Chapter 8

Two months later…

Kiba whistled.

"Akamaru!" The half-grown dog stopped in his tracks and turned back to glance at his human. "Here boy!" The cheerful inflection in Kiba's voice sent Akamaru racing back to him. Kiba knelt and ruffled his ears. "Good boy."

"Who's a good boy?" At Ino's voice, Akamaru switched humans, leaving Kiba gaping and betrayed.

"How dare you?" he gasped. Akamaru nuzzled in Ino's arms and licked her face. "I raised you, and you turn coat like that? You fiend!"

Behind Ino, Naruto snorted. "He just wants his fair share of Ino, and who can blame him?"

"Aw, thanks Naruto." Ino smiled at him, her eyes turning into half-moons. She opened them and winked at Gaara. "Careful there, I may just turn your boyfriend straight."

"Nah," Gaara said, lacing his fingers through the blond boy's. "He knows he's mine." Naruto kissed his cheek lovingly.

Since the events with Kyuubi, surprisingly little had changed in their lives. Kiba and Naruto both visited a counsellor weekly because of what they witnessed, but the counsellor had declared that they were fine and didn't need to meet with her anymore. Their last session was next week, and they looked forward to kissing those sessions goodbye.

"Ayame stayed over for the first time last night," Kiba said conversationally, standing.

"How did that go down?" Naruto asked. "Your mother's been really weird about people visiting."

"It's understandable," Ino said. "Y'know, after everything that's happened."

"Yeah, but she did okay. It was a little awkward having someone else at the dinner table." Kiba shrugged. "I didn't say much."

"As anyone who knows you would imagine," Gaara said. The foursome started walking again, up a mountain path behind Kiba's house that had shown itself since the snow started clearing with the arrival of Spring. Akamaru bounded ahead and nosed his way under a bundle of bushes.

"They're really cute together though," Ino said. "She makes really nice miso soup."

"That she does." While he didn't know Ayame that well, he had to admit that her cooking was sublime. That was probably the reason Tsume liked her so much. The Inuzuka matriarch loved her food.

The excitement was dying down now and Kohona was going back to being a quiet mountain town again. The teenagers had taken to retreating into the mountains where they could walk around without being judged by every single person they passed. Now that things were going back to normal, they could walk around town and not feel judged.

Gaara and Naruto swung their joined hands between them as they trudged uphill. Kiba, out front with Akamaru, didn't spare a glance behind him, and missed Ino glancing at his hand and blushing.

The four teenagers and the one dog continued hiking up the mountain trail, and for three beautiful hours they were the only people in the world.

o.O.o

Owari