Disclaimer: I Don't Own Naruto S. this for fan based purposes only.

Chapter 04:

Masks

*Naruto Centric*

The four of them left the village; Ino and Sakura were closer than ever playing catch up. They were also starting to discuss strategy for the mission. Naruto was trying to listen, trying his best to focus on the mission; this was about Sasuke. Still, he could only focus on other things. Kiba, he was there with him listening to the briefing. He wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary; Kiba was good at hiding things. He made it look so easy, Naruto was nothing like that. He was worried they'd get caught. "Naruto," Ino yelled. "Are you getting any of this?"

"Ugh," Naruto concentrated on Ino; the mission. Focus Naruto; she can't know about this. He and Kiba had to stay a secret. Just for a bit longer, He just had to hang on for a little bit longer. Naruto knew what needed to be done to keep them safe; he had to break the arrangement. Tell Kiba he no longer wanted anything to do with their game. He just wanted out, yeah he just had to tell him that. "I got it." He answered; Ino shook her head at him. "What?" He shrugged.

"What did I say just now?" Ino asked him. Naruto thought about it, he had no idea. He was still worried about other things; come on focus here. "If you got it, you should have no trouble repeating it." She crossed her arms waiting. Damn like he knew; he had no idea what she said. "This mission is very important; I can't afford any screw ups." She glanced at both him and Kiba.

"You said that you wanted us to survey the situation first," Kiba answered. "You told us not to charge in recklessly like usual. We got it," Naruto let out a sigh of relief; Kiba just saved his ass. "Get on with it." He complained. "We were already briefed by the Hokage."

"Yeah well this pertains to Sasuke," Sakura reminded him. "We have make sure we get everything. This mission if it goes well it would look great for us. Think about it not only will there be a chance at getting Sasuke back to the village. We are also taking on a high ranked mission as Chunin without a Jounin to guide us. It'd look great on our profiles. You guys want to be Hokage right?" Naruto and Kiba nodded. "This mission could be a big help getting you there," She's right; tough missions like this is what made Kakashi Sensei so strong. That settles it; Naruto knew what needed to be done for the sake of the mission. Sorry Kiba, Naruto raised his hand.

"What is it Naruto?" Ino questioned. She crossed her arms; it was easy to tell. She was starting to get annoyed. Ino wanted to get on with the mission; she didn't want sit here going over it fifty times first. She wanted to cram it and move on; they all agreed it was for the best since time was their enemy here. That's all the more reason; he had to do this.

"I really gotta pee." Naruto cheeks reddened. "Like really bad," He stressed. None of it was true; surely Kiba would see right through it. This was only an excuse to be alone with him. Kiba did nothing said nothing, he didn't want to be alone with him. Right because it'd draw attention to them. Sakura groaned face palming in frustration; she bought it; good.

"Gross," Ino shrieked; now she was really annoyed. "I didn't need to hear that." She scolded him; her hand rested on her hip. Sakura shook her head at him; they were both scolding him. Great they both bought it. Now he just needed Kiba to cooperate. Though, he wasn't doing anything at all to help. Kiba was trying to act normal. How were they going to be alone together if only one of them was trying to be alone?

"Naruto, you are such a pain," Sakura complained; she sounded pretty annoyed too. "Would it kill you to say you have to use the bathroom like everybody else?"

"Exactly," Ino agreed with her. "We barely left the village," She made him turn and face the village; Naruto could see it from a distance. They had long way to go before they reached their destination. Only three days to get there. "Can't you just hold it?" Naruto rushed over to a nearby bush.

"I got it," He started to unzip his pants. "I'll go right here, it'll only take a sec." Ino stepped back; yeah he was standing pretty close to her. Sakura quickly rushed in with deadly punch to his head; he angered her.

"Naruto," Sakura grabbed his jacket. "You're gross, get out of here with that go use a bush or something." She screamed. Naruto glanced at the bush he was using before Sakura grabbed him. "A different bush, not the one right by Ino's feet. What the hell is the matter with you?" Ino cleared her throat. She wanted to take over now; great.

"Yeah, what Sakura said." Ino yelled. "Are you trying to piss me off? Why do I bother? Just go to the bathroom," Naruto grabbed Kiba. "What now?" Ino screamed. "I told you that you could go why are you still here?"

"Kiba has to go too," Naruto answered.

"What!" Kiba yelled, "I do-," He covered his mouth. His muffle talk was really hard to translate but he was getting mad. Kiba was trying to get free but Naruto held him tight. Akamaru was barking at him demanding Kiba's release. The ninja hound was furious; he trying to bite him.

"You heard him he's gotta pee," Naruto smiled at her. "Hear that, he even said if didn't go right now he'd piss himself." Ino rolled her eyes at him; he was getting on her nerves. Akamaru's angry barks weren't helping either.

"Naruto, take him and go," Ino warned. "This guy isn't going to wait for us to catch him. I just think you should know that Naruto," She yelled as he retreated into the forest with Kiba. Alone at last; that was hard. Akamaru made taking Kiba by force difficult.

"Ou," Naruto's released Kiba's mouth after being bit by him. "You bit me,"

"Get your grubby hands off me," Kiba yanked himself free from Naruto's hold. "What were you thinkin?" Kiba was furious; well Naruto did sort of snatch him away. "I thought I told you we had to keep it a secret. This is the opposite of that,"

"Hey I needed to talk to you," Naruto confessed. "What else was I supposed to do?" He let out a sigh. Kiba bit his hand to settle his nerves. Otherwise he would want to fight him.

"Alright so talk, get it over with," Kiba added, "Ino is going to be onto us especially since Sakura already suspected something last night. Those two together are bound to figure it out. So whatever you gotta say; say it now." He leaned against a tree. "If it's Sai, I already know." Naruto stopped; he knew about that already. "You want a ribbon or somethin?" He guessed. "Look, if you want to run around being Sai's little bitch then do it." What was that? Naruto glared at him; did Kiba really just say that to him?

"What of it," Naruto countered. "I can least say I've been on a date with Sai. You haven't done anything like that for me. Hell, at least with him. I don't have to lie to anyone," Kiba growled at him. Didn't bother him, Naruto's date with Sai; it bothered him a lot. "Don't get mad at me, I tried to tell you but like always you don't listen to me." Naruto glared at the Inuzuka. "I'm not the one, who dragged me off to have fun without even listening. I didn't take off before I could even get a word out. What's going on?"

"It's nothing," Kiba turned his head. "None of your damn business." That's it he was hiding something from him. That's why he took off that night; what was he hiding from him? This was the first time, Kiba has ever hid anything from him; it had to be huge. "Look you done bitchin at me, we really need to get back." He went to leave; Naruto stopped him.

"Hold it, you might get away with running from Ino but that doesn't work on me," Naruto forced Kiba to look at him. "What's going on with you; it's something. I know it, so tell me." Wait no, why did he care? Naruto was trying to leave Kiba not stay. "It's none of my business," Naruto backed down. "Forget I asked." He released Kiba. "I didn't want to talk about Sai, I wanted to tell you that," Naruto knew this was going to hurt them both. What choice did he have? If they didn't stop this; Kiba would lose Ino forever. "I want out."

"What," Kiba ears throbbed at the word. "You want out, why?" Naruto couldn't answer that. "What did I do?" He smirked. "It has nothing to do with me. It's about Ino," He put his hands in his pockets. "You're wrong Naruto, dead wrong," Wait Kiba knew what he was thinking and why he wanted this. "You think Ino is better for me, that I belong with her. Why cause she's a medical ninja, a cook, everything your not but your wrong. I don't need any of that, I take care of myself."

"Yeah that's what I thought," Naruto confessed. "Ino is better for you, so take her. I got Sakura or Sai, either one is fine with me really." Neither of them were Kiba but Naruto was okay with that or at least he'd pretend to be. "Either way, if we don't stop your at risk of losing her. It's better this way, so that's I why I want out." He explained. "I'm helping you out, taking away your choice so you won't have to chose Kiba. So take it," He went to leave. Kiba grabbed him stopping him; just let go already.

"I don't want that," Kiba argued. "You don't want that, admit it." Naruto was giving him this; why was he not taking it his way out. Why was he fighting for him; he didn't want to be fought for. He just wanted out; why hold onto something this tightly; it's toxic.

"Your mother doesn't want us together," Naruto added. "You know that, Ino is your best bet so take it. Quit trying to change my mind."

"I'm not changing anything," Kiba argued. "When did you get this good at lying Naruto?" What was that? Did Kiba just call him liar? "I already told you before. I know when you're lying you can't lie to me. Every time you say you want out; it's a lie. Your heart stops for a sec, your pulse tells me otherwise. I can hear it, better than that I can smell it. You get all sweaty when you lie to me, so quit it already." Bullshit, that's not true. No way he knew that.

"I said quit it," Naruto yelled. "I already told you, I want out. I don't love you so stop it already." Kiba shook his head; why wasn't he affected by that?

"Another lie," Kiba smirked. "You don't love me, that's a good one." He stepped forward. "Prove me wrong Naruto, if that's true then," He brought his lips closer. Naruto felt sweat pour down his body; Kiba's body so close to his. His lips so close; what was he doing? "Leave right now, if you do that I'll let you go, if not, then you're lying simple as that. Go ahead, prove me wrong. You got the balls for that?" Naruto wanted to move but couldn't; he's right it was a lie but still, he wanted it to be true, he wanted it to.

"Damn it," Naruto was defeated; he couldn't do it. No matter how hard he tried; Kiba was right. "So what do we do? It's clear I can't leave, I can't keep lying to everyone. I'm no good at it, what if we get caught by them." Kiba placed his finger on Naruto's lips.

"So we get caught," Kiba brought his lips closer. "You said yourself you can't keep lying and I don't care if Ino sees it. Do you care if Sakura were to see it?" Naruto shook his head. "Then kiss me right now, we're being watched by them." Kiba whispered in his ear. "Ino and Sakura are behind those bushes," He explained. "I caught their scent awhile ago, they just got here. so if you were to kiss me; they'd see it. As of now, they think we're fighting." He showed him he had his claws at his throat. Right because when he grabbed Kiba; he was angry at him. Kiba masked it to appear as if they got into a fight. "You want her to know all you have to kiss me right now that's it. It's up to you." Naruto pondered this for a moment; Kiba was willing step out of the shadows for him. Never once have they ever done that. They promised it to be a secret; it had to be. But still,

Naruto didn't have long to decide. What would happen if they were to know? Would Ino be furious like he thought? Would Sakura be upset at him after he lied about it? More importantly could either of them be trusted with this secret; when they got back the village; it had to once again be a secret. Kiba couldn't afford to let everyone know; his mother would be furious; his clan furious at him. Naruto didn't want that for him but at the same time, he really wanted this, to be seen if only by one person other than themselves. For once being allowed to show at least one person, the way things truly were. In this case it was two, but it didn't matter. Could he trust them not to tell anyone about it? That was the real decision to make here.

"Well," Kiba waited for him to make his move. "Are we doing this or not? I can't hold you like this forever. I mean I could but, eventually they'll know something is going on here. " Naruto decided, he knew what he wanted. He was going to do just that, Naruto took Kiba's slamming his body against the tree behind them. "What are you," He jerked at Kiba's pants; he was devastated but understood. Kiba's lips formed a prideful smirk; the girls spied on them. They wanted a show; Naruto would give them one. "So much for kissing," Naruto tugged at his pants again pulling his body closer. He wrestled with them only for a moment; the second those pants fell to the ground. Naruto sunk to his knees. "I see so that's what you want," Kiba remained still; Naruto started to lower Kiba's boxers. The Inuzuka breathed a hard moan; He took Kiba's hunger into his mouth sucking on it.

"Look at him go," Ino spoke holding holding binoculars. Kiba glanced at her. "Ugh, don't mind me, I was just-," She handed Sakura the binoculars. "Let's go Sakura," She went to run; Naruto's shadow clone blocked her path. They stood firm; now that she knew; they needed to have a talk. Sakura stood still in complete disbelief.

"Ino you were right," Sakura spoke finally. "They really were having sex together," She reached into her wallet handing Ino some Ryo. "I had no idea that, I mean I saw Kiba snatch him but, I didn't know it was for that. Naruto why didn't you say anything?" She screamed. "You let me put you with Sai, if I had known you were with him. I would never have done that." Wait, Naruto stopped; Kiba zipped his pants up. Ino knew; Sakura was clueless, that made no sense after she saw them. He was sure she'd be first to know about them.

"Yeah about that," Kiba approached, "Naruto is mine, that is my ass, it belongs to me. Nobody ships my ass but me," He was furious at her; maybe that's why he wanted her to know. "And for Sai, of all the," He fought the urge to curse. "Why the fuck did you think it was okay to ship my ass? That's mine, Naruto is mine, leave him alone. I could strangle you for that, I should strangle you for that." He yelled. "Have you lost your head or somethin?"

"I didn't know," Sakura confessed. "I thought he was with Sasuke." What? Why would she think that? "I thought he and Sasuke hooked up during the retrieval. I was trying to break them up, I didn't want Naruto with Sasuke. Sasuke is mine," Ino tapped her shoulder. "Right, Sasuke is ours." Ino nodded. "I wasn't trying to break up you guys up."

"Me with Sasuke," Naruto pointed at himself. "Why does everyone think that? Kiba did you think that?" He nodded. So even Kiba was guilty of thinking it at some point. "Ino, did you think that?" Ino nodded. Great so he's the only one.

"You guys kissed," Ino added. "Everyone thought it," Naruto let out a sigh; yeah they did. "That's why I tossed you toward Sakura, it was a smart move on my part. It was killing two birds with one stone, I couldn't pass it up." Naruto rubbed his head; the whole village thinks he's dating Sasuke. At least now he knew. Anyway, it doesn't matter right now. What matters is Ino knew about him and Kiba. She had figured it out on her own, there was a dent in the secret; they had to figure where they went wrong. How did she come to that conclusion?

"That was until, I started sleeping with Kiba," What Kiba was the dent? Not him. "I would have never known had he not made it obvious." Ino stated.

"I did no such thing," Kiba argued. "I didn't make it obvious, you figured it out. Now how'd you do it?"

"Kiba, you made it obvious," Ino repeated. "You never once left the bedroom after sex. You never once searched for me during the day, none of that started until," She waited for Kiba to fill in the blanks.

"Naruto came back to the village," Kiba shamefully answered. "That proves nothing, I didn't make it obvious, you pried. I could have just been so happy to see my friend." Ino raised her brow at him.

"After sex?" She asked. "You were happy to see your friend after we had sex. That must be some friend," Kiba blushed. "Admit it, you told on yourself."

"She got me," Kiba confessed. Naruto smiled at least it wasn't him. He did everything right for once. "Wait but that doesn't explain the bet, you made a bet with Sakura, she betted we were together. When did that happen?"

"Yesterday," Ino answered. "After you left the hospitial, it was Sakura who came in not Shizune. We fixed the table and talked, we were trying to guess who's dating who and Naruto came up. she thought Sasuke, I thought you only cause I had a hunch not for any other reason. I was hoping that I'd lose the bet, I didn't intend to win, it just happened." Naruto laughed; poor Sakura; Ino unintentionally beat her; she's inherited her master's losing streak. "Speaking of. who's the guy?" She asked. "We betted on that too." Kiba pointed at himself. "Sakura, pay up," Sakura took her wallet out; damn she beat her twice. "I'm getting me some new shoes."

"I'm the one bought them remember that," Sakura complained. "So I knew those two were together," She pointed at Ino and Kiba. "Ino told me when it happened; I had no idea about you two," She pointed at Naruto and Kiba. "So what are you going to do? Kiba can't be with both of you; he has to choose." Kiba cringed; why did that bother him? The moment the word choose was said; it was like he heard nails on a chalk board. He hated that word; it proved it Kiba was struggling with this decision.

"Not right now he doesn't," Naruto offered. "Ino, I get the feeling that you really don't care that Kiba and I are doing things together. Otherwise you'd already be mad right?" He knew he was right; Ino had no problem with them. "Kiba and I, we aren't exclusive and if you don't care, then I don't care, I just want to be able to see him; that's it. I don't want to lose Kiba over this. Share?" He offered. "We could argue over it, you could leave him if you want, but I don't think that's what you really want." He gave a minute to think on it.

"Kiba and I, we never said anything about being exclusive either. There's nothing saying he can't be with us both until he decides. So okay, if you don't care then why should I?" Ino was going to allow it; Kiba didn't have to decide right now but he did have to choose eventually. Naruto just didn't want him to hurt over it. Kiba inside he knew; he was relieved to hear this; Naruto gave him time.

"Well since we're sharing," Kiba smirked. "Why don't we borrow a tent and make it official; the three of us on a bed. Do what we do and come back? Sounds like a good start to me." Naruto glared at him; did he just suggest a threesome? "What," Ino glared at him; she was mad too. "What did I say? Aw come on guys, you can't blame me for trying." Yes they can and they are. "Don't be like that."

"Grounded," Ino pointed at his nose. "You are grounded, you are never to suggest that. I may be okay with him that doesn't mean. I'm okay with him doing sexual things to you while I'm there; I will share with Naruto indirectly otherwise you can forget it. Though I will admit, you guys are cute together," She winked at Naruto; he blushed, Thanks for the complement I guess, he shrugged. "So I will allow you to kiss in front of me but that's it. Those are my terms," Ino crossed her arms letting them decide. They agreed to them; it was reasonable.

"So it's settled then," Naruto wondered. "We're going to share." Ino nodded. "So wanna exchange notes?" He walked next to her. "We can talk about Kiba all you want," Ino smiled; this was a start of something really great. -Hey- Kiba snatched him from her. "I'm trying to bond with her," Naruto explained.

"No, bad Naruto," Kiba flicked his nose; that hurt. Just a second ago; they agreed to share him. He shouldn't be upset by this. "There's only one thing you guys are going to bond about," Kiba replied. "You two are going to go on and on about my sex life; I don't want you two talking about my sexual habits. It's personal and I don't want to hear how I like my dick rubbed or anything like that. Got it?" Naruto frowned.

"Oh come on, you don't want me to pass on my notes to Ino,"

"You share nothing with her. I don't care what it is; you don't tell her anything and she better not tell you anything. Got it? Great just great; you guys are going to be buddies now talking about my body like it's some sexual experiment. I'd rather her be mad at me." Naruto laughed; Kiba wasn't saying it but he was glad this worked out.

"Alright fine, I'll let her figure it out." Naruto put his arms behind his head. "You know, this is actually kinda nice," He admitted. For so long, their relationship was a secret; it was hidden from everyone. In order to keep it that way, they could never kiss in public or hold hands or do anything to draw attention to them. They had to pretend to hate each other; never once did they ever get a chance to be open about it. They feared the eyes of the village. Now that Sakura and Ino both knew and they were away from the village. This was their chance to finally be honest about how things really were. The first time, he could ever, Naruto held Kiba's hand.

"What are you," Kiba of course he wasn't going to be used to it at first. After months of never being allowed to do something like this while people watched him. He was used to swatting his hand away or simply ignoring him saying something like an insult to mask the feelings. Worried, his eyes glanced over at the girls; they were behind them watching him. He was getting nervous; it was a lot for him to get used to.

"Fine," He accepted Naruto's hand. "Only until we get back to village after that, nobody is to know of this. Ino, Sakura, you heard that right? " Ino and Sakura agreed; they were going to keep the secret. It was nice to step out of the shadows just for little while.