”

“I love you.”

Those words swept through them like a warm spring breeze, filled with all the promise and hope of a new life.

Kiba closed the distance between them and kissed Naruto. It acted like a massive reset button, erasing the last fifteen minutes of sorrow and replacing it with love and joy. Naruto wasted no time in returning the kiss.

Three years of waiting, dreaming, fantasizing, planning, wishing came true with that kiss a slow turning motion that danced like a thousand fairies between the two.

Kiba’s hands found their way around Naruto’s neck where she clasped on in delight. Naruto was hers now and she had no intent of letting him go ever again.

The world was at a lost to Naruto as he felt any free will of his love life slip away with that kiss. It embodied everything he had wanted as a child. Love, happiness, acknowledgment, and family.

They separated slowly with a wet smack, and smiled softly at one another.

“Still want to break up with me?” Kiba asked, and flipped her hair out of her face. It felt good to finally be able to tell Naruto that she loved him. There was no doubt in her mind that she did.

“No ma’am,” Naruto shook his head with a wide smile on his face. Never before had Naruto felt so stupid and so happy at the same time. His heart filled with joy at what Kiba said. He mattered to her. She loved him! Him!

With a small peck on the lips, Kiba released Naruto from her hug, backing away with an extra bounce in her step. "Good. Because if I'm honest, I'm more concerned about you being shorter than me than the Kyuubi being sealed inside of you."

"Hey, I'm not that short! And I'm still growing!" Naruto crossed his arms and pouted. His pout only lasted until Kiba began to laugh. It was an infectious bubbling laughter that grew on itself, and further expelled the angst feelings that had been so present minutes ago.

And then Kiba oinked.

Naruto’s laughter doubled at the cute sound. He had nearly forgotten Kiba did that when she laughed. His enjoyment was only doubled when he saw her blushing furiously. “What? it’s cute!”

Kiba huffed and folded her arms just under her chest. “Well whatever, it’s not like you’re that funny anyways. Now, what about the date?”

In an instant, Naruto's laughter stopped and he rubbed the back of the head in embarrassment. "About that... I kind of cancelled my reservation so that I wouldn't be tempted to still go out with you."

Kiba growled a low growl, and she leveled a glare at him. It lasted only a few seconds before she grabbed his hand and began to drag him towards the market district. "Fine, we'll just go to the store and we'll cook dinner at your place."

“It’s not clean--”

“Stop being difficult!”

XXXX

It felt so Natural.

The scent of sauce, spices, and steam filled Naruto’s small apartment and completely destroyed the persistent smell of mildew. Kiba smiled over at Naruto who was dutifully slicing a vegetable - she had made him take off his jacket mostly so she could see his forearms.

“I finished slicing the vegetables.” Naruto returned Kiba’s soft smile with one of his own. This was what he always wanted. He wanted the soft moments of life where he was alone to be filled with somebody else. It was all the better that it was somebody that loved him.

Kiba bumped into Naruto's hip with her own for no other reason than that she could, and focused back down onto the simmering sauce in front of her. "Add them into sauce gently, and then set the table."

With a side step, Naruto closed the distance between them. He watched the vegetables slowly fall into the sauce and Kiba quickly stir them up into it. The smell of the air changed instantly with the addition of the vegetables. Once the last of them fell Naruto turned to Kiba and kissed her.

They had a mutual discovery that they simply liked kissing. When one wanted a kiss the other was willing to give one. Each one was just a soft little pause on their life that felt like a deep breath. They were always soft feather like brushes that always had an unspoken promise of more to come.

Her eyes slowly opened, and when Naruto broke the kiss for a few seconds they just smiled stupidly at each other before Kiba turned back to her sauce. She was reminded of her Mom and Dad for a moment - the way her dad went out of his way to kiss her mother. She could see why her father did it now.

Naruto happily reached into his cabinets for the dishes Shizune had given him as a kind of housewarming present. The small table he owned was clean enough, aside from a few ramen stains and a slightly broken corner. The chairs were mismatched and gave the table a lopsided feel to it. “So, where’s Akamaru?”

“Oh, he didn’t want to ruin our date in case you ended up taking me to a restaurant or something.” It was mostly true - she had to bribe Akamaru with a steak to get him to agree. It was her first actual date with Naruto and she wanted it to be just him and her for a little bit. Besides, Akamaru was a big dog.

Naruto looked at the table in mild frustration. It looked so bland, boring, and not romantic. If only he had a candle or something. Wait, he did! Sakura gave him a candle because his apartment smelled. "I still can't believe how big he got!"

Kiba snorted and rolled her eyes. People kept saying that, but Akamaru wasn’t even that big. Sure he couldn’t ride on her head anymore, but he was still more or less the same size as he always was. “I don’t know... it might just be because you’re short that he looks so big.”

Kiba wiped her head around to give her boyfriend a tight cheeky smile. Naruto tilted his chin up at her and frowned deeply. They held their duality for a moment before breaking out into a few short giggles.

“What’s with the scented candle?” Kiba laughed in confusion.

Naruto looked down at the thick wax candle he had just lit. “It’s supposed to be romantic, right?”

"That's like a bathroom candle, though, it's supposed to smell nice... or something." She tried and failed to sound like she didn't know exactly what they were. It was a guilty pleasure of the women of her family to collect things that smelled nice.

The candle stayed as the centerpiece of their dinner date. The main and only dish were noodles topped with a thick vegetable sauce. To drink, they had their choice between water, orange juice, and a weird purple drink that might have been a few years old.

“I’m still surprised that there’s no meat in this, did your mom teach you this?” Despite not being ramen, Naruto more or less instantly fell in love with the dish - though he might have just been biased because of who cooked it.

Kiba smiled softly as she swirled the noodles around. “Actually, it was my dad. He said that the best way to make a fancy date dinner was to cook noodles and then put a sauce on top of them.”

The mention of Tarou made Naruto smile all the more. “How is your dad?”

"He's been great, actually! Because of Lady Tsunade, he has all of his memories back - he even started going on missions when he got mom pregnant with Cana." Tsume was so worried the first time Tarou went on a C-rank mission that she failed to get any sleep until he came back. “Now she just worries whenever one of his missions leads him anywhere near a cliff.”

“Cana?” Naruto asked in confusion. “Wait, do you mean Hana is pregnant?”

Kiba barked out in laughter at that. “What? No. Cana’s my baby sister - she’s like two now.”

After a bit of mental math, Naruto spoke without thinking. "Wow, your parents didn't waste any time, did they?"

A blush crept up on Kiba's face - she was fairly certain she knew exactly when her little sister was conceived. "Uhh, yeah. Anyways, they want you to come over for dinner when you can."

Once their meal was finished and the dishes were cleaned, Naruto and Kiba stood in his living area in a bit of mid-date uncertainty. It wasn’t awkward by any means, but neither one of them knew what quite to do next.

“So what now?” Naruto had his arm around Kiba’s shoulder; he didn’t want the date to be over anytime soon.

Kiba turned and slipped him another kiss. It was somewhere between their tenth and fifteenth kiss that night. She didn’t realize how much she had missed him until he came back. They parted slowly when Kiba pressed her hand against Naruto’s chest to push him away. “Well, here’s my idea. We turn on the T.V., put on a really bad movie, and we spend the night sitting on your couch not watching it.”

Naruto’s face furrowed in confusion. “If we’re not watching the movie what will--”

Kiba answered the question with a quick kiss.

"Oh, uhh yeah, let's do that!" Naruto practically sprinted over to his small television and searched through his collection of movies. Thankfully in terms of bad movies thirteen-year-old Naruto had quite the collection. "Uhh, let's see, Ultimate Bikini Ninja Thirteen: JurASSic Surprise, Keijo Hip Whip Girls, or Boruto: The Movie."

Kiba sat down on Naruto's couch and blinked in amazement. When she said terrible, she meant terrible, not so bad it might actually be good. "I'm slightly curious about the bikini one."

They ended up watching four Ultimate Bikini Ninja movies.

Kiba yawned and looked up at Naruto from their cuddling position on the couch. With the slightest bit of effort, she leaned forward and gave him another tender kiss. It was late and she was so tired, yet she didn't want to leave just yet.

“Do you want me to walk you home?” Naruto asked, as he rubbed Kiba’s back in small circles. He didn’t want her to leave, but it was late, and he did have to meet Kakashi early in the morning for training.

A smile formed on Kiba’s face. “Do you think I can stay here tonight?”

“Yea sure, I can sleep on the--”

Kiba silenced Naruto with a finger.

She gave him a weary seductive smile. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I want to sleep with you or anything, but I can’t sleep alone, and with Akamaru all the way on the other side of Konoha, I guess you’ll have to do.”

Naruto slipped out from under Kiba and dragged her up to her feet. “I can’t believe I’m jealous of a dog.”

Kiba smiled and leaned heavily on Naruto, she wasn’t half as tired as she was acting, but she had a goal in mind. “Good, you should be. But maybe you should carry me to your bed like a good boyfriend.”

“As you say Ki-banana.” Naruto scooped Kiba up with minimum effort. He had one arm below her knees and the other wrapped around her shoulders. Kiba wasted no time in wrapping her arms around Naruto’s neck and burying her head in Naruto’s shoulder, mostly to hide the smile on her face.

"You know, you never said it." It hadn't bothered her until then, but she would have liked to hear it from him just once.

“Said what?” Naruto questioned, as he walked into his room. It had the coldness of a room that nobody had been in all day, and his bed had never looked smaller as he sat Kiba down on it gently.

Kiba pouted and rolled away from Naruto, burying her face in one of his pillows. She was more tired than she thought, as she struggled to lean up and growl in his face. “Whether you love me or not!”

“Oh.” Naruto smiled and began to roll Kiba over so that she would face him. She kept her face buried in his pillow until he rolled her nearly one-hundred-eighty-degrees to look her dead in the eye.

It was soft, like a breath of wind, but everything she could have ever wanted.

“I love you.”

She didn’t need to look him in the eyes to know it was true, but somehow, some way, it made things all the better.

She had found her alpha.