So... Chapter 6? Sad face... So you guys know my friend what's his face right?... He wrote... Fishing for a SMILE. I'm just awestruck about his whole... Everything... -Plays with Dolly of what's his face creepily- I wanna be like that when I grow up. Q~Q XD. He works and goes to university and exercises regularly... AND writes a bajillion words in his free time. Amazing right? Anyway, it's ME TIME, TIME TO GET IN THIS ISH. Just... JUST BTDUBS... If anyone reads this before I make another chapter, Did I give Kiba a new name? I feel like it's either Hunter or Fang. 'Cause that makes sense to me right now.
Chapter Six
The bell above the door jingled with a ting! Naruto looked up from an old magazine and stared. Two bulky men had entered the store, leather jackets and faded jeans, the smell of musk and promised pain emanated off of them like cheap cologne, the spring air pushing the scent like an over-sized fan straight into his nose. There was something familiar about them, not their smell exactly, just something that twinged at the blonde's brain. An instinct of some sort that continues trying to send impulses into his muscles. Telling him to take a fight or flight. The blonde did neither, as he was still trying to calculate where exactly he'd seen these men before.
Kiba hadn't shifted from his seat behind the counter either, the previously borrowed trench coat was now covering his nudity once more. He too looked up when the bell tinged, he twitched a little at the ringing; his ears suddenly sensitive to high pitch noises. He glanced over at Naruto, observing him from the corner of his eye. Trying not to take his eyes off of the two bulky men as they approached the counter slowly, menacingly. Teasing them like defenseless prey as they flew over head until they cracked before they would swoop down and gobble them up, tear their bones apart and feed on their flesh. Kiba jerked his head minutely, Trying to rid himself of such a vulgar thought. He angled his head, his right eye staring at Naruto, watching the blonde with half of his brain. He was obviously thinking, his throat had tensed up like it was swelling, the veins around his temples protruded slightly and his jaw was scrunched up in worry.
Kiba wondered for a moment if Naruto had ever met these guys before, but let that idea go. If they were any danger they'd run, but if Naruto knew them why would he be so tense. As Kiba tried to calculate what the blonde was feeling, he was unaware as the two men swooped in. Standing before the two teens, luckily on the other side of the counter. Naruto leaned back a little, so Kiba did too. Slowly, as to not attract their attention, as if their eyesight was based on movement. The brunette shifted in his stool, trying to push it back just enough so he wasn't in arm's reach just in case one or both of the two men decided they wanted to break someone's neck.
Kiba felt stupid, letting his mind jump to conclusions, maybe the two bulky men just wanted parts or advice.
He felt even more stupid for letting himself even letting himself think that that could be a possibility.
Naruto was the first to speak, very reluctantly though. His voice was the quietest Kiba had ever heard it. When he looked over the teen all he could picture was a small blonde kid. His true form had returned after he cleared his throat, attempting to speak a little louder and deeper than his first squeak.
"Can I help you?" He finally asked, voice surprisingly strong despite the situation they were in.
The blonde was looking up at the two men in front of them, the taller, more broad one, was smiling at them creepily. His whiskers folded over themselves in his wrinkles. They both had dark hair, but the taller smiling one had blue eyes. They looked almost friendly... Almost. Kiba could easily see that BAD NEWS! DANGER! DANGER! was clearly written all over the two men, but for some reason Naruto seemed calm, too calm.
In all reality, Naruto wasn't calm. He'd gotten used to being in this situation. Tall men towering over him, threatening him for his father's mistakes. He still loved him though, for some reason or another. He'd help his dad if his dad was willing to help him, which didn't happen very often, but when he did. He made sure to make it big. Naruto told him not to, they didn't have enough money to just buy something they couldn't use. Especially when that money can go to rent... Or groceries, something useful.
Naruto squeezed his fists together, un-clenched and wiped them on his jeans. He felt nervous, and that made him sweaty and clammy. He was able to wipe his hands across his thighs once more before the shorter man started to speak.
"Yeah" His voice was loud and whiny, like a kid, a kid that had gotten trapped within an old person's body and having to use that voice.
Still, all in all the situation they were in was obviously not a good one. Kiba continued to think of possible escape plans while the short hood-rat continued to speak.
"We's lookin' for Minato" He said obnoxiously, enunciating the a like someone had asked him to open his mouth while he was speaking. Naruto held back a gag, he could smell the older man's breathe from here and it was in no sense pleasant. He leaned back casually, nearly toppling his stool over in an attempt to escape the horrid breath that stalked the air he tried to breath.
Naruto cleared his throat, his eyes watering from the horrid stench, Kiba thought he was overreacting to the situation in whole little did he know what would happen if he decided to lean towards Naruto in attempt at helping him clear his throat, by mercilessly pounding him on the back.
The blonde had managed to regain his composure, though he did glare at Kiba for making his back sting, and it was getting itchy now. His glare hardened.
Kiba sheepishly removed his hand from the blonde's shirt and let his hand fall to his side. The two simultaneously looked back at the two men on the other side of the counter. The taller looked slightly amused, the creases in his face smoothed out in what looked to be a father like smile.
It was obvious he didn't belong here, but Naruto could keep that a secret. He was probably just a family dad gone wrong, caught up in something he shouldn't be. Or he could be a cop... He looked down at the smaller male. Undercover, maybe. He didn't want to jump to conclusions. That would get him shot, or worse stabbed...
He was over-thinking this, he knew that. But it never hurt to think things through, well.. Most of the time anyway. He put on a fake smile, a small polite quirk of the lips, one that he would give elderly people so they didn't think he was a thug.
"He'll be back later, he went out... again" Rolling his eyes in a sarcastic expression, he was a decent liar. As long as the two men didn't question him further, he would be able to keep his story straight.
"Make sure's he's here latah' I'ms a busy man you's knows" Naruto doubted that. Very much so in fact. This one was much too poorly dressed to be anything but a goon. He held back a snort, biting his lip softly to keep from letting his mouth open; because as soon as he did he knew he would burst out laughing. Loudly. The kind of laugh that would indeed get him killed in a very painful fashion.
"I'll tell him" he replied stiffly.
"Thanks Kid" The elder man raised his hand, signaling his goodbye. Both Naruto and Kiba reciprocated the movement, Naruto put on a fake smile and waited for the two men to exit.
They both allowed their hands to fall once the two men exited the store, the bell jingling in there head in a hypnotizing fashion. Kiba's jaw twitched in annoyance, the sound kept ringing and ringing. He honestly expected Ino to emerge from one of the flattened boxes and start spouting another curse to ruin his life. Finally the ringing stop, only being interrupted with Naruto clearing his throat, loudly.
...
They looked at each other, each craning their necks to stare at each other.
Kiba stared at Naruto's face, it read that he wasn't that affected by the threat. His eyes, the usually sky blue irises were darkened now. Dimmed, even with the midday sun shining in on them like spotlights. Naruto's hair even seemed to dim, looking more like Ino's lightly colored hair than Naruto's usual vibrant yellow.
"'m closin' up" He muttered softly, Kiba almost didn't catch it, even with his newly advanced hearing. He watched the blonde maneuver around the counter, purposely avoiding the easy route. The one the thugs had used, he walked around the edge of the store and locked the two doors, turning off the neon lights and closed the blinds before walking back to the counter. He picked up his coat, never meeting Kiba's eyes, not even looking at him directly.
...
Silence...
Kiba finally sighed, loudly. "Hey... Umm" he received no reaction from Naruto. Silence wafted around them like cheap perfume, Kiba could have gagged, actually having smelled cheap perfume that seemed to spawn from nowhere.
"Yeah?" Naruto finally replied, seeming as if he had just heard Kiba speaking. He looked up at the scarred brunette, staring into his eyes with curiosity.
Kiba smiled softly, "Mind'f I stay over?"
The skin under Naruto's lip scrunched up in thought. "Hmmm" he murmured. "I guess... Hope yah don't mind the mess".
"Cool" Kiba confirmed, following Naruto to the backdoor.
They both walked up the long flight of stairs, circling around the rusted railing until they arrived at another door. Kiba was relieved when the stench of the stair well had finally left his senses, only to be replaced with something strange. Like, home-cooking, well he assumed it was home-cooking, he couldn't really remember what that smelled like, but he had an idea. His stomach growled, loudly. He scratched his head sheepishly when Naruto looked back at him with a bemused expression, his teeth shining in the dim hallway light.
They walked across the scuffed hardwood floors, Kiba listened to Naruto as he started talking about the woman across the hall, who was always cooking something delicious. Then about the woman herself, he described her as beyond nice, sharing food with him when he was a child. He was practically his mother.
Naruto finally took a breath, which ended up a long yawn. He stretched his mouth like a lion and inhaled loudly. Naruto unlocked his door, shoving two different keys into the locks and turning them until the door creaked open on its own.
Kiba followed Naruto inside, then passed him since Naruto was waiting at the door, ready to close and lock it.
Kiba walked back into the place where he first escaped, it looked a lot dirtier once he got a really good look at it, in color this time. He flipped over the back of the couch, taking a seat next to a stack of rotting pizza boxes.
Naruto walked over also, flipping over a similarly designed loveseat, which pointed at an entertainment center, a honey-colored oak, box, a large boxed T.V. placed in the middle of it. Dusty picture frames surrounded the shelves next to the Television. Kiba squinted, trying to get a closer look without looking like he was being nosy. Which didn't really work when Naruto was staring at him intently.
Silence fell around them like the veil of death, that is until a small click alerted them of a presence that they weren't aware of. Naruto jerked his head so quickly it looked as if it were about to snap of. Kiba was struck between staring in awe and looking at whatever had made the noise, luckily for him he could watch both as Naruto's dad came into view from the hallway.
The blonde man looked put out, almost like a homeless person in his stained t-shirt and plaid pajama pants. His chin was covered in a glistening blonde stubble that didn't suit him very well.
Naruto stood from his place on the couch, it creaked in relief as the weight was relinquished from its rusty springs, the younger blonde walked towards his father slowly, head slightly bent back, looking just over Minato's head. Not quite ready to look him in the eyes, Naruto didn't think he'd ever be ready. His father's eyes haunted him, a blue curse that would never fade like his father's irises did.
They stood right in front of each other, Minato looked down at the body that was blocking his way, but not really looking, as if looking past his son to something only he could see. His eyes never focused on anything, in front or behind Naruto, he continued to stare.
...
"Some guys came by today..." Naruto stated, voice a mere mumble, it still managed to rumble around the room like a lion's growl, but no words were comprehended.
"What for?" Minato replied loudly, causing Naruto to jump from the suddenness of it. He shifted his weight to one hip, arms crossed about his large chest in a pose that would make a dictator jealous. Naruto didn't seem phased any more than he already was, he also shifted his weight but out of discomfort rather than attempting to look imposing.
"They um... He looked over his shoulder subtly, back at Kiba, or around him rather, he somehow imbibed some courage and looked back at his dad. Not at his eyes, but at him.
"They wanted to see you... 'bout somethin'" Naruto opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again, then repeated the process twice more before his lips stretched into a thin line.
"Wha'd you tell 'em?" was the almost urgent reply. Naruto shook his head in silence, then added a "Nothing" just to make sure his message got across.
"Good boy" He muttered indignantly, he walked past his son, gliding with ease on the carpet, and towards the door. He grabbed his coat, not sparing a second glance at the two occupants in the apartment.
"'m goin' out" he added, just loud enough for them to hear, for Naruto to hear.
Kiba looked over the back of the couch, into Minato's eyes, deep pools of blue, like the ocean. A sad stormy ocean, he might say, he didn't comment as the door creaked shut with reiterating, before everything fell silent.
There was always too much silence in his life, always quiet. There was never even a peep anymore, like he'd gone deaf and the sound was just plain hiding from him. He hated it, detested it. He wanted a loud life, able to express his thoughts into the world without being met with a cold look.
There was always something missing since his mom died, a lot of things missing, but the noise was one of them, probably the most important too. Since he became a scarred freak dog hybrid. The sound slowly returned, even in silence, he could feel his life was taking a turn. A bad turn, but still an exciting adventure none the less. He just hoped that his adventure wouldn't cause a shattered life.
Kiba looked at Naruto, really looked at him, he could feel it. He could see it, it was clearly written on his face. He had lost something too, or things rather. His parents, dead or distant, that's what caused his silence, his lonely suffering. The worried looks or the distant approach. He'd lost something, Kiba hadn't heard much about Naruto's mom, but he'd imagined her gone someplace far away. Not dead, he didn't want to process that, especially when Naruto has had so much turmoil, even in his short life.
Naruto, feeling eyes on him turned around and stared right back at Fang. There was a connection, not like dog/friend but something. Not romantic, or passionate. Just something they had in common, was Fang's dad also like his, a drugy with no life a head of him.
"Fang?" Naruto called out, sounding quite odd.
Kiba blanched for a moment, running the word in his head when it clicked, "Yeah?" he replied finally. "What happened?" that wasn't the question he intended to ask Fang, but it was probably the most important one at the moment.
"What d'you mean?" He asked hesitantly.
"Like, the dog thing..?" Kiba nodded his head. "Ex-Girlfriend... Not fun..." He said, smiling for some reason or another. Naruto huffed, smirking dimly at the human-canine hybrid.
"What'd you do now?" Asking as if they were long time friends that were just catching up on casual topics.
Kiba scoffed at being blamed, "She's crazy dude!" he exploded, friendly violent, playing along with the awkward small talk. "So she cursed me..." He added, he didn't mean for that to come out as soft as he did, it made him sound weak, vulnerable.
Naruto seemed to notice, but said nothing, his face fell and once more, silence veiled the room in a pressing way. "Is there... Is there any cure, or something?" the blonde asked, suddenly unsure of everything around him.
Kiba shook his head, "No" added, smacking his lips silently as if the lie was a poison, the kind of poison that spread quickly, darkened the heart rapidly and left him to rot. He'd lied before, plenty of times in fact. But never to Naruto, well, except the name thing, but he had to like about that. Nobody but Rose could know, it was unfortunate that his father had to find out so soon, or at all really.
He wanted to spill everything to the blonde stranger, but found no motivation to do so when he thought about what would happen if his secret was revealed. There was little he could do, just don't tell Naruto the truth. He wished everything could have been as simple as that. Tell yourself something until you believe it. He tried many times, it just didn't work. Like when he told himself that his father loved him. He was laughing bitterly in his mind about something so trivial as being told I love you, also the Irony in the statement. He glanced down at his arm, stroking the khaki material awkwardly.
"Stuck like this forever" he thought aloud, wincing at how weak he sounded. He cleared his throat, swallowing the invisible mass that crawled onto his vocal chords and sucked them up like leeches.
Naruto resumed his place on the matching loveseat, and picked up a remote from the wobbly table in between the two couches. Kiba watched as the blonde curled in on himself, folding his lips under him like an animal getting ready to rest.
Kiba decided he may as well get comfortable and shifted on the couch, pushing the pile of pizza boxes off with his bare foot and stretched his legs until his knees pop, then rotated his ankles until the popped in the weird snapping way they did. The scarred brunette finally allowed his legs to fall to the couch, his feet rest a little ways up on the arm rest like his head was. He sighed loudly and nestled into the cushions.
The T.V. flickered on with a static noise, talking filled the room, quiet and hissing.
"What d'you like to watch, Fang?" Naruto asked, voice weary like an old veteran.
"Anything's fine" he replied. shaking his hand in indifference. His eyes draped down like curtains and soon everything was enveloped in darkness, the confines of sleep grasping at him like ropes and the noise...
The noise faded out in silence.
He felt strangely at peace, despite how much he hated it. This silence didn't gnaw on him like a demonic predator. This silence was the one he found from a friendship, a budding one, weak and easily torn. But a friendship none the less.
Sleep overtook him and silence reigned about the apartment.
End of Chapter seis... SEIS? So we're at like... 30,000 words? Right? RIGHT? Ugh, I'm so pissed with myself on how this chapter came out, I re-wrote it at least five times... Sigh, =/= Meow. So I'm part cat... Like literally... Not like a Neko buuuut like instincts and... stuff... I can also snap, and when I snap wind gust around me... Very creepy right? RIGHT?
I wanted Naruto to be creepy, like watching Kiba sleep and stuff, but decided against it. Nyah. oVo Carrots... Sigh, REVIEW. I WORKED HARD ON THIS... Ino shallllll... Probably not be in the next chapter... In person... But Kiba's surgery should be coming up, woot woot.