Tai: Blah blah blahlong time since update...apology apology etc...

Story time!

Chapter 4: Oncoming Storm

Settled at the table, Neji was somewhat glad of the silence that had embraced the room while they ate, giving the Hyuuga some time to his thoughts. 'In the space of 48 hours I became the host of a demon wolf, had her take control and was subsequently marked by an Inuzuka…no, by Kiba.' He let out a sigh, continuing to push his food around the container and not really eating anything. 'Kiba's been gone for a couple of weeks and I'm still not used to the wolf.'

"Neji?" the pale eyes flicked up briefly to look at the tanned male, before returning to the table, continuing to shove the food around. "Neji, look at me."

The pale male complied instantly, lilac eyes locking onto the golden coloured orbs of the Inuzuka, though the male features soon turned to a frown as he looked at the younger. "Kiba...dammit why did I listen to you?" Neji couldn't pull his gaze away from Kiba, and he was inwardly growling at the news.

"That's a very good question."

"Ah…well…I probably should've told you sooner…I mean I thought you'd noticed the day I got home and stopped you from doing the dishes." The tanned male stated quickly, unable to settle his mind long enough to give a straight answer. Neji's glare intensified at the lack of an answer and Kiba sighed. "The whole dominance thing is more than just with the sex; if I order you to do something you kind of…have to…listen…"

Neji's eyes went wide at the idea and inwardly he was starting to panic; he could get pregnant during Kiba's next heat, and if he couldn't even say no and have it listened to…

The tanned Inuzuka was out of his seat in an instant; the wave of panic going through his body from the bond he shared with the Hyuuga. Dragging the slender male's seat around Kiba dropped to his knees in front of Neji, snaring one of the pale hands in both of his own. The coffee haired male was still staring wide eyed at the Inuzuka, and the tanned male sighed, resting his forehead against one of his mate's thighs.

"You don't have to look at me if you don't want to Neji." He mumbled softly, stroking the captive hand gently. "I should've told you sooner…just…please…" Kiba swore at himself, closing his eyes; he couldn't think of a way to word it without it sounding like an order. He couldn't remember exactly what his mother had told him about that part of the bond, and he desperately needed to.

"I just…I need…" he sighed, loosening his grip on the slender limb. "I won't force you to do anything you don't want to Neji. I can feel you panicking and I wish I could stop it, but anything I say might make it worse…"

He felt the slender fingers curl around part of his hand, but Kiba didn't move, even as Neji's free hand buried itself in his hair. "Kiba…can you…promise me that?" he was hesitant to ask, and when the words finally came he wasn't sure he should've said them.

"I promise Neji; I won't force you into anything…and if…" the Inuzuka looked up, his golden eyes meeting the pale lilac above him. "If I don't listen, I want you to use as much force…weapons…chakra…whatever you need to, to get away from me. I never want to hurt you…not again…"

Neji frowned slightly at the words. "I thought your mother said we can't use chakra on each other?"

"It's an old unspoken order that goes with the bonding by default; to stop newly marked mates from killing their partners and ultimately themselves. Which is why I'm saying this, Neji," Kiba stated, keeping a gentle grasp on the slender hand. "If I ever try to force myself on you and you don't want me, you must use whatever force you possibly can to stop me."

The certainty in Kiba's eyes was enough to convince Neji, and he was grateful that the tanned male had said it, relaxing slightly and running the hand in the short brown hair down to cup his cheek. Tilting his head up slightly, the Hyuuga leant down and pressed a soft kiss against the tanned male's lips. "Thank you, Kiba."

A sigh of relief escaped the Inuzuka and he stood, pressing his lips to the pale teen's forehead. "Nothing to thank me for; I don't want you being afraid of me; now could you eat something please?"

Nodding, Neji found his chair turned back to face the table, allowing him to return to his dinner, while the Inuzuka resumed his seat at the opposite end of the table. It didn't really take a Hyuuga prodigy to notice something what bothering the male, and the pale eyes focused on the younger male. "What's bothering you, Kiba?"

"Ah…it's just…mum said you might be a bit stressed…I was just wondering if there's anything I could do to help you relax a little…or something…" the tanned male mumbled, not entirely sure of what he truly wanted to say on the matter. Neji found it unusual to see the tanned teen so unsure of himself, but part of him reasoned it wasn't that unexpected.

"I just need a bit of time to get my head around things." He reassured the younger teen, blinking when he stood and headed for the door. "Where are you going?"

Kiba hesitated in his answer, but refused to turn and face his mate. "I need to go and talk to my mum; I might be back late so don't wait up for me, okay?"

Agreement had barely left the Hyuuga when the tanned teen took off, his large white canine partner staying behind to keep the paler male company. "He's all right, isn't he Akamaru?"

Neji didn't hear the Inuzuka return, but he felt the warmth of the tanned male as he lay down behind him on the bed, curling protectively around the slender male. He'd tried to sleep; in fact he'd been in bed for the last two hours, but the worry in the back of his mind wouldn't rest. With the Inuzuka back next to him he felt decidedly more relaxed, and slumber finally embraced him.

Tsunade had removed both males from the active list for missions, the woman unwilling to put any further stress on the now changing relationship between the pair. It hadn't caused any issues between the pair yet, but it wasn't helping in the slighted. Having more time together meant they were quickly becoming aware of just how quickly things were changing between them.

What had started as a slight uneasiness between them was becoming more and more venomous, to the point where the pair had begun sleeping in separate rooms, eating apart and being apart as much as possible. It was obvious to anyone who'd seen the pair that they were avoiding one another, and Tsume knew it wasn't going to make things easier on them. Regardless, she stayed clear of the pair, and instead had Akamaru keep an eye on them.

Neji was curled up on the couch reading a book, or rather trying to. He'd been staring at the same page for over an hour and hadn't registered a single word written on it in that time. His mind was more focused on his current predicament, namely what he was meant to do about his husband.

The word seemed weird to him still, and memories of exactly what had put him in the situation were trickling back slowly trickling back into his mind. Immediately after he'd known exactly what had happened, but as Tsume had explained, the newly formed bond had pushed it from his mind.

Two things from that evening were standing out more than any other details; firstly the fear. The terror that had shot through him when he realised what Kiba was about to do, when he'd realised he was completely unable to stop the younger teen from doing as he pleased. He'd been pinned, naked and scared.

The second detail that stood out was the pain; the only thing he could think to compare it to was the injury he'd sustained when they'd tried to bring back Sasuke. He'd been treated and had no problem with people asking about it, because it had occurred on a mission. The pain had been gone when he'd regained consciousness, thanks to the skills of the medical ninja who had healed him.

Pain from this was worse. It was humiliating to think about; a Jounin being pinned, stripped and raped by a Chuunin was unthinkable. One male doing just that to another was painful, and the Hyuuga's pride hadn't been able to withstand another blow, forcing him to endure the pain. He'd managed to walk home and spent the following weeks with his backside producing a dull throb.

Now with the dulling from the bond receding, he was forced to re-experience everything he'd missed over the last few months. That included the pain from the initial encounter, the humiliation of becoming Kiba's bitch, the continuing sting of his backside and the anger that it had happened at all.

Mostly the anger and shame were prevailing, prompting the Hyuuga to stay as far from the dominating Inuzuka as he possibly could. The last thing he needed was to be ordered around and forced into apologising.

"Avoiding him won't make things any easier."

'It's making it easier for the moment Ookami; he's avoiding me as much as I'm avoiding him.' Neji thought with a sigh. 'Hell what do you expect me to do? Go into his room, lie naked on his bed and tell him "I forgive you, take me any way you want"?'

"It's what I'd do."

'You're the reason I'm in this mess! He raped me Ookami; how the hell am I meant to forgive him, when he can't even look me in the eye? He hasn't even spoken to me in the last three days.'

"Well no…but you're not making it easy for him."

'Excuse me for not being okay with being fucked by another guy on a semi-regular basis! Before you came along I was interested in girls! Hell the night before you showed up, I'd decided I was going to ask Tenten on a date!'

"Oh…"

"Ah…Neji?"

He jumped at the sudden voice, and turned to find the tanned male standing by the doorway, golden eyes watching him closely. "Can…can we talk?"

Closing his book was merely a formality at that point, and he let out a small sigh. "Sure…"

The tanned teen moved cautiously around to sit in one of the nearby chairs, and the duo remained silent for several minutes, Neji waiting for the younger male to talk, Kiba trying to find his starting point.

"Neji…look I just…I'm really sorry about…everything. I was trying to stay away from you because I knew…I knew I was going into heat." The Inuzuka apologised, his gaze fixed on the floor. "If I'd been able to sleep…if I hadn't gone for a walk… "

Neji stayed silent; something about Kiba's tone told him there was more the younger teen wanted to say, despite his long pause. "I can't change what happened, Neji, and neither can you. Until one of us dies, you're mine and there's nothing you can do to change that. Just perpetually staying pissed with me is only going to make things harder, so whatever your problem is just come out and say it so you can get over it!"

Jumping at the change in the bulkier teen's voice, Neji's pale eyes narrowed into a glare. "My problem? My problem? Try being pinned, beaten and raped by someone younger than you! And if that's not enough for you, how about the fact that I'm now living with the guy who did that to me?" the Hyuuga snarled back. "Not only that I'm expected to have your kid, which means being pinned beneath you willingly, never mind the fact we're both guys, or the fact that I'm hosting a fucking female demon!"

Standing, he realised that somewhere during his rising anger he'd activated his byakugan; it was an unfortunate side effect of losing his temper. "Which of those would you like me to 'get over' first Kiba? The fact that you raped me, or the part where I'm not forcefully attracted to no one but you, despite the fact that I wasn't gay, or the bit where I'll be having your kids?!"

"How about all of it so we can move on? Hell you're not bound to the Hyuuga clan anymore and as my partner you have the entire Inuzuka clan looking out for your wellbeing!" Kiba snapped, standing to match his gaze. "It's not like you're the only one affected by this Neji."

"Right, fair trade; you get a mate for life and I have to leave my family, turn gay and grow a womb! Why don't you point out the part where things are horrible and life changing for you!"

"You think I wanted any of this?" the Inuzuka growled, fists clenched tightly by his sides. "My mother was wrong; there's no talking this out with a stubborn Hyuuga!" The tanned teen didn't stay in the room any longer, bolting out the door without bothering to wait for his partner to follow.

Akamaru opted to stay beside Neji, the pale teen dropping back onto the couch and shaking slightly. The canine elected to jump onto the couch next to the male, resting his head in his lap and gently licking one on the slender hands.

Burying the opposite hand in the canine's fur, Neji wanted nothing better than to curl up under his bed and hide from the coming storm; he could feeling the Inuzuka's building rage, which was likely a response to his own. It was getting close to boiling point; every time they tried to have a conversation, or talk it out in any way, they ended up arguing, an occurrence that was getting more and more volatile. "I can't stay here Akamaru…I can't…"

Making his decision, Neji slid off the couch and headed into the spare room, which he'd claimed as his own personal space while they tried to 'work out' their issues. Grabbing a change of clothes and stuffing them into a bag, he turned to find Akamaru waiting to follow him. "You should stay with Kiba, he needs you." He muttered to the canine, receiving a growl from the dog.

"He said you need him more; his master's wellbeing depends on yours, so I'm not surprised." Ookami stated, the Hyuuga mentally jumping at the sudden statement. "Yeah, I'm still here."

'Sorry…it's just that you were so quiet while Kiba and I were arguing…' Neji replied, petting Akamaru gently and giving in to the canine. "Okay, you can come."

Satisfied, Akamaru followed Neji's lead as they headed toward the Hyuuga compound; the one place in Konoha he was guaranteed to be undisturbed by the Inuzuka.

"Completely avoiding him won't fix things, Neji."

'And daily yelling matches aren't helping either; I don't know what else to do Ookami; I know he said he won't force me to do anything, but I don't know if he can keep that promise.'

The thump of his fist hitting the wall alerted the women inside to his presence moments before his yell of frustration. "DAMMIT!"

"Kiba-"

"I know, I know, 'keep your temper under control' but he's not fucking helping the matter! He's blaming me for everything and its obvious he fucking hates me for it." The teen snarled, driving his fist into the solid wall again. "He won't listen; I've tried apologising and I don't know what else to do."

"What did you say to him today, Kiba?" Tsume asked firmly, grabbing the boy's wrist before he could continue his assault of the wall. When he tried to pull free she tightened her grip, forcing him to stop.

"I apologised for what happened." He growled, his own stony gaze meeting his mother's glare. "I told him things weren't going to change until one of us died, and asked him to tell me what his problem is so he can get over it!"

"Idiot!" she snarled, pinning him to the wall. "I have told you that is NOT the way to deal with this! You need to give him time!"

"I've given him time enough to-"

"A week is not long enough Kiba! Even with Ookami trying to help you he won't accept the changes he's been through over the past three months in a week!" Tsume growled. "If I have to keep you locked in a basement I will boy; you will stay away from him until you can control your temper better!"

"That should be easier for at least a short while; Neji's gone back to the Hyuuga compound, Akamaru is with him." Kuromaru stated, moving to stand next to his partner. "Akamaru told me as they left the compound."

The dog's words seemed to annoy the boy, and Tsume's grip tightened. "You'll be staying here with me and your sister until you learn to control yourself and give him some space."

Unable to move from his mother's grip, Kiba growled, but had no choice but to do as told; his mother and sister would see to it.