Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

A/N: Nissie—I do write quite fast. I took a semester off from school, and so after work I have a bit of time on my hands. But I don't even really have this fully planned out, I am just writing where the story takes me. Also, in general, this is going to have a lot of dialogue, which is a weak point of mine. Revised!

Thank you so much to everyone who is reading. 3 Tell all of your friends and pimp my story out!

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There was a slight hint of jasmine in the air. Kiba's nose could pick up before they even entered Sakura's apartment and after they were inside the odor became very pungent to him.

"Sakura, your apartment smells wonderful but, uh…too strong." He tapped the side of his nose with a finger and fortunately, Sakura understood.

"I'm so sorry, I was burning incense earlier. Let me open some windows." As she moved around the living room toward the windows, Kiba took a seat on her couch. Now that he was here, he wasn't sure where to begin talking.

"Coffee or tea?" She was already on her way to the tiny kitchen.

"Tea, please." Normally he hated tea, but coffee had started the entire ordeal with Sasuke and the incident still left a bitter taste in his mouth. While she was busy in the kitchen, Kiba took the opportunity to look at her living space. He realized he had never been inside of her apartment. Really, he and Sakura had never interacted much. Their groups were so different and, aside from the interest Hinata had in Naruto and Kiba's own ongoing feud with the blond shinobi, the two teams rarely dealt with each other.

The apartment was clean and feminine, with flowers in vases and the walls painted a faint shade of pink. Not at all Kiba's taste, but he could see how it fit her. On a table next to where he was seated where picture frames filled with pictures of her family and her teammates. One was a picture of Sasuke and Sakura. Kiba picked it up and held it in his lap, studying Sasuke's cool and measured face, his slouch and his hands shoved deep in his pockets. Sasuke didn't even look aware that a picture was being taken, his eyes looking out into some unseen distance. Judging by her face, Kiba guessed the photo had been taken when Sakura and Sasuke had been dating. There was something familiar about the way the photograph was taken. It felt as if Sakura had been desperately trying to get his attention, had filled the picture with the love she had, and had finally settled on taking it anyway, regardless of Sasuke's distance. She was smiling, forcing the image of a couple, but he… he was miles away from her.

"We have tea now." Sakura had come in behind him and set a teapot and two cups on the coffee table. Easing into the seat next to him, she noticed he was looking at the picture. Her heart sank just a little at the reminder of the failed relationship.

"He didn't want to take that picture. Later I thought maybe it was because he knew we weren't going to work out, and didn't want any reminders of the relationship." Her voice was sad but honest.

"If you don't mind my asking, why didn't you two work out? Everyone knew how in love you were with him. We thought you two would be together forever."

Sakura cleared her voice to steady it. "We didn't work out because Sasuke's heart was never in it. It was maybe a matter of convenience, or comfort gone too far…but even though he tried, he couldn't love me like I loved him. But…He couldn't talk to me, or hold me or…touch me."

"You two never…?" Kiba was too embarrassed to finish the question.

"No. We never even came close. He was too stiff with me. I couldn't ever crack him, breach his walls."

"Has he ever…?"Maybe he was asking too much, but Kiba was curious at what kind of lover the Uchiha was.

"Yes, you know he has. Every girl that has slept with him has been heartbroken. They all cry about the same thing—it seemed like he didn't really want to be touching them. Perhaps I was spared that when he refused to sleep with me. I don't know if I could have handled…not being wanted by him during the act."

The two sat in silence, uncomfortable with the conversation. Finally, Sakura broke the silence.

"You have broken through his wall, you know."

"No. I thought maybe I had, but I was mistaken. I'm on the outside, with you."

"Kiba, Sasuke has never reacted to anyone the way he has these past few months the way he has with you. The fight…even Naruto hasn't been able to provoke him so passionately since he returned from Orochimaru. And during the mission, he wanted to be with you all the time. When you weren't around…he would talk to me about you. You were all he wanted...to talk about." At this point, Sakura had to stop, her voice cracking and tears forming in her eyes.

Kiba sensed her distress and uncomfortably put an arm around her shoulders. He wasn't good at comforting people, especially not crying girls. He wanted to know what Sasuke had said about him, his stomach twisting with the excitement of knowing the other boy had been as into him as he had been with Sasuke, but Kiba knew it wasn't the right time.

"Sakura…don't cry…please, I really don't know what to do with crying girls!"

She laughed at that, snorting a little through her tears and running nose.

"You know, I am so jealous of you, Kiba!"

"Oh god, why would you ever be jealous of me? Sasuke just kicked me out of his apartment! He looked at me with absolute venom. He hates me now."

"If he hated you, he wouldn't care one way or the other. He would just ignore you like he used to ignore me. I am jealous because he kicked you out. Don't you see? Because you bother him. Because he feels something, everything, for you. He never even really noticed I was there, even when we were together. Other than Naruto, you are the first person I've ever seen him react to, seen him care about. And unlike Naruto, he openly admitted to liking you."

"He LIKES ME?" Kiba's heart began to beat wildly in his chest and he wasn't quite sure why.

"Not like that, Kiba, don't be a dumbass."

"Oh." And they sat there some more, his arm draped around her shoulder, her sniffing away tears that wouldn't stop coming. When she eventually did stop crying, he felt so awkward he could only think of leaving. He knew he had come here for advice, but the conversation let him know that Sakura was no better off than he at knowing how to approach the Uchiha.

"Thank you for the tea, and for talking to me. I think I'll leave now, if that is Ok."

He got up to leave, but she grabbed his hand to stop him.

"Two more things, Kiba. First, Tsunade is going to give you both back your titles. Naruto pushed her to make you both chuunins again, and after everything that happened, she fully agreed. Second, you said Sasuke is pushing you away. Don't let him. I let him push me around and then I let him push me away and I lost him, and he needs someone right now. Not just anyone, either. He needs you, Kiba, but you will need to fight for him."

Not knowing how to answer, Kiba awkwardly reached down and gave Sakura a quick kiss on her cheek, then walked out the door.

As he left, Sakura replayed the conversation in her head. She kept thinking about the part where she had told Kiba Sasuke liked him.

"Not like that, Kiba, don't be a dumbass." Alone in her apartment, however, she couldn't help but to wonder. Why did Sasuke react so much to Kiba, both good and bad? Kiba seemed to make Sasuke…passionate. This revelation of the possibility flustered her so much she went to the hospital. Working with patients would help get her mind of the nagging feeling that maybe, when she had said that, she had been the dumbass.

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It had been a few days, and Kiba hadn't called. I'm glad, Sasuke thought, but that was a lie. He had been secretly hoping the dog boy would call, or show up at his door with Akamaru, and when it hadn't happened, his mood had darkened drastically. Each day he sent a note to Kakashi and his teammates saying he wasn't ready to train. But his strength had returned and he had been training alone, in the wood in the early morning. The training was intense, as Itachi seemed to appear everywhere Sasuke looked. Shuriken and kunai fell like rain from Sasuke's hands, embedding themselves deep in the targets, in the trees, the ground, everywhere that Sasuke caught a glimpse of Itachi's image.

This morning he had been training for four hours already. He had come out at two am, while Konoha was still sleeping. Training appealed to him more than sleep—when he slept, the nightmares came. The nightmares seemed to be entering every aspect of his life. He couldn't go to sleep without reliving the images Itachi's jutsu had put in his head. Seeing his friends, and god, Kiba, get sliced and cut apart every night made him feel worse than if he had not slept at all. There were other dreams, too, that were equally disturbing.

For the first time in his life, Sasuke was having dreams of a sexual nature. The part that scared him was that they weren't with Sakura, or girls from the village. They were with Kiba. He would dream that Kiba was not just giving him a bath, but was in the bath with him. He dreamed about touching Kiba, kissing him, lying in bed with him…Sasuke didn't know what these dreams meant. Surely he wasn't attracted to Kiba! And…it was ridiculous for Sasuke to believe that maybe Kiba returned the desire. Kiba thought they were just friends, and that is what they were…or what they would be, if Sasuke hadn't made the decision to end the relationship. The only decision, Sasuke thought. The dreams must just be his mind's way of torturing him with the pain of deliberately losing his closest friend. The desires the dreams brought and his body's response to the dreams, as well as the nightmares, were enough to avoid sleeping. So instead, here he was, training in the early morning air.

But training was not working the way he wanted it to. Now, even though his mind and body seemed focused, his thoughts kept slipping back to the images, or to the fight he had with Kiba. He had even begun to imagine himself cutting Kiba, and those images…those were the worst. It frightened him to know he was even capable of thinking about hurting someone so…so dear to him.

Shaking his head, Sasuke launched into another practice attack, throwing and twisting, kicking and punching at hundreds of imaginary foes. He became so involved he almost hit his teacher, Kakashi-sensei. However, the copy ninja was not someone who allowed himself to be hit, and he countered Sasuke's attack, twisting the boy's arm and pinning him to the ground in a movement too fast for a normal eye to follow.

"Sasuke, your focus is off. If you fight in a blind rage, you will never see your opponent set up his finishing moves."

An image of him thrusting the kunai into Itachi, only to watch his brother disappear in a poof of smoke, flashed in Sasuke's mind. He hadn't seen those finishing moves until it had been too late.

"Shut up, old man. Shouldn't you be whittling or playing cards or whatever it is old people do?"

With his mask on, Sasuke couldn't see the grin, but Kakashi's one visible eye let him know his sensei was amused.

"Care to test your luck with this 'old man'?"

"Are you sure you want to spar? I wouldn't want you to break a hip or anything."

"Enough, Sasuke. Let us begin. Remember, keep your focus. Because of your mocking, I won't go easy on you."

Again, Sasuke saw Itachi, heard his voice saying those exact words: I won't go easy on you.

He readied himself in an offensive stance. Kakashi just stood and waited.

Launching himself into an attack, Sasuke focused on trying to move into the copy ninja's blind spot. Because Kakashi only had one eye exposed, he had a large area that was theoretically blind to him. But try as he did, Sasuke could never make it past Kakashi's front guard.

Panting and stepping back after the first assault, Sasuke was frustrated. He wasn't even close to beating his teacher…so he couldn't be close to beating his brother. He switched on his Sharingan.

"So you are playing with Sharingan, eh? Fine with me, I'll even the score." With that, Kakashi pushed up his forehead protector, exposing his own one Sharingan eye.

Sasuke attacked again. With his Sharingan, he could see Kakashi's movements better, memorizing the way his teacher moved. He knew his teacher was also doing this, and that point was made when he realized they were matching punches, kicks and blocks perfectly. It was like Sasuke had been fighting a mirror.

Enraged, he pushed harder. He had to beat his teacher, he just had to. If he didn't…then what point was there to his life? It felt like his purpose came down to this fight: beat Kakashi-sensei, then he could beat Itachi. A flurry of blows were blocked and matched, the pace and intensity of the fight quickly picking up. It was no longer sparring—Sasuke was out for blood and he was out for the win.

After fighting for what seemed like hours, Sasuke could feel his muscles beginning to shut down. He had pushed too hard and now he was feeling the fatigue, while his teacher seemed to be fine.

"DAMNIT!" Sasuke screamed and pulled back. "WHY THE HELL CAN'T I HIT YOU?"

Concern was in Kakashi's eyes. He and Sasuke sparred often, but it had never been like this. Something was seriously, seriously wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Relax, Uchiha. Your strength is there. But you aren't focusing. You are letting your emotions control your fight." Kakashi paused for a moment, searching for his next words. "Speaking of controlling emotions, what is wrong? Kiba said you haven't spoken to him, or anyone, since you woke up."

"Leave me alone, there is nothing to talk about."

"Sasuke, you know I've met Itachi before. I've been under his jutsu. I barely survived."

Kakashi was trying to help, but it only pissed off Sasuke more. Another reminder that his brother almost killed his teacher—and he couldn't even come close to beating his teacher. He was so weak, just like Itachi said.

"Old man, I asked you to leave me alone. I'm going for a walk."

With that, Sasuke jumped into the trees and used his remaining chakra to launch himself away. Kakashi let him go for the time being. Sakura had told him about how Sasuke had bonded with Kiba…maybe he was the wrong person to be pushing Sasuke.

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Akamaru and Kiba were standing outside of Sasuke's door.

"I know, Aka, I will knock. Just give me a fucking second."

Akamaru rolled his eyes, knowing that his master was stalling. It had taken days of whining to even persuade Kiba to come back to the apartment. But he had been tired of watching Kiba mope, tired of listening to Kiba talk about Sasuke. It had been time for action and here they were, and yet Kiba was holding back.

Aka nipped firmly at his master's ankle.

"Fuck, that hurt! Fine, fine, I'm knocking!" Glaring at the dog, Kiba raised his fist and banged on the door.

There was no answer.

After a couple of seconds, Kiba banged again, louder.

"Sasuke, open the door. You have been avoiding me for too long!"

Still no answer.

Kiba turned to his dog. "He isn't home. Do you think he is with Sakura?"

Just for kicks, Kiba banged one last time with both fists, long and hard, rattling the wooden door in its frame.

As he turned to leave, Kiba's sensitive ears heard the footsteps behind the door. Frustrated, Kiba pretended to be walking off, making his own footsteps grow lighter as he gently put his feet down, and then standing still. Aka understood and did not move. A latch in the door clicked, and Kiba heard the handle turning. Whipping around, he slammed his body into the door, shoving it open and tumbling inside the familiar apartment.

"Goddamnit Kiba, what are you doing here?" The force of the door being shoved open had knocked Sasuke on the floor. Next to him, disheveled and flat on his face, was Kiba.

The dog boy rolled onto his side and grinned mischievously.

"Sorry about that, I just thought your door must be stuck, seeing as you weren't 'able' to answer it until you thought I had gone."

"I hoped you had gone." Sasuke's face was like a stone wall.

Getting up, Kiba stood and helped Sasuke stand.

"Why are you doing this?" He murmured, looking the Uchiha in the eyes. Sasuke averted his gaze and began to walk back into the apartment.

"Kiba, you are breaking and entering, I could get you into serious trouble for this offense."

Aka trotted in and used his nose to close the door. Kiba began to follow Sasuke.

"Sasu, please look at me." But the other boy kept walking, forcing Kiba to jump over the couch to grab hold of him, turning him around.

"Sasuke! God, why are you doing this? Talk to me!" Kiba was growling and Aka's ears pricked, hearing his master's distress.

Sasuke reached up and disdainfully removed Kiba's hands from his shoulders. He then stepped back and stared down the Inuzuka.

"There is nothing for us to talk about."

Kiba felt deeply hurt as he had watched Sasuke remove his hands, acting like Kiba had some sort of contagious disease. His hands burned from Sasuke's touch. He didn't want to, but he could feel tears forming in his eyes. The coldness in Sasuke's stare…it cut through Kiba's heart. He had hoped his friend was going to be happy to see him after so many days, but Sasuke was staring at him like… like Kiba was Itachi.

And in a second, Sasuke's Sharingan activated, because for Sasuke, he really did see Itachi standing in front of him.

Kiba sensed the change in Sasuke and glanced the Sharingan, feeling his chest fill with fear. On instinct, Kiba tackled Sasuke, sending them both hurtling painfully to the floor. During the fall, Kiba's head crashed into a nearby table, creating a small gash. On the floor, struggling and bleeding all over the Uchiha, Kiba growled loudly. He felt Aka move close, prepared to help defend his master.

"FUCK, SASUKE, STOP!" Kiba punched his friend across the face. "STOP FIGHTING ME! STOP PUSHING ME AWAY!"

The punch broke Sasuke out of his vision. He saw it was Kiba, not Itachi, sitting on top of him. He felt the heat of Kiba's body and felt Kiba's weight on his stomach. His hands had been on the other boy's chest, trying to push him off. Now all that they weren't pushing, he could feel the hard muscles, smooth under his fingertips. Something stirred in his stomach and his groin, disregarding the pain in his jaw from where Kiba's fist had landed. His heart began to race and his breathing sped up. Oh God, Sasuke realized. I am getting turned on by this, and if Kiba remained where he was, well, he would soon know exactly how turned on Sasuke was.

Pushing hard and rolling away, Sasuke crouched, hiding his erection. He had managed to get away before Kiba had felt it. He looked at his friend, also crouched on the floor. Kiba had blood flowing down his cheek and a very confused look on his face.

"Sasu—what exactly is going on?"

A deep flush crept up Sasuke's neck. Kiba couldn't know about his desire.

"Please leave."

"No. You can't push me away. We are too far along for you to push me away, and you know it. Just let me help, please. Sasuke, don't do this. Don't do it to me." Now Kiba really was crying, the tears mixing the blood that was beginning to dry on his skin.

His heart hurt, looking at the beautiful crying boy in front of him. Sasuke could feel it in his heart, feel the urge to go over and hold and soothe his friend, to open up. The flood of emotion, about their relationship, about his desires, about the nightmares and seeing Itachi and the visions all the time, it pounded and pushed. He was about to break, he could feel it. He could feel his hands beginning to tingle with the desire to grab a hold of the gorgeous Inuzuka and drop his façade. The words began to work their way out of his heart, up his throat, and he opened his mouth…

But nothing came out. With every ounce of reserve he had left, Sasuke steeled himself like the Uchiha he was. Looking away (how could he be resolved looking at that face!), he clenched his teeth and managed to mutter,

"Kiba, we are done here. Get out of my apartment—now."

Kiba didn't move, but Akamaru moved over and grabbed his master's sleeve in his teeth.

"Please…Please Sasuke, no…you don't mean it…" but Kiba allowed himself to be pulled to the door.

Sasuke turned his back, and Kiba took it to mean that it really was over. He didn't matter to Sasuke, and inside it felt as if his heart would break and he would die right there on the spot.

"Go." Sasuke's voice was strained but firm.

With one last glance, Kiba slid out of the apartment with his pet. Because his back was turned, Kiba couldn't see that Sasuke was crying as well.

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A/N: Whew, a long chapter for me. Again, this is a rough draft. And as always, if something seems too far-fetched or OOC, please let me know. I am very, very open to your suggestions! 3