HK: This fic is a gift for Eggman Oyu Castle, who has been accused and found guilty of introducing me the adorableness of Konohamaru. Squee!

Konohamaru never would have imagined that being tracked by a ninja dog would result in a new friend. Even if he is embarrassing. Eck. "What the heck was that!?" He demanded loudly with wide eyes. "A lick. Duh." Akamaru barked in his agreement. Oneshot.

I do believe those are my favorite lines in this whole story.

xXx

Konohamaru glanced down at the bundle of white fur in his lap. The setting sun made the white look like a glowing orange and the dark brown patch on the animal's ears looked black. It was a small dog, one that Konohamaru just knew was a ninken. It had to be. Thus, he also figured the collarless animal belonged to someone. But, it had been following him for almost a week now.

No normal stray would just follow anyone for no reason. No normal dog would be able to stay on his tail, so to speak, regardless of all the tricks he pulled to lose the thing. No, calling a ninken a 'thing' was insulting. It was a boy; He was a boy. Konohamaru figured the small dog belonged to a great shinobi, maybe even one as great as Naruto. No, no one was as great as his idol. That's why he chose him for a rival after all.

Since the small white dog with brown ears belonged to someone, he already had a name. Still, Konohamaru had to call him something if the small dog was going to follow him every evening. Thus, it was decidedly dubbed Koinu. Shortly after the naming session ("Bark if you like it, say nothing if you don't."... thirty minutes later... "arf!"), Konohamaru berated himself. He was a ninja, a shinobi of Konohagakure. He was eight years old; too old for a pet and he didn't have time for one anyway. But then Koinu would persistently chase his heels and thus began his evenings of counseling.

Konoha was in the process of rebuilding her strength after a sudden challenge of power during the Chuunin Exams. Thus, the boy was currently mourning in his free time and working in the rest. He was, for the most part, alone. Then Koinu came along and Konohamaru would be forced into giving belly scratches and enduring tongue baths. Afterwards, the two would sit by the lake and the boy would tell the dog of his woes. Those being mostly how he wished someone could understand him and stop underestimating him.

Koinu would normally watch him as he ranted, patiently listening and murring a few times for input. Just today, it occurred to Konohamaru that a ninken's owner would always be able to understand them. Koinu could tell all his secrets to someone. He asked if the dog could keep all he's said a secret. Koinu only cocked his ear and played dumb. Konohamaru couldn't tell if his was agreeing or being funny.

"If Aniki vouched for that scary lady, I guess she's okay. She's really strong for the job, you know, both metaphorically and physically." Konohamaru grimaced at the memory of the strength the herculean woman displayed in the information storage room. She just swatted his best traps and tricks away from herself like they were nothing. "And no one's gonna forget jiji-san. Naruto's right. He'll always be remembered 'cause he's a good man." Koinu wagged his tail lazily. "I'll be strong too. I have to be. There are too many people I care about whom I have to protect. Like jiji-san, and the Yondaime, and Aniki. One day, I'll be stronger than all of them."

"That's pretty ambitious for a puppy." Konohamaru felt the hairs on his neck bristle more at the words than the unknown voice. Glaring at his side, he faced a boy around twelve with distinct tattoos on his cheeks. Red triangles that immediately made him think 'blood soaked fangs'. The new boy's hair was a messy array or dark brown hair, and his eyes were sharp and wild. Immediately, Konohamaru could tell this older kid was a part of the Inuzuka clan, and he was most likely the owner of Koinu. That didn't matter though.

"What do you know! Who are you anyway!?" ...Later on, Konohamaru would remember that he was being rude and yelling was uncalled for. For now, he just watched with a glare as the older boy merely grinned.

"Name's Kiba. You're Konohamaru, right? Aka's been telling me about you." Konohamaru blinked. Earlier abrupt defensiveness fell to give way to sudden confusion.

"Who's Aka?"

"My dog." Kiba welcomed himself to the patch of grass next to him. "His real name's Akamaru, I just call him Aka for short. Sometimes. He's told me that you call him Koinu though." Crud. Koinu, or Akamaru, has already told someone.

"Traitor." Konohamaru grumbled. Akamaru only glanced at him before curling up in his legs again. Kiba chuckled.

"Well, it's not bad to have big goals. But, Aka's said that you seem to like to pretend to be grown up."

"Are you calling me a kid?" Konohamaru pouted. Kiba grinned again.

"Sort of." The glare came back. "You're still little, a puppy. Why do you want to grow up so fast?"

"Because I can't be a little kid anymore. I have to stand on my own feet. I want to protect them so they won't have to protect me and get hurt." Akamaru gave a small woof to Kiba.

"Oh... You're the Sandaime's grandson, huh?" Konohamaru nodded. "I bet it's hard, losing someone so close to you." Kiba said softly, fidgeting in sudden discomfort. The younger boy looked down at the lake's edge.

"You have no idea." They both became quiet as Akamaru got up and tried to find the more comfortable lap. He settled on the grass between the two. Kiba shifted closer, carefully pulling the smaller boy into a hug.

Comforting people outside of his clan was really difficult for him. They just didn't let go of their 'civilized manners' to really express themselves with raw emotion. But, this boy played with Akamaru really easily, despite figuring out that he was a ninja dog. Maybe Kiba can unofficially adopt the boy as his own little brother or something. Kiba grinned. Yeah, that's not a bad idea. Looking at the kid, he did have a slight wild look, like he goes all out for anything and everything. Konohamaru sat quietly in his arms, watching the sunset's reflection in deep thought. Hm, he's acting too grown up, even now. Time to change that.

"Well, you won't be a puppy for long, so have fun while you can." Kiba suddenly declared as he pulled Konohamaru's face towards his own and licked the boy's cheek. Immediately, the younger of the two blushed.

"What the heck was that!?" He demanded loudly with wide eyes.

"A lick. Duh." Akamaru barked in his agreement.

"I don't know you! You don't go around licking people you don't know!" Kiba looked confused and Akamaru quirked an ear as if both of them didn't understand why Konohamaru was making such a big deal.

"Well, you're upset. My mom always licks me when I'm upset. Well, not always. Not anymore... Anyway, it's a form of comfort." Konohamaru pulled away and stood up, pointing an accusing finger at the Inuzuka clan members.

"People don't lick strangers though!" Konohamaru repeated.

"Well, the way I see it, we're part of the same pack. We're part of the same village. You're a puppy, I'm older than you, and you needed more comfort than a hug."

"But we're people, not dogs." Kiba's expression became thoughtful, a slight quirk on the corner of his lip. He scratched his cheek.

"...Oh yeah." He stood up and Akamaru sat up. Konohamaru placed his hands on his hips as he regarded this older boy. He could see the hitai-ate glowing reddish orange from the sunset behind him. He could see his own reflection from it. The other's jacket had dark fuzz over the hood and cuffs. At least the hood was down. Konohamaru knew he'd feel intimidated if it was up.

"'Oh yeah?' How do you forget something like that?"

"Well, then how about this?" He leaned down and gave a soft kiss of Konohamaru's forehead. Konohamaru stared at Kiba and the other did the same. Akamaru watched in amusement, tail wagging happily. Finally, Konohamaru glanced at his shoes and scuffed the grass with one.

"Strangers don't do that either..." He mumbled. Kiba grinned.

"But you're not sad anymore, right?" Konohamaru thought about that.

True, he wasn't as sad as he was earlier. If anything, he felt like he was playing a game. One called, 'prove the older kid you know more than him'. He felt, kind of happy. He made a new friend, despite trying to push him away. He guessed that means he's loyal. Well, Kiba did come from the Inuzuka clan. And if Akamaru spilled all his secrets to him, then Kiba would know what made him sad and what kept him happy, right? Yeah, that's right. After all, that's what Kiba did already. He doesn't feel depressed anymore.

"...Right." He glanced up to Kiba, who was watching him intently.

People would normally look at him with expectance, like he was supposed to be doing something important or wonderful. Or they'd look at him like he didn't know a thing about the real world, despite the fact that he was in the academy and he's lost most of his family to the harsh world of the shinobi. They'd look at him like he's an ignorant little kid and he'd have to fight hard to prove them wrong. Maybe that's why he grew up too fast. And yet, here Kiba is, waiting for him to be a kid again. Or a puppy, if that's really what the boy saw when he looked at him. How degrading... But at least it's fun. He smiled at Kiba, who's grin grew twice as wide.

"Heh, come on Aka. I'll walk you home, Koinu-kun."

"arf!"

"Heheh, woof."

xXx

HK: This story is based on a pic. http://charlietae. deviantart. com/art/ crack-couple-2-58450558

Yeah, the actual picture doesn't have a background except for orange so I say 'sunset'. Also, Kiba's hood doesn't show the fuzz, and he isn't wearing his hitai-ate. Actually, in the anime, he's shown with and without the thing pretty often. But, ne. Honohamaru-kun get's his kiss on the forehead and my buddy Eggman Oyu Castle gets his cute fic. Everyone's happy!

Koinu means little dog. Ko for little, Inu for dog. Thus puppy.

Happy New Years!