Still shaken from her personal encounter with Sasuke, Ayame plastered a shield of vacancy on her face. She had an internal discussion as she strode toward civilisation. What was she going to do if Sasuke tried to get back on Team Seven? It was an unacceptable outcome. And in any case, if she couldn't trust him; she would be ineffective with him in a team, and would therefore lead to failed missions and quite possibly death.
Why did he have to come back to ruin everything, she wondered. She was so frustrated at herself - she was so busy trying to be aloof with Sasuke that she forgot to ask vital questions. Though, she supposed, there would be plenty of time for that considering he doesn't appear to be leaving.
"Hey, Ayame-chan!" A voice pulled her from her disenheartening thoughts. She hadn't even realised where she was until the call caused her to look up from scowling at the ground. She had been weaving between apartment buildings, stores, and other obscure structures, passing by people she both recognised and had never seen before. After Ayame paused and pivotted to face him, the Inuzukas caught up to her quickly.
"Oi," she responded to Kiba, still irritated, but tried not to take it out on him as she forced a smile, "are you obsessed with me or something? How'd you find me?" Kiba, who had been mounted on Akamaru's large frame, quickly hopped off his companion and strolled alongside the girl. There were plastic bags filled with items in each of his hands and Akamaru gripped one between his teeth.
"We were just shopping and picked up your scent," he explained while dragging his finger under his nose and grinning, making the bag in his hold crinkle. He stopped beaming and dropped his hand when he saw the false smile on her face. "What's up?"
"It's stupid," she said, waving her hand and shaking her head dismissively. Kiba hesitated, falling in step with Ayame as they continued on.
"Is it about Sasuke?" He asked finally. Tugging on the worn, dark blue fabric wrapped around her neck, she nodded.
"I wish he would just go away," she groused, leading Kiba and Akamaru around a corner. "I never wanted him to come back."
"I know," Kiba tried to console, "but he is here. So, we'll have to learn how to not kill him." Ayame chuckled once.
"We?" She repeated.
"Yeah," he replied, "you have to learn to not kill him period, and I have to learn how to not kill him for you." Laughing, she swatted playfully at his arm. He knew just how to cheer her up - he always did. "And anyway, the Hokage probably wouldn't put him back in a team in the first place. Don't you think?"
"I guess so." Ayame hadn't considered the idea of him not being in a team. It just seemed like the worst-case scenario. She shook her head. "Let's talk about something else, anything else. Here, Akamaru, give me that bag." Ayame turned around and retrieved the sack from the canine's mouth. The dampness of his saliva on the handle didn't seem to bother her.
"Thanks," Kiba said, shifting the bags for emphasis, "Mom wanted us to pick up some things."
"Then what are you doing, walking idly with me?" Ayame asked urgently, hooking her free arm around one of Kiba's and made haste, jolting the boy so haphazardly in the opposite direction that she nearly knocked him off his feet. "Let's go! You know your mother doesn't like to be kept waiting."
"O-Okay!"
Hustling through the streets with Akamaru trotting pleasantly behind them, Ayame guided the boys to their own home. Knowing Kiba's impatient mother, the faster they arrived, the better. Not to mention Inuzuka Tsume was definitely the alpha of the house, and Ayame had learned to always respect the alpha. And, as a bonus, Kiba's mother was rather intimidating.
The trio wound up at the Inuzuka house relatively quickly. Ayame had recalled being in this house before - one time when Hana, Kiba's elder sister who was an acclaimed ninja hound veterinarian, inquired her about living alongside wolves and their nature, another time was when Kiba insisted her to be a guest to an impromptu dinner that, though frustrated Tsume, made Ayame feel closer to his family. As her training persisted, she casually visited his home as she was invited.
"Thanks for the help," Kiba said, stepping onto his porch. "Do you wanna stay for dinner tonight?"
"We'll see," she said, entering the home as Kiba gestured for her to do so. The scent of several different dogs hit Ayame as she shook off her shoes. Akamaru slipped pass them and made his way to sprawl out comfortably on the carpet of the living room floor. "I think I might want a quiet night in after this morning." He nodded, also removing his sandals.
"I get it," he said, guiding her through a short corridor to the kitchen. "Maybe you could just stay for a bit, then? It's only about noon now, anyway."
"You really are obsessed with me," Ayame teased, making both Kiba and herself flush slightly as they unloaded the groceries. "I guess I can stay."
"Kiba?" A woman's voice called, muffled by the walls. Followed by footsteps she asked, "Is that you?"
"Yeah, Hana," Kiba replied. "Ayame's here." In a moment, a lovely faced young woman with cheek triangles resembling the ones on Kiba's face, brown hair tied back with stray strands framing her face, and a gentle white smile popped into the door frame.
"Hello, Ayame," she greeted. "Kiba told us the good news last night. Congratulations and welcome home."
"Thank you," Ayame said. Hana's words were polite, kind, and professional, a contrast to Tsume's generally crass and hasty voice; however, like any other Inuzuka, her feral demeanour arises when under pressure. Ever since Ayame found Kage as a child and took him to Hana's clinic, she had looked up to her as a kunoichi.
"Are you spending the night here with Kiba?" Hana asked rather bluntly. Though their hot faces had just cooled down, the question made the blood rush to their cheeks once again. "If so, I would advise you to keep idle noise to a minimum. I have to wake up early in the morning."
"H-Hana!" Kiba sputtered, clutching his fist in flustered frustration. "She's not staying!" A look of puzzlement sat on Hana's face.
"But it's only natural for your ages," she regarded. "In fact, your libidos should be at their peak -"Ayame coughed gently.
"You don't need to worry about that," the auburn-hair girl ensured. "I'll be out of your hair soon enough." Hana shook her head as she exited.
"Please, stay as long as you like," she offered in a voice faded by distance. Her footsteps, too, dimmed into silence. Ayame hopped on a kitchen counter and sat quietly as Kiba put food away.
"Sorry about her," her mumbled, shutting the final wooden cabinet door above him with a soft thud. "She's so embarrassing." Though, from what Ayame had observed in the years she had been associated with the Inuzuka clan, Hana and Kiba were very close, their jobs as siblings were still to annoy and pester each other.
"It's fine," Ayame said, though her face was still red. Kiba leaned on a cool granite counter perpendicular to her and faced the wall parallel to him, feeling uncomfortable in the atmosphere his sister created. "So, has your mom been away on any big missions recently?"
"Nah," he said with a shrug. "Not really. Since we're mostly allies with the other villages after the major summit last year, there doesn't seem to be as many missions needing Jounin anymore. Chuunins can handle it nowadays."
"I can't wait for the Chuunin Exams," Ayame said, suddenly losing the flushed face and exchanging it for an eager one as she caught her fist in her hand. "I'm still a Genin, after all. But not for long."
"You could probably just get a recommendation to upgrade your rank from Iruka or Kakashi to give to the Hokage," Kiba said, finally looking at her now that the tension was gone. "If you wanted to, I mean."
"Oh," Ayame said, her eagerness decreasing. "Right. I guess I could do that, too." She looked down at her swinging feet. "I don't know if I'll be in the Hokage's good favour after I ask to exclude Sasuke from the team."
Kiba wasn't sure what to say to this. He drummed his slender fingers on the counter rhythmically and remained otherwise immobile. Ayame eyed him over as he pursed his lips, clearly stalling as he didn't know what to do, either.
"Oi, you're an awful host," Ayame complained mockingly to lighten the mood. She crossed her arms over her chest. "You don't offer me a drink or a seat, you've hardly entertained me so far."
"W-What's this, all of the sudden!?" Kiba groaned, gripping his forehead as if to hide his face. "How do you want me to entertain you?" Ayame chuckled and jumped off of the counter.
"Maybe I should get going anyway," she said. Kiba followed her closely as she exited the kitchen.
"You sure?" He asked, sounding almost disappointed. "You just got here." Ayame turned around and continued to walk backwards.
"I'd hate to be a bother - " She abruptly silenced herself as her back gently collided with a soft, solid mass. Spinning a one-eighty to face the object, she realised it was Akamaru blocking her path to the door. "Come on, boy. Scooch over." Kiba laughed out loud.
"See? Even he doesn't want you to leave." Akamaru unanticipatedly rose back on his hind legs, making himself at least six feet tall. Ayame, cornered by the boy and his pet, watched as he extended his front paws and set them roughly on her shoulders, making her stagger from the sudden weight. Slumping against her and pressing their faces together, he whined quietly like a pup.
"A-Akamaru," she said into his fur, knees wobbling dangerously. "I have to go know, okay?"
Putting just an ounce more of pressure on her, Akamaru sent Ayame plummeting to the ground, effectively pinning her to the hardwood surface with his brooting, yet tactually pleasing body. Ayame struggled, but only her forearms escaped the trap Akamaru had set for her.
"Get of, you big jerk!" Ayame said with great effort, though a fanged smile graced her face. Akamaru licked her cheeks, her nose, her forehead. Ayame gagged playfully amongst choked laughs. "Kiba-kun, call off your furball!" A burst of light flashed over Ayame and Akamaru. Taken aback, Ayame frantically searched for the source to see a pleased Kiba, holding the smoking camera with a photograph being developed from the front.
"That one's a keeper," he teased. Amidst his manic laughter at Ayame's horrified expression, which produced tears in his eyes, he didn't seem to notice that the front door had been opened, and someone stepped in.
"Kiba, what the hell is going on here?" A rough, woman's voice asked. Kiba shut himself up when he saw his mother standing behind his dog and Ayame. The latter craned her neck to look up at Inuzuka Tsume.
Tsume, like most Inuzuka members, had wild, untamable hair that spiked out in every direction. The red triangles on her cheeks appeared more prominent and proud than that of her children's. The makeup she wore consisted of purple lipstick and harsh red eyeliner to accent her scrutinising eyes, which also held the sensation of a loving maternal figure.
Growling lowly next to her stood her partner, Kuromaru. Though smaller than Akamaru, Kuromaru was an intimidating wolf-dog with jet black fur and a white belly. An eyepatch covered his right eye and he was lacking a left ear from accidents Ayame did not know the stories to. Ayame could tell there was more feral than domestic in his genes.
"Akamaru, scat!" Tsume barked at him, causing the bulky dog to immediately leap off of the girl. Tsume laughed heartily and her companion ceased his growling. "Ayame! I thought that was you." Tsume held out her hand, which Ayame respectfully accepted, and hoisted her up. Ayame's purple top was now covered in white fur.
"Tsume-san," she greeted with a bow. She acknowledged Kuromaru with another humble gesture, to which he dipped his head slightly. "It's good to see you. I was just on my way out."
"Were these boys playing their tricks on you and scaring you away?" She asked, getting ready to give her son an infamous scolding. Ayame held out her hands in self-surrender.
"No, no, we were just messing around. I apologise." Tsume eyed her over with those critical orbs, then glared at a nodding Kiba.
"Kiba, why can't you be more like this nice, respectable young lady, huh?" She scolded him, despite Ayame's attempts to save him. "She clearly takes her training and studies seriously, is kind and courteous, and will clearly be the best thing that's ever happened to you, so you better not mess this up, do you understand me!?"
"Sure," Kiba groaned, annoyed and wary of his mother chastising him. "I guess."
"Damn right," Tsume concluded triumphantly. She turned to Ayame. "Don't be a stranger; my house is your house. Just don't pee on it." Once again she erupted in laughter and patted Ayame hard on the shoulder.
"Thank you," Ayame winced at the blow. "If you don't mind me, I'll be headed home now. I'll come back and visit another day if that's all right."
"Sure, anytime," Tsume agreed, passing her son as she headed for the kitchen. She whispered something to Kiba that made Ayame's ears perk up. Both teens turned red at the hushed remark, Ayame wanting to hide her face behind her bandanna. Tsume disappeared into the next room, leaving the teens alone.
"Need me to walk you home?" Kiba offered bashfully as he neared her anyway, hands stuffed in his pockets. Ayame shook her head feverishly.
"That's okay," she rejected, scrambling to jam her feet into her sandals. "I can manage." She swiftly finished her task and fumbled to throw the door open. "Thanks for having me - "
"H-Hey, wait up," Kiba called as Ayame fled to his porch. She paused, looking over her shoulder at Kiba who was rubbing the back of his neck and leaning backward as if to look smooth. "Don't you wanna . . . you know, say goodbye?" They stood there for a moment, not looking at each other, in silence.
"Your mom," Ayame eventually said with a swallow, turning around, "must really like us, ne?" Kiba nodded, now smiling a bit.
"Yeah. It's weird."
Whether or not they were going together was a mystery to Ayame. Maybe they acted like it sometimes, but how could they have been? Since she had been so absent in the better part of three years, it wouldn't have seemed fair to Kiba. She never asked about any love affairs he had, too afraid to hear the answer. So, for the most part, Ayame didn't really say anything about it. And as they stood there, she rocking back on her heels and he looking everywhere but her, they wondered how they got here anyway. All because a young teenage boy was in heat back then.
"Goodbye, Kiba-kun," Ayame said finally, raising her hand in a small wave as she turned to go. Kiba finally trained his eyes on her.
"Bye, Ayame-chan."
That was it. Ayame started off for home, well aware of Kiba's eyes on her back as she went. On her way home, she thought a lot about the past. About the academy, about her solitude that melted away when she became a Genin. As she opened her front door, she remembered the Chuunin Exams. These thoughts, however, led her to think of Sasuke. Hateful crude thoughts.
"I hate you, Uchiha Sasuke," she muttered under her breath before locking her door behind her.