Author's Note: Oh, the much long-awaited chapter 7!! Or, at least I awaited it. Haha.

Happy reading, everyone! There should be more lovey-dovey stuff in this chapter and less mystery/Ino crap. So you can finally stop throwing things and yelling at me!! (Just kidding.) (And Kankuro seems to get ketchup on his mouth a lot…see Chapter 17 of Beautiful Disaster for more info…)

Reviews are welcomed with cookies!

Seven. The Bluff

Kankuro

"I have a plan."

Kiba's head shot up. He finished chewing the sandwich I'd brought him and swallowed. "Plan for what?"

"A plan to get you out of this room. And, if it goes well, a plan to get you out of Suna for good."

He flopped back onto my bed. "So what's the plan?"

I grinned. "I was hoping you'd ask." I rummaged around on the top of my dresser, finally finding what I was looking for—a small pot of purple face paint. I was surprised it had gotten so buried. Had it really been that long since I'd had to use it?

I spun the small brush between my fingers, ready to paint a new design altogether. "Sit still."

"How still?"

"If you could sit any more still than I need you to sit, you'd have to be dead."

"Oh," he gulped. "That still." He sat up straight then, making sure his eyes were the only part of him that moved. If I hadn't caught the slightest movement of his stomach, I wouldn't have though he was breathing at all.

My brush glided, and I tried to paint the design I saw in my mind. Simple, but still indecipherable. Just like Kiba.

I made sure to paint large, upward-pointing triangles over each of his fang tattoos, licking my thumb to smear the paint when it didn't turn out quite right. His skin shivered at that, as though my touch was cold. On closer notice, however, I realized it was just the opposite: my skin was unbearably hot.

He shivered again. I laughed and painted two thin lines from the corners of his eyes, curving them so they just crossed the tips of the triangles and then lined his eyes, both top and bottom. "Are you cold?"

"Are you kidding me?" he gasped. "It's so hot in here…I can barely breathe!"

He moved his hand as though to scratch his cheek. I caught it, placing it back in his lap. "Don't do that. It's not dry yet!"

My brush ran over each of his lips, curving thin lines outward at each of the corners, until he had a specter's eerie smile.

"Kankuro, this stuff itches!"

"Hold still, you big baby. It only itches until it dries."

I quickly unscrewed the jar of set powder at my feet, using a brush to apply a light dusting over each of the paint sections. Eyes-cheeks-lips. Lips. They were small, and a bit thin, but still, I wanted to kiss them. It was a feeling I couldn't explain, let alone act upon. But…to kiss him? The more I though of it, the more I realized it wasn't anything new.

He reached over me, hunting for a mirror. "How does it look?" He asked, frowning. "I don't look queer, do I?"

"You have something against queers?" I was offended, given the thoughts I had just been having.

Although, it wasn't like I hadn't had thoughts of things in that same area before. I had.

Kiba bandaged my wounded neck, his fingers trailing down my stomach. I could feel the skin tighten over my bones as his hand made contact with the lower part of my abdomen.

"Are you suggesting something?" I asked for the second time.

He turned his head quickly, but my eyes still caught the edge of his blush. "No," he said quickly. Much too quickly.

Suddenly his hands were back at my neck again, clumsily removing the bandages. "I forgot to apply the paste," he hastily explained. The bandages came off, and I could feel the blood starting to drip as air rushed to the wound.

Suddenly the coolness of the air was replaced by something else, hot and wet and so, so much more comforting. I could feel his tongue moving across my jaw in small, flicking motions.

"K-Kiba?" I stuttered. "What are you doing?"

"Getting the blood off," he said, as though the act was perfectly natural and not slightly sexual or seductive in any way. Maybe he didn't think it was.

I laid my head against the door, trying not to act. He was straddling me now, his mouth draining the blood from my collarbone. Was that odd, to lick someone clean of blood? Then again, he was an Inuzuka—he was nearly a dog, or possibly a wolf. The taste of blood was probably natural to him.

I could feel my length, throbbing inside my pants. There was a wolf inside me, too. And he wanted out.

I had just chosen to ignore those thoughts, and pass them off as a whim. Now they were stronger, and so much more than a whim. I traced his lips with my finger, pretending to check that the paint had dried. Really, I just wanted to touch his mouth. I wanted my hand to have been there, so I could say I knew what that part of him was like. I wanted to know what all of him was like. I wanted to be inside him, and I wanted him inside me. And I was not ashamed of it.

He finally found the mirror—after nearly crawling into my lap, not to say that I minded—and held it up to his newly painted face. He grinned, making various faces. Mad Kiba, sad Kiba, happy Kiba, goofy cross-eyed Kiba. He lowered the mirror, and I saw the Kiba I had most wanted to see. Goofy, lovely, happy-to-be-alive, eternally grateful Kiba.

"Thanks, Kankuro. It looks great." He frowned, and I could tell if he was making another face or if he was confused. He cocked his head. "What am I?"

"My apprentice." I smiled, quickly applying some paint of my own. That was the bluff we would use from now on—Kiba would be my mysterious new "apprentice". After all, puppetry was a dying art. "Why don't we head outside?"

He jumped at the idea, hurriedly grabbing some clothes from my dresser to wear, since his own outfit was nearly in shreds. My garments were nearly too large, since he was so lean and I was so muscular. But somehow we made them fit, using some rope and pins and other odds and ends we found inside my room.

And every time I caught his smile, I wanted to tell him what I had known all along.

It's not the paint that's beautiful, Kiba, but the wearer.

xxx

Suna at night was a sight to behold. It was windy and still a bit warm, but most of the sandstorms and the heat from the day had died, leaving the air clear and clean.

Kiba did a few spins, kicking up sand in a whirling dust cloud around him. "Fresh air! Is it great to be alive or what?"

I smirked. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were a biiiit on the crazy side."

He stopped abruptly. "Yeah, well, you do know better. So shut it." He leaned closer, whispering only so I could hear. "Or would you rather I damage that pretty little neck of yours again?"

I shoved him aside. Having him so close was too much. "You're too chicken to hurt me again. Don't forget, you thought you killed me—I've never seen anyone so scared in their life! If I didn't know any better…I'd say you almost liked me."

"You wish."

I grabbed his upper arm before he could skirt away and brought him closer, so his face was inches from mine. "And what if I did?" I hissed. "What would you say then?"

He smirked. I was bluffing, and he could call it. Hell, he could probably smell it. But still, that didn't make his answer any less surprising. "I'd say 'Kiss me, Kankuro. Kiss me like you've never kissed a man before!'" He dipped back and put a hand over his eyes, swooning for effect.

My heart jumped into my throat.

Then he brought himself back up and grinned wolfishly. "Or something like that."

And for a split second I was tempted. Really, really tempted. I knew he was kidding, but I wanted to drag him into one of the side alleys and kiss him like he'd said, just so he'd shut up and kiss me back.

But of course, I couldn't do that. I offered a safer activity.

"You haven't had a decent meal in a while, right? Wanna grab some hamburgers?"

"Hell yeah!" He pumped a fist in the air. "Extra ketchup and mustard, hold the pickles! Hotcha!"

I grabbed his hand—trying to ignore the throbbing in my lower stomach—and dragged him towards the hamburger shop. We both ordered and I placed money n the counter. We then sat in silence and waited. It seemed Kiba's mood had darkened—there was nothing more to say.

Finally the burgers came, hot and juicy, and we began to wolf them down. I felt a bit of ketchup smear on my cheek, near the corner of my mouth. I knew I should wipe it off, for the sake of appearances, but I was too lazy. I'd clean up when I finished. What was the point of wasting eating time to clean up when I'd only get more ketchup on my mouth? It wasn't worth it.

Then I felt a sensation on my cheek, and my stomach swooped. Kiba was there, licking the ketchup off my cheek.

And, without know what I was doing, I reached out to him and pulled him off his chair and onto my lap in one swift movement.

His tongue slipped, skimming across my lips. My own tongue snaked from between my lips and traced his mouth. We were almost kissing. Almost. He knelt on top of me, straddling my legs, leaning into my torso. I pressed him closer. Our lips were nearly touching now—

"Kankuro!" a familiar voice barked. Something hard and metal craked over my skull.

No. No, why was this happening? I couldn't kiss him now, in front of her. She'd kill me, not to mention what she'd tell Gaara. Much as the kid had changed, he wouldn't understand.

Kiba gave a yelp and scooted back into his own seat, quickly wolfing down what remained of his burger. I turned around, pissed that she had ruined the moment. She was standing in all of her angry glory, bradishing the iron fan she'd smacked me with. "Yes, dear sister? What the hell are you here for?"

Temari glowered. "Who is that?" she asked, pointing to newly-disguised Kiba.

"My apprentice," I answered. "Do you have a problem with him?"

"But you and he were…just…just…Kankuro- what –the-hell-is-wrong-with-you-he's-clearly-under-age!"

"Slow down," I said casually, sipping at my drink. If anything pissed her off, it was someone taking serious matters casually. She simmered and made some angry noises. Kiba stayed silent, not wanting to look at either of us. She'd scared him off me. Damn. I looked back. She was still there, standing behind me. "Why are you here again?"

"Gaara has something for you to do. It seems that there are some…visitors…in the woods that span between Suna and Konoha. And they seem to be on the Suna edge of the woods. Gaara says to make sure they don't make it anywhere near the village."

"Got it." I motioned to Kiba, who seemed pleased to leave Temari's scrutinizing gaze. "Come along…uh…"

"Shino," Kiba said quickly.

"Right. I forgot. Let's go, Shino!"

Temari eyed me suspiciously but didn't say anything else. I sighed as we headed out of the village. With a sister that protective and cold around, it was a wonder I'd ever managed to lose my virginity in the first place.