A/N: So many things have happen to me between this update and my last one. The two most important being that my computer hard-drive crashed (forever losing years of work including my most recent deviations) and that final exams are finally over. So now I have enough time to spare on this fanfic. I'm planning to write and finish it before the summer is over so have your fingers crossed for that!
Anyways this chapter focuses more on Kiba's perspective than it did in the others chapters. Basically that's because I wanted to show Kiba's thoughts on everything that has happened up until now, and to give him more character depth for you readers to get to know him better.
Disclaimer: I did not create Naruto nor do I own it. And frankly its repetitive plot is staring to bore me. But my love for its characters remains ever so strong. I mean it's not their fault that Kishimoto has no idea what to do with all the characters he created anymore.
"speech"
'thoughts'
Chapter 7: Hear Me
It's been two weeks since that fateful night that started the first of many unwontedly passionate dreams to come and Naruto didn't know how to handle it. He blamed it on the fact that he'd been alone for a very long time and now that he had someone living under his same roof his brain was playing mind-tricks on him.
Things were a lot easier when Kiba acted more like a pet instead of the man that he was supposed to be. The brunet made a lot of progress with Hinata too. The girl even commented on the turnaround. She said that lately Kiba seemed so eager to learn that she moved on to teaching him verbs and their meanings ahead of schedule. Kiba was very receptive indeed.
Consequently the blond resorted to making more trips to the gym as a way to release that tension. It was easier to get out of the house too since apparently Ino had taken a strong liking to Kiba and jumped at every opportunity to babysit the guy so Naruto could go outside.
Exercise was a stress reliever for Naruto. It tired out the whiskered male's treacherous hormones and gave him peace of mind as he worked out. After it Naruto always felt like he could deal with anything life had in store for him.
But unfortunately today wasn't one of those days. Hinata already came yesterday and wouldn't come again for another two days. Ino on the other hand started her acting classes today and wouldn't be able to come either. She was trying to find her calling in other areas besides swimsuits competitions and figured that acting was a good place to start as any.
Naruto didn't want to bother Sakura either. He felt like he'd been depending on her too often lately and didn't want to become some kind of burden. So after a late lunch, Naruto was left with nothing other to do than to stay at home and watch his tattooed companion.
He was starting to feel sorry for the brunet too. The other day Ino asked if she could take Kiba out for a walk but Sakura was adamant when she said no. The pinkette argued that Kiba wasn't prepared yet to commute with the outside world. Not even when Ino proposed to buy him a leash did Sakura relent. She claimed that Ino only wanted to live out some crazy S&M dominatrix fantasy. It wasn't hard for Naruto to picture that to be true either. The ponytailed female, in Naruto's opinion, did fit the bill of a person who'd enjoyed making men kneel at her presence.
Basically Naruto felt bad that Kiba wasn't allowed outside and had to remain stuck instead between four walls all the time. He wondered how Kiba felt about it too. Surely the brunet couldn't be comfortable in such an environment after living his whole life out in open air but so far Kiba hadn't shown any complains about his circumstance.
Right now Kiba was sitting on the floor finishing yet another puzzle game. Shino had bought it for Kiba, a fact that surprised the heck out of Naruto, to both stimulate Kiba's mind and to give the brunet something to do between sessions. Kinda like homework.
Every time Shino came he gave Kiba one with a bigger set of puzzle pieces than the one before. The tattooed male was just finishing a 30 piece set and seemed to take it seriously too.
Kiba was laying on the floor focused on the puzzle game sprawled between his parted legs. Because of his refusal to wearing anything tight-fitting, Kiba was clothed in nothing else but his gym shorts and his usual loose yellow t-shirt with the I Love Nachos print on the front.
Because of that it was hard for anyone to tell that Kiba had a strong upper built since his shirt hid his muscles. Hard for anyone but Naruto I mean. The blonde's recurrent dreams for the past nights could easily back that up.
Yet unlike Kiba' shirt, his trousers left little to the imagination. The way the brunet was sitting made his pants ride up leaving Naruto with a perfect view of his well sculptured legs. Furthermore with the fabric of the shorts being so light and with Kiba spreading his legs out like he did, Naruto could perfectly make out the size and shape of what Kiba carried between his-
'GAH!' Naruto reprimanded himself inwardly as he pressed the palms of his hands hard against his straying eyes. 'Was I really just about to check out Kiba's package? Stupid brain stop making me think like a sicko! Damn it, I really need to release this frustration in some way but without the gym my choices are limited.'
Kiba on the meantime was smiling proudly at his accomplishment as he finished his puzzle game. Whipping off his the imaginary sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, Kiba turned to Naruto hoping for his praise. Yet the brunet ended up laughing to himself when he saw the blond covering his eyes and mumbling to himself like he had been frequently doing for the last couple of days.
Laughter, it was one of the many things Kiba hasn't done for as long as he could remember. He couldn't even remember his parents that well or their names. Not that he was sure that he ever knew it in the first place since at that age he probably only called them mommy and daddy. That is if he even spoke yet. But he figured he must have at least let out a chuckle by then.
Somehow even though the brunet knew he had a comfy life before the forest, he couldn't remember any of it. Kiba had no recollection of how his parents died either even though he was sure he was present when it happened. He didn't know how to feel about that either.
Not even his memories afterward were perfectly intact. Kiba's life up until now could have been one big blur for all he cared. He spent most of those years scurrying around for food, hiding from predators, drinking water from the river, and basically being scared for the better half of the day. He only returned to his small shack during the night where he felt drowned by the ever present feeling of loneliness. His days were so monotonous that Kiba couldn't really tell one day apart from the other.
So there really wasn't much space for fun or anything else to be honest. But that all changed the moment Naruto stepped into the picture. Kiba was so shocked when he first saw Naruto that the brunet didn't know what to do because he never thought that people like him still existed in this world. So the brunet settled for just watching the newcomer from a distance to see what developed.
But when a pack of wolves started chasing Naruto around Kiba panicked because he couldn't let the only other human around disappear that quickly. It was then that the brunet decided to intervene and protect the blonde from nature's grasp. And the rest, as they say, was history.
Now Kiba had a stable home, 3 meals per day that he didn't have to work for, a nice haircut, clothes to keep him warm, and most importantly he had people constantly around him. Kiba couldn't even begin to explain how frighten he was the first time Naruto left him alone in the house to go to the gym. The brunet virtually destroyed the inside of the apartment trying to look for an escape because he wanted to go find the blonde. Kiba was so relieved when Naruto came back that practically flung himself on the blond not caring at all to acknowledge the redhead that accompanied Naruto home.
Ever since then more and more people started showing up for visits and Kiba was never left alone again. To Kiba these were the memories worth retaining and he owed it all to Naruto. There was nothing more that the brunet wanted to do than to let the blond know how he felt, and today seemed like the perfect day to make it happen.
Hinata's schooling yesterday made him feel more prepared and confident about his ability to express his thoughts in words. The fact that no one stopped by today was also ideal because now he could get Naruto's full attention without unnecessary distractions. But it was Naruto's recent habit of locking himself in his room at night right after giving Kiba his daily supplements what pushed the brunet to act now rather than later. After all he didn't know when he might get another opportunity to do so.
And so, with his mind set on his goal, Kiba leaped toward Naruto. In an effort to get the blonde's attention, Kiba tried to gently pry Naruto's hands off his face but that only resulted in making the whiskered male jolt away into a standing position.
"Whaaa! Oh, sorry Kiba" said Naruto with a hand on his chest taking calming breaths to regain his composure. "I wasn't paying attention so you kinda scared me there."
Noticing how Kiba kept staring with a confused expression on his face, Naruto characteristically decided to defuse the awkwardness by grinning like and idiot and laughing it off. 'Darn I need stop being so jumpy around him or he is going to think I'm insane.'
"Naruto" the brunet called but Naruto was too busy with his own thoughts that Kiba failed to get the blonde's attention. Moving closer and standing up as well, Kiba poked Naruto's right cheek in another effort to catch his attention but again it only made the blond jerked away in surprise.
Yet this time Naruto tripped on the books he carelessly left on the floor and fell on his butt. "Oww" he whined while rubbing his rear. "That definitely hurt."
Kiba crouched in front of him, mildly intrigued by Naruto's reaction to his touch, and waved a hand to get the blonde's attention. "Naruto okay?"
The brunet had seen how Naruto would ask Hinata a similar question everytime the girl's face turned red and acted silly, so Kiba thought the situation called for the same question now that Naruto was acting weirder than usual.
Looking up Naruto's blue eyes connected with Kiba's dark ones. "Umm…" started the blond but couldn't finish as he became lost in the brunet's unfaltering gaze. Kiba was really leaning too close for comfort so Naruto gently pushed the other away by the shoulder to create more distance between them before averting his eyes to the floor in search of his next course of action.
'Alright Naruto, time to pull yourself together. You're a 19 year old young adult, no longer a hormonal kid, meaning you are in control of your emotions. So forget your fears, stop thinking with your penis, and use your freaking head already. So… what can I do to make things right again? Ah, got it!'
Turning to face again an even more confused looking Kiba, Naruto grinned as he made his proposal. "Hey buddy, how about we workout together?"
When Kiba tilted his head to the side Naruto continued. "Yeah I think that's a great idea! After all you got to exercise if you want to stay strong and manly like me!" he joked while adding mentally that it was also a good way to keep his mind off things. "Come on, I'll show you what I do at the Gym."
That last sentence was enough to hook Kiba in. He always wondered what it was that Naruto did when he was gone. Plus Kiba was never against the idea of doing something together with Naruto. And that's how they spent the next two hours. With Naruto showing Kiba his exercise routine and making sure the brunet understood exactly what they were for and how to do them properly. Sure the blond didn't have a whole lot of equipment in his home but he made due with the few weights he had around.
The two really enjoyed themselves through it all and it showed. Naruto didn't know how much he missed having a training body since Lee's departure and he was sure he found a good replacement in the brunet. Kiba on the other hand was only focused on matching Naruto in whatever set he did that he almost completely forgot that he wanted to talk with his blond fellow.
By the end of it both were so exhausted, red and sweaty that Kiba ended up taking his shirt off because he couldn't stand the heat. Tired and not thinking much of it Naruto did the same hoping that it would help him cool off.
That was the first time ever Kiba saw Naruto in his half naked glory that he became mesmerize by the rise and drop of Naruto's chest. The brunet couldn't help his honest curiosity of wanting to compare his body to the blonde's so he let his eyes shamelessly wander between the both of them secretly liking the similarities. Naruto took notice of Kiba's prying eyes and immediately felt unnerved by it. So in an effort to make a swift retreat Naruto tried to excuse himself by saying he needed a shower.
It was then that Kiba remembered that he still had something he wanted to tell Naruto so he grabbed the blond by the wrist trying to make him stay. Uncertainty ran through Kiba's mind when Naruto roughly jerked his hand away and ignored the brunet's call for him to stay. Seeing his chance walking away Kiba panicked and ended up pouncing on Naruto in an effort to make him stop and listen. The whiskered male felled face-up on the floor with the tattooed one landing on all four on top of him.
With his space invaded and surprised because Kiba hadn't done that in a long time, Naruto tried to calm his fight or flight instincts by reminding himself that Kiba had done this before and he'd been okay with it so now shouldn't be any different. Unfortunately the blond was failing miserably at it. That was until Kiba finally got the nerve to speak.
"Thank you" was all he said. Surprisingly enough that was all that was needed to quell Naruto's struggling mind. Blue eyes watched Kiba with strange interest as he struggled to find his next words. "Naruto save Kiba. Naruto take Kiba home. Kiba happy."
And it was all true. If Naruto hadn't appeared that night Kiba would had probably stayed out in the rain all night, possibly getting a cold. That would had prevented him from catching food, consequently making him starve and become too weak to fend off his predators. Worst case scenario Kiba would have already been dead without ever experiencing the sweeter side of life. There was so much more Kiba wanted to say to Naruto that was still beyond his ability to express. He hated not being able to get all of it off his chest because of his lack of communication skills.
But for now nothing would make him happier than for Naruto to understand that Kiba was overjoyed and grateful to be here. It was an intense emotion he was hoping his gaze alone could convey to the blond.
Naruto's muscles lost its tension after hearing Kiba's words. Now the blonde felt sorta terrible for the apprehension he had shown toward Kiba. He should have known that the brunet held no malice or ill intentions in his actions. The guy had been without freaking human contact his whole conscious life for Pete's sake! Naruto was again reminded that inside Kiba's grown body laid a mind of childlike innocence.
"You're welcome" answered Naruto with what he hope was an assuring smile. Apparently it was the right thing to do because Kiba instantly returned it with a wide smile of his own. Both relaxed and Naruto started to feel a warm feeling growing inside of him because of Kiba's recent confession. Naruto didn't know why it gave him joy to know that Kiba was happy to be here with him but it just did.
All seemed to be going well up until Kiba relaxed a little too much and let his weight drop a little. He ended up accidentally seating on a certain area below Naruto's waist making the blonde bolt almost immediately a few feet away from Kiba. The brunet whined his complains as he fell backwards on the floor because of Naruto's unexpected leap.
Naruto gave a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure that the brunet was okay before running off to the bathroom. Once inside Naruto locked the door and tried to stop the immense shaking of his body. It seemed that no matter how much the blonde wanted to believe in Kiba, his past demons still prevented him from getting comfortable with the idea of letting other people get close to him. Naruto had a trust issue, that was no lie; but no one knew just how deep those fears were.
Kiba on the meantime layed perfectly still in his place on the floor trying for the life of him to figure out what the heck did he do wrong now. One second Naruto was all smiles and the next he looked totally frighten. Then all of the sudden what Sakura said two weeks ago replayed in his mind. Something about not getting attached to Naruto or else he'll grow frustrated and miserable. Kiba still didn't know what she meant by it but somehow he feared that he was about to find out.
A/N: Kiba is finally getting more talkative but as you and I well know that wasn't nearly enough. In case you are wondering what is it about Naruto that made him be on the edge all the time, fret not because Naruto's backstory will be revealed in the next chapter (sort of). You'll see what I mean soon enough XD. Hope you enjoyed reading!
