Title: Everything Comes to an End

Style: Oneshot

Pairing: Kiba/Ino

"I-I... I don't understand," Kiba understands perfectly.

Tear stained and white, Shikamaru tries to speak again, but the look Kiba is giving him reduces him to tears all over again.

"Ino... she..." Shikamaru tries again but fails.

"How..." the questions falls short on Kiba's tongue, and he can't help but feel the sting of tears prick his eyes. Chouji had been weeping since they bumped into each other, and the information was taking its time to sink in.

"I... gotta go," Kiba says quickly, choked up, and he dashes away.

And when he passes the flower shop he inhales deeply. He drinks up the flowery scent and catches a whiff of a stingy salty smell of tears that lingered around that area for quite some time now. A lump forms in his throat every time he takes it in, but he carries on; passes by without a second glance.

It hurt to think. It hurt to know. The gruesome details of it was too much to take in. But he had to know.

The Hokage swallowed, hard. The Jonin that had been incharge of the mission had drawn a detailed report. Tsunade wished she never read it.

"She saved Shikamaru's life," she started, "the enemy had thrown a bomb. She- her arms... they had been cut off, so she used her body to deflect it... and..." Tsunade inhaled, "it detonated..."

And when he is summoned to the Hokage's office for a mission debriefing, his gaze strays to the right of the room and in his mind he sees the shadow of her ghost. Throwing at him discreet smiles, and a little extra sway of the hips as she turns around and walks out carrying a stack of documents to help Shizune. When he snapped out of his reverie the Hokage would sigh deeply and rebrief Kiba on the upcoming mission as Hinata gave him a soft touch to his shoulders. It eased him, only slightly.

Her name had been carved onto the Hero Stone. The grooves of the engraving shining, fresh.

Yamanaka Ino.

"Yamanaka Ino was a brave shinobi," the Godaime began at her memorial. "Her comrades' feelings were more important to her than her own. She went out of her way to please everyone around her. Forever forgiving in nature, caring, and loving. She loved as loudly as she spoke. Yamanaka Ino died the same way she lived, selfless..."

Tsunade carried on, but he was numb by now. Ask him tomorrow where he was today and he'll tell you he doesn't remember a single thing.

And when he wakes up in a cold sweat, he'd faintly remember he dreamt of her again. Her golden hair shimmering in the sun, her laugh ringing in his ears, her deep blue eyes, entrancing him. He'd turn onto his side and remember how he snuck her in once, and she'd laid next to him, the perfect picture of serenity with her hair flowing behind her, the minute movement of her chest as she breathed.

"Ey, ey!" Kiba stumbles out of a bar with Naruto in tow, "the fuck, man!"

"Dude, you got us kicked out of another one," Naruto says, exasperated and shaking his head.

"Fuck this bar, man. I don't need to see people lookin' at me with pity in their eyes. Fuck 'em." Kiba spits to the side of the street to emphasise his point.

Naruto, again, shakes his head and drags Kiba by the collar of his shirt to another bar. He doesn't know what else to do. He figured that time heals all wounds, so for the time being he was gonna wait it out by Kiba's side.

And sometimes he has a good time out with his friends. Sometimes it's easy to forget when you're distracted or intoxicated. But as the laughs die away and the alcohol leaves his system, his mind wanders astray and always, always, it comes back to her. He'd rub the junction between his pectorals, where, in the middle of a drunken haze he'd inked her name over his heart.

"I'm crazy, Akamaru. I can't do this," Kiba mutters to his companion.

"It's been years. Just let it go..." the dog, now grown to his full size, spoke, a new ability he had acquired just mere weeks ago.

"I think about her everyday."

The hound looked at his friend, and after a few moments, he speaks, "do you remember what you both agreed on?"

x

"Kiba..." Ino said in a voice so low so that the peace remained undisturbed.

"Hm?"

"Can we be realistic for a second?"

Ino lifted her head off his chest, and lay her arm across it then rested her chin on her forearm to look at him in the eyes.

Kiba opened his eyes and found her staring at him. Her face looking only slightly serious.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Well..." she averted her gaze into the distance for just a moment before looking back at him, "we are shinobi."

"Yeah..."

"And as shinobi, our life expectancy is really low." Kiba's brows furrowed but he kept silent so she could continue. "I may die tomorrow, or in a week. Or in a couple of months. Maybe years."

"Why are you saying this?"

Kiba released his arms from under his head to cup Ino's head as he sat up. He darted a quick look to Akamaru, who was lounging on the grass beside them, then looked back at Ino who positioned herself between Kiba's legs, hugging him close.

"When I die, will you promise to move on?" she muttered, as she traced meaningless patterns on his chest.

"Ino, stop talking about-"

"Will you, Kiba?" she interrupted him. "Think back to the beautiful times we had together, but don't dwell on what could have been."

"I will follow you wherever you go."

"No!" Ino yelled suddenly, sitting up and glaring into his eyes, "you will not waste your future for the sake of me! Understand?" silence, "think about it for a second Kiba. If you died tomorrow, what would you want me to do? Commit suicide?"

A light breeze danced around them, ruffling the leaves of nearby trees. Kiba gazed at the stars above him for long minutes before he settled his eyes on Ino's.

"I'd want you to move on," he said finally.

She breathed a sigh of relief and moved to plant a sweet kiss on his lips. Kiba held her close as her hand found the nape of his neck, holding him close. The kiss felt a little wetter than usual and when Kiba tasted salt, he realised she was crying.

He broke the kiss and was about to ask why she was being so damn emotional, but she spoke first-

"I love you."

She smiled and her eyes sparkled under the moonlight. The single tear track glimmered against the light. He wiped it away with the pad of his thumb, and moved to kiss her deeply. He didn't need to say that he loved her. She knew how much.

And even as the years passed with the promise kept. He fell in love again. A civillian; charming, understanding, and caring. She helped him cope. She eased the pain. She gave him 2 beautiful children who would go on to carry the Inuzuka bloodline.

And so many times he wished he would make a mistake on a mission, and die by the enemy's hand, but he promised her he'd fight for his life and see it to it's fateful end.

And that he did.