A/N: Welcome back! Not much to say here, just that I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I did writing it. =)


Chapter 10: Caught


Ding-dong.

That had to be his imagination. Logically, he knew it wasn't. Someone was at the door.

Should he answer or ignore it? Body heat and bare breasts and Ino's hand on his dick reminded him he was in flagrante.

If he ignored the door, he and Ino could get on with their screwing. If he didn't, he wasn't sure they could pick up where they left off. Ino might escape him like she'd done before.

He looked at Ino, trying to divine an answer from her eyes. The corners of her mouth curled suspiciously.

She thought this was funny! It was not fucking funny that he was so close to getting laid, so-

Ding-dong.

"You better answer that," Ino said. A chuckle lilted her words.

In retaliation, Kiba bit her shoulder and pushed off her with a curse. She laughed at him, even as she rubbed where he bit, and his snarl made her laugh harder.

Kiba spoke as he pulled on a shirt and boxers. "Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back."

"I'll be waiting with bells and whistles."

Whoever was at the damn door was dead meat. That much Kiba was sure of as he moved through the hallway, stopping briefly to check himself; his hard-on had fallen enough to be unnoticeable, which simultaneously pissed off and relieved him.

Just as he touched the doorknob, Ding-dong! His anger simmered a tick under 'furious'.

"What?" he snapped, when he swung open the door.

At his sudden appearance, the team of genins jumped, nerves painfully apparent in their acrid scents. Unimpressed, Kiba gazed down at them.

The genins were a couple of boys and a girl. Two brown-haired, one black-haired, and an assortment of ninja gear, dark clothing, net, cape, and was that a visor he saw?

The girl spoke up softly. "Um, we have a message for Inuzuka Kiba. Is he…is he at home?"

"I'm Kiba."

The message must be semi-important, since it had come from Hokage Tower. He remembered those extra-low D-rank missions from his genin days, but these kids had interrupted sex! Time was of the essence!

Kiba held out his hand. "Give it here."

"Hey, wait!" the black-haired boy piped up. "You could at least show us some appreciation!"

He did not have time for this. Kiba snarled impatiently.

"Give it to me!"

The black-haired boy blanched and visibly trembled; the two others jumped again. With some satisfaction, Kiba watched the girl withdraw an envelope from her waist pouch and stretch out an arm to hand him his message. Her hand shook.

Kiba snatched it from her. "Thank you," he said before slamming the door in their faces.

His hearing picked up, "He's an asshole!"

Temper snapping, Kiba ripped open the door a second time, an angry growl in his throat.

"Get the fuck off my property!"

His shout was enough to bring Akamaru howling and barking from the back of the house to the front. The genins had evacuated the porch when Akamaru charged after them in a white streak of teeth.

The three kids sprinted, screaming bloody murder, to the end of the yard and out of sight. With a smirk, Kiba closed the door, and thought how good it felt to terrorize genins these days.

"That wasn't very nice."

Ino leaned against the wall at the end of the hallway, her arms crossed. And dammit, she had gotten dressed!

Kiba balked at her. "Why are you wearing clothes?"

"That's usually what people wear," she answered wryly. "Who's your message from?"

She laughed when Kiba groaned and turned around to clunk his head against the door. Life wasn't fair. He should've ignored the stupid doorbell! Now his chance at having sex with Ino was ruined.

Kiba didn't turn, even as Ino hugged him and rested her chin on his shoulder.

"Aw…those blue balls must be terrible."

"This is torture," he said. "You must enjoy it, you evil, evil girl."

"Think of it as motivation to address the Yukari problem. That way you won't feel guilty for sleeping with me since you're still technically her boyfriend." She paused. "I don't want you feeling guilty."

He stepped from the door; her arms released him. Kiba didn't want to think about Yukari- -he hadn't for most of yesterday and last night. But the pain he'd hidden from was there, all messy and enormous in his chest, like a kind of nasty, evasive lung disease.

"Yukari ended the relationship when she tried to rape me," Kiba reminded her, clenching his hands into fists. "And if I confront her, I'll end up thrown in prison."

Ino rested a hand on his neck. "I don't think so."

"This is bullshit. Seeing her is the last thing I wanna do."

"She hurt your feelings. She took advantage of you. Of course you don't want to. But you'll have to deal with it sooner or later," Ino said, dropping her hand from his neck. "Sooner is better than later."

Then he watched, surprised, as she worked a finger under the flap of the envelope.

"Hey!"

Somehow she'd plucked the letter from his hand. Kiba hadn't even felt her do it.

Ino smirked. "Relax," she said, handing him the letter without reading it.

Kiba unfolded the paper- -he smelled Yukari in the scent, but the letter was not from her. When he scanned the professional handwriting, he found a 'Mrs. Jun Nakamura' signature at the bottom.

"Yukari's mom," Kiba surmised. He looked up and caught a frown on Ino's mouth. "What?"

"What does she want?"

"It says, '…to discuss events on the date of Saturday previous.' That's good, right? I mean," Kiba itched his head, "I'm already going over there to talk about what happened."

"I should go with you," Ino said.

Kiba detected a huge shift in her hormones; it felt like an air pressure drop before a thunderstorm. She was worried about something. And scared. Really scared.

"Whoa." He set aside the letter and envelope so he could put his hands on her shoulders. "Ino, it's fine. I'll take care of it."

To his surprise, she pushed him. "This isn't something to take lightly! It's highly probable that she's the one who we're after. If that's the case, we have to prepare a plan of action! You go in alone, you'll walk right into her clutches!"

Her vehement response kicked his instinct, and he wanted to snap at her, but he held back. Her emotions gave her away. Ino had reacted out of fear, and fear showed itself in different ways. He thought he knew what scared her.

His proximity made her more pliable to him, so Kiba wrapped his arms around her so she couldn't get distance from him. Of course Ino protested, trying to wriggle free, but he rested his forehead on hers. She quieted.

"I'm not taking anything lightly." He sighed. How to put this? "And if you think Yukari and her mother can trap me, yer dumber than I thought."

His comment didn't make her laugh like he'd hoped. Instead, her lips brushed his. They kissed.

Instantly, he felt an endless connection to her soul- -he wanted to touch her heart and take all her secrets and insecurities and put them in his own heart for safekeeping. No one would hurt her if he guarded her heart; he'd make sure of it.

That connection felt too deep…too intense, too vivid. Too…everything. Kiba didn't want to be attached to another person so viscerally, but he couldn't break it. The feeling inside him had become bigger than he could reasonably handle. Panic combated his emotions for control.

Ino ducked her head into his neck. "I'm going with you."

"No." He said it more forcefully than he meant. "No."

Kiba attempted to shake off his inner turmoil, but Ino made that impossible when she scraped her teeth on his earlobe. The gentle bite scrambled his brain. He struggled against his emotions for her, and the physical feelings she invoked.

"They'll manipulate you, try to make you feel ashamed, dirty." Her mouth hovered near his ear; her breath feather-light. "They know what makes a shinobi weak, and they'll use it. They'll use it until it breaks you."

Dark anger sparked. "You make me sound incapable of defending myself. Trust me, I can deal with it." He gripped the anger like a dying man did life.

"I'm going with you," she repeated.

Her persistence irritated him into releasing her, and he brushed past her to the kitchen so he could finish regrouping himself. The anger had other ideas, boiling up in his blood and suggesting that he rake his nails across something. He had to calm down. Destruction was bad, and so was destroying the house.

Kiba felt Ino approach him inside the kitchen area, so he faced her, glaring. "You want me to trust you, yet you don't trust me? Explain to me how that works!"

Ino's eyes looked hard, yet even without her scent he knew she was upset with his decision to fight her.

"That's not what I'm saying, and you know it. You're underestimating your enemy!"

Familiar exasperation nagged behind his temples. "For God's sake! These are civilians we're talking about!"

"Yeah, and you seem to forget one of them used drugs to try and suck your sperm into her vagina…all so she could marry you!"

A laugh bubbled at the back of his throat, but he controlled it and remained serious.

"Look, this is different." Kiba lowered his volume. "I'm on my guard. And I don't need backup to handle this situation."

She crossed her arms. "I'm glad you think so. I'm still going with you."

Annoying, tenacious little bitch! Kiba crossed the floor, and before she could evade him, he trapped her against the counter.

Growls, teeth showing two inches from her nose, and proximity had the desired effect. Her scent changed- -even Ino's hardened resolve weakened under his show of emotion.

Kiba spoke deliberately. "I'm doing this by myself. You are not coming with me."

"You're going into a dangerous situation." Ino sounded measured, but he could feel how tense she was.

Then her eyes dropped from his. "I'm worried about you."

Her admittance in that tiny, sad voice cooled him off, and he quit growling. 'I'm worried about you' meant she cared about him, that she didn't want to see him hurt. He understood her feelings; he didn't want to see her hurt either.

"Please let me come with you," she said, rubbing her nose on his. "I want to be there for you."

He couldn't say no to her, especially since she'd melted him into a puddle of spineless goo.

Dammit, he was losing his mind.

"Fine. But if you come along, I'm team leader. You do what I tell you without questions, or you'll be excluded. Got it?"

She nodded and smiled with alarming speed. "Roger-dodger!"

Ding-dong.

Kiba threw up his arms. "God! Like the one time I have a girl over, everyone wants to fuckin' visit!"

His show of exasperation got Ino laughing at least, and Kiba left to answer the door. His nose picked up a familiar, horrifying scent halfway down the hall. He stopped immediately.

No way. No way Mrs. Nara was on the other side of the door.

Kiba's nose didn't lie. Shikamaru's nosey mom, and Mom's closest friend, was on his doorstep. What was she doing on his doorstep? If she saw Ino here at this time in the morning, the logical conclusion would be that Ino had spent the night. Then everyone's moms would know.

Scratch that. Make it just plain his mom. Shit.

He did an abrupt 180 degree turn and dashed into the kitchen, where Ino had poured a glass of water.

"You gotta hide," he said, heart racing. "Shikamaru's mom's here."

Her jaw dropped. "No way."

Ding-dong.

"Bedroom." He already pulled her. Water sloshed out of the glass. "And don't make a peep."

"My bag! And shoes!"

She'd left them at the front door. "Dammit. I'll grab 'em."

Kiba left Ino to snatch up her shoes and shoulder bag. He sprinted to toss the items into his bedroom where she was and sprinted back; Kiba opened the door.

"Hi"- -crap, he was out of breath- -"Mrs. Nara."

"Hello, Kiba." Her glittering black eyes assessed him. She finally smiled. "May I come in?"

No! Go away! "Sure."

As he stepped back to let in Mrs. Nara, she shoved a grocery bag in his arms, and hefted a second one.

She continued, leading him to the kitchen. "I came by to check on you and Akamaru. Your mother wanted to make sure you were safe and sound since she left before you got back."

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Mrs. Nara set the grocery bag on the counter; he followed suit. Another long, quiet gaze. Kiba swallowed and tried to even out his buzzing nerves. Some sweat cooled on his forehead.

"Tsume also wanted me to check the house, do you mind?"

"Ah…" Check the house? For what? If he asked these questions, would he sound suspicious? Probably. "If that's what Mom wants."

Crap. Ino needed to be warned. How would he do it?

"You wouldn't happen to have anyone over, would you?" she asked.

Her question literally froze him to the spot. His mind went blank, and over the thunder in his chest, he managed to form an answer.

"Uh, no. Why?"

"No reason." She reached out and fingered the tag at his neck. "By the way, your shirt's on inside out and backwards."

"Um, you woke me up and I had to get dressed quick."

She started moving toward the bedrooms. Fuck.

"This shouldn't take very long. Put away the groceries, if you don't mind," she called over her shoulder.

Ino was on her own; he couldn't viably warn her without Mrs. Nara getting suspicious.

His stomach did an unhappy somersault as he complied. Anyone finding Ino would get him severely punished; but the fact that it was Shikamaru's mom gave him no doubts that Inoichi would catch wind.

Death was imminent. Distracted, he tried putting canned soup in the refrigerator before he caught himself.

Mrs. Nara exited the bedroom hall and started inspecting the rest of the house. That probably meant she hadn't discovered Ino. Relief actually made his knees feel watery. Kiba had finished organizing the groceries in the cabinets and fridge before Mrs. Nara returned.

She placed a hand on Kiba's shoulder. "Everything looks in order, so I'll be leaving. You know you can come over for dinner if you want."

As they walked to the front he said, "Thanks. I will," and opened the door for her.

"Okay, then. Goodbye."

"Yeah. Bye."

He waited. She stepped onto the front walk before she turned. He had known she was going to do that.

"Oh! You wouldn't happen to know where Ino is, do you? She didn't go home yesterday and her mother is worried sick."

She knew. Kiba didn't know how she knew, but she did. Keeping his reaction in check, Kiba remembered what Ino planned to say, and thought he might as well collaborate.

"I think she stayed the night with Sakura. They had some girl-stuff or something to talk about. Naruto and I stayed away, so I don't know for sure."

"I see. If you happen to bump into her, make sure she checks in with her parents."

"Okay."

"Bye, now."

Mrs. Nara waved, and Kiba waited until she disappeared at the end of the walk before closing the door. He sighed. Managing a relationship with Ino was getting to be more than he bargained for.

Kiba went to his bedroom and stopped in the doorway. Ino frantically plowed through the mess of bedding on the floor. Something was wrong.

"My earrings!" Ino cried. "My earrings are missing! Those were the earrings Master Asuma gave us, they can't be missing, those are my favorite and he told us…that…"

He heard tears starting. And when she spun to face him, her anxious features sucked the air out of his lungs.

"You checked the nightstand?" He moved to stand beside her and fought against helplessness. "I made sure they were near the lamp."

That at least was semi-clear in his mind. She'd handed them to him last thing before they fell asleep. He'd leaned over and set them on the nightstand beside the lamp.

But the earrings were not present on the nightstand.

"I thought that…they might be knocked off, you know, when we were messing around." Ino's voice wavered, but no tears yet. "So maybe they got wrapped up in the sheets or something."

"If we hit the nightstand, we would've noticed. Don't you think these things would be knocked down too?" He gestured to some small items placed haphazardly on the stand.

Ino didn't reply. When he looked at her, she seemed deep in thought, her brow crunched and her hands on her hips; her upset had flushed her face.

Kiba ran his hand down her braid. "What? What're you thinking?"

"Mrs. Nara."

"Mrs. Nara…?"

"She'd recognize the earrings and take them as evidence- -that's the sort of thing she'd do."

Whoa, paranoia. "Why?"

"To keep me in line. Maybe even you. Aren't your mother and she good friends?" Evidently she'd come to a conclusion. "That would explain everything."

"I'm…completely lost."

She sighed and flicked her bangs out of her eyes. "Don't worry about it. If the earrings don't show up on your bedroom floor, she's got 'em. I thought I saw her lift something from the nightstand."

"Uh…okay?" Kiba wasn't sure he wanted to know, and a subject change was definitely in order. "Let me get ready and we can head over to the Nakamura's."

"Hm. I'll help make the bed, and while you're changing, I'll take care of the dishes." Ino touched his arm. "Would you mind if we stop by my place first?"

Kiba shrugged. "If you don't take too long. I wanna get this Yukari thing over with."

"Yeah, I know. I promise it'll only take a few minutes."

"Sure. You probably wanna put on make-up or something."

His tease earned him a pillow smack across the face, and Ino pointed at him.

"It's a girl-thing. I wouldn't expect you to understand."

Their light verbal play continued throughout the making of the bed, and after, Ino left him alone so he could dress. Kiba opted to wear his usual ninja gear: a net shirt, black pants, leather jacket, Leaf hitai-ate, and the usual shuriken holster and waist pouch.

Habit had him checking his weapons and tools, but he couldn't shake the bizarre feeling that he was treating this meeting like an important A-rank mission. Definitely Ino had contributed to his over-preparation. All that stuff about 'it's a dangerous situation,' and 'know your enemy'.

Overall, Kiba didn't think he'd need Ino's help to break up with Yukari, and apparently, Mrs. Nakamura. Once they knew he knew what they were trying to do, he was sure they would back off. If not, then Kiba would threaten them with the police, even though Ino had told him before that wouldn't work.

They were civilians. What could possibly go wrong?


A/N: Yes, what could possibly go wrong? *insert evil laugh here* Next chapter: Kiba, Akamaru, and Ino pay the Nakamuras a visit. Until then!