InnerCookie: Thanks! :) I'm glad you love it!

I don't own Naruto, just my thoughts.

Italics: Kiba narrating/thoughts/flashbacks

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Two knocks rung throughout the small apartment. My mother raised an eyebrow at the door but did not move from her sit by the kitchen table. She moved the tablecloth up, revealing my fear-stricken face. "Kazuhiko… What in the hell is going on?"

Of course, she knew about the murder that happened just a few hours ago though I doubted she knew I was there to see it, she went to sleep a little before the killing and being the deep sleeper she is, did not know about the murder until, Hana, my older sister, told her.

When she asked me why I did not tell her, I simply lied and said, "I knew as much as you did." Though, I still have a feeling she does not fully believe me.

When the knocks continued, ma pulled me by my shirt collar. Her face was inches away from mine. I could feel her hot breath against my face. "Kazuhiko, what in the hell is going on?" she commanded, slowly drawing out each syllable.

I gulped, I knew that she would hang me from my toes if I did not tell her but the nagging voice in the back of my head told me that I should protect her from what I had witnessed. I did not want her to end up like that man Killer Bee shot.

A flashback of the man with the baseball bat fought its way to the surface of my mind. Gradually the image changed from Killer Bee shooting the man in the head to Killer Bee shooting my mother in the head.

I pushed that thought into the depths of my mind even if it was only temporally. The nagging voice faded into the background when other voice, one I did not recognize, shouted through the door. "This is the police, open up; we don't have time for dillydallying!"

Ma's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Kazuhiko…." Before she could finish her sentence, I jumped into her arms, wailing as I did so.

Now, I don't cry often so get that outa your head. I'm from Oto; we don't show our emotions very much! Jeez and I was only nine and just witnesses a murder! …Sorry…. I guess you weren't blaming me for crying, huh? Well, whatever. I don't give a flying fuck just as long as you know I. Do. Not. Cry.

Ma pulled me from her chest with a great heave. Her lips were dragged into a frown. "Why are you crying, boy?" She ignored the knocks from the door. Her attention was on me, the blubbering brown-haired boy with two rogue up-side down triangles on his cheeks and a funny name. Great.

I swallowed the dry lump in my throat. "I-I…" Ma glared. "Spit it out," she growled. I could feel her irritation like a tidal wave. "I-" I mumbled out but ma ordered me to speak loud and clearly. Well, there goes my idea of telling her but telling her in a way she would not hear.

Suddenly, I was overcome with pride.

And to this day I do not remember why but ma said it was 'cause the spirit of my dad flowed through me, the pride of the Inuzuka clan.

I stretched my back to its full height; I was an Inuzuka for Pete's sake.

"I saw what happened." My voice was strong but we both knew that was a façade. By that point, ma's eyes were narrowed into slits.

"What?"

"I saw the murder, I saw Killer Bee kill that man!" I almost yelled but I made sure the cops on the other side of the door could not hear what I said. I would not go down as a tattletale. Like the saying goes, snitches get stitches and I was perfectly happy with the way my face looked.

Ma was quiet for a long time (well, it probably just felt that way). I expected her to tell me that everything was okay and life goes on but I was shocked into silence when the first words out of her mouth were not what I thought.

"You lied to me?" Those four words stung. I was a mama's boy (since I never even met my father, the bastard) and it hurt to hear her say that. I never meant to lie to her, it just I did not want to hurt her. That reason sounds silly now that the truth is out.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Is that why the cops are here?"

I nodded hesitantly. "Y-yes, ma'am."

Ma leaned forward with her elbow on her knee in a threatening way. "Well, go open the door, Kazuhiko. You got some cops waiting for you." She nodded her head to the door. The knocks had continued even after these two minutes. "They must really want to talk to you."

"B-but ma! Snitches get stitches! I won't last a day in the joint!" I squealed. My body was cowering at the very thought of prison. I was too young to go to jail! I would not put it passed those Oto cops to not throw me the slammer. They probably have done it before.

Ma did not take no for an answer and with that crazy strength of hers, she tugged me up and hurled me across the room. "It's rude to make people wait, Kazuhiko! Open the damn door."

I could not help but snort at that. Seriously? Coming from the one who just threw me across the room? Are you serious? I knew what I had to do, I had to lie, lie my butt off.

I opened the door with a quick burst of energy. What would this cops think when they saw me, a kid, talking to them like any other normal person? Perhaps they were used to it. After all, a lot of parents were murdered nowadays and the cops had to talk to the children. But this was different; I had nothing such as my parents' death to turn on the mob.

There were two cops at the door and both of them glanced around before their eyes gazed down at me. Dark chocolate eyes clashed awkwardly with coal and coffee eyes. The one on the left bent down whilst smiling at me. "You are Inuzuka Kazuhiko, correct?" the man asked with politeness that was better off dead.

I glared at him with suspicion. "How the hell do you know my name?" I dragged out. I did not like cops to begin with (much like most of the residents on Small Took Boulevard) and it did not sit well with me that they knew my name. It was mine even as much as I hated it but it was the only thing that was personal to me.

The cop's smile turned into an unpleasant frown. "Quite a mouth you have on you and at such young age too. Your mother probably isn't too happy 'bout that," he chuckled but did not give me an answer to my question.

It was at that time, my ma made her presence known. With a slight cough, she hissed, "what do you want?" It must have been a sight to see for the cops. There sat a woman in her late thirties wearing combat boots and jeans (which women normally did not wear) and a man's button-down shirt.

Ma was not really on the feminine side. She thought regardless of gender, every person had the right to wear pants or dresses. Often, the ladies on the street would hound her on her choice of attire. But when ma showed no interest in them, they went as far as trying to get the police to take custody of my sister and me. But their plan failed when they couldn't come up with an excuse as to why we should be taken away. The dumb old bitches.

Ma was very intimidating, she could put those interrogators to shame with just one look of her cold amber eyes. In fact, one of her old high school buddies, Morino Ibiki, is now an interrogator and he said if ma wanted to, she could be the world's best torture personal. She even got job offers from ANBU and ROOT but she turned them down for her normal every day bus driving job. Do ya see what I meant when I said shot-gun armed taxi-drivers?

The cop that did not talk before, spoke, his voice was fairly low even though he was a short man. "Ma'am, I'm detective Takeda and this," he pointed to his taller companion, "is detective Uchiha. We are here because of the murder that happened in front of your apartment three hours ago."

Ma snorted. "Then why the hell are you here? In my home?"

Detective Takeda looked surprised by mother's unladylike manners but he quickly shook it off. "We are here 'cause some people say your son here might have saw something."

I was glad he did not say my name; I did not want a cop to ever say my name. Not even my last name or a nickname.

Ma glared at the detective with a hidden rage. Just who did this pig think he was? "I'll have you know, detective, that my boy was right here when the murder happened."

The man raised one of his bushy eyebrows. He turned to look at me but I pretended to be busy with my shoelace. "Look, we are not asking you to snitch," I flinched at the word, "we just need you to go downstairs and look at a few suspects and if ya can't, ya can't."

I glance up at ma but she was no help in making my decision. Her expression was unreadable as she gazed out the window. I knew it was time to be a man and just go downstairs. I nodded to the policeman. I looked coldly into his eyes (I could have sworn he shivered). "I'll go but after that I want you to pack up your shit and leave."

The cops blinked at one another before the taller one (detective Uchiha) smirked. "Sure, whatever, kid. We'll do that but you gotta take this seriously, the guys back at the situation ain't nice to liars." He then proceeded to grab my arm and yank me out the door with detective Takeda and ma following closely behind.

:/line/:

When we finally reached the street, the first thing I saw was Killer Bee's face. He was amongst the crowd that gathered. He was also talking to a cop casually. When he saw me, he winked. It was cold and if anything evil. I gulped; here is the part where I have to lie like no tomorrow if I want to live.

I glance over at the men leaning against my building. I recognized some of them, Asuma, Baki and my gym teacher Gai were there in the lineup. Detective Uchiha hauled me over to them to which I squeaked.

"Okay, Kazuhiko, is this the man that shot Mr. Aburame?" he asked whilst letting go of my arm to point at Baki. Baki gazed wickedly at me but did not look down. I shook my head franticly and we moved on to the next one.

This time it was Gai. He had his normal teeth-shimmering grin on his face though he did not say anything to me which I thought was impossible for him. Guess I was wrong. "Is this the man that shot Mr. Aburame?" I glanced at the cop when he spoke and shook my head.

And so that was how it went, Mr. Uchiha asking me if 'this was the man that shot Mr. Aburame?' and me shaking my head as we moved to the next on the line. Finally, the line ended. The detective looked down at me. "Well, Kazuhiko, like I promised, I'll pack my shit up and leave." He let out a little chuckle at his inside joke.

I nodded, not really paying attention to him. "Of course." I gazed at Killer Bee, he was staring at me. A small smile grazed his lips. That was the last thing I saw before ma dragged me inside so I could freshen up for dinner.