A/N: The first in a series of Kiba based one-shots all with the question 'Why is it?' as the prompt. There will be some from every genre, though drama and humor are my favorites to write, and many will have pairings.
This first one is a little...Not how I usually right. Something is off about it and I'm not sure what. If you have an idea on what the problem is, please let me know.
"Why is it that happy endings aren't for people like us?" His voice was dull, an emotionless monotone that one would expect to come from Shino, not Kiba. Who in fact had been the one to speak.
The dog-nin was sitting under a tree on the out-skirts of Konahagakure, his legs sprawled out in front of him, a stark contrast to the positions of his companions. Akamaru, spralwed in an ungraceful doggy heap at his feet, and Hana, leaning against the tree behind him.
There wasn't an answer, from either dog or girl, so he continued in that same un-Kiba voice. "I mean, we're the ones that kept the village safe all those years, not Team Seven. Or any of those other teams. Us. And yet we're the ones that get stuck with the burnt-end of the stick."
"They're considered heroes, all three of them, when we did all of the work. They wouldn't be alive without us and yet...We don't get squat." Slowly Kiba pulled his legs up to his chest, leaning forewards so that he could rest his chin on his kneees. "That idiot...He wouldn't be half as strong if he didn't have the Fox in him, which last time I checked he used to be hated for, and now everyone loves him."
"And that Sasuke. It's like it doesn't matter that he tried to kill everyone, he's just as welcome in the village now as he was as a kid. But if it was you or me or Shino, we'd be killed the moment we set foot in the village." There was a small growl from Akamaru as the dog moved slightly, placing his head on his paws and staring at his master in a mournful way.
"Sakura...She didn't do anything and the village practically worships her. She's the weakest shinobii I'ver ever seen but because she's a part of their team she's a heroe too." Kiba let out a snort and closed his eyes.
"But the ones that actually stayed here, fought for their lives while those three were out having fun and training away from the village, what about them? What about Lee? He's got to take an elixer before and after every fight just so he can move and he'll never be able to train his own team of genin or become an ANBU."
"And Ino. She used to be one of the prettiest girls in the village and now look at her. She can't even leave her house with out being stared at. She got those scars protecting the village, fighting a rouge Oto-nin, while Team Seven was out training. She'd been on leave too but is she being praised? No."
" Tenten's dead. Shikamaru's blind in one eye. Kurenai's kid was killed while she was out defending the village from an attack. And look at us." Kiba opened his eyes slightely but there was no light in them. No joy, or happiness, there wasn't even any saddness. They were just blank, the eyes of a man that had lost too much to care any more.
"Ma's dead. You're the clan's new Alpha." His voice broke slightley, some how still being emotionless sounding, but he pressed on. "Hinata...Hinata's with Naruto. She's happy now so I should be too but...I loved her." Akamaru stood up and slowly made his way over to Kiba, his head down and his tail dragging in the ground behind him.
"And look at Shino...Look at what being a heroe got him!" Kiba slammed his fist down on the tree he was leaning against, the wood splintering beneath his fist. "Look at what saving everyone did! And what did he get? His name on some stone outside of the village! The Aburame Clan a little more respect! Nothing that does him any good!" Kiba jerked from his seat on the ground, swinging around and punching the tree again. The wood rattled beneath his fist, large cracks running up the side of it.
"And what about us? What about everyone that he left behind? That plaque's not doing us any good! It's not doing anything for his father, or the rest of his clan! Or..." Kiba's voice trailed off slightly, a whimper replacing the rest of his sentence. "Or...Me...It's not doing anything for me. He's gone." And then the anger was gone, all of the rage and the sadness that meant he was grieving and would eventually get better dissapeared.
Kiba let his arm fall to his side, blood dripping from his knuckles where the wood had cut into his skin, and his face went blank again. "I guess real heroes don't get happy endings."
Hana moved away from the tree, Akamaru close at her heels, and put a hand on her younger brothers shoulder. "Kiba, let's go home now." There was no response from the younger Inuzuka, and that bothered her more than a protest would have, as she lead him away from the cause of his pain.
A smoothed stone in the middle of the forest, with small words carved into the surface of it.
'Shino Aburame, Jonin'
Those three words had done more damage then the man that payed for the grave would ever know. Naruto had thought that putting the grave up would help, that an extra marker would help his family and his team-mates grieve.
He didn't know that it would be what finally broke one of his best shinobii, nor did he know that it would be what drove his best Jonin into becoming ANBU. But it was. It was the the last thing that Kiba could take before he broke, the last injustice towards the 'real heroes' he would stand, and the last time he would watch someone he was close to die.
It was the day that Konoha lost their best warrior and gained their best weapon. The day that Team Ten lost their best member and Hinata gained her first Genin team. The day that Hana Inuzuka lost her brother and gained a new found hatred for 'Konoha's Heroes'. And the day that Kiba Inuzuka decided that he would never let anything close to him again.