Kiba completed a seventh lap around the living room as he talked to his mother on the phone. Normally Naruto wasn't one to complain, but the fact that Kiba's mom kept her son on such a short leash really pushed his buttons. Not to mention, of course, that Kiba was pacing in front of the couch that Naruto was sitting on, and the TV that he was watching, meaning that there had been 14 short breaks in his line of sight in the past two minutes.

"I... Ye... I kno... Ok..." the sound of Kiba's mother's voice could be heard through the telephone no matter where in the room it was. Her voice was more annoying and persistent than Akamaru's incessant yipping.

"Alri... Ok mom. Ye... Ok... Ok, I'll see you then. Ye... Yes, we'll see you then. Alright... You too... Ye... Yeah, take care... Bye."

"Devil woman," Naruto said, poorly hiding it in a cough. Kiba threw the phone at him. It wasn't because he was mad with him, but because his mom always managed to frustrate him.

"Don't say that," Kiba said half-heartily, mostly just so he wouldn't seem like an asshole for not defending his mother. He sat down on the couch next to Naruto with a heavy sigh. He put his head in his hands and ran them through his hair, messing it up even more.

"If she always makes you feel so shitty then why don't you just tell her to shove it," Naruto asked, taking a swig of Pepsi.

"Because then I wouldn't be able to live myself," he replied, "which means that I'd have to kill myself or... something." He rested his head in Naruto's lap. Naruto rested his hand on Kiba's mane, finally taking a break from the TV.

"What did she want this time?"

"She wants me to take you over to our house on Sunday for dinner."

"Oh, boy," Naruto said, eliciting a small chuckle out of Kiba. "I've never gotten to meet your parents!"

"Yeah, it should be fun..."

"What do you mean."

"Nothing."

"No, come on. What did you mean?"

"It's nothing, Naruto," he said getting up off the couch and heading to the kitchen to clean the dishes 

left over from dinner. Naruto got up and followed him, Pepsi can still in hand.

"We both know that's not true. Because when it's nothing you laugh and either kiss me, or slap my ass. But, since you instead came over to do dishes, then I know it's actually something."

"Very observant..."

"Well, that and you're as easy to read as a book." Kiba glared at him before returning to the plate he was in the middle of rinsing.

"Not a very good book, but a book nonetheless." He threw an old bar of soap at the blonde, which was avoided without much effort.

"Where do you learn a word like 'nonetheless' anyway?"

Naruto grabbed a handful of his orange jacket and in a melodramatic tone said, "That hurts, man."

-That Sunday-

Kiba was a very careful driver. A little too careful as many people had pointed out to him. He grasped the steering wheel like he was going to fall out of his seat if he didn't. He stayed exactly three miles under the speed limit and was very strict about no noise in the car. This made the three hour drive to his parents' home a bore for his passenger. Naruto had brought a sketchpad and a pencil along, hoping to finish some homework on the way. He had greatly underestimated the amount of work it took to be an artist as he finished his assignment in the first 20 minutes. That meant that he had to pass 2 hours and 40 minutes in complete silence. What to do...

"What if I convert 2 hours and 40 minutes into seconds," he thought to himself. Unlike Kiba, though, there were no annoying voices in his head to help him.

"Let's see... one hour is 60 minutes, and one minute is 60 seconds. So 60 times 60 is... Well 50 times 50 is... Ok, 50 times ten is 500! Wait... how does that help me again?"

"Hey, Kiba," he said aloud, not realizing that it was a mistake until he got a sharp "What!" as a response. "What's 60 times 60?"

"3,600. Why?"

"No reason." He returned to his mind. "So 3,600 times 2 is..."

-Three Mathematical Questions and One Bruised Ego Later-



"9,600 seconds in 2 hours and 40 minutes." He checked the clock on the dashboard. Only four minutes had passed. "Damn... Well, how many seconds are in 2 hours and 36 minutes?"

The car pulled into the Inuzuka's driveway at exactly 4:45p.m. The small house was only one story tall, but it looked like it cost as much as a mansion. It was on the top of a grassy hill overlooking a playground and a large meadow. It looked like more time had been spent on the lawn than on the house. Each blade of grass was exactly the same height. Whoever mowed it had done so while moving in a perfect square. There were two large pillars on the small patio in front of the door that were holding up... well nothing. There were two windows on either side of the door, each as perfectly measured as the grass. Even the cement used to hold the bricks together was spotless.

Kiba's father jogged out of the house and embraced his son, greeting him with generic pleasantries. Without even acknowledging Naruto, he wrapped his arm around Kiba's shoulder and lead him inside. Naruto shyly followed behind. Mrs. Inuzuka was waiting at the door to greet her son. The three had a massive family hug. Rather, Mr. and Mrs. Inuzuka hugged Kiba who was rapidly turning shades of purple and attempting to get out of his parents' death grip. When they were finally done hugging, Mrs. Inuzuka took notice of Naruto. She had a look of terror on her face. Naruto looked around to find that he was standing on the picture-perfect lawn. He quickly jumped onto the sidewalk leading from the driveway to the door, bumping into Kiba's father.

"Whoa, there, son," the massive man replied, helping Naruto keep his balance. "You alright?"

"Yeah," Naruto, replied, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think that we've met before." Kiba jumped into the conversation.

"I'm sorry. Dad, this is Naruto. Naruto, this is my dad."

Naruto gripped the man's hand and shook it, "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Inuzuka." Kiba's father returned the handshake, though not as enthusiastically. He looked confused, or even scared.

"We're expecting some company, Narudo, but you're welcome to join us for dinner if you want."

Not bothering to point out the fact that his name was 'Naruto', he replied, "I'd love to."

"Great," Mr. Inuzuka replied, patting the blonde on the back as if he were trying to force Naruto's heart up his throat. The man head inside as Naruto tried to account for all of his organs. Mrs. Inuzuka followed her husband inside, leaving Kiba and Naruto outside on the sidewalk all alone. When Naruto was confident that there had always been an empty spot below his lung, he walked into the Inuzuka's home.

It was cleaner than an operating room. All the walls were white, matching the picture frames and light switches. He followed Kiba into the small living room and took a seat on a couch. It was one of those 

couches that old people had. It was more used for decoration than as an actual place to sit. All four of them sat down and exchanged small talk until a small white dog came darting out of the hallway and jumped up yipping at Kiba. "Akamaru," he exclaimed, picking up the small dog who proceeded to thoroughly clean Kiba's face with his tongue. As Akamaru licked Kiba's face, Mrs. Inuzuka got up to add an extra set of silverware to the table. In an effort to satisfy his curiosity, Naruto asked,

"So, who are we missing?"

Mr. Inuzuka replied from behind a glass of wine, "Kiba's girlfriend..."