Disclaimer: All NARUTO related materials are Copyrighted and belong to Masashi Kishimoto, not me.
Chapter 4
Wish Upon a River
"Pant, pant..." A twelve year old dark haired girl ran as fast as she could through a seemingly long main street full of villagers strolling about in the morning.
Thump! "Watch where you're going, kid!"
"S-sorry!" The girl turned, running backwards to apologize to the person she had bumped into. Then, she twirled, shifting her weight to take a sharp turn around a corner, and continued on her way.
After taking a left at the next curb and jogging several more meters along a long curving wall, she ducked into a side entrance and ran up to the doors of the Ninja Academy. Once inside, she hurriedly made an attempt to enter her class' assigned classroom but for some reason the door wouldn't open.
"Miyako?" a calm voice asked behind the girl, catching her with her feet on the door and her hands fruitlessly pulling on the handle.
She tilted her head backwards while in that awkward position to look at the upside-down figure of a man in his twenties clad in a Leaf uniform, a horizontal scar across the bridge of his nose and a brown ponytail high on the back of his head. The moment Miyako recognized the man, she let out a yelp and fell down on her backside.
"Iruka-sensei! My apologies for being late! For some reason I forgot to set the alarm clock last night and kinda slept in," the girl excused herself, looking at the man with guilt.
Iruka sighed. "You didn't forget. Today's Saturday, there's no school today."
Realization dawned on Miyako as she got up and groaned. "Oh, maan! I could still be sleeping in bed right now..."
Iruka looked at her dully.
"Well, until Monday, sensei!" She left off, this time walking.
"But you still have lessons with Sakura and Sasuke on weekends, starting at 2 PM sharp," Iruka called after her, making the twelve year old grunt rather inelegantly.
- xxx -
Miyako was having badly-made tamago-don rice bowl topped with scrambled eggs with sauce and green onion while watching the morning news, struggling to get used to her own cooking. She was getting addicted to TV in her new home, from the ninja dramas like "Of Shuriken and Love" to the ninja chat shows and movies. It was an unusually warm day for April so Miyako had tied her hair with a light blue ribbon in a high ponytail and wore only a worn-out light blue t-shirt and a pair of brown shorts.
On the screen went by a flashy commercial about instant ramen. Miyako immediately associated it with a certain blond soon-to-be ninja from her class and smiled at the memories of the recent events after she put a bite of rice and egg in her mouth.
Just as the commercial ended there was a loud "tap" coming from the living room window on the left. Miyako turned towards the noise just as a pebble hit the glass with the same "tap" sound. She blinked at the window in interest, egg-tasting chopsticks hanging from her mouth. Then someone from outside was heard yelling something sounding like "Miyako-chaan~!" and another pebble tapped the window.
Miyako put her chopsticks down and went to one of the windows. She opened it and looked five stories down to two boys her age on the street. One with brown hair and two red fang marks on his cheeks had a light brown v-neck with gray pants. A small white dog was perched on the top of his head, wagging its tail excitedly. The other boy with blond hair and whisker marks wore green goggles on his head, a black t-shirt, orange pants and an orange and blue jacket tied to his waist. He also had a wide sunny grin and was getting a fourth pebble ready in his right hand.
"Heey~! Miyako-chaan~!" Naruto shouted and threw the pebble with surprisingly enough trained force for it to fly all the way up to the fifth floor window where Miyako was already present.
Caught by surprise, the girl yelped and ducked, barely managing to dodge the small rock. It went by a mere millimeter away from the top of her head, almost skimming her hairline before it trotted inside across the wooden floor.
"Mi~ ya~ ko~ cha–AH!" As Naruto picked another pebble from the ground and stood up to hurl it up, grinning with closed eyes, his head got struck hard by the previous one he had sent, making him fall over on the ground.
"Naruto! You almost hit me, you dimwit! I'm here already!" Miyako fumed animatedly from the window, making Kiba laugh to no end.
"Miyako-chan~! That hurt, ya know~!" Naruto whined, rubbing his head as he got up.
"Sorry!" She calmed down a little. "What is it, anyway?"
"You wanna come down and hang out? It's a nice sunny Saturday so we figured, why not get some people together," Kiba yelled up as Akamaru barked in agreement.
"Yeah, yeah! It'll be awesome! We can play ninja, or hide and seek, or if you're up for it, mess around with some people," Naruto snickered to himself with a grin that made Miyako sweatdrop at how obvious his motives were.
Ignoring Naruto's suggestion, Kiba continued, "We're gonna' ask Choji and get Shikamaru's mom to drag him out of the house by force. You coming?"
Play ninja? Like Shun and I did? Miyako thought. But why would someone training to be a ninja want to pretend to be one? Well, I guess for them it's not any different from a pretend game of doctor or cops and robbers and the like... Yeah! it might be fun!
"Sure thing! I'll be down in a minute!" Miyako finally smiled and rushed inside to put sandals on.
- xxx -
"State your purpose." A man clad in a casual yukata with long dark hair and eerie pupil-less pale eyes demanded curtly at the main threshold of the vast Hyuuga estate.
"Good day. I am Nagahoshi Miyako." She bowed. "My companions and I are from Hyuuga Hinata-sama's class at the Academy. May I ask for permission, if she is allowed, to join us for group training, please?" she said as politely and as sweetly as she could, completely changing her usual tone of voice.
"Wait here, if you will." The man went back in, closing the large door.
"I'm telling ya, it won't work. They'll never let Hinata play with a bunch of snot-nosed kids like us," Kiba said from behind Miyako. "Why her, anyway?"
"Oh, come on, Hinata seems like a smart cute girl. It'll be nice having her around and she should get to have fun too, right? The more the merrier!" turning to him, Miyako answered.
"Facts have proven that the Hyuuga clan have not as of yet given permission for Hinata to enjoy herself in our company. Why? Because they seem to hold certain qualms regarding the obvious indication that in such a situation their heir may be liable to spend an expanded amount of time around a suggestive company, generally consisting of young males, for frivolous activities such as playing. However, the situation may differ in the current occasion. Why? Because with Miyako's presence, the clan members may become otherwise inclined. Unless of course, Hinata is unavailable due to clan matters such as training practice or heiress duties," Shino stated in a monotone. He had his coat on, even though it was warm and sunny. Everyone sweatdropped at his unnecessarily formal way of speaking.
"...what?" Naruto didn't catch on, judging by the dull cat face he was making. "Why did you want us to call bug boy, Miyako-chaan?! *moan* He never makes any sense! And bugs, Miyako-chan! Bugs! Aren't you scared of bugs?!"
Shino shifted behind his high collar, no doubt silently sulking under dark glasses.
Someone sighed loudly beside him. "Quiet, Naruto! Sheesh, you have no tact. Such a drag... All Shino said was that because Miyako is a girl, they'll let Hinata play with us this time, but only if she's free from her usual responsibilities," Shikamaru explained. He had a gray t-shirt with the Nara symbol on the sleeves and his usual dark gray pants. "Though I myself would've really been grateful if my mother had let me stay in bed a bit more instead. Man, I need to sleep." He yawned.
Naruto sweatdropped. "How can you sleep so much? It's the middle of the day, ya know. Did you stay up late or something?"
"Your mom is always eager to see us, *munch*" Choji said, eating a chip. He had left his scarf and jacket behind and wore a white Akimichi t-shirt and a pair of brown pants.
"Of course she'd be. That's because she doesn't miss an opportunity to make me do stuff. Troublesome woman..." Shikamaru grunted.
"Hahaha! I really like your mom, Shikamaru! When we asked for you, first she was really nice, like, "Why, hello, dears! Oh, of course, I'll call him right away!" And then she went inside and was like all, "Nara Shikamaru! Get your lazy ass outta bed and drag it down here this instant! I don't care if it's Saturday, it's past noon already! Your friends are here! You're going out even if it means I have to throw you out of this house!" Aaa-hahaha! "But be sure to come back home on time, sweetie, dinner's at 8!"," Miyako mimicked the laid back boy's mother and giggled.
"She's like that all the time, ask Chouji. You may be laughing, but I tell ya, it's torture," Shikamaru complained, rubbing the back of his neck with a frown as Naruto laughed along with Miyako.
"Um... uh... Hello?" A small voice was heard from the entrance of the Huyga threshold.
The guys and Miyako turned to smile at Hinata, making her feel uneasy and duck halfway behind the barely open door. She had her dark pants and a black t-shirt on.
"Oh, hey, Hinata-chan!" Naruto yelled, running up front to greet her.
The shy girl blushed madly at the endearing honorific coming from the blonde she fancied and looked like she'd get dizzy if he got any closer. Miyako noted that and rushed to her side to keep Hinata's mind conscious.
"Hey, Hinata-chan! Now that you're here, lets go play!" Miyako put her hands on the meek girl's shoulders and led her towards the road. "Come on, guys!"
- An hour later -
"That's cheating! You big cheat!" Miyako yelled, crossing her arms. They were playing hide and seek by the south residential district. "You were hiding on the roof! It's soo not fair!"
"Oh, please! It soo is! No one said we couldn't hide there!" Kiba retorted, mimicking her pose. Akamaru barked beside him in agreement.
"And how am I supposed to find you there when I can't jump that high yet?!" Miyako yelled again, stepping forward. "This isn't ninja hide and seek!"
"I don't care, that's not my problem! And how am I supposed to know you can't when you didn't say anything about it?!" Kiba shouted back, getting closer.
"Oh, you could've, I don't know, asked maybe, before you got the genius idea of trying to be a smartass!" Miyako fumed, getting in his face.
"Oh, real cool! So now I'm supposed to ask if it's okay with you every time I want to do something so you can bitch your way into winning every game, is that it?! Well, I've got a newsflash for you, short stuff, I don't have to pay attention to you!" He bared his fangs.
"Oh, yeah? Well, neither do I then, dog breath!" A sparks seemed to pass between them as the air felt strained with nerves.
"P-please, you two! D-don't fight like that!" Hinata fussed over them.
"Are you gonna let him talk to you like that, Miyako-chan?! Kick his ass!" Naruto cheered jokingly.
"N-naruto-kun! " Hinata turned to him surprised and then blushed and started poking her index fingers together.
"Eheheh, sorry, sorry, Hinata-chan, I was just kidding..." Naruto grinned and rubbed the back of his head.
"Naruto... your input was deemed unsavory. Why? Because your request would only serve to cause a further exchange of unpleasant insults and an eventual unnecessary showcase of aggression," Shino pointed out flatly but the blonde only managed to grasp that he was somehow being reprimanded, judging by the stupid-looking confused look on his scrunched up face.
"Yeah, *munch* we're here to get along and play, not fight. Come on, you guys! Can't we all be civil for one afternoon?" Choji said, coming from behind a straw cart.
Miyako and Kiba turned their backs to each other with an huff and mumbled a "yeah, yeah". Akamaru eyed the both of them and let out a worried whine.
"You're all so noisy. Why'd you have to wake me up? What a pain..." A sleepy Shikamaru sat up from the lumps of straw in the cart, making Kiba, Miyako and Naruto laugh, Hinata giggle and Shino and Choji sweatdrop.
- Another half an hour later -
"Aaah, what are we gonna do now~? I'm bored, ya know~!" Naruto complained for the sixth time in a row. "But it's too hot to do anything fun!"
They were resting along the descending steps of some riverside street in the west district of Konoha. The group had played ninja around the village and after they got some complaints from the villagers, they stopped there for a break. Shino was under the shade of the nearest tree watching a line of common ants climb their way up the bark. Naruto, Shikamaru and Kiba were sitting on the stone stairs leaning back on their elbows and Akamaru was lying beside Kiba, napping along with the Nara genius. At first the stone was cold and was cooling them off a little but then their backsides warmed the ground under them and they were beginning to feel hot again. Good thing the nearby building was casting a nice shade over them. Hinata and Choji had volunteered to go buy some water for everyone (and more snacks for Choji) but soon Miyako got tired of waiting, so now she was bent over the railing of the riverbank, trying to reach the river water in an attempt to cool off.
"Just... a little... further..." she said in-between breaths while leaning dangerously ahead over the railing.
Close by, Kiba eyed the girl on his left, only to see her tiptoeing with her backside sticking upwards, and a mischievous glint lit his eyes. From where the boy lay on his elbows, he raised his left foot and lightly shoved it at the girl's rear. The next thing she knew, Miyako had finally touched the water but she didn't seem have a grasp on the railing anymore, or on solid ground for that matter. There was a loud cry and a splash, which caught everyone's attention. Akamaru jumped awake and started barking, running up to the edge of the river bank. Kiba, Shino, Naruto and Shikamaru stood up and went beside Akamaru to peer down at a soaked Miyako in the river, squirting out water from her mouth. Kiba and Naruto burst out laughing at the sight.
"Didn't it ever occur to you that you might eventually fall in? Troublesome woman..." Shikamaru sighed, shaking his head.
"Nice one Kiba!" Naruto yelled. "Let's do that again!"
"KIBA! You did it, didn't you? You're soo gonna get killed when I get out!" Miyako yelled while angrily splashing water up at the offender. The four boys ducked behind the railing avoiding the splashes while Naruto and Kiba were still wheezing with laughter.
"K-kiba-kun! W-why did you do that?!" Hinata reprimanded as she and a snickering Choji approached them with a bag of bottled water and snacks.
"Miyako-san has been forced into a seemingly compromising position and is in need of a companion's assistance in order to return to higher ground. I suggest that the party responsible should execute the assistance." Shino stood up and turned to Kiba. "Why? Because you have deprived our female companion of the safety and comfort she'd taken for granted, thus you have been deemed responsible."
Kiba took a moment to blink twice while processing what Shino had said in his head, before he stood up and protested, "What? Dude! No way! She'll just pull me in there with her!" Akamaru barked, supporting him.
"The hell I will! Give me one reason why I shouldn't!" they heard Miyako yell.
"There's only one way to settle this..." Shikamaru sighed. "It'll be a pain but Naruto and I are gonna' hold you while you pull her up. She doesn't have enough strength to take three guys down. You two in?" He turned his bored gaze to Kiba and then to Naruto.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever..." Kiba said.
"You bet! We're gonna get Miyako out of there, ya know it!" Naruto yelled with a determined look.
"And you..." Shikamaru addressed Hinata who slightly blushed when everyone else looked at her too. "Hinata, can you find a towel or something?"
She shyly nodded, gave Choji her grocery bag and rushed away in search of a towel.
"You cool with the plan, Miyako?" He finally turned down at the irritated wet girl.
"Yeah!" she yelled, "Let's get this done with because I think the water is moving faster!"
"Okay, let's do it," Shikamaru announced.
Kiba bent over the railing and extended his hand to Miyako as Naruto and Shikamaru clutched his shirt. Miyako swam over to the edge of the river and reached for Kiba's hand. It didn't seem to work as she was trying to keep herself floating steadily in one place but the current was picking up its pace for some reason, making things difficult for her. She dropped her hand and swam up the current so she could have a better reach.
"Lean me in closer, guys!" Kiba called over to Naruto and Shikamaru as they let him down a little further.
Miyako and Kiba extended their hands again. The two could almost feel their fingertips touching when they heard a noise from up the river like fast running water or a big wave.
"Oh, no... Kiba, Miyako, hurry!" Shikamaru yelled, surprising everyone.
"What is it, Shikamaru?" Choji asked.
"Didn't you hear the news? There's been heavy rain upcountry, in the mountains."
"Yeah, so?"
"Well, that's where this river springs from. If it's been raining bad up there, then the incoming water will cause a very high current," Shikamaru explained.
"Oh, no!" Naruto understood. Akamaru started barking worriedly.
"Naruto, further!" Shikamaru yelled as he and Naruto lowered Kiba down by the shirt as far as they could.
Miyako could feel the water's speed rising with the noise getting nearer as she struggled to keep up with the current. She desperately waved both her hands one after another in attempt to get a hold of Kiba's. Each time she was either too far away or just barely slipped between his fingers. And as if it couldn't get worse, small waves were starting to form, making it hard for her to catch her breath.
"Miyako!" Kiba panicked when the girl's head went under the water. A moment later she got back on the surface and tried harder to reach him. "Guys, hold me by the ankles!" Kiba shouted up at Naruto and Shikamaru who obeyed, dropping him to immediately grab hold of his legs.
Kiba was almost in reach now. Miyako had almost gotten her hand steady enough for him to grab it. Unfortunately, a bigger wave caught the girl just when she was about to catch her breath and she slipped from his fingers.
"Miyako!" Four voices yelled when she disappeared underwater, probably going down the stream.
"Let go!" Kiba yelled, kicking feet. The two boys lost their hold on his ankles and had to release him. Kiba dove in the river and swam down the stream in search for Miyako.
Akamaru whined and lied down on the ground with a troubled face. Shikamaru and Naruto eyed each other and looked back at the water. Just then, Hinata came, holding a big towel in her arms. She looked at everyone and then at the whining Akamaru on the ground.
"Where are Miyako-chan and Kiba-kun?" She seemed reluctant to ask.
"Hinata..." Shino started. Chouji stared down at the ground as Naruto was eyeing the fast-going river, both with their brows furrowed.
"Miyako got carried away by the quickening current and Kiba went after her," Shikamaru complied. Hinata's eyes grew wide and she gasped.
"What's the use of standing here, doing nothing?" Naruto finally snapped at them. "Let's go after them!" he yelled and left off running down the road along the river.
Snapping to attention, the others followed.
- xxx -
Miyako, where are you, goddamnit?! Kiba thought in panic, looking around underwater. He surfaced, gasping for breath.
"Miyakoo!" he yelled, flowing along with the current. After a while he dove underwater again.
This is all my fault! If I hadn't pushed her in... this would have never happened...
He got his head out of the water and shouted the girl's name again, "Miyakoo!"
Idiot! You just had to mess around with her...
He dove in and swam underwater but something got in the way of his face. He focused his vision to find a blue ribbon floating about.
That's Miyako's! Oh, no... What if she hit her head? If something happened to her, I'll never forgive myself!
Kiba got his head out of the water and inhaled, frantically looking around.
"Miyakoo!" he shouted but no response followed.
He swam down the river again and yet there was still no sight of anything green and blue with long dark brown hair floating above the water.
"DAMMIT!" The boy went underwater again.
Fine! If I find her, I'll grant the pestering girl one wish. Only one! Please, Kami-sama, let me find her! Kiba half-prayed in his head while searching around.
As if on queue, he spotted in the corner of his eye something dark brown drifting like seaweed in the water. The boy immediately swam towards it to find it was hair, Miyako's hair. The girl was unconscious at the bottom of the river. The back of her shirt was caught on what seemed like a tree stump from one of the riverside trees on the street and prevented her from floating up to the surface. Kiba freed her and swam up with Miyako in arm. He took a breath when he broke the water, eyes searching for somewhere he could climb out of the river. On his right he saw an iron ladder and paddled with one hand and his feet to get to it. When he got a hold of the first bar, he adjusted Miyako securely over his shoulder and climbed up the ladder.
Finally back on dry land, Kiba gasped heavily as he heaved the girl down to the ground. It came to his immediate attention that Miyako wasn't breathing and he panicked.
"Miyako, wake up! Come on, Miyako, breathe! Please!" He patted her cheek roughly, shouting at her.
He tried to remember what Iruka-sensei had thought them to do to save a drowning person. He remembered that he and his classmates were very little and were playfully grossed out by the new information but... he just couldn't remember what.
The light bulb in his head flipped on. Kiba looked at Miyako whose clothes were wet and sticking to her twelve year old body with hardly any curves, hinting she would be a late bloomer when puberty would finally strike. Then he stared at her half-open damp mouth and turned away as red as Hinata if she had been forced into a small closet alone with a shirtless Naruto. Well, that was a bit over the top, she would probably pass out at the thought of it.
N-n-n-n-no, no, no, no, no! No way! No way in hell! If she somehow finds out, she'd kill me! She'd rip my freakin head off! I'll be risking my life and not to mention lose my... *gulp* first kiss... Kiba panicked even more in his head.
A small Kiba with evil eyes, red devil horns and a black pointy tail popped on his left.
"Do it and we're dead! Unlike you, I value my life and my dignity. She's not worth risking it all," the little Kiba-devil said.
Kiba thought he had acted the same way when he argued over the stupid hide and seek game with Miyako. He regretted that now.
Then another small Kiba with big eyes, a golden hoop floating above his head and small white wings on his back appeared on his other side.
"She might die, if you don't help her. She's our friend and we're loyal to our friends, right?" Kiba-angel said. Kiba agreed with him in his head.
"Who asked you, pipsqueak? And here I thought you didn't have the guts to oppose me," Kiba-devil growled.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, brute. I'm here to make sure Kiba does what's right so run along and stop bothering him," Kiba-angel shot back and glared at Kiba-devil.
"What the hell did you say, princess?" Kiba-devil fumed and bent his head to poke Kiba-angel with his horns. Kiba-angel also bent forward to lock the small horns with his little halo.
"I said, hit the road, evil being!" Kiba-angel yelled and his little wings flapped angrily.
"Evil being? You're just flattering me!" Kiba-devil whipped his tail.
The real Kiba was becoming more and more confused while looking at the weird brawling chibies his subconsciousness had invented. They eventually got in a punch-fight and then stopped in the middle of it.
"Well come on! Choose already!" the two yelled up at his reluctance and poofed away.
- xxx -
Miyako saw darkness.
She could hear the water drifting about her. She was quite sure she was unconscious.
Then someone got a hold of her and pulled her to the surface. She felt the sun on her skin again.
A moment later she was on the ground with the same someone breathing heavily beside her. She heard him yell her name and plead her to breathe and felt him pating her cheek. With this, she realized she wasn't breathing and dread filled her. She could neither move nor open her eyes.
After a short while, she felt something put pressure over her lower ribs trice and then the water she had in her began rising up her throat. Next, she felt breath on her face and she could open her eyes to see a familiar face bent over her with a half-lidded mouth. Miyako managed to recognize Kiba an inch away from her face and what he was about to do, making her brain panic.
By that time the water she had swallowed had gone up to her mouth, choking her. She instinctively bolted, pushing Kiba aside with her elbow, as she coughed up water, wheezing for air.
"What– cough! –what the hell– cough! –the hell do you– cough! –do you think you're doing–?! Cough, cough!" Miyako managed to say in between chokes. She looked at a drenched Kiba sitting next to her and refusing to meet her eyes, blushing madly. The girl then continued coughing.
He must have saved me... and here I am giving him a hard time... He could've decided not to help me breathe. Stupid... I'm a damn selfish idiot! Miyako thought.
After a while she stopped coughing and was just breathing heavily.
"Thank you..." she hesitantly voiced from behind dark wet strands, refusing to look up.
"Huh?" Kiba looked wide-eyed at her, still red in the face. "Ah, nah, you don't need to thank me. I was the one who pushed you into that river in the first place, remember?" He waved his hand, dismissing the gratitude. "...and I'm sorry for that actually." He looked away in shame.
Miyako leaned back on her elbows to bask in the sun and grinned warmly at the boy. "Don't worry about it! I would've done it too, if you were the one messing around over the railing!" She laughed.
Miyako then saw Kiba widen his eyes when he looked at her, then look away with a blush.
"What? Did I say something wrong? Do I have something on my face?" she questioned.
The boy muttered something under his nose, getting a little redder.
"Huh? I didn't get that."
"You've got goosebumps," he said a little louder, face and ears reddening darker.
"Huh?"
She looked at her arm. Yeah, she was but what was so embarrassing about that? After a moment, one reason came to mind and her eyes focused on the front of her soaked shirt. Her entire body was goose-fleshed too, which meant her modest chest's nipples were–
Miyako blushed madly and hugged herself. "Y-you-you disgusting pervert!" she yelled at Kiba exasperatedly as he blushed even more and looked away again, shutting his eyes for good measure. Miyako didn't wear a bra since she was twelve and a bit flat-chested so it was twice as embarrassing.
"What?! Am not! Who would look at you, flat-board!" Kiba yelled back at her with closed eyes, still blushing.
That one earned him a painful ninja sandal in the face, thrown by a maddened Miyako. He had hit her weak spot. She hated the size of her chest. She envied almost every girl with the slightest curves. It wasn't her fault puberty had decided it would be visiting her last.
"Kiba! Miyako-chan!" Naruto yelled happily, waving while he ran towards them with the others in tow.
Hinata rushed with a big towel to Miyako and covered her with it as Miyako thanked her.
"So you found her, huh? It must've been troublesome..." Shikamaru stood next to Kiba while the others encircled Miyako to see if she was okay.
Kiba nodded with his blush still present and looked at the group wearily. Miyako was telling them what happened after the wave caught her, although she omitted any embarrassing details in the end.
Akamaru barked happily next to Kiba and wagged his tail, winning himself a pat on the head.
Shikamaru noticed the state of Kiba's face, all red with a footprint, and asked, "What's with you?"
"Huh? Oh, uh... nothing." Kiba stood up and shook his head nervously to clear out any residual embarrassment.
"Uhuh." Shikamaru nodded his head in understanding. "She wasn't breathing, was she?" he teased as Kiba flushed red again, turning his head sharply to regard Shikamaru with a scandalized look.
"Wait! No! I didn't really–" he sputtered, failing to dispel Shikamaru's assumptions.
"Man... It really must have been a pain. You know, I'm not sure but, if it were me, I probably wouldn't have had the courage and she might've croaked before I made the choice."
Kiba looked at Shikamaru with disbelief. Was he really that unmotivated?
Kiba smirked. "Good thing it was me then. There's one problem though."
Shikamaru looked at him.
"How am I supposed to tell her that I vowed to give her one wish if I found her alive?"
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at the other boy.
"Heh. Man, you've gotten yourself in a really tough situation." The lazy boy sighed and started walking towards the others. "That's your problem. You'll have to deal with it on your own."
Kiba followed Shikamaru's retreating back to where Miyako stood. She was grinning, though a bit embarrassed, while Hinata fussed over how worried she was about her.
Akamaru barked, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Hey, Akamaru, you missed me?" He smiled a toothy grin and ruffled the dog's fur. The small dog sounded again, wagging his tail and Kiba laughed. "What do you think I should do, buddy?" Akamaru barked again. "Yeah, figured as much... So be it then!" And so the two of them moved to join the others.
"How are you so sure Kiba didn't take advantage of you while you were unconscious?" Naruto snickered at Miyako, making her face flare red. "Did he give you CPR? Did he try to molest you?"
"Shut up, Naruto! Stop making unnecessary presumptions!" she yelled at him and tried to swat his grinning face away with the towel she was drying her hair with.
"N-naruto-k-kun!" Hinata blushed too, surprised that her crush's mind would stray to something so lecherous.
"All of us are sincerely glad. Why? Because our comrade's life is no longer in danger," Shino stated flatly from behind his shades.
"Good thing Kiba found you. If you remained stuck in that wild water for any longer, you could've drowned! *munch*" Choji added while stuffing his face, looking at Kiba who had just joined them.
"Nah, it's no big deal!" Kiba felt embarrassed again.
Irritated, Miyako muttered something about "showing off".
"Hey, Miyako-chan, at least you aren't thirsty anymore now that you've cooled off, huh?" Naruto said and everyone laughed.
- Later -
"Eh? Why do you have to leave so soon, Miyako-chaan?" Naruto pouted.
"Sorry, guys, I have lessons with a fangirl and an emo," Miyako excused herself again.
As she was finally dry, they were at Shikamaru's house in his bedroom, reading manga. Miyako was finding it a bit amusing that manga characters were reading manga but kept it to herself.
"Ooh~ That's how it is~" the boys said in unity as Hinata and Miyako blinked at them, perplexed.
"What is?" Miyako raised an eyebrow. She was sitting on Shikamaru's desk chair with a pirate shounen manga that reminded her of One Piece.
"So it's about Sasuke, huh?" Shikamaru started, while absentmindedly flipping a page. He was lying on his bed holding a sci-fi manga about a world without ninja that had developed more advanced technology. When he had shown it to Miyako, she had laughed but no one understood why.
"Yeah, the emo guy? What about him?" Miyako didn't catch on. She closed her manga and turned around to face Shikamaru, crossing arms over the back of the chair.
"Sasuke is popular among the females our age. Why? Because he is the Uchiha prodigy, the only survivor of the extermination of his clan a few years ago. That makes him a mysterious fairy-tale-like persona. A lone prince. Also, he is very skilled at jutsu, exceeds in speed and agility and has a first-rate mind among the males in our class. Ultimately in every species, the females are always drawn to the alpha male," Shino spoke as if reading out from a book. He was standing by the window looking outside.
"So? Everyone knows that." Miyako looked dully at Shino.
"By "popular" he means that, *munch*, probably every single girl in the academy, except Hinata over here, is drooling all over him," Choji clarified from across the room while returning the manga he was reading back in Shikamaru's small bookcase. He picked out another one, ate a chip and sat on a small couch near the door.
"Huh, really? Hey, Hinata-chan, you're not?" Naruto looked surprised at Hinata. He was leaning on Shikamaru's bed, immersed in another battle shounen manga.
Across from him, sitting on the small couch next to Choji, Hinata hid her blush behind a shoujo manga with a charming blond boy and a shy short haired girl on the cover and shook her head.
"I knew you were different from the other girls!" he stated shamelessly.
Hinata hid her whole red beat face between the pages of the shoujo manga, acting like she wasn't over the top with happiness, trembling with a wide smile on her face, and acted like she was only reading a really interesting part, while she boiled like a teapot from embarrassment.
"Did I say something wrong?" The oblivious blond boy looked puzzled. The others sweatdropped.
"And? I still don't get what you guys are trying to say," Miyako lied. Their point was as obvious as the fact that Hinata liked Naruto. She just wanted them to stop beating around the bush already.
"What we're trying to say is that you probably like the guy too, like everyone else seems to," Kiba finally spat out as Akamaru barked twice from the top of his head in agreement. He was leaning on Shikamaru's bed next to Naruto and across from Choji with a horror manga about werewolves. He looked pointedly at Miyako along with everyone else, waiting for her response.
"What?" Miyako's deadpan look eyed everyone. She sighed, shaking her head. "No, I don't. I admit he is talented and he might seem charming but I know better than that. He's a total arrogant dick to everyone and it's like he insists on being antisocial. I'd never like an asshole like that," she stated flatly and recrossed her arms.
The guys smirked, amused by the berating way she described Sasuke's attitude.
Meanwhile, Hinata was still hiding in trauma behind her manga, Naruto's words playing in her head over and over again like a broken record.
- In front of Miyako's apartment door -
Sasuke Uchiha... the top most skilled and promising student in the Academy... the last survivor of the vicious wipe-out of the entire Uchiha clan... the avenger... the one tragically destined to slay his own brother... was stuck wasting his precious time, time needed to extend his reach to his goals, waiting in front of the door of a clueless weak little girl who not only lacked the competence to dream of becoming a ninja but also must have lost the meager intelligence necessary to tell the time, apparently.
"Sasuke-kun? Are you listening?" Sakura asked a bit louder and looked worriedly at her crush. She had a red ribbon in her hair, a pink tank top, short green leggings and a red skirt with a circular crest.
"What do you want?" Sasuke spat flatly and narrowed his eyes at her for ruining his musings. He was wearing his usual white shorts but this time with a plain black thin t-shirt with the small Uchiha fan right below the collar on the back.
"I was, uh, asking you if you, um, wanted to hang out later... and maybe get to know each other... as friends of course!" Sakura looked at her feet, cheeks blushing.
"I'm busy," he cut her off and looked down at the busy street visible from the corridor window. They stood on the breezy fifth floor of an apartment complex, waiting for Miyako. She was obviously not at home and waiting for her was making Sasuke's irritation grow by the second. He was starting to regret arriving early, even if it was with a certain plan in mind.
Sakura peered up at him, looking like a kicked puppy. "Sorry. I should have guessed you probably had things to do after this..." she excused herself and also looked away. She was trying to get him to talk to her. Hanging out must have seemed like a pleasant idea to spend their time to her but Sasuke was having none of it. Her familiarity towards him seemed pointless to their coexistence.
"*pant pant pant* Hey, guys! *pant pant*" Miyako wheezed from running across half the village and up a five-floor flight of stairs in the span of ten minutes and took a sharp stop when she noticed that Sasuke and Sakura were already there.
"You're late!" Sakura approached her angrily.
"Sorry about that! I didn't notice how time flew by," Miyako apologized while getting out a key from her pocket and unlocking the door.
The two came in as Miyako closed the door. Sakura took off her sandals and went for the bookcase in the living room to pick out a couple of books and a scroll about chakra control along the way and placed them on the table. She noticed the half-eaten rice bowl on the table and then looked back at the dirty pot and dishes carelessly discarded in the kitchen sink across the room.
"Miyako! That's so gross!" Sakura chided in displeasure.
Miyako looked at her quizzically while taking off her sandals. "What is?"
Appalled, Sakura pointed accusingly at the abandoned bowl on the table and then at the dissaray over the kitchen counters. "Were you in such a hurry before you left that you didn't have time to clean up?" Her eye twitched. "That's disgusting!"
Miyako never really liked upkeeping her living space. The only cleaning she could bear with was washing clothes. Back in real world, the washing machine did the job but here she had to do it by hand in the bath tub or go out and pay for a laundromat. After Sasuke's training, which undoubtedly placed first, housework up was her second most hated thing to do. She had to at least wash her clothes, because she didn't want to wear anything dirty and smelly. But the dishes? She hadn't washed a single plate since she first entered this apartment. Truth was, she forgot. Another truth was, she didn't want to and wasn't going to wash them until she didn't have anything clean left to eat from. The only one capable of making her do those chores was her caretaker back in her previous world, Okada Azumi-san. With her far away, there was no one there to stop her from being a slob all the time.
"Well, I really was in a hurry!" Miyako half-lied while putting hands up in defense. "The boys were waiting for me!"
"The boys?" Sakura questioned, unaware of how and where would the new kid find friends so fast and become so close to them that she could refer to them as "the boys".
"Yeah, Naruto and Kiba asked to hang. We then got Choji and Shikamaru to come with us and I thought we should also ask Shino and Hinata. First we played hide and seek, then we played ninja around the village and then we, um... swam in the river? After that we read manga at Shikamaru's. You know, Shikamaru's mom is seriously cool!" Miyako continued her rant as Sakura stared at her in disbelief.
Since when are so many people from our class gathering together on weekends? And why haven't I heard anything about it?! Well, at least they didn't invite Ino either, so I guess I'm not the only one left out of the loop here, she thought.
But I can't believe they were having fun without me! Why I oughta! Inner Sakura ground her teeth.
"Why... why didn't you try calling me as well?!" Inner Sakura surfaced and started yelling at Miyako.
Miyako struggled to think of some kind of excuse for forgetting about Sakura. "B-but we don't even know where you live–"
"Yes you do! We walked home together last night! I can't believe they let you hang out with them when they just met you yesterday! WHY YOU LITTLE–"
- In Miyako's room -
Sasuke quietly slid the door closed and warily scanned the room with dark eyes.
Now's my chance to look around for anything suspicious. Those annoying girls are fighting and won't notice my absence for a while at the least, he thought and started with checking under the bed.
No. If she's a secret agent or a spy from another village posing as an ordinary academy student with no noticeable abilities, she would be just as good at covering up anything that would blow her cover.
He checked under the bed's mattress, the carpet, the furniture and checked the walls and flooring for secret spaces or covered dentures.
Ugh! Nothing! I didn't want for it to come to this, but I'll have to resort to drastic measures and... Sasuke's eyebrow twitched. ...look through her personal belongings... I have to be thorough though, if I want to be completely sure that this obnoxious girl isn't a threat in disguise. He took a breath. Here it goes...
He first opened the nightstand beside the bed. As he saw what was in it, he froze and heat traveled up to the pale skin of his nose and ears. He closed the small drawer and stood up, shaking away the color fro his face.
No, nothing suspicious about socks and girl... undergarments...
Next, Sasuke slid open the wall-mounted closet door and narrowed his eyes.
Alright, hangers – there's what she usually wears for training, and this, I guess, is some kind of formal outfit judging by the blue blazer, white shirt and ribbon. There's also a brown coat that looks like it's meant for winter. That's rare for Konoha, which means either that she comes from a colder climate or is overly sensitive to the cold. Ugh, it's hard to tell! So far, this is getting me nowhere.
Looking at the shelves, nothing strange that grabs the eye. Here in the first two compartments are some shirts, pants and shorts.
Ugh, girl clothes look strange. I've never seen these in stores, although the only time when I go shopping is when I destroy something or grow out of clothes, so I have no idea what ridiculous stuff they sell nowadays. That aside, I haven't made a point to notice what girls around here usually wear, so I can't really make out if this fashion is from Konoha or elsewhere.
And, man, some of these look small! What a ridiculous size! She must be a twig or something. But she doesn't look any shorter than Sakura or Naruto. Everything's small-sized, except for these strange black t-shirts with pictures of skills and people printed on them. I guess they must be musicians, judging by the instruments. I don't really listen to music and I have no idea who these people are, so whatever. She likes this kind of stuff, I suppose. They're my size so I guess she must wear them to sleep, since they'd be comfortable and easy to move in...
Nevermind that! Who cares about what clothes she wears or sleeps in! I'm in the middle of important business. Focus! Focus!
He didn't find anything hidden among the girl's clothing and was about to crouch down to check the last of the shelf compartments with the haphazardly thrown blue travelling bag when he heard Sakura from the living room.
"Hey, where's Sasuke anyway?"
Sakura looked around nervously, not able to locate the object of her affection.
"How should I know? He, like, disappeared somewhere the moment we got in," a slightly ruffled from being yelled at Miyako said while putting away the now clean dishes to dry off.
There was a flushing sound coming from the bathroom and then running water from the bathroom sink. Sasuke came out of there a moment later and calmly sat down on a cushion beside the table. He turned with a deadpan look at the two girls as he leaned casually with his elbow on the table as if he owned the place.
"You finished your pointless annoying argument yet?" he asked, looking irritated and snapped his head back around to turn the TV on. This all seemed normal to the two girls as they joined him at the table and Sakura began her lesson.
Good thing the window above twig girl's bed is right next to the bathroom's. Another good thing is that it's warm today and she had left them both wide open, Sasuke thought and smirked at his quick thinking as he flipped through the channels. But there's still one final place I didn't check. Тhere must be something there. Today I won't be able to disappear from their sight again. It might seem suspicious so I'll have to try again tomorrow, he made a mental note as he glanced in the general direction of Miyako's room.
"Do I have to?" Miyako whined.
"If you want to learn to mold chakra, then yes. Remember, every evening, for at least an hour you must meditate to concentrate on your chakra control," Sakura said waving a finger.
"What if I fall asleep?" Miyako wondered out loud. To her, meditating didn't sound that much different than sleeping while sitting up. "Or if I unconsciously start daydreaming and lose my concentration?"
"Ugh! Miyako! That won't happen if you concentrate hard enough!" Sakura retorted. "By the way, we have a math test on Monday. You should study. How are you with math?"
"Eeh?! There are math classes in the Academy?!" Miyako looked outraged. And here she thought the torture was over. She was a bit of a procrastinator. She had either bad or average grades back at school. Arts and PE were the only subjects she was good at. She had however recently discovered that the latter, being good at anything physical, was obviously due to passed over genes from her agile ninja parents.
"Of course we do! Among General Studies like History, Geography, Culture and Human Psychology we have Sciences like Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Math. We basically go over all the standard school subjects, generalized into two major classes, except that we're also taught the application of each in real-time situations and we have to cram all the lessons in fewer years, since we graduate earlier. Did you think that you'd get to learn cool jutsu and throw sharp objects without having any idea how the world works?" Sakura laughed dryly.
Miyako opened her mouth to protest but instead closed it and nodded in affirmation, since she was sure Naruto had no idea what half of those subjects entailed, yet they had still let him pass. Sakura stared at her in disbelief.
"Idiot," Sasuke commented, still flipping through channels, without even seeing that she had nodded. "A ninja that doesn't understand the difference between edible and inedible plants, which water source to drink from, why his aim is off in strong winds and where the Land of Fire's borders end is one who cannot expect to live for long."
- xxx -
Sasuke's training went as agonizing as ever. He gave Miyako heavier weights and told her that she'd receive heavier and heavier ones each time, much to the girl's joy. Miyako also moved on to throwing projectiles at a moving target, a.k.a. Sasuke, and avoiding the ones thrown at her. Sasuke was merciful enough to use small rocks instead of anything sharp so Miyako wouldn't get hurt too badly. Afterwards Miyako was glad he didn't use anything sharp, because instead of bruises, she'd surely be riddled with holes and stab-wounds instead, with kunai sticking out of her like a pathetic bloody porcupine. Good thing he was also avoiding her head and vitals because she managed to scratch Sasuke twice, after which he would throw harder at her, so at the end Sakura had to teach Miyako how to bandage her left forearm, ribs and right thigh. During that time Miyako managed to invent about five new combinations of nicknames and swear words for Sasuke, winning herself a new pounding from Sakura.
"Ugh, thank goodness that's over with," Miyako said to herself after it was all over. She'd had a long hot bath and was now in a towel in her room rubbing her hair with a second one. The bath had worked wonders with her sore aching muscles, not to mention the wounds, scrapes and bruises, courtesy of an irritable Uchiha. Miyako could only guess that these pains would only get worse with each passing training session. Her body felt like it was run over by a truck and she could barely feel her legs because of those weights she had to wear.
When she was dry, she slid open her closet and dressed herself. She accidentally dropped the towel she had dried her hair with and Miyako knelt to pick it up, since after training she found it too much of a pain to squat or bend over. While retrieving the towel, her eyes fell on the lowest shelf of her closet. She took out the duffel bag from Okada-san and looked at the things hidden behind it. Beside some drawing materials, her sketchbook with manga clippings was there, under some notebooks and textbooks from her previous school. She realized she hadn't drawn anything in a long time.
But maybe it's not a good idea to recklessly take it out while I'm here. It would be awkward if academy Naruto, for instance, accidentally saw a drawing of a fifteen year old version of himself. I can only draw 2D anime characters and I suck at drawing animals and landscapes so I should probably stop altogether. Miyako sighed at that.
The girl picked up a manga clopping of a dead Itachi and a shocked Sasuke next to him as another thought popped in her head. What if someone saw these, like Sasuke? They'd totally freak out and never leave me alone, asking me all sorts of questions! But I don't want to throw anything out or burn it! I have to hide these somewhere!
Miyako abandoned the towel on the ground and took all the things that would seem too suspicious. She stood in the middle of the room and panicked, Gotta find the most secure place to hide these!
Miyako looked back at the closet and grinned evilly with an idea forming.
Pat, pat!
"There! That should do it!" Miyako patted the bottom of the closet.
Inside one could now only see her drawing materials, a couple of empty notebooks and a blank sketchbook. The "suspicious" items were nowhere to be seen.
"Let's try this again," Miyako said to herself and picked up the thinnest paint brush.
She put the end of it under a crack at the corner of the bottom of her closet and pushed it up. The thin wooden panel lifted and to show the previously bare underside. Under the hollow bottom were hidden all the off-worldly items she owned.
"I knew ideas from Death Note would some day come in handy!" Miyako nodded her head and smirked evilly.
She then put back down the false bottom and closed the sliding door, shutting the closet.
"Man, thank god – or better yet – thank Kira that I thought of doing this before anyone found out," she said to herself.
- In the living room -
Miyako was eating a store-bought dinner on the table while watching "Of Shuriken and Love", the drama about promiscuous sexy ninja. On the TV screen a ninja was about to have a final showdown with what looked like his eternal rival who was actually his girlfriend in disguise.
"I'm going to win this battle, Itsuki!" he man yelled as he and the other ninja jumped at eachother, their kunai clashing.
Miyako was totally into it, evident by the way she froze with an open mouth in the middle of a bite and watched intently.
Knock, knock!
Just when the man managed to cut Itsuki's mask and saw that it was actually his beloved, someone knocked on Miyako's door.
"Aw, maan! Really?!" she whined loudly, slapping her chopsticks on the table.
Knock!
"Alright, alright, I'm coming! Geez!" she yelled, irritated and stomped across the living room to the front door in the corridor. She angrily tore the door open and yelled at whoever was bugging her. "What do you want, I'm busy!"
"Wow, you still that mad about today? Dude, talk about PMS." A startled Kiba with his hands up in defense took a step back. Akamaru whined and hid inside his pale brown shirt.
"Oh! Kiba, Akamaru! I'm sorry but I'm watching something seriously important on TV! Can you come in and wait for it to end?" Miyako ignored his smart-ass comment and grinned, pulling them in, even though they didn't say they wanted to. She pushed Kiba down to sit at the table and she then ran around to sit on the other side. Again, she stared back at the TV screen, drowning herself in the plot of the drama.
Kiba and Akamaru sweatdropped but obliged anyway.
At the end of the show Itsuki had "accidentally" killed her lover and they both shared a passionate last kiss. Kiba didn't have a choice so he too watched even though it was boring him out of his mind.
"So why did that chick kill that dude again?" he asked Miyako with a dull look.
"Because she's a double agent. Their clans hate each other and sent her to seduce and kill him. They both eventually fell in love with each other but her clan lied to her, telling her that he had killed her parents and she started to both hate and love him. She was torn between those two feelings for a long time. In the end she found out the truth and stopped hating him, but it was already too late, because she had already struck the final blow to kill him," Miyako animatedly explained while dropping off her empty plate in the kitchen sink. No Sakura, no dishwashing.
"Then why didn't she just ask the dude if he had killed them to clear up any misunderstandings?" Kiba said like it was the most obvious thing to do.
"And blow her cover? Yeah, right!" she said, shaking her head. "You want water or anything?"
"Nah, I'm fine, thanks though. I still think she should've just told him the truth," Kiba stated and Akamaru barked in agreement.
"She couldn't!" Miyako protested, sitting back at the other end of the table.
"If she really did love him, she damn right could've! Everyone knows loyalty and honesty are the most important in a relationship!" Kiba crossed his hands over his chest. He stared at Miyako with determination, making her feel a bit awkward.
"Well, what if he broke up with her when he found out the truth? He might stop loving her and hate her even more for lying to him this whole time!" Miyako also crossed her arms in front of her.
"If he's a stupid jerkface, he would! If it were me, I would forgive her and protect her, even if her clan, or even mine, tried to kill her!" Kiba stood up and shouted, startling the girl. Confused, Akamaru looked back and forth between Kiba and Miyako.
Miyako smiled. "Hey, you're gonna be an awesome boyfriend someday," she said and snickered.
Kiba sat back down on his cushion and blushed furiously, looking at the girl in amazement.
"By the way, what did you come here to tell me?" Miyako changed the topic. Kiba flushed red again.
"Uh, remember today... when I... kinda messed up and had to save you...?" he started as Miyako also felt her face heat up.
"Um, yeah... thanks again for that... you don't need to worry about it," she muttered, blowing it off like it was nothing important. The part where he called her a flat board played again in her head and she tried hard to resist strangling the boy.
Kiba was still blushing. "When I was looking for you in the river I, um... panicked a bit because I couldn't find you," he continued and looked down at Akamaru for support. The dog nudged his side, giving the boy a little courage.
Miyako quietly waited for him to tell what he needed to get off his chest. She was a bit embarrassed that he would get so worked up for her.
"I promised myself something just so I could find you..."
"Huh? What?" Miyako got impatient as thousands of reasonable and some... rather weird... thoughts came into her mind.
Kiba gulped and finally looked at her. "I vowed that I'd grant you one wish, if I found you alive," he said a bit louder.
Miyako gaped at him in disbelief. Akamaru started barking happily that Kiba had finally said it.
"Hahahah! No, no! Really nice joke there, you almost got me for a second there, Kiba!" Miyako laughed it off and grinned.
Kiba kept looking at her seriously. "I'm not messin' around here."
Miyako stared at him, surprised. He really wasn't kidding.
"But why?" she probed, a bit curious to why he would even bother.
"Geez, just say what you want already! It doesn't matter why!" the blushing boy fumed in frustration.
"Anything?" she asked. Miyako wondered if she was now allowed to strangle and/or kill him for the flat board comment.
"Anything..." Kiba said with determination.
Miyako looked around the room, thinking for some time.
"So if I tell you to be my servant in a sexy maid costume, clean my apartment, the dishes, do my laundry and whatever else I order you to do every day, you'd do it?!"
Kiba gulped.
Miyako found it perfect. She would get to be her sloppy self, her apartment and clothes would be clean and she would get to humiliate Kiba for calling her a flat board by making him wear that maid costume.
"Yeah, whatever," he said, dread consuming him.
She felt a little guilty. He would actually do it?
"And if I tell you to kiss a boy, you'd do it?" A pink hue crept on Miyako's face as she grinned like a pervert. She thought of a hot yaoi scene featuring Kiba and Naruto. Kiba and Sasuke sounded good, too, it would be a first. Hehehe, no one comments on my underdeveloped figure!
"Why would I–?!" Kiba stiffened, but had to relent. "Y-yes." What the hell was in that girl's head?
Miyako studied him. He was trembling a little and small drops of sweat were rolling down the side of his face. She could almost hear his fast beating heart. And yet, he didn't back out from his promise. He was ready for the worst she'd throw at him. Were Inuzuka really loyal like their dogs or was that just Kiba? Now she felt really guilty for teasing him.
Kiba gulped again. Her deliberating was taking a bit too long for his liking.
"Ahahaha!" Miyako started laughing. "You really will do anything, won't you?"
Kiba tried to smile but it came out crooked.
"Don't worry! I'm not making any wishes. Forget about the entire thing!"
"Huh?" Kiba's jaw loosened a little. He really thought she'd force him into kissing a boy.
Akamaru barked and Miyako laughed again.
"But why? If it were me, I wouldn't mind making you my servant!"
"I didn't know you'd want to see me in a sexy maid costume," Miyako joked as Akamaru yapped. "And here I thought you didn't like flat-chested girls..."
"What? Don't think like that! I'm not a pervert!" Kiba flushed red again and waved his hands in front of him. Miyako laughed again.
"Nah, I wouldn't make you do anything you wouldn't like. I would feel bad. It's not my style, I guess," Miyako said, a bit more serious this time. "I'm actually surprised you even told me about that. If it were me, I wouldn't even mention it." She really wouldn't. Her guts only got her that far. She didn't know how twisted or perverted the person she granted the wish would be. That scared her and she would rather stay quiet and pretend she never made such a promise. She was more of a skeptic anyway.
"I'm used to telling the truth and I'm loyal to my friends," Kiba said with a honest smile.
"So... does that mean I'm your friend?" Miyako asked with a little spark of hope in her eyes. She mentally squealed at the thought of having one of the Naruto characters as a friend.
"Yeah, sure you are! It's kinda obvious after all the trouble we went trough today that all of us are friends." Kiba grinned like a dog as Akamaru barked. "Akamaru says you're his friend, too."
"Really?" Miyako was overjoyed. She looked like she was going to glomp Kiba but instead picked up Akamaru from his lap and snuggled him, stroking his fur with her cheek.
"Traitor." Kiba pouted inwardly, secretly wishing that he was also a furry little animal.
- To be continued -
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