Author's Note: Sorry, your KanKi smut is coming, okay? (I promised, so here it is!) I like to draw things out, in case you haven't noticed. Please just read and review, as always. But yeah…Kanky likes hamburgers, Gaara likes…salted tongue. Ew…

Seventeen. Six Hours

Kiba

My jaw dropped. I felt it slacken, and my stomach curdled like I'd just been punched. No, it couldn't be. But how? And why?

Ino grinned up at me, hanging onto my arm so hard I though it was about to fall off. "Something wrong, Kiba, honey?"

I shook my head. Maybe I was seeing things. When I re-opened my eyes, however, he was still there, standing next to Gaara, having a quiet argument. "Man, I'm starved," he was saying. "Can't we stop and get something to eat? There's a guy over there flipping some lovely hamburgers, and I just…oh, man, they look so good."

"Just a minute," Gaara replied. "I want to find a stand with some decent salted tongue. It's hard to find good tongue outside of Suna, you know."

"That's disgusting!"

"You want disgusting? Go eat your hamburger."

"Fine."

I watched as Kankuro stormed off, Gaara's gaze boring through his back. It seemed the festival was getting to both of them.

I raced past Ino, leaving her calling, "Kiba? Kiba, where the hell are you going?"

My feet carried me, though crowds and past vendors and game booths of all sorts. Finally, I saw what I had been looking for: the hamburger stand. It was like I had finally decided to commit suicide. That's how stupid I had finally become.

Because being with him, even for only five minutes, was suicide. Even I knew that.

I could see him, leaning back in his chair, drinking a glass of sake and putting more ketchup on his hamburger. He looked so clean, so happy, like a character from a movie. Could I bring myself to ruin that for him?

"Hey." Yes. Yes, I could.

He looked up, and I saw his eyes widen. His jaw dropped, just as mine had. Then he regained his composure, and the facade he had been wearing slipped back into place. "Kiba."

I nearly cried. All this time, I had been revering him almost as a god, something I could not bring myself to touch, something that controlled my every movement, every breath, every word. And now he had a smear of ketchup on his lip, and I broke down. Kankuro was a person—and he meant everything to me.

Just seeing him, that way, so innocent and real, made me want to vomit. How could I have treated him like he was so much more, like he was Gaara, someone who could not be touched or spoken to? How could I?

I reached out with my hand and picked up the napkin, wiping the smear away. He was a god again, and so much more than I deserved.

His fingers trembled as he brought them to his lips, feeling where I had wiped away his stain. "Why…why did you just…"

That was when I ran. I couldn't stand to have him staring at me any longer, so beautiful and pure and good. I had seen him as a human once, with human mistakes. And then, after I replayed that night over and over again in my head, I saw my fatal mistake—I has assumed that he knew everything I did, that because he was older he knew what it felt like, to have someone on you, pushing you for more. But he hadn't. Something told me he had felt just as scared as I did, not knowing anything but what he had learned from instinct. I played that memory over and over again, reminding myself. He was scared, too.

Before I knew it, I had come to love him.

"Kiba," he yelled. "Kiba, wait, please!"

I finally stopped in front of a large tree, leaning against it. I couldn't bring myself to run any farther.

He wasn't far behind, being extremely fast for his build. He came to stop, standing five feet from my limp body. "Inuzuka," he growled. "What the hell was that back there? You think you can just…and not stay to say hello…damn. I don't even know what to…dammit." He leaned against the tree, trying to catch his breath.

I stood up, leaning next to him. I couldn't talk to him—not now. I needed to see him later, after the shock had set in, and after the sun had gone down and he had stopped being a god.

"Later," I murmured into his ear, feeling the heat from his cheek, so close to my own. "Later, tonight, around midnight. Meet me in apartment 6-C, in the building across from the market place. I'll leave the door open for you."

And with that, my legs found their strength again, and I ran off, leaving him there, still trying to catch his breath.

And he still looked like a god.

Night seeped into Ino's apartment like a fog. Cool and sweet, I stood at the window while she slept, watching the lights of the festival off in the distance.

There was a soft knock at the door.

"Come in," I whispered.

"Kiba? Where the hell are you?"

"Be quiet," I said, keeping my voice low. "Do you want to wake her?"

"Her?"

Kankuro stepped into the moonlight, and I could see him clearly now. His eyes widened as he saw Ino on the bed, and me standing at the window sill, clothed in nothing but a bed sheet. I had wrapped it around my waist for modesty's sake.

"Oh," he said. "That explains it."

"I still can't believe how many people have found us out already," I groaned. "First Shino, then Hinata, and now Ino somehow knows…."

Kankuro sat up. "Ino?" he frowned. "How in the world does she know anything? She's such a blonde!"

"Explains what?"

"I ran into her in the bar earlier today. She kept looking at me the oddest way, like she expected jealously or rage out of me. I didn't know why…at least, not until now." He hung his head, sitting down in a chair in the corner of the room. "I can't believe you're sleeping with her."

"Shit happens."

Kankuro cocked his head. "Why'd you ask me to come here? Won't she wake up?"

"Ino?" I shook my head. "Nah, she's a heavy sleeper. A bit of sex and sake and she'll be out cold for a good six hours."

"Six hours," he murmured.

I walked over to him and put my lips down to his jaw. "So I have six hours to say I'm sorry."

I settled into his lap, kissing him with a passion I hadn't felt in a very, very long time. Having Ino on the other side of the room made me nervous, but not nervous enough to stop. I had to keep going. I had to let him know, before it was too late for me to say anything.

Kankuro pulled back. "You're cheating on her, Kiba."

"So? She's cheated on me before—that not that she knows that I know. But hey, Shino talks."

I undid his robes, feeling downward for what I needed. I found it, and took it in my hand. Then I slipped off the chair, kneeling onto the floor.

"You sure you want to do this?" he asked again.

I nodded. I had been sure for so long now, it didn't even matter anymore. I had replayed this moment over and over in my head, struggling to get details into the right places. But now everything was perfect.

I took him in my mouth. He moaned loudly. I began to suck, teasing and twisting my tongue. He began to shudder. His breath grew faster, faster. His hips began to slowly quiver, and his whole body shook.

"Kiba," he whimpered. "Kiba, oh god, Kibaaaa!"

He released into my mouth, and I could taste him. Salty and sweet, mixed with sweat and something that was just Kankuro's own taste.

I brought my mouth up to his, just so he could taste it, too. He moaned into my mouth, still breathing heavily. The sheet slipped off my waist, and his hands dove.

He began to move his fingers slowly, then faster. I moaned, and bit into his shoulder to keep myself from screaming. I was just about at peak, and suddenly he stopped.

He sat frozen, eyes fixated behind my head. "Kankuro?" I asked timidly.

"I have to go." He gave me a full kiss on the mouth, clinging like he never wanted to let go.

I didn't want to let go, either.

But eventually he pulled himself away, and I found myself tracing my lips, swollen as they were.

He whispered in my ear, his voice throbbing. "We'll continue this tomorrow. Right here, in this chair."

"I look forward to it." I whispered back, having trouble keeping my voice low. "But why do you have to leave?"

Kankuro opened the window and slipped out onto the balcony, jabbing his thumb back towards the bed. I could see visible pain in his eyes, and I realized he wanted to be the one in that bed, not Ino. It broke my heart.

Kankuro's eyes flickered to the bed, then back to mine, where his gaze locked. "She's finally awake."