A/N: And we're back with another chapter in record time. Enjoy.


~ Game of Hearts ~

PART TWO


That night she dreamed a memory. In her dream, she was ten years old, full of piss and vinegar. She was with her parents in the Hero's Cemetery, to visit the clan shrines. The incense lit as an offering nauseated her, so she wandered off alone for some fresh air. In her dream, the day was bright and sunny, cloudless, and the smell of cut grass tickled her nose.

She wandered into another family's section when crying caught her attention. It was a deep, mournful rasping. Her heart broke at the sound of it. Concerned and curious, she followed the crying deeper into wooded copse littered with stone piles. On these stone piles were laid the bleached bone of skulls- -canine skulls. Here was where the Inuzuka clan laid their dead to rest.

She rounded a bend in the path and stopped short, surprised. Even after ten or more years, the memory remained vivid in her dream. Face buried in his arms, ten year old Kiba leaned on a headstone that presided over a particular stone pile. Ino felt compassionate, but even so, she was wary of him. She shifted around and must've stood there for ten minutes trying to decide what to do.

Finally she held her breath and tiptoed so she wouldn't alarm him. She got about five feet away from him before Kiba's head popped up, and he'd fixed her with such a fierce glare that she shuffled back. His ferocity was not to be trifled with.

"What do you want?" He was so angry and hurt under his tears.

Nervous under the blaze of his glare, she said the first thing that came to mind. "Whose grave is that?"

Kiba scowled at her, wiping away his tears with the back of his sleeve, but more kept falling. They poured over his cheeks, dripped off his chin. He watched, silent, as she'd edged closer and folded her legs under her skirt to sit by him.

She tilted her head and prompted him. "Well?"

"S'my dad's."

"I'm sorry." And she was.

He sniffed and wiped his nose again. "Why're you sorry?"

"I just am. Can't I be sorry if I wanna be?"

He glanced away from her. "Yeah, I guess."

There was an awkward pause, and Ino traced the gravestone with her fingers. Inuzukas did not go for fancy; only Kiba's father's name graced the stone with the years of his birth and death. The smooth marble had not absorbed his son's tears. She slid her finger down a wet drip and thought that the stone itself looked to be weeping with Kiba. He made the same noises she did when she tried to stop crying but couldn't; shuddering breaths and loud, thick swallows.

"You don't have to stop crying 'cause I'm here."

He'd snorted, but it came out a sob. "Yer gonna laugh at me."

"Not at this. This is different."

She felt it as soon as she'd found him. His grief touched her, but she didn't understand why, only that this was not a weapon to hurl at him when they bickered. No, never-ever. She knew she would never mention this unless he spoke of it first. She would keep it a precious secret.

"You promise? On the Hero Stone?"

She took his hand. "I swear. On the Hero Stone."

Afterwards, she'd gathered him in her arms. Scared of her, he tensed, but when she had hummed an old familiar tune, Kiba turned his face into her neck and cried openly and for so long, she thought he would dry out. She stroked his coarse hair, rocked him, wiped his tears. That compassion she felt when she comforted him…it throbbed and swelled in her chest, even after all these years.

The grief he felt from so long ago traveled through that dream, through that memory to her. An echo from when she was fifteen reminded her of Master Asuma's pierced and bloody body. She sat up in bed, unable to breathe through the sobs. Weeping, she clicked her bedside lamp on and yanked out a handful of tissues. She was a mess. She didn't understand what the dream meant, so she went to the bathroom and soaked a washcloth in cold water then patted her hot face. Her tears wouldn't stop.

Her reflection in the mirror was haggard and pale and blotchy. "What is the matter with you?" she asked herself. "Crying in the middle of the night over a stupid dream? Get yourself together. You're stronger than this. You don't need this."

Eventually, the grief subsided. She didn't know why she felt so sloppy. Maybe it was time she visited the Hero Stone, where she could share sake with her master's spirit. She dressed, ignored the god-awful morning hour, and packed a sake bottle and some cups into her pouch. Outside, the world was in the deep hush of early morning. Not even the morning birds sang, nor the crickets.

She was alone. That's the way I need it, she thought. Her mind wandered to Kiba's words to her, that he was coming home to her. The idea angered her. They had agreed that any serious relationship of theirs would be riddled with constant bickering and misery. They had agreed to their casual sex. That was their way. But recently his words suggested he wanted to shift their relationship toward a more formal degree.

That would not do, she decided. He could not make her happy. She wanted someone who could make her laugh. Someone who could match her intellectually. Someone who understood her clothes and shoes and make-up and nail polish habit and not grumble at how long she took to get ready. Kiba was too uncouth, too loud, too stubborn, too…aggravating.

She arrived at the Hero Stone as the dark night grayed into pre-dawn. She made a ritual of setting out the cups and pouring the sake. Then she drank hers, winced at the burn down her throat, and splashed the sake against the polished stone where Konoha's heroes were engraved forever. Would Kiba's name go there one day? Would hers?

She poured another round for herself and for Master Asuma. "I miss you," she told him, "even though Shikamaru was clearly your favorite." She smiled because that had been their running joke. "You always knew what to do. You always knew what advice to give." She gulped the sake; again, she splashed his to the stone. "This thing with Kiba…it has to end. I can't let him do this to me." Even she didn't understand what 'this' meant. Was it that he left her behind? Was it that he set on her shoulders a duty she didn't want? How could he assume she'd be okay with being his talisman? She said finally, "I won't let him own me."

Ino poured the rest of the sake at the base of the stone to give the fallen a drink. Then she packed up and walked home. Before she even opened the door, she heard a dog's loud woofing. Her heart soared when the front door opened and Akamaru leapt out to her. Standing with a grin on his face was Kiba. She couldn't help it. She scratched Akamaru until white fluffs wafted the air around them, she let him lick her face and bark and do silly dog-dances around her.

Akamaru backed off- -it was Kiba's turn. He planted his hand on the back of her neck and kissed her breathless. She fairly melted into him, but he pulled back with narrowed eyes.

"You taste like sake," he said. "Why?"

"I visited the Hero Stone…Master Asuma."

"Oh." His next kiss was gentle, lingering. "You realize it's not even seven in the morning, right?"

How could she explain it? She realized she didn't need to when he bent over and swept her up into his arms. He carried her, giggling like a fool, into the house. Akamaru followed behind, a doggy smile on his face, and Kiba nodded at him. Akamaru grabbed the doorknob between his teeth and closed it. She didn't care about the dog slobber on the knob or the teeth marks he would leave. It felt like the past week had caught up with her and she nuzzled her face into Kiba's neck, annoyed at him but more than that, relieved he was there.

He took her to the bedroom to lay her on the bed. There was no hurry as he peeled off his clothes first then hers, no rush in the simplicity of his kissing her, of his hands over her breasts and hips, no impatience when he pushed inside her. Ino relaxed, let him take from her, forgetting her prior conviction to end things. She needed this from him, needed to feel him one last time, needed to confirm what she suspected.

And it happened when they were finished, after he stroked back her loose hair and put his forehead to hers and said, "Ino, I love you."

A maelstrom of emotion swept through her, anger, irritation, reluctance, relief, fear. She shook her head. "No," she said, "don't say that."

He sat up, frowning. His eyes were sharp on her; she could feel them in her heart. "What the fuck does that mean?"

"It means," here was her opportunity to end everything, but with his anger fueling her own she continued, "exactly that. You can't tell me you love me when all we do for each other can be accomplished in fifteen minutes or less."

"Yer wrong, Ino-girl. We've done more for each other than…than can ever be said," he finished. He took a calming breath, a patient breath, and lowered his voice. "I know you love me. And I love you. That's how it has always been and always will be."

She surged out of bed. His words maddened her. "No, you're wrong. We agreed, Kiba! We agreed that this was going to be casual fucking. That was what I was looking for. That was what you said you were looking for. That's all! You can't tell me now that you want something serious! You can't change the rules in the middle of the play!"

"Why can't I want a serious relationship with you?" He got out of bed and she didn't like that he had a height advantage. "And why don't you want it?"

She didn't have a good response to that question, so she settled on, "I don't love you. I don't know where you got the idea from, but that's how it is. I'm happy that you and Akamaru are home and you're great in bed, but that's the extent of it. I want nothing more from you."

"Yer lying," he told her with such conviction that she winced from it. "Yer lying to yourself and yer lying to me." He grabbed up his clothes from the floor, his fury at her palpable, his hurt a cloak on his shoulders. "Yer so stupid, you know that? You think that because yer so independent you don't need anyone at all. But that's a lie."

"You're the stupid one for falling in love with someone who doesn't feel the same," she spat back at him. She was close to tears again, close to showing weakness. "You're stupid for trying to change our relationship without letting me know first. How can you dump this on me? I can't even rely on you!"

That got his attention. "What are you talking about?"

"Get the hell out of my house," she told him. As far as she was concerned, they were done with the conversation. "And don't come back."

"Don't worry, I won't."

He strode out her bedroom door, and she listened as he called Akamaru to him and then slammed the front door shut. The finality of the slam stabbed at her, echoed inside her brain. You're free, she thought, so rejoice, smile, laugh with your independence. But she didn't feel joyous, she felt barren, bitter, sore.


A/N: Oh, yeah. The drama, so much drama. You know you love it. Let me know your thoughts & what you'd like to see. Happy ending or something a bit more...realistic? =)

5/27/18: Light edits and revisions