Don't worry, this is the last one. It probably wasn't a good idea to start off with such an unconventional ship, but this one's my favourite atm. So deal.

This is my favourite chapter so far, as apparently I'm better at everything in the wee hours of the morning. So, compared to the two previously sucky chapters, this one's not so bad.

Anyway.

I don't want to be a review whore, but let's face it. We're all actually review whores when it comes down to it.

Akamaru blinked at his friend for a moment longer, before picking himself up and sitting beside him in the pool of lamplight.

"Hey, buddy," croaked Kiba. He didn't lift his head from the cradle of his knees, blindly raising a hand with the intention of burying it in the long, soft white fur behind the nin-dog's head.

Akamaru bit him. Hard.

Kiba yelped, cradling his bloodied fingers, which now matched the ripped knuckles at their base. He glared at Akamaru, who glared back, before lowering his gaze.

"I guess I deserved that," he mumbled, jamming the shredded hand under his armpit. Akamaru growled in affirmation. "That was… Stupid. So fucking stupid…" He had tried to think over what had happened: what had made him lash out so suddenly like that? Was it the lateness of the hour, the lingering pain in his foot, hormones, the wasted time, the sudden and unwelcome inclusion of Uzumaki? His behaviour was unreasonable, period. Kiba scowled, slamming his forehead into his knees. The nin-dog continued to watch him impassively from the corner of his eye.

After a few more minutes of meaningless strings of curses, Kiba sighed heavily, and addressed his knees seriously.

"Well, I have to apologise… But there's no way in hell she'll listen." He shook his head sadly. "Not to mention, there's no way I can get anywhere near her until tomorrow – and she'll see me coming, damn it – because… Well, only Hyugas get into the Hyuga house, and this late at night?" The shinobi barked a hollow laugh. "Yeah, of course they'll let me in."

Kiba drew himself upright in a mock-regal manner. "Hello, Hyuga-sama. Sorry to disturb you so late, but would you mind if I talked to your daughter for a moment? Yes, I'm the one who roasted her heart on a stick earlier this evening, why do you ask?" He deflated. "Forget it, Akamaru. We're screwed."

Akamaru angled a sharp kick into Kiba's ribs.

"Ow! Alright, I'm screwed, I'm screwed! There's no 'we'." Akamaru seemed satisfied.

"But what do I say?" he blurted suddenly. "I mean, I'll tell her I'm sorry I said that thing about Naruto, I'm sure he doesn't feel that way about you, I'm sure he actually-" Kiba's face twisted into an expression of disgust at his own words. "No! I don't want that, I-" He exhaled heavily. "I don't care about Naruto," he told his knees quietly. "I care about her… I care about Hinata."

Beside him, Akamaru whined softly, shuffling a little closer. Kiba chuckled weakly.

"You're not going to bite me again, are you?" Akamaru nuzzled his arm. Kiba sat up straight, leaning his back against the brick wall and watching the sky pensively. His good fingers trailed their way behind the nin-dog's ears. "Akamaru, don't fall in love. It really… Well, it sucks." He lowered his voice, now speaking to himself rather than to his companion. "I guess," he murmured. "I guess the best thing is to see that… To see that she's happy." He laughed darkly. "After all, you've been such a jerk I don't think you deserve shit."

Akamaru looked up as the shinobi beside him climbed to his feet, and took a deep breath. "Alright boy," said Kiba, determined. "I'll find her, apologise… Say whatever it takes to have her talking to us-" The nin-dog shot him a foul look. "-talking to me again." He hesitated a moment, pondering an idea. "And if it comes to that… I guess now's a better time to tell her than any."

"Hey!"

Kiba jumped violently, instantly shooting his attention skywards. A scruffy mess of blonde hair poked out of a window on the top floor of the oblong building. "Kiba? S'that you?" Kiba gaped.

"Naruto?"

"Yeah!" said the voice. "Kiba, good: I'm glad it's you!"

Kiba quirked an eyebrow.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because I know you," continued the jinchuriki. "I won't feel as bad when I tell you: SHUT UP! IT'S TWO IN THE MORNING!"

"OH, REAL WITTY NARUTO! HOW MANY MONTHS'VE YOU BEEN PRACTICING THAT?"

"AS LONG AS IT TOOK TO WIPE THAT SMIRK OFF YOUR FACE, JERK!"

Kiba scowled, and the window closed with a snap. He exchanged a glance with Akamaru.

"What a charmer," he muttered under his breath. "I can see why she likes him."

It was a fifteen minute walk from Naruto's apartment to the Hyuga residence. Hinata probably would have made it in ten, and on Akamaru's back with zero traffic it only took five.

Kiba had been turning over half-concucted plan of entry over half-concucted plan of entry in his brain the while, none of which would have been successful in any event. So it was nothing but sheer dumb luck that the course of the wind changed that night, blowing past the stationary figures of the chunin and his nin-dog out the front of the Hyuga household and carrying with it the faint whiff of cinnamon.

In the middle of the fence-lined backstreets of Konoha, perhaps ten minutes from the Hyuga clan's estate, was a junction with a large, lush tree planted opposite. It was a common meeting place for ninja teams about to embark on a mission. It was also a leisurely hide-away: Kakashi found it a private recluse for those troublesome times when he fell behind in his reading of the Make-Out series.

Tonight, the famous tree played host to no teams, and no perverted jonin. In fact, it would not service either of those requirements until dawn, at the earliest. Now, in the small hours of the morning, the tree sheltered in its roots a rather miserable looking ball of clothes. The ball of clothes shook silently, and little salty stains tainted the ground from the steady stream of tears that cascaded down cheeks hidden by long, pale sleeves.

The tree guarded its occupant warily as another approached: slowly, cautiously, as if expecting the clothes to take flight at any moment. The little ball of clothes stiffened and the tears suddenly ceased. She rose onto her haunches, ready to flee.

"Hinata?" asked the newcomer gently. The tree softened. He didn't sound dangerous at all. The bundle of clothes, however, wasted no time: she launched into the air, sprinting into the darkness at top speed. The other, however, was faster, quickly levelling with her and trapping her between the wooden fence and his body. His movements weren't hard or unnecessarily forceful, but the kunoichi cried out all the same. She struggled.

"Hinata! Hin-Hinata, wait, listen! Can you- Hinata, hold still!"

"No!"

Kiba drew back slightly, shocked at the very un-Hinata amount of force behind the word. Hinata took advantage of his pause.

"Gentle fist: eight pa-" Kiba's hands moved like lightning: snatching her wrists and pinning them to the wood above her head. Hinata stilled, but for the tragic trial of tears that refused to cease.

"W-what do you want, Inuzuka-san?" she asked quietly. He winced at the formal, unfamiliar tone.

"Kiba," he insisted.

"Inuzuka-san." Kiba sighed heavily, shaking himself. He would have to deal with that.

"Hinata, please listen…" he pleaded. "I know I don't deserve it, but… Please." Hinata, who had been avoiding looking at him up until this point, chanced a glance. It was only for an instant, but it gave Kiba the courage to continue. He took a deep breath.

"Look… Hinata-san, I'm sorry." She remained silent, which he took as an encouraging sign. "I'm sorry because I-I didn't mean what I said. Not even close! I actually said that because… No, uh, never mind… Um… I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. It wasn't anything to do with you, and it was really unfair for me to treat you so… so… So like it was. Something to do with you, that is. I promise I won't ever do that again because really, Hinata, you ought to be treated better. I mean, I don't even know what got me so wound up in the first place, though it might have had something to do with that detour through the alley where I hit my toe on that pile of bricks, which frankly was actually your idea, but… Um…"

Beside him, Akamaru whined. Kiba shot him a helpless look.

"You aren't very good at apologising, Kiba-kun," muttered Hinata. Kiba looked stricken.

"I know, I know… But, I suppose what really happened was… Was… I was being selfish, and… I wasn't thinking about your wellbeing and what makes you happy, a-and I do! Usually… I want to think about what makes you happy, Hinata-chan, because you do deserve it, and I want to be around you to make sure that happens…" Hinata, though still avoiding looking at him, couldn't help the slow creep of colour that was entering her cheeks. "… But if me being around you doesn't make you happy, t-then that's fine too, and I won't ever talk to you again if you don't want, because it's not about me, and I won't ever get jealous of Naruto ever again… I mean, I'll always be jealous, but I won't… Y'know, explode, and-"

"J-jealous?" Hinata looked confused. "Jealous of wha-?"

Kiba had suddenly turned a fantastic shade of red, and apparently had also lost the ability to speak. His jaw still moved up and down, but no sound came out. It was this cue of colour change that caused Hinata to stop in mid-sentence, and blush almost as heavily.

"K-K-Kiba-kun?" she squeaked, her voice jumping an octave or two.

"Buh" was all he had to offer. He released her wrists as if they were spiders, and jumped back a few feet. His face had yet to lose any of its colour.

Kiba was panicking. He had lost his cool. No, to hell with lost it. He had shot it into farthest regions of deep space; he had obliterated it; there was not even a shred of his cool left. Here he was, practically naked if front of her. In a wild, random tangent, he thanked whatever gods or spirits there were out there for at least giving him actual clothes.

While Kiba was thinking about clothes, Hinata's mind was entirely filled with an unpleasant numbing sensation. No thoughts ran through her head, save breaths of the conversation. Jealous of Naruto… Jealous… What? Jealous? Oh… Jealous…

Akamaru looked from Kiba to Hinata, back to Kiba, then Hinata, to Kiba again and so on. He, from his enlightened nin-dog point of view, thought the whole situation to be very silly. Akamaru was wise.

Suddenly, Kiba laughed an obviously fake, unnaturally loud laugh which made Hinata stare.

"So, you caught that did you?" Kiba attempted bravado. "Well, of course by jealous I mean…" He faltered as her eyes bored into his own. "Uh, I mean… I… Mean…" He sighed, and looked away. There was a long silence.

When Kiba spoke again, he kept his eyes fixed to a point somewhere on the ground to his left and his voice low and level. His cheeks retained their flare.

"I mean that you're a beautiful, smart, amazing kunoichi. And Uzumaki should be thanking his stars that a girl like you would ever, in a million years, give him the time of day. Hell, it's no surprise I'm jealous. But at the same time, I'm thrilled that I get to spend what time I can with you, even if we're just friends."

He opened his mouth to say more, but there was no point.

Hinata had fainted.

Yay! It's done!

...unless anyone has any objections. Bwah ha ha.

Coming up next: another unconventional but potentially hilarious ship! Stupid, stupid me.