Chapter 7

The morning came by far too quickly for Kiba's liking, silence was no longer the unwritten ruler of Naruto's apartment, noise ended up in his ears, being heard but not registered in his drowsy state. Everything seemed blurry as if all his senses were blocked by large cotton balls, except his nose which was fortunately clear and beautiful scents pushed into his nostrils forcibly, like claws that ripped open the doors to his nose's command center and wrapped large talons around them, entrancing, his body seemed to calm though; like a viper coiled rabbit that had accepted his death as soon as he saw the large yellow predatorial eyes. Luckily, the drastic and enticing scent was not a viper and was not planning on coiling around his face and squishing it.

The delicious scent wasn't a strangle-ready predator, quite the opposite really. The scent was prey. Sweet, sweet prey. Bacon to be specific. Kiba wasn't sure when he'd ever had a large craving for meat, he assumed it had something to do with the transformation, his canine self was telling him to get the meat, despite himself the teen followed the wolf's instructions. Opening a heavy eyelid the scarred teen looked around the apartment, it looked the same as it did the night before perhaps a little cleaner, and brigher, but that was about it for differences. It was also sideways, if that was anything. Groaning, Kiba lifted himself up with his arms, only to throw himself against the back of the couch with his head leaning against the top. He stared at the ceiling for a moment before the wolf made another noise, this time manifesting itself in the form of low gutterel growl from his stomach. He lifted a hand and rubbed at it, stroked it like one would do a small and scared animal.

"You're up!" Naruto said, sounding shocked at the statement despite being the one that noticed it. Kiba managed to lift his arm from his stomach and wave a dissmissive hand behind him where Naruto's voice had come from. He heard Naruto say something, but didn't quite catch it. He was too busy focusing on the sound of meat sizzling in a pan.

"You're gonna burn it" he murmerred sleepily.

Naruto scoffed at the pan "Am not" he said back sharply.

The half-canine listened to the sounds of kitchen chaos, muffling his snickering just in case the blonde did something drastic, like deprive him of food. Not that that would ever happen, Kiba could manage a charm.

...

He muffled himself, containing the noise in his throat. Just in case. But who could resist the puppy eyes. Nobody, not even in his disfigured form.

Finally, the kitchen seemed to calm once more, Kiba could tell the bacon was burnt by the way Naruto grumbled to himself, throwing the skillet into the sink violently, making water splash up at him. "It's ready," Naruto continued to slam things and open cupboards, he pulled two plates from a shelf and nearly broke them as he set them on the counter. "Fang!" Naruto yelled loudly, getting the snickering teen's attention.

"Hmm?" he asked, hoping he pulled off a still groggy tone, at least he stopped laughing, for now anyway.

"Food" Naruto replied sharply, slamming another drawer along with several other objects.

"Comin'" the scarred teen lifted himself from the couch, putting his feet flat on the floor, he pushed his hands on his knees and levied himself on his feet, his vision spun for a bit but refocused in a few seconds, he made his way towards the smell of burnt food and looked over Naruto's shoulder at the smoldering pile of ash next to another larger pile that he hoped was eggs. The two plates were surprising clean, he picked the left one up, along with a fork that was in a small pile in between the plates. "Thanks" Fang said softly, walking back to the couch quickly to avoid any undeserved wrath from a blonde boy.

Soon enough Naruto had joined him in the living room as well, on the other couch though, fortunately for him. For some reason, Naruto seemed really angry, he wondered if it was his dad or something. Speaking of dads... Kiba rolled his tongue around a mouthful of soggy eggs. He was supposed to go and see a doctor today, to get his scars fixed. It wouldn't help, he could tell, a curse couldn't just be fixed with needles and thread. Or so he'd been told, not really told, but he assumed that Ino would have made the curse human proof. That would only make sense.

About an hour had passed in a quite uncomfortable silence as the two teens stared at the TV in the entertainment center. Both of their plates were on surprising available surface of the coffee table, it was a medium-dark colored wood that was chipped on the legs from being kicked, a few stains were around the area under the table, Kiba didn't want to know what the dark-red stain had come from, so he quickly adverted his eyes back to the cartoons that were playing on the TV, then drifted off again, staring at the oddly clean apartment. He couldn't help but wonder how long he had been asleep for. He thought it might have taken a decade to clean Naruto's apartment, and that the trash monster would keep growing randomly until the entire room was just bleached and burnt to the ground, but Naruto seemed to manage allright. No pizza boxes and rotting things on the couches, the table was clean, but that was about it. There was still a pile of dishes, some broken, in the sink and the entertainment center was layered with dust that seemed older than Naruto, which could be very well possible.

He lifted himself to his feet the same way he did this morning and carried his plate and fork over to the sink, placing them in the suddy water. He sighed, watching it sink to the bottom of the sink with a clink.

"Naruto?" he asked apprehensively.

"Hmm?" the blonde returned, turning his head to look at Fang flatly.

"I have to go today... My dad... My dad's being an idiot." he muttered, the color drained from his knuckles as held onto the edge of the counter.

"Oh... You'll be back right? I mean, you could turn if-"

"I need you to come with me" he replied cutting Naruto off.

".. I- I don't think I should leave though... What if my dad needs my help, or somethin'?"

Kiba couldn't disagree with that logic, he just wanted to get today over with. He didn't want to turn in front of his dad, see the disgust and hatred in his eyes if his son turned into a furry monster in front of his eyes, embarrassing him in front of the doctor. He didn't care, but he did care what his dad thought about him, which was unfortunate with his Dad's easily enraged humility. "I still need you there," he said angered for some unknown reason, "I could help your dad too if you needed to go..." he added softly, trying to bargain with the blonde.

Naruto sighed, several times, several dramatic times. He crossed his arms and threw Fang dark looks, he really didn't want to go. Even if not for his dad being in danger, what about himself. He was in just as much trouble if one of his dad's drug-dealing friends found him. Then again, they'd hopefully be on the other part of town, away from any of the goons that would see them.

"Where are we goin'?" Naruto asked, giving into the scarred teen's requests.

"Doctor's office" Kiba rolled his eyes, staring at the wall behind the sink.

"What for?" Naruto asked softly, sympathy just oozed from his sultry voice as if he was sorry for not pampering someone with a disease.

"Nothing... Just trying to fix these" he made a dissmissive gesture towards his face, but didn't lift his face to look at Naruto, he could hear the frown that was etched into Naruto's face.

He hated sympathy, hated it. He didn't give it, and he didn't want to receive it. It was like getting shot in the pride, several times. It was just stupid, a very stupid emotion.

Kiba sighed, pushing himself from the counter, he walked over to the living room and pulled on the trench coat again. Despite it being uncomfortable while being completely naked under it, it still made him look cool, or so he thought anyway.

He walked towards the door, and looked back at Naruto, a silent question in tow. Just to make sure. Hazel eyes watched the blonde, observed as he lifted himself from the couch with a sigh and turned off the TV, before swiftly going to the sink and throwing his own plate in it, then darted across the apartment and disappeared into his bedroom.

Kiba was unsure about this action, best case: Naruto came out with clothes and smile, Worst case: Naruto didn't come out and Kiba was stuck waiting to change while some guy tried to cut his face open.

Today God seemed to like him, after several minutes of waiting Naruto came out of his room, the door clunked against it's hinges and Naruto walked through the hallway, stretching as he yawned. He was no longer dressed in baggy clothes, except for the light blue hoodie that seemed just a tad too big. His pants were form fitting, black socks covered his feet.

He walked over to Kiba without a word and pulled open a door Kiba never noticed. Naruto sunk to the floor, holding himself up on his butt as he pulled on a pair of semi-decent trainers, which matched his socks.

Naruto lifted himself back to his feet and closed before facing Kiba and allowing a small grin to pull at his lips. "Ready" he said quietly. Kiba nodded and turned around, pulling the door and leading the way out of the building, they went out the side door at the first floor and surfaced. They were facing Kiba's larger building, the reflective windows shone brightly in the mid-morning light, blinding them.

Naruto raised his hand to his forehead, putting the side of his palm against his bangs as a makeshift hat to block the brightness. He followed Kiba across the street, which was blocked with cars, all of them honking as much as possible. Kiba swerved through the crowd of angry business men and their cars and finally made it on the sidewalk. He waited at the front door for Naruto, who came a few moments later, his hand still attached to his forehead as he looked up towards the top of the building, which now over shadowed them.

The two teens walked inside the lobby, Naruto leading the way since Fang had stopped to open the door for him. They silently made their way to the top of the building using the elevator, it was almost quiet, almost. The screen above the elevator doors dinged every time they passed a floor and the red numbers changed along with the tune. Naruto was tapping his foot, which wouldn't have been a problem had they not been in an elevator shaft that liked to echo every noise that was ever made in the small metal box.

Kiba's eyebrow twitched, Naruto was being nervous. Too nervous, and it was quite frustrating to say the least.

...

Then again, the image Kiba gave out for his father did seem kind of scary. Just kind of, well not scary, just intimidating. It was true, but that didn't give Naruto the right to be vibrating in the elevator.

"Calm down" Kiba said dryly, not turning to look at the blonde, who forcibly tried to still his movements so Kiba didn't notice. It wasn't that effective, Kiba let out a gruff sigh through his nose, but said nothing more about the shaking blonde since they were almost at the top anyway.

Ding! Went the lift as it pulled to a stop on the top floor, The doors made some metallic clanking before the slid open slowly, Kiba stepped out first, then Naruto, who seemed to have a trouble walking from his jelly knees. Kiba hid his smirk by walking faster and ended up at his door, Farthest room on the right. The door had a patch on glistening light where the florescent fixtures hit it, other than the that the door looked as if it was going to catch on fire and turn into a walkway into hell.

Kiba blinked, and took in a large breath, nearly choking when he held it in too long. Naruto looked equally as stressed as he was feeling on the inside.

He's going to eat Naruto alive... Was the thought that conjured into Kiba's head as he raised his fist to knock on the dark wood of the door, they came out softly. He was worried for a moment that nobody would be able to hear his wimpy knocks and raised his fist and shoved his arm out, sending multiple sets of quickly performed bangs that no doubt echoed through the empty apartment.

There was some shuffling coming from the other end of the door, along with some grumbling that the door muffled, the door opened and Rose stood in front of them. Her face, dark and grim, had edges of worry around the edges. Her squinted eyes, slightly puffy from worry, probably not for him, her lips held a humor that he would never understand, but changed when she noticed that he was observing her. They set into a disapproving line. A well trained look that Kiba couldn't hold up for long without getting a muscle spasm.

Kiba leaned to step forward and Rose moved out of the way, that's when Kiba caught him. His father was sitting on the couch, one long leg folded over the other jutting out elegantly, the other a pillar of strength and reserve.

He held back a gulp, nearly making himself choke, again, and neared the couch, taking large steps as he tried to reign in his own nervousness.

"Ready to go?" he asked loudly, his voice almost cracking but went lower to mask it over. Kiba's dad slowly angled his neck to look away from the television on the mantle and at his son. Who couldn't help but fidget on the spot and the blonde trash hiding behind him.

"What is that?" he all but snapped, recoiling in disgust as if Naruto had tried to touch him with something disgusting.

Kiba narrowed his eyes, "Naruto, he's my friend" he grunted back, no longer nervous leaving him just aggravated at his father.

Naruto hunched his shoulders, trying to appear as small as possible in front of Kiba's dad, who was sending him dirty looks over his son's shoulders. He appeared amused by this reaction and a smile tugged at his lips, a creepy one, but completely sincere in his hatred. "Maybe I should go" Naruto all but murmured to his new friend. Kiba's dad nodded his approval, hoping the boy wasn't half as dumb as he looked. "Yeah maybe you should do-" Kiba received a menacing glare as he cut his father off with a very loud "NO!"

A stare down commenced, Kiba looking at his dad, who was glaring at Naruto, who was looking at the floor, ashamed. Finally, Kiba spoke "You can stay here then." he told his father, face sneering in held back anger. Naruto thought about the arrangement, Fang wouldn't go wolf, and Fang's dad could glare at the door, waiting for them to come back. But, Kiba's dad wasn't much of a compromise-r, and sneered right back at his son. Looking rather pompous in his full three piece suit, that was no doubt, very expensive.

Kiba just huffed and grabbed Naruto's arm, an aggressive grip on his bicep that left Naruto's tingling in slight pain. He gave a slight pull on his arm, verbally telling Fang that he would like be released, with no such luck, as the scarred teen tightening his fingers, digging into Naruto's muscles like hawk talons, telling him that he had no intentions of letting go until Naruto followed his command.

Naruto made a similar sound that Kiba made, but relaxed his arm, hoping that it would go numb and stop hurting eventually, Fang, seeing Naruto's resolve loosened his nearly bruising grip, just a tad, letting the blonde know that he got the message. He shot Naruto a wink, a flash of the eye that he wasn't even sure he saw, but it was comforting, in a creepy way; then again, everything about Fang and his family, just seemed creepy. Even the caretaker that was hiding around the corner, no doubt eavesdropping on their conversation.

Fang pulled Naruto's arm, leading him to the door like a pet, he smirked, finding it ironic about the change in their relationship, the dog was now the master, and the human was a pet. Naruto didn't find it funny though, if his frown was any indication of his displeasure.

Kiba didn't really care though, the once dog led his human to the door, sending his father a short-lived glare, and shut the door behind him. Leaving to glower at the wood that separated them.

Rose approached the CEO, who sent the door a look that would melt a puppy, or make him learn every trick in the book until the man stopped looking at him. "He'll be fine" her accent not quite as strong since her voice was kept low. The Inuzuka male looked at her, his anger dissipating immediately once he was on the end of Rose's glare, which could melt more than puppies.

The stare down ended when the Inuzuka patriarch turned around and sat back down on the couch, turning up the television, action movie sounds resonated through the empty suite, Rose stood still for a moment, then turned and went back to her room to snuggle with her bears.

Kiba held Naruto's arm well throughout their entire journey out of the building, only releasing it when he knew the blonde couldn't run away, which was when their car was in motion. The black BMW slid through the streets of Konoha, moving North, towards the nicer part of the city. The drive lasted almost an hour before the driver pushed on the brakes, pulling the car to a steady stop in front of a small clinic.

WHAT. DID. YOU. THINK? I thought it was short, and not as lovely as I had anticipated, but it was an update none the less and you should be thankful for that gift. Bam. Leave a review, how do you think the next chapter is going to end up? Can we heal Kiba with the power of plastic surgory? Or will we all end up screwed and Naruto... Well Naruto is just a dog now... #Winning.