**I feel bad about taking so long to update, and not including enough KibaHina…so here's another chapter. Hope for tips on improving! And uhh…too many characters in my story, not enough in the manga/anime. So yeah, my choice of girlfriend for Sasuke was…the only thing I could think of. Besides Kurenai. And that just…doesn't work. Because I think Kurenai is a feminist. And I used her before, maybe?

Note: Kiba's not there when Hinata and Anko are talking at first. And yes, Kiba is here :). And an extra little surprise. And just a little bit of NejiTen as well :)

*Captain Ne Hizuka is Tenten's imaginary fiancé, for those of you who don't remember (*cough* me)*

Disclaimer: I don't and can never hope to own Naruto. Or Hinata, or Kiba. Or Anko. Or Neji. And so on.

Chapter 15

I change my mind. I have crossed many lines recently, but this is just too much. I exit and return to my office. On my desk rests the opened envelope that came with the roses. I take a deep breath, and tug the card out.

Hinata,

Meet me at the coffee store that we went to last time at 4:30 if you still want to split the house.

What I did, I did for you.

—Kiba.

I take a closer look at the roses and see that it's not cut. They still have their roots attached, with little clumps of dirt. They were meant to be planted. I take a closer look at the roses and see that it's not cut. They still have their roots attached, with little clumps of dirt. They were meant to be planted.

Wow.

I sit there, staring at Anko. The gorgeous ex-girlfriend of Sasuke with dyed deep purple hair (that somehow works for her) who is a mortgage processor or something. She slides a bunch of legal documents over to me, all crafted by my very own Tenten. No wonder she refuses to blame Kiba for 'stealing' the house and instead blamed her own 'faulty' and 'illegal' way of getting it. Apparently, Kiba had Tenten secretly draw up papers behind my back so I could buy half of my dream house.

"It's a condo agreement," Anko says. She taps the paper with her perfectly manicured nail. "Kiba Inuzuka will own the upstairs apartment and the outside of the house, included outbuildings and the garage. You would pay for and own the ground-floor unit.

I know all this. But for some reason she has to go over all the basics with me again.

She continues on, "Kiba has promised to finish the kitchen and the bathroom. In return, you have to pay the taxes on the entire property for two years. Do you agree to this?"

"I agree," I practically shout at her. Of course I would agree. Why wouldn't I agree? It was perfect.

"Then please sign at the Xs." She points to the highlighted Xs, and I sign away merrily, not bothering to read a single word of what I'm about to legally commit myself to.

I can barely think; it's all so overwhelming. I'm finally going to buy my dream house! I don't even need my parent's money. Or, much of it. I decided just to add it to my savings for another time.

Somehow, Kiba was able to get all the cash together and bought the whole property. My monthly mortgage will only be slightly more than my rent. There's the advantage fof a tax break when I write off the interest every year.

And the advantage of Kiba living on top of me. I mean, above. Not on top, in the apartment above.

I see Dad's name on a note, and I read it, finding out that he agreed to cosign if need be. It's weird that he knew about Kiba's house deal. Why didn't he tell me? Though, I'm not going to complain. Compared to the amount they gave Hanabi and Konohamaru, my request is almost saintly.

Anko is stamping and initialing things quickly, moving papers right along extremely efficiently. As she staples and clips things together, she says, "So, your dad mentioned you were getting married. Is that the ring?"

"Sure is," I say with confidence. I'm fairly certain she wouldn't be able to tell a real diamond from a fake one, so I thrust my hand out for her to inspect.

She sighs with admiration. "That's gorgeous. Looks kind of like one that I bought a few years ago for twelve buck. Though, that was cubic zirconium, of course." She laughs.

I laugh too. Twelve bucks! I was ripped off.

"I was sure Neji would be the next Hyuuga to get married."

"Not Neji. Never. He claimed he'd never get married."

"That's what they all say. Next thing you know, you're bumping into them at Wal-mart where they're buying thousands of dollars of kids' toys." Then she clasps her hands together in a subtle way that reminds me of begging. "So what's the deal with this Kiba person? Is he hot, or what?"

"You met him?" I ask in surprise.

"Sure. He's been in the bank all week. He's not exactly the kind of guy a woman would ignore, you know."

I feel a strange, irrational sense of pride in Anko's compliment, as if Kiba belongs to me. This is leaning towards danger. I have to keep in mind that we are just neighbors. Nothing more.

"He's a nice guy. Smart too," I say.

"I bet he is." She lets out a strange, dreamy sigh. "Then again, you're one of those brainy women. You know. You'd probably fall in love with a guy's mind rather than his ass."

I flush a little at her choice of words. "That's not true." Though I'm not necessarily big on…that, I do like a well-built guy as much as the next woman. (Though maybe not that much compared to Tenten, who enjoys them a little too much.) Anyway, can't a guy be like that and also be smart?

"I don't know if you've notice, but that Kiba of yours has one fine ass," she says offhandedly.

"Done signing papers?"

Kiba's voice comes from behind me, and I can tell he has that huge (adorably hot) smile, as if he knows exactly what we had been talking about.

"Done." Anko slides her chair out, and stands up. "I just have to run upstairs real quick. I'll be right back." She makes a huge show of pretending to check the clock.

"Well," Kiba says. "I hope I wasn't to forward, skipping the real estate agent and going straight to Koyuki. It was the only way we could get it before someone else bought our house."

He called it ours.

"You weren't. That was brilliant. It was so thoughtful and considerate. And thank you for the roses."

"It was a pleasure."

"It was? Even though you had to put up with Koyuki?"

He looked —adorably—confused, and I started second guessing myself. Maybe the thing at the coffee store wasn't business. Were they dating?

"Unless you two are together," I say quickly. "If so, then…she's a beautiful woman with a great personality.

He grinned. "No, Hinata. We are not dating."

"Then in the coffee shop…?"

"It was just to talk about the house." The way he said it was weird though, as if he only wanted to talk about the house, but Koyuki wanted something more.

"Speaking of love interests…" His hand casually brushes against my leg, sending tingles up my spine and my mind clouded pleasantly at the touch. "How's Naruto taking the news that you bought a house he hasn't seen yet?"

His eyes are a brown color. Weird. I could've sworn they were dark blue for some reason. "Your jacket?" I mumble softly.

"Huh?" He gives me a strange look.

"I think the color of your jacket changes your eye color."

"Hinata." His eyes narrow slightly. "You're avoiding my question. You did tell him about the house, right?"

"Yup."

"You're a hundred percent sure he's okay with this? I don't want to get in the middle of an argument. You've been going out for three years, and I'd hate for a condo to screw things up."

"It'll be fine," I say absentmindedly. I can't stop thinking about his eyes. "He loves the house."

Anko returns. "Hi, uh, Mr. Inuzuka? The head of mortgages would like to meet you."

"What about me?" I ask. Call me immature, but I feel a bit hurt for being left out.

"Maybe later, Hinata. There's some, uh, history in Mr. Inuzuka's background that he would like to discuss."

That sounds ominous. Drug charge? Criminal record?

"Don't worry, I'm used to it," Kiba says.

So he's used to being a felon. Great. I could ask my dad for help, but I really hate to pull strings.

With Kiba off to discuss whatever with the head of mortgages, I take the time to call my mom and squeal about the house.

She answers immediately.

"Hey, honey. We were just talking about you." I bet she had pulled a chair over to the phone just so she wouldn't miss my call.

"We?"

"Your dad and I. We have huge news!"

Let me guess. The wedding now has some extra little thing added that people won't even notice. "Yeah?"

"You engagement party's date is set."

"I don't know, Mom. Naruto might not be back yet."

"Don't worry, dear. Naruto can make it. In fact, he's looking forward to it."

I sit up straighter to look across the room. Kiba and the bank president are walking side by side, shaking hands and chatting happily. The president is practically salivating over Kiba. What gives?

…Wait a second. Did she just say that Naruto was looking forward to our engagement party?

"Can you repeat that?" I ask nervously.

"He's thrilled about the party! He said he can't wait to come back."

I feel faint and dizzy, my mouth dry, and I can't seem to move. A shock runs though me, similar to what I imagine as a small scale heart attack. "You called him?"

"No. You told me not to."

Thank God. If she had called him…

"Your father ran into him just a few minutes ago."

My heart feels like it jumps out of my chest, and then froze up. I almost expect to see it on the ground next to my feet, looking pitifully still. "Where?"

"At the doorstep of your apartment. Dad was driving by, on his way from work, and Naruto was there ringing your doorbell. You should really give the kid a key. He's your fiancé, for heaven's sake."

"NARUTO!" I jump out of my seat. "HE SHOWED UP AT MY APARTMENT?"

Funny how easily sound can bounce in a bank. Anko is staring at me with wide eyes, and the president too. Kiba…I can't even bear to see what his reaction is.

He can't be here. He can't. He said he wouldn't be here until next week. Not this week.

"Oh." Mom sighs guiltily. "It was supposed to be a surprise, wasn't it? Naruto told Dad that it was a surprise, and naturally, he let it slip his mind. Men are so clueless about things like surprises. I was just so happy because Dad did make sure that Naruto knew about the engagement party."

Okay. Naruto is here. Dad invited him to the engagement party. I mean—our engagement party. After I hinted in an e-mail to him that while I might be engaged, I'm not necessarily engaged to him.

And that was probably why he was at my door, curious to see who, exactly, was replacing him. Though there's no doubt now…Dad told him, and probably quite bluntly, that we are supposed to be getting married.

"Everything okay?" Kiba asks.

"Yup." I slide my phone shut, trying to look perfectly calm and, most importantly, sane.

"Sounds like Naruto's back in town."

"Yup," I say again. "Apparently, it was a surprise. When can I move into my new house?"

"Naruto's eager to settle in, huh?"

"I am. So when?"

Kiba frowns in thought. "The kitchen needs to be finished. Three…maybe four weeks."

"So tonight. Great. See you then," I shout, rushing out and heading home to make an escape.

"Why do you have to pack up this apartment you've been living in for, like, fifteen years and move out overnight?" Tenten asks.

"Because. Naruto is back and he showed up on my doorstep."

"And?"

"So, if he showed up once, he'll show up again. And the next time, he'll probably bring Sasame just to rub it in my face that I'm mentally insane and that he found the perfect girlfriend-slash-fiancée to replace crazy old me."

"If you want I could take her out." She looks up with a devious sparkle in her eye. "No marks. My people don't leave evidence."

I'd like to meet Tenten's people one day. Or, actually, maybe not.

I stuff more bed sheets into the garbage bag. Not the tidiest way of cleaning, but it's fast.

Good news is that my landlord was initially going to give me a hard time about moving out right after I renewed my lease. He even took out my contract and pointed out the small, miniscule font that said I was supposed to find a sub-tenant if I decided to move out early.

So I pointed out that he was supposed to remove all the rodents in the room. (Anzu, who's a terrier and supposed to catch the stuff, just sits there, watches TV, and ignores them.) And that was when he saw my ring.

Then after that it was perfectly fine. He was overjoyed that I was getting married after living in his apartment for so long. Kept saying how he never thought it would ever happen to me, that he thought I would grow up to be a nun, et cetera, et cetera…As a gift he ripped up the lease.

It's amazing, the power of the ring. It has the power to destroy leases.

Tenten wraps a plate in newspaper and places it into a box slowly. Then she takes a sip of her wine. Another small movement, and another sip of wine. Pack. Sip. Pack. Sip. I'd take a snail over her at this point. At this rate, not only do I have to haul a bed, a dresser, a couch, and other heavy appliances, but also a dead-weight drunk.

Finally she tapes it close, only to dump it carelessly by the door. And then she spends a great deal of time peeking out of the window to see if Neji or Naruto are here, whomever should be first to come.

Neji promised to move my bed and couch so I can sleep in my new house (my body still tingles in excitement at that phrase) tonight.

Taking a break, I pour myself a glass of wine and sit down with a bowl of chips next to Tenten, who has stationed herself in a perfect place to watch the people outside.

"How's your engagement going?" I ask, setting the chips down between us.

"Fantastic. I'm almost done registering. Just in time for the party." Tenten's firm is throwing her a party for her and the mysterious Ne Hizuka that she's engaged to, in hopes of seeing him. I'd give anything for that kind of rich expensive party.

Actually, never mind. Right now I'd rather have real friend tortilla chips. The baked ones just don't taste quite the same. "Yeah? What have you registered for?"

"What haven't I registered for, you mean." She reaches lazily over her seat and snatches her purse, before pulling out a folder overflowing with papers.

"Don't you think that's a bit greedy?" I ask.

"Nah. It's more like giving my guests a wider range of possible presents to give."

"What guests? You don't have any guests."

"Sure I do. I have a hundred and fifty. I'm just missing a living, breathing groom." She hands me a sheet of neatly organized information about the items she's registered for. I raise an eyebrow. Right at the top of the list is a $2,799 exercise equipment.

"And who is going to buy you something worth two thousand eight hundred dollars?" She shrugs.

"It doesn't hurt to ask. If you'll notice, I've also registered for less expensive items under a hundred dollars. Like the cat hammock, for forty nine dollars."

"What are you, high? You don't even have a cat."

"What if Anzu visits?" I narrow my eyes at her.

"Anzu is a dog."

She clicks her tongue thoughtfully. "Dog, cat…It's just a piece of suspended cloth. I'm sure the hammock won't care what kind of animal is sitting on it."

At that very moment, Anzu waddles around the corner. She's not fat…just slightly chubbier than a normal dog. And much lazier. She makes a break for the door, but, nearing the steps, she slows down and practically collapses onto the floor and falls asleep.

"Anzu is not going to visit," I say to her. She rolls her eyes and hands me another sheet. Tiffany & Co. "Since when did you care about all this stuff? What about places like Kohl's, or Macy's, or something cheaper?"

"I have those too," she says without shame. "You know, I've noticed that men like me more now that I'm engaged."

"What are you talking about? Men have always liked you."

"Yeah, but now they really like me. Two of my clients asked me out since I've gotten the ring. They all asked me who it was and if I've thought about the consequences of settling down with just one person. Then they ask me to dinner, as if trying to change my mind."

"And you're complaining because…? I'd love to have a rich man take me to dinner and for expensive wine."

"I think it's like a biological thing. Like, now that I 'belong' to someone, they suddenly have to fight for me."

Is that true? With me, men haven't…Well, there is Sasuke. He's been flooding me with e-mails fretting over my engagement and my wedding, and after decades of just being best friends.

And Kiba. Okay, he's not interested in me….he might be, but only as a downstairs neighbor. Besides, there's that gorgeous girlfriend of his from Greece. I'm positive I'm probably nothing compared to her.

Neji pulls up in the parking lot, and suddenly Tenten sits up straighter.

"Uh oh. I've got to get myself together." Then she flees to the bathroom.

What is going on with her and Neji?

"Hard day?" I ask him as he comes in.

"Yeah." He seems tired, and I can tell he just wants to move everything and get home as soon as possible. "Where's Naruto? Mom says he's in town. Shouldn't he be helping you move?"

"Jet-lagged," I blurt out.

"That's not an excuse. You're moving. He shouldn't be leaving all the hard work for his future brother-in-law." There's a bitter tone to his voice, and I'm pretty sure he still has some resentment buried deep in his heart.

We carry the stuff to the curb, where he spots Tenten's car. "She here alone?"

I have no idea what that's supposed to mean. Then I remember Captain Hizuka. Captain Ne? Well…her fiancé, basically. "Yeah, she has the night off, so she's helping me pack."

He lowers the box to the sidewalk. "You need to talk her out of it."

"Huh?"

"The stupid wedding. I mean, come on. The guy is never around. He could be leading a double life with another wife. He could just be a scum after her money." I almost laugh. Is he jealous? This is the first time I've seen him jealous. I never expected it to be quite so theatrical.

"Captain Hizuka is not scum. He happens to be very close to his family," I say defensively, having grown rather fond of the imaginary captain.

Neji scoffs. "It's gotta be bullshit. Captain Ne Hizuka," he practically sneers.

Tenten reemerges, her makeup redone with that flawless beauty that makes her eyes sparkle and her lips shine and cause you to stare in wonder even when you try not to. At the sight of her, Neji starts grabbing stuff he doesn't need to move and starts hauling them over to the car.

We drive over to my new house. Tenten following us with Anzu in her carrier, whining pitifully. I know it's only about a half mile away, but Anzu gets really anxious about change. She has a real hard time adjusting.

Kiba is waiting in front, and when we stop, he starts helping out. With his help, we set my dresser in the bedroom while they bring in the couch. Meaning that Tenten holds open the door while Kiba and Neji move it in. Now I'm certain he's trying to impress her, because he insists on single-handedly hauling in the heavy furniture, all the while bragging about how strong he is. Subtly.

"Like to see Captain Hizuka try this." Very, very subtle. I almost laugh again. If only he knew.

We finally finish, and Tenten whips up a light but tasty dinner, and we watch some TV.

Finally, Neji and Tenten leave, Kiba and I waving goodbye as if we are a couple. It's not until they turn out of sight that I realize how very comfortable the idea of being a couple is. And, ironically, how it makes it feel so awkward.

"Well, here we are," Kiba says.

"Yup. Home sweet home." He looks rather —ahem—sexy, with the streetlight on his hair, and the wind blowing, ruffling it ever so slightly. My mind drifts off, imagining what it would be like if we were really together.

"Too bad Naruto couldn't make it." I shake out of my daydreams.

"It's just jet lag. It takes him a while to recover."

"Is he going to move in, or are you guys going to wait until you're married, like the old-fashioned way?" I can't tell because of the shadows, but I'm positive he has that huge grin plastered on his face like usual.

"The old-fashioned way. My mom prefers it that way. If you met her, you'd understand."

"I'd like to meet your mother if she's anything like you."

My skin prickles and I'm sure a blush is creeping over my face like when I was younger. I turn away slightly to hide it. "She's nothing like me. Or at least, I hope she isn't."

We take the plates inside. I stare at the kitchen, and suddenly it strikes me how sad and depressing it looks, and I feel the strange urge to cry.

That's when I feel his arm around my shoulders, warm and comforting. "Don't worry, I'll have the kitchen finished before your wedding. That's what you're worried about, right? That Naruto will hate it."

No. I'm worried you'll hate me when you find out I've been lying to you this whole time about an engagement, especially after you put all this effort into getting me my dream house.

"No, it's not that," I say instead. "I'm just tired. And filthy. I really want to take a shower now."

"You'll have to use mine." He leads me there and leaves me alone to wash up. I shampoo my hair, and instantly feel much better. I turn off the water, and grab the towel, only to find that it barely covers my body.

"Uh, Kiba?" I call out embarrassedly, peeking my head out the bathroom door. "You towel is…a little small." He comes down the hallway. His shirt is unbuttoned—probably about to change—and my eyes are drawn to his chest.

He hands me a big white t-shirt. "Sorry, this is all I have." I tug it on. It just reaches my mid-thigh.

"Thanks." He's sitting on his bed, reading.

"No problem. You'll have to let yourself in tomorrow. Neji and I will be out. Feel better?"

"Yup."

I'm stalling. I know I am. He probably knows too. But I don't want to leave. I want to stay in his room and sit on the edge of his bed and ask questions. Why do you read so much? Did you ever go to college? Who's the Greek girlfriend I keep hearing about? Why don't you have a Greek accent? What do you think about me? Do you think about me? What do you want out of life?

And somewhere, deep in my mind, I know. I want to stay. I want to be here, because I'm falling in love and I want him to feel the same. I want to be with him.

But all I can say is, "Good night."

**Surprise? Heh. Well, he had to come back some time. And she had to realize that some time. So why not pack it all into a single chapter?

I'll pause here to let you soak in all the events. (The truth: it's spring break and I haven't done the crapload of homework my teachers assigned me. Once I finish, I can get another chapter out, hopefully by next week. But I need to warn you. My sense of time is screwed up. What feels like two days for me is probably a week or two in reality.)