Kiba realised that his heat was over. He'd barely noticed it but he had hardly been turned on at all for a couple of days, and Akamaru had started hanging out with him again.
He shoved Akamaru away, stretched deeply and then went to take a shower. He wasn't quite sure he wanted to tell the Hokage that he was able to get back to work yet, but he supposed he had to.
He was to meet Sai for dinner this evening – it was to be their first actual date, and for some reason that made Kiba nervous.
As soon as he was out of the shower there was a knock at his door. He wasn't in the mood for visitors – he'd hoped that he would be less 'popular' now that his heat was over. Kiba sighed, put some pants on and then went to answer the door.
It was his sister, Hana.
Kiba cocked an eyebrow, leaning against the doorframe so that she couldn't come in. He was still pissed at her.
"Hey, Kiba. I came to apologise," she said.
Kiba rolled his eyes but didn't say anything.
"I heard that the Hokage sent you on a dangerous mission because of the information I gave her," Hana said, looking at the floor.
"Yeah, she did," Kiba snapped. "You think you could have maybe spoken to me, first, before running to the Hokage with an embarrassing and personal problem?"
"I just mentioned it to her out of concern for you," Hana said. "I thought she might be able to give you some medical advice or something…"
"Seriously?" Kiba said, raising his voice. "That crazy bitch used your information to put me into uncomfortable situations with my comrades and get me captured and fucked by a member of the Akatsuki. Besides that, I've gotten into several other messes that I can't even blame on her. So yeah, thanks a lot."
Hana's eyes widened, tears threatening to spill over. "Oh god, Kiba, I'm so sorry."
"Yeah, well, go be sorry somewhere else. I have enough shit to deal with because of this," he said, slamming the door in her face.
She knocked at the door several times after that but Kiba ignored her, knowing she would go away. She didn't have that much of a fighting spirit.
Kiba leaned back in the booth at the restaurant after their meal was finished, stretching. He almost felt bad, having wolfed down three courses, while Sai had nibbled down half of one course, claiming it was more than enough.
"Will you come home with me after this?" Sai finally asked. "Or should I perhaps go with you to your home? I'm really not sure how this is supposed to go."
Kiba resisted the urge to laugh. "Whatever you want, Sai."
"What I want is to have sex again," Sai stated.
"That's the kind of thing that people don't really say so loudly in crowded restaurants," Kiba said with an exasperated sigh. "Surely your books would have told you that."
Sai frowned. "Not really. Anyway, I'm ready to go."
They split the bill and walked out into the warm evening air.
"Wanna go for an after-dinner walk?" Kiba asked.
"Sure," Sai said, giving Kiba one of his creepy smiles.
They walked side by side peacefully as the sun set, just enjoying each other's company, until a strong gust of wind blew their way, almost knocking them off of their feet.
They both immediately knew that it wasn't ordinary wind. In a flash, Sai's paintbrush and scroll were out. Kiba sniffed the air. Sand…
"That was just a warning," Temari said, stepping out from behind a fence. She dashed toward Kiba, pushing him up against a wall, gripping the collar of his jacket.
Kiba just went with it but Sai released one of his painted lions at her, effectively knocking her over.
Temari's expression went from annoyed to enraged. "You stay out of this!"
"Leave my boyfriend alone," Sai stated simply.
Temari chewed on her bottom lip as she processed this information. Then she stood up slowly and turned to Kiba.
"So it's 'not that simple', huh?" she asked.
It felt as though her gaze was burning into Kiba's skin. Weren't those the words he had said to Kankuro? Had he told his siblings everything? Did no one know how to keep anything private anymore?
"Sai, go home," Kiba said softly. "I will stop by later."
Sai didn't move. "One of my books said that in a relationship–"
"It doesn't matter, Sai. Temari and I need to speak, it seems." Kiba looked at the sand woman evenly.
After a moment, Sai walked away.
Temari glared at Kiba, her fan positioned as though she was ready to fight.
"There's nothing to fight over," Kiba said.
"Nothing? Nothing at all?" Temari asked sarcastically. "You treated my brother like a whore. And clearly you're in a relationship, on top of it all!"
Kiba looked up at the sky and said nothing. He was hoping that all the drama would clear now that he was… feeling better. Obviously that was hoping for too much. He caught Sai's scent drifting toward him on the breeze. The artist was still close by.
"Well?" Temari demanded. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"What happened between Kankuro and I has nothing to do with you," Kiba pointed out.
"It has everything to with me! That's my little brother! I will not have him being treated like trash!" Temari said.
God, no wonder he'd once heard Shikamaru say that this woman was particularly troublesome.
"Dare I say I treated him rather well? He seemed to enjoy it, you know," Kiba said, cocking his eyebrow and smirking slightly. He knew his attitude would get him into trouble but he didn't care. If Temari wanted a fight, she would get one.
"How dare you?" Temari exclaimed, taking a step toward him.
Kiba sighed. "Things have changed in the past few days. I wasn't dating Sai when… when I…" He didn't know if he should say it out loud, not sure if he wanted to push Temari quite that far. "Look, I'm not even supposed to interact with any sand shinobi because of this. I shouldn't be talking to you."
He started walking away, fully expecting the sand woman to attack him or stop him somehow, but not really caring.
"Well you at least owe him an apology!" Temari called.
"That's kind of hard when I'm forbidden from speaking with you people," Kiba shot back, stopping but not turning back to face her.
"I have no idea what he sees in you," Temari said, her tone a lot softer, "but he really cares about you for some reason."
Kiba felt tears sting his eyes. "Well, you can tell him that I'm sorry," he said, making sure his voice came out in a growl so that she wouldn't hear the true emotion in it.
He heard a sigh behind him, then the sound of Temari's footsteps receding.
Sai was beside him in a few seconds. "Shall we go, then?"
Kiba looked up to see Sai's fake smile. "Sure, I guess."
"How are you feeling after that confrontation?" Sai asked cheerily. "I'm uncertain whether its anger or sadness but either way I could try to cheer you up. Hmmm. Perhaps its frustration? Or despair? This can be so complex."
By this point the artist was talking more to himself than to Kiba.
The dog ninja ignored it, since he wasn't sure what he was feeling himself. He had really started feeling a connection with Kankuro but had clearly fucked that up, and now he was with Sai, who was beautiful but so disconnected.
He glanced over at his partner. Kiba was passionate and emotional. He wasn't sure that he would ever be able to connect with Sai on that level.
"Can I try being on top tonight?" Sai said as they walked towards Kiba's apartment. "I think I've observed enough about how you do it to attempt it."
Kiba smiled at this. Sai was so innocent. He wouldn't judge this relationship so early, he decided.
