It was a beautiful march day; lovely temperature, not too many clouds but not too few, a nice breeze. It was the perfect day to eat lunch outside. And I was bored. With Hinata-chan sick at home and Naruto having been bribed by me to have Iruka-sensei go over a few things with him, I was eating all alone for the first time in a good few years.

While I don't really mind being alone per se, I was definitely missing their company. I thought I'd follow Shikamarus lead and take a nap, but Mom threatened that if I got caught skipping class again, she'd skin me alive. Or, something along those lines.

Just as I was about to jump ship regardless and head to the library, I caught sight of an interesting scene. "What the heck is Sasuke doing in a tree?" There, with one hand keeping him steady and the other being used to eat, was the quiet Uchiha himself. A grin swiftly found its way onto my face.

"This ought' be good." It didn't take much to get up the tree myself, even with his bento I doubt Sasuke had trouble either. I did find it odd that, even as I crouched next to him on the branch, he didn't seem to notice me.

"Oi! Earth to Sasuke." I barely got the words out when he yelped and flailed. After stabilizing himself, and collecting the half-eaten rice ball I caught, he gave me the famous Uchiha glare. "What was that for?!" He whispered harshly, though his glare was thoroughly ruined by the bright red blush across his cheeks. I only shrugged. "Your fault for not noticing me."

I was about to say something else, but he slapped his hand over my mouth before I could. "Quiet!" He ordered with a finger over his mouth, and not a moment later, a gaggle of girls from our class seemed to spawn from the ether. Sasuke eyed them warily, leaning so far away from them I had to stabilize us both before we both fell off.

They didn't seem to notice us, one of them mentioned something about looking for the Uchiha next to me, which explained his current location. After about a minute, the herd moved on and Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief. A raised eyebrow was all it took to make him sing like a canary.

"They've been following me nonstop for HOURS now." The look in his eyes could only be described as... concerning. The normally distant and anticontact Uchiha was gripping my shoulders tightly and shaking me. "They were waiting outside the compound this morning." 'That's... not... normal.' I must've made a face, because he looked scarily pleased.

"What do they put in the water here that makes everyone so crazy?" I couldn't help but ask. To my utter surprise, Sasuke snorted out a laugh, though he was quick to stifle it no doubt in fear of the mob hearing him. "I've asked myself the same thing." He said with a smirk.

We shared a quiet laugh for a moment, but we were distracted by the distant sounds of the teachers calling the students back in for class. We held our breaths as the fangirl horde passed us once more, this time with a notable absence of pink or blond hair.

Sasuke looked far from pleased with the prospect of following them, even if only a fraction were in our class. "Look." I grabbed his shoulder, drawing his attention away from his impending doom. "You sit by the wall, an' I'll sit next to you. Can't bother you that way." It came out less like an offer and more like a command, but he looked grateful nonetheless.

To bypass the horde as they clogged the entrance and hallways, we slipped into the classroom by the window and took our seats as I suggested. When the room filled up again and Iruka-sensei started teaching, I was once more bored out of my skull. It was yet another thing I already knew; somethin' about the last war. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Sasuke taking notes like the good little student he is.

'Wait a moment.' When Iruka-sensei turns his back, my eyes shot over to Sasuke's paper. 'He's... doodling!' He looked so serious, but in reality he was putting the finishing touches on a huge dragon spiraling over the paper. It was actually pretty good.

"Dude." Whether it was my sharp whisper or the elbow that was digging into his side, I finally got his attention, a smirk plastered across my face in spite of the glare sent my way. "Yer totally goofin' off!" He looked scandalized at my remark, darks eyes darting to the front for a moment before shooting daggers my way. "S-shut up!" I have to stifle a laugh at the rosey blush crawling up his neck and across his nose.

"Boys." We both snap our attention to Iruka-sensei who looks less than pleased with us. "Something you want to share with the class?" I glance to my right, where Sasuke looks like he's about to pass out with the whole class sans Shikamaru staring at us. Turning my attention back to Iruka-sensei, I put on an innocent smile. "I was just pointing out a thing Sasuke-kun missed in his notes." The lie slips off my tongue with practiced ease and, thankfully, he buys it. He turns back to the chalkboard along with most of the class, though several girls continued to glare at me for some reason.

When they finally had their fill of wanting to kill me with their eyes, I looked down at the book I was pretending to take notes with. "Hm?" My little hum was covered up by Sakura answering a question. There was a piece of folded paper on my book, freshly torn from a notebook. Noone was to my left, so... I glance at Sasuke from the corner of my eye. His gaze is steely frim on the board, but judging from how stiff he was and the blush still curling up his neck, he knew I was looking at him. Carefully waiting for Iruka-sensei to turn his back again, I gently unfold the paper.

"Is it good?" Was written in Sasuke's plain handwriting. My snort is concealed by Naruto in another row asking a question. I keep my smile small as I write, don't want Iruka-sensei to notice after all. "Very. Draw a dog now!" Was now written underneath his question in my signature flowy handwriting. Years of writing in cursive have truly left their mark. I slip the paper over to Sasuke just as Iruka-sensei turns back towards the class.

The rest of class is uneventful, I just spend it reading a book on chakra theory. When we're dismissed, I look over at Saskue's book again. Where once was a lone, menacing dragon, now was an elegant dragon playing with a small dog. It reminded me of a wizened old man playing with his grandchild. Sasuke caught me staring at the paper, though all he gave me was a shy smile before making a quick exit, lest the horde catches him with his guard down.

"Kiba!" Naruto draws my attention as I finish packing up my own stuff. I just hum as I continue with my task. "Iruka-sensei asked me to give these notes to Hinata-chan, an' I'm gunna hang out with her till her dad kicks me out again 'tebayo. I-is that okay?" He's shuffling back and forth, eyes darting between me and his feet. 'Is this boy serious?' One look at his nervous face answers that question.

Naruto yelps at how fast I turn to him, trying to step back but my hands on his shoulders stops him. "Naruto. I ain't gunna keel over if you choose to spend time with Hinata-chan over me." He's sputtering, seemingly at a loss for words. In a single movement, I grab his hand, sling my bag over my shoulder, and drag Naruto along with me out of the school. "Listen. You are going to go and cheer up Hinata-chan. And then, when you get kicked out, yer gunna come over to my place for dinner."

When we reach the front yard, I pull him in front of me and give him a shove forward. "Now go. I've got things to do," Another bald-faced lie. "And so do you. Now go." With one final shove, he's off like a bolt. "See you late Kiba, dattebayo!" A sigh slips past my lips as he runs. "One of these days I'm gunna get it through his thick skull that I'm not gunna leave him for nothing. But today, is not that day." I mumbled out, frustration lacing my words as I try my best not to scowl, lest he turn around and see me.

"Kiba-san!" "Kiba-san!" Just as I'm about to head home myself to spend the rest of my day keeping Hana-neesan from burning the house down trying to cook, two familiar voices pierce the air accompanied by a pair of rapidly approaching footsteps. The scowl I had been fighting finally shows itself as I give a resigned groan. I turn on my heel to face the two panting girls as they caught their breaths from their sprint. "What do ya want?" I bite out rudely, my glare shifting from light blue eyes to vibrant green ones.

"We saw you talking with Sasuke-kun earlier at lunch. In the tree." Ino, ever the leader, began. "And, we saw you distracting him during class too. Sasuke-kun could never make a mistake." Ah, Sakura. You never fail to simultaneously impress and disappoint me. "You too are friends right?" I could honestly ask the same of you two, Ino. I didn't get to answer as the two obsessed girls must have taken my silence for a 'yes'.

"Is it true that Sasuke-kun likes girls with long hair?" Sakura asks, absently twirling a lock of pink hair. "I don't think-" "Has he ever mentioned a girl he likes?" Ino cuts in, a fierce glint in her eyes.

"He's never really-"

"Has he mentioned one of us before?"

"Look, he and I aren't-"

"What about thing's he doesn't-"

"ENOUGH!"

My shout is enough to silence them, the Yamanaka taking a step back at my obvious fury. Taking a steadying breath, I begin. "First of all, when you ask someone a question, it's polite to let them ANSWER before you ask another." Both girls look down shamefully at my firm, and loud, admonishment. "Secondly, while we've chatted once or twice in the past, this was really the first time we've had a full-on conversation. It's a bit too soon to call us 'friends'."

Thankfully, that seemed to take the wind out of their sails. "Knowin' that, do you still want me to answer your questions?" A moment of consideration, or perhaps hesitation, passed over the girls as they glanced at each other before I received two frim nods. I take a breath to steady my nerves before I begin.

"Alright. In order: I don't think he cares about hair, he's never mentioned or shown any interest in any girl, or boy for that matter, and the only things I know he dislikes are sweets and annoying people." With each answer I gave, the two seemed to deflate more and more, and dammit if it wasn't hard to stay angry.

Letting out a sigh, the wind leaving my own sails, my mouth says something my brain will immediately regret. "Why are you even so obsessed with him anyways." Though mumbled under my breath, the short distance makes me hear loud and clear. My fate is sealed the moment that fire ignites in their eyes.

The following ten minutes are spent listening to them ramble, and occasionally argue, about how 'great Sasuke-kun is'. After wishing for the ground to collapse underneath me again for the twentieth time since they got here, I get a word in edgewise. "That's nice an' all, but what do you know about him?" A look of confusion washes over their faces. "What do you mean? We just told you-" Sakura starts before I stop her with a hand. "You told me how quote-unquote 'amazing' he is, but that doesn't tell me anythin' about him."

A flash of an expression passes over Ino's face but it's gone before I could identify it, replaced with anger while Sakura maintains her confusion. "Like, what's his favorite food or color, favorite book, what hobbies does he have, things like that." I list off rapidly, finishing with fists squarely on my hips. The following silence from the two girls spoke volumes. A sigh escaped my lips before I could stop it.

"Look, I 'ma be honest with you two." The pitiful look in their eyes almost made me stop. Just almost. "As you two are now, you've got zero hope with him." The tears that begin welling up in Sakura's eyes have me immediately regretting my words. Even Ino, angry as she's trying to look, has tears threatening to fall.

'If mom finds out I made them cry I'm dead! Backtrack, backtrack!' "But!"I throw up a finger, trying to look far more composed than I am. "Out of all his fangirls..." I swear I see Sakura roll her eyes for the briefest of moments when I said fangirls, as if insulted. "You two have the best chance of getting noticed." A loud cheer erupted from Ino, her jubilation leaving me momentarily stunned.

While I'm sure Sakura made her own, albeit quieter, cry of joy, by the time I recovered from Ino's screech she had taken up a thoughtful expression. "But... Why do WE have the best chance?" I could feel my blood pressure spike at her question even as Ino turned towards her with a huff. "Who cares Billboard Brow, Sasuke-kun's friend says we're in the lead!" Her mocking words drew a glare from her pink-haired rival, both ignoring the fact that I never said I was his friend. "I care Ino-Pig. He already said we don't have a chance, but now we have the best chance out of all the girls? It doesn't make sense." She said, a finger pointed directly at Ino's nose.

The two girls glared at each other a moment before Sakura, deeming her question more important than dominance, looked back at me. "So why?" I could only sigh at their inquisitive looks, even if Ino was trying to hide hers with a facade of annoyance. "First off I already said we're not... Oh forget it." It was my turn to huff and glare, meeting Ino's own for a moment before shifting my attention to Sakura.

"Sakura-chans right. There's a reason you two have the best chances despite having no chance. You two have something they don't" I pause to take a breath, crossing my arms and leveling Sakura with my sharpest glare yet when she opens her mouth, and have to suppress a sigh when she closes it again with a sheepish look and motions to continue. "Potential." Their visual and auditory confusion prompted me to continue and, with another sigh, I did. "Look, as with anybody, you can't know what sorta person someone likes. But as a general rule; shinobi, from what I hear, like strong women; someone who can take care of herself." I take a breath and motion to the two of them, saying a silent prayer to every god I can think of that this conversation ends soon. "From what I've seen, you two are the only girls in our class, of the ones fawning over him at least, with the potential to... well... become strong."

My, kinda lame, explanation seemed enough for Sakura, but her friend-turned-rival took issue with it this time. "That doesn't make any sense! How are we supposed to 'become strong'? It's too vague!" Her screeching combined with the far too strong smell of flowers sticking to her is starting to bring forth that all-too-familiar pounding in my skull. But from that pounding came a thought, and then an idea. Before she can start screeching at me again, I hold up my hands, beyond done with this.

"Look, while I can't teach you that myself, I do know who CAN teach you." Before they can interrupt me again, I go to speak quickly. Just as the words are about to leave my mouth though, another idea hits me, and a smirk carves its way across my face before I could stop it. "But I won' tell you. Not fer free, at any rate." While Sakura nods, understanding that this was to be a transaction, Inos glare sharpened and I swear I heard her growl under her breath. "Fine. What do you want, Inuzuka?" I can't help but snort at her use of my family name.

"Firstly, Ino-chan. Everyone knows you're the queen of gossip at the academy. Surely you've heard the rumors about Naruto." I begin before the furious Yamanaka decides to strangle me. She gives me an affirmative nod and is, thankfully, perfectly quiet. "Right, what I want you to do is... ah... counter them so to speak. Spread some good rumors about him, discredit the bad ones, things like that. Got it?" Another nod has me turning my attention from one headache-inducing girl to the other.

"Now, Sakura-chan. As a civilian, you have unique opportunities that both me and Hinata-chan lack. You've noticed that the civilian kids tend to treat Naruto worse than clan kids like me an' Ino-chan, right?" It's her turn to nod in the affirmative. "I want you to find out why. Why do the civilians in particular despise him? Sure he's pulled a prank or ten on just about everyone in Konoha, but that was in response to their treatment of him." Her eyes widen at this clearly new piece of information. She must be taking me at my words since my friendship with Naruto is without question at this point.

"The only thing I can tell you is that just about every parent in the village has told their kids to stay away from him." Sakura's face shifts from passive annoyance into a look of contemplation. "Yeah, my parents told me the same thing when they found out he was in my class. I never really questioned it, but now that you say that, it IS odd." Thank the heavens she's so smart. If I had to explain this to any of the air-headed civilian girls in our class, I'd 'av gone mad. "Ain't it? That's what I want you to look into, why they seem to hate him so much. We already know it can't be the pranks, so there must be some other reason." Sakura was still lost in her thought, but I know she heard me.

"So, do we have a deal?" I say as I hold a hand out to each of the girls. Ino's the first to respond, wearing her own smirk as she took my hand without hesitation. "A chance for Sasuke-kun's heart AND an excuse to gossip? You're on!" Not to be outdone, Sakura takes my other hand, a small but determined smile gracing her face. "I'm in too. This is just too strange NOT to look into." My smirk widened into a toothy grin as they agreed. "Great! Now listen close, I'm only going to say this once." I paused a moment to make sure I had their full attention.

"You're going to want to find a woman named Inuzuka Tsume. She's got wild brown hair and, as I'm sure you can guess, Inuzuka clan marks on her cheeks. She's not in town right now, but I happen to know she's due back tomorrow." As soon as I said her name, Ino looked like she wanted to say something, though she thankfully waited till I was done. "Inuzuka Tsume? Isn't that your mom?" I nod in response, having already expected her to recognize the name. "Yep. She's the toughest lady I know. You'll both have to prove you're worth her time, but I have faith in you two."

Ino scoffed lightly but said nothing more, while Sakura blushed, either happy or embarrassed at the praise. Probably both. The girls quickly said their thanks and goodbyes before rushing off to find Mom. I wait until they're out of sight to heave a sigh, thanking every deity I can think of that it's over. Pulling off my hoodie, I tie it around my waist and quickly stretch my legs. 'I'm gunna have to book it if I want to get home while I still have a home to get back to.' Letting out one final sigh, I take off at a dash through the late March air.

It was around two weeks later that something came of our deal, but not in the way I had hoped. Ino had been slowly turning the academy rumor mill in Naruto's favor and Sakura had been investigating the civilians as best she could, with little luck. They hadn't spoken to me since, but I have noticed they've been less obnoxious about the fawning than before. I was also happy to see that they were working together more, especially on their end of the bargain, even if their rivalry was still going strong.

One day, however, someone DID speak to me. I had been sitting on the couch reading a book on medical ninjutsu and doing the leaf sticking exercise when Mom stomped into the room, shouting as usual. "Oi brat!" Not taking my eyes off my book, I respond with a quiet "Hm?" to at least show I heard her. No sooner had the noise left my mouth when a heavy, and familiar, aura filled the room.

"What's this I hear 'bout you makin' some girls cry?!" 'SHIT!' Terror rips through my body as my book slips from my hands and lands gracelessly on the floor, the leaf on my forehead landing gently on top. Swiftly turning towards her, almost certainly pale as a ghost, and hold my hands up. "A-ah, i-in my defense-" Her glare sharped." I d-didn't mean to?" I could barely get the words out, a nervous smile finding a place on my face.

"Brat." Her words were deadly low, and I was sweating buckets. "Y-yes?" "Get in the chair." "Y-yes ma'am."

A.N: Holy. Hells. BELLS! It's finally done! I've been working on this chapter FOR YEARS! I am so sorry for the delay. If any of you read the authors note on the new story I posted in December, you would know a little of what happened. As for those who didn't, the gist is; after posting the last chapter of Wolf Fang: Take Two the laptop I wrote on died. Like, DIED died. Motherboard gave up on me. While I had a backup desktop I could write on, with the story being saved on the cloud, for many reasons progress stalled. I did finish writing this chapter on that computer, but the next time I went to read it, I decided I hated most of it. Thankfully I got a new laptop and MANY new ideas for this story. I already have part of the next chapter written and a much better idea of where this thing is going.

As for the actual chapter, this begins what I call the Sunset Hues Arch. The name will make sense at the end of the arch, trust me. The whole point of this segment is to lay the groundwork for chapters to come, as well as show off the dynamic Kiba has with characters who aren't Naruto or Hinata. This might all seem like filler, but it's not. I promise.

Before I sign off, there are a couple reviews I want to address.

cordo12: I've read a few chapters of your Inuzuka story, and will say it is miles more original than most of the SI stories I've read. To anyone who likes this and wants more Inuzuka stuff, I definitely recommend A Stained Fang.

kingslayer98: I don't want to spoil anything, so all I'll say is that you won't be disappointed. At least, I hope. Also, I'm glad you liked my depiction of Narutos treatment. While there definitely has been a fair bit of screaming and ranting at him, those would be drunk outliers as opposed to the norm.

As always, thank you so so much for reading and reviewing. The numbers I've seen on this thing are honestly surprising to me, and I'm excited to write more of it.

Finally, if you have any thoughts, advice, or complaints please leave a review, I really appreciate it. Thank you for reading, and have a nice day.