Chapter Two - Control Provocation
He was late. And his only hope was that Sakura was as well. Maybe the Godaime had held her up while giving the kunoichi the scroll?
Kiba tossed an array of clothes into his pack, mainly multiples of the same items. His regular jounin outfit, which consisted of pitch-black pants that reached past mid calf as well as a light, fairly tight fitting jacket, a netted shirt underneath, customary olive jounin vest, and sensible black sandals. After stuffing a few more personal belongings into his pack, Kiba scrambled into his bathroom, flinging a number of hygienic items in a side pouch.
Before leaving the house that his father and mother had willed him in the Inuzuka sect, Kiba stopped at the hallway closet, digging up another pack, already quite full. This pack he always had ready. It contained regular necessities for a lengthy journey. Tent, various nonperishable rations as well as utensils to cook and eat with, blankets, flashlight, and things he often forgot were even there in the first place, but often found they came in handy on missions.
After securing the two packs together, Kiba ran from the house at top speed, once again knowing that his only hope was the Godaime. This meant he had no hope at all; not when she'd placed him on a mission with Sakura. A mission he could have handled just as easily by himself, if not more so.
Yet here he was, rushing to meet her when he could have left whenever he chose. But he didn't particularly want to push her too hard or set too fast a pace. Not with this girl. He'd seen how her team always protected her and often had to wonder if she even knew how to fight. Which could only make his situation worse. What if they got attacked? Akamaru and he always worked together, he couldn't simply tell Akamaru to only protect Sakura.
Of course, if anything happened to her… well, that wasn't an option, not if he had to return to Konoha and face the rest of the former team seven. Definitely not an option.
Something in the back of Kiba's head told him there was more to there being no alternative when it came to Sakura, but, for now, he could easily ignore that and let it blend in with the rest of the thoughts he often pushed aside. Like his imminent death; not that his was the only death that was unavoidable, but he'd learned to live with the fact that shinobi rarely lived full lives and if they did, they died unhappy because it was always alone. Even Akamaru would be gone if he lived that long; he'd much rather die with his dearest friend. It just made more sense to Kiba.
As he approached the gate, the first thing he noticed was the vivid pink blur of Sakura's hair. She was sitting on ground, back against the stone wall, and feet kicked out in front of her. Head tilted back, slightly to the side, and bright green eyes closed, it was obvious to Kiba that she was dozing, not too mention, of course, her scent; far too relaxed for her to be awake.
So, Kiba was definitely not off to a good start. First he was late. And now he was going to have to wake her up from a nap that was technically his doing. Kiba was never one for tact.
"Yo! Sakura," he practically shouted, squatted down beside her.
Startled into alertness in such a shocking manner caused Sakura's hand to reach for her kunai holster, which Kiba quickly intercepted, grip encircling one slender wrist.
"Don't even…" Kiba warned, eyes locking with Sakura's wide ones.
"Well, if you don't want to get stabbed, maybe you should be a little more subtle when waking someone up because she had to wait for someone who was late for his own date," Sakura snippily replied, while Kiba sputtered.
"D-date?"
"Oh geez, you know what I mean, Kiba. Don't be such a kid," she explained, rolling her eyes all the while. Standing up and brushing the debris off her backside, Sakura glanced skyward, taking in the orange horizon. "Oh well, at least you weren't as late as Kakashi-sensei." Sakura grew solemn at the mention of her friend and mentor's name. Just the thought of something happening to him tore her apart; he was as much a part of her family as Naruto, Tenzou, or even Sai. The four of them meant everything to her and she would take on any shinobi that dare to threaten those bonds.
Kiba's hand before her face knocked her out of her reverie. He held her pack and, what Sakura considered to be an apologetic smile appeared on his face.
"Ready?" He looked at her questionably.
"Yeah," Sakura replied, eyes meeting his before she took her pack in hand and slung it over her shoulders.
The first thing Kiba learned was that she was quick. Sakura kept pace with him without ever breaking a sweat and often, to his annoyance, bounded ahead of him. Never did she ask to stop and take a break; she didn't even seem to need water. He couldn't say the same for himself.
"Wait, Sakura. We need to stop for a minute," Kiba said with some reluctance.
She quirked a brow at him before replying, "Already?"
"Uh, yeah. Getting dehydrated in the first couple of hours of our trip isn't really my idea of fun. And besides, Hokage-sama said nothing about this being a rush mission. We could walk the whole way and the outcome will still be the same. If they are holding Kakashi for bargaining purposes they aren't going to kill him. And if they aren't holding him for that reason, well, then he could already be dead."
Kiba could have smacked himself for letting those words slip. He knew how much her team meant to her, yet here he was making light of the situation. Of course, that still didn't negate the fact that what he said was true. Not to mention rushing to Kumogakure and wearing themselves out wouldn't put them in a state to fight for Kakashi, if need be.
She'd bitten her lip too harshly when he'd spoke; so hard that it was now bleeding. Kiba could smell the metallic fluid as Sakura exhaled each and every breath, could smell the salty tears that welled up in her eyes but she refused to shed. He had to admire her for that; were it his sensei or his teammates he could easily imagine how upset he would be.
"Fine. Take your water break," Sakura responded snappily, turning to stare at anything but him.
"Shouldn't you have a drink yourself, Sakura? I realize you want to get their quickly, but you still have to take care of yourse-"
"I am. You obviously forget that I'm a medic. I can slow down my body's processes with chakra, that includes how quickly water or oxygen is used. I can't stop it entirely but by a good margin. It's really quiet simple. Redirect the fluid's flow to only the muscles that need it. Same goes for the oxygen. It drastically reduces how much the body wastes as well as utilizes what it does use to its full capacity."
Kiba watched as Sakura spoke, eyes lighting up, hands moving in front of her as she spoke. It wasn't as if he understood what she was explaining; he caught the main drift though. She didn't need water like he did. And, were it not for how excited she looked talking about the processes of her body he would probably tell her to be quiet. But instead, Kiba stood quietly, leaning against a tree and listening to her smooth voice as he drank deeply from his water canister.
At least he now knew why the kunoichi hadn't needed a break, which made him feel a hell of a lot less inadequate. She specialized in medic skills and chakra control; he could track anyone or anything. He could handle that fact.
Sakura glanced in the direction of her teammate; he was staring off into space and she wondered why she'd even thought he'd be interested in the first place. Huffing under her breath at, what she'd clarify as Kiba's arrogance, she said, "Ready?"
Taking one last swig of water, Kiba twisted the cap back into place and nodded before leaping into the trees, Sakura already on his heels.
Much like the dogs, he couldn't help but think, the amusement evident on his face.
Tsunade's head hit the desktop with a thump.
"Shizune!" she snapped at her dark-haired and somewhat exasperating apprentice hiding on the other side of the office door.
"Yes, Tsunade-sama," she chirped, flustered and bursting into the room. Only a minute glance to her Hokage and she knew something was on the brash blonde's mind.
"Ts-Tsunade-sama?" Tsunade really didn't want to hear that tone in Shizune's voice; it was the one she'd heard in Jiraiya's as he left on that day. It was regret and worry and everything disheartening thrown into a voice. She hated that voice.
"Shizune," the Godaime paused, thinking carefully over her next words, before sighing and muttering, "bring me some sake, would you?"
Normally, Shizune would never give her Hokage the alcoholic beverage while on the job, but she couldn't find it in her heart to deny it today, not with that forlorn look in her shishou's heavy eyes.
Shizune knew why Tsunade was so perturbed. Sakura, who Tsunade viewed as a daughter, had been sent on that mission. Granted she was the best qualified shinobi available. It was still quite obvious the Godaime hadn't wanted to send her, especially since Kakashi was the one missing.
"Shizune!"
"Y-yes, Tsunade-sama!" Shizune yelped, quick to leave the room and find some sake.
Finding herself in the tower's supply room, Shizune spoke to a couple of stock attendants. Knowing better than to question the Hokage's right hand, they quickly acquiesced to her request and showed her where a variety of sake was stored. Snatching a favorite of the hostile and weary kunoichi's she rushed from the storeroom.
Shizune rounded a sharp corner, thoughts busy on Tsunade, and she collided with a solid chest, sake bottle falling from her hands to crash on the floor. Ceramic flew all over the wooden floor as it tried to absorb the wet liquid following its crevices.
"Shizune-san! I'm so sorry! I didn't even see you. I guess my head was in the clouds. Let me take care of the mess."
"No, no, Tenzou-san, it's completely my fault. It's just, well, Tsunade-sama, she's so upset; I just, I don't know what to do to calm her." Shizune, her concern overwhelming her, started to sniffle.
Damnit, she cared about Sakura, too, but the girl was a shinobi and she knew what it had meant from the very start. The same went for Tsunade. But the woman hadn't been the same since Jiraiya had come home being carried by ANBU and covered in blood and a cloak. Tsunade had secluded herself for a week in her office, refusing to speak about him. She did her job as Hokage and that was it. Until Naruto had finally broke her. She'd cried so hard while clinging to the younger man; Shizune had watched it all from the doorway Tsunade hadn't known was left open by Naruto when he'd come in, intent on making her let go of Jiraiya.
Tenzou spoke quietly, mindful of the woman's sensitive state, "Shizune-san? Is everything alright?"
"No. Nothing is alright," Shizune was about to make a mistake, she knew it, but she didn't care. If Tsunade could forget protocol then so could she. "Tsunade-sama has reason to believe Kakashi-senpai's being held hostage by Kumogakure and she's sent a two man team out to find and negotiate his return. Haruno Sakura and Inuzuka Kiba are the team. And I'm sure you've seen how Tsunade is with her and I don't know how to help her; if she loses Sakura like she did Jiraiya…" Her voice failed her at that moment and she looked hopelessly up at Tenzou who had squatted down beside her in his effort to clean up the spilled sake covering the floorboards.
"Sakura-chan and Kiba-san, you say?" Shizune paused as Tenzou spoke. He seemed almost… bitter. His gaze snapped to hers, before he asked "Do you know how long they will be gone?"
"No. It just depends on them. I'm sure you know how these missions work, Tenzou-san."
"Yes, yes I do. Excuse me, Shizune-san," Tenzou said, pushing himself up and shuffling down the hallway, head down.
"What the… well, that was weird," Shizune muttered to herself and returning to the storeroom. Once there she ordered a maid to be sent to clean up the spill and broken glass then fetched the sake she needed and raced for the Godaime's office on the top floor of the building, an architectural fact that she always believed was just to hassle those who served the Hokages throughout the years.
Shizune expected a "what took you so long" or some other reprimand from Tsunade, but instead she was greeted with an empty room and a full bottle of sake but no Godaime to drink it.
She sighed heavily before carefully setting the bottle of alcohol in a cabinet and leaving the room in hopes of finding some busy work in the infirmary simply to distract her wondering thoughts.
He watched as her stamina slowly degraded, chakra slowly being eaten by its constant maintenance inside her body. It didn't mean she was weak, if that's what she was thinking; instead Kiba found her all too amazing. He'd never had much interaction with medics and to know they could do such a thing as survive for a time without water was oddly disturbing.
"It's getting late, erm, early" Sakura blurted, breathing heavier than before. "Tsunade-shishou wants us to lay low for this mission; she thinks Kumogakure will have lookouts on the routes from Konoha. Find us some where to wait out the daylight hours?" Sakura didn't like relying on anyone, not even her boys anymore, but she was tired, time was running short for them to disappear, so to say, and more than likely Kiba could find them somewhere to sleep with just his nose.
Halting their pace, Kiba dropped down to the forest floor littered with debris. Sakura followed, landing softly before squatting to inhale deeply and flip open her water for the first time that day. She smiled gratefully when he gestured for her to stay put and then hopped above her into the trees once more.
He was back within ten minutes.
Kiba found Sakura much like he had earlier that night when he'd been running late, with her legs crossed in front of her and her back propped against a tree trunk.
"Come on, just a few minutes and you can do all of that you want," he said, half laughing and thinking he'd like to do much the same since his muscles were aching. Only two days ago he'd gotten back from another mission. A mission where an ill-timed block had earned him a kunai in the thigh. Medics had quickly patched it up when they'd returned to Konoha, but it still burned and it was beginning to get to him.
Sakura stood up slowly; she placed her hands on her hips and bent backwards, flexing her muscles. Despite himself, Kiba couldn't keep his eyes averted from her nicely protruding chest. The fabric of her crimson shirt stretched tautly over her breasts causing a small sliver of skin to show down at her waistline. He inhaled deeply, hands fisted at his sides while he watched Sakura's unknown display. She smelled like the earth, like flowers and sweat and everything a woman should smell like. He wanted to put his nose to the crook of her neck and suck in all of her scent that he could; he wanted to smell her when she was writhing in pleasure; he wanted to get these fucking thoughts out of his head.
He knew very little about her, but he'd be damned if he could deny this attraction to her. His sensitive senses were wreaking havoc on him and he couldn't do a thing about it.
Not only was he unable to dispel the scent of her clinging to the very air surrounding him but he heard her groan softly as her muscles pulled and stretched from their strenuous workout that night.
Entirely different nightly workouts that Kiba would be more than happy to help Sakura with floated around in his head.
"Uh, Kiba?" Sakura looked at him questionably while walking towards him. His eyes were wide and she could see his pulse beating rapidly in his throat, jugular vein throbbing against his skin. He looked half pained half something Sakura couldn't put her hand on. "Is something the matter?"
Kiba's head snapped to the side, his intent fully on cursing this desirable woman in front of him whose scent was so undeniably erotic and tangible to him. But he couldn't, something stopped him; maybe it was the hand that settled on his shoulder and squeezed gently; maybe it was his own instinct refusing to let him hurt her, either way his anger left him.
"No, nothing, Sakura. Follow me, okay?"
Finding his sudden mood swings odd, Sakura did as he asked, while noting that, surprisingly, such drastic changes had been exciting. He was on edge and it put her on edge in a way she'd never been before. If she didn't know better, she'd say there was definitely some tension between them. Could it be from the other day? What had he said again? That she smelled good? How anyone could say that today after hours of running and sweating in a heavily wooded area she had no idea.
With much appreciation Sakura took in the spot Kiba had found for them. It was almost too perfect, too deliberate to just happen upon. A small natural hot spring sat secluded by thick foliage. The large rock outcrops around the pool of water made for sufficient shelter and they'd be warmed by the heat from the spring. But since when did a hot spring not have a bundle of people living around it? It was too rare that new hot springs were found anymore, most were made via human methods, not to mention via very unique jutsu. Perhaps it was just that this particular spring was so small?
Either way, Sakura couldn't detect anyone nearby or signs of someone having been there recently and most likely Kiba didn't smell anything out of sorts or he'd mention it.
She certainly wasn't going to let this opportunity go to waste though. It wasn't very often that missions yielded a bath of any sort for her. Maybe a quick icy dip in a cold stream or a scrub with a cloth but never a hot spring that she had to herself, well, almost to herself. But Kiba wouldn't use the hot spring at the same time as her, right?
With her renewed energy and excitement Sakura ducked under one of the small rock overhangs, dropping her pack and unrolling her sleeping bag. Her plan revolved around a nice soak and scrub and then passing out for a good portion of the day before anything else; everything else could be done after she woke up.
Sakura snatched the necessities out of the middle section of her pack. Shampoo, conditioner, soap, towel, and a pair of sandals. She wasn't about to put her boots back on just to walk back to her bed.
Noting with satisfaction that Kiba was busy with his own devices in his own little hollowed out rock, Sakura softly walked to the spring. Concealing herself behind a tree, she checked once more on Kiba still busy with his bag, and stripped off her clothes.
His eyes were riveted on her boot zipper as the teeth rasped against one another and slid apart at an agonizingly slow pace. Once she had the first black boot removed she dropped her leg and propped the other on the rock before her, repeating the torturous process of revealing her smooth toned calf. When she stood straight again, he lost sight of her behind a hulking tree trunk; a growl of frustration slipped from his mouth before he could silence it. Luckily Sakura was in her own world.
Even if he couldn't see her he could still smell her. He caught the maddening heaviness of her scent when she removed her shirt and bared even more skin. The red top and white bindings were draped over the rocks as he tried to tear the tree to pieces with his smoldering gaze. Next came her khaki medic skirt. He nearly doubled over trying to suppress the desire that tore through him when she slid her tight black shorts off.
As if her regular scent wasn't enough she was excited about something. The bath most probably, a thought that had him laughing awkwardly from Sakura's position. He was laughing at a rock wall as she saw it.
All the women Kiba had been around got excited for entirely different reasons. Sakura was definitely an exception among women. Stronger than most men, definitely more intelligent, and with some very interesting quirks, quirks Kiba wanted to learn more about. Did her scent grow headier when she was excited over something other than a bath?
Kiba snapped into alertness when her scent was muddled, muted, and dulled. He was already rushing towards her hiding spot before he realized she'd just settled into the mineral laced water of the spring, thus her change in scent. He didn't like it. And that was a fact he didn't take kindly to. He couldn't expect to always have her scent clinging to and around him not unless, of course…
Shit. His mind was wandering again, dragging him into that Sakura-scented haven.
Kami, it's never been this bad before. It's never been like this with any one but her.
It was too stressful trying to control himself around her at yet he wanted to, for her sake, for his sake. He didn't want her to see him as some sex-crazed animal. He refused to let her scent get the better of him and still, even as he made these claims to himself, he wanted to be near her. Kiba wanted to know her in every sense. Hear her voice, taste her skin, touch her hair, her face, rub his nose against her throat and inhale her essence, he wanted to sit and watch her as she relaxed in the warm water, her eyes shut in gentle pleasure and her skin flushed and warmed.
And damnit he would. And if her fist was his punishment for doing so, then so be it. At least it would be another touch from her.
Kiba trotted back to his hollowed out shelter and dug through the extra duffle he'd brought and found a small towel to wrap around his waist securely as well as a larger more absorbent one.
Unzipping his jacket, he tossed it to the ground, flipping his shoes off in the process. Next he jerked the mesh shirt over his head, adding it to the small pile he'd started. He glanced in Sakura's direction, the only sign that she was still there her pink haired head resting on the rock side of the spring, before removing the rest of his clothes and twisting the smaller towel about his waist and knotting it in place on his slim pale hips.
He walked quietly; it wasn't his goal to scare her out of her relaxation. He just needed to see her in that calm state, so unlike most of what he'd ever seen of her.
She was obviously quite tired as she didn't even stir when he slipped into the warm water. A sigh escaped him as he, too relaxed.
Sakura's eyes shot open in quiet alarm before she locked gazes with Kiba.
-dies- sleeeeepppppppp... goodnight and enjoy... I sure did, haha