Author's Note: This is what we call 'le plot twist', children!

Eighteen. Deciding Fate

Ino

I sat up, rubbing my eyes, and pretended to not have seen Kankuro. But I had. I'd been awake for longer than he or Kiba had anticipated. I'd heard them, the way Kiba insulted me, and so blatantly cheated on my heart.

How could he? What did Kankuro have that I didn't?

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

I smiled to myself, remembering the line. Stupid, stupid Kiba. Such a mutt. If it hadn't been for me, he wouldn't have had any experience to offer up to that stupid sand shinobi, anyway. Cheating on me? He should have been thanking me.

"Kiiiba," I murmured, watching the sun slowly lace its way through the curtains. "Kiba, come here and let me wish you good morning."

"Not now," he murmured, his eyes still fixed to the window.

I rose from the tangled mass of sheets, going to the window to hug him from behind. I buried my face in the hot, still-flushed skin of his back.

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

It sounded terrible in my head. He shouldn't have even been allowed to say Kiba's name, let alone to cry it out in ecstasy, the way he had.

Fuck Kankuro, shinobi of Suna. Kiba was mine.

I kissed his shoulder blades, leaving wet trace. He didn't respond. And when I moved my hand down, to touch like I normally did, he pulled away.

"Not now, Ino."

Although, it sounded more like "not ever" than "not now". And I knew exactly why—Kankuro had touched him there, and he wanted to respect the memory.

He wanted to respect Kankuro's memory, not mine. Of all the times I had touched him there, all the times he had caused me to cry his name...he still didn't care. My memories meant nothing to him.

And, while it saddened me, a new feeling rose up in me: hate.

I had never truly hated a person before, but now that Kankuro was taking the one thing I had left…I hated him for it. Before this, Kankuro hadn't been real. He'd been like a fleeting shadow, present at sometimes, gone the next. And now, that shadow had become ever-present, clinging to my heels with every step.

I couldn't be Kankuro—but I could be someone else.

Kiba finally decided to leave around noon, saying he had to go watch some of the chuunin exams. I volunteered to go with him. We showered together, and as he splashed water at me, it was like nothing had happened.

At least, not until that dark look crept over his features once again, and the seeing hatred rose up within me.

Even as we dressed, the look stayed, permanently etched onto his face. It drove me mad. I had sacrificed enough for him—couldn't he bear to do the same?

We crossed out of the apartment and onto the street, weaving through the crowds of people, headed toward the stadium. I grabbed Kiba's hand to keep us from being separated. He didn't greet the gesture with enthusiasm, but he didn't shy away, either.

We stopped by a small tea shop. Kiba motioned for me to come inside.

I followed, and saw Hinata waving us over to a small table in the corner of the room. Shino was there with her, looking stoic as ever.

Shino…how long had it been?

"Shino," I breathed, feeling him on top of me. "Please, don't stop. Keep going."

He said nothing, but continued to tease more. Shino seemed a lot like Kiba in that respect—he went his own way in life, and didn't care what others thought.

"You shouldn't do this to Kiba," he finally said, kneeling over me.

"Why not? He cheats on me with his heart. It's the same thing."

Finally he pushed into me, and I whimpered. I stared into his deep, dark eyes, feeling not at all like myself. Was this what it was like to have someone stare at you and see only you, and not someone else?

I liked that feeling, what ever it was.

He kept moving inside me, faster, faster. "Shino, I think I love you," I whispered.

He said nothing as the rush came, sweet and white. My blood flowed more rapidly, my breath quickened, my body flushed. I kept breathing, heavily, letting his name escape my lips in small intervals. "Shino," I murmured.

He sat up, pulling me into his arms. I laid my head on his bare shoulder, soaking it with tears. "He cheats on me with his heart, Shino. All because of that damn puppet master."

Shino pulled back. "Then break up with him."

There was the answer, so simple and blunt. Shino always spoke the truth. He also said to always have an ace in the hole.

"I don't think I can," I sobbed. "I really don't think I can. He's…mine. I just…I can't give him up, even if it will make him happy. What about my own happiness?"

Shino kissed my head, and whispered softly. "Does he really make you happy?"

Of course, there was my true answer. But I didn't want to think about that. I just didn't.

Shino sat across from me, sipping slowly at his cup of tea. Always have an ace in the hole, huh?

The more I thought about, the more I realized I had my own ace in this entire mess, if only I was strong enough to use it.

"Kiba." I tugged at his sleeve, pleading. "Can we go now? I…I really don't feel good."

And, shortly after I said the phrase, I slumped into a heap on the table. I heard Hinata gasp, and Shino just pushed his glasses up with one finger.

"Ino," he whispered. His voice was sad, and I knew that he knew. Nothing got past Shino's eyes. "What have you done now?"

Nobody seemed to realize what I had just done. Kiba hadn't even seen me make the hand sign that would seal his and Kankuro's fates.

I hauled my limp body out of the tea shop, surprised at my new strength. I even ran a little, just to feel the strong muscles in my legs working. Akamaru stayed beside me, but he seemed to sense that something was different. I just smiled. "Come on, boy. We'll take her home and let her rest up."

I walked towards my apartment, feeling power I hadn't felt in a long time.

Tonight, Kankuro would get his just desserts—and there was nothing Kiba could do about it.

I lay my body on the bed and sat down, waiting until nightfall. Kankuro would be back, and I would have to be ready. I practiced acting like Kiba in front of the mirror, trying to be hot-headed and playful. It took quite a bit, but finally I got it down.

And, as promised, midnight came. My real body was still limp, spread out underneath the bed sheets.

I heard a rustle, and Kankuro slipped though the window with the greatest of ease. He smiled upon seeing me. His features and markings were greatly exaggerated in the moonlight—he finally looked like the monster he was.

He sat down on the edge of the bed next to me, where he slipped his hand behind my head. "Good to see you."

"I guess I can say the same."

He laughed. "You guess?"

Then his other hand curled behind my head, and he pulled me into a soft, sweet kiss. His tongue probed my mouth, and his hand slid down, caressing my collarbone.

"I don't know how to explain. I mean, would it hurt you 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."

Only sweeter.

Sweeter.

I gasped, and pulled away. I could still taste Kankuro on my lips. I licked him off, savoring the flavor. This was the boy that drove Kiba mad? Sitting there, on the edge of the bed, steeped in moonlight, I didn't doubt it.

"That you're so gentle, and he was so rough?"

Wasn't that what Kiba had said? Kankuro grabbed my lips in another kiss, and I knew what Kiba had meant. I felt my pants tighten. Was I…enjoying this? Then I realized I was not the one reacting. Kiba, calling out from somewhere deep inside his psyche, was the one who was making his body react this way.

I quickly pulled back, swiping Kankuro's hands away. Somewhere from inside Kiba's head, his spirit cried out. He knew what I was going to do—what it'd do to him. Granted, after I left the body he'd have no memory of the possession. It would just be a gap in his memory, much like the blackouts he had after drinking too much sake. Still, it hurt to hear him sob, all the same.

"Kankuro," I whispered, surprised that my voice came out as Kiba's, and not as the timid voice of the girl I was. I felt like that right now—a timid, powerless girl.

"What?" His question was soft, and a bit sharp around the edges. "Is there something wrong?"

"Kankuro, I…I don't want to do this anymore."

He visibly breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank god." He murmured, flopping backwards onto the empty half of the bed. "I'm getting sick of this, too. Kiba, I—I think it's time we started a real relationship. None of this sneaking around anymore. I want to be honest, like we have nothing to hide. We shouldn't have a reason to be ashamed." His chest rose and fell as he spoke, struggling to get the words out, but obviously relieved he had said them. "I want to rid myself of this dirty feeling I get from going behind everyone's backs…I want to be clean."

I sat in silence, trying to find my voice. My throat had suddenly gone dry. But I had to find my words, somehow. I had to do this—for my sake, as well as Kiba's.

"That's not what I meant."

Kankuro looked surprised. "Then what did you mean?"

"I don't want to see you anymore, Kankuro." My voice was flat, not showing any emotion. Tears splattered onto the white sheet, making it grey. My tears?

No, not mine. Kiba's.

"You…you don't?" The hurt in his voice was too much. I could feel Kiba, screaming anything and everything in the back of his mind. He wanted me to take it back, to stop. But I couldn't—not when I had come so far.

"I love Ino now," I continued. "I want you to go away—far away. Don't come back. Don't ever speak to me again. Don't look at me. Maybe someday, our paths will cross again, and then you can stare from a distance. You can say 'hey, that's the guy I used to love'. And then I'll stare, too, and then our eyes will drop, and we'll go on with our lives."

I put my hand to Kiba's chest. That's whose heart was breaking right now. Not mine—Kiba's. The pain was so great; I thought that his heart was going to burst. Not dramatically, but slowly burst, like a balloon, slowly deflating from an unseen leak.

Kankuro rose from the bed. He said nothing, but more tears dripped on the white sheets, mingling with the tears that flowed from my eyes, turning the sheet a soft shade of violet. Kankuro was crying—I had never seen him look so human, or so furious.

"You bastard," he hissed, turning towards me. I could fully see his face now, contorted and eerily frightening in the darkness. "Is that you're game, leading me on like this? You enjoy doing that? You like bragging to your little teammates, laughing at my words?" He wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of a gloved hand. "It took me a long time to say those words," he whispered. "So long…and you just throw them away, like they mean nothing to you. Well you know what, mutt? I love you. I always will. And if this is what you want…if this is…for the best…then I guess I won't go against you." He sighed, and laughed bitterly before continuing. "But of course, that doesn't mean I'll forgive you. Never. I put too much heart into this to let my wounds open again. So tell me again, you little mutt…is this what you want? You…you want me to leave you…that much?"

My answer was already on my lips, flat and echoing in the dark room. "Yes."

Kankuro turned. He didn't say anything. He didn't scream or sob or beg. He just opened the window and calmly slipped out onto the quiet street. I heard his feet hit the ground, then race away, eager to get as far from Kiba as possible.

I released Kiba, flowing back into my own body. I felt oddly disjointed, a normal feeling after the jutsu. Still, this was more so disjointed than usual. I felt…empty.

Then I took the sheets and dried his tears before stripping the bed and throwing the bedding in my laundry pile. Kiba was sleeping soundly, still wearing his mesh shirt and black pants. Akamaru, I knew, was curled up in the living room, also sleeping quietly.

The air was heavy with sorrow—I could feel it. It was thick and heavy, just like a humid breeze before a storm. I could almost smell it.

I changed out of my clothes and slipped into bed beside Kiba, falling asleep almost instantly. The jutsu had taken a lot out of me.

And, just like life, the night went on.