Warning(s): Nothing too bad, really. Mentions of marijuana, but Kiba's being a good kid. Oh, and a new temporary pairing that won't last: Kiba/Hidan.

Hashirama was judging him. Again.

"What is it this time, brother?" Tobirama sighed as he stirred his cup of coffee.

Tsunade was off in the corner of Hashirama's house, struggling to put on her winter boots without anyone's help. She was making a point of being old enough to do things on her own- so she was old enough to go out to a candy store a few blocks away to buy candy for herself. Tobirama and Hashirama allowed her to struggle to prove their own point- no, she was not.

"Kiba tells me you've grounded him."

The white haired male sighed, "That I did. Is there an issue with it?"

When he chanced a look at Hashirama, Tobirama found his older brother with his lips pursed. "He told me it was supposed to be for a month. Yet the month has passed and you haven't lifted the punishment yet."

Tsunade groaned and spit out mumbled made-up, kid friendly curses at her boots. Tobirama allowed it because fake-swearing was the closest they would get to keeping their household PG with the likes of Kiba and Hidan running around.

He didn't like Hidan. There was something very off about that young man.

"I've extended it. He pulled a rather big mistake on the night of the party- but he's won himself an extension because of his grades and that last altercation with Rock Lee." He explained calmly enough before he took a sip of his coffee, leaving Hashirama to frown at him.

The Inuzuka's grades had begun to slip, even though Tobirama knew for a fact that his training schedule permitted the teenager more than enough time to complete his studies. And Hiashi informed him of a confrontation between Rock Lee and Kiba in which Kiba had been the instigating party until Neji had pulled Lee away from the classroom and Hinata tried to calm Kiba down.

Tobirama knew there was more to that story. Kiba was never the kind to start a fight. But the teenager refused to speak to him. And, seeing how Hiashi's version of the story was the only one Tobirama had, he felt it was justified to extend the punishment.

"You're being too hard on the kid."

Tsunade cheered, then groaned loudly. Tobirama turned to look at her and found that she had managed to put on one boot, but had reversed the foot it was supposed to go on. So the blonde threw herself at the floor with a defeated huff.

At least she understood she wasn't old enough to go anywhere by herself now.

"You're being too kind with him."

Hashirama sighed heavily and stood up, making his way towards Tsunade to help her out. "Christmas break is nearing and it'll be really unfair if he isn't allowed to have fun with his friends. Friends that we've already approved of, Tobirama. None of them are bad kids."

Except Hidan.

The lawyer shook his head and finished draining his cup of dark coffee. Then he stood up and began to wash it. "I'll talk with him. If he seems to finally understand the severity of his actions, I'll lift the punishment."

It wasn't a promise of the like Hashirama wanted. But it was the closest his brother would get. And they both knew it.

Hashirama helped his granddaughter put on the winter boots while chuckling at her pout, all the while telling her that there was no problem with being a kid and to stop trying to grow up so fast.

Tobirama couldn't help but sigh softly as he thought about Kiba... He wished both kids would stop growing. He didn't know how much more of this he could take.

~/~

"Man! You're still grounded?"

Kiba didn't know why Naruto, of all people, was upset over his punishment. "Yeah. Tobirama hasn't said anything about not being grounded and I'm not taking any chances. He's already pissed off enough with me."

Hinata huffed, "But it's already been more than a month."

"Yup."

He hefted his backpack higher up on his shoulders, then shrugged and continued to make his way down the halls of their school. Hinata, Naruto, and Shino all followed after him as they made their way towards their next class.

The recent 'C' he had gotten in his science class was weighing on his mind. He didn't have much energy to think about his friends and their own worries, seeing how he was currently wondering how he was going to explain that grade to the Senju brothers. He knew that Hashirama wouldn't mind it because he understood science sucked. But he also knew that Tobirama would hit him with that disappointed scowl of his... And Kiba didn't think he'd ever see the end of the punishment.

"How're we supposed to party and go to the beach and have fun if you're always grounded, Kiba?" Naruto groaned, earning a disgruntled growl from Rock Lee when the blonde pushed him to the side of the hallway so he could squeeze through the rest of the student body.

Kiba didn't understand why life hated him. But Rock Lee always appeared at the worst times and pushed him too far.

But not today. Today, Kiba wouldn't bite. If Rock Lee screamed out at Naruto, then it would be Naruto's shit to deal with. Nope, he would not even look back at Lee-

"Watch where you're going! All of you are such idiots! Didn't your parents ever teach you any manners?!"

No. He was not going to rise to the bait that always got to him. Family may have been a touchy subject, but he was not about to get into trouble again because Rock Lee was so good at getting under his skin.

"Why don't you watch where you're standing? Get outta the middle of the hallway if you don't wanna get hit- dumbass!" Naruto yelled back, pushing on Kiba and Hinata's backs to get them to move away faster. "That guy's such a jerk."

Naruto wasn't helping the situation. But at least they were able to get away without Rock Lee and him coming to an actual confrontation.

They finally dropped the topic of his punishment and began to talk about going to Hinata's house to complete their end of semester English project. Kiba took their distraction and pulled out his phone from his pocket to check if there were any messages.

There were three: one from Tobirama, another from Hashirama, and the earliest one was from Hidan.

"We'll have to meet to talk." ~ Tobirama

Kiba frowned at this, sighed, and flipped to Hashirama's message.

"I convinced Tobirama to talk to you. No idea what he'll do, but... Yknow how he is."

Ah, now that made sense.

Finally, he turned to Hidan's message and read it through. "You free next Saturday? I wanna lunch!"

The teenager sighed at this, and quickly replied, "Don't know. I'll tell you later."

Who knew? Maybe Tobirama would finally free him from this punishment.

~/~

When Kiba made it to his office, Tobirama was not prepared to meet with him. He found himself speaking with the plaintiff of a case he had thought closed months ago.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Sarutobi, but my hands are tied. You can bring a case against your lawyer for misconduct and negligence, but that would take time. Until then, my client's have asked me to offer as little as possible for your daughter's injuries. I am sorry, but all you have been offered to this date is all I am allowed to offer." Tobirama explained to the woman, who glared back at him with pure spite. "I am going against my own code of ethics to tell you this, I must add. And we really should end this meeting as soon as possible."

"You're nothing more than a heartless bastard."

Kiba opened the door into his office and managed to hear the insult spewed at him.

Tobirama frowned when he noticed how tightly Kiba was gripping the doorknob.

"I am sorry you feel that way. But I have another meeting I really must get to. If you'd please," Tobirama stood up and motioned towards the door, silently telling the woman she had to leave.

The woman glared, picked up her purse, and left in a huff.

Tobirama closed his eyes and inhaled deeply to calm down before he spoke with Kiba. He opened them when he heard the door close and found Kiba frowning over at him.

"You've really got a tough job."

"I am aware." The man offered, then motioned for Kiba to sit down where Kurenai had previously been sat. "We're not here to talk about me, though. We're here about you."

Kiba frowned and sat down, all the while Tobirama sat back down on his chair. "What's the grade you got on your latest Biology test?"

Somehow, the teenager's frown managed to deepen even further. He didn't say anything.

Tobirama quirked an eyebrow, "We've got to talk about it."

"Well I don't want to because you're just gonna get angry with me." The Inuzuka crossed his arms over his chest and huffed out a petulant, "Fine! I got a C."

Tobirama scowled.

Kiba had the decency to shrink in his chair.

"I don't get the class! Science is stupid... But, I did get an A on that English test I had!"

~/~

Tobirama condemned him to having to find a science tutor for the next semester. He wouldn't allow him to continue getting weak grades if it was an issue they were able to solve with Kiba just trying a bit more. This semester was basically lost with the certifiable B or C he would get, but he was expected to get an A the next semester.

Luckily enough, though, Kiba was freed from his punishment. Finally! He was free to do stuff!

So he sent a quick message to Hidan about how, yes, he would be able to meet up for lunch next week as he waited in Tobirama's office for the man to finish up with his work so they could head back to the man's house.

"Fuckin A! Haven't cn u in 4ever."

Hidan's texting was purposefully cringe-worthy and Kiba hated. The man wrote to him like this to get under his skin. And he was very much successful in this endeavor.

"You write like a teenage girl and it's seriously depressing." Kiba quickly wrote back before he pocketed his phone and began to bounce on the balls of his feet.

He was waiting by the doorway of Tobirama's office, eager to finally be able to leave after receiving the good news that he was finally free from his punishment. The man was finishing up with some kind of draft of something or another and was typing away at his keyboard with as much energy now as when he had begun to work after they had finished their little talk over an hour ago.

Kiba knew that it would be a while before Tobirama finished, so he had stood up to stretch his legs and walk a little bit.

The teenager took the fact that Hidan had been informed and he had nothing more to do than wait to be able to look at Tobirama... and, well... Just look.

The youngest of the Senju brothers was a very handsome man. Like the kind of man that could have had a career in modeling in his younger years if he had willed it. And he had a very rigid and responsible physical routine to take care of himself- to be able to live as long as he could to care for Tsunade and his older brother.

Sometimes, Kiba did allow himself to wonder just how, exactly, Tobirama looked without a shirt. But he quickly dashed those thoughts away because, well, Tobirama was like an actually good father figure. Those were not the kinds of thoughts he needed to have hanging around in his mind.

His phone vibrated and Kiba fished out his phone to find that Hidan had answered him again.

"Ur stuck wth me, btch. TTYL. Retards tlking 2 me."

Oh... Right. Hidan had his own group of college friends he spoke ill of a lot. The 'Retard', if he was remembering correctly, was a guy they called Tobi. And Hidan had particularly energetic hate for this specific man, even though Kiba couldn't understand why.

"See you later, Hidan."

He finished typing on his screen and chanced a glance over at Tobirama... And couldn't help but feel his heart begin to hammer just a bit harder in his chest.

The man was worrying his bottom lip between his teeth as he glared with nothing short of intensity at his computer screen. He looked so concentrated... So passionate...

Kiba breathed in sharply, cursed Tobi for taking Hidan's attention away from his phone, and scrolled through his contacts to try and find someone he would be able to bother so he could distract himself for a while.

~/~

Tobirama didn't like it when Kiba hung out with Hidan. But Hashirama had accepted the young man as a worthy friend and Kiba really did enjoy spending time with him. Tobirama didn't have enough evidence to justify his dislike of the man, so he didn't have any logical arguments against having the man around.

Dropping Kiba off at the college student's apartment was one of the most uncomfortable things he had ever done.

"This is your first shot at showing me you've matured. Do not disappoint me." Tobirama growled as he drove down the highway, all the while Kiba's peaceful music played through his car's speakers.

This was yet another surprising quality- Kiba was a fan of all kinds of music. He liked the stereotypical angry and loud music teenagers were infamous for. But he also enjoyed some pop songs that were appropriate for Tsunade's age. And he also had a whole playlist of calm music with calm guitar riffs and soft vocals and instruments that Tobirama actually enjoyed.

"No weed. No alcohol. No nonsense; I promise. I'm not about to risk getting in trouble when I've just gotten my freedom." Kiba promised with an eager smile on his lips.

Tobirama sighed and continued to keep his gaze on the road before him. It was still early in the day, not even the afternoon, but Hidan had insisted on having lunch at his apartment. Seeing how his apartment was close to Hashirama's university and on the other side of town, Tobirama wasn't about to let Kiba even think of walking all the way there.

Caring for someone was sometimes so not worth the energy... But Kiba mattered.

"These are college students, Kiba. I have a right to worry for your wellbeing."

He sighed softly and drummed his fingers against the dashboard. "I get that I'm still in high school so you've got that right. But I've known Hidan for forever. You shouldn't worry about me."

He could, so he would.

Tobirama turned onto the stretch of highway that took him on the fastest route to the university, then turned into the area filled with students off-campus residences. "College students are idiots. I'd bet they're even dumber than high school students. The only reason I'm allowing you to come here is for the simple fact that Hashirama refused to listen to reason and actually allowed this."

Kiba chuckled softly at this and looked on his phone to begin to direct him towards the apartment that housed Hidan and his roommates. "Well I guess I should thank Hashirama a bit more when he picks me up."

"Hn."

Eventually Tobirama found his car stopped in front of a large red building with Hidan waiting in front of it. The young man smiled broadly when he saw the car pulling up and neared the edge of the sidewalk. Kiba turned to Tobirama and smiled at him, thanking him one final time before he jumped out of the car and was scooped up in a large hug by Hidan.

Tobirama watched the interaction with a dark cloud beginning to form over him.

Hidan liked Kiba. And either Kiba was completely oblivious to this, or he reciprocated.

For some reason, that bothered Tobirama a lot more than it should have.

~/~

When he walked into Hidan's apartment, it was to find out that it was much bigger than he would have ever expected the man being able to afford. Almost immediately, though, he found out why it was that he was able to live there.

"These're Obito, Deidara, Sasori, Nagato, Yahiko, and I'm Konan." The only woman in the place introduced herself and her roommates as soon as he had crossed through the threshold, barely giving him any time to actually register what was being said.

"We've got two other grumpy roommates, but they're out right now." Hidan's large hands clasped onto his shoulders and pushed him into the extremely spacious apartment, leading him towards the huge couch on which a redheaded person and a dark haired man were sitting.

He wasn't sure if the red head was a very girly man or a boyish woman. So he would do his best to steer clear of conversation with them just to be on the safe side.

"Kisame's out getting the final thing we need for lunch. And Itachi's working or whatever- he doesn't matter."

This was a rather big apartment with quite a bit of rooms. But he was sure that eight roommates was more than enough for people to want to kill each other.

Hidan pushed Kiba onto the couch and handed him a control so they could play a fighting game. Kiba quirked an eyebrow at this, only receiving a smirk from Hidan as an answer.

"You haven't played this game before and I need to be able to kick your butt at least once before you figure out how to properly play."

"Now that isn't very fair, now is it? Hn?" The blonde with the bangs that covered half their face called out in a decidedly male voice, making Kiba wonder just what kind of people Hidan hung out with now. He had never been the kind that was open to differences before. But this was a very odd looking group of people.

"Not at all, Deidara!" The dark haired man sitting on the couch chuckled as he struggled to not cough and- oh, he smelled like weed. Okay. This must have been Tobi- Obito. "Hidan, you're so mean to the kid!"

"Shaddup, fucktard!" Hidan waved him off and picked his character- Goku.

Ah, a Dragon Ball Z fighting game. It had been forever since Kiba had last played one of these.

"Alright. Let's see just how much this series has changed." He scoured through the roster until he found the only character he had actually loved from the series he had watched as a kid and promptly heard a round of laughter from the very baked Tobi.

"Hey! I like Yamcha."

"He sucks!"

"He's a kid. Let him be stupid."

"That guy's an idiot. But at least he's got that one attack that's not half bad."

And so the adults around him that weren't as mature as Kiba had thought adults would be began to discuss the pros and cons to picking Yamcha over his head, all the while he and Hidan engaged in a fight.

After hours of learning how to play and finally figuring out the game, Kiba was able to beat Hidan. They were able to eat a lunch that had been cooked by Konan and Hidan- and what had happened to his old best friend to have changed so much?. And, right now, Kiba found himself in the hallway of the apartment complex as he sent Hashirama a pin on how to get to the apartment so he could be picked up before the ten o'clock curfew Tobirama had set for him.

Hidan's friends were all interesting. But they were also loud and college aged. Kiba liked them, but it was also nice to spend some time alone with Hidan. Besides, he had promised Tobirama no trouble making and Tobi refused to not smoke inside the building. Even though he wasn't going to take part in anything that would get him in trouble, Kiba didn't want to even smell the substance. So he had decided to take the time Tobi smoked to text Hashirama.

"I could just drive you back."

Hidan was leaning back against a wall, right to Kiba's left, and the teenager smiled at him. "I know, but these people actually... I dunno… Care."

"Seriously?" His friend murmured, then huffed out, "Weird."

"I know, right?" Kiba looked over at his friend, only to find Hidan looking back at him through narrowed, somewhat worried eyes. Kiba cocked his head to the side in confusion at the look, "Is everything alright, Hidan?"

"Yeah... Fuck... Just..." Hidan looked away and forced his hands into the pockets of his jacket, then scowled. "Yeah. Everythin's fuckin' fine."

"You sure?" Kiba questioned, then glanced down at his phone when it vibrated in his hand.

"Got it! Tsunade and Ill be over to pick you up in half an-"

Kiba wasn't able to finish reading the message.

Hidan grabbed his chin and pressed their lips together before he was able to finish reading.

..~..~..

Please review and tell me what you thought about this chapter! And don't hate me. Remember, Tobirama/Kiba is the endgame. But there's gotta some more drama before that happens!