The Only Exception

Chapter One: Wild and Untamed Locks

A thin line of sweat trickles down Uzumaki Naruto's forehead, causing her to grimace. She'd never been fond of sweating. Then again, who is fond of sweating? After a hard workout session it's to be expected. It's scorching out today too, Konohagakure being in its prime during the summer season. Lots of people are out and about today, so she'd taken solace with a long training session. She'd never been one for crowds anyway. Why she'd chosen training ground 7 with little shade provided is beyond her.

Call it a spur of the moment and little planning ahead.

Her sore muscles are singing for the showers and her unruly locks are creating a beehive of tangles, which she'd have to tackle. Conditioner's her hairs best friend, yet it always ends in a tug of war with the hair brush. She sighs, stretching out her muscles and ending her training session. After a quick shower she might be able to catch Ichiraku's before the lunchtime rush hits. That's if she's lucky...

'Woah, do my eyes deceive me or are those bingo wings growing upwards?'

Puffing out her cheeks, Naruto glances up to see Kiba standing over her, all in his six foot glory with a wolfish grin. Of course he'd be here, right now, when she's looking anything but presentable. Then again, she'd outgrown her days of the orange jumpsuit and gone on to shorts, tank top and, to keep her trademark, an orange ribbon to keep her hair up in a high pony tail.

'Hey, which way are you going home?' Kiba asks, extending his hand to help her up, 'Don't take the alleyways; someone'll mistake you for one of those hobos.'

'Aww, here I thought you had a heart, Inuzuka,' she mutters, shaking her head as she ignores his hand and stands up shakily. Damn, she'd gone a bit too far today with the leg sessions. She'd pay for that tomorrow morning, where she'd be hobbling about like an old granny.

'Hey,' she snaps, turning and shoving him 'what do you mean by that?! I walk past those guys every day, no way are they hobos. Only yesterday they were chugging on beer and dealing out cards!'

Ruffling his short brunette hair, Kiba chuckles, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, as he retorts 'Oh yeah, because that's real luxury, 'Ruto.'

Too tired to shake him off, she ignores his arm and teases 'So, what can I do for you, Kibbles? Here to get a whiff of my supreme strength before running home with your tail tucked up your backside, cause you can't handle it?'

He sniffs dramatically around her, his face scrunching up. 'Supreme strength? You're kidding me. I smell pussy.' He grins cheekily, winking at her to show he's only kidding. If he had to choose anyone off the top of his head about who trained the most it would be Naruto, without a doubt. There're only three places you could find her: training grounds, home or the Ichiraku stand. That reminds him, he really needs to take her out more to other places. Having ramen all the time isn't a healthy diet.

'Well where's your head been then, up some bush or tree? Cause you're barking up the wrong one,' Naruto jokes, sighing in relief as they reach the exit to the training grounds and entering the woods. Welcome to the land of shade, where she can finally stop sweating as bad as the Waterfall Villages entrance.

'Urgh kami...' Kiba groans, leaning on her more as he complains 'speaking of pussy, remember that damn cat of the Daimyo's wife? Could she ever keep that pussy locked up? It was out every other day, I swear.'

'Clearly the pussy wanted some attention.' Cerulean eyes gleam, suppressing her laughter. No matter what topic they discuss, they always somehow turn it dirty. The amount of times they'd get reprimanded over it...there's brain damage over the amount of times they've been walloped for being crude, she's sure.

'Probably couldn't get enough of it at home,' Kiba replies with a chuckle, looking down at her in amusement.

Nodding along, Naruto grins, 'Mm, they do say pets act like their owners...'

Kiba's canines glint, from the shafts of light streaming through the trees canopies, as he tilts his head back with a bark of laughter.

Giggling, Naruto shrugs off his tanned arm and bounds further along the pathway. His chuckles follow her as he jogs to catch up. It doesn't take long, due to his long legs. Damn them. She swears she's going to be forever short. Albeit she's not that short, she's five foot six after all, but still...in comparison to the likes of him it's not fair. Her head tilts up to look at Kiba's gangly lithe frame. A big kid in a man's body. She shakes her head, looking away. Over the years they'd all gone from being scrawny twelve and thirteen year olds to these grown up eighteen year olds, who suddenly have more responsibility then they realise. Although Naruto tends to ignore that, if anything she's just thankful they've all reached double digits and are continuing to do so. The amount of shinobi who don't reach their late teens...it's a sobering thought.

'Hey, where'd that foxy grin that I know and love go?' a voice interrupts her thoughts and a hand drags her body closer to a solid warmth. 'Come on, 'Ruto. It's a beautiful day and we have it off, what'cha thinking about?'

Her lips curling at the sound of his goofy voice, which he's put on, Naruto holds his wrist, replying 'Never ponder on what a girl thinks about, you'll end up chasing that tail of yours round in circles. It's a complex and dangerous territory.'

Kiba nods along knowingly, smirking as he adds 'Oh absolutely, we're not even taking into account for when the pipe's leaking.'

'Exact-' eyes widening at the ladies code of context, Naruto squirms out of his hold, shrieking 'What the-? You're not meant to know that! Who the hell told you?!'

Scrunching his face up at her outburst, Kiba frowns in confusion. 'What do you mean? Guys use that term all the time when they're talking about their girlfriends' time of the month. It's the latest term girls are using, right?'

Seeing her scarlet face, he rolls his eyes walking ahead and out of the woods, back out onto the streets of Konoha, 'Besides, it's not exactly hard to work out.'

Following closely behind, Naruto covers her face in dismay. They really thought that with those sayings the guys wouldn't catch on. Oh how wrong they'd been. Well great, no more period talks whilst guys are around that's for certain. Oh the mortification, if the guys had known all along and they'd gone into some detailed stuff...those guys know exactly what's going on down there. She grimaces at the thought. It's bad enough going through it, let alone hearing about it.

'Aww, come on, 'Ruto. It's not that bad when you think about it,' Kiba grins tugging her arms away from her face. 'I mean, there are other sayings you could use like...' his face scrunches up in thought.

It soon lights up like a Christmas tree, his lips curling into a Cheshire grin. He doesn't even care that she's squeamish over the whole idea of talking about this.

'Ready for this?' he asks dodging a passer-by and tugging her along.

Crossing her arms, Naruto heaves a sigh, gloomily looking away as she mutters 'Give me your best shot.'

'Well, I was thinking maybe 'Riding the cotton pony', y'know because of a tampon and-'

The warning glance from Naruto tells him to go no further as they pass a young family.

'-yeah...'

'How the heck are you so knowledgeable of this stuff anyway?' she mumbles, keeping her head low as she aims for the street which will take her to her flat.

He continues to ramble on, all whilst grinning '-'The Great Flood is another favourite or, my personal favourite 'Shark Week'. Get it? Because you're all hormonal and stressed and angry like a shark-'

Naruto sends a dark glare his way.

'-and Kiba will shut up before he's down a ball.' He finishes with a nod, noticing the dark look emitting from the blonde. Chuckling uncertainly he lengthens his stride, pulling her along until they're onto the street leading to Naruto's flat.

'Anyway, I'm off to mine for a shower before heading to Ichiraku's. What're you up to? Need me for any reason?' Naruto inquires, reaching the building and entering swiftly in relief. Thank kami for air conditioning. Where would she be without it? Certainly not in this building that's a definite.

'N'aww do you think so little of me, 'Ruto? It's our day off, of course I'm going to spend it with my favourite and only blondie,' Kiba charms following her up the stairs, taking them three at a time, dodging the elderly woman passing as he does.

'I'm not the only blonde around here, dog breath. There's Ino and, in fact, the entire Yamanaka family the last time I checked.'

Waiting as she unlocks the door, Kiba leans on the wall with his right shoulder and crosses his arms. 'What? You don't want to spend a day with your best friend?'

Rolling her eyes, Naruto fiddles with her keys.

In truth, she spent most of her days alone, either training or at home. She didn't really spend time with the others. Sure when she was sixteen she was often out eating at restaurants with the others, goofing around and having movie nights. It just seemed to slowly stop; the movie nights weren't as often, meeting up became difficult as everyone was on missions. People didn't see each other as often because they're of different ranks. They'd all been warned of this. She's hardly surprised. Albeit she's still friends with Kiba and she's thankful for it.

Opening her door, she hesitates for the slightest second. It's almost been a year since anyone, but herself or Iruka, has been in her flat. It's transformed over the years from being a pig sty to being respectably neat. There were still the odd clothes lying about in her room, mostly on her bed, and maybe the odd dish not washed up, otherwise it's modestly clean. Plants now take up her window sill, she'd asked Ino for some tips on the best, however her personal favourites were the sunflowers.

Swallowing, she enters, reminding herself that it's her flat. There's no need to be all on edge about someone entering. Heading in first she allows Kiba to enter after, closing the door behind him.

'Welcome to my humble abode, I guess. I'm off for a shower, so don't break anything or make a mess, okay?'

Watching as she enters her bedroom, supposedly to get some clothes and a towel, Kiba wanders over to the kitchen. A smile tickles his lips as he looks around. Naruto had certainly straightened up from the loud mouth brat he remembered during their genin years. It's almost startling to see the place so spick and span. Wandering around he takes note of the small things she's added around the place to make it seem like home. Pictures hang on the main, large wall. The light captures them just right, to make him notice that they've been cleaned recently.

Browsing them, his eyes flicker over to the breeze filtering through the partially open window. Near them sit two tomato plants, side by side. Huh. Naruto's never been a vegetable and fruit type of girl. Heck, healthy in general...

'I wonder what made her change her tune...'

Pursing his lips in thought, he wanders over to the kitchen. Opening the fridge his brows furrow. Not a lot of fruit or vegetables in here. Maybe it's a craving? He's heard that sometimes girls on their periods get weird cravings, like chocolate or a certain food. Maybe it's that...

Shaking his head, he shuts the fridge door and heads back over to the photos. There's something about them that's odd. A second look wouldn't harm his inquisitiveness, it's probably nothing anyway.

Studying them, Kiba can't help but grin at the sight of most of them being him and her. Due to being on the same team now, they often went out together. Pictures were obviously taken but he hadn't expected them to be on Naruto's wall. He felt heat rising to his cheeks slightly, yet he dismisses it because of the heat. He looks at each photo that's carefully framed, often grinning at the sight of one which sparks a memory.

In particular there's one where he's got his arm slung around her waist. They're coming out of the sea. It'd been hot that day too and after an exhausting mission they'd been allowed to relax at the beach on the way back. Naruto hadn't wanted to swim that day, which Kiba later found out was because of the seal marks. They showed up on her stomach like a tattoo and it made her uncomfortable to show them. Kiba didn't see why she was uncomfortable.

He'd be ignorant to not notice how beautiful Naruto could be if she let herself. In the picture she's grinning, showing off her pearl white teeth, and her cerulean eyes seem to dance due to the light catching them. Her naturally tanned body makes her fit into the scene like she's meant to be there. Due to all her training she has a body most women would be jealous of, what with her hour glass figure. Everything seems to be so tiny and skinny about her though. The times Kiba's picked her up and it's like she's a feather...she needs to eat more, seriously.

His eyes roam over him and Naruto in the picture. He remembers the comments that day, about them, luckily Naruto hadn't heard. Or hadn't reacted on it if she had, which was slightly disappointing. Naruto had gone to change into something slightly warmer for the evening, so the guys had set about making dinner. The others had joked about how Kiba should hook up with her or come out and just say they're dating. Apparently they looked like a couple. At first, Kiba had shrugged it off and made it a whole joke. Yet now days, what with them getting older, he's beginning to notice Naruto a little bit more than the 'best friend' kind of way.

It's shown by, well, now. He didn't need to come and see Naruto, he knows the blonde likes her personal space, yet he wanted to come and see her, to hang out and be around her. Is that bad? Is it obvious that he likes Naruto a little more than he should? He grimaces, scratching the back of his neck. If he was in a boat right now, he'd be sinking.

Just as he goes to turn around, hearing the shower finally turn off, he catches sight of something. Something that causes his stomach to tighten and churn uncomfortably. It rears the ugly green monster in him.

A picture of Naruto and him. The Uchiha. The traitor who broke Naruto's trust. The traitor who hurt the person who cared about him most, all for his fucked up excuse for revenge. Kiba clenches his fists to stop his anger from lashing out.

In the end, despite everything, she's still holding onto him. She still thinks he'll come back and be welcomed with open arms. Times have changed; it's too late for that. Everyone's agreed the Uchiha's a traitor, after so many years. You can't deny what's placed in front of you, which everyone else has come to know as fact. Everyone would think you're ignorant. It's probably why Naruto doesn't go around shouting and claiming she'll get him back anymore. It's ridiculous to hope that will happen, let alone believe it.

The thing is its Naruto. As long as the Uchiha's breathing Naruto will continue believing. It's hard because Kiba saw what it did to her the first time. He picked her up then, got her back on her feet, and forced her to eat and to stop her moping. He held her when she cried. No one else did. That traitor certainly didn't. So why does she continue to believe in him? What did she see that he didn't?

He stares at the picture, hoping it will shed some light. They're standing side by side. They must be at some festival or something because there are fireworks behind them, going off in the setting suns sky. They look to be thirteen, right before the time the Uchiha left maybe. Naruto's got that grin on her face, the one that's of pure happiness. The Uchiha's looking as gloomy as fucking ever. He's not even looking at the camera, instead he's looking off somewhere to her right. What the hell? The least he could do is look like he's enjoying himself or looking at the camera.

Feeling angered, Kiba turns away. Something about the Uchiha makes his blood boil. Shaking his head, he jumps at hearing a tapping noise.

Tap, tap, tap-tap! Tap-tap!

Unfolding his arms, he notices a messenger hawk at the window. His heart drops at the sight of it. Today's meant to be their day off... Walking over to the window, he opens it ajar so he can receive the note. Watching as the bird flies away, he grasps the scroll. The Hokage's signature...great.

Knowing Naruto won't mind, he opens the scroll. Reading through the contents his eyes gradually widen. A sinking feeling slowly forms, already the tell-tale signs of adrenaline spark in his system. His mind already turns to his shinobi bag at home and the items packed.

'Kiba, what's wrong? What's with the scroll?'

Kiba attempts to smile, yet it comes out as more of a grimace.

He watches her facial expression. Those expressive wide blue eyes. Those wild, untamed locks escaping from her messy bun and cascading down to frame her face. The way her brows furrow and her eyes widen the slightest fraction when in wonder or confusion. How it's difficult to lie to her when she smiles with those unintentional pouty lips. It's difficult not to let her get away with stealing the last few remains of onigiri when they're eating lunch.

'Looks like we've been called to see Tsunade about a mission...'

It feels like it's the least of Kiba's worries when he's got the scroll in his grasp and bearing the weight of what other information it holds.

'Gaki,

When you receive this, get your arse over to my office.

I have a mission request, which has your name written all over it.

It seems there's been unusual occurrences going on lately, which have created great concern, especially in the Land of Snow. I need you, Inuzuka Kiba, Hatake Kakashi, Haruno Sakura, Akimichi Choji and Nara Shikamaru to find out what's going on and report back to me.

Brat, there's also been reported sightings of Uchiha there.

We'll discuss this further at my office.

Signed,

Hokage of Konohagakure,

Tsunade Senju.'

Author's Note:

I hope you enjoyed this first chapter, please let me know what you thought!

I wrote this spontaneously with vague ideas as to what's going to happen, so I hope you'll stay along for the journey.

Make sure to follow, favourite and review, if you wish to.

Thanks,

ForgetMeNot189