A/N: This is chapter 8! Thank you to all who reviewed, followed, and favorited!
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Ino checked the clock. Shikamaru's party was starting in an hour, and Kiba still hadn't shown up. After he left her house the day before, she waited to see if he would come back, but he didn't. She didn't even know if he still wanted to go to the party. That didn't mean she couldn't at least check on him, though.
Ino headed over to the Inuzuka compound and knocked on the door of his house. Tsume answered it.
"Hey, Ino."
"Hello. Is Kiba here?"
"Yeah, hang on." Tsume turned and yelled up the stairs, "Kiba! Get down here! Your girlfriend is at the door!"
"Coming!" Kiba called as he went down the stairs. He stood next to his mother once he reached the bottom. "Hi," he said somewhat awkwardly to Ino.
"Hey. Are you still coming to the party?"
"Oh, you guys are going to a party? Have a good time!" Tsume said, interested. She put her arm around Kiba's shoulders. "If you have a really good time, we Inuzukas enjoy doggy style, if you know what I mean," she said with a wink, causing Ino to blush embarrassedly.
"Mom!"
"I'm just saying," she said, slapping him on the back and walking away.
"I'm sorry about that. She can be...blunt," he said, scratching the back of his head.
"Yeah, I noticed...anyway, will you come to the party?"
"I don't know if I should. I mean, I saw some pretty freaky stuff about myself and the guys yesterday, so I don't want to have an episode if and when I see them there."
"Come here," Ino said, and Kiba stepped towards her. She placed two fingers on each of his temples and closed her eyes, concentrating on blocking his negative memories of the barrier.
"There. Better?" Ino asked once the memories had been blocked.
"Yeah, thanks."
"Good. Let's go. Shikamaru doesn't live too far from here."
"Alright, come on," he said, closing the front door and stepping off the porch. They went into the street and started walking the short distance to Shikamaru's party.
"Did you sleep at all?" she asked.
"Not really, no," Kiba said with a sigh.
"I'm sorry."
"Ah, don't worry about it. Anyway, who's going to be there?"
"I think it'll just be the Konoha 11 and some family, though there might be a few others. I don't know for certain."
"Okay."
They continued on their way and arrived before long. Ino knocked on the door, and Shikamaru's mom answered.
"Hi, Ino!"
"Hello, Yoshino. May we come inside?"
"Of course, of course! Please, come in." The two went inside, and Yoshino disappeared further inside the house.
"That's weird. She actually seemed nice," Kiba said, leaning over and whispering in her ear.
"I don't know what Shikamaru's told you, but she's not that bad."
"If you say so."
"Hey, guys!" Choji exclaimed as he approached them excitedly.
"Hey!" Ino said, greeting him with a hug. "How are you?"
"Good, good. What about you?"
"Oh, I'm fine. I've just been working at the hospital like usual."
"Sounds about right." Choji turned his attention to Kiba. "Hey, stranger! I haven't seen you in a while."
"Yeah, sorry. I've just been...busy with stuff."
"No problem. We've all been kind of busy after the war," Choji said understandingly. That simple statement caused images of the war to flash through Kiba's mind. He didn't remember his time in the barrier because Ino had blocked that memory, but he did remember several other memories. He managed to suppress them, but he looked slightly pained as he did so. "Something wrong?" he asked, noticing the expression on Kiba's face.
"Yeah, I'm alright. Just a little headache, that's all."
"Oh, okay. I'm gonna go talk to Shikamaru now, so I'll see you later," Choji said, turning and leaving them.
"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked him once her teammate had left them.
"I'm okay, I promise. Don't even worry about me." She nodded, and the pair ventured farther inside, greeting people they knew as they went.
"Ino!" said a familiar voice, stopping them.
Ino turned to look at the person who'd called her name. "Sakura! Good to see you, forehead!"
"Don't be immature, Ino-pig!"
"If it's so immature, then why are you playing along?" The girls laughed before hugging, and Kiba was left confused by their behavior.
Why is she acting so different? he wondered. Wait, no. This is how she normally is. She acts different when she's with me, Kiba reminded himself. The social scene is her natural habitat. I used to be like that, too.
"I'm gonna go talk to the guys while you two...do your thing," he said, waving his hand around to represent their conversation before wandering off.
"Okay. I'll talk to you in a bit," Ino replied.
"Wow. We haven't done that since we were kids!" Sakura said with a giggle. She took a sip of the beverage in her hand.
"I know! Those were the days, but they seem so distant now. It feels like they were forever ago."
"Yeah. Look how far we've all come." The two girls looked at all of their friends around them. They all had to grow up too soon, they all had to fight in a war when they weren't even old enough to be called adults. Age didn't necessarily matter when they were mature beyond their years, leading some to say that they actually were adults, but they were still just teenagers.
Sometimes, teens just needed to be teens and blow off a little steam. They were no exception, especially after the events of the past few months. The party, though simple and laid back, was a good way to do that, which became apparent to the pair of kunoichi as they watched their smiling, laughing friends.
Ino's eyes landed on Kiba and rested there, staring at him in a caring fashion.
"Did you come here with him?" Sakura asked, noticing her gaze.
"Hm? Oh, yeah," she said, snapping out of her trance.
"Kiba's your date?"
"Why wouldn't he be? He's my boyfriend, after all," Ino answered, remembering that they were pretending to be a couple. Sakura spit out the sip she'd taken of her drink in surprise.
"I'm sorry, what? Did you just say that Kiba Inuzuka is your boyfriend?"
"Yeah. What's the problem?"
"Nothing, I just never pegged him to be your type, that's all."
"Why not? He's attractive."
"I know you care about looks, but are you really telling me that's all you care about?"
"No. He's funny, too. And he's nicer than you'd think," Ino said a little too defensively.
"Okay, but he's hotheaded like you are. Don't you guys fight?"
She was about to protest when she remembered that they'd already had a few arguments in the last three days. "Yeah, but that makes things exciting. Too much cuteness would make me gag. We both would, actually."
"Alright. I just wish you'd told me about this sooner."
"It happened recently, and I've taken the past few days off of work."
"Oh, so that's why you haven't been working at the hospital! You've been off gallivanting with your new boyfriend!" Ino winked, and the girls laughed. "If you think it'll work out, then good luck. I'm happy for you."
"Thanks, Sakura. You're a good friend," she said with a smile.
Meanwhile, Kiba was talking with Choji, Naruto, and Shikamaru.
"It's just like old times," he said nostalgically, looking at the other three.
"Yeah! Remember how much trouble we used to get into? Iruka-sensei would get so mad at us!" Naruto reminisced.
"Remember how he'd make us do that thing where we had to keep a leaf on our foreheads?" Choji asked.
"Yeah. We were at the bottom of our class. I could've been at the top if I'd actually applied myself, but it sounded like too much work," Shikmaru said.
"I focused more on food than I did on work," Choji said, embarrassed.
"Back then, I was all about the pranks!" Naruto declared, a big smile on his face.
"You were unruly, for sure," Shikamaru admitted.
"I just wanted people to notice me. Besides, I wasn't the smartest kid to begin with."
"I was just too cool for school," Kiba boasted.
"Or too rambunctious..." Choji muttered under his breath.
"Hey!"
"You know, it's ironic that Choji and I were at the bottom of our class when our teammate was at the top of our class," Shikamaru said.
"Seriously?" Kiba asked, turning and looking at Ino in amazement. She's not just a pretty face, he thought.
"Speaking of Ino, I saw you guys walking together and going over to your house when I was walking around the other day," Naruto said mischievously.
"You came here together, too," Choji added.
"Really? What's going on, Inuzuka?" Shikamaru asked, intrigued.
"Alright, alright. You caught me. We're dating."
"No way! Since when?" Naruto said excitedly.
"Calm down, will you? We haven't been together long."
"How did it happen?" Choji asked.
"It's a long story," Kiba said, casting another glance in her direction.
"Ah, whatever," Shikamaru said, dismissing it.
"Hey, go be with her," Naruto urged Kiba, seeing that he was still looking at Ino.
"You sure?" he asked.
"Yeah, go on!" Naruto said, pushing him toward her.
"I'm going, I'm going!" Kiba yelled. He went over to the girls, who were now talking to Hinata and Tenten.
"Hey, ladies."
"Hi, Kiba," Hinata said, looking up.
"Hey. How's our team been?"
"Kurenai-sensei has her hands full with her baby, but she's doing well. Shino is fine, too. I don't think he's coming, though."
"That's good to hear, and I'm sure I'll see Shino eventually if he doesn't show up," Kiba said cheerfully. He looked over Hinata's shoulder and was startled to see Shino himself suddenly standing behind her.
"I've been here the whole time," he said quietly. All the girls shrieked, unaware that he was behind them.
"Sh-Shino, I didn't know you would be here!" Hinata stammered, frightened.
"I said I would, didn't I?"
"Oh...that's right. I guess I forgot..."
Shino looked down. "Why does everyone forget about me?" He sighed and walked away dejectedly.
"Anyway...Sakura said that you two are a couple," Tenten said, looking back and forth between Kiba and Ino.
"Did she?"
"She did, but I think she's wrong."
"No, she's right," he said, putting an arm around Ino. Hinata and Tenten both stared at them, shocked.
"I told you!" Sakura said to them.
"How interesting! Tell us all about it," Hinata said, fascinated. They talked about it for a while until the party was nearly over.
"As much as I've enjoyed catching up with you guys, we have to go soon, so I'm going to go talk to Shikamaru," Ino said, checking the time.
"Bye! I'll see you at work tomorrow, right?" Sakura asked, giving her a hug.
"Of course!" she replied before hugging Tenten and Hinata. After doing so, she and Kiba walked over to Shikamaru.
"Hey, there she is!" he said when she came up to him. "I haven't seen you all night."
"Yeah, sorry. I got caught up with the girls. I just wanted to congratulate you on becoming the new head of the Nara clan before I left."
"Thanks."
"When will you be sworn in?"
"Tomorrow evening in front of the clan."
"Well, I wish you the best." Shikamaru thanked Ino again, and they hugged. He turned to Kiba.
"Be careful. She's a live wire."
"Thanks for the tip." They left after that, Ino's home their destination.
"See? That wasn't so bad," Ino said to him.
"No, it wasn't. I had a little scare at the beginning, but everything was fine once I got it under control."
"It was good to see you as happy and social as you used to be."
"Yeah, and it was good to see everyone in a casual setting again." They smiled at each other and kept going until they got to Ino's house.
"Well, here we are," he said.
"Yeah. Thanks for walking me home."
"No problem."
"I had fun tonight."
"Me, too."
"I'm not going to unblock your memories of the barrier so you can sleep tonight," Ino informed him. She paused for a moment, then kissed him on the cheek and quickly went inside. Kiba was left standing outside her house with his hand to his cheek where she'd kissed him, blushing. Then, a thought occurred to him.
What will I do tomorrow?
A/N: That was a fun chapter to write! Hopefully, I kept everyone in character. Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! Tell me what you thought in a review. Until next time!