Pairings: (Past) Yoshino/Shikaku, Shikaku/Kiba, Inoichi/Yasuko. (Mentioned) Asuma/Kurenai.
Warnings: Arranged (hence forced) marriage between a sixteen year old and a thirty six year old. Language. Angst. Feelings of betrayal. Huge rare pairing. Power dynamics (mostly Inuzuka related). Power imbalance. Strong language (because it's one of my stories, come on, I'm like Hidan sometimes). Nosy people. Inescapable Clan duties. Teenage angst.
~..~..~..
Inoichi strolled through the halls of the Hokage Tower in the dim grey of morning. He had always been a morning person, which was something he happened to be very proud to have passed onto his own daughter. And even though he knew that the chances of finding Shikaku in his office at this 'godforsaken hour' were rather small, he needed the papers the man had been working on to be able to finally wrap up a difficult case.
After years of having known one another, Inoichi knew what he could expect when he entered the Jounin Commander's office. The man had never been prone to leaving messes, so his office was as pristine as Inoichi's own. Which was a bit of a front, seeing how Shikaku had many files he didn't properly organize hidden with a closet that rested within the wall behind his desk.
The Nara's office felt much less personal than Inoichi's own, though. There were very few personalized items to make the place feel less cold, which was how all offices felt without little trinkets.
Aside from little mess and depersonalized frigidity, there would be the file that Inoichi would need. Shikaku would have left it separated knowing that Inoichi would appear early in the morning to pick it up, eager to continue his work.
Thinking on his best friend, Inoichi could not help but think about the Inuzuka that had been forcefully thrust into their lives.
Kiba's situation was unique and, if Inoichi was being honest, terrifying. He had not been forced into marriage because he had found Yasuko. But he was more than aware that, if not for her, he would have gone down the same road as Shikaku had gone once before and was being forced onto once more.
Forced marriage... It seemed so cruel. He was a man that believed that marriage should only be between people that actually loved one another. This whole business of arranging marriages seemed so sleazy and unnecessary- like a dirty secret that the world had not been able to shake free of just yet. And from the way the Elders of both Clans wished to keep their involvement in the relationship a complete secret made it more than clear to the Yamanaka that even they knew that arranged marriages were not seen in as good a light as they had the past.
Shikaku took everything in strides. He'd always had the unbelievable ability to analyze every situation and keep himself in control of his emotions. Even as genin, the Nara had been lucky enough to have such a unique and useful trait. It was because of this that Inoichi knew Shikaku would brave this marriage in the same manner he had braved the past one: Being faithful and respectful, but never forcing himself onto his partner. It was a shame that one of his greatest friends had never been able to experience the amazingly confusing feelings that came from being in love... It seemed so barbaric to Inoichi to deny the man the right to fall in love... And now Kiba was to feel the same.
"They were supposed to go on another date last night..." Inoichi reminded himself out loud, more than aware that there was no out and about at such an early hour to listen to him. "Hope it went better than the first one..."
Shikaku, in all honesty, had never been a good storyteller. He always left out details he deemed unimportant and underplayed things that others would consider pertinent to understand what had happened. But, from what little the man had said of his date, Inoichi knew that there had been unwanted visitors that had seen him and the Inuzuka together. And in a moment of consideration for the boy and not their Clans, Shikaku had lied to try and keep Kiba from freaking out.
There was a protective streak in Shikaku that Inoichi was already seeing. And the blonde could not really blame the other man, for he felt it himself. It wasn't really because of Kiba that he felt it. Instead, it was because when he thought about Kiba's age, he was reminded that this could be his daughter. And if there was one thing Inoichi would never allow to happen to his princess, it was for her to be forced into a marriage by their own Clan. It was just an abusive practice that should die.
The indignation that spiked up within him was quickly pushed down, though. It was not his place to feel this way. This was not his Clan, nor his predicament. He was just an outsider trying to keep Shikaku from seeming too apathetic to his husband-to-be.
His thoughts continued on both Shikaku and Kiba as he walked towards the Nara's office. The Yamanaka was worried, for he had seen how this marriage business had even begun to wear Shikaku down. His best friend had been able to brave one forced marriage... Would he be strong enough to face a second?
The blonde haired man was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't register the two chakra signature inside of Shikaku's office until it was too late.
He threw the door open with more force than was necessary- a bad habit he had been unable to break that he had picked up from Ino in her younger years when she came to visit Shikaku- and it smacked against the adjoining wall. The sound was loud, but under normal circumstances, this would have bothered no one.
Unfortunately, there were two people currently within the room to be surprised by it.
Waking up was abrupt and unpleasant.
For the first time in a very long time, he had managed to have a good dream. This was something he had not experienced in a rather long time; sure, he had managed to go the last week without dreaming at all. But that certainly didn't count when it came to thinking about good dreams.
He had always enjoyed the stories his mind came up with whenever he was asleep. So he'd find himself kind of missing not exhausting himself so he could have dreamless nights. But if he had not done such a thing, he knew his mind would have supplied him with countless vivid nightmares that starred Shikaku Nara and Asuma Sarutobi as the main antagonists.
Yes, those nightmares had inspired him to become stronger and actually learn more than just his Clan's jutsu. But those nightmares were terrifying and offered graphic images of those men that he did not need in his life.
Because of his recent training regime, he had not dreamt at all. Lately he had been so tired that his body chose to shut down completely rather than take some time to conjure up interesting tales for him. But he had not over exerted himself the past day- he'd merely stayed with Shikaku in his office and done regular, boring office work. He had been tired, he had to admit. But not tired enough to wind up completely knocked out.
He had dreamed a good life- luckily, there had been no nightmares to haunt him.
This had been a life where he had been running around with Akamaru at his side. Wind had been flowing through his hair as he had jumped from one tree branch to another without a single care in the world. When he had gotten to his destination, it had been to find his teammates waiting for him. And when they had seen him, they had reminded him of the mission they would be going on and that he needed to make sure that their team leaders was prepared to take them.
He'd found nothing odd about the whole 'team leader' thing and had left his teammates with a whoop as his goodbye. Dream him had been completely okay with running towards the Nara Compound, so conscious him had barely even noticed where it was that the dream had been taking him.
For some reason, he had not been shocked to find Shikaku waiting for him so they could leave. But dream him had felt normal about this, so his mind had not made any significant, conscious connections during the dream.
Inoichi slamming Shikaku's office door violently forced Kiba away from the dream as he and Shikaku began to make their way towards the Village Gates so they could meet up with the rest of Team 8.
The warm happiness that had filled him during his sleep vanished suddenly, leaving him cold and terrified once again.
The Yamanaka blinked in surprise as a blanketed figure suddenly bolted up from the couch. But, soon enough, the fabric fell down to his lap, showing an alarmed and very confused Inuzuka. He looked from one occupant of the room over to another, trying to gain sense of himself.
What in the world were Shikaku and Kiba doing in here at this hour of the morning?
His gaze was pulled away from Kiba by a muttered, "I've told you not to do that."
Shikaku had apparently fallen asleep on his desk yet again, using his arms as cushioning. His head was twisted over so he could glare at Inoichi with one sleepy eye, still much too groggy from sleep to muster any true bite to the look.
Inoichi was about to reply to the man, but then the teenager on the couch called out, sounding rather panicked to the blonde's ears.
"Oh shit! What time is it?"
"It's still early morning; about six-thirty." Inoichi answered him with a soft smile on his face.
It was rather amusing to see both males looking so disheveled. Seeing Shikaku like this was nothing new, the man loved to nap whenever possible. But Kiba had tried to seem so strong and resilient recently, as if he were trying to show everyone that he wasn't a kid and could deal with what the world was throwing at him... It was refreshing to see him acting and looking like a kid again.
And they had both gotten some sleep. Which was something Inoichi was more than aware as to Shikaku needing. Kiba having to get a good night's rest as well wouldn't have surprised him at all, actually.
"What are you doing here?" Shikaku's voice was gruff and heavy with sleep as he lay his head back down, looking every bit like someone that had just been forced out of a good dream.
"I need the paperwork for T&I." Inoichi resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the man's predictable reactions as he moved over to the desk to grab the correct paperwork.
Just like always, it was left out from the rest with a piece of paper that said 'Yamanaka' attached to it.
… Maybe Shikaku had expected to leave his office for the night and sleep like a normal person... What could have kept him in the office? And with Kiba sleeping on his couch?
Shikaku let out a snort and was undoubtedly about to answer when Kiba suddenly began to panic.
"Oh shit! My mom is going to kill me! Shit! This is not good!" The kid all but screamed in frustration, immediately making Inoichi turn to him in worry.
A frustrated and hyperventilating Inuzuka was almost impossible to deal with. But there was no way that Inoichi would let the kid-
"Calm down and breathe," Shikaku ordered from his spot on the desk, sounding every bit as relaxed as if he wasn't about to witness an Inuzuka panic. "There's no point in worrying if your mom hasn't hunted you down yet."
The kid's face had been one of pure fear when Inoichi turned to look at him. And it remained like that for a few seconds after Shikaku had spoken, but... Much quicker than the Yamanaka thought possible, all of the tension left Kiba's body and he slumped onto the couch, eyes closed as he breathed in deeply.
"You're... You're right..." Kiba forced himself to take deep breaths, most probably trying to calm his speeding heart. "If she's not ripping my head off right now, it means she's not completely pissed..."
Inoichi heard a small noise of approval from Shikaku and turned around, only to find the man with his head still in his arms.
… For all of Shikaku's intelligence... The man sure lacked tact.
Breathing out softly as he shook his head, Inoichi looked back at Kiba to make sure he was fine. His chest rose and fell quickly, a sign of his still lowering heart beat. Aside from that, though, the kid looked fine. Even if there was a small frown on his face that Inoichi wished wasn't there.
He looked so sad all of a sudden.
A few seconds of complete silence passed. Inoichi stood there, wondering what he might be able to do to help ease Kiba into this marriage, when Shikaku suddenly groaned and got up from his chair.
"Hey, kid." He called, moving to the front of his desk as he stretched and popped his tense bones. Kiba cracked one eye open, closed it to let out a short yawn, then finally opened them both to look at the man. "Are you hungry?"
The boy seemed to think for a moment, then looked down at his lap. His hands grabbed at the cloth, pulling it up so that he was covering up his body once more.
Shikaku's office was a bit colder than usual, Inoichi noticed. How odd.
"I could eat a bit, I guess."
Shikaku's face wasn't harsh, but he wasn't smiling either. And now Inoichi could see what the man had meant when they'd talked about Kiba maintaining eye contact.
Maybe he could get Kiba and him talking more naturally with a bit of coaxing...
"Yasuko wouldn't mind making you both breakfast, if you'd like." The blonde offered with a small smile, "She loves to cook. Especially when there's a new mouth to get critiques from."
Yasuko was worried about Kiba, too. She called it her mothering instinct. Whenever there was a kid in peril, she wanted to do as much as possible to help. Inoichi found it endearing and loved her for her big heart. Shikaku called them both nosey for this, though.
His offer was met with silence by both other males. Inoichi looked at Shikaku, expecting his best friend to agree easily enough. If not because of his hunger, then to not have to make or buy food for the undoubtedly hungry teenager.
"Don't work Yasuko so ragged, Yamanaka." Inoichi was caught off guard by the answer. "Kiba, how about you come over to the Nara Compound? I'll buy you some food before I walk you back home."
It was a shock to not have his lazy friend immediately agree to free food. But when Inoichi turned to look at Kiba, he found that some of that shock left him.
The kid looked grateful.
He hadn't really eaten much when he'd first been at his house, had he? Yasuko didn't know, but Inoichi did. And in most places, that would be considered an insult. Kiba was a good kid. He most probably didn't want to cause any more insult onto Yasuko by not eating more of her food. He was worried about hurting his wife's feelings.
"That sounds good." The kid whispered, and Inoichi decided that he had spent enough time with these two.
"Oh well... Guess you'll just have to come around later on. Yasuko really did enjoy your company, Kiba. She now wants to adopt a dog because of how charming Akamaru was." He smiled at Kiba, sent one wink over at him as he finished speaking just to send the message of him being in good and jovial spirits, then saluted at Shikaku. "Thank you for the reports. I'll see you tomorrow, right?"
Shikaku breathed in and out dramatically, "It's already been a month? So troublesome..."
"Yes." The Yamanaka answered simply and turned around, then headed towards the door. "Remember that you need to bring the meat this time. If you don't, it won't be me on your ass-"
"It'll be the Akimichi's. I know. It's happened before." The Nara sighed dramatically, then waved Inoichi off. "I'll see you then."
The actions were so Shikaku that Inoichi felt that things were somewhat the same, even though they had changed so much.
No matter what life threw at him, Shikaku could handle it. And with a man like him helping him along, Inoichi was sure that Kiba would deal with marriage extremely well.
With these optimistic thoughts in mind, Inoichi opened up the file left for him by Shikaku to make sure that all of the information Ibiki required was held within.
Goddamn Yamanaka.
Shikaku loved Inoichi. He truly considered him to be a great friend; a man that competed with only Choza Akimichi to be considered one of Shikaku's greatest confidants. They had years' worth of memories- had spent so long together they knew too much about one another.
For all of the love Shikaku had for the blonde, though, there were times when he doubted the reasons as to why he kept him around.
So loud, the Nara found himself dismaying as he walked beside Kiba towards a nearby eatery. Loud and such a morning person.
Sleeping at his desk was nothing new, so neither was the stiffness in his joints that came from this. But just because he was accustomed to both of these things, it did not mean he enjoyed them. Just like he did not like being woken up in such an abrupt manner so early in the morning.
"Is…" Kiba spoke up for the first time since he'd calmed down after his abrupt awakening, "Is he usually like that?"
They had left Inoichi in Shikaku's office minutes ago. The Nara had asked him to lock up- Inoichi and Choza both had copies of his keys- and left with Kiba so the kid could get some food into him before he returned to his Clan's Compound.
Quite frankly, Kiba did have reason to worry over how his family would take his outburst. He'd been rude, brash, and irrational. A scolding was most probably deserved, if just to get him to understand that he could not allow himself to succumb to his emotions. At least, he could not afford to do that any longer. Not with his Clan's Elders looking in on him with extreme interest. A beating might be over kill, but this was the Inuzuka Clan...
Sighing softly, the Nara nodded. "He's always had a bad habit of being overly annoying and peppy in the mornings."
The Inuzuka waited a couple of seconds to reply. And because of this pause, Shikaku assumed that Kiba was going to say something about how this had been a horrible morning or that he did not want to head back to his Clan. Those would have been two things he would have expected to come from him, seeing how dramatic the past morning had been for him.
What the kid said caught Shikaku off guard.
"Ew… Morning people…"
Shikaku quirked an eyebrow over at the kid, "Weren't you the one that went out on walks during the mornings with Akamaru?"
"Yeah, I was. But there's a difference between me getting up early to walk my dog and run around and do something fun," The kid explained, turning to look at Shikaku with eyes full of honesty, "And the weirdoes that get up early and enjoy working."
He couldn't believe it.
They agreed on something.
Shikaku smiled softly at the Inuzuka and nodded, then thrust his hands into his pockets. "They're a different kind of weird."
"Don't think they're even human."
"Not at all." He answered back with a small smile forcing itself onto his lips.
Huh… Kid was at least correct in his view about getting up early to work.
~/~
They wound up eating their breakfast together at a small eatery near Shikaku's office. It was a nice little place that opened early to give early risers access to delicious and warm food before they went on their merry ways to work. Maybe in largely civilian populated areas, this would not have been the wisest business model. From what Shikaku knew, most civilians cooked well enough to sustain themselves, if only for breakfast. But seeing how this was a Village that ran rampant with shinobi that paid more attention to methods of killing than how to survive during mundane moments, offering delicious early breakfast was rather intelligent.
After they had ordered, both males made their way towards one of the corner tables.
Shikaku, although not as paranoid as other of his fellow shinobi, enjoyed having a clear view of whichever place he found himself within. From his seat with his back against the wall, he was able to see just about everyone and everything that happened to be inside of the eatery. He did not know just why Kiba allowed it, but the kid sat to his left and had an almost complete look of the place.
As they waited for their food, Shikaku heard Kiba sigh.
"I… I'm sorry."
As soon as he'd heard the words, Shikaku had been stunned.
"Why?" He asked, then prodded, "You've done nothing wrong."
The kid didn't look directly at him, instead keeping his gaze on the hands he had clasped together over the table, "You slept at your desk. Because I fell asleep, you didn't go home. I shouldn't have fallen asleep. I'm-"
"Kid, I'm used to falling asleep at my desk." The Nara allowed a loose smile onto his lips to try and show the kid that he wasn't angry; not even annoyed. "And I was pretty tired too. My plan was to let you sleep for a while and wake you up when I finished with the bulk of my paperwork."
For a flash, curious brown eyes looked up at him. But they soon glanced down at the table and Shikaku struggled to keep a smile on his face. A frown of confusion wanted to make its way onto his lips. But he fought it off; worried that Kiba might have taken it the wrong way if he began to frown.
"Really? You didn't finish your work?"
Leaning back into his chair, Shikaku hummed as a yes. Then, he said, "I decided to get some shut eye- just for a little bit… Next thing I know, Inoichi's throwing my office door open and waking me up." He finished with an exasperated groan and a shake of his head, "Why I keep that Yamanaka around sometimes eludes me…"
It wasn't a comment he would have told someone he didn't feel comfortable around. Shikaku was more than aware that this was the kind of comment one would make around friends. And if not around friends, then around someone there was some semblance of trust around.
He didn't know if Kiba fell under either of those categories.
But the chuckle he heard coming from the Inuzuka after he had said this let him know that it was appreciated by him.
Silence fell over them after this. It wasn't tense or uncomfortable, though. If anything, it was a pleasant sort of silence that had not been the kind of silence around them before.
It was kind of nice, actually.
When their order was called, Shikaku stood up to get it. And when Kiba tried to follow after him, he merely shooed the kid off and told him to sit back down, he could carry the tray of food without any trouble.
How he had been forced to wake up had been kind of overly dramatic; even a bit traumatizing.
From a comfortable sleep where he'd been happy and content, he'd been suddenly forced to wake up because of a harsh crash and a much too energetic morning person. He wasn't sure just how someone could wake up like that and not feel the slightest bit unsteady. But he knew that as soon as his mind had caught up with his body and the hour, he'd begun to freak out.
He had been out of his house for almost a whole day. Once seven hit, it would officially be a solid twenty four hours since he had lashed out at his family and run away.
Seeing how his family was his family, he believed he had a very good reason to freak out as soon as he had figured out how much time he had spent outside of his house.
Sighing softly, Kiba allowed himself one kind thought, at least Shikaku had been kind enough to buy him food.
He was pretty sure that his Elders would have something to say about allowing the Nara to buy his food. He was pretty damn sure that they would tell him that he needed to supply Shikaku things that would make him happy- not the other way around. Because, in their sick and twisted minds, Kiba was pretty sure they believed he needed to do everything to make the relationship work.
The fucks he gave about what the Elders thought at this current time, though, were nonexistent.
As he waited for Shikaku to come back with their breakfast, Kiba busied himself by pondering over what he'd need to catch up on so he wouldn't fall behind on his nightly training.
Two nights had been missed because of the situation: First because of Hana and her annoying lessons, then because of the date with Shikaku and falling asleep in his office.
Two nights meant that he needed to study up on the techniques he'd needed to work on the last time he had managed to train- even though traversing across the ground was becoming easier, it was still a bitch to do; and now that he had not practiced for two whole nights, he worried he would have to start learning all over again.
Aside from that, he still had a bit of residual anxiety biting at him because of his abrupt awakening. But it was simply because Inoichi had jolted him out so violently from his sleep that it just wouldn't be normal if he still didn't feel anything.
"Maybe I'm just cursed to continue waking up horribly for the rest of my days…" Kiba lamented as he laid his head down on the table in front of him, only to then cover it with his arms.
"So dramatic? And at this hour? My, my, Inuzuka, you're beginning to sound too much like your mother."
"Wha-?" Kiba glanced up from the table, surprised to find someone other than Shikaku speaking to him.
Kakashi-Sensei's much too amused eye stared back at him.
Akamaru barked at him from the doorway and Kiba noticed that he'd kind of left his best friend behind in his confusion during the morning.
"I found that lost little dog wandering around Konoha." The Hatake offered as he made his way to stand beside Kiba, looking down at him with his hands placed in his pockets. "I believe he may think you abandoned him."
Kiba pursed his lips at his words, then glared over at the bouncing dog, "Oi! You're the one that got lost!"
Akamaru sat himself by Kakashi's feet and immediately the man's right hand found its way into his fur. Once he was sure that he would receive some sort of pets, the dog turned to Kiba with a growl.
The teenager glared at the dog, crossed his arms over his chest, and huffed. "I woke up like a half hour ago, mutt. You weren't there with me. So, yeah, I didn't wait up for you to return."
Apparently, Akamaru had made his way out of Shikaku's office so he could go on his daily run. He'd been nice enough to let Kiba sleep, rather than wake him up so they could go together, and he couldn't believe this was how the Inuzuka repaid him!
The Inuzuka bared his teeth at his partner, unwound his arms to poke him in the forehead, and turned his face away as Akamaru growled back at him. "You were the one that chose to be a big dog and leave without your human partner. Don't get angry with him if he leaves you behind; fully expecting you to know how to make your way back to him."
He felt kind of guilty over having forgotten about his partner, but he refused to let Akamaru know. If he did, the animal would then guilt trip him into wasting all of his money on the dog's favorite cuts of meat. And the last time that had happened, Kiba had been left without any sort of money until he went on his next mission.
Akamaru growled for a little while longer, then huffed and walked over to him to bump his head against Kiba's thigh. The human smirked softly down at him and lowered his arm to pet him as well.
"You're an annoying ball of fur, but I still love you."
The dog bit his hand softly, sneezed, and made himself comfortable beside Kiba's chair.
Now that the argument had been finished, Kiba could hear Kakashi-Sensei chuckling at them. So he turned an unamused glare on the Hatake and asked, "What's so funny?"
"I forgot how entertaining it could be to be around you two." The man admitted, then pointed over at the vacant chair to his left, silently asking if he could sit down.
Kiba glanced over to the counter to try and find Shikaku, but only found people he didn't know. He wasn't sure just where the Nara had gone, which was odd, because he could smell him.
Sighing softly, Kiba told himself that nothing bad could happen to him just for letting someone sit with him while the Nara came back.
He nodded, Kakashi's eye showed off the smile he hid behind his mask, and the Hatake sat down.
They remained in silence for a little bit, but then the man spoke up once more.
"Haven't seen you around much when I'm in the Village."
Kiba smirked softly at what he said, his Hatake translator working just as good as it had in the past.
Where have you been?
"Here, there, everywhere."
Keeping myself busy while this whole murder business cools down.
The man nodded slowly with a hum, "I've gone on a couple of missions myself."
Nothing exciting in the outside world either, you haven't been missing out on much.
Sometimes, Kiba marveled at how good he had gotten at reading into Kakashi's really minimal words. But then he remembered that he'd just about grown up with the guy, seeing how he was usually always around Naruto. And there was also the fact that Kakashi had always had a soft spot for the Inuzuka Clan, just like the Clan had always seen him as yet another member.
With a soft sigh, Kiba stretched his arms out and above his head, "It's been pretty boring here too."
A beat of silence passed in which Kiba stretched his neck out to try and find Shikaku once more. But it was only to smell the man, not see him. Then Kakashi called the teen's attention back to him.
"Has the library been treating you well?"
Kiba's blood ran cold.
He kept his gaze away from Kakashi, trying to seem as if he was casually looking around the establishment rather than wondering what the best escape route he could take might have been.
How did Kakashi know about his library escapades? Was he even supposed to know? ... Did Kiba even have to worry about Kakashi knowing? It wasn't as if this was anything bad... Sure, he wasn't the kind to find solace in books... So for him to actually willingly spend time in the library might make some think that something had happened to him to make him use books... But...
"Hagane's pretty entertaining to be around." He muttered neutrally, keeping his eyes far away from Kakashi's inquiring own.
"That he is." Kakashi muttered softly, "Kid..."
Kiba knew that tone. It was the exact same tone of voice Kakashi had adopted when he'd been forced to tell Kiba why he couldn't use wolves in battle when he'd been five years old. It was the exact tone that he'd used when he'd told him about the disastrous mission Team 7 had gone on that had left them all in the hospital. And it was the exact tone Kakashi had used when he'd asked Kiba if he truly wanted to be a great ninja, rather than a normal one.
It was a tone of voice the man only ever adopted when he wanted to talk about something serious.
Kiba couldn't handle this right now.
"Hey, have you thought about talking to Team 7 about a joint training exercise with Team 8 again?" He asked suddenly, hoping to throw Kakashi's intentions off enough for Shikaku to get back to the table.
But he still couldn't see the Nara.
"That'd be interesting to see again." Kakashi offered.
Suddenly there was a hand on Kiba's arm, causing him to jump and snatch it away as soon as possible.
Kiba stared through widened eyes at the equally shocked Hatake.
"Kid, what's going on with you?" Kakashi questioned, eye narrowing as it suddenly hardened.
He wasn't beating around the bush anymore. He was looking for a frontal assault and Kiba doubted he'd be able to stand up to it.
"I tried to find you over at the Clinic to speak to you, but Hana told me you hadn't been there to visit in a while. That's nothing like you."
It was suddenly rather hard to swallow, Kiba found.
"And I've heard about your nightly training regime... If you're so eager to learn new tricks, why didn't you just ask for my help?" He asked with a harsh, yet somewhat hurt tone.
Kiba didn't answer.
He couldn't.
What was he supposed to tell the Hatake? The truth? No, he couldn't do that. If he did, he'd put his whole Clan in jeopardy. Arranged marriages were frowned upon in Konoha, and the Hokage could take action against those Clans practicing it if he deemed the practice to be abusive and intrusive.
(All of this he had learned from Hana and his mother during the weeks after he'd been told he'd marry Shikaku. He'd filed it away to forget. But it was hard to keep that sort of information forgotten when it continued to climb back into the forefront of his mind.)
"Hagane told me about the Headhunter jutsu."
It felt as if his heart was caught inside of Kakashi's icy grip.
Kiba forced his head down so he wouldn't have to look at the man.
What was he supposed to do? What was he supposed to say? What could he...
He'd never been so happy to smell Shikaku's scent or hear his footsteps.
"Sorry for taking so long, kid. They screwed up your order and tried to tell me that you hadn't asked for so much meat." Shikaku's voice was somewhat apologetic, yet completely normal.
Kiba glanced up from the floor to look at him with a completely grateful look on his face. He wasn't ashamed of letting the Nara know that he'd saved him; he was just happy that he wouldn't have to deal with Kakashi's insistent questions anymore.
The Nara walked up to him with a tray full of food in his hands. His face seemed completely okay and composed, but there was an underlying smell of confusion that permeated his scent that let Kiba know he was fully aware of Kiba's discomfort around the Hatake.
He felt kind of bad because he knew that Kakashi could smell his worry and fear. But he couldn't think about that now.
"That's okay. I'm just happy to get some food, Lord Nara." His smile was strained but Shikaku didn't comment on it.
Instead he placed the tray down on the table and looked over at Kakashi. "Good morning, Hatake."
"Lord Nara." Kakashi nodded tensely, although his eye never left Kiba.
The teenager dug into his food to avoid having to speak again and Kakashi took that as his que to leave.
"I'll see you later, kid. Lord Nara."
Kiba's chewing halted as soon as he heard the sentence, although he tried to force himself to seem somewhat normal.
We're going to finish talking about this, Kiba, like it or not.
..~..~..
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