Summary: Naruto/Hinata hinted.
The Fourth Shinobi War proved vital to the existence of many. Death can bring many people closer, and push others further and further away. In the end, it is fear that breaks you, or makes you.
Kiba centric.
Run
Every second is a pure affliction
But I can feel your pain
The blazing sun showed no mercy for the blonde, who was currently leaning on the wall of the only exit from the village hidden in the leaves. The dark circles under is eyes emphasizing his tired expression and sloping shoulders.
"Tsunade gave you another all-nighter, huh?"
The pink haired sannin muttered to her team-mate with a knowing smile. The blonde glanced to his left, spared her a tight-lipped smile and looked toward the Hokage tower.
"She said the training is a lot harder and more time consuming then the actual gig. Apparently, it's an old trick to push out the suckers who just want the title of Hokage to get laid." He said casually, closing his eyes in pain straight after, realizing the woman had just punch his arm.
"She probably just doesn't want you changing your mind this close to retirement. Every second she gets, she is always muttering about how much she wants to throw paperwork at you for taking your time in the training." She flexed her newly used knuckle, "All this hard work isn't going to make you run, is it? I can guarantee it will only get harder, Naruto."
"Sakura," Naruto let loose his signature grin and wrapped an arm around his best friend's shoulder, "if that Teme can lead Oto, I sure as hell can lead Konoha, Battedayo!"
"You Baka! Don't scream in my ear, SHANNARO!"
And so Sakura Haruno punched the soon-to-be Hokage, Naruto Namikaze Uzumaki, straight in the face, on their very first mission together after the Forth Great Shinobi War. Who said people change in the face of fear?
Choke back the burn of wrath as they violate your name
That is how she found them, Naruto face down on the ground with a triumphant Sakura sitting on his gluteus maximus. Hinata raised an eyebrow, but said nothing to interrupt the obvious 'Team 7' moment that she had witnessed. Instead she slowly approached the two and forced a smile toward the feared banshee of Konoha.
"Hinata! I haven't seen you in months, how have you been? I understand your new Clan position has taken away a lot of your shifts at the hospital." Sakura looked up toward the Hyuuga princess and raised herself off the Kuubi vessel.
"H-hai, S-Sakura-san. Although i wish nothing more than to pass on the title to H-Hanabi, My f-father's last wishes were that I was to become clan head. I will not disappoint him." Hinata spoke with the confidence and poise of a true princess, and both Sakura and Naruto were pleasantly shocked. However, old habits die hard, and they couldn't help but noticed her stuttering was still present.
Naruto stood and faced the pupil-less eyes of Hinata, his smile genuine.
"You need some time to be 'Hinata', not the face of your clan. After our mission, you and I will have lunch anywhere you want! My treat!" The blonde boy – no, man - never stopped surprising her, and even though her obsession for him had simmered over the last year, her love for him only grew.
"H-hai, Naruto-kun…" A real smile graced Hinata's face, one that had been lacking since Neji's death and her father's murder.
"I see I am once again left out of the equation."
A deep voice interrupted the loving gaze between the two, and Sakura, who was watching with warm eyes and a knowing smile.
A man wearing a brown trench coat with a high collar and big round glasses made his presence known by stepping around a tree that was just outside the village gates.
"GAH! Sh-shino!" I didn't even know you were there! I didn't even know you were assigned to this mission!"
Naruto's wide eyes and gapping mouth soon turned to a sheepish look with an even sheepish sweat drop on the back of his head once he heard the muttering of Shino.
"If I was anyone else, you would have known. Once again I am a faceless nobody in the presence of the almighty 6th Hokage…"
"H-H-Hey! Don't get like that Shino… you aren't going to attack me with your bugs again are you? Hehehe"
Naruto's nervous laughter brought only the slightest of joys for the Aburame. Fear was always fun to play with.
No sign of innocence in this godforsaken place
An hour later, the four Shinobi of the leaf village caught sight of their fifth member. Unusually late and uncharacteristically adorning a troubled, exhausted expression on his face. His partner trotted beside him, lolling his head to the ground every five seconds. It was evident to the intelligent three present that their comrades were ill-prepared with the upcoming mission.
"Kiba! Why are you so late?! We had to leave an hour ago!" Naruto pointed an accused finger at the Inuzuka, raising his voice after every word. Kiba faced the team and scratched the back of his head; the trademark smirk that showed his canines didn't fooled them into thinking he was actually sorry.
"Eh, right, sorry guys, Clan bullshit." His cocky attitude only grew since the war, pissing off everyone within hearing distance.
Shino glanced his way, "Why is your clan still discussing this? You were named heir on your third birthday; the second the war finished you should have been given the title by the Inuzuka elders."
Naruto's interest perked up at this.
"What? I didn't know this! If you were going to become clan head anyway, why the hell are you always picking a fight with me over being Hokage?!"
The confusion on Naruto's face almost made the Hyuuga 'aww'. Almost.
"Pffft. Because they don't think I'm 'leader material'. They said I am not 'coolheaded enough' and I make 'rash decisions'. Its bullshit, and it's put half my clan against another half. I don't know how you deal with this politician crap, Hinata. I have half a mind to just give it to the guy they want leading my clan to shut them up."
"Once again I have failed to be acknowledged. I too, Kiba, am a clan head…"
Ignoring Shino, Kiba's eyes drifted to Naruto, "And I said I wanted to be Hokage because I want to fight for something, to have something because I'm good enough. Not because I was born into it and it was given to me on a silver platter. Guess you reap what you sow aye, now I have to fight for my birth right."
Hearing a sober answer from the joking pup surprised Naruto. Then realizing that this was important to Kiba, Naruto gave him a grin and pointed at the Hokage Mountain.
"Only room for one airhead up there, Kiba!"
Everyone present either laughed or shared an amused smile to themselves. And with that, the five man squad began their journey to the land of Grass.
When the truth is in your hands,
they'll spit upon your face
After the war, many nations (the smaller and 'less' important ones) began petitioning against alliances and treaties with the five great nations. Although it had been a year, wanting to have world peace, and then achieving it, proved a lot harder than first considered.
After a year, only the Grass had agreed to trial the idea. The other smaller villages were either scared of such power in the hands of the 5 leaders, or still held resentment for one of the hidden villages for past battles. The treaty was to be agreed with all the five great nations, not a selected few. This was where the problem started. And while the great nations swore oath upon oath that there was only peace on their agenda, fear and anger still raided the people of the land.
"It wouldn't be long," they had declared, "before another 'Madara Uchiha', 'Akatsuki' or 'bloody mist' will grow from the ashes."
"And when that time comes," they had spoken, "we will not be talking of this peace you sell."
"We," they had mourned, "will be dead, dying, or killing."
"The life of Shinobi," they had whispered, "is to fight."
Dismantle the ground they stand on
The presence of foreign chakra came so quickly, the five figures could almost say they imagined it. However, as each looked around suspiciously at the same time, they realized that this mission had just gone from calm to destructive.
Kiba visibly stiffened as he felt the presence again. Like a blinking light, seen only from the black ocean by a passing sailor; to warn him that he was too close to the jagged cliffs.
Kiba leapt from Akamaru, landing on the branch beside his faithful companion, letting loose his own chakra in a wave. A short burst of authority to command his fellow clan member to back off.
The wave from their team mate was felt by the others, and stopped to stand in a defensive stance by the Inuzuka.
"Kiba?" Naruto reserved his serious side for times like these. Kiba didn't have time to answer as he felt the clan member race toward him with great speed, using his signature technique to cloak himself with invisibility.
Kiba's nose became his eyes as he cut off the man and pinned him to the trunk of a tree not too far from the defensive four.
"You have five seconds, Ashi." Spoken with a cold and threatening tone, Shino was at a loss to when his fun and carefree teammate had become the fear in Team 8. Once upon a time, it was he who would cause a shiver to run down a person's spine.
'Since when,' Shino thought, 'had Kiba dominated over him? When had he become Alpha?' Shino looked at Hinata's unsurprised face and relaxed stance. As though she knew Kiba had it under control.
'You foresaw this, didn't you, Hinata? You always said he would be a great leader. Had the war really changed him this much?' Shino's attention shifted back to the Alpha.
"Fang-san, I must speak to you." the Inuzuka in ANBU gear murmured with respect, "These matters must be addressed in private."
Kiba's eyes narrowed dangerously, as if sizing up his prey.
"Stay, I'll be back in 10." Kiba tossed the remark at Naruto, the team leader. Naruto thought of denying him, to claim his superiority over the boy who just ordered him to stay. But as the two jumped from tree to tree, out of sight, with Akamaru whimpering by Shino's side, Naruto caught a glimpse of Hinata. Something was not right. They would wait no more than 10 minutes.
Any longer, and the pup would have an earful for already screwing up Naruto's first mission as a Jounin.
Give power a name
"Speak."
The command left no argument.
Ashi had to time this perfectly and leave no room for error. His life would be only a small price in the overall scheme. He mustn't fail. The fate of many resting on his shoulders, his newborn son and beautiful wife being one of them.
You've traveled the path of slander,
Now bury the shame
"10 minutes is up, I don't care if there is some political dispute going on within his clan; this mission is of upmost importance. If we don't act quickly, the Grass will be influenced by someone else and we will lose another ally. We don't have time for this!"
Naruto was never known to be a patient man; Kakashi Hatake only made that worse.
"Hai, Naruto-kun. Byakugan!"
Hinata's face visibly paled as she tried to open her mouth to speak. Understanding that something was not right, Naruto silently leaped through the air after Hinata as the others followed close behind.
The reached a clearing where the ANBU member was sprawled on the ground at the foot of Kiba. Blood oozed from the open gash on the man's upper body. His head was nowhere in sight; brain matter scattered around him.
Kiba's face was sprayed with blood, his gaze directed toward an unseen object in the distance. Eyes narrowed as they had been before, lips pressed together and jaw so tight the group could hear the strain on his teeth. His knuckles bone white as the boy struggled to keep them from shaking in anger.
If those present had not been as shocked, they would have noticed the boy's sight was set in the direction of Konoha.
"K-kiba!"
Sakura was the first to recover. Immediately she noticed no damage had been done to her friend, nor had he inflicted damage onto the now dead man below him. No one knew what to ask first.
"ANBU have a defense mechanism to eliminate the body after death. No secrets are shared that way. That was supposed to happen the second his heart failed. This is not the technique though, is it Kiba?"
Sakura had always been the smartest person Naruto knew.
"Clan trumps Village."
Was Kiba's only reply. Naruto failed to understand what gambling had to do with a dead ANBU member that was decapitated and refused to disappear into dust like it was supposed to.
Suddenly, Kiba's hazed gaze turned sharp. He grabbed the six large scrolls that were strapped to the man's waist and unrolled them expertly at once. Graffitied onto the scrolls were many seals. Shino recognized them as summons.
"He sealed his nin-dogs?" Shino questioned the humanity of the Inuzuka clan.
"He was unable to understand dogs."
Again Kiba replied without emotion. Kiba used several hand signs, ones that Sakura and Naruto were very familiar with, to light the six scrolls on fire. Abandoning the ashes, Kiba started to remove the man's utility belt and empty everything inside. The group stared in confusion at the actions of their team mate. Kiba ruffled through the many weapons and bottles of pills to find what he had been searching for.
A picture of a beautiful women with bright green eyes and cropped blonde hair was holding a one minute old baby boy that had the same blonde hair. His eyes were open to show the clan trait slit eyes, and his cheeks tattoo-less, at least until his first birthday.
Kiba's eyes softened at the photograph and placed it on the body of his clan member. He completed a series of long and complicated hand seals as the others watched on. Once he was finished he placed both hands on the chest of the man, watching as his body slowly disintegrated along with the picture he had found.
"Kiba?"
Shino's voice snapped everyone out of their thoughts. Kiba stood abruptly and walked toward Naruto. Naruto's stubbornness to be the perfect leader would not let his confusion show.
"I must go."
"No."
A look of shock crossed the faces of those around him. Naruto instantly regretted the command, but the mission was just too important. Kiba's face twisted from shock, to anger.
"No?! That man just threw away his life for me! I need to get back to the village; this is bigger than you think Naruto! It isn't just about me being clan head! You know about the Hyuuga Branch members cursed seal, yes? Did you know when someone disobeys an order, their brain explodes? That is what I just saw happen! How is it even possible that my clan is giving our seals!"
Kiba was unaware he had grabbed Naruto by the collar of his shirt until Hinata placed a hand around his bicep. Kiba's frantic eyes widened even more as he let go of Naruto and took a step back.
Only now had Kiba realized just how left in the dark he was.
Shed rejection.
Not only had he been refused entrance into the meetings about the welfare of his own clan, buthe was no longer allowed to communicate with the people that wanted Hifu to be Clan head.
Hifu was the same age Kiba, and graduated twice as fast as Kiba. He was sadistic and enjoyed ripping the skin off his enemies, ironic seeing as he was named after it. Safe to say, Kiba was not fond of his cousin.
Now, Kiba had never been the brightest of pups. Not as bright as Hifu. It was obvious even when they were only 2. The heir of the Inuzuka clan had to be decided though. It was tradition that only a male could rule the clan, and while Kiba's mother had been the clan head for almost 3 years before Kiba was born, she was overruled by the second-in-command on every matter. Her younger sister, Tai, was never interested in the position, so when two heirs were suddenly and unexpectedly produced in the same year, Tai refused her newly born son, Hifu, of the clan title and congratulated her sister for birthing the future heir, Kiba. Two weeks after Kiba was born, an official ceremony took place with every clan head in Konoha present and the Forth Hokage's stamp of approval on every document to declare Kiba the right to take the title once he turned eighteen or once the current heir, Tsume Inuzuka, had died.
Kiba never really took much notice to the official business of the clan. All he knew is that once it was time, he would be given the title of clan head and have to attend boring meetings and drink boring tea with other boring clan heads.
But after the war, Kiba began to notice things.
He was no longer looked up to as a leader, but as a figure head. Meetings were arranged without his knowledge, missions were taken without his say so. Every clan detail that was supposed to be decided upon and looked over by Kiba, had somehow bypassed him.
It took Kiba six months to work up the courage to confront the clan elders. Their feral appearance resembling Hifu and many other Inuzuka members who liked the sickening kills.
Kiba had asked them, and they had replied. Hifu was a much better choice.
And six months later Kiba was still arguing his right to the title, a title that was agreed upon by the freaking Fourth Hokage.
It wasn't long until Hifu was interrogated for the many deaths and rapes of many people in a small town that was close to a mission he had had prior to the way. A village near the Grass. Whispers of treachery floated around the clan for weeks before the clan elders silenced them. But Kiba heard and Kiba understood. Hifu was not to be trusted.
Soon, Hifu was dismissed, mission after mission lead to bloodshed that the clan would ignore.
Soon, Hifu Inuzuka was renowned as The Ripper.
Soon, there was no doubt in Kiba's mind that Hifu was selling village secrets.
Yet the clan elders turned a blind eye, wanting above all else for Hifu to rule the clan like a true Inuzuka. With fear. Much like the Main House does with the Branch House of the Hyuuga clan. And now the Inuzuka clan was branded with the same curse seal that exerted that fear. Those that were against Hifu and his destructive power were considered disloyal and branded with the curse seal. Kiba had only found out about this after returning from a mission a week ago. He had been yelling, cursing and fuming with the elders since then. Even going so far as to make him an hour late for an A-ranked mission to the land of Grass.
The village Kiba was sure Hifu was selling his village secrets was only now that Kiba understood how everything tired in together. Ashi had known more than enough and died giving Kiba this information.
While Kiba stood before his friends, many of these thought reeling through his mind, he had come to one conclusion.
The Inuzuka clan was corrupt.
Learn to follow the wolves.
Song; Follow The Wolves - Demon Hunter.
Disclaimer; I do not own the Naruto plot, nor the Characters. I do, however, own this story.