Hola! Coma esta? XD It's that time again..writing a new chapter! I've had ideas for other stories, but I prefer to finish this one first. Don't like juggling too many projects. But because of school, I won't have much time to write anymore.. Please review! Feedback is the fuel that gets work done for me. I made a fanart based on this fic, see it here: (remove the spaces and copy the code ) http / www . deviantart . com / deviation / 46477494 /

Disclaimer: I had a dream about Shikamaru last night, but I woke up before things got "interesting"...

Shikamaru: Oo Where is the disclaimer in this? Luna does not own Naruto. Nor me.

Black and White

Chapter 8

Kiba took the most thorough bath he had ever taken in his life. He scrubbed his skin so hard, it left a pink mark. He made sure not to forget behind his ears and in between his toes. He was determined on erasing any trace of dog smell off of him, so he used some of his sister's sweet-smelling shampoo and washed his hair carefully, a thing he failed to do most of the time. In fact, he also used his sister's soap. Usually, he avoided it because he thought the smell was too strong, but today, he had to smell clean! He got out of the water, wrapped a towel around his waist and looked at himself in the mirror.

"Kiba, you're one sexy man!" He grinned at himself.

He felt fresher than he had ever felt before. Cleanliness wasn't one of Kiba's priorities at all, so he felt weird. Real men had to stink, he thought, but girls might not appreciate "real men" like that. He looked at his spotless face and pondered whether he should paint his red markings on his cheeks or leave them blank. He decided he wouldn't be an Inuzuka without them, so he did paint them. He brushed his hair, surprised he still remembered how to use a hairbrush.

He dressed tidily and got out of the bathroom. He then sneaked into his sister's room and borrowed her perfume. He thought Hana smelled really good, unlike him, and he wanted to smell like her today. However, Kiba was unaware that perfume for men and for women were different.

The cleansed boy went down the stairs to put on his sandals, now ready to head out. Akamaru's head turned instantly as he smelled the unusual scent of his master. Was that really Kiba? He smelled like strawberry! And flowers. What the... The dog barked.

"What?" the dog-boy asked. "You're just not used to me smelling good! Well, I'm off." Akamaru whimpered. "Sorry, Akamaru. You can't come today. You'll have to play alone. See ya."

He petted the dog's head and ran off. Akamaru lied down and whimpered. Kiba had forgotten to take him on a walk today. Or maybe he just couldn't be bothered to do it? He growled quietly. Tenten. Of course Kiba wouldn't take such a perfect bath for anyone else! The dog stirred and rolled on his back. Maybe he'd just take a walk on his own and never come back! No... Of course he'd come back. Akamaru sighed. Was he supposed to not care?

"What's wrong, kid?" a deep voice asked.

Akamaru twisted his head to see who talked, though he already knew from the smell. He got back on his feet to face Kuromaru.

Nothing...

"Don't give me that," the large black dog scolded. "Everyone can see you're not being yourself lately. Did something happen between you and Kiba?"

The girl.

"Oh, so that's it. You're jealous of Kiba's little girlfriend."

Akamaru turned his head around and groaned almost inaudibly. Kuromaru smirked. The little guy was jealous. How cute.

"Listen, Akamaru." Kuromaru sat down and prepared his speech. "No matter how you look at it, Kiba is a human teenage boy, and it's only normal that he'd want to be with human teenage girls. It's nature. You felt it too, I'm sure. That feeling that pushes you to get with females when you get to a certain age..."

The white dog almost blushed. Sure, he had sniffed a few female dogs' behinds, but it was never anything serious. Nothing that would have him leaving Kiba.

"The boy is still new to this mating stuff. Once he settles down, he'll come back to normal, you'll see."

Did Tsume-san ever get a mate?

Kuromaru chuckled. "Oh, she did alright. But Tsume isn't one to settle down. She kicked Hana's father out quickly and she left Kiba's father too because he was getting in the way of our training. That woman's just not keen on men, I say."

Akamaru's ears dropped. So Kuromaru did not understand what he felt at all. He never had that problem. Tsume's top priority was always Kuromaru and her training.

"Anyways, he is your partner, so you should let him know how you feel and perhaps you should get to know this delicious-looking female of his," the large dog said as he remembered how cute Tenten looked.

But I'm still lonely.

Akamaru turned around and headed out. Kuromaru just watched him leave. He'd be alright, in time.

--

--

Kiba whistled as he walked cheerfully to Tenten's apartment. She had invited him over for the first time. The young man was happy. His first girlfriend and he had managed to keep her all that time and things were going great. Well, apart from that moody, glare-friendly, jealous teammate of hers.

He ran a hand through his hair and rang the bell to the girl's door. Tenten greeted him sweetly and let him in. The boy removed his sandals and looked around him. Tenten's apartment was neat and tidy and smelled good, just like he had imagined. (Though she did clean-up before he came, because she could be messy too.) His eyes widened at the many sharp objects he could see everywhere. He'd be scared if he did not know her any better.

"Would you like some tea?" the girl asked as she headed for the kitchen.

He didn't like tea much. "Can I get milk instead?"

"Sure."

Kiba sat down at the small table in the small kitchen and wondered how people could live in such tiny spaces. He had always lived in that big house of his, he couldn't imagine living any other way. Tenten poured herself some tea and handed a glass of milk to her boyfriend. The boy grabbed her hand as she withdrew it and held her palm close to his face.

"Your hand... it smells like cookies!" From the way he said that, the girl thought he was about to eat her hand.

"I did eat one or two..." she said nervously.

He kissed her palm. "You smell so good."

"Thanks, I guess." That sense of smell of his... or was it his appetite? He'd enjoy cookie-scented perfume if that would exist. It was her turn to smell Kiba now, though. "You, however, you smell strange."

Kiba let go of her hand and sulked a little. "I bathed real hard, just for you. Don't I smell good?"

"You smell like a girl, Kiba-kun."

"But," he pouted. "I'm clean!"

She chuckled a bit. "I can see that, but Kiba-kun, you smell like women's perfume and you hair smells like the hair products I use."

"I used my sister's stuff. I'm so used to smelling like me, I didn't know..."

"That's okay," she laughed. "You do smell very good, but you smell like a woman."

Kiba blushed, embarassed. Tenten sat in front of him and sipped on her tea. The two fell silent for a few minutes. The girl did think that Kiba smelled like a dog normally, but it did not bother her. She mused on how she had been told that she smelled like flowers, how Lee smelled like sweat because he worked too hard, while Neji had no scent at all. Neji smelled like Neji, and nothing else. Not that Tenten had the chance to smell him very much, she rarely got close enough to him.

"Neji..." Kiba said suddenly, Tenten jumping a little because she thought he had read her mind. "What is he to you?"

The yound woman blinked at the question. "What do you mean?"

"What is he to you?" he repeated.

She thought for a moment before replying. "He's my teammate, my friend. Why do you ask?"

"I don't like him. He's always glaring at me."

Tenten frowned. "You're always glaring at him yourself, aren't you?"

"He wants to keep you all to himself!" he let slip.

The girl frowned even more. "What are you talking about?"

"He likes you. He doesn't think I love you for real," he explained, remembering his conversation with Neji when the latter had just learned about his teammate's new boyfriend.

"That's not true. You're just being jealous. I assure you, Neji doesn't need me as anything other than his training partner..." Her voiced trailed off as she said this.

Kiba was not convinced, but it's not like he could order her to not see Neji anymore. She wouldn't like him trying to control her.

"Besides," she continued, "you two have a lot in common.You both dislike zoos, and your birthdays are so close to one another. You're both Cancer, a water sign ruled by the Moon. Individuals born under this sign tend to be emotional, romantic, imaginative but also prone to moodiness, hypersensitivity, depression, and clinginess."

Tenten thought the adjectives she just named fitted Kiba well, but she had trouble applying 'romantic' to Neji, though she would've liked to believe he was. The Hyuuga was also anything but clingy, but the Moon as his ruling planet and water as his element fitted Neji perfectly, she thought.

Kiba and Neji shared another common point in that they both thought that astrology and fortune telling were a load of crap, but never would they admit it so rudely to someone's whose hobby was just that.

--

--

Kiba thought he was in heaven as he ate the dinner Tenten had prepared just for him. He didn't get to eat chinese food often, and he loved it. Of course, he'd love anything that his girlfriend would make. Later, they settled comfortably on the couch and decided to watch a movie. Kiba hoped she wouldn't choose a sappy love movie. He remembered how Hinata liked cute movies about lil animals and thought that Tenten wasn't that kind of girl. What Tenten liked were movies with a cool, tough heroine that never was the damsel in distress. Movies were girls kicked butts and saved the day instead of men. And that is exactly what they watched.

A few minutes after it had started, Kiba casually put his arm around Tenten's shoulders and she snuggled up to him. Kiba blushed.

The lights are dim, you are all alone with your girlfriend in an empty apartment, no one's watching. Kiba, you're the man!

He was so lost in all kind of pervert thoughts that he did not realize the movie was over and that he had missed half of it.

"She really whiped the floor with those guys, uh?" the girl asked with a smile.

"R-right..." the boy replied, though he had no idea what had happened.

Then, an akward silence fell. It was getting late. Kiba was unsure what he was expected to do. Should he ask if he could stay over? Or not? Was it too soon for that? Tenten was pondering similar things.

Kiba spoke finally. "I guess I'll be heading h..."

Tenten cut him off. "Would you like to stay over?"

The boy hid a smile. "I suppose I could..." Oh God, I thought you'd never ask!

She showed him her bedroom. It was small and clean, and if it weren't for yet more sharp pointy weapons, it'd look cute. He looked around and touched her stuff curiously, in an ill-mannered way that contrasted how polite he had been when they first got together.

She slapped his wrist gently. "No touching. I'm gonna get changed. Wait a sec," Tenten said as she left him alone.

He sat on the bed and blushed, imagining her returning in a skimpy outfit and suddenly he felt very excited and anxious. He felt the blood rush through his body as he eyed the pink pillow on the bed. He was expected to share her bed, right? Oh boy. He heard footsteps and turned to face Tenten expectedly, hiding a blush. She wore large pink pyjamas with little bunnies on it and her hair loose. Ok, so it wasn't a skimpy outfit, but she looked lovely nonetheless.

She sat next to him on the bed and there was another awkward moment. Both were unsure of what they should do. Kiba decided he was a man and as such, he had to make a move. He turned his face to her.

"Tenten," he said in a soft voice he never knew he had. "I love you."

The girl replaced a lock of hair behind her ear and blushed. "I love you too, Kiba-kun."

He put a hand behind her head and the other on her thigh. He brought her closer and they kissed, their hands playing around each other's bodies in the process. At that moment, Tenten had a random thought about Neji, but she quickly shoved it away. That wasn't the correct time to be thinking about him at all.

Kiba gently layed her on the bed and kissed her neck a few times. She let out a pleasant sigh, and he carefully slipped a hand under the top of her pyjamas, his breathing quickening. She did the same, feeling each muscle on his chest with her right hand, while the left one searched for the small lamp on the bedside and turned it off.

The rest came naturally.

--

--

Blissfully unaware of what was happening on the other side of the village, Neji was out for a midnight walk, like he was every other night or so recently. It was a nice night to be out too, and this time, he was the one to discover someone else sitting in his spot. When he saw the long-haired boy approach, Akamaru wagged his tail and jumped off the rock Neji usually sat on whenever he came here. Neji smiled that smug smile of his and sat down, the dog sitting right beside him. He petted the dog's head, but rather quickly. Petting animals was unlike him, not that he disliked them. What he had done was just to let Akamaru know he acknowledged him. Since Akamaru was "just a dog", Neji did not care that he knew about his "secret".

The young man looked up at the stars and smiled. He loved her. He knew it now. Neji had always thought that he was above all that, especially when seeing how stupid Lee acted around Sakura, In the end, he was just as weak as the rest of them...but yes, he truly was in love with her. Not that it would change anything. He'd still have no time for futile things like dating, nor did he want to be a sappy romantic. He wouldn't acknowledge the urge he felt to hold Tenten in his arms either. None of that mattered anyways, because she loved Kiba.

Kiba. The boy's expression changed as he thought about the dog-boy. He could live with the fact that Tenten had chosen Kiba, despite the fact that he was loud and obnoxious. What really pissed Neji off was the way Kiba bragged about it to the others, Tenten was mostly unaware of it too. He had overheard Kiba talking with Naruto and Chouji once. While the Inuzuka wasn't stupid enough to go around telling everyone Tenten's secrets, he certainly did not mind telling the jealous boys about how the girl's tongue felt like, or where she liked to be touched, or even the nice things she said to him when they were alone. Kiba liked making the other two envious, and that only made Neji more furious. He was disgusted by the way Kiba openly talked about these things, things that should be kept private. Things that concerned Tenten. He couldn't forgive anyone who would defile his teammate that way. That's why he truly hated Kiba, but Tenten loved him, so he had to make do with it, no matter how wrong it sounded.

While Akamaru appreciated having someone with him, Neji was no replacement for Kiba. After all, the Hyuuga barely talked to him nor touched him. He was just "there", but the dog needed someone to be "there" right now, no matter how silent he may be. Akamaru thought back to what Kuromaru had told him. Would things really return to normal after a little time? It had been months already. He felt that things would only become worse. Overcomed by sadness, he howled to the moon.

"Be quiet," Neji said in a voice that wasn't scolding. That voice meant "It's no use crying."

Akamaru, thankful that someone knew his pain, then placed his front paws on Neji's knees and reached closer to lick the boy's face.

Neji pushed the dog away and whiped his face wih his sleeve. He had received his first kiss from a dog. How ridiculous.

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Woo! Another chapter done! Yay for implied sex? XD Not much details on that but you know…I'm not that kind of author. I do believe they're too young for that, but you know...things happen. Poor Neji, if only he knew what was going on, I wonder what he would do? Maybe he and Akamaru should run away together and get married? Nah, just kidding. Please review! Come on, I need to know you like this story and that I'm not writing it for nothing ;;