(Warning - Cursing and bad words. Also alcohol underage drinking, it's not underage where I live so I'm not feeling guilty! xD)

Disclaimer - I do NOT own Naruto or any Naruto Character.

Chapter 6 - Konoha nin's gathering

Those dark eyes of his said it all... She was screwed...

There was no way to go. Kaoru was pinned between the kitchen sink and Kankuro. She could have tried to escape but it would be no use. Kankuro was strong and he could hurt her again, without noticing. Her body was too fragile to bear his touch. Her hands were behind her back hidden.

Their eyes were locked at each other. His face was so severe with his paint on, it was intimidating. Kaoru saw him opening his mouth slightly like he had something to say. Her eyes moved from his eyes to his mouth. To his thin painted lips. Kankuro slightly smirked.

"You know... I won that bet..." he spoke lowly. Kaoru shivered with his voice. She didn't want to show her hands and arms. She didn't want him to know...

"But..." he said.

Her eyes met his again.

"You don't have to show me if you don't want to."

Their eyes were still locked on each other. He raised his hand with the gloves. Kaoru slid one hand from her back to the front and grabbed the gloves. He gave them to her, without looking down. Always looking at her blue eyes.

He smirked and turned around, leaving a speechless Kaoru alone in the kitchen.

'What was that?'

Kaoru finished the rest of the dishes, and put her gloves back on. She made the decision of bury everything that just happened deep inside her, to forget it all. Kankuro was a deceiver. He was tricking her, confusing her. Kaoru didn't trust him, he never acted without a reason. There was always something else behind every word he said.

Kaoru put her poker face on, and went to the living room.

The noise was louder, than she had realized when she was at the kitchen. But as Kaoru advanced to the group, she realized the noise came mostly from two people. The girl from that morning, Sakura and a blond boy.

She seemed very aggressive towards the blond. Then she glanced at Kaoru and her attitude changed.

"Kaoru-san!" Sakura said smiling. Everybody in the room turned to see the sand girl. Kaoru glared the pink haired girl and fakely smiled to her. It wasn't like she hated the girl, it was how normally Kaoru treated people.

"Sakura-san, good to see you again," she said. No one would discover her false smile in a million years. She became a really good actress, in these past ten years.

"Who's the girl?" asked the blond boy.

"Oh, this is Kaoru-chan! She's from Suna, she came with Kankuro," Kiba said. The moment he said 'Kankuro', both sand nins shared a look, which was abruptly broken, by Kiba pulling Kaoru to sit next to him.

Everybody was sitting in a circle around the small coffee table. Kiba introduced everyone to Kaoru. From his team mates, to the blond boy Naruto, to his inconvenient team-mate Sai.

"Nice to meet you Kaoru-san, do you always put a fake smile on?" Sai asked.

Everybody looked shock, except Kankuro that was laughing his ass off. Kaoru was intrigued by the boy, he dared to mock right after meeting her? How could he see through her mask?

'I have to be careful with that one'

Sakura grabbed him by his collar shirt.

"You little bastard, show some respect..."

"That's ok Sakura-san. I'll give him his answer. Yes, I always put a fake smile on, when I meet people like you, that fakely smiles too," She responded. The boy slightly blushed but didn't say anything else.

"Kaoru's smile isn't fake. She smiles to show her arrogance. It's not her fault, it's just the way she is," Kankuro said out of nowhere.

"You seemed to know so much about me Kankuro-dono," she answered with undoubtful sarcasm, and an obvious false smile.

"Maybe I know more than you think," he said. Kaoru's fake smile faded away. Her heart started racing, and her hands started to get sweaty inside the gloves.

'He definitely knows something...'

Kaoru didn't answer this time.

Soon everyone else was distracted. However Kaoru couldn't help but having a bad feeling.
She cursed the puppet master in her head. He knew something and was playing with her, like she was one of his damn puppets. Did he knew about her wounds? Or about what her father did to her? Or... did he knew how she looked like... behind those clothes, those gloves...? Kaoru's thoughts focused on this last part. It was strange the fact he didn't want to watch her hands anymore. Did he somehow already saw them? She glanced at the puppet master. He was on the opposite side of her, he was distracted talking to the Sakura girl and Naruto.

"I have an idea!" Kiba shout interrupting Kaoru's train of thought and left the living room. 5 minutes later he came back with two huge bottles of saké. Everybody stared at him with different expressions, except Kaoru and Sai who were expressionless.

"My mother thinks I don't know where she hides this, she forgets my nose is greater by the day," the dog boy said bringing cups to everybody.

"K-Kiba-kun I d-don't drink." Hinata said.

"I don't drink either," Kaoru added. "Neither does Kankuro-dono."

"WHAT?" the puppeteer asked with an eyebrow raised.

"You're representing Kazekage-sama, you should have some manners," Kaoru replied harshly.

"I'm only representing Gaara starting monday, when the mission begins," He answered annoyed.

"Kaoru-chan let him drink, just a bit. I bet Gaara would drink too, if he was here."

"No, he wouldn't," both Suna shinobis spoke at the same time. Which made them angrier than before.

"Why the hell are you asking her to let me drink? I'm older than her, I can take care of myself."

"Fine, drink and make a fool of yourself, Kankuro-dono. I'm not responsible for anything." Kaoru finally gave up. It was not her intention to argue with the sand nin, after all the strange things he already said and made that day, she only wanted to distance herself from him.

Of course as she expected, the alcohol started make effect on the shinobis. Naruto and Kiba seemed extremely happy, Kankuro kept drinking in his little emo corner, like it was water, Sakura and Sai seemed fine, and so did Hinata. Then there was Shino, that was staring at Kaoru for several minutes now. She noticed it from the beginning but ignored, untill it started to become creepy.

"What?" she tried not to burst towards the Aburame. But somehow it got everybody's attention, once again...

"Something is not normal" he said. Kaoru frowned.

"My insects can't feel you."

"Oh that's because she has chackra seals in her hands... WAIT I gotta an idea!" Kiba said.

'Another?'

"Hinata use your byakugan on her."

'Byakugan? Oh no!'

Her chackra seals didn't let others to use chackra on/against her. Shino's bugs wouldn't detect her, because they were after her chackra. Akamaru couldn't use his nose against her if nearby because her seals would cancel the energy used by the dog. The byakugan should have the same effect. If they stayed close in less than 3 meters, Kaoru would be fine. She hoped Kiba wouldn't remember that.

The shy girl activated the byakugan and stared at Kaoru. She frowned.

"What do you see Hinata?" Kiba asked.

"I can's see much, I see large concentrations of chackra in Kaoru-san's hands. Also in her stomach."

"Stomach?" Naruto asked, remembering his seal. Kaoru's eyes widen.

'How can she see that? She's less than 2 meters far from me.'

"Y-yes... oh."

"What's wrong Hinata?" Naruto asked. Kaoru was afraid she could see her back wounds.

"W-well... I can't really see it clearly, there's too much static, but Kaoru-san your chackra pressure points in your hands are smaller than average," Hinata said.

"I know," Kaoru replied calmly. Of course she knew, it was a "present" from her father.

"D-doesn't it hurt?"

"Hurt? Why would it hurt?" Kiba asked concerned.

"Because," Kankuro's voice startled everyone, he spent the whole night sitting by himself drinking, "if the hole is small, the chackra has to come out in small portions. However chackra has a minimum standard size to come out. If the chackra pressure points are too small, they can explode, because the chackra can't come out properly."

"How do you know about that?" Naruto asked foolishly.

"Because I tried to do the exact opposite, with my fingers.", Kankuro said, "I tried to open my pressure points a little more, so I could be able to use more than one chackra string per finger." He drank from the bottle a huge shot.

"That sounds kinda kinky," Kiba said laughing. Then he smirked to Kaoru.

"Does it hurt?" he asked softly.

"No." she lied " I have an excellent chackra control."

It was true, she was very good controlling the amount of chackra that she released, and she was able to diminish the pain. Still, it was very painful. Her father made a special seal when she was young, that made her chackra points growing slowly. The reason was to control his daughter. If she wasn't able to use chackra at its fullest then she wasn't able to fight back.

Kaoru was starting to feel uncomfortable. She was only in Konoha for a day and they already knew a lot about her, that no one knew in Suna. But somehow it felt... nice. Having actually people curious about her.

The topic eventually ran off, when everybody started to talk about a guy named Sasuke that ran away to seek power with the legendary Sannin Orochimaru. Kaoru knew little about the youngest of the Uchiha, and frankly she didn't care. She knew a few things about Orochimaru, and the sannin quite intrigued her, after all he was the one that killed the former Kazekage.

Kankuro started to get extremely drunk, and like the sand kunoichi predicted, he began to make a fool of himself, and tease her.

"You know Kaoru, you are too stiff, that's why you don't have friends in Suna," the puppet master said wasted.

"As if you are one to talk, you don't friends either. Puppets are not friends." She replied.

"What? At least I have puppets, what do you have Kaoru?"

Kaoru's heart filled with sadness. He was right, what did she had?

"She has me!" a voice said. Kaoru looked at Kiba who was smiling at her.

"Right, Kaoru-chan?" he asked. She blushed and nodded.

Kankuro mumbled something incomprehensible and passed out. Literally, he felt asleep on the floor. As a sign of how late it was, everyone left, and went home.

0000000000

Kiba took Kankuro upstairs into his room, and laid the puppet master in his bed. When he walked back downstairs, he saw Kaoru putting some sake in a glass and drink it. She was leaning against the couch with her legs crossed indian style. He sat next to to her.

"I thought you didn't drink."

"I don't drink in front of Kankuro-dono," she replied, "It would be hypocrite of me doing so."

"Why do you call him dono?" Kiba asked glancing the small coffee table, all the cups were in the center of the table, forming a perfect circle. He smiled thinking how cute Kaoru's OCD was. For him, she was very mysterious, he wanted to know more about the girl.

"He's the Kazekage's brother. In Sunagakure he is considered to be nobility," she answered almost as if she was reading it.

"But even so, he's a childhood friend, you are too formal with him," Kiba said also drinking from his cup.

"Childhood friend? What are you talking about?" Kaoru was totally confused.

"He told me you were friends when you were little."

"What is wrong with that guy? I was never friends with him! I only met him in the academy, and we were rivals. We couldn't... can't stand each other," Kaoru said drinking her drink in one shot. Then she refilled the small cup. The sake felt good, even though it was not hot.

"That's what he told me."

"Well, he's a liar then. He likes to mess with me, and make fun of me."

"I noticed, though I think he's cool. I mean he saved my life in the past," Kiba said.

"Mine too, but I also saved him many times too."

Kiba politely smiled. He was sick of talking about Kankuro. He wanted to know more about the girl herself.

"So tell me about yourself," he asked.

"Why?"

"So I can know you a bit better."

"Why don't you tell me about you then? It wouldn't be wise of me telling about me to a stranger." She smiled. There was no way she would talk about her.

"Hmm... what do you wanna know?"

"The same things you want to know about me."

"Ok... I was born and raised here in Konoha, my father ran away scared of my mom, when I was young, so I don't have too many memories about him. I have a sister, she works in a vet center. My best friend is Akamaru and I don't have a girlfriend." he grinned at her. "Your turn."

"Well, I was born and raised in Suna. My mother died... killed herself when I was 5, and I barely remember her. I only know she had the same hair color as me... I don't have siblings, even though my father re-married. My best friend is... no one, and I don't have a boyfriend either." She smiled at him too.

"That's good to know. I mean the last part" Kiba said teasingly. He grabbed Kaoru's free hand, and fondled the silky fabric. Strangely, Kaoru liked being touch like that, somehow she trusted Kiba. He seemed a genuine person.

"Why do you hide your seals?"

"A shinobi must never reveal his hidden weapons," she said.

"But you never take those gloves off, not even when we eat. Me and Kankuro know about your seals. There's no problem when it's just us."

"Kankuro-dono didn't know about it until you found out. I guess you're right, but I'm not really comfortable with that."

"Why not? Do I make you uncomfortable?" he said entwining his fingers on hers.

"Quite the opposite... and honestly it's scaring me," she said griping her fingers in his hand, accepting the gesture.

"Why?" he almost whispered.

"I don't know. No one talks to me like you do. You saw your friends reaction towards me, always asking weird questions and distrust me. It's always like that."

"I think you are mysterious, and I like it, I don't care why you are the way you are, I know I like the way you are."

Kaoru blushed. Never someone said that to her.

"Really? You just met me."

"Yeah, but I can smell if people are good or bad."

"But you can't smell me. It doesn't work on me."

"Even without chackra my nose is still above a normal nose, it's my kekkei genkai. I can smell you if I'm close enough..."

"Really?" they were both close, their shoulders almost touching, "How close?"

"Really close... can I?" he said leaning forward. Kaoru nodded.

Kiba leaned towards Kaoru's neck. He slowly smelled, his breath made her shiver. Her heartbeat was so fast, she was afraid, it would show through her chest. She blushed when Kiba brushed his lips in her sensitive skin. Kaoru hold inside with all her strength a moan.

'What is this feeling? Am I falling for this boy?'

Kaoru never had romantic feelings towards anyone. She never had the chance to.

Kiba loved the smell of the girl next to him.

"How do I smell?" she whispered.

"Amazing. Like wild fruits and sand. And iron," he said still, teasing the girl's neck with his lips.

'Iron?'

Luckily the boy seemed not to associate the metallic scent to blood. The alcohol seemed to affect a bit his rationality.

"Do you trust me?" he said sliding up his free hand through her arm and grabbing the edge of the long glove.

They looked each other straight in the eye.

"I do," she whispered. She was falling for the guy. He was amazing with her. She was so scared she was letting him see her hands and arms, so he would be disgusted and leave her alone. She didn't want to fall for someone she knew she would suffer for. It was best cut the evil by its roots.

He looked down and slowly took off the glove, Kaoru looked away. She didn't want to see the dog boy's reaction. He caressed her bare arm, she got goose bumps.

"Why would you try to hide these? They're beautiful," Kiba asked.

Kaoru looked at him and then at her arm. From elbow to hand they were full of seal designs, mostly red and black.
But beyond those colours they were scarred, craved to the skin.

"Did you cut them?" he asked tracing the seals.

"Kind of," she replied. It wasn't really her that did the scarred seals. It was her demonic father. Those scars were the ones preventing her pressure points from being a normal size.

"I think you shouldn't be ashamed of them. They are like tattoos. We all should be proud of our marks," he said smiling. Kaoru wondered if he was talking about his face, his red fangs. She gently stroke them, his marks with her bare finger. They were so close...

"Kaoru-chan? Can I kiss you?" he asked.

"Kiss me," she said. Her words came out automatically from her mouth.

Kiba cupped her cheek with one hand, and he pressed his lips in her lips. Kaoru kissed back. Part of her was unsure, and wanted to stop. But another part of her, wanted it all. Wanted to experience something behind pain and sadness.

This was the first time she was being herself, and making a decision without thinking about the others.
It was the first time she was feeling warm coming form another human being. The first time, someone was making her feel good. His gentle touches through her arm made her deepen the kiss, by grabbing his hair. Kiba, without breaking the kiss took of the other glove, and let her put her arms around his neck. He pushed her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her waist.

The purple haired girl, and the Inuzuka boy were kissing in the middle of the room. Upstairs in the hallway right next to the stairs, were the hallway turns, was Kankuro listening to everything that just happened...

To be continued...

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