There was a pause after the woman read the name before Naruto responded with a forced, "thank you," and left in a brisk walk. Kiba had to jog to keep up with him.
"What was that about?"
"What was what about?"
"That, do you know that guy's, Sake, or whatever his name is?"
"Never heard of him before in my life," Naruto snapped and pulled away from Kiba, half-running back to the dorm. Kiba scratched his head as he stared at the slowly diminishing figure of the one person in the world he thought that he had figured out.
He had never heard of that Sasse kid, so Naruto must have met him before they started dating.
'He said that he had no idea who he was.'
'And you believe that?'
'...Yes?'
'...'
'Well...'
'...'
'It's poss...'
'...'
'...No...'
Naruto wasn't one to have secret friends that Kiba didn't know about. Soon after they started going steady they both opened their lives up to the other. Kiba told Naruto about how he had been dared to get two tattoos on his face for an easy 20, only to find out several hours later that it was permanent. Naruto would tell Kiba about how he used to look at porn while hiding in the confession booth at church. It seemed very out of place for him to have skeletons in his closet. Unfortunately, this unfolding mystery surrounding the new transfer student would have to wait until at least tomorrow. Kiba had too much homework to do to be running all over campus.
The sun had set, so Kiba was forced to walk in the dark back to the dorm guided only by the lights
coming out from the windows that faced the field. He reached the heavy oaken doors that served as the bouncers for the dorm, as most who wanted to break into it got so frustrated trying to open the front door that they just gave up and left, but it worked too well, as many who resided within had decided to move for that simple fact. Kiba made his way up the seven flights of stairs to the top floor. He came upon 709, and turned the handle. He found that the bedroom door was closed. He quietly opened the door to find Naruto curled up in a ball on his side of the bed fast asleep. Kiba quietly closed the door and went to get started on his homework.
"Let's see, page 378, number 1-39," he muttered to himself as he flipped through his textbook. "Question one, list the middle names of all the Presidents of the United states born between 1845 and 1872." Kiba sighed and started writing.
-The Next Day-
Kiba woke up with his face on his desk, a small puddle of drool had formed on Abraham Lincoln's face. Kiba got out of the chair and took a second to remember where he was. He had no classes on Thursdays, so he liked to sleep in. He lazily headed toward the door to the bedroom, finding that Naruto had left to go to his classes. That in and of itself was rare. Kiba undressed, putting on frsh boxers and a fleece jacket before sprawling out on the bed underneath the blanket.
A few hours later he woke up, only the top half of his torso still on the mattress. He got up 'for real' and put a pair of jeans on. He made his way downstairs, intent on finding out more about that Samme kid. Since he was at the diner the night before, Hinata was bound to know something. He took long strides to the small diner, trimming the usual five minute commute to three. He opened the door and scanned the restaurant for the timid waitress. He found her in the back, balancing five plates on two arms. After she placed them on the table, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her aside.
"Hinata," Kiba said, whispering so that no one would overhear.
"Yeah," she stuttered. Kiba realized that he still had a firm grip in the girl's wrist. He let go.
"Do you remember a guy from last night that doesn't usually come here?'
"I'm afraid not. Could you describe him?"
"He was a slender white guy with black hair, uh... white shorts..."
"Oh, I know who you're talking about. He's new I think."
"Yeah, I know, do you remember anything about him?"
"Let's see. He ate alone. Kept ordering pink lemonade and dinner rolls. I think he lives in the old dorm,
near the art building, but I'm not sure."
"That's great," Kiba said, "thanks, Hinata," he waved as he opened the door outside. He had never been to the art building before, but he could probably find it.
-Two Hours Later-
As luck would have it, the art building was the one directly opposite the Humanities building, which was the one he was in the most due to his many historical and political classes. There was a small building near it which read "Co-Ed" on it.
"That must be it," Kiba thought to himself. He made his way over. Kiba was so used to opening the heavy oaken doors on his own dorm, that when he went to open the doors to the art dorm, the doors nearly flew off their hinges. Inside was a small desk with a bulletin board over it. He found the commons after some exploring and asked another inhabitant if (s)he he couldn't really tell which knew where Sasme Uchika's dorm was. After being embarassingly corrected, the she-male told him that he was in room 239. Making his way up to the second floor via a flight of stairs so fragile that if so much as a mouse walked on them, they would probably collapsed.
Kiba walked down the hall, trying to follow the crazy numbering scheme. 209, 207, 203, 208, 213 the owner had tried to make the 3 into an 8, 256. Several wrong turns and dead-end hallways later, he found room 239. He knocked. The slender pale man opened the door.
"Yes," Sasuke said in a voice somber enough to drain the color from anyone's face.
"Are you Sasuke Uchiha?"
The boy pointed to the room number. Underneath was the name "Sasuke Uchiha."
Kiba already didn't like this guy. "Mind if I come in?"
"You gonna tell me who you are first?"
"Kiba Inuzuka."
"Would you like to come in, Kiba?"
He wanted to punch the smartass's face into his tiny skull already. He did his best to hide the vein pulsating in his temple as he slipped past the small opening that Sasuke had made with the door. He closed the door before Kiba was inside, nearly leaving his fingers in the hallway. Sasuke gestured for him to sit on a couch that looked like it had seen all four of Roosevelt's terms. Saskue sat in a chair opposite the couch, his left leg on the floor, and his right leg up on the cushion. He put his hand in front of his
mouth and brushed the hair out of his eyes, waiting for Kiba to say something.
"Do you know a boy named Naruto Uzumaki," Kiba asked.
"I used to, why?"
"How do you know him?"
"First tell me why you care."
Kiba made both of his hands into fists before answering. "Because the second that Naruto heard you were a student here, he refused to say a word to me and left this morning without leaving a note or saying goodbye or anything."
"How is it my problem that you choose your friends poorly?"
Kiba shot straight up out of his seat and grabbed the boy by the collar, hoisting his frail frame out of his own chair. "I can make it your problem if you don't start answering my questions!"
"Alright, alright," he yelled as Kiba's grip tightened.
"How do you know him," Kiba repeated, putting as much anger into each syllable as he possibly could.
"Back when we were kids, we used to hang-out together. As the years went on, the line between friend and lover got blurry, and we ended up fooling around once. As soon as his dad found out, he moved to god only knows where. I didn't even know that he went here, I swear."
Kiba stared into the pale boy's eyes and determined that he was telling the truth. He dropped him and ran out of the room, down the stairs, out of the dorm, across campus, across the grass field, into his dorm, up the flight of stairs, down the hallway, and finally stopping at room 709. He went in, gasping for breath. Naruto hurried from the kitchen to the door upon hearing his boyfriend's gasping for breath. He put his hand on Kiba's back, "Are you okay?"
"Fine," Kiba said, still gasping for air. Naruto guided him to the living room and had him lie down on the couch. He left and came back with a glass of water and a trash can. He handed Kiba the water and put a blanket over him, despite the fact that he had a fleece sweater on, and that it was the middle of April.
"You sure you're alright?"
"Yeah," Kiba replied, his normal breathing pattern re-established.
"Where were you? I got home, and I was all ready to make good on my promise of 'good company,' but
you weren't here. So I ended up making a grilled cheese sandwich."
"I was at your friend's house."
"My friend? You mean Hinata?"
"No, I don't mean Hinata," Kiba replied harshly.
"Who are you talking about?"
"Naruto, is there anything you haven't told me about from before we met?"
Without hesitation, he replied, "No, nothing. Now, where were you?"
After several seconds Kiba lied, "Just out for a jog, guess I overdid it."
"You said that you were at my friend's house."
"Yeah, I turned around once I reached Hinata's house."
"But you said that..."
"Look, can we just drop it," Kiba yelled.
Naruto stared at Kiba's angry face and replied in a quiet, uncaring tone, "Yeah, sure."
For the first time in three years, Kiba had yelled at Naruto. He never yelled at him. He got mad at him sometimes, he got embarrassed a lot, sometimes he even got jealous, but no matter what, he had never yelled at him. Kiba rolled over on the couch, and cried himself to sleep...