AN: OKAY! Naruto is going to be very rude and grumpy...YEAH! So, yes, bad words that grownups use are in use. And because putting warnings at the top of my chapters might be a good idea, here ya go.
WARNINGS: Language, flirting, implied slashhet and implied slash groping from a canine's point of view.
Naruto sighed. It was the second week and he still was practicing by himself! Okay, so Kurenai had said he was going to be Ibiki's lab rat for the next three months (meaning 4 AM wake up calls...or so she said. It still hadn't happened) and that six hours of every other Monday and Friday were his. Apparently the senseis had a schedule for every second week for the original teams to participate together...which was okay, but that made the teams weaker, didn't it?
Of course, today was the first day that Nara and Inuzuka were supposed to teach him, and of course they could be late and/or no-shows, but that was yet to be determined. By...? How late was it? He looked at the sky, the sun already well past noon and into the late afternoon. What really got him was, though, was the fact that the laziest damn Nara he had ever seen, besides Shikamaru, was working with the terrifying and feral Inuzuka matriarch...together and without visible restraints. That was bound to blow up.
"DUDE! You still not training?"
Kiba...just what he needed right now. His head thumped repeatedly on the bridge rail, Kiba wincing from the painful sound. "Sorry I asked. I guess you're waiting for someone who hasn't showed?"
"Not yet..." was the only thing Kiba could make out clearly amongst the mumbles even if he caught "psyco..." and "fucking stupid..." several times. He probably didn't want to know. "So, who are you waiting for, dude?"
Something like "Nara bastards" and "flee-bitten Inuzukas" came from the general area of the blond's head making Kiba quirk his eyebrow. He knew his mom was taking on a loose disciple (1), but he would never in a million years think it would have been Naruto.
"Inuzukas are always fifteen minutes late unless it is very serious. If you have a Nara coming, other than Shika's mom, they are always late," Kiba shrugged at the blond boy before thinking something possitively evil. Why not take him to the Inuzuka compound to meet his mother? True, she was a bit--eh--insane, but what ninja wasn't? Akamaru chuckled at his friend, barking his response. Kiba rubbed his hands together.
Naruto's Someone Evilly Plots (SEP) sense was going off furiously. Kiba was up to something that would get him in trouble while Kiba tried to get away scott-free.
"You know, this is about to get...interesting in a way I wasn't aware of," chuckled Kyuubi in a smug voice.
"Hm, you know, I think I LIKE being stuck here now. This is MUCH more fun than being stuck as a dead guy," Hito snickered into Kyuubi's side. "Seriously, I can't believe the shit you get yourself in!"
"Go fuck each other!"
"HEY!"
"What are you thinking, Kiba?" His tone was rude, suspicious. He glared, pouting cutely.
Kiba smirked gleefully. "You're coming with me!" He grabbed Naruto's arm well before he thought to move, dragging a protesting, furious demon vessel along merrily.
"KIBA! YOU ARE SO DEAD!"
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Kiba poked his mostly silent fellow ninja. "Oi, dobe!"
"I'n NOT a DOBE, you bastard dog-breath!"
Kiba shrugged. "My mom sould be around here somewhere," he murmured more to himself than Naruto, but the blonde caught the words anyway.
"Your mom is my sensei?" he asked in disbelief.
"Dude," Kiba looked him over, "think about it. My Ma is clan leader. How many females, konoichi or not, can claim that?"
"Ah..." Naruto thought it over, combing through his memory. "Huh." He crossed his arms. "Oh! I do know one. There is an obscure clan on the edge of the village, the Tamashii (2) Clan. Tamashii Momiji is the leader...sweet girl, too, but a terrible temper when you finally get on her nerves." He smirked gleefully with the thought of actually being one of the few to walk away from her unscathed if a little bruised. "Has a cute kid, too. Kagura is the heir of the family and a bit young to be so still. Think of Shino as a girl with green hair and dark skin."
Kiba's brows met his hairline. "And the rest of us don't know about them...why?"
"Cause Kagura asked me to keep the knowledge low-key. The clan is not well liked or respected by the village," Naruto shrugged. Murmuring more to himself than Kiba, he thought out loud: "At least I have some protection from the villagers with Jiji watching me, way more than they do. I mean, the entire village would go 'mob mentality' and butcher the entire family!"
"BUTCHER THEM?!"
"Shut the hell up!" Naruto hissed at the dog-nin. His hand was slapped over Kiba's mouth, crushing Kiba's lip into his teeth. "No one can know! If you want to know their blood limit, fine, but don't say anything. Oath?"
Kiba licked Naruto's hand causing the blond to squirm and blush. "Don't do that...Damn it, promise your oath!"
The dog-nin nodded, rolling his eyes at the others antics. Naruto removed his hand and grimaced at the wet streak on his palm. "So what is this "big" secret?" Kiba mocked.
"They can...they can take away someone's soul," he whispered in Kiba's ear.
"Wait, wait, wait...WHAT?!" Kiba said in a strained voice.
"Yeah."
"And you piss them off?"
Naruto rolled his eyes this time. "Duh, dog-breath."
"DON'T CALL ME DOG-BREATH, YOU DOBE BRAT!"
"BASTARD DOG-BREATH!"
"I'LL GIVE YOU BASTARD, YOU LITTLE RUNT!"
"DIE, YOU FUCKING DOG BASTARD!"
Of course, this meant war. Kiba pounced on the smaller ninja, his momentum taking them both down. Naruto got in a deft jab to hiss ribs, making him his in pain. Kiba tried to knee him in the crotch, missing but knocking the breathe out of Naruto. They continued this way, rolling on the ground, biting, hitting, pulling until someone pulled them both up and away. Kiba and Naruto panted hard, rubbing various wounds that still hurt.
"I knew you would be trouble, but this is beyond anything I imagined," a feminine voice growled quite dangerously.
Kiba "eeped" from beside Naruto, and the blond knew something was terribly wrong. A large black beast that could have been a canine of some sort sniffed at him, snorting. Naruto couldn't tell if it was with contempt or amusement, but he was hoping the dog liked him. Seriously, he had never seen a dog that big before!
"Hi, Mr. Dog," Naruto whispered, holding out his hand and hoping it wouldn't be bitten off. "Please don't eat me!" A large nose snuffled his fingers before pulling away.
"I like you, kid," growled a deeper, obviously male, voice sounding like gravel rubbing together.
"I guess that settles it then, kid. You're now my disciple!" crowed the female voice. With Naruto and Kiba still hanging from their belts, they were carted off inside the tall wooden gates. Kiba shared a look with the blond, both dreading what was coming.
"I think we are now officially dead," whimpered Naruto.
"Ditto, dude," Kiba whined quietly.
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"I can't believe it," Nara Shikaku stated lazily. He looked over the Shogi board, moving a piece forward. "I mean, how did that brat make that much of an impression on you and your mutt within ten minutes?"
"Kuromaru is not a mutt! You are stupid sometimes, Nara!" Tsume growled. "Anyway, that Kyuubi kid actually talked to Kuro-kun like he was human. Admittedly, he was near pissing his pants with fear, but he did do it." She tapped her chin with a finger, one hand tucked under her other arm. "And I like him. Kiba is kept on his toes with him. Have you ever seen him fight? I mean, he flows thorugh the moves, and yes he is basic, but has an impressive imagination and combinations and is unpredictable! Kiba only hit him three times!"
Shikaku dropped his piece before picking it back up with a bored yawn. "Only three times?"
"They were going at it for ten, fifteen minutes! I call that a new record."
"Fifteen minutes? Only three hits? What is with that boy?" Shikaku wondered drolly.
"That's what you," she pointed at Shikaku, "and I are going to find out. We might not be able to do much, but we're going to keep him busy."
"Oh, goody," he drawled.
"Hey, I think he's a good kid. I'm an animal, and the most terrifying thing I smelled or sensed bad about that boy was the fact that he has two foreign scents." Kuromaru shrugged his broad shoulders, his tongue flopped out of the side of his mouth.
"TWO?"
"Duh, Tsume. Ka--!" Kuromaru snapped his jaws together. "Never mind, but think, woman. There's Kyuubi, of course. Now, you need to find out who the other one is." With his little mystery in place, Kuromaru left to keep the "pups" company. Seriously, leaving the fox blond with the hot-headed Kiba he happened to call pup was trying to mix oil and vinegar. They could work together, but they would never mix well if at all. Maybe he should get the oil to change a wee bit...He snickered at the evil thoughts running through his brain. If only they could read his perverted thoughts...
"What the hell is your problem, KIBA!"
Ah, the sound of domestic fighting already...
"Heh, this is fun."
"KIBA!" Scrambling sounds and a thud.
"Come on, Naruto. You have the funniest look on your face when I do that. Of course I'm gonna do it again." Flesh on flesh sound. "Ow!"
"That is so gross! Quit IT! NOW!"
Slurp! "Ewww! Kiba!"
"Heh, heh, heh. Oh, Kami, stop!" Bump, bump, thud, bump.
"Bastard..."
"But its funny!"
Slurp! "HEY!"
"Told ya," Naruto's voice growled.
Slurp! Sluurp! "DAMN IT! I'll make you stop that..."
Growl, slurp, snap. "OW! I didn't bite you!"
Kuromaru peeked around the corner at the two boys. He nearly laughed out loud. Naruto had Kiba pinned and was biting his shoulder, and quite hard from the looks of it. He felt Tsume come up behind him silently, her peeking around the door frame. She brought her hand up and muffled her almost silent snickers. Backing back into the hall, she straightened and gathered a stern air and face around her, the smile leaving her mouth even if her eyes were brighter than usual.
Before she reached the door, she heard: scramble, thud, bump, bump, growl, slurp, snap! "OW! KIBA, IF YOU DON'T LET ME GO RIGHT NOW, I'M GONNA GELD YOU IN YOUR OWN HOME!"
She bent over laughing so hard, she could barely stand. The short snuffling snort from Kuromaru didn't help her any.
"What the hell is goin' on?"
Shikaku glared into the hall, slumping his way forward. He choked on his cigarette, eyes wide at the position he saw the two youths in. If he wasn't sure, he would say that that would have been very compromising. Then what Naruto bellowed (did anyone in Konoha NOT hear that?) registered and he had an acute attack of a coughing fit interspersed with hearty guffaws. This just might be worth getting off his ass for!
"So, when were you going to tell me you had picked a mate?" Kuromaru said with a heavily choked voice. His doggy face was curled in a wide, tooth-baring grin.
"Oh, KAMI, NO!" Kiba jumped back as if burned and turned his back to the group. Naruto struggled to sit up, rubbing his offended flesh. His fingers became sticky-wet and he turned to Kiba.
"YOU BASTARD! YOU BROUGHT BLOOD!"
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Shino, along with Hinata, Sasuke and Shikamaru (sipping water from a bottle), peeked in on the dual training session. Shino had already left enough sentries around the training ground that the small group wouldn't get caught, so he relaxed and enjoyed the show of Kiba having his ass handed to him without Akamaru there to back him up. It truly was a sight to behold.
"That is the dobe? When did he learn to fight?"
Shikamaru and Shino threw a contemptuous look at the raven-haired boy. Hinata took it upon herself to smack him soundly on the head, making him flounder for balance.
"If you would watch and observe instead of trying to rid yourself of him, you'd see what I've known all along. Whether I live with him or not, he still pulls moves I've never seen when he needs to." Hinata folded her arms under her small, still developing breasts and stuck her chest out in challenge.
Sasuke rubbed his head but kept silent. Hinata wouldn't stop to think before lighting after him.
Shino turned back to watch the blond take a flying leap, stepping on Kiba's head lightly and balancing there before...doing something he had never seen before. Kiba was face down with Naruto hovering over his struggling form.
"That was for biting me, dog-breath! And this," he leaned over Kiba, his arm on the back of Kiba's neck, "is for bringing blood!" He bit Kiba hard on the neck, blood welling non too gently from the force. Kiba howled bringing Akamaru, Tsume, Shikaku (Shikamaru was choking on his water at this revelation), and Kuromaru outside to see the boys in a very distressing position.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!" Tsume, always the one to make first judgement. She was not happy right now.
Naruto jumped away, twisting to land feet first. Kiba stumbled upright, pale with an unnamed emotion. The blond looked back and forth, a feeling of dread making his sholders hunch defensively. He slunk into the shadow of a tree, only the brilliance of his clothing outlining his form. "What did I do wrong? We were sparring, playing around. I just got him back for the time he brought blood."
Shino watched Tsume stiffen, then relax with a rueful smile that barely tipped her lips. Shikaku just shook his head, rubbing a hand down his face in resignation. The two canines looked amused, even if Akamaru vibrated with worry for his companion and friend. Hinata and Sasuke were very confused at the adults' and Kiba's behaviour. Shikamaru was putting the peices together, Shino only sighing and resisting the urge to either pound: 1) his head into the truck of the tree he was using, or 2) Naruto into the ground for his complete lack of knowledge.
He did have to concede that he only knew because the Aburames had gone on missions with the Inuzukas several times in the past for recon and stealth missions. Apparently, the times that that hold had been used, the Inuzukas have had a little girls and boys running around the compound nine months later.
He grabbed Sasuke, his hand over the other boy's mouth. Shikamaru followed his lead, hauling Hinata up and away. They met on the wall, Shino dropping Sasuke like a sack of rocks on the hard surface. Hinata was set a little more gently on her feet, smiling gratitude at Shikamaru. She picked her way delicatly along the thick barrier, plopping in Sasuke's lap before he could lunge at the stoic bug-nin. Ignoring the growl on anger, she picked a question: "Okay, boys, what's going on, and why do I feel like this just got all kinds of weird?"
Shikamaru looks at Shino, who nods, and sighs in a tired "I'm getting too old for this" kind of way. "What I got was that Naruto more or less put a mating mark on Kiba--"
"MY BROTHER IS NOT ALLOWED TO MATE UNTIL HE IS MARRIED WITH CHILDREN!" Hinata felt the urge to add in a deafening roar.
"And now they are mates, according to Inuzuka and Konoha law. That does not mean that they are bound indefinitely; the mate prospect can be obsolved in five years, they just have to abstain thorughout the heat," Shino finished for him quietly.
"'Heat'? WHAT DO YOU MEAN HEAT?!"
"That's what I'm trying to understand," grouched Shikamaru.
"Oaths."
Sasuke, Hinata, and Shikamaru stared at the bug-nin hard. "Why?" asked Shika.
"Oaths, then I will disclose my information," he stated calmly.
"Hn," Sasuke calmly sliced his palm, holding out his hand for Shino to take. Shikamaru followed suit, Hinata barely hesitating before stealing Sasuke's kunai and cutting her own palm.
Shino performed several hand signs before taking a sampling of each blood and drawing charaters on a scroll. With a flourish, he tipped his own hand, blood dripping to be absorbed into the dry parchment-like cylinder. It was done.
"The reason that the mating bond is so secreted is for the Inuzukas' safety. If anyone had ambitions to take over such a large and fearsome clan, all they would have to accomplish is to mark their intended victim. The victim will then seek that being out, either to carry the offender's child or to impregnate the offender. Or, in very rare cases, if a person is young enough, the bond is not sexual but more of a parental or family oriented bond. Luckily for us, Naruto and Kiba are both much too young to worry about heat just yet. So, all we have to worry about is Kiba following you and Naruto home to be close to his bonded...brother, friend, companion, or whatever other compacity he veiws the blond in."
Hinata breathed a sigh of relief. Her brother wasn't Mate bonded, just bonded some other way. Okay, maybe that wasn't as comforting a thought as she hoped it would be, but at least she didn't have to listen to those two rut in Naruto's room just down the hall from her. Then again...She blushed at her thoughts.
Sasuke made to get up, but remembered he couldn't with a certain female in his lap. He poked her in the side. "Get up!"
She made a face at him, bounding up and dancing around the group of boys. "Since training is over for us, I'm gonna go tell Dad that Naruto won't be home till later. You guys be good, okay?" She grinned and "poofed" out, leaves swirling delicately where she once stood.
Shino shook his head. One of these days, he was going to find out where and with whom she lived with. If only she would quit doing that!
Shino left his two brooding companions to themselves and made it back to the training grounds. His brows rose as he came within sight of the wooden fence. Naruto was ping-ponging around the grounds using trees, rocks, the fence and ground for leverage as Kiba tried to pummel him into the ground with Akamaru at the dog-nin's side. And pummel they did, when Naruto tripped over the white puppy sending him to the ground. Kiba pounced, not pulling his strong blows, and forcing the smaller blond to try and fight while pinned.
Naruto managed to flip them, Kiba laying flat, Naruto stradling his prone form. Tsume came into veiw, taking Naruto's hand and pulling him up. Kiba was pulled up by Naruto, a strange move for the very affectionate family. Usually, Tsume would reach for Kiba as soon as Naruto was up, but it seemed as if she was actually reluctant to touch her own son. Kiba didn't even seem to notice, though, so Shino wouldn't make anything of it until he had more information. That didn't mean he would leave it be.
Slipping back to the ground, he made his way to the front of the Inuzuka compound, knocking lightly on the door. Someone bellowed from the otherside while several dogs barked. A wild looking man with two red stripes across his nose and two fang-like curves going down his cheeks, one on each side, opened the door, a large brown mutt sticking his head between the man's legs. "Who are ya?" he growled.
"Aburame. Tsume-sama knows me. I wish to speak to Tsume-sama about Kiba-san and Uzamaki-san."
The man disappeared, his companion standing guard at the still open door. Shino waited patiently, his years of conditioned stillness keeping him from jumping when Tsume appeared with Kuromaru in tow.
"You called, pup?"
"Yes," he bowed to her formally, waiting until she tilted her head in aknowledgement. "I happened to witness this afternoon's altercation. I would like to discuss the problematic scenerios before it gets out of hand."
Tsume grabbed him and hauled him inside, slamming the door with a echoing bang. Taking a firm grip on his wrist, she dragged his unresisting body through several halls, peeking into one room before shoving him in. "Stay. Sit. I'll be right back."
Shino studied the room he had been deposited in, wondering at the lack of furniture. There were three chairs, one very much over-sized and throne-like, the others more life poufs with legs. He chose one pouf the color of fresh earth, sitting gingerly. A large wolf-like canine trotted in and deposited his (it was definintely male) lanky form on the other pouf, part of one ear missing. Tsume soon followed, Kiba with her.
Kiba looked sharply at Shino before Shino simply shrugged and nodded. Kiba rolled his eyes, settling on the pouf next to the bug-nin. Tsume raised her brows but made no comment. Naruto came in moments later, looked around, nodded to Shino and pulled himself up behind both of the other boys, curling up and laying his head down. Shino raised his glasses back onto his nose before turning back to Tsume. "What is going on?"
Tsume rubbed her face feeling drawn out to the point of breaking in less than four hours. That Uzamaki boy sure kept everyone on their toes. "You saw, correct?"
Shino nodded.
"Kiba and Naruto...Um, the boys are--"
"Tsume-san, you suck at this," mumbled the blond.
The Inuzuka matriarch huffed. "Well, if you're so slick, you tell him what's going on."
"Fine." He sat up with a yawn, rubbing his eyes, "Kiba is my bonded. I'm his bonded, too, now. It hurts Kiba to be touched by anyone other than me right now ("And we don't know why..."). Hush, Kiba. Anyway, unless I initiate someone into the bond, touching is off limits..." He yawned loudly, his jaw cracking from the strain.
"Initiate into the bond?"
"Mm, hm."
"What is the meaning of it?"
"Not sure," Kiba grumbled. "It just pisses me off."
"I said I was sorry! I didn't even know that it was possible!"
Kiba stuck his tongue out at the blond. Naruto shook his head and lay down again. He was so tired! If Kyuu and Hito didn't fessup soon, he was going to kick their lazy asses from Konoha to Suna.
Kiba looked at him worriedly as did Shino. The blond was never complacent, and the blatant refusal to take the bait Kiba so sweetly (Shino really had to stop himself from rolling his eyes) put out made them tense. Something was going on with the spastic blond, and everyone in Konoha would know it before the blond noticed most likely. Naruto wasn't stupid, but his observation skills concerning himself were less than perfect.
"Naruto," Shino whispered quietly, "what is wrong?"
"Doan know," he murmured more asleep than awake. "Jus' really s'eepy." He snuggled up close to Kiba and Shino, burrowing into the pouf. Shino frowned in worry, his face actually emotive in his distress. Kiba looked confused, his eyes clouded.
"Well, I shall thank you, Tsume-sama, for your hospitality and directness in answering my questions. If you will excuse me, I promised to get Naruto to Hinata," he blinked, the lie not even detectable to the Inuzuka woman.
He picked the dozing boy up, Kiba following him out of the compound with Akamaru skipping, tripping along behind. "I've never met anyone who could lie to my Ma's face, dude, but you are good."
Shino just nodded at the other boy.
"I need to learn that trick, but I bet it's your, er, what are those things anyway?"
"Kakaichu (3)," he stated simply.
"Yeah, those. Have any idea about blondie, here?" He tried very hard not to, but Kiba eventually put his hand on the blond's arm. This constant contact craving was going to be the death of him!
Shino looked over his glasses ever so minutely. "Contact issues?" If Kiba hadn't known him long enough, he would have had a heart attack at the teasing tone.
"Duh, bug-boy. It's that whole "scent transfer" thing. If he doesn't carry my scent, or I his, I'll either go A: insane within a month, or B: try to carry him off for seclusion. And get your mind out of the gutter, you ass. Our bond isn't that way...hopefully."
Shino smirked behind his coat. "Hopefully."
"Aw," Kiba looked at Shino. "You are a Grade A ass, Shino. Grade A!"
(1) disciple - not an apprentiance, which has no choice in what they learn, but a willing participant that can refuse to learn techniques and are NOT allowed to learn the master's signature move without the master's approval (if I remember right. If not, tell me and I'll fix this note. :'3)
(2) Tamashii - soul in Japanese
(3) I'm not sure if this is correct, but I think it is.
AN: Seven pages are enough for now. Usually, I have long chapters (ten-twenty pages), but with this story ping-ponging around the net from one email to another, I couldn't do that to my buds. And with my comp out of working order, well, this is all I could pull out of my hat. I hope you enjoy this twist. I had six endings for this story, now I've narrowed it down to five (not much better, but a little more workable) and am still thinking of where this could go. If you have suggestions, go for it. I'll appreciate the ideas and maybe be able to finalize the actual plot line. Seriously, the tree line (plot usually means one) needs to be delimbed.