"Good Mornings"

Kiba woke up the next morning to an empty bed. He frowned, touching the cold, empty space on the mattress beside him, and glancing around. Akimaru was still asleep over his feet, like he always was, and nothing else seemed to be out of place. He put a hand to the side of his head, groaning and wondering if he had dreamed her coming back to him, then he spotted her bag over in the corner of the room.

He slid his feet from beneath Akimaru, trying to contain his grin as he remembered that he was going to be living with his Hotaru-chan for the next two days. Akimaru looked up, yawning loudly before getting up and stretching. "Come on, big guy, let's go see if we can find her." He patted the top of Akimaru's raised butt and the dog snorted a laugh at him, then turned and jumped off the bed, following Kiba out the door in two easy strides and flicking the door shut with his tail.

They came around the corner to the kitchen and paused, able to hear her voice halfway down the hall. Kiba's eyes lit up as he spotted her at the stove, giggling and glancing down at Zetsu every now and then. The little puppy was bouncing back and forth over her feet, nipping at her toes as she wiggled them at him from inside her stockings. Once and a while he would actually bite down and she would gasp, shifting her free foot from beneath his little body and tapping him on top of the head until he released the toe he had hold of, then she would giggle and go back to cooking.

She was wearing a short sweater dress of black. He wasn't usually fond of her wearing the color because it was so somber compared to her bright personality, but the dress clung to every one of her curves, the color making her look a little older and more sophisticated. It had a floppy turtleneck collar that folded low over the beautiful rounds of her breasts, letting you see inside a bit if she bent at the right angle. The dress stopped high thigh, threatening to show her backside if she bent over too far. Her hair was pulled up in a high ponytail on top of her head, the left over lochs curling and twisting down her back. She had on black thigh high stockings, black satin garter belts pressing deeply into her toned thighs, diamond rhinestone hearts glittering as the buckles.

Akimaru walked around Kiba, tired of waiting on him to move, and padded over to Hotaru lightly. He gave a quiet rumble in his chest to let her know he was there. She turned and beamed, "Good morning, Akimaru-kun! Did you sleep good?" He nodded and she gave him a piece of bacon, which he devoured happily. "I'm so glad! I'm sorry I woke you up so late last night, really I am." Kiba straightened up and ran a hand through his messy hair as he listened to Akimaru tell her it was perfectly fine and for her not to worry about it.

Zetsu barked at her feet, bouncing on them and pawing at her legs for her to notice him. She giggled, "Fine, fine, here, Jealous Heart." She handed him a smaller piece of bacon, but uncooked, and he grinned, snatching it from her fingers. Akimaru looked down at him, sniffing his side slightly, but Zetsu bounced his backside to the right a little, so that he could look up at Akimaru and growl while he tore the bacon into smaller pieces to eat. The bigger dog shook its head and grumbled something, then looked up at the humming and cooking Hotaru. Kiba sighed softly, she was like a mother, or a little house wife. It was making him feel funny on the inside.

"Akimaru, where's Kiba-kun? Breakfast'll get cold if he's not careful." Akimaru glanced over his shoulder at Kiba, who held his hand up and shook his head, then walked in as if just coming downstairs.

"Did I hear my name?" He gave a cool smile as Hotaru turned and beamed at him.

"Morning, Kiba-baby." She giggled, running over to him and throwing her arms around his neck.

"When did you get dressed and come down here? I didn't even hear you get up." He held his nose and lips to the side of her throat for as long as she would let him, then pulled back, watching her go back to her pan on the stove.

"You were passed out. I guess last night was too much for you. I really am sorry about all that." She waved him off dismissively, but smiled over her shoulder at him before feeding Akimaru more bacon and Zetsu more uncooked bacon.

"Why uncooked? He'll get sick." Kiba tried to take the raw meat from the little dog, squatting down at Hotaru's feet and admiring her calves as he did, but the puppy snarled and bit at his hand.

"Oh don't, he's fine. He won't eat cooked stuff, it's so weird." She brushed her fingers through his hair and he glanced up at her, smirking before reaching out and snapping her garter belt. She yelped and swatted him on top of the head, causing him to fall back and lean against Akimaru, grinning and snickering alongside his companion. "Oooh, go sit at the table!" She stomped a foot as he made a face at her, but slunk off to the table, along with Akimaru.

"Hey, did Shino get up yet?" Kiba cradled his chin in his hand, still watching Hotaru, but holding a cup of coffee in his other hand now. She paused plating up the food and glanced at him, nipping something off the edge of the spatula as she did.

"Mmm-hmm," She nodded slowly, turning and looking back at the food she had been working with for what felt like forever. "He got up really early, he was up before I was." Kiba blinked a little, sitting up a little straighter as she said this.

"Did you talk to him?" She nodded again, a bit absentmindedly.

"Yeah, I came downstairs in my pajamas and he was sitting down here drinking coffee. I was so embarrassed! But, I think he understood. I told him what was going on, made myself a cup of coffee, then hugged him and went back upstairs to get dressed. He said he was going to see his dad for something, I don't remember what." Kiba glanced down at Akimaru, who looked up at him and blinked, tilting his head just so. They were thinking the same thing, they both knew it. They were both wondering how much Shino saw of her when he saw her in what she considered to be "pajamas".