What We Hoped to Be

NightRaven: Aww. That means a lot that you've read my stories and that you enjoy this one as well. And I don't feel let down by criticism. Especially when I have so many wonderful people like you. Haha. Once again, thank you. Have a good day or night, wherever you are in the world.

Kiba groaned as he was shook rather violently from his slumber. Asuma shook his shoulder once more when his eyes opened and Tsunade stood back, writing on that board once again.

"Wake up, kid. This isn't a place where murderers and thieves sleep."

Kiba pulled on his collar. "Hey. What you think of me is none of my business. I am who I am, with or without your approval."

Asuma's jaw clenched once again. "You and your little fucking friends killed more than thirty ANBU police in that little stunt you pulled two days ago. It's my fucking business whether you like it or n-"

The slam of Kiba's fist upon the table made both ANBU flinch slightly. His eyes were wide and his anger seemed to be a storm out at sea. "Just like it wasn't my business when your daddy sent those men to kill my friend's family. Just like it wasn't my business when your government began to spread disease in poor neighborhoods. Just to control the population you piece of shit. If a had a yen for every child in my neighborhood that died by the hands of the government, I'd be a millionaire."

It was quiet as Kiba calmed himself. And then, unpleasantly, his canine teeth showed crookedly. "Oh, wait. I already am."

"Cool it." Tsunade commanded. "Now, despite what my partner says, we're here to help you, kid."

"Bullshit, lady. I know who you motherfuckers are. I know the dirty things you people do. I know why I'm here."

Tsunade sat with a huff, glaring hard at Kiba. "Asuma told me some things about your friends. The raid on the ANBU headquarters. Said you all went in there for Shikamaru Nara."

"Mhm." The Inuzuka mumbled in boredom.

"Now why is it just Shikamaru putting you all in deep shit. First with Naruto getting cut and the getting captured by the ANBU. How do you know if it's him that is behind exposing you all?"

Kiba suddenly doubled himself up and burst into a loud harsh cackle of laughter. He fell on the ground and writhed with laughter. He was in that state of intoxication when he could find no release from maddening self-consciousness. The man knew what he was doing, so he did it deliberately.

"By Kami, lady you're funny. Shikamaru Nara." He mused with a smile. "We've all done some fucked up shit in our careers. Me and Sasuke too. Now, Shikamaru Nara may be lazy. He may be a weakling at times. Shit, he may even be too silent, but if there's one thing I know…" Kiba trailed off, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "My plastic baby ain't a snitch."

"Proceed." Tsunade commanded.

Kiba raised a brow. "It's four p.m. Can a guy get a hot plate? I'm starving in this motherfucker."

"Proceed." Tsunade commanded again.

"To eat." Kiba finished. "Now my fucking stomach's going to start rumbling and I ain't talking until you give this prisoner a three course meal. And not that sewage coffee from this morning."

"If I send someone in the next ten minutes, will you start talking?"

The 22 year old nodded with some sort of psychotic smile. "Of course."

Tsunade nodded in slight annoyance. "Deal. Now what were you going to tell us?"

"I was going to tell you that we all made mistakes. I, myself, made the biggest mistake."

Naruto growled as he mashed the buttons on the controller. Glancing over at his best friend, he found that Shikamaru played the game efficiently and calmly, only pressing few buttons.

Even so, the man still defeated Naruto. The screen flashed 'Winner' in gold blinking letters and the Nara cheered loudly. "Alright! I'm so awesome!"

Naruto threw the controller with a growl and stood. "Fuck!"

Shikamaru laughed. "Woah there, Kyuubi. Take a deep breath."

Naruto rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. "Fuck you. I'm going to get a drink."

With that the man walked away. Shikamaru took the time to sit absentmindedly and relax. Only three weeks after the raid, there was nothing to do but lay as low as possible. It was Kiba's turn to go out and get a few items for them all and Sasuke was still asleep.

That gave Shikamaru and Naruto time to play games with one another.

Shikamaru was let out of his thoughts as Akamaru sniffed and licked his arm. "What's wrong, boy?" He blushed soon after. "You smell Kiba's scent on me?"

Akamaru barked and licked his arm again. The sound of rustling keys made the dog's head lift and he ran to the door, barking loudly as Kiba's voice sounded.

"Hey there,boy. You mind giving me a paw with this thing? Haha. Kami, I crack myself up."

Shikamaru shook his head in amusement and stood to greet Kiba, wondering what he brought in. "What the hell are you laughing- Kiba, what the fuck!?"

Shikamaru stepped back in a mistakable fear, staring at the man with the cloth bag over his head. Kiba grunted as he drug him inside the home. "Fuck, he's heavy."

Shikamaru put his head in his hands. "Kiba what the fuck? What is this?"

Kiba shook his head. "Give me that chair will you?" While Shikamaru grabbed the chair and sat it before the couch, the dog lover continued speaking. "I tried to pickpocket some rich lady while she wasn't looking."

The Nara's eyes remained widened as the captive man struggled. "Why the fuck would you try to pickpocket someone? You're a millionaire."

Kiba laughed and began tying the man in his chair. "I know. But I got caught and this brave cop right here started chasing me. Had to lead him to my car….hid and knocked him out."

"Naruto's going to fucking kill you." Shikamaru muttered.

"He'll be fine-"

"What's going on? I heard a lot of-"

Naruto froze with his drink to his mouth. Eventually, the man's sharp blue eyes, neither shocked nor hard, trailed to Kiba, who stood there with his mouth open.

To Naruto, respect was more than passing pleasantries, more than nice words. It took effort to look at someone else and take in who they were and show them you regarded their point of view with compassion and seriousness. It was listening without judgement, getting to know them with as few assumptions as possible.

Respect mattered to Naruto more than anything. So calmly, he ushered his friends to the kitchen.

Kiba trudged slowly, biting his nail.

"What happened?" Naruto asked.

Kiba explained just as he had to Shikamaru. When finished, both men stared at Naruto, waiting for his thoughts.

"Did anyone see you?" He mumbled.

"I don't think so."

"Shikamaru. Get your computer and hack into all the places Kiba's been."

"Hai. What about him?"

Naruto gave his friend a blank look. "Him who?"

"The guy in there. The policeman."

Naruto bit his lip, thinking hard. "Come with me."

When the three walked back into the living room, Naruto grabbed a chair and sat it before the ANBU policeman.

In a swift motion, the cloth was torn from his head. He and Naruto stared at one another for a long moment.

"You're invading my privacy." Naruto stated calmly, touching the man's face. "And I hate that."

The man shook his head, eyes welling with tears. "Please don't kill me."

"Stop that. I'm never a man to destroy anyone in public. I accomplish much more in private. Did you really think I'd let you go, after you attacked my home?"

"I don't know who you were chasing, but I do know you tried getting into my car. So I placed that over your head."

Kiba opened his mouth to say something, but Naruto shook his head.

"I didn't know it was your car. I was chasing this other guy and-"

"That doesn't matter. With the money I have, I can have you dead in a week...shipped to Kumo for display."

"Please, sir. I have a family."

"That doesn't fucking matter." Naruto hissed. He looked up to see Sasuke coming out of the room, tears in his eyes. "Wait here." He told the man.

Kiba walked into the kitchen, Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Naruto following after.

"What's going on?" The Uchiha whispered,staring into the nearly red eyes of his boyfriend.

"Kiba kidnapped this guy. I'm going to make him believe he only saw me and-"

"-And what?" Sasuke hissed interrupting his lover. "Kill him? Naruto, how do you think that makes me feel. I confided in you, telling you that this is the way my family was executed and you try to make it real."

"What are you talking about?"

"This is how my brother was killed, dobe. You were going to talk to that man and you were going to kill him."

"What!? I wasn't. I may be a thief, but I don't kill innocent people, Sasuke. I don't shoot people unless they shoot at me. What the fuck is-"

The slap that connected to Naruto's face was as loud as a clap and stung his face. It had been an open-handed smack and it had left a red welt behind. Just below his eye was a small cut where the ring, the fucking ring he'd gotten Sasuke, had caught him . The man staggered backwards, clutching his face, eyes watering.

"You let him go...and you make sure you apologize in someway to him." Sasuke whispered, storming out and back to his room.

Naruto stood there for the longest moment, Kiba and Shikamaru watching him with wide dark eyes.

Naruto cursed under his breath and stormed into his and Sasuke room. After a few minutes, the man came back out, a duffel bag full of money. He sat back before the crying man.

"I'm not an asshole." He told the ANBU. "In fact, I'm one of the nicest people you'd ever meet. Which is why I'm not going to kill you." Naruto untied the man and handed him a duffel bag. "Look at me."

The man looked Naruto straight in the eyes. "Usually I'd tell you to forget this, but I don't want you to. I want you to see me and remember me. Because this is the face you'll see in hell if I go down."

He ushered to the bag. "The million dollars is for you hospitality. You behaved well here. But, don't fuck this up. I've seen the way you ANBU do it. The second you start making progress, you mess up. Because deep down you know you're going to fail. That's not going to happen, here. You're not jumping from the third floor. You're jumping from the penthouse. Fake a Story."

Naruto stood the man up. "I'll have to put the bag over your head and drop you off."

Later that night, Naruto stood in the bathroom wiping his face clean. The door opened and Kiba walked in, Shikamaru and Sasuke following behind.

Sasuke walked over to him and laid his head on the tan shoulder. "I'm still mad at you." Naruto stated, wiping his sore cut.

Sasuke kissed the man's shoulder. "Well, if you treat my words like a joke, I'm going to leave you like it's funny."

Naruto stared at his lover through the mirror until he eventually smiled. "God I hate how you do that. I wasn't going to kill him you know? I'm not that bad."

Sasuke smiled and kissed him softly. "I only slapped you to make sure."

Naruto laughed even more. "Clever as the devil and twice as pretty."

Kiba laughed too. "You know what they say. Marry someone who makes you laugh because you're going to be bored when you're 80. With a broken hip, sex is impossible."

Naruto turned to his friend. "Shut up, Kibs. I'm still mad at you."

"What did I do?" The Inuzuka asked with his hands up.

"If that ANBU doesn't resign, they'll search for me. Not you all because I was the only one he actually saw. If I go down, you three have to leave and fast."

"I could have took care of it. Why'd you put yourself on the line like that?"

Naruto smiled at the tan man. "Because, you mutt. You're my friend. And you should always have an escape plan. Besides, if I go down, so does he."

"We all made mistakes." Kiba muttered as Tsunade whispered something to Asuma. "Naruto just cleaned them up. He took the time to mop and scrub our mistakes all the while he got dirty."

"Did that police actually resign?"

"I don't know." Kiba mumbled quietly. "But we never got caught. We were still nineteen, but we kept going. He didn't rat us out."

Tsunade stared at Kiba for the longest moment. "Beside helping with the heists, who exactly was Naruto to you?"

Kiba covered his face, hating being in the caped up room now. Naruto wasn't simply a good friend and his friendship wasn't so simple either.

It was that kind of friendship that bloomed in the center of his psychotic heart - that kind of friendship that grew from the seed basking in the warm soil to a vast tree with many ups and downs, many - but not enough to disguise the enormity or the grandeur of such a tree, the sheer brilliance and beauty of it.

Sasuke and Shikamaru too. He had them in his heart.

But Naruto was truly was truly a friend he'd loved and lost.

"Come on, kid." Tsunade ushered.

Kiba covered his face. When he cried there was a rawness to it, like the pain was still an open wound. He clasped onto his face for support and then his whole body would shake. The sobs were stifled at first as he attempted to hide his grief, then overcome by the wave of his emotions he would break down entirely, all his defenses washed away in those salty tears. When he at last turned his face to Tsunade, he was a picture of grief, loss, devastation. It was the face of one who had suffered before and didn't know if he could do it again.

"Come on, kid."

"He was my friend." He sobbed out. "He was my friend."

Tsunade leaned back, satisfied that she now broke the high strung man finally. Now they could actually start on the meltdown of it all.

I'm so sorry. I'm not having a good week. I don't have much confidence in this chapter. This story is kind of falling off because It's so short. And I was late. I apologize, guys. I really don't expect you all to review because I wouldn't. Ugh. I'm sorry. I'll try to go faster. Have a good day or night, friends. Sorry again.