Author's Note: Oh, my darling reviewers, this chapter is for you! As for the rest of you people who read but don't review—why not? Do I suck that much, or are you just lazy? I'd like it if you typed off a five second note about my story, pleasethanks.

But my wonderful, loyal reviewers—more KankKi smut for you soon, I promise, 'kay? Until then…I will type this stuff, 'cause it needs to be said. (It's easier for me to type Kiba, for some reason. Maybe it's because he's girlier?) (Naw, just kidding.)

(Oh, and Ino's always on top. It suits her, for some reason.)

Fifteen. Swallowing Truth

Kiba

"Ino," I panted, running my hands along her stomach. "Ino, please."

She undid my pants, leaning me back onto the bed. "Hold still, big dog. Mommy wants to play."

She took me in her hands, and I found myself replaying a similar scene over in my head. Except Ino was not leaning over me, and I was not on a bed, but rather a thin cotton mattress on the floor. I could see his facial markings, even in the dim light of the candle.

My heart began to race again. I could feel fear rising in my throat. It wasn't fear of him—he'd left seven months ago, and we'd yet to hear from Suna. It seemed they were doing well, from what Uzimaki and his team said. They'd visited Suna not too long ago. I guess he was doing well. He'd been busy, they said, on some mission for Gaara. They hadn't gotten a chance to see him, so they couldn't really say how he was for sure.

My eyes popped wide. I was reaching peak, and a scream was rising in my throat. I didn't—couldn't—no, no, no, not—"Kankuroooooo!" I screamed, feeling myself release.

The scream shook the rafters, sending dust motes spiraling though the shaft of sunlight that came from the single open window. Then there was silence, and all I could hear was my heavy breaths, in and out, moving in time with the chirping of the birds outside.

I was panting, and I rolled over onto my side. I could see the outline of Ino's body through the thin cotton sheets as I turned my head. A breeze blew through the open window, and I could hear people mumbling to themselves outside on the street. Ino's apartment faced the marketplace, and I was sure more than one innocent shopper had heard my scream. Akamaru whined below the sill, and I could hear his nose snuffling, searching for the scent of his master.

Lying there, covered in sweat and other substances I didn't want to identify, I stared at the window, eyeing the thin strip of blue sky that shown through the open crack. I like blue sky. It never ended, and it was so open, like freedom. That was what blue sky meant to me—freedom. The freedom of not being held within the cage of Ino's apartment, but being able to go, to run until my lungs exploded.

Ino pounced on me, turning me over so I lay on my back in the center of the bed. She pushed the sheets away, so we were both naked. I marveled at her skin. It was so pale, but still so cold and smooth, like marble. It wasn't like touching a girl—it was like touching a perfect statue. Half the time I was afraid to be rough with her the way she was with me—I was afraid I'd break her.

Ino made an unpleasant noise from somewhere above me. Her face came in, close and pale and angry. "What did you just say?" she hissed.

I gulped. And then I lied. "I called your name of course, Ino. You know you hold my heart."

It was lies, all of it. I spun them faster than a spider spins silk , and I swallowed the truth like Uzimaki swallowed bowls of ramen at the Ichiraku Ramen Shop. Down the throat, quick and easy. I didn't even have time to blink any more as I spit lies back up.

"I love you too, Kiba," she smiled. I sighed. Crisis averted, all too easily. It would be so much easier for her to just accept the truth.

Every time I spun another lie, she misjudged her own actions, not mine. I wished that this could all go away—I wanted her to know. In some small, dark part of my heart, I wanted her to see me for who I really was.

I was in love with Kankuro.

And nothing, not even her care, could change that.

This wasn't to say I wasn't fond of her—I was. But it was more a friendly, gentle fondness, like the fondness I felt for Hinata. Platonic love, if anything. But not love love. Not romantic love.

And, funnily, enough, she seemed to be suspicious of it. She didn't ask, or bother to linger and pinpoint the cause of my loneliness. It was obvious: she knew. And yet, like all silly girls, she hoped that she could change it, that she could make me happy again. But you can't fix that which isn't broken.

It took me a moment to realize that Ino and I had been kissing again. I often found myself in moments like that: so disjointed, just pretending. It was like Kankuro had turned me into a puppet, just going through the motions, saying its assigned lines, lost without its puppeteer.

And he wasn't coming back anytime soon.

"Kiba," Ino said.

I turned my head to look at her, placing my arms underneath my head on the pillow. "What is it?"

Her voice shook, and I saw her falter. I could tell she was trying to fix me again. She would ask if I was hurt or lonely, or if she didn't make me happy. And I would lie again. Poor wooden puppet, nothing but staged lines to speak.

"What was it like…being with…him?" She choked on the last word, as though she couldn't get it out fast enough.

I sat up, staring at her face as though the words were hanging in the air like smoke. "Why do you ask?"

"Because…I'm not…like him. He and I are so different, so I keep thinking how lucky I am, to be chosen by you. And then I begin to wonder why you chose me in the first place. It's strange, to not be able to ask you anything, to feel like you're hiding things. And just now, when I—you—" She bit off her word with a small sob.

I took her in my arms, letting the sheet drape over our waists. "Ino," I murmured into her neck. "I don't think I should—"

"I want to know!" she burst out. "I have to know, Kiba. If I'm competing for your heart, racing with a ghost of someone you used to love—I have to know how the hell I'm supposed to be that! How can I win against something I know nothing about?" She finished with a bitter sob, holding onto me more tightly.

I chewed my lip, wondering how I could say anything. What was I supposed to tell her? That she couldn't win, that her battle had been lost far before it'd ever been fought? I couldn't tell her that. I was too nice.

"It's…different…" I began, not sure where my words were headed. I had to try my hardest to toe the boundaries. I didn't want to say anything to hurt her. I laughed weakly. "I don't know how to explain. I mean, would it hurt you if…if...I told you he tasted like you...only sweeter? That you're so gentle, and he was so rough? He was never the type to exchange many formalities. My mother never met him, and he and I hid best we could from everyone. There were so many secrets, in such little time. It was…difficult. A challenged love, you could say."

"He tasted…sweeter?" she repeated, toneless.

"Perhaps." I kissed her neck, pressing her close to me. I wanted to feel skin on skin, and forget about everyone. I didn't want to remember anything of him. If anything, I tried my hardest to forget. What other explanation was there for my being with Ino not a month after he had left, and then continuing on for five months after that? That was my explanation—I wanted to forget, because there was so much pain. Not pain he had caused, but more so the pain of having to hide. I didn't like that kind of hiding. It hurt far too many souls.

"It doesn't matter anymore," I purred. "I have you now. And…I like the way you're so gentle, so sweet. It's a nice change, to have somebody who knows I have limits."

Ino blinked a few times, coming out of her state. "I'm glad you like me," she whispered in her softest, most girlish voice. "What do you say we play a little more, big dog?"

"Sounds good to me," I laughed, trying my hardest to please her.

Even…even if this is all a lie…I need to continue. I have to forget…for her sake.

Ino straddled my body, cocking her head to the side. She bent lower and settled on top of me, her voice become softer, so I could hardly hear it. "I'm going to prove how much I love, Inuzuka Kiba," she whispered, giggling as I traced her hips with my hands. "Just you wait."