As Kiba pulled up into the driveway of his family home, Naruko couldn't help but feel a wave of shock and awe wash over her. Not only had she been living so close to him, she had never taken the time to actually take a close look at it. Now that she was taking a closer look from up close she realized how nice of a home it really was. It wasn't your typical two story home. It was almost artistic in design. At the front of the home, it was nearly entirely glass window pane , and while you couldn't see in through the majority of the glass, she had a feeling that one could see clearly out through the other side. The second floor was dotted with four separate smaller windows, but was instead accented by a beautiful deck that wrapped around the entire house, separated by rooms.
Kiba of course had to wait for Naruko to hop off before he could, but after a few minutes of her clinging to him he happened a glance back at her and was stunned speechless. The look on her face, was that of a child witnessing a rainbow for the first time. Granted, yes, he had a great home, thanks to the work his mother did for the government. But it was as if she had been living in a cardboard box her whole life. When he'd hoped that him looking back at her would catch her attention, but when it didn't he couldn't fight the toothy grin that spread across his face as he spoke up.
"Uhm, Naruko? We're here."
Naruko could feel her face flush the instant he spoke up, her arms retracting from around him instantly, much to her regret. She quickly clambered off the bike before mumbling about being half asleep because he drove like a grandpa, even though he'd actually been driving a little recklessly in an attempt to impress. Which he had. Kiba was quick to retrieve his helmet, strapping it to his bike, before taking one last look over Naruko who was currently being swallowed up by his leather jacket.
"You know, hahaha, the jacket suits you!" He said as he began laughing, before Naruko ripped the jacket off and flung it in hsi face.
"Shut up! It's not my fault your a fucking giant!" Naruko screamed back playfully before laughing with him.
Once they had collected there bags Kiba led Naruko up to the front door and let them in.
"I'm home!" Kiba shouted as they entered, and almost instantly a pair of women. Both Kiba and Naruko froze at the sudden appearance of both women and before Kiba could mutter a word the shorter of the two women had him wrapped up in a massive hug as she gave him a nuggie as he shouted
"Oh you little shit! I knew you'd bag yourself a looker eventually!"
"Hana!" Kiba shouted until he noticed his mother staring at Naruko in shock. . .
Tsume Inuzuka, was anything if not hard to shock. But when she spotted that familiar mop of sun dyed hair, and those signature azure eye's, she felt her heart skip a beat. It had been years, but she could never forget that look. She was definitely his daughter . . . of that she had no doubt. No matter how much time passed, she would never forget Minato, or his daughter. But what she'd never expected was too see his daughter in the flesh. Tsume, thanks to her government training, easily spotted the signs of malnutrition and abuse. This was not the same girl she remembered from her youth. Tsume was thankfully snapped out of her thoughts when her daughter Hana spoke up over Kiba's protests to her affection.
"Hey there! It's nice to meet yuh!" Hana shouted over Kiba's protests to her affection, "I'm Hana, Kiba's sister!"
Naruko was quick to offer up a genuinely bight smile as she bowed respectfully before replying.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Hana, I'm Uzumaki Naruko!" Her voice was full of so much joy at the greeting she'd received, but Tsume could see the pain hidden behind those crystal blue eyes. What was more, was the familiarity of the name. Hana caught onto it quickly before shooting a look her mother's way. Naruko suddenly noticed the shock on their faces and felt a wave of nervousness roll over her. She didn't know what had surprised them but it left her feeling unneasy.
Tsume noticed the way Naruko took a step back from them and spoke up quickly in an attempt to placate the small girl.
"Sorry, we were just a little shocked to Kiba with a such a cutey, and one with manors to boot!" Tsume shot Kiba smirk as she heard him groan. Kiba of course was not enjoying the attention him and his guest were receiving. Naruko felt her nerves begin to die down, easily placated by the older woman's kind words.
"Mom! Hana! Geez, can we save the love fest for later!" Kiba growled as Hana hugged him tighter before finally releasing him. As soon as he was free he was by Naruko's side again, fussing with his newly mussed hair, Before shooting a glare at his mother and sister.
"Oh come now Kiba," Tsume said warmly, "You know we had to give you some shit! Now run along, I need to talk to Hana for a moment."
Tsume gestured vaguely towards the stairs behind her and Kiba was quick to take Naruko's hand and begin dragging her up the stairs as he shouted over his shoulder
"Gladly!"
Kiba of course hadn't noticed the way Naruko's face turned a bright shade of pink at the sudden sensation of him grabbing her hand. Naruko herself was in a state of sensory overload. She didn't know what to think or do. From the moment they'd walked through the door she was practically bombarded with new smells and experiences. She could vaguely make out the smell of dog hidden behind an aroma of Asian spices and herbs that billowed from the kitchen. She had a keen nose for sure, so from what she'd smelled she was sure they were having stir fry for dinner, which if she was being honest, made her a little jealous when she thought about her cup of Ichiraku Ramen that she would be eating later.
Kiba's family of course was something no amount of preparation could have readied her for. On one hand, they exuberant and loud, and just overall a lovely family. But on the other, their was something so familiar about them that she just couldn't quite place. . .
Tsume smiled silently as she watched Kiba disappear up the stairs with the young girl Naruko. Once they were out of sight she let out a long haggard sigh before gesturing for Hana to follow her back into the kitchen. Hana of course followed her mother without question, but was quick to note how her mother seemed to be unnerved by something. Tsume said nothing as she slowly made her way back to the stovetop and began working on mixing a blend of vegetables and herbs. Hana of course got to work on the sauce. They were silent for a long while, just cooking, and it almost scared Hana, which only made her more thankful when Tsume finally spoke up,
"Hana . . ." Tsume spoke, a weary edge to her voice, " . . . do you remember her?"
It took Hana moment to realize what her mother was talking about before she caught on. The girl, Naruko, how could she forget her godsister. It had been at least ten years sense they'd last seen her, but with those eye's and that hair she was unforgettable.
"She's, she's Minato's daughter isn't she?" Hana replied hesitantly.
"I believe so. But something was off . . ." Tsume's voice trailed off as she began mixing chicken and beef in with the vegetables and herbs. " . . . something just didn't seem right. Did you see how small she was?"
Hana was quiet as she thought back on what the girl had looked like. Sure she had been short, and skinny, but a lot of girls were at that age. Hana was about to voice such opinions when she remembered the way her collar bone had stuck out so much. It could have been nothing, but her mother had taught her how to spot the signs of other kids in trouble. It was almost like a family tradition to look out for those around them.
"Now that you mention it, she might be a little malnourished, but I can't be certain."
They were both silent now. Both woman lost in their own thought's as they wrapped up their parts of the cooking. Hana was unnerved by her mother's silence. Usually her mother would be all over that sort of thing, drawing attention to it rather vocally and interrogating the target for information in a heartbeat. But now, her mother seemed lost, troubled by what she'd seen.
"Hana." Tsume spoke, her voice low and full of anguish, "Did I make the wrong choice in not taking in Naruko?"
The sudden question floored Hana. She was barely in her teens when they'd received the news of Naruko's parents. She could still remember the sight of her mother up late, arguing with some old guy with long spiky white hair about how she wouldn't be able to support Naruko. At the time, Tsume had only just started working for the government, but even then she was a single mom raising two kids, and was struggling to make ends meet as was. A fourth mouth to feed would have only made things worse.
"Mom," Hana said sadly, "We both know we couldn't have. As much as we wanted too . . . we just couldn't take on that responsibility."
Hana watched her mother shake her head angrily before turning to look at her daughter, teary eyed, as she did her best to watch her volume.
"Yeah but! She was supposed to be my responsibility, and I just . . ." Tsume's eyes dropped to the stove sadly as she finished, " I just handed her off to the system, rather then taking on the responsibility."
As soon as Kiba opened the door to his room, a massive dog lept out through the door tackling Naruko to the ground as it licked at her face furiously. Naruko was certainly surprised, more more elated at the sudden affection from such a massive dog. Kiba on the other hand, had to practically lift his jaw from the floor at the sight. Akamaru was certainly a friendly dog, but he was acting like he actually knew Naruko, which was impossible. After Akamaru got his affectionate greeting out of the way he bounded off of her and began running circles around her as she giggled at the dog
"Oh my god Kiba!" She shouted through her giggles, "You could have at least warned me about your security system!"
"Akamaru, go lay down!" Kiba growled affectionatly at the dog before reaching down to pull Naruko to her feet with ease. "Yeah sorry, he doesn't normally do stuff like that."
Naruko was quick to dismiss it saying somethign about no harm no foul, before she finally spotted the inside of his room. Kiba barely had time to register the shock and elation that washed over her before she was in his room running from shelf to shelf shouting frantically.
"Oh my god! Are you a Naruto fanboy! Me too! Well not fan'boy' but fangirl!"
Kiba had practically all of the merchandise for the Naruto series. Everything from action figures to books. It was stunning.
"Yeah, I uh, might sort of be a closet nerd." Kiba said as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I just wish they'd make a tv series of it you know?"
Naruko felt her heart skip a beat as she turned to stare at Kiba in awe before she spoke without thinking.
"I think I just fell in love."
Both Kiba and Naruko stared at each other in shock at those words before Naruko held her hands up frantically waving them around as she shouted.
"That came out wrong! I just meant that you well maybe I kinda sorta agree with you and I'm just such a huge fan of the Naruto series and you like totally said what I've always thought you know about the TV show thing and . . ." Naruko shut up instantly when Kiba doubled over himself and began laughing hysterically. Naruko was shocked for a moment before she puffed out her cheeks and crossed her arms speaking lowly
"Shut up, it's not funny."
"Hahahaha holy shit, I beg to differ! Hehehahe You should have seen yourself! You looked like a squirrel on crack!
"Oh yeah!" Naruko squealed "Well at least I didn't look like a deer in the headlights!"
Kiba only laughed harder at that, and as much as Naruko fought it, she eventually joined in. As the laughter subsided, Kiba straitened himself out and sauntered across the room to where Naruko stood. Naruko stiffened at the sight of Kiba making his way over to her, and as he reached her, she could feel her heart rate speed up and her face flush. She watched as he slowly reached out for her, his hand going for her shoulder, and she braced herself for . . . well she wasn't quite sure. What she hadn't expected was for him to casually pull the strap of her duffel bag up over her head and carry it over to a small desk in the corner of his bedroom, where she could make out a tiny sewing machine, as well as numerous unfinished sewing projects, many of which were very elaborate.
She didn't know why but she almost felt a little disappointed, but she couldn't figure out why. She was so caught up in her thought's that she hadn't noticed the slight smile and blush that had wormed it's way onto Kiba's face at her reaction. As he reached the sewing corner he gently placrd the bag o n the table, reaching for the zipper, only to be jolted from his spot by Naruko as she screamed at him
"Wait! Don't open that!" Naruko practically lept across the room to Kiba moving him aside as she hid the bag from his view. "I've got uhm, personal girl stuff in their." She said in an attempt to excuse her sudden reaction. She didn't need Kiba finding out everything she owned was in that bag. That would be hard to explain.
"Oh uhm, sorry I just assumed . . . never mind." Kiba said as he spun around nervously looking at a random poster on his wall. Paying extra heed to how the two character's on the poster were staring passionately into one another's eyes. Naruko took the chance to rifle through the bag and locate her torn sweater before zipping the bag back up saying
"Sorry about that, here the sweater."
Kiba was thankful to to not have to stare at the poster any longer, but whe he turned to except the sweater from the Naruko he noticed she almost seemed sadder then before. He wanted to say something, anything to wipe that look off her face, but he couldn't think of anything to say. Instead he simply took the sweater, apologizing for his intrusion into her privacy, and got to work.
"You know, this isn't really that bad of a tear if i'm being honest." Kiba spoke as he loaded the correct color of thread into the machine. "I should have this mended in no time."
Naruko was still quiet, which made Kiba a little uncomfortable, but when he turned to look at her he was stunned to find her watching him intently as though she was trying to memorize what he did. It barely took two minutes for the sewing machine to patch the tear, and as he held it up to examine his work he grinned with satisfaction.
"See, no problem!" Kiba said as he spun around to see the girl smiling wide, but with tears in her eyes. Kiba felt a lump grow in his throat as he handed the sweater back to Naruko, watching as she hugged it to herself for a moment before raising it up over her head to slip it on. Because he was sitting and she was standing, Kiba had a full frontal face shot of Naruko's breast as they pushed against the thin fabric. That image was more then enough to excite him and he had to look away to avoid growing, visibly excited.
Once Naruko had the sweater on she took a moment to run her hands over it, examining the work Kiba had just done. He'd actually fixed it, it was good as new, and she couldn't remember feeling this happy in a long time. Without thinking she hurled herself at Kiba, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Kiba was frozen in place, unable to move. This girl, Naruko, was hugging him in his bedroom. Before Kiba couldn't even enjoy the embrace however a gentle knock on his bedroom door had Naruko releasing him. As the door swung open both Naruko and Kiba, both blushing like idiots, looked over to see Hana standing their, smiling at them as if she knew something they didn't.
"Ok you two, diner's ready so knock off whatever it was you were doing and get your buts down here before we give your share to the dogs."\
SuperOtaku!: Hello and welcome to my very first ever Naruto fanfic! I hope what I have introduce you too is enough to pique your interest and keep you coming back for more! I am very open to critiques so please if you notice anything that seems off, or something that you particularly liked please let me know! Until next time my pretties TTFN!
