Yo guys, this is something I've been meaning to try for a long time and lately things have been taking a strange turn so I finally decided to actually write something. I hope you enjoy it, who knows, might just get interesting. Review if you've got a spare minute, always appreciated.

All characters included therein belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

--

It was shaping up to be a good day in the Inuzuka's mind, sun was shining, things were going his way, and as he strolled down the relatively quiet main street of Konoha he realized that he was genuinely happy, despite the same early morning air that would normally have him want to roll over in his bed and throw pillows at the window. He cupped his hands behind his head, smirked, and as if on cue got a bark from the white ball of fur trotting alongside him.

"What do you think Akamaru?" The dog stared puzzled up at him, not catching on to his master's rhetoric too well this morning, and settled on a puzzled whine as a response.

"Huh? I mean about today, you remember don-…" cutting himself off, the look he was getting back as he talked to his dog clearly signalled in any language that Akamaru had no idea where he was going with this. Then again, from the confused looks of the few passersby who were mildly fascinated with the conversation between the two, you'd almost think there was a general air of confusion running through the streets.

Kiba paused, his walking along with his words, eliciting another whine from Akamaru as they stopped mid-step in the middle of the growing morning rush of villagers. "I figured out the schedule, just think…" Kiba said, talking with his hands as a grin slipped onto his face "…a whole week, no missions, no responsibility, just time off to have fun and relax."

Akamaru raised an eyebrow as his owner's grin somehow managed to get even larger; the dog wondered about Kiba sometimes, when he was set on something, he was really set on something, and then at the last minute he could always end up surprising him. This discussion on the other hand came as no surprise; they'd been saving their mission fees, pulling extra ranks and generally wearing on not only their teammate's nerves, but everyone else who was unlucky enough to get caught up in the whirlwind that was the Inuzuka brothers when they were focused.

"Shika's going to love it."

There it was, the dog's ears flopping almost comically against the side of his head as he watched the once again invigorated Kiba march back onwards with, dare he say it, a spring in his step, looking like he was only holding his excitement back by the skin of his nails. He'd known the boy for years and he had rarely seen him this perky this early even on his best of days, at least this early in the morning; the sun was still coming up for goodness sakes.

Shikamaru, the genius heir of the Nara clan, who had all too quickly become a large part of their day to day routine and another thing the dog didn't know what to make of. He trotted back up to Kiba again and fell into step beside him, looking up at the fanged smirk still stuck along his face as he undoubtedly lost himself in thought.

It'd come as a surprise to everyone involved when the two had started seeing each other, mostly to the boys themselves. It wasn't overly romantic, nothing planned or really given much thought, it had just happened, and then happened again, and again, and again, until finally the two of them just clued in and tried to work it out from there.

By all definitions they were a strange couple, if you could even call them a couple, neither really suitable for the other if you went on logic alone; the fact that logic was one of the things completely absent from the whole affair quickly rendered this a moot point in the end.

The canine-nin ran on instinct, he'd quickly adapted to the situation when he realised what his body and mind were telling him, his clan always able to learn new tricks after all. The other half of the pair had had a similar reaction in that it was quick; no one could guess however as to why Shikamaru had fallen for the loud, rough natured dog boy. There were theories mind you, perhaps the child prodigy had wanted something unpredictable, or maybe he liked the challenge that Kiba presented to his usual troublesome routine. Whatever the case was, they never needed to say a thing to know they both cared deeply for one another and as sure as you would expect, love soon followed.

Time and again they proved they were willing to go the distance for each other, a much more notable feat for the legendarily lazy Nara obviously and one of the things that made the Inuzuka smile most when he thought about it. They lived different lives, worked on different timeframes, the whole reason they were up so early was it was one of the few times they could be together. The both of them met in the middle whenever they could though and that was enough to always keep things going even when times were tough.

Barking out a laugh, Kiba scanned the area with as the sort of enthusiasm the great sannin Jiraiya would if he managed to sneak his way into the women's hot springs. "He's late as always."

Snorting an overly dog-like huff from his nostrils, Kiba pocketed his hands and scuffed his heel into the dirt below as he did the one thing he could never seem to get used to; waiting. His dog parked himself alongside and played the part of the loyal wingman, in dog terms that meant wagging his tail.

"Heh, thanks buddy."

They smiled at one another for a moment before a scent rather prominently hit the air like a brick wall on legs, two heads shooting to meet its direction, or in this case, his direction. A loud outburst suddenly rocked the air as the young Inuzuka practically bellowed the Nara's name, waving his arms like he was unsure if the thunderous call would be enough.

He looked up in as his name was yelled at him with more force than a boulder, hands stuffed in his pockets, brows knitted together and with a general look of not even wanting to be conscious, one Shikamaru Nara sighed and continued walking casually down the street towards the pair. It hadn't clicked to either of them yet, but on reflection, his stance should have been the first clues.

Unfortunately, the first clues would come just those few seconds too late.