AN: So this is the first chapter of my 3 shot (shounen-ai). This first one is of Kiba and Kankuro.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
"You've got that smile/That only heaven can make/I pray to God everyday/That you keep that smile." As Chris Brown's voice reverberated through the small dorm room, a sly, knowing smile slid on to the wolfish facial features of Kiba Inuzuka while he slipped into a pair of jeans.
The slightly tanned skin, signature black hat that always crowned a head of spiky brown hair, purple face paint, and–of course–that perfect teasing smile of Kankuro Sabaku had just flashed before his eyes. Kankuro: the boy whom Kiba had been intrigued by since the very first day Neji, Lee, and Tenten had introduced them; the boy Kiba had finally admitted to himself that he had a crush on–a tiny crush, mind you.
At the thought of his recent revelation, the college freshman found the smile disappear from his face. No, I don't like him. I don't swing that way, Kiba told himself sternly and frowned slightly as he pulled a t-shirt over his head. Besides, even if I did, it's not like he's gay anyways. With that last thought, Kiba absentmindedly ran a hand through his shaggy brown hair as he called out, "See ya, Akamaru!"
An answering bark followed him out of the room and down the hallway.
"Yeah, okay, and I'll have a medium–no wait, a large caramel macchiato with a double shot of expresso. How about you, Kankuro?"
"Huh? Oh, uh…" the college junior muttered distractedly, eyeing the door to the small on-campus coffee shop. Where the hell is he? "I'll, um–oh! Hang on, gimme a sec." Without even a glance back, Kankuro made a beeline to front door where a certain dog-loving brunette and company had just arrived.
Temari's already present frown deepened as her brother promptly turned his back on her and walked away, as if it was no big deal. Gaara said nothing and simply watched his brother's retreating back with a bored expression.
"Hey," Kankuro greeted Kiba, Naruto, and Shino–though he made a point to allow his gaze to linger on Kiba longest, "so you guys finally made it, huh?"
Kiba snorted, in an attempt to be his usual confident and aloof self despite the fluttering he suddenly felt in his stomach. "Give me a break, Kankuro. We weren't that late."
"Alright, alright," the older boy amended with a chuckle, holding his arms halfheartedly in mock surrender as he smiled slightly in amusement. "How 'bout as an apology, whatever you get's on me?" Kankuro adjusted the dark gray hat perched high atop his head and broadened his smile in a teasing, yet still friendly, way.
Kiba opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out; his mind seemed to have blanked. No coherent thoughts whatsoever entered the place where, up until a couple of seconds ago, Kiba had been pretty sure his brain was. All the freshman could do was stare at Kankuro's flawlessly tanned skin, brilliant smile, perfect–
"So you're treating?" The upperclassman blinked as a head bearing spiky blond hair was suddenly shoved into his field of vision. Naruto stared suspiciously at him, considering how truthful Kankuro's statement had been.
"Naruto," came Shino's deep voice from beside the hyperactive, knuckleheaded boy. "I don't think he was–"
"Good," Naruto continued, completely oblivious to Shino's remark. "'Cause I was broke anyways." At that, Naruto happily barged past the junior to get to the counter to order, with Shino right behind to keep an eye on him. Kankuro almost swore he caught a sympathetic look from behind the younger boy's dark Ray-Bans.
Kankuro rolled his eyes, but gave Kiba a "eh, what can you do?" sort of look.
"You didn't have to do that, you know," Kiba said as he and Kankuro followed the pair in. "I could've paid for me and the idiot." Kankuro was amused to see a mildly embarrassed half-smile playing on Kiba's face while the freshman sheepishly scratched the back of his head with one hand.
How adorable, Kankuro mused as Kiba ordered. After he was done and they were on their way to the table Temari had snagged, Kankuro replied, "But what if I wanted to?"
Kiba blinked and turned to look at him. "Huh?"
"Well, maybe not for Naruto, but for you I wouldn't mind." Kankuro gave him a sidelong glance and felt the corners of his mouth pull upwards as he saw the faint blush paint its way across Kiba's cheeks and the bridge of his nose.
"Oh," was all the freshman said, and he refused to make eye contact with or speak to the other boy after that.
When it had been a full ten minutes and Kiba still had yet to grant Kankuro his full attention (or any attention really, since he had managed to find a way to talk to everyone at the table without once looking directly at Kankuro), the older boy frowned inwardly. What had gone wrong? He had been fairly sure Kiba felt the same way about him as he felt about the younger boy.
Could…could I have been wrong? Kankuro narrowed his eyes at the younger boy, who was currently arguing happily with Naruto over just which of the girls in their class had a crush on Shino. No, that blush earlier said otherwise. Then what is it?
Racking his brains, the middle child of the Sabaku family still couldn't figure it out. So he decided that, as he was blundering around in the dark, he might as well just go for it. Standing up, Kankuro casually said, "'Ey, Kiba. It's kinda hot in here. You wanna come get some fresh air with me?"
At this, Temari smirked and gave Kankuro a look clearly suggesting she knew exactly what this was about. In response, Kankuro shot her a death glare to get her to tone her obviousness down a bit. Temari just smirked even more.
Raising one eyebrow at them, Kiba replied, "Uh, sure. If you want to," and headed toward the front door. Making a mental reminder to beat the crap out of Temari later, Kankuro followed.
Once outside, the two wandered around aimlessly for a while until they finally halted near the bike racks for the coffee place. Not a word had been said between them and Kiba was the first to break the silence. "Okay, so what's up?"
Kankuro gazed at him for a second, taking in his messy–and undeniably adorable–brown hair, dark brown eyes filled with curiosity, and the trademark red tattoos–or at least Kankuro was pretty sure they were tattoos; who knew, maybe it was just face paint like his own–on his cheeks, before opening his mouth and…hesitating.
Sudden doubt came rushing through his mind, overriding the previous burst of courage Kankuro had felt earlier. Shit, what if I was totally off just because I like him? Or what if he used to, but he moved on?
"Well?" Kiba prompted, tilting his head to one side.
"I…" I what? I love you? I like you? I want to be with you forever and ever? As the gap after his words grew and grew, Kankuro began to panic. Kiba still looked genuinely curious, with his head cocked to one side like an intrigued puppy, but Kankuro was still at a loss for words. Finally, the upperclassman did the only thing he could do–express his feelings without speaking.
Leaning forward, Kankuro gazed into Kiba's eyes before tentatively pressing his lips onto the younger boy's.
To say that the kiss was everything that Kankuro had hoped it'd be would be a lie. To be honest, it felt just like any other kiss. There were no magic sparks or instant chemistry, and part of the reason was that Kiba had yet to respond at all to the kiss. Noticing, Kankuro opened his eyes and broke the lip contact to see, instead of the loving or even shocked look he'd been expecting, an almost pained expression on Kiba's face.
"K-Kiba?" Kankuro felt his pulse begin to quicken. Why did the person he had fallen for have to have the world's greatest poker face?
"I…I'm sorry, Kankuro," Kiba said slowly, looking the older boy straight in the eye, "but I can't do this."
The junior actually felt a physical pain in his chest at these words. "Y-you can't?" Kankuro croaked, his voice cracking.
Kiba's eyes were full of genuine, yet his voice remained firm. "No, I'm sorry." And he walked away, leaving Kankuro alone, except for pieces of his shattered heart.
"Why, Akamaru, why?" cried Kiba in anguish as he pounded the wall of his room again with his fist. "Why did I chicken out at the last minute? Why did I tell him I didn't want it when I know I did?" Because you were terrified of what it meant, answered a small part of his mind.
Giving up on beating the crap out of his wall, Kiba turned around and leaned against the wall before slowly sliding down until he was sitting on the floor with his back pressed against it. Resting his head on the wall as well, Kiba recalled all the stories he'd heard of past gay couples, whether they were boys or girls. Each and every one of them had either committed suicide or left, being unable to cope with the extremely homophobic college and its community.
As Kiba buried his face in his hands, the small voice continued, See, you were afraid of being openly gay, and you knew Kankuro would be too proud to stay in the closet, so you said no out of fear of how others would see you.
"I know." Kiba gave a shuddering breath and closed his eyes, trying one last time to visualize everything he had just lost.
One day, when the sky is falling/I'll be standing right next to you/Right next to you/Nothing will ever come between us/'Cause I'll be standing right next to you/Right next to you…
AN: Soo, what did you think? Good? Bad? Awful? I rather liked the ending, especially since it's probably the more likely scenario than most of the usual fics (as sad as that is :[) Please review and let me know, thanks ^_^
BTW, the next chapter will be a hetero pairing, and I'm still thinking about who it should be. Any suggestions? And I'm thinking of writing 3 shots like this for other categories. Should I?