Disclaimer: I do not own NARUTO, if I did, Sakura wouldn't be the only kunoichi that had a moment defining battle on Shippuden. And no, I do not count Hinata vs God!Pein as a battle.

A/N: Quick update, ne? This chapter is key for the developing drama of this story so be sure not to skip anything. That being said, happy readings!

WARNING: You won't need 20/20 vision to see the intended shonen-ai of this chapter so be a little open minded people, it's not like I'm writing yaoi so I want to hear no complaining about it. Aside from that, compared to the last chapter, this one is pretty straightforward.

-x-x-(Heh, I don't know what's going on but I'm always up for getting wild)-x-x-

Chapter Eight: "Someone to depend on"

Something was missing. That key ingredient that would help Jiraiya hit it big time with the book shelves. He had done some research - correction – he has done a LOT of research and he was sure he had written everything there was to write about how responsive the female anatomy could be to certain touches. He let out a pervert giggle when he remembered the places he has gone for writing inspiration. Yet for some reason that escaped him, his adult romance novels only managed to sell at a local level.

Maybe the problem wasn't the girls he was writing about. Maybe the one missing that special formula was the male protagonist of the series. But what could it be? Jiraiya knew all there was to know about guys and their relationship to women; after all, he was very experienced in that field. "Oh yes I am" he thought in reaffirmation, a very lecherous grin following tow. So what could his little orange book be missing? Maybe he needed another supporting character that'll help stir some new intrigue plot and new corporal positions? But what kind of character should it be?

"Must be the deadline," the old lecher figured, "I can't get any new inspiration because the deadline for my next book is due in two weeks." He has been researching day in and day out through the entire month so far without much luck so far so today he had decided that maybe if he stayed in, inspiration would come find him instead. And that was just what he'd been doing, sitting on his mattress as he waited for it. And he wouldn't move from said mattress until it happened.

But then the door bell decided to ring.

"This won't do," He groaned out when his peace was interrupted. He knew he wouldn't be able to concentrate if someone was visiting. If he didn't answer it he would be all day wondering who it was. But maybe that somebody just dropped a package for them. In that case it wouldn't do well if he was left wondering what the package was. He needed to rid his mind from this new development as soon as possible. "The Gaki must be up by now," he figured, leaning to his wall to yell at the teen in the other room. Neither the walls nor doors were exactly soundproof after all. "Hey Gaki! Get the door!"

"Get it yourself, I'm still tired!" came the loud reply.

"Gaki!" The adult novelist grumbled, remembering with a sigh that Naruto was at that age when youngsters questioned and rebelled against the orders of their more superior and experienced parents/guardians. "Hehe," but one didn't get to raise a kid without knowing what bells and whistles to use to elicit certain reactions from said kid. So with a sinister smile on his face, he let out a perverted chuckle as he announced pretty loudly, "But I'm all naked. Oh well, hopefully our visitor will be that pretty blonde girl that brought you clothing the other day," then he whispered in a teasing tone, "who knows, maybe she's all the inspiration I need".

What happened next would have the perverted parent laughing all day long. By the sounds alone he presumed that Naruto had fallen out of bed, cursed, stood up, tripped over his own feet as he headed to his bedroom door, cursed again, slam his door opened, fell down again because he slipped over an open ramen cup or something of the like, cursed even louder, stood and rammed open Jiraiya's bedroom door only to yell, "You better not leave this room while she's here and your next book better not have a blonde girl with a ponytail hairstyle on the cover you hear me? You sick pervert!" and with that, the teenage boy slammed close Jiraiya's door. The pervert in question would've found the scene more intimidating if Naruto hadn't been wearing his black nightcap with the eyes and teeth on it.

"Pervert!" Naruto mumbled absentmindedly through gritted teeth because of how that old man had even toyed with the idea of ogling Ino like that. She was Naruto's age for crying out loud. Clearly off limits to someone of Jiraiya's age.

"Wait," The teen stopped himself, wondering why he was getting so worked up about Ino. She was a girl that rarely ever crossed his mind. But then he thought, "why not?" True, Ino and him had never been able to relate to one another before but lately the girl had been nothing but nice to him. In these last few weeks she had even invited him to eat with her during lunch and even bought him a purple sweater. Sure, he didn't particularly like the color purple but the fact that the sweater was his size meant that she had taken some thought into account. He wasn't sure if Sakura had ever bought him something. Speaking of Sakura, Ino even told him that if it would make him feel better she would tone down her habit of name-calling Sakura. And so far, for what he had seen, she has. Ino had been real good to him lately so he guessed it was only natural for him to react that way when the pervert even suggested ogling her, because he felt compelled to look out for her too.

"Yeah," he nodded to himself, happy that he figured it out in that short amount of time. He was feeling smarter already.

The doorbell rang again and Naruto laughed to himself. Here he was getting so worked up over Ino when there was no guarantee that it was even her ringing the doorbell.

Before unlocking the door to his apartment, Naruto called over for the visitor to identify himself/herself, but when he received a familiar bark as a reply, he flung the door open and was greeted with the sight of his new buddy, Kiba, and his faithful hound, Akamaru.

Being polite and hospitable had been manners that Jiraiya had always made sure Naruto remembered when treating guests. But said guests would always be girls Jiraiya brought over. Taking into account how unintentionally rude Naruto could be because he tended to speak without thinking things too clearly, and the fact that Kiba was not a girl, Naruto instead of saying 'good morning, please come in' he went straight to the first thing that popped in his head. "What are you guys doing here?"

Kiba would've been put off by the 'warm' welcome if he were the kind of person that even cared about manners, but like he wasn't, he just pointed to himself and answered boisterously, "Me and Akamaru were pumping some steam, stumbled 'round here, and figured we might as well see if you wanted to jog with us." True, Kiba had taken a huge detour from his usual route to 'stumble' around Naruto's pad but the blond didn't need to find out about that. Kiba then looked up and down at Naruto and winked, "Nice pajamas by the way."

"Eh?" Naruto looked at himself and his ramen printed jammies, a huge rush of embarrassment settling in soon after. Not because Kiba had seen him like this but because right now it could've been Ino staring at him. "Tah, let me change!" he cried out panicking, as he ran to his room and stripped down to change into something sportier.

Through the whole ordeal Naruto had forgotten to either invite Kiba and Akamaru in or to close his bedroom door as he changed, and crammed as the apartment was, even from the front door Kiba could capture the complete peep show experience. Kiba had tried to look away but the instant Naruto's fingers graced his green boxers, it became relatively hard for Kiba's slit eyes to stray from that round ass.

Naruto came out wearing a red wife beater with some black sweat shorts and some red and black sneakers. Kiba himself was wearing a black wife beater and some white sweat shorts.

"So I guess this mean you're coming?" Kiba chuckled, inviting himself in, "and here I thought Akamaru would have to resort to his puppy eyes to convince you." That made Naruto smile without knowing it himself. Kiba might have been trying to tease his friend but he in-avertedly admitted that he wasn't leaving until the blond said "yes".

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto said as he waved it off, searching through the cabinets 'til he found his holsters. He pulled them out and sat on the floor so that he could wrap one of them around his right thigh. At the questioning looks his two visitors were giving him, he explained that he was using the hoister as a place to store his frog wallet, his apartment keys and his cell phone. Kiba furrowed his brows and commented it looked stupid to which Nauto bitterly retorted "well since I got no pockets on me this is the best I can do!" and with that being said, he pouted like a child and looked away. He remembered Sasuke telling him the same thing some time ago but he was sort of hoping Kiba wouldn't say it too. That's why he was really surprised by what the dog owner did next.

"Then I guess we'll have to look stupid together," Kiba chucked, grabbing hold of the spare hoister on the floor to tie it around his own right thigh. Then he emptied into the hoister the contents Akamaru had on the bag wrapped around his middle. "So, we good to go?"

"Yeah," the other boy replied with mucho gusto as he began strapping his black hitai around his head, that is, 'til he remembered that Ino had told him she preferred seeing him without it most of the time. He was about to take it off when he felt Kiba's hands reach out from behind and tighten the hitai perfectly. Naruto turned around and gave Kiba a questioning stare but the boy in question shrugged it off with a, "it looked like if you were having trouble so I helped out." And like if he had known what Naruto had been worrying about he added, "Plus you look better with it anyways."

"That's what I've been telling everyone," Naruto complained, pumping a fist but it was obvious he was only smiles. "Now c'mon, dog breath," he cheered, "let's see if you can keep up with my stamina."

"Fine, we'll worry about your stamina," Kiba countered playfully while patting his dog's head, "but let's see if you can keep up with our speed, right Akamaru?" he taunted and Akamaru barked in joint approval, making the guys laugh comfortably by the amiable companionship they were sharing.

Said laughter was getting in the way of the inspiration of a certain adult novelist, so having enough of it, he popped his head out of his slightly opened door and asked what was all the ruckus about. Naruto answered, "I'm going out for a walk," with an energetic smile clearly visible on his face. Then a brunet just about Naruto's height lazily wrapped an arm around the blond's neck and with a confident smile assured, "Don't worry, old man, I'll bring Naruto back before dinner." And with that, Naruto waved goodbye and left with the brunet and a giant dog in tow.

Jiraiya's brain started to function again when he heard the 'click' that indicated the front door being closed.

He had never seen that brunet with the red triangular tattoos on his face before. In fact, he didn't know Naruto had any friends other than that Uchiha brat and that Haruno girl the blond constantly talked about. But this brunet with the dog, "Who are they?"

Yet what alarmed him the most was how the kid with the tats had so familiarly wrapped an arm around the gaki and how okay said gaki seemed about it. Almost as if the gaki was expecting it to happen.

Then the wheels in Jiraiya's brain started to spin.

"That's it!" he yelled out enthusiastically, grabbing hold of his pencil and notebook, "That's what my story has been missing!" and with that in mind, he locked himself back to his room so he could use his sudden burst of inspiration into giving birth to a new book.

-x-x-(Back to Naruto, Kiba and Akamaru)-x-x-

They had been jogging for more than an hour, so after coming to a brief stop to refuel with some sport drinks Naruto asked, "So where we heading?" squinting his eyes like a fox as he walked with his hands folded behind his head, "getting your monthly shots?"

"Haha," Kiba fake laughed at the other's hinting that Kiba needed to see the vet, "You're a real glutton for punishment aren't you?" the brunet then leaned down in the starting position the track runners always took and motioned Naruto to do the same beside him, "Akamaru is the one that's going to lead us, see?" he said gesturing towards his dog who looked ready to run at any time, "All we have to do follow him and make sure we don't lose sight of him."

"Gotcha! Like follow the leader!" Naruto nodded, feeling childishly nostalgic about playing this sort of game. Even though he never really got much chance to play these types of games when he was younger, because of home issues he supposed. There wasn't really anyone willing to take him in after his parents had died. That is, until Iruka came around and housed him for a while 'til Jiraiya finally appeared from wherever he had been hiding and claimed the legal rights to be Naruto's guardian. But that was a time of loneliness the Uzumaki didn't want to remember.

Because that loneliness now reminded him of Gaara's eyes

"Psst, Fox boy," Kiba whispered, waving his hand in front of Naruto until the fogged blue eyes of the blond regained their focus on the real world, "Oi, Naruto, ready?"

"S-Sure thing," Naruto nodded, focusing back on the dog before him.

"Good, now don't forget. We are not allowed to get ahead of Akamaru," Kiba said, repeating the rule he was sure Naruto didn't hear on account of his daydreaming. "Akamaru… Go!"

The race began and Akamaru and Kiba leapt up before Naruto even had a chance to blink.

"No fair!" the blond shouted as he tried to pick up his pace. Kiba slowed down a bit and grabbed the other boy by the wrist to pull him forward faster until they were able to catch up with the dog. Akamaru kept leaping off between narrow corners, kept jumping into every alley he found, and kept running carefree through streets, sidewalks and lawns. The two guys kept following in tow, trying to be careful not to stumble upon anybody.

Kiba did accidentally stepped on the feet of a guy or two, and Naruto kept accidentally knocking down a variety of stuff from umbrellas to empty trash cans, muttering a quick apology every time. Naruto would've probably had an easier time with his footing if Akamaru didn't stop so abruptly, slowing down only to speed up again without a moment notice. The blond felt like he would tumble down every time he almost got ahead of Akamaru by mistake. The rules were not to get ahead, after all.

"Psst, Naruto!" Kiba said between fast intakes of air, "Akamaru slows down every time he is under some shades and speeds off every time the sun hits him so that he could find the next set of shades. Follow that routine and you should do fine"

"Ohhh," Naruto acknowledged, a fierce and confident determination working its way into a cocky grin. "Thanks for the tip."

They kept running after Akamaru with fewer incidents this time around, enjoying themselves as little kids would've. This was the type of thing Kiba always wished Shino and Hinata did with him and Akamaru but they always seemed to refuse. He could tell Akamaru was happy he had two people tailing him instead of just one. It made things more challenging and worthwhile. The dog owner was happy Naruto went along with it. Kiba was also happy that the other boy seemed to be enjoying himself. Hinata had told him that Naruto had been spacing out a lot in their group studies and Kiba figured it must've been because of Gaara. Even today Naruto's face still had a slowly fading bruise under his left eye, and it angered Kiba that he didn't do anything to help Naruto during that fight. Because of the events he has seen how Naruto's fake smile had resurfaced every time somebody asked the blond if he was okay.

Kiba's daydream came to a quick halt when Akamaru started barking angrily at a couple of troublemakers he recognized from school. He saw Naruto yelling furiously at Dosu, Kin and Zaku to stay away as Akamaru proceeded to scare them away. "Whoa," Kiba said to himself, he must've spaced out pretty badly to miss the whole incident.

"You guys, okay?" Naruto asked, leaning down to smile at three middle school students Kiba recognized as Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon. Those three used to follow Naruto everywhere when he was in middle school.

"We're okay, boss!" Konohamaru announced, banging his chest once like an ape, "I held them down because I knew you would come to help."

"They tried to steal our money! I was scared" Moegi complained, before batting her eyelashes at the blond boy before her, "But I'm okay now that you're here."

"You looked like a street fighter," Udon pitched in, looking like if he was ready to sneeze at anytime. And he did.

"Hehe, that's good to know," Naruto smiled reassuringly, "now go on ahead and stick together. If you get into trouble again I'll be sure to rescue you guys again."

"Sure thing, boss!" the three middle schoolers said, saluting like soldiers before scattering around like rodents. Kiba had to quirk an eyebrow at the sight. The dog owner was sure he didn't space out for too long so if a fight actually happened where Naruto had to defend the three little brats then Kiba would've seen it. But all he saw was Akamaru scaring away the bullies, so in other words, Akamaru was the hero here. Still, Kiba wasn't about to rain of Naruto's hero parade.

"Say, Kiba," Naruto said, looking deflated, "mind if we eat first, I'm starving."

The boy being questioned hadn't really given food much thought, probably because his mind was being occupied with images of a foxy blond with whisker-like scars on his cheeks, but at the mention of food, his stomach decided to remind him how hungry he was, hence Kiba complied. Problem was the brunet wasn't exactly sure where his dog had led them to. But apparently he didn't have to because Naruto was already dragging him by the arm, saying something about Ichiraku being close by.

Was Kiba surprised they ended up in a Ramen Hut? Not really. Everybody at school knew that the somewhat exuberant prankster of Konoha had an addiction to the noodles soup. Not that Kiba minded, the Ramen Hut was an outdoor establishment, meaning that Akamaru could sit with them. Sure, there was a couple beside them that kept giggling over nothing and couldn't keep their hands off each other but Kiba learned to tune them out in favor of the blue-eyed fox sitting across him.. As they ate, Kiba kept feeding bits and pieces of his food to Akamaru, and Naruto kept staring with childlike fascination every time Akamaru licked Kiba's hand clean.

"Hey…" the ramen-lover said, rubbing a finger under his nose, "hey Kiba!"

"What?" the dog-lover answered, using the napkins to clean his hands.

"Is it ok if I feed Akamaru?"

"I guess it couldn't hurt." Kiba answered when he was met with an eager looking Naruto, his blue eyes going from Kiba to Akamaru and then back as he waited for an answer. "What are you going to feed him?"

"Huh?" The blond let out, a little puzzled since he hadn't thought that far ahead. He glanced over the meals in his table, looking for something Akamaru would like. "These onions or something. Why? Is that weird?"

"No onions! Dogs and onions don't mix!"

"What? Really?"

"There's a lot of human food that dogs ain't supposed to have…," Kiba lectured, he crossed his arms and closed his eyes as he replayed in his mind the things that dogs couldn't eat, "certain spices are no good, and don't get me started on chocolate."

"Wow." Naruto let out, his eyes widening in amazement, "The one thing you're good at is dog trivia."

"The one thing!?" Kiba inquired, looking slightly offended before retorting, "And it's not trivia!" but the blond wasn't paying attention to him anymore, his curious eyes set on the dog.

"Here you go, Akamaru!" Naruto said, offering the hound a piece of meat. Akamaru accepted it without giving it a second thought and later resumed licking the blonde's hands in search for traces of leftover meat. Naruto began chuckling because the pup's tongue felt like if it was wiping his hand clean, plus it tickled a little. The blond then sniffed his hand and was surprised when it didn't smell bad, and so he took another piece of meat for Akamaru to devour.

Akamaru seemed pleased, so in fact, that he stayed beside Naruto and gave the blond his big puppy eyes, conveying the message that he wanted more. Naruto conceded and even began scratching the dog behind the ears. Before Kiba knew it, he was already melting at the sight before him. Anyone who'd be paying attention would easily be able to catch the love-struck smile on the brunet's face. "Love?" that little word made Kiba snap out of his daze. Fast. He quickly excused himself from the table, saying he had to visit the restrooms but not before telling Akamaru to keep watch of Naruto.

"Arf!" the dog complied, climbing his fore legs into Naruto's lap, encouraging with soft groans the blond to keep scratching him behind the ears. Minutes later, Naruto already found himself missing Kiba's presence.

"Hey, Akamaru," Naruto whispered, enjoying the sound the dog was making, "Today's been really fun so far, you think Kiba would mind if I told him I'll like to do this again, sometime?"

Akamaru felt the need to roll his eyes at that. Of course his owner wouldn't mind, but the again, Naruto hadn't been there to see how Kiba practically dragged Akamaru off route just so they could visit Naruto. Akamaru maybe just a dog but he could tell his owner was really happy that Naruto and Akamaru got along with each other. Plus it would be a win-win for the dog too, not only would his owner be happy but Akamaru wasn't complaining about the fact that Naruto kept feeding him while Kiba was away.

Akamaru could surely get used to that.

"Oh stop it!" said the girl from the couple that sat beside Naruto. The lovers began another giggling feat and the blond found himself staring blankly at them. "Hey," his voice sounded as he noticed something that caught his attention. The male beside him was wearing a similar red sweater to the one Ino had given him, but apparently had forgotten to take off the price tag. Naruto kept staring at the article of clothing until he was convinced that the red sweater was exactly the same Ino had bought him, only with a different color. So letting curiously get the best of him, he read the price tag.

He felt his eye bulging out of their sockets.

"Damn," that was one really expensive sweater Ino had gotten for him. Naruto was sure he couldn't afford buying clothes that pricey. "Ino bought this for me?" he wondered, staring at the price tag again to see if his mind was playing tricks on him. He still couldn't believe it. "Why would Ino buy something this expensive for me?" Now he felt like if he had underappreciated her gift. And it wasn't even his birthday. It was awfully nice of her to do that for him. Nicer than anything Sakura had ever given him, which could pretty much be summed up in all the awful tasting treats Sasuke had rejected from her.

"Ino…," he found himself repeating her name like a mantra.

-x-x-(Meanwhile at the boy's room)-x-x-

He was happy, he was scared, and he was very confused. On one hand, he was happy that the man meat of a friend he had outside was getting along perfectly with Akamaru, meaning that his faithful dog wouldn't be an issue if Kiba decided to pursue a relationship with Naruto. On the other hand, it freaked Kiba out that he was even considering starting a relationship with Naruto. Sure, Kiba already suspected that for some reason he liked being around the boy. And he was sure it was because he wanted Naruto and him to be buddies. But being buddies was the same thing Kiba wanted from Shino but his body didn't react the same way with the bug-catcher that it did with Konoha's troublemaker.

Every time Shino spoke, Kiba would just be waiting for his friend to finish his monologue so that Kiba could ignore it and make him do whatever he thought would be more fun instead. When Naruto spoke, Kiba would find himself staring at his lips, and then Kiba would feel a weird warm sensation on his abdomen every time the other would smile.

That's why Kiba had decided invite the man that made him feel warm inside on a power walk today. Well, at least that was the official story he went with. The unofficial but real story was that he actually invited the other to a date so that Kiba could figure out his feelings better. He was expecting them to get into some sort of stupid argument, and by the end of the day be brawling over nothing. Then he would be sure he just wanted Naruto as a friend. But so far everything was pointing towards wanting something much deeper than friendship.

He closed his eyes and tried to imagine himself with Akamaru and Naruto sitting beside each other on the lawn doing nothing, he tried imagining himself at the cafeteria table he always sat on at school, with Naruto laughing beside him as they tried to feed each other, he also tried picturing himself holding hands with the other as they ran after Akamaru. He tried visualizing them wrestling with each other until they end up in some explicit position that would eventually lead to a heated make out session, and finally he tried imagining the two embracing each other as they slept soundlessly in each other's arms. The scary thing was that Kiba could see himself doing that. He tried imagining himself with any other guy but some images wouldn't come up, others felt awkward and the rest of the guys he would imagine himself with ended up morphing into Naruto one way or another.

There as no denying it now, he was into Naruto but apparently he didn't feel anything remotely close toward other guys. The second Kiba suspected that he might be gay, he invited Shino to the beach to see if seeing his friend with nothing but his swimming trunks on would elicit some sort of reaction within him. Kiba just ended up relieved because compared to Shino, he looked better without his shirt. But then somehow the rest of the guys from Konoha started showing up and again, the most Kiba did was visually compare his body with the others.

But then Naruto came around and Kiba had to spend the rest of the day willing his body to cool down around the blond. So yeah, he knew his body was attracted to Naruto's, but today confirmed that his attraction to the other wasn't only physical. So that led him to his current problem. "What the fuck do I do know?" he wondered, pacing in circles, "But Naruto is so obviously into girls! If he didn't, he wouldn't be tailing after Sakura all the time."

Realization struck him hard.

"What am I even doing?" he asked himself out in defeat. He already knew the answer to his problem. Naruto liked Sakura and there was no other way around it. No use getting upset over something that can't be changed. He'll just have to take it like a man and hope that with time, whatever strong emotion he had toward the blond would dissipate. "I guess I should just end this pointless date already". And with that in mind he went to meet up with his dog and his platonic crush.

"Oi, Naruto!" he said when the other was just ten feet away. Naruto shook his head as if he was trying to get rid of some thoughts that were plaguing him before turning to smile at his friend. Kiba was going to suggest they call it a day but when Naruto delivered that smile of his, Kiba felt his heart wrench. It was the strictly superficial grin of his that said everything would be okay even though half of the time he didn't believe it himself. The fake smile.

Kiba then remembered that sorting out his own feelings wasn't the only reason he had invited Naruto out. The other reason was to make the blond enjoy himself so that he would forget about whatever he had been worrying over.

"Oi fox boy, how do you feel about basketball?"

-x-x-(Some time later)-x-x-

The basket ball game almost ended in a tie. For the most part, thanks to Kiba's speed, the brunet had royally owned Naruto on the court. But by the middle of the game, the speedy teen started exhausting himself and that's when Naruto's high stamina turned the tide in favor of the blond. In no time the teen with the energy that outmatched that of the energizer bunny had matched his scores to that of his rival on the court. The game ended 19 to 21, the winner being Naruto.

Now both teens had flopped down unceremoniously on the lawn of the town's public park. Both with their clothes sticking like a second skin to their bodies, drenched in sweat. Their bodies felt limp, unable to even lift a finger as they stared at the sky in silence, hoping their rapid breathing would return to its normal pace some time soon. The sky was already darkening so they should be heading to their homes very soon.

"You know," Kiba wheezed out, trying to make conversation with the other, "calling me dog breath isn't really an insult."

"Really?" Naruto replied, turning his head sluggishly so he could see his friend, "how so?"

"Because dog's mouths are actually cleaner than humans'" Kiba answered with a know-it-all smirk on his face, "it's been scientifically proven."

"Wow, you really are good with dog trivia." Naruto commented as he sat up straight, staring at his friend in awe before developing a confident smirk of his own, "Well in that case, calling me fox boy isn't offensive either. Because when someone is a fox is because they are either sly or hot."

"Hm," Kiba offered in reply, sitting up straight as well but turning his face away from Naruto's, "Might as well say it," "then by default I guess that means I think you're hot." He commented expecting the other to freak out. When Naruto didn't, he slowly turned around to Naruto, but before he even had a chance to read those blue eyes, he saw a bat being swung toward his friend, but yet again, before he had a chance to react, he blacked out.

-x-x-(Some short time later)-x-x-

"Arf! Arf!" Akamaru kept barking into his owner's ears, hoping to wake him up. When Kiba started to stir, the dog leapt towards the other boy and started licking his face.

"What… what happened?" the teen in black and white groaned, his head feeling like if he just had a concussion.

"Don't know…" the teen in red and black groaned back, trying to stand but failing miserably. "I'm all dizzy and my head hurts!"

"Fuck," cursed Kiba, feeling a painful jolt run through his neck when he tried to look at his friend, "what time is it?"

To answer the question, Naruto inserted his digits inside his hoister, "Let me check my cell for the ti--, Gama-chan is gone!"

"Gama-chan?" Kiba asked, staring quizzically at his friend.

"My wallet!"

"Huh…?" he let out as he too checked his hoister, "Hey, my wallet is gone too!"

"Damn it!" Naruto groaned loudly, feeling like if his throbbing head was about to explode from the pain, "Somebody knocked us out, and robbed us!"

"Arf! Arf!" the dog alerted, sinking his teeth into Kiba's sneakers in an attempt the drag the boy.

"Really, Akamaru?" he said, nodding in understanding. He noticed that the sky wasn't completely darkened yet so it was safe to assume he was unconscious for a short period of time. "Oi Naruto, Akamaru says the thieves aren't too far. Let's trail them!"

"How can you tell?" the blond asked, surprised by the revelation.

"Cause they can't hide from Akamaru and me. Want to know why? (sniff) We can smell them."

"No that! I meant how can you tell what Akamaru is saying?"

"That? Well, uh, I wouldn't be a good owner if I didn't understand him, now would I?" Kiba explained with the best logic he could use. Naruto nodded in comprehension before stretching a hand to Kiba. A hand the brunet wasted to time to take, and with combine efforts, the boys helped each other up to their feet. Turning to his dog, he said "Seek them!"

Before they knew it, they were running after Akamaru who after a couple of minutes stopped by a bench with somebody resting on it.

"It's Shikamaru!" Naruto yelled in recognition, shaking the sleeping teen by the shoulders, "Hey Shikamaru, wake up!"

"Ehh…" came the drowsy reply, and after some yawning, the Nara open his eyes and lazily stared at the boy who hadn't stopped shaking him by the shoulders, "oh, it's you. Why are you waking me up? I was having a nice dream."

"You mean you weren't knocked down? Nobody stole your wallet?"

"Why would anyone steal my… I can't find it." Shikamaru was sure he had his wallet with him before he started watching clouds pass by. He had fallen into peaceful sleep because of the clouds. Sometimes he wished he was a cloud, just floating aimlessly in the sky with nothing else to do. But he wasn't a cloud. He was a teenager with a mother who nagged him like a demon, and apparently by what Naruto was saying, he was also a teen who had been robbed while he napped.

"Stinkin' thieves! Who where they trying to imitate? The boogeyman?"

Shikamaru's thoughts were quickly interrupted when Akamaru dashed off again, with Kiba and Naruto following in tow. Shikamaru really wasn't feeling like standing up and much less running after some dog, but after playing 200 different scenarios over his mind, he sighed and followed the dog because it would be too troublesome if he returned home with empty pockets. His mom wouldn't let him hear the end of it.

After a couple of more minutes running, Akamaru had led them to an alley were the electric light were flickering on and off. It was already becoming too dark to see that far ahead. Then the dog came to an abrupt stop and even started shaking. When Kiba leaned down to ask his dog if something was wrong, he just shivered and even cowered behind his owner. And before any of the guys could ask any question they heard a pain filled groan coming from the alley. Before they knew it a girl had fallen unconscious in front of them. It was Kin Tsuchi.

Soon after, the bodies of Zaku Abumi and Dosu Kinuta piled up on top of Kin, all looking unconscious. Three baseballs bats fell beside them and the silenced followed. Kiba, Naruto and Shikamaru stood grounded, unable to move at the sudden sensation of fear that fell upon them. "What the hell happen to Dosu, Zaku and Kin?"

Their unasked question was answered by the quiet steps of another individual who emerged from the dark alley, walking calmly ahead until he reached Dosu's body. It was Gaara but this time Naruto couldn't feel that intense killer vibe that always seemed to accompany the boy with the blood colored hair. That vibe felt more subdued this time.

"What did you do to them?" Shikamaru asked but Gaara effortlessly ignored his existence, showing no signs of even hearing the question. Gaara needed to answer to no one, but Naruto wasn't having any of it. So closing his blue eyes he yelled, "Just what the hell did you do to them?!"

Blue-green eyes strayed off to the boy with scars on his face, an existence he did recognize. Yet with a voice that betrayed no emotion he answered, "They didn't suffer because I knocked them out so quickly they didn't have time to experience it." as he bent down to Dosu's body and began to inspect it.

Naruto stared once again at Kin. Iruka-sensei had told him millions of time that a boy should never raise his hand against a girl and it was the second time Naruto had seen a girl injured by the redhead and it made him sp angry he shouted, "What did she ever do to you?"

"I acted out in self-defense," the redhead answered, having to qualms about hitting a girl, "They should've known this would happen when they tried to steal from me."

That comment triggered Shikamaru's eyes to explore the items that were dropped by the unconscious trio when they crash-landed on the ground. "It's our wallets." Naruto and Kiba also recognized their wallets but found they were unable to move their feet while Gaara was there. The redhead reached out for his own wallet and pocketed it. Naruto still couldn't believe what he was witnessing and he also didn't like the way Gaara did things without any remorse for his actions. The blond felt like if it was up to him to say or do something but in Gaara's presence the best he could come up with was a, "But…"

As Gaara stood up to his full height, Naruto took a step back. It didn't go unnoticed by the redhead. "Don't look so surprised," he said, rubbing a slowly fading bruise he had under his eye, in the same place Naruto had his. His blue-green eyes flickering with some faint emotion before turning away to leave as calmly as he had walked in.

"But… but" the blond stammered again. How can he not be surprised? Gaara hurt people and didn't seem affected by it. Naruto couldn't comprehend it. "I don't understand you!"

"I find that hard to believe," Gaara whispered from the distance but his voice was still audible for Naruto. The redhead closed his eyes as he touched his fading bruise again, "Because just like me you too are a demon. Naruto Uzumaki"

Kiba was the first to get off the weird funk they were all in when the redhead was no longer visible, "Geesh, that guy is a freak." He muttered into Naruto's ear, causing the other's breath to hitch at how close Kiba's voice sounded.

"Um, guys?" Shikamaru quirked an eyebrow when he saw Naruto still glaring at the direction Gaara had gone to, with Kiba standing behind Naruto, his arms wrapped protectively around the blond. The two took notice of their position and jumped away from each other, Kiba wondering if he had been shielding Naruto with his arm the entire time Gaara was there.

"Look," Shikamaru started with his usual 'I rather go to sleep' tone of voice, "I don't know what's going on between the two of you but solve it on your way home. I'll stay here and call the cops."

"Why the cops?" Kiba asked.

The Nara shook his head and pointed at the items on the ground, "There are at least eight wallets here. We need to report it to the police so that they can return them to their rightful owners."

"But why do we have to leave while you get to stay?" Naruto asked.

Shikamaru sighed as he picked up the wallets he remembered as Naruto's and Kiba's and handed it over to them as he answered, "because if the three of us are here the police will suspect it was us who knocked these three out."

"But Gaara did it all by himself!" Naruto retorted, "Shouldn't we report him too?"

"He acted out in self defense, Naruto," the Nara reasoned, yawning mid way, "I get that you want to get Gaara in trouble for what he did to Sakura but I think in this case it's better if we let him go." He then massaged the tensed muscles between his neck and shoulders before continuing, "Besides, I doubt any one of us wants to handle Gaara."

"It's not just because of Sakura," Naruto whispered hoarsely. It was not that he wanted to get Gaara into trouble but there was something about him that made Naruto scared of him. All week the blond hadn't stopped replaying the look of loneliness in Gaara's eyes before the redhead had gone ballistic on the beach. A look of loneliness and hatred Naruto was sure he had himself before Iruka-sensei had walked into his life and saved him from it.

"Oi, Naruto," Kiba said, pulling him by the arm, "let's go."

"Take care!" Naruto mouthed to Shikamaru before disappearing off with Kiba and Akamaru.

"What a drag," the Nara sighed, picking up his own wallet, "today just isn't my day."

-x-x-(Back to Naruto, Kiba and Akamaru)-x-x-

They had been running for at least thirty minutes until they were fairly sure they were close to Naruto's home. Kiba felt like it would be weird if he actually walked Naruto all the way up the stairs to his apartment so he stopped himself once they reached the vicinity and said, "Oi, fox boy, I guess this is where we go our separate ways."

"Oh… okay," Naruto said sighing loudly, stretching out is hand so he could pat Akamaru again, "I guess I'll see you guys at school."

"Yeah," Kiba responded, yet they still stood there not moving an inch, as if waiting for the other to say something else. They stayed like that for a good amount of time until Akamaru decided to break the silence by barking and pushing Kiba's legs towards the other boy. "Oi, Akamaru, what's the idea?"

"Here," Naruto smiled, stretching his hands towards Kiba, "I'm not really good at understanding dogs but I think Akamaru wants us to say goodbye." Akamaru barked in consent. Kiba smiled and shook Naruto's hand. The blond felt his hand warm in Kiba's, and was about to pull back when the other suddenly gripped it tighter and brought it to his chest. Naruto gave Kiba a questioning stare but his eyes couldn't meet Kiba's as the brunet had already closed his. Naruto eyes widened momentarily when Kiba pressed his forehead against his. Naruto would've on instinct pulled away from the brunet but he had already accepted that Kiba was more of a hands-on friend than a hands-off.

"Um… Naruto," the brunet started, breathing in to gain some confidence, "About today… mind if we do this again sometime?"

"Do I?" Naruto responded eagerly, not at all alarmed that his face was just centimeters way from Kiba's, "I already told Akamaru I wanted to do this again!"

"Then it's a done deal," Kiba assured, smirking with a sense of accomplishment, "later fox boy!"

"Later dog breath," Naruto waved adieu, the smile on his face refusing to fade. Today had been a great day. The fact that Kiba had come to his door to invite him somewhere was something that neither Sasuke nor Sakura had done for him before. The fact that Kiba wanted to go at it again was mind blowing. Whenever Naruto enjoyed doing something with Sasuke, he would have a hard time making the Uchiha admit that he too was enjoying himself. The closest thing Sasuke had come to admitting he enjoyed spending time with Naruto was saying, "I'm still here, aren't I?" But here was Kiba admitting that he did enjoy it with both words and actions. "Is this what Jiraiya meant when he told me to find friends with whom to share a reciprocal friendship with?"

Naruto shook the thought away and climbed the flight of stairs back to his apartment door, but when he entered that night he was met with a sight he never expected to see from his parental figure. A serious looking Jiraiya sat on the small sofa, a wooden stool before him.

"Naruto," the older of the two said sternly, the dim light of the room making his face barely noticeable. "Sit here," he said, gesturing at the wooden stool in front, "We need to have… the talk."

"Um… okay?" Naruto responded unsurely, his face contorting up in confusion as he eyed the other, "what's this about?"

"Well you see," the older started, taking a deep breath before continuing, "When a boy reaches a certain age he starts developing certain… urges to touch and be touched by…"

"I already learned about that stuff in school," Naruto interrupted and narrowed his eyes at his guardian, "plus your books really don't leave anything to the imagination." He kept his eyes narrowed, sensing something suspicious in the way the elder of the two kept talking.

"Good," Jiraiya sighed, swiping the imaginary sweat off his forehead, "good, then let's get down to business," he said grabbing hold of a pencil and his notebook, "How did you feel when that kid with the tats came to pick you up?"

"Kiba?" Naruto asked, confused with why the conversation headed towards his new friend, "I guess I felt… happy? Saved from the boredom today was going to be. Our boss called saying that because of repairs, Sasuke and I didn't have to work at the arcade today"

"Hmm," the other hummed, scribbling down in his notebook everything he heard and describing all the expressions and emotions Naruto's face and body language conveyed, "and how would you say you felt when Kiba placed his arm around you?"

"Ehh… well the first time he did it I was a little uncomfortable with it. But he has done it some many times now that I'm kinda ok with it. Plus he feels warm. But then at the beach he was keeping his distance from me and it felt awkward, it didn't feel right. I'm used to him being all up in my… Hey! Are you writing this down?"

"Uh?" Jiraiya said, putting up a big smile that didn't fool anyone, "I'm not taking notes."

"Liar!" Naruto responded loudly, trying to reach out for the notebook but the other kept evading his grasp.

"Calm down, Gaki!" The novelist said, trying to keep Naruto's eyes from prying into the contents of his new research, "I'm not doing anything bad. I'm just curious about your little date."

"D-D-D-D-Date?!" Naruto's face paled when the other said that. But then the idea of it made Naruto blush in embarrassment like his face has never done before. Said embarrassment then turned red in anger because he figured Jiraiya was using his life experiences again to write another porn book. "Y-You think me and Kiba w-were… I ain't telling you about that, you pervert!"

"Pervert?" Jiraiya said, sounding offended at the name-call, "I'll have you know that I'm better than any pervert. I'm a super perv!"

"I'm still telling you nothing!" Naruto yelled, locking himself up in his room. He could hear his heart pounding when the pervert at the other side of the door started whining things like, "But you gotta tell me!" "It's for our family income!" "I'll buy you condoms if you need them!" "Let me write a book based on this!" "It's for research!" and "C'mon Gaki, I know nothing about boy love!"

"God dammit! Go away and good night!" Naruto yelled in frustration, cursing for the first time at the quality both Jiraiya and him shared. Persistency!

Once the teen heard the other man's footsteps leaving the door, he sighed in relief. The nerve! There was no way Naruto was going to let that pervert write a book about him or his friends. Damn he felt tired, but he knew he was in desperate need of a shower. Maybe he could get a little nap first. Yet when he got to bed, the thoughts about the day's events stirred in his head with heavy rotation."Darn it! I can't sleep!" He couldn't help it, he really had fun today and he was still feeling pumped about it. Maybe if he wrote it down he'll be able to get it out of his system. "Nah, that won't do," the last thing he wanted was to end up a crappy writer like Jiraiya was.

"I know!" Naruto announced enthusiastically, "I'll talk it over with someone!" At that announcement he felt a presence by his door and felt the need to shout, "Go take a cold shower!"

"Ungrateful Gakis," he heard the other say and smiled as he took out his cell to call the teme up.

Ring, ring, ring, "What is it dobe, this better be important." Sasuke's voice answered, sounding impatient.

"Well I'm important!" Naruto argued, before relaxing into his bed for the little chat he wanted to have, "Just called to talk, you know?"

"Can't right now, Itachi is visiting anytime now. Later, dobe."

Sasuke hung up.

"Bastard!" Naruto yelled into his phone but he knew Itachi always came first in Sasuke's list of priorities. The blond just hoped he wouldn't wake up tomorrow to hear news about an Uchiha being murdered in his sleep.

He then called Sakura up but her phone kept ringing until the voice recording started. Naruto sighed in disappointment because Sakura didn't answer but at least he'll get to hear her voice over the phone anyways.

"Hi there, I'm Sakura Haruno so if you want to get in touch with me, leave a message with your number after the tone and I'll call you back if necessary. And if this is Naruto then no, I don't want to go out with you. Have a nice day!"

Naruto stayed there with the cell to his ear long after the tone chimed in. He couldn't believe it. Sakura even rejected him via voice mail. That meant that everyone who called her would hear her rejecting him over and over again.

That was cold.

Still, without Sasuke or Sakura, Naruto didn't have anyone else to talk to. He thought Kiba but Naruto wasn't going to call him to talk about the brunet himself. Shikamaru and Chouji would probably be indifferent to anything he told them so it wouldn't be much of a conversation. And then there was the girl his mind had been drifting to the entire day.

Ino Yamanaka.

Ino liked to talk, that much was clear, and now that he thought about it he has been seeing a lot of her lately. And so far she hasn't been anything but nice towards him. He could still feel a weird tingling sensation every time he remembered how good he felt when she traced her fingers through his scars. But now that he remembered the things she had been doing for him lately, he realized he hasn't really done anything for her. They had been slowly developing a friendship but it seemed she was the one putting all the effort.

He still remembered how he used to chase after Sasuke and Sakura because he wanted so badly for them to be friends. He also remembered how frustrated he would feel every time it was made obvious that their friendship was one-sided. But at least those two were his friends now and even looked out for him from time to time.

That brought him back to Ino. Maybe he hasn't been fair to her. This could be his chance to show her that he was genuinely interested in developing and strengthening a friendship with her. To show her that he wanted to be able to talk to her freely from time to time. And with that set in mind, he called her.

-(At Ino's place)-

Ino had come back from a much needed shopping spree. Now she had cute and sexy little outfits she could were to school without violating the dressing code Principal Tsunade had enforced upon her. She had also done an up to par effort in all of her school projects and homework. Ino knew she could probably do better but she was satisfied with just being in the top ten of her class, academic-wise. The rest of her time, she spent it making sure that she had a school life she could enjoy. Because what was life without a little excitement?

So she sat there on her desk skimming over the names of her classmates. Because she was the class president, she had the official lists. This new list she had in hand, also had Gaara's name added to it.

She shivered at the thought of him. The day Gaara came in as new Konoha High student, she, being the class president, was ordered by Mr. Iruka Umino to show Gaara around the school campus. That must've been the only time that she had been actually glad she wasn't wearing anything that would attract the boy's attention. The school tour was hell for her. She kept showing him around but he not once spoke to her. It was like talking to a brick wall that followed her around the campus. The only time he spoke was when she was pointing at their classmates, mentioning their names and their social standing. When she got to her whiskered classmate she said, "Naruto Uzumaki, class clown."

Gaara had repeated Naruto's name aloud, closing his eyes as if he was committing it to memory, and Ino felt like if she said something she shouldn't have said.

But back to her list of names

"So who's next?" She wondered, trying to figure out what the next social project should be. She kept circling and crossing out the names she was interested or disinterested in. She started on alphabetically with the list again and she stumbled upon Chouji's name. The only thing new about him was that Coach Gai and junior student Rock Lee were forcing an exercise regiment on him. She guessed she could come up with ideas to help him get out of it but she sort of liked the idea of a thinner Chouji. She couldn't wait to see how he would look like. "I'll just help him out by making him eat healthier."

She saw Kiba's name but she crossed it out. When at the beach she had this idea that if she outed someone her name would be used with heavy rotation on people's sentences. And she still believed that but when it came down to it, it didn't matter because she had no solid proof on Kiba preferring boys. It was just an idea she cooked up because she was bored and frustrated. And she wasn't going to start a rumor based on a lie. So instead she kept skimming through the names until she got to Shikamaru's. "Shika, Shika, Shika," she shook her head when only images of him dozing off came to her mind, "I really need to find you a girlfriend so you can get out more."

Oh she liked that idea. She was always up for playing matchmaker. But she wanted something challenging this time around. Nothing too simple like cueing Neji about Tenten obvious crush on him, nor something like setting teachers Asuma and Kurenai up on a date. Those were couples waiting to happen and she had no doubt that within time, they would happen. She wanted to match two people that she knew needed a push or two in the right direction.

Her thoughts went to Hinata. Practically everyone in school could see that she had a humongous crush on Naruto except the clown himself. Ino wondered if Naruto would react favorably to Hinata's feelings if he ever became aware of them. Chances were he would. He was just too much of a nice guy. "But Naruto is blind to any other girl that isn't Sakura." Ino sighed. Plus she really didn't want to have Neji ranting at her for hooking Naruto and Hinata up.

"Seesh," her body felt cold for second there. She REALLY didn't want Neji giving "motivational" speeches to her if she made the NaruHina happen.

Then there was Naruto. Nothing would make him happier than having Sakura return his feelings, but Ino wasn't sure how she felt about helping Sakura end up with the guy that was ideal for her. And that was Naruto. If Sakura couldn't see it for herself then Ino wasn't going to cue her in.

"Damn, this is so boring!" Ino yelled. No couple fitted the category of star-crossed lovers. She wanted something that would be thrilling and a little dangerous, something where she would actually have to push her own limits in order to achieve it. She paced around her room for something to do. She had her Wii but she was already tired of playing Boogie, Brain Academy, Wii Sports and Wii Fit.

She then did what she thought would be the most productive thing she could do with her time. Pick out an outfit for tomorrow. She rummaged through her closet when something bright orange caught her attention. She remembered everything she had ever bought herself and she knew she had never walked out of a store with something orange. So pulling it out she was surprised to see an orange jacket.

"It's Naruto's!" she recalled, remembering she never actually returned it. She sniffed it to make sure it still smelled clean. The day after she had worn it she took it to the laundry to make sure she returned it in good condition. After all, she wasn't going to return something dirty. Ino always made sure the clothes were in top condition. "Guess I'll give it back next time I see him."

Then her phone rang and she was surprised to see it was Naruto. She couldn't remember one time when he had called her. It was a first. So naturally curious, she answered. "Hola Whiskers, I'm surprised to have you calling." She laughed and he asked her how she was doing. She told him "fine" now that she had finished her homework and had bought some new clothes but that now she was bored out of her mind. He laughed and she found his laughter so contagious she found herself laughing as well. She then asked why he called and he answered, "Just wanted to talk."

"Then let's talk!" Ino answered happily, flopping down to her bed as she asked him if he did anything cool today. He answered that it was a fun day because Kiba had surprised him at the door and invited him to hang out. She then asked him if he was hanging with other people too but Naruto answered that he was only with Kiba and Akamaru all day long.

"Just the two of you?" Ino wondered, now sitting on her bed and reaching out for her student's name lists. Naruto answered her with a "yeah" and proceeded to talk about the day's events. Ino found herself nibbling on her pen as Naruto told her about the run, about the meal and about the encounter with the thieves. Naruto's voice sounded really excited when he talked about how good Kiba was with dog trivia. Naruto even asked her if she knew that dog's mouths were supposedly cleaner than humans. She couldn't believe everything she was hearing about. And she started laughing hard when Naruto started joking about how this Jiraiya fellow suggested writing a book about boy love.

She hadn't laughed that hard in some time now, basically because people tend to not call her to tell her about their embarrassing moments. She was the gossip queen after all. Which left her wondering, did Naruto understood with whom he was speaking to. People cannot just tell her something this good and expect her to be quiet about it. Naruto must either really trust her or be really stupid.

She asked him if Kiba did something that struck him as weird. Naruto told her about when the brunet pressed his forehead against his but then he said that Kiba was just big on physical contact and that he was totally ok with Kiba being like that. It was nothing compared to becoming friends with someone with a personality like Lee's.

Naruto then went to talk about the message on Sakura's phone, but Ino was already tuning him out as she focused on her list, specifically on Kiba's cross-out name.

She circled it.

-x-x-x-(Chapter Eight: "Someone to depend on")-x-x-x-

A/N: Woot! Another chapter written! In the anime/manga Kiba had witnessed how Gaara murdered three genins in the forest of death. Naruto and Shikamaru had witness the same in the chunin finals. So I thought it would be fitting for all three of them to experience the power of Gaara together. Also, if anyone has any questions about Kiba being all touchy with Naruto, then check the anime fillers out. Not even Sasuke comes close with the amount of times Kiba has invaded Naruto's personal space. Anyways, did you guys notice Naruto kept comparing Kiba and Ino to Sasuke and Sakura throughout the entirety of this chapter? Be sure to keep that development in mind for the future chapters.

Oh well, I'm starting the "Sasuke Arc" next so be sure to tighten your seatbelts for the rollercoaster that is going to be. Or course, with Sasuke also comes a lot of Sakura so be ready for her too. Thanks for reading and I hope I get some feedback. Later!