Chapter 13

Kiba wasn't going to lie. He was pretty sure that Naruto was dead, the blonde hadn't emerged from the room he had locked himself into once since they had come here. It's been over a week, nine days, not that Kiba was counting or anything. The margin of time that he had to break the curse was growing smaller and smaller, and each day brought more apprehension that settled on him that would wake up and there would be no more room for the budding blossoms.

His -hopefully- transient condition was really putting an anchor on his mind and heart. He thought he had accepted it when he had saved Naruto, as Fang, and not Kiba. But it was Fang who had saved Naruto's life. It was Fang who Naruto looked up to and not Kiba, his neighbor since what seemed like forever. He rolled the sleeve of his hoodie over his forearm, then rolled his other sleeve down as well when he thought that he would look suspicious with just the one down. Rose had taken residence on the other bedroom, something that he hadn't seen when he had taken his retour through the house. It wasn't something that he remembered well, he doubt that he had even been in there before.

There wasn't much he could do at the moment. He had tried screaming, begging and bartering with Naruto to come out of the room, but nothing seemed to work. The only thing that Kiba, or Fang rather, could pride himself in was when he was scooting plates of food under Naruto's acclaimed fortress. He never got any of the dishes back and Rose kept sending him looks each time he returned from the staircase.

He tried to hide his worry and stop all his thoughts from revolving around the blonde maiden. That was easier performed in theory, he could manage several minutes of blank headedness before thoughts of long blonde hair and tan skin split his head open and made a home out of his mind. He swore that he could see Ino in his mind as well, hidden in the deceptive darkness of his head.

He hadn't seen Ino in a while, now that Kiba had thought about it, something he should be thankful for really, but he couldn't help but think that the witch would be meddling over what terrible thing to do to him next if he didn't keep an eye on her.

Rose spent little time out of her claimed bedroom either and Kiba never felt as alone as he did at the moment, so he did what any sane person would do in his situation. Pretend it didn't matter and turn on the T.V.

He rested his feet on the coffee table and started blankly at the glowing screen in front of him. Light emitted from the rectangular shape in front of him, blinding him from the sudden change in light for a moment before his eyes adjusted. He wondered who lived in this house while his family hadn't. The channels seemed like nothing but endless waves of Korean Drama.

He settled for something that looked semi-interesting. A short dark-haired man who was practically screaming at this other character with a big grin on his face, he was drunk if his bright cheeks were any indication.

That went on for hours before dinner time rolled around. It seemed to be Friday, and Rose -as usual- stuck to her tradition of getting Chicken Alfredo from Leon's. After years of eating this stuff Kiba could hardly look at the tray without getting sick, but Rose seemed content to grab a large helping of the noodles and pile them onto one of the few plates that they had left.

Despite himself, Kiba grabbed a plate, a paper one -bought especially for Naruto after he refused to return the old dishes- and piled a decent amount onto the orange material, Rose probably thought she was so cute buying animal shaped plates. He smoothed the noodles over the lion's face, making sure it was as tall as it could get without scraping the bottom of the door, which gave Kiba about an inch tall margin, he did account for mess factor and just piled a tad more on there than the plate's height.

Grabbing a plastic fork, Kiba headed towards the stairs, ignoring the way he could feel Rose's eyes on his back. It wasn't like she could stop him anyway.

The climb up the stairs was different than it had been before, the air felt different. Pumping, like a heartbeat, or a... Bass? He quickly, and quietly, ascended the stairs and held his breath as soon as he was on the landing.

Kiba stuck his ear against the door and smiled. Naruto was playing one of his favorite songs, but how? He smiled to himself and knocked on the door with a hyperactive fist before dropping the paper plate to the floor and taking off.

The Inuzuka looked smug as he emerged from the corridor, Rose noted as Kiba took a seat back on the sofa. Though he didn't spare another glance at the television and ended up leaning over the back of the couch, shaking in excitement, Rose thought he looked like a puppy. A scarred, tattooed, over-sized puppy.

Rose imagined a tail on the Inuzuka male and smirked around a mouthful of noodles. Kiba, or Fang now, stopped moving when a terrible creaking sound resonated from the corridor. She craned her neck trying to see through the doorway, but her view was only increased a short increment and viewed nothing but shadowed walls.

Kiba darted over the couch, tumbling over it and nearly knocked the piece of furniture over, as he ran through the living room and into the corridor. Naruto stood at the edge of the landing, light protruded from behind him in the form of moonlight mixed with dull incandescent bulbs. The blonde wore a loose t-shirt and pale pink shorts, looking very much alive from where Kiba could see. Naruto stared at him for a moment, lion plate balanced in the palm of his hand.

Naruto's figure disappeared as fast as it had came. Kiba didn't really mind that Naruto had gone, but the sound of that door really ground his nerves. He would rather put his ears in a meat grinder than hear it again. But if that meant he got to see the blonde again, he could probably suffer through it, once or twice more.

Well, that was awkward... Was all Naruto could think once he had retreated to the safety of his self-proclaimed fortress. There wasn't much that made Naruto uncomfortable, only killers and tension between people he cares about.

But the way Fang's face lit up when he saw Naruto was proof enough that he cares, or he's just scared he'll turn back into an animal again. Which hasn't happened in a while, since Fang had refused to move more than five feet from him. Except when he looked himself in the room he was currently in. The dusty attic made room was no longer a Colosseum of cardboard pillars, most of them were in a corner, revealing a soft, albeit dusty, mattress, which he had no hesitancy in claiming as his own.

Naruto hopped onto the bed, making the bed scream in displeasure, the springs whined and eventually settled back into rest under Naruto's butt. The blonde rested his shoulders against the beige colored wall and let his calves hand over the edge of the bed. He lazily forked some Alfredo around his plastic fork and opened his mouth as wide as possible for the incoming projectile.

Fang was weird.

That was a completely unexpected thought, blindsiding the person who had thought it. Naruto couldn't disagree with himself though, Fang had stopped trying to get his attention for the last few days. Naruto's head thanked Fang's 'give-it-up' nature, he could still hear the pounding in his head when he tried to go to sleep at night.

It got even worse when Fang decided to try to yell through the door, Naruto buried himself under a pillow but Fang's wails penetrated his ears and brought all sorts of painful flashbacks of his father, something that he had no intention of dealing with until he could afford several years of therapy.

The food was a good repercussion though, it was true that he was starving when he had first locked himself in there. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to act before thinking his plan out thoroughly, but it seemed like the best thing for his nerves at the time. He was better, or at least, better than he had been when he locked himself inside.

There wasn't much in the room that wasn't just junk that had sentimental value to someone else, someone like Fang's dad it seemed. There were pictures of him and some lady that he assumed was his wife. There were pictures of a baby bump that he assumed to be Fang.

Naruto wondered what went wrong, but he knew it wasn't his place to ask. Fang would tell him when he was ready. There was a lot that he hadn't told to Fang, and the scarred teen never seemed to pry. Unless he was screaming through a door trying to understand what he had done wrong.

He assumed Fang was just dense, it wasn't anything he did -nor was it anything that he didn't do- he just missed his dad, even if he didn't see him that often when he wasn't captured. The taunting messages never ceased and Naruto had thrown his phone against the wall, it refused to shatter into a million pieces like he wanted.

The first image he received made him realize that he didn't want to be alone through this, he'd be suffering like his dad was at the moment. And his dad wouldn't want that, or at least, he wouldn't think that in Naruto's head. There was little doubt that Minato wouldn't trade places with his son if he got the chance. Naruto was thankful that that wasn't an option at the moment.

Naruto got off the bed, bringing his half-empty plate with him and sat at the desk, he set the lion shaped paper onto the desk and moved his hand to wiggle the mouse, waking an ancient computer from its' sleeping state.

The blonde was very thankful that he had something to do besides sulk and wait for meals. Checking his Facebook was always something that he enjoyed, well, when people were actually talking to him anyway. Nobody seemed to be online, and if they were they were avoiding him like the plague it seemed, he sighed and scrolled through his Timeline, stopping on a picture that he had been tagged in a month or two ago.

It was him and the Drama class, setting the stage up for a play that they were going to be performing in front of the school. Naruto had been so nervous about that but it seemed so long ago. Like another life-time entirely. His last day of school was just a week before and it hadn't been the most memorable or wonderful day.

In the picture was Gaara, Gaara wouldn't admit it, but he had a real affinity for Drama -probably why he 'accidentally' signed up for the class- he hadn't gotten the lead. The Drama teacher had said that he wasn't attractive enough to draw the crowds in, not in those exact terms of course, but that was the message that the redhead had heard and he was none-too-happy with Mr. Hatake for the remained of the week.

He was in it, of course, why would he be tagged in a picture that he wasn't in. A giant plastic palm tree was hanging over his shoulder and he couldn't help but be envious of the smile his former self held. He couldn't tell if it was one of the fake smiles that he was fond of doing -he hadn't really seen himself when he smiled so he couldn't tell- and tried to remember the moment the picture was taken.

Kiba was there. Half of his body was hidden behind Naruto's, having been closer to the camera than the Inuzuka male. His head, literally and metaphorically, seemed to take up more space than Naruto thought, considering he could see most of Kiba's enormous head from over his shoulder. He was, of course, flirting with some thing in a skirt. Naruto didn't even remember her name, nor did it seem like relevant information.

Naruto wondered what happened to Kiba, he hadn't been at school the last time he went, then again, he didn't really see a lot of anybody. The day seemed to pass in a blur, with the exception of English, because that never went quickly, and the meeting for his trip to Europe.

Europe!

Naruto had forgotten about going to Europe, they were supposed to leave on New Year's day -God knows why- and wouldn't come back until Summer. His thoughts drifted from drinking tea with the Queen to thoughts of Fang. What would Fang do without him while he was shopping for biscuits? Would he come along? Would he stay? Would Fang be mad at him for leaving him, or would he be happy that Naruto got to go on the trip?

Fang being anything but indifferent seemed to be a far fetch for Naruto's brain to wrap around. It wasn't like Fang could stop him from going, no matter what he felt about it. The only thing that could stop him from going was his father, who Naruto doubted to actually remember, and of course Airport Security. He was going on this trip.

He left the picture open and stared at it as he ate. Behavior that seemed normal enough for fangirls, so why couldn't he do it? His eyes kept darting from his own body and Kiba's head. He never noticed it before but Kiba had some weirdly shaped ears. Not that he had room to talk, but his hair was hidden by long hair, Kiba had the same sports cut that every other guy in high school had.

The stack of dishes on the side of the desk was a little disgusting, Naruto would admit, some of the food had dried on there days ago and may or may not be growing mold. He was really thankful to whoever had bought the paper plates. They weighed less and took up less room, plus he could stack them and laugh at the animal printed paper. Another small thing that brought him amusement for a short while. A distraction from what was going on around him.

There wasn't much an old computer could do, Naruto was actually a little surprised that the thing could load Facebook, that was about the only thing it did. Unless Naruto decided to become an accountant, or an artist in the near future. The hard-drive seemed to hold nothing but tax software and old notes that made no sense to him.

That didn't stop him from snooping however.

It wasn't like Fang could stop him from looking trough the notes, even if he could, Naruto had read through most of them already anyway. There were other things saved on the ancient machine as well. Pixel art made in paint, and motifs and other simple things that wouldn't take much time to recreate them if he wanted to. But he didn't, so he didn't. That didn't stop him from making something of his own, a little something that he liked to call Random Lines and Spray paint, which is what he saved it as, in a new folder named after him.

Then he went back to staring at Kiba's picture, completely ignoring how scary Gaara looked in the picture and how fake his smile seemed the more he stared at himself. Eventually he stopped staring at himself completely, not even daring to glance at himself in fear of breaking down again. He did look a lot like his father and that made it worse.

There wasn't much in his life that didn't revolve around Minato, he lived with him -most of the time- he worked for him, to keep them both alive and support Minato's habit. He went to school for Minato, trying to make life better for both of them. Attempting to become a doctor so that he could find a way to save Minato from going through a painful rehabilitation process.

He was leaving home for Europe, because of Minato, the more he was around his father the more he thought about running away and just never coming back. Exactly what the trip was, an entire semester in a foreign country away from all the problems that he carried around with him.

At the same time, he regretted making the decision to go on the trip, because of Minato, surely his father couldn't survive a day without him, let alone several months. But because, being the stubborn idiot that he is, he was refusing to back out of the trip. His brain kept latching onto Minato, wanting to leave because of him, wanting to stay to try and help him. The more he thought about it. The more his brain hurt, the gears were working so fast he was sure his brain was steaming.

Then there was Fang. He couldn't just leave him here, with Gato, to fend for himself. Sure he had his caretaker lady, Naruto forgot her name -if she even told him what it was- but they seemed more like co-workers than care-taker, and care-reciever.

He thought of how Fang might react to the situation, which was easier said than done considering he knew nothing about Fang, other than his father was crazy and apparently he had money coming out of his ears. Fang. Fang. Fang. The nome rolled around in his mind like a creepy satanic mantra.

"Hmmm." Naruto grunted, rubbing his index finger over his chin in thought. Maybe Fang was a shapeshifter and he stole the form of a rich kid when he was really a wolf- dog- thing. Maybe he was a normal kid and then he got attacked by a werewolf and then rolled into a pit of fire and blades and that's where he got all of his scars. How did he explain the tattoos?

He could just ask. No, that's a terrible idea, Naruto thought to himself, rolling his tongue around in his mouth and leaning back in his chair, resting his bare feet up on the desk -removing them from the cold wooden floor.

Naruto continued to make a series of consecutively annoying noises as he thought the situation out, Minato forgotten, Naruto started typing up a list of possibilities that could cause Fang's condition. The latest, and most insane, being that Fang traded his body to a group of evil fairies so he could become rich. He knew it was crazy, but he refused to take it off the list, just to make sure he covered all of the bases.

He looked back at the picture of Kiba and felt tired. Naruto spared a glance at the door, he should probably blockade the door back up, but a yawn made his mind up for him, he didn't have the strength to go and move the bookcase, two chairs and a futon.

Instead he plopped down on the bed, rolled around on the silky covers onto his side and promptly passed out.

Kiba hadn't meant to sneak into Naruto's room. He may have accidentally put a rug over the stairs so they didn't creak, and mistook a can of WD-40 for a water bottle. Naruto had to be thirsty, then again, doors could be thirsty as well. He winced as the can sizzled as the liquid squirted out of the nozzle loudly. He stopped after finishing the first hinge and pressed his ear against the door. Nothing.

He continued spraying until half of the door was covered in the substance, at least he got the job done. He moved his hand to the knob and wiggled it, then ended up spraying that too. He wiggled the knob again, it didn't make a noise. Ever so quietly, Kiba pushed the door -expecting it to push against whatever Naruto had pressed against the door- instead the wood moved -silently- on it's hinges, allowing Kiba access into Naruto's hiding place.

It was different than he had expected, really different. It actually looked like a room, a place where someone could live, instead of a dusty attic that was used for storage. Something that caught Kiba's eyes, and ears, was the ancient desktop. It's ancient fans and wires whined after being awakened and Kiba, being the curious little devil that he was, set off to investigate.

He moved the mouse slowly across the desk, instead of just jabbing the spacebar like he was prone to do. The black screen faded into nothingness, revealing a large picture of Naruto, who was smiling creepily at the camera. He couldn't tell who had taken it, but he assumed that it was Sakura Haruno. Banged her, Kiba thought haphazardly, and then proceeded to look at the picture. He was in it, or what used to be him, just over Naruto's shoulder. And Kiba, being the obnoxious flirt he was prone to be around anything in a skirt -and what a skirt it was- was chatting up Tenten, who had dressed up for rehearsal in her quite exposing costume.

He didn't remember what play it was going to be, he knew that he had the lead though. He also had no intention of memorizing his lines, he remembered that much of school. He did plan on sleeping with Tenten after, or before -or both-, the play. Probably before, he could blame it on the nerves and just go to town.

Then the party happened.

He hadn't been to school since.

Did Naruto have a part in the play? Is that what he went to school for that day?

He didn't remember if Naruto had gotten casted, then again, he didn't really remember a lot -not even his various sexual conquests that he's famous for- from school. Not even Naruto, who seemed like a brother to him, albeit a new and probably step or half brother, but a tie was there none the less. He glanced over at the blonde.

Naruto's back was to him, his shirt was stretched over his back tight, exposing his jutted spinal column. Kiba looked back at Naruto's picture.

Baggy clothes.

His pants ended up above his ankles, exposing the awkward tan lines on his calves.

A belt that attracted attention to the material that bagged up on his hip bones.

Kiba didn't intend to think discriminating thoughts, despite being a bully all throughout middle and high school, but he had to know: Did Naruto buy his clothes from a thrift shop?

Despite the comical aspect to his clothing, Kiba didn't think that that attire was part of Naruto's costume.

Kiba lowered his head, feeling ashamed for the guy that had saved him, housed him, but was he not doing the same thing for Naruto right now? Housing him, feeding him, protecting him. He was paying Naruto back for not throwing him out or whatever. He shouldn't be judging him, then why was he?

"Pretty sad right?" Said an annoyingly familiar voice. One that he now associated with the Devil when he heard it. "Ino" hissed, frosty tone spewing clouds of venom that the witch waved off.

"'sup Puppy-Kins?" Ino was leaning against the wall, wearing a dark purple layered top that hung down on her hips like pointed curtains. A slightly brighter shade of purple on her skirt, Kiba wasn't even sure why she was wearing it -not because he wanted to sleep with her, he had learned his lesson- when she lifted her thigh her matching underwear was revealed and Kiba looked away from the disturbance.

"How much time do I have?" Kiba asked eventually, breaking the silence that was around them, he still didn't look at Ino, fearing that her thighs were raised just to creep him out. He glanced over at her, she had shifted positions, now sitting on a conjured chair -also purple- with her spiked heels resting on the corner of the desk. Her skirt angled perfectly so Kiba could see inside. He had to bite his tongue, trying not to gag. He was pretty sure there were ghosts leaking out of her, but he was too sacred to look directly at it.

"Depends."

"On?"

"Stuff"

Kiba gave her a smoldering look then sizzled down, slouching down into the chair. "After Christmas?" Ino shrugged her shoulders, Kiba's nose twitched, and the witch nodded -obviously getting the message that she was going to die, or get seriously injured, if she continued avoiding the subject.

"Well, maybe you should actually try and the curse would be broken, Dumby" Kiba resisted breaking her ankle in half for being so childish and how subtly she brought up the fact that she had cursed him.

"Well, maybe if you weren't such a-" Ino cut him off, giving him a creepy look that promised hell. "New Year's" She stated at last, smirking at a joke only she knew before disappearing into nothing, her chair dissipated like a smoke plume moments later, and Kiba continued to stare as all the magic left the room, leaving only Kiba as the witness to these events.

"New Years, huh?"

So, we have a deadline. Sorry for the delay, I didn't get to go to the funeral, they were doing it at the same time I would be flying over, and I'm just like. He was my boy. You can't just bury my boy without my permission motherfucker. She did it anyway. Bitch.