Tai: Well it's been a while. Turns out I've had this chapter written since April, I didn't put it up before now because it's been a while since I looked through everything on my laptop or thought about writing. That and I planned to finish the next chapter and start on the fifth before posting this. I'm almost done with the fourth chapter, so not far from starting the fifth, so all's good.
To anyone waiting for an update on another story of mine, if you haven't reviewed please do! An alert about someone faving this story was what reminded me that I needed to do more work on it. Things are likely to get a bit OOC and confusing when scences switch in future chapters, but it should be easy enough to understand. Or at least, I'll try and make it easy to understand when there's been such a switch.
Anyway, because I already had 1.5 chapters written and to read over before continuing, I remember exactly where I was heading with this...well almost. About 50% remember, 30% guess, 20% feel like it and I'm bored. So you get a mixture of things.
Tell ya what, if I get 5 new reviews on this I will post the next chapter on Saturday, becuase that's when I'll be finished with my math assignment and tutorials and such for the week. Otherwise the next update of this can wait until I've updated every other story I need to.
Disclaimer: You recognise it from somewhere else then I don't own it, get it?
Kiba hadn't moved from his position on the ground, and Sakura looked between the three males present, wondering if there was anything she could do to help. She hadn't been particularly close to the dog nin, but it still stung to see his smile and cheery attitude gone. Looking to the two males comforting the distraught nin, she realised there wasn't anything she could do for him. He needed time to deal with the reality of the situation, and the boys were probably the only ones who could understand what he needed for comfort.
"I'll tell Tsunade you're back." Sakura muttered, looking more at Shino then his team mate. "She knows about the situation also, so she shouldn't mind if you report in to her later." Receiving a nod from the Aburame, she took off into the trees, heading towards the Hokage's tower. Not long after her departure, Kiba fell quiet. His shoulders were still shaking badly, but he appeared calmer than he had earlier, managing to stand quietly. Without a word, the trio headed off to Shikamaru's apartment. Being from larger clans, Kiba and Shino still stayed within their clan compounds, although each had their own apartment-like building within the walls.
The walk to said apartment was deafeningly silent. Normally on such a walk the Inuzuka would have darted ahead with Akamaru, the duo racing towards their intended location and back to the other two as many times as it took before all four were there. Instead, not even the large canine could prompt such cheerful behaviour out of the male. He merely stayed close to the tanned boy's side, allowing a claw-like hand to rest of his head.
"Someone will need to tell Tsume." Shino stated quietly, he and the Nara walking slowly behind Kiba. "I don't know how she'll react to the news, so it might be best it Neji and I do it." The lazy nin agreed, speeding up slightly, "You might want to do that sooner rather than later. Who could've thought this would be so troublesome?" Shino shook his head and darted off, his insects swarming ahead to locate the Hyuuga male as quickly as possible.
Knowing how Inuzuka's could be, if Tsume found out from someone else that Hinata and Naruto were now together...well there'd be hell to pay for the younger ninja who'd caused it. They'd all been trying to help the Inuzuka heir, but with his heart broken in such a manner she'd be pissed. It was instinctual for her to want to protect him, even if her more reasonable side told her they'd done the right thing.
Shikamaru in the meantime was trying to cheer the heir himself up. It didn't seem to be working very well in the least, the other boy seeming more deep in his own mind than he'd been in a while. Giving in, he let out a final sigh. "The other guys will be coming around in a few hours, we figured it'd be easier than going home to your clan tonight." He didn't expect a reply, but he did manage to get one. "Thanks. Although I don't think I want to be around anyone tonight."
Stopping, both males realised they'd reached their destination, and Kiba waited for the Nara to open the door. "Although there is something weird I think I should tell you guys about anyway. Just something isn't sitting right and I don't know why." the Inuzuka muttered, following the paler boy into the house. "I'm surprised you can remember something like that. Anything to do with your mission or something else?" Shikamaru asked, glad to have the other male talking.
"Something else. I'll explain once everyone else is here. As long as my mother doesn't kill Neji and Shino." Shikamaru laughed, looking quite closely at the Inuzuka. There was some of the familiar spark and playfulness in the comment, but it was a possibility. Akamaru seemed a little less concerned after the comment, putting the Nara at ease. "Why don't we find something to eat? Lee and Choji are likely to bring something, but with the other two gone to talk to your mom..."
The Inuzuka smirked, "They'll want something really good to eat after that." He began digging through the freezer while Shikamaru dug through the fridge, picking out some fresh vegetables. Unbeknownst to Kiba, while he and his team were away everyone else had put in for enough meat and vegetables to feed the whole group. They'd had a suspicion that the male would only want male company for a small time. With all the pain his instincts had caused him, the girls could understand and knew they couldn't do much to help.
Turning back to the bench, the Nara couldn't help but grin at the sight on the bench. Kiba had already managed to remove four trays of mince and steak from the freezer. He was halfway through turning back to the freezer when he froze, looking at the door. His eyes were wide, making the other nin frown. A thundering pounding on the door made him jump, partway through asking what was wrong.
Cautiously, he looked over at Kiba, who seemed somewhat determined to not go near the door. "It's your mother isn't it." he stated, his assumption made correct when Neji called out. "You might want to open the door before it needs replacing." Doing so, the feral looking female glared deeply at him, making him step aside quickly. Kiba didn't make any attempt to run or hide, although it was clear he really didn't want to see Tsume at the moment. Kuromaru followed her in, placing himself between mother and son before she could verbally rip into him about the situation.
"Tsume you know as well as I do that he's done the right thing." the dark dog snarled at her, probably the only one in the room who had no fears about standing right in front of his partner at this point in time. She was already growling at the canine, Akamaru moving to stand at the older canines side. "He's been torn up enough by this, you don't need to do it too." "He should already have a mate by now, you know that." she snarled back, the other three males already retreating out of the apartment. They needn't be involved in the family discussion.
"The fact that his first crush is with someone else makes things all the more complicated..." she seemed to calm suddenly, looking at her son. It took her partner several moments to realise what she was frowning about, and it was likely to be something none of the others would understand well enough. A frown formed, and both of the older Inuzuka's looked at the boy, curious as to what explanation he would give them.
"It's nothing. Just someone I ran into on my way back from the mission this morning." he stated dismissively. Unsure if he was telling the truth, but her anger somewhat calmed, Tsume left, Kuromaru apologising as they passed Neji, Shino and Shikamaru. Waiting until she was well gone, the trio shut the door tightly behind them, Akamaru taking a position near the door to alert them to the arrival of anyone else. "What was that about?" Neji asked, looking at the younger male, "The anger I understand, that sudden calmness was unusual." Both Aburmae and Nara agreed, looking curiously at the Inuzuka.
"I'll explain once the other two get here. It's the same thing I was telling Shikamaru doesn't feel right." he sighed. As if on cue, both Lee and Choji arrived, carrying bread and cheese. They were about the only things missing from the fridge. "What happened this morning?" Shino asked, turning back to his team mate. The rest of the room dropped onto the furniture around, looking intently at the tan male. "I woke up early, and caught a whiff of smoke. I thought it might be the start of a forest fire, so I headed off to investigate it. Called out to Akamaru when I passed you and Hinata, and he smelt it too.
"We found the source, there was a girl sitting next to a fire waiting for her clothes to dry. She had a dog with her who picked us up in an instant, so I gave her my jacket to keep warm while she waited for hers to dry. That's what my mother picked up and calmed down about." he looked at Neji, who seemed to understand why it had calmed her. "Anyway, I asked why she was around outside the gate, she told me she was a traveller who'd wanted to come and see Konoha for a while.
"That's what's not sitting right. She told me she was a traveller but...she was carrying around sausages and bacon." Just as he'd expected, the rest of the room frowned. "That...doesn't sound right." Lee stated, agreeing nods moving around the room. "Travellers are a lot like ninja going on long missions. They don't take things that are likely to expire quickly, that includes meat. Usually trail mix, canned food and noodles." "Agreed. Something is definitely up." the Hyuuga prodigy agreed.
"Well it's nothing too long lasting or dodgy." Shikamaru reasoned, "If it was a scouting mission, half naked or not she would've run at the first sign of someone finding her. Same with if she was going to attack or steal something from the village." "So she wants to enter the village for non-dangerous reasons but is hesitant to for some unknown reason?" Choji asked, already starting to devour some of the bread nearby. "That sounds weird."
"Well, why don't we keep talking about this while we make something to eat? I'm starved, I haven't eaten anything much today." the Inuzuka growled, already heading for the kitchen. The heavily clothed male agreed, following his team mate and removing several knives from the nearby knife block – enough for everyone to help out. "Any ideas on what to cook?" "We'll just cook it all and make whatever we feel like it. Leftovers can be tea." Shikamaru stated, joining his guests in the kitchen.
With six people in the kitchen, it was difficult for anyone to really do a full job. Vegetables were chopped up by Neji and Shino, the meats dealt with by Kiba and Choji, while Shikamaru and Lee were in charge of the cooking. Akamaru stayed close, instantly devouring anything that was edible and dropped to the ground. It took an hour and there was a lot of mess to clean up, but there was definitely enough food to feed a small army. "You know, we should call the girls in to clean up and go for a night out." Kiba suggested, earning a smirk from Neji.
"I can just picture it. Tenten would come around just to kill us all, then tell us to clean up the damn kitchen and all the fucking blood we spilt all over the place." Halfway through a mouthful of drink, the green beast found himself grabbing for a cloth, fizzy liquid pouring out his nose. The majority of the rest of the room burst into laughter, Shino remaining quiet. Even a canine-like smirk appeared on the large dog's features. "Lets not then." the Nara snickered, grins still plastering everyone's faces.
Sitting around doing nothing once all their appetites had been quenched, they resumed talking about the young woman Kiba had encountered earlier in the day. Once the Inuzuka had retold everything that had occurred, they sat thinking of what a girl would have to fear from entering the village. "She doesn't look like a ninja, so if she'd done something wrong by the village ANBU would've caught and dealt to her ages ago. Even if it was years and years ago, they'd keep an updated photo."
"That's true. So she hasn't done anything wrong, maybe someone close to her has convinced her she has and she's too terrified to enter the town." Lee reasoned, "Using that logic, we could go out, meet up with her and tell her she'll be fine with us." "If she knows of ANBU, she'll know that ordinary Jounin are no match for them, it wouldn't be comfort enough." the Nara argued. "If she's terrified of entering the town in the least, she wouldn't be this close."
"Maybe she's got someone here she wants to visit?" Choji supplied. "The want to visit might be a strong enough draw to get her within fire country, but the fear enough to keep her away." "That would make more sense. But what if it's not a physical reason for visiting even?" Neji suggested. "If it was a person but she didn't want to come here, they could go and visit her. If its not a thing or a person, as both could be sent on request, maybe it's something to do with her mind. Nothing else that seemed odd about her, Kiba?"
The tan male thought for several moments, before realising there was one small thing he hadn't said. "There was something familiar about her, well her eyes at least. I'd seen eyes just like hers somewhere else before, I just can't place it." Choji seemed almost triumphant at that. "A person she wants to visit, definitely."
The Hyuuga prodigy seemed still concerned about the matter, adamant that whatever the reason, it wasn't to visit a person. In any case, all of the group dropped it in favour of arguing over what else they could do. Kiba had gone back into a silent mode, the talk of this morning obviously re-disturbing the feelings that had been quite happy to die down for a while. Watching, the large canine gave the boy a soft lick, attempting to move his mind off the subject and on to one more cheerful.
'I need to talk to Shino about this. From the sounds of things this girl would be approved of by his mother, and therefore his clan. We just need to find out if there'll be anything stopping him from moving on now that Hinata has Naruto.' Tuning back in to the conversation, he found Lee and Choji arguing over what they should do, while Shikamaru informed them both of how troublesome deciding was, and that they had plenty of time to do both with everyone staying.
Kiba still seemed to remain in his own little world, as once more his emotions decided to torment him, his instincts clearly starting to take over. That was the other reason the girls weren't around, and he wasn't alone nor with his clan. Although the girls would attempt to comfort him, the second his animal desires took control, he had little account for his actions. Knowing that Hinata was with someone else was unbearable in itself, but knowing that someone who was less able to protect her was who she'd chosen...
Akamaru suddenly began growling, backing away from Kiba. His hands had become more claw-like, although they still covered his face for the most part. He was shaking, but it took the rooms other occupants only seconds to figure out what was causing the canine so much distress. He'd lost out to the desires within that screamed out at him to fight for her and get rid of the competition.
That was the second reason the guys were there.
In an instant, Choji and Lee had him pinned, the Hyuuga had activated his bloodline trait while Aburame and Nara stood, waiting for the response. It wasn't something that happened instantly, it took several moments, but once the beast within had been released...
The Inuzuka began struggling against the two males restraining him, his eyes turned to slits as he attempted to break free. Physically, the two restricting him were more than a match, but there was no telling what lengths Kiba could go to in a last ditch effort to gain Hinata's affections. Catching the Akamichi off balance for a mere moment, the largest of the males was moved slightly closer, crying out in pain as the tan boy bit down on the nearby limb.
Despite the pain, he hung on for longer, resting his entire weight on the male below. The thrashing didn't cease, causing Shino to sigh and nod to Shikamaru. They'd discussed this months ago, long before the girls had planned to tell Naruto of Hinata's feelings, what they'd do if he ever ended up in this state. They'd secured a strong anaesthetic from Tsunade, in the event that they couldn't use force to subdue him without causing harm to themselves or the frantic ninja.
Pulling a bottle from one of his pockets, he unscrewed the cap and held it out to the Aburame. Several insects came forwards and entered the bottle, somewhat undisturbed by the banging noise, as Kiba slammed his feet against the floor. The same insects left the bottle, each now full of the strong drug as they landed on the Inuzuka's exposed flesh, injecting the drug into his system.
Still thrashing wildly, Kiba barely noticed the small stings, thinking nothing of them as he concentrated on fighting off the two males on him. Lee watched closely for a change in his behaviour or movement that signalled the anaesthetic was taking effect and they could release him. The small amount delivered by Shino's insects would be more than enough to put him out for at least an hour, based on a few small calculations Shikamaru had carried out.
The Inuzuka's movements became less wild and powerful, his movements becoming somewhat sluggish and lazy as he tried to fight. Already to late to shake it off, he tried in vain to stay awake longer and fight. It was a losing battle, and soon enough he fell unconscious, Choji and Lee still holding him down. They waited another minute before releasing him and the room let out a collective sigh.
Akamaru had managed to warn them in just enough time, and now he lay down next to Kiba, keeping watch over his unconscious friend and partner.
All anyone could do now, was wait.
Meanwhile, somewhere on the outskirts of the village...
"Yuri, what's bothering you? Sensei sent us here for a reason, but you seem distracted by something."
Looking over at the dark dog laying next to her, she let out a sigh. 'Can't even keep things private in my own mind, thanks to you.'
"You know that's not true. I can only hear what you're thinking if you're thinking them to me."
'That's true.'
"So? What's bothering you, that boy and his pet that we met earlier?"
'A little.'
"Come on, tell me. I'm already in your head, just tell me what the problem is."
She sighed, looking at the dark animal. 'It's just...I know sensei's trained us well enough to be able to avoid ANBU officers if they come near us, that's not the problem. I just don't remember anything about my past, I don't know what I've done here or if I have. Sensei's been the one thing in my life that I've depended on. What if he's lied to me for my entire life? What if...'
"He took you from your family and they've assumed you dead for all these years? That's been a possibility for all of you. It could also be true that he's told you the truth about everything so far. You won't know if they're going to try and kill you or just treat you like a harmless villager and not pay any mind. There's no telling until we actually go into the village and have a look around."
'And for that I get to go and risk getting killed. Sounds like fun, neh?' both females let out an amused laugh, 'What kind of vibe did you get from that guy anyway?'
"He seemed distracted by something. Not the fact that you were almost completely naked, he didn't even seem the least bit interested in that. Hell, the guys you grew up with still sit there and drool every time they see you like that, and they've seen you wearing nothing plenty of times before."
'We're getting off-topic.'
"In any case, I like him. I didn't get any threatening feeling from him, he seemed more confused and avoiding something more than anything else. I'm not sure what though. Any idea what those markings on his face might mean?"
'None. Pity he seemed so distracted by another woman, he was cute.'
Tai: Any questions put them in a review, same with comments and what-not. I'll update...well it says in the preceeding comment :P