Flashback:

Suddenly, as I looked up, I could see a figure coming toward the two of us.

"Shit," I thought.

I reached into my kunai pouch and pulled out a kunai as quietly as I could.

"If it's Naruto, I'll do everything I can to keep him the hell away from her and prevent him from hurting her. Not again."

The figure neared us, and I gently laid Neko onto the grass, without waking her up, and stood, walking toward this figure as well.

"Who are you?" I growled as quietly as I could.

The figure just stopped and put his hands behind his head in a familiar fashion.

"Kiba… why'd you and Neko run away when I went into my house?"

Chapter 35: Shika's Back, Baby!

Kiba's POV

As the figure neared me, I recodnized the familiar pineapple-shaped hair and laid-back pose.

"Shik? What… so that was… you?"

Shikamaru sighed in response.

"I don't know how you didn't notice it was me. I forgot the spare key, so Temari naturally got pissed at me and I unlocked the door with a kunai."

He looked around and when he saw Neko asleep with my jacket on, and his eyes widened for a moment.

"So… I see you've been taking care of her."

A smirk appeared on Shikamaru's face, and I felt a blush light up my cheeks as I muttered:

"Only for tonight."

Shikamaru's face lit up as lightning flashed, and I could see the confusion in his gaze.

"Why is that? I thought Naruto was taking care of her."

I couldn't help but growl at the mentioning of the orange-clad ninja.

"That bastard better be sorry he ever looked at her in the first place..."

"We can talk about it on the way back to your house."

That was what I had settled on before I could explode and made Neko wake up.

I, gently, picked up Neko in my arms and began telling Shikamaru exactly what had happened only a few hours ago. Every detail that she had told me.

It kinda hurt repeating some things, but I didn't rage-quit or anything.

Once we had arrived back at Shikamaru's house, I had just finished up what had happened that night.

"What the hell was Naruto thinking?!" Shik growled, punching the door once we had entered.

I was still angry as well, just from retelling the story.

"How should I know?!"

Temari was lying on the couch, flipping through the channels on the T.V. when she saw Shik and I.

"Oh… hi Shika and Kiba..., and… why's Neko wearing your jacket? I thought she was at Naruto's place."

"Damn, they better stop reminding me about him before I go insane..."

I glared at her fiercely, after which I muttered:

"Shik… why don't you tell her while I put Neko in her room?"

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck as I started upstairs.

"Ah, troublesome woman… it's a drag, but this is what happened…"

Before I knew it, I had landed on the second floor of Shik's house.

Even, without trying, I found Neko's room by scent.

It was cleaner than my room was, and everything smelled like her.

"Heh... this is where she sleeps every night, huh?"

I looked around for a moment when I spotted her twin blades hanging on a wall.

"She really takes care of them," I thought as I ran my fingers over their slick sheathes.

"Her swords really are something, aren't they?"

A voice sounded behind me, and I whipped around, only to find Shikamaru leaning on Neko's doorframe, looking bored.

"Yeah," I murmured, trying to show no feeling at all as I said this.

Shik was still smirking.

"Well, I guess you can go if you want to now."

I didn't want to say sure; I wanted to stay with Neko to make sure Naruto didn't come into Shikamaru's house or anything, but I was not going to admit this to anyone.

Also, my mom was going to have my ass handed to me if I didn't leave and be back soon.

What if I came back without my jacket?

I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway, not knowing if she was ok or not.

Shikamaru smirked even more broadly as he witnessed me thinking.

"Ok, then. Just make sure you don't do anything stupid."

Shik walked away, and I felt my heart pounding inside of my chest.

"How did he… know... about my feelings?! Or at least... I think he did..."

Without thinking about it, I glanced down at Neko to find that she was twitching every few seconds.

Curious, I bent down and took the hood off of her head and saw that she was almost sweating.

"It's pretty humid..."

I unzipped my jacket, careful as to not wake her up, and pulled her arms out of the armholes.

Neko stopped moving, and I smiled for a moment as I looked around her room a little more.

I picked up a stack of papers, but they were all blank, so I put them down again.

She had many books in her room, and I glanced at them before noticing a small red velvet bed that reeked of cat. I growled softly, knowing exactly whose bed that was, and continued on.

I picked up a book titled "The Shinobi Way," but I put it back down when I heard footsteps.

Turning just in time, I could see Temari at the door.

"Hey," she smiled, all bright and sunny.

That wasn't typical for Temari, since she was known for her mean temper and attitude toward people she thought were underneath her. I guess I should be worried.

"Hey." I smiled back, not really knowing what to make of her.

"So… I hear that you may or may not, depending on my source, have feelings for Neko here."

Those words hit me kinda hard.

"Feelings for Neko."

I knew I did, but having someone else notice them made me go on defense real quickly.

"And who might be your source?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

Temari snorted and face-palmed.

"They chose to remain anonymous."

Shikamaru was behind her, and gave me a troll face before walking away.

Temari saw him, though, because I watched her kick him before turning back to me.

"Anyway," she continued. "If you want her to like you back, then why don't you do something to make her feel the same way about you?"

I sighed, giving in.

"If she knows, what's the point of hiding it from her?"

"There's about a million reasons why I can't, but the two main ones are the fact that I already have a girlfriend and she has Naruto, and that she would probably never like me again."

Temari shrugged, her eyebrows bouncing up and back down.

"I dunno… it's possible."

My heart stopped.

I didn't expect to hear that response.

"What do you mean 'it's possible?!'" I demanded, feeling myself go almost pale in fear that she was just screwing with me.

Temari smirked, looking eerily similar to Shikamaru's troll face.

"Some girls tend to forgive very easily. Me personally, I'm not the type. But Neko is like another little sibling to me, and I remember I broke something very dear to her… I think it was a piece of jewelry, and she was mad about it for a day, but she was fine with me the next day. She didn't even try to get me back."

After listening to that very short story, my eyes widened, thinking of all the possibilities.

"So… you think… you think she might be willing to like me back?"

Temari just shrugged again. "I dunno. That's up to her."

With that, she walked away, closing the door and turning out the light behind her.

I felt all of the air in my lungs leave them as I became almost light-headed with... happiness. Hope.

"Man, this changes everything," I thought as I gazed at Neko's calm face.

Her injured cheek and shoulder weren't facing me, so I stroked her uninjured cheek with my finger, paying close attention to the way her skin felt.

It made my finger all tingly.

"Mm…" I heard Neko murmur in her sleep.

My ears heated up and I hoped Shik and Temari wouldn't come in unexpectedly.

I'd never hear the end of it.

I turned my attention back to Neko as her fingers extended from her fists, then retracted again.

"I wish everything wasn't so complicated," I said to her, inwardly.

"Then, you and I could have that daughter that I was planning on… wait, shit…"

Realizing what I had just mentally told her, I backed away as my cheeks then became unbearably red.

So red, that my triangles must have damn well been invisible.

Just as I had backed up far enough that I hit the wall, my own words to Hana appeared in my mind:

"Is love when all you think about is that one person? When you'd give your life to make sure they're ok? When you get worried because they got a small cut on their leg? When your heart beats only for that person? When just looking at them gives you the strength of a million men? Because that's what I feel for her."

I sighed and smiled, remembering the surprised look on my sister's face when I had said that.

"I do all of those things daily. But... I can't help but feel so guilty that it's not Hinata that I think about instead. I think… I think I might have to break up with her the next time I see her. If I have the balls to, that is. I don't want to hurt her feelings..."

Subconsciously, I had gotten up and walked back over to Neko's side.

My hand reached out and I touched her shiny-looking hair.

"It's so soft…" I stroked her hair for a moment, and then I just stopped and stared at her face. Her amazing face.

"She's so beautiful. Heh, and to think that around two months ago, I hated her so much, I wanted to kill her..."

Neko's chest rose and fell steadily; she took deep breaths in her sleep, and what was so amazing about that is that I couldn't even hear her breathing.

"Does Temari really think that she could still possibly want to like me? Even be with me? Maybe even... love me?"

I felt my entire body have a spasm at the thought of her looking at me the way she looked at Naruto. Or at least... the way she used to.

"Man… I'd do ANYTHING just for her to kiss me again. Just like that time at the pond. ...I guess I could kiss her now, but that's taking advantage of her. The last thing she'd probably want is for me to do that."

"Enjoying her, Inuzuka?"

My head snapped around to see Shikamaru just standing in the now-open doorframe yet again.

"When the hell did he get there?! How much did he see?!" I thought anxiously, feeling another blush spread throughout my face.

Shikamaru smirked at me.

"You know… if you want to tell her how you feel and get it over with, no one's stopping you."

I shook my head wildly at even the thought of telling her I loved her.

"No! Hell no. I told myself that I was gonna let her be happy without me, and that's what I'm gonna do."

Shik raised an eyebrow at me, then smirked again.

"You seem to have grown in the last week. Heh… but, I couldn't help but notice… where's Talon?"

I felt my throat close up in anger as I growled, letting my teeth show.

"Where Neko left her."

"Fucking Naruto... I hate to say it, but if he laid a HAND on Neko's partner, I'll tear him to shreds."

I stood up. "I'll go get her-"

But Shikamaru just held out his hand to stop me.

"You think I'm going to let you go over there?! The moment you laid eyes on Uzumaki, you'd knock his lights out again!"

"Damn straight." I growled.

There is no way to explain how much I wanted him dead.

As far as I'm concerned, he'll never, ever, be allowed near Neko again if I could help it.

I knew he wasn't right for her.

Shikamaru just shook his head as I got myself out of the depths of my thoughts.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'll go and get Talon and her other things. You just stay here and… take care of her, ok?"

Honestly, that made my job of staying here and doing nothing sound a lot more important.

I glowered at him for a moment, though.

"Sure, Shik. Count on it."

Shikamaru left Neko's room and I managed to turn around as I took a glance at Neko's calm face once more.

I sighed; the sight made me automatically feel soothed as I looked at her for no more than a moment longer.

"Neko Inari. THE most annoying bitch I've ever met in my life. Yet... I fell in love with her."

I smirked, but before I could do or think about anything else, surprise, surprise: Temari was at the door yet again.

"Oh, yeah, and Kiba… I don't know if this will be any use to you, but Neko likes it when guys do sweet things for her. Like… buying her flowers and giving her a jacket, or just cute little things like that."

She smirked at me, and with that, she closed the door and left the room.

My eyes were wide open at the horrifying thing I had just learned:

"She likes…sweet guys?! But… I can't be sweet. She keeps going on and on about how mean I am to her. I'll remember this, though."

I knelt down and stared at her face; she looked so serene and carefree.

Just watching her made me tired.

Before I knew it, though, I was fast asleep.

"I don't want to be anywhere else right now..."

The next morning, I woke up; my head dangerously close to Neko's.

I flew back at the sight and almost hit the wall again.

It was the crack of dawn, and the sun looked beautiful; all of the storm clouds were giving it a lovely entrance as they fled the scene.

I sighed. "Ok… I think I better get ready to go now, though. My mom is gonna kill me."

Desprately not wanting to leave Neko, I walked down the stairs quite slowly to find that Shikamaru was lounging on the couch.

"Shik?" I asked, cautiously.

He opened one eye and stared at me.

"Yeah?"

I took a big gulp.

"Ok… two questions. One, how did getting Neko's things do last night?"

Shikamaru jerked his head to a black lump sitting on his chest as it flicked its tail.

"It went fine. I got everything, and Talon is asleep."

"Ok… and second, how many hours of sleep do you get in a day?"

It might seem like a random question, but I was, honestly, curious.

Shikamaru laughed at me.

"Heh, well, it really depends on the day. Usually, about 12. But if the day was or is a drag, then it could be bumped up to 14-16 hours."

I swallowed.

"Damn. Well, if it's ok with you… I have to deal with facing my mom, and she's not gonna be happy."

Shikamaru laughed at me yet again.

"Well… my mom is a drag, which is part of the reason that I moved out. So… good luck. It'll be easy getting your jacket; Neko doesn't wake up until noon. She's actually kind of a deep sleeper."

I blushed at the thought of her name and her gray eyes blinking open in the sunlight.

"Well… thanks, Shik." I muttered, awkwardly, trying not to show how embarrassed I was.

Shikamaru just grunted as I made my way, quietly, up the stairs again.

Once I stepped into Neko's room again, I was winded by her pose; she was sprawled about the bed with her hands touching my jacket, and she was mewing in her sleep.

"She… meows in her sleep?"

I felt my eyebrow rise in thought for a moment, but I soon lifted her up a bit, only enough to take my jacket, and laid her back down onto her pillow gently.

Neko twitched for a moment, and she stopped meowing and sighed.

I couldn't help but stroke her face with my finger again, longing to feel my skin to hers, and stopped only to whisper:

"Sweet dreams, pussy cat."

I had an idea.

I wanted to try something new.

Running through the motions, I dropped my jacket and got onto my knees, and I pressed my nose to hers, giving her an Eskimo kiss, for only a moment.

Breathing in the scent of her... that was all that I needed.

I got back up and grabbed my jacket, smiling at her, and opened the door partially so Talon, who was waiting outside, could get in.

I pulled on my jacket, and as I geared up to leave, Shikamaru laughed:

"So, Kiba… have you made a decision on what you're going to do about your apparent… feelings about Neko?"

Still burning in embarrassment, I sighed, feeling a blush creep up my cheeks.

"Tch, that's not any of your business." And walked out of the door.

As soon as I had closed the door, I ran back to my house, where I knew, yet again, that I was in deep shit.

Once inside, the house was quiet.

"Maybe I got away with it…" I thought, as I made my way up, silently, to my room.

I flopped onto my bed and put my jacket next to me, breathing in the sweet scent of Neko. Again. I was addicted to it.

"Heh," I muttered aloud, closing my eyes for only a moment before Akamaru jumped onto my bed.

"Where were you THIS time?!" He demanded to know.

I sighed, ready to re-tell the story to my best friend.

"Ok, buddy… here we go…"

Neko's POV

I felt my eyes shoot open as the sun hit my face.

I blinked; where was I?!

"I can't be...?"

Taking a quick look around, I realized I was in Shika's house.

"How the hell did I get back here…?" I thought aloud, and Talon jumped onto my bed, looking happy.

"Talon! How'd you get out of Naruto's house?!"

Talon just meowed something about someone coming to get her and take her back here, and I remembered:

"The person who broke into Shikamaru's house! Is he still here?!"

I began to sneak down the stairs, but I saw none other than Temari lazing around on the couch, looking content.

The sight compelled me to rush down the stairs.

"Temari?! What… what are you doing home?"

Temari's eyes shot open and a smile came across her face.

"Hey, kiddo! You're finally awake. And after last night, too… anyway, my time in Suna was done. Kankuro pissed me off, so we left early enough to get here at night."

"Night… but that means… did Shikamaru come through here with a kunai?!" I gasped, feeling everything come back to me.

Temari laughed and nodded.

"Hell yeah. He forgot the keys, so he picked the lock. He said that there were two other people in the house and that one of them was you…"

She looked up at me with a sneaky look, and I felt a pang; Kiba. Where'd he go? Why would he leave me? Did he get hurt?

Shikamaru walked down the steps, yawning.

"What a drag… hey, Neko, you're awake."

"Shika!" I cried as I hugged him tightly. Then, I pulled away, getting straight to business.

"So… it was you who came in last night with a kunai?"

He laughed.

"Yeah. Why'd you two run?"

I shivered, remembering the moment.

"We were watching Shinobi Hell: Return of the Demons, and I guess we got a little scared."

Temari gasped, her eyes wide.

"Did you get through the entire movie?"

I was ashamed; the only reason we didn't finish it was because I was crying and Kiba turned it off because of that.

"No," I sighed, and Shikamaru put a hand on my shoulder.

"Good, because that stuff would have scarred you for life."

Temari shuddered at the memory, and I changed the subject to something that was bothering me.

"Um… so… um... where's Kiba?"

Shikamaru smirked at me.

"Well… he left this morning only a little earlier.."

I kitted my eyebrows in curiosity. "Why?"

I mean, I thought he was hurt, so to think he walked out of here untoucheed...

Shika laughed.

"He was with you all night, so he needed to go home and face his mom."

I felt a small blush light up my cheeks.

"All night? So… he just went home?"

Temari smirked.

"Huh. He was hell-bent on staying with you last night. He was worried about Naruto coming to get you or something. I could see it in his face how worried he was about you."

I couldn't stop the next blush that kept engulfing my naturally tanned skin complexion, giving it the faintest trace of red, and Temari laughed.

"Don't you think that was sweet of him?"

I looked away from her, shunning my romantic thoughts.

"Yeah, it was."

Shikamaru just rolled his eyes.

"Hush, Temari. Anyway… what are you gonna do about Naruto?"

"That's right," I thought as I remembered the blonde knucklehead.

"I think… I think I should propose going our separate ways. I don't know how I could be with him after that."

"I think… I'll just tell him that I have my sights on someone else."

I was thinking hard about how exactly she'd even face him now, and that seemed like the route to go.

Shikamaru face-palmed.

"That's exactly what you don't want to tell a guy when you dump them!"

I knitted my eyebrows together,

"But… it's true."

Shikamaru and Temari's eyebrows rose in suspicion, until Temari smirked: "I see who you mean."

Shikamaru frowned and whined:

"Let me in on this one! I don't know what you girl's secret looks mean or anything…"

Temari winked. "Let him figure it out. It's not that hard. It's putting one and one together. Or… two and two together, in this case."

I sighed.

"Ok… but if I'm going to break up with Naruto, then I should go do it now. I'll be back in a while, guys."

I rushed upstairs, got changed into a black jacket, light blue pleated skirt, and a white shirt with a Leaf symbol on it, got Talon off her lazy ass, and rushed out of the door.

Kiba's POV

Akamaru was staring at me incredulously.

"So… is that all?!"

I nodded, an obvious blush spreading across my face.

"It was pretty tough, and… trying hard not to go and kick Naruto's ass was probably among the hardest things of all."

Akamaru got an evil look on his face.

"I bet I know what the hardest thing of all was…"

He wiggled his eyebrows, and I growled: "No, I did not. get a boner, Akamaru."

I fell back onto my pillow, thinking about how beautiful she was.

"The hardest thing of all was trying not to kiss her."

Akamaru whimpered.

"Aww… you really ARE a lovesick puppy. What about Hinata?"

I felt guilt sting my conscience.

"I think when I see her today… I'm gonna break up with her. It's gotta be done, buddy."

"Took you long enough," muttered Akamaru.

I just growled and closed my eyes.

"Akamaru… I wonder if she'll ever love me the way I love her now."

Akamaru must have shrugged, but he barked back:

"I wouldn't know, but last I heard from Talon, she misses you a lot."

My eyes shot wide open at the thought.

"Really?!"

I looked at the small dog, and Akamaru replied.

"Yeah. That's all I know, though."

I growled,

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?!"

"Because… I wanted to wait until you made the decision on your own."

I snorted.

"Tch, good excuse. I'm gonna go and take care of this once and for all."

I jumped off of the bed and changed my clothes, then put my jacket on.

"C'mon, Akamaru." Once downstairs, I grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, and wrote:

"Mom,

If you wake up when I'm gone, I just want you to know that I went over to Hinata's to talk some stuff over.

Be back later (I PROMISE),

Kiba"

I put the paper on the counter, making it so it was hard to miss, and walked out the door.

"Ok, buddy, you ready for this?"

Akamaru barked: "Finally."

And the two of us sprinted off to Hinata's mansion.

"I wish I could love her the way that I love Neko."

Yeah, this story is actually almost over. I'm talking, another what, 10 chapters? 15 at most. Anyway, yeah, I had a review that said something about my writing unlocking what romance really is to them, and it'll help them win the heart of their dream girl… I'm responding to that by saying: glad I could help you, I didn't know my work would change lives! :) Heh, well… rate/review!

10/24/12: Hell yeah! Anyway, it is the awesome Anko Mitarashi's birthday today! xD Yay. I LOVE THIS CHAPTER'S NAME. NOT EVEN JOKING! I also love Shika's little troll face over there :P I had to.

Wondering why Kiba always talks about Neko? It's because he loves her. xD

xD Rate/Review!