A/N: Hey, guys and gals! Welcome back.


XVI: Her Promise

Good God, the Aburame household was creepy at oh-dark-thirty. Everyday objects cast shifting shadows; at an open window, a curtain had fluttered, momentarily freaking out Kiba.

Otherwise, he had used all his considerable skills in stealth to tiptoe through the house. Each floorboard had been carefully tested- -each sound listened to with utmost alarm. His heart had nearly stopped earlier when he'd gotten up, and Shino had shifted in his sleep.

It was possible that Shino had done that on purpose to give Kiba a scare. Shino had been acting weird at dinner and as they all got around for bed in the living room. Little things, like standing in Kiba's view of Ino, or interrupting any conversation he might have with her, or talking to him until an hour ago, delaying him from going to visit her. Like Shino had been teasing in a sly, ironic manner.

The anxiousness Kiba felt over Ino's seriousness, and over Shino's and Akamaru's concerns about Ino and her involvement with Sasuke, had niggled and gnawed at his mind the entire time. He'd never be able to compete with Sasuke if it came to looks and brilliance in battle. And what would he do if Ino did admit to using him as 'practice'? The thought made him feel sick to his stomach.

Kiba's foot hit a loose floorboard, lifted too late as a creak called through the dark hallway. Shit. Hadn't been paying attention. The stairs to Ino's room were a few feet away. Quickly, he closed the distance without further incident.

His hand rested on the cool metal of the doorknob, when he heard a shuffling within the house. There was a click- -a light switch flipped? Some murmuring, and the shuffling came closer; it was Shino's mom.

Kiba opened the door, slipped inside, and shut it noiselessly. The stairway was black as pitch, so he felt along the walls to creep up the stairs. When the shuffling arrived outside the door- -and paused- -he stopped, stone still. At the same time, he prayed, hard, and held his breath for good measure. Move on, please, just move on

Over his pounding heart, he heard Mrs. Aburame move from the door down the hall. Oh, thank God. Air rushed out of his lungs. That had been a close one. Before moving on, he decided to wait until his heartbeat returned to normal, and wipe the sweat that had broken out on his forehead.

Several slow, precise steps later, Kiba reached the attic door and tapped the code he'd memorized. The flare of chakra forced him to squint and cover his eyes, and once it passed, the door opened. He ducked into the soft light of the room, past Ino, and waited impatiently for her to reseal the door.

As she did, the first thing he noticed was her cute rear in some pink-hearted boy-shorts-not the black satin she'd been wearing on their first encounter. He tried not to feel disappointed.

"Yer not dressed up," he said.

She turned. Her top was one of those cami-shirt-things that matched the boy-shorts, showing off her great rack. And she'd left her hair down.

"I wanted this to be casual and not intimidating."

"Intimidating? I kinda like the sound of that." He stepped closer to fill his hands with the curves of her hips. "Leather. Some red lipstick. Boots with heels."

"Maybe next time," she whispered, stretching up to kiss him. "This is easier."

Her arms slithered around his shoulders as she pressed closer. Her lips against his, soft, warm, sweet. Their tongues met with a friendly hello.

Somehow, all the conflict Kiba had suffered through melted away. She made him feel better just by running her tongue along his and by fooling with his hair. Her smell jacked up his senses- -a sweet, tangy combination that dizzied him. Crap. He had to sit, or fall.

Breaking the kiss was hard, and when Kiba did, he realized how short of breath she'd made him. Worse…his whole body ached for her bare skin to touch his.

"The"- -overwhelmed- -"couch."

Ino nodded. They moved as one entity across the space, landing in a tangle on the cushions. He couldn't wait; he had to have her immediately. His hand had shoved up the hem of her shirt to expose her midriff, and continued to travel to cup her breast.

"Oh, wait!" Ino cried. "Wait."

But her round flesh had filled his hand and his mouth grazed her throat. A couple more kisses, then he swore he would stop. One more, just one more. Her taste addicted him, couldn't get enough. One more. Another.

She squirmed under him, knocking away his hand and sticking her forearm into his throat. He winced with the pain, struggled, but ceased when her arm closed his windpipe.

Even her eyes were stern. "I said wait. Please."

Unable to speak, Kiba backed off and waited, rubbing where her arm had barred him, for her to sit up and adjust her clothes.

"You didn't have to be so mean," he told her, throat sore. "I would've stopped…sometime."

She giggled. "That's what I was worried about. And what I have to say is really important."

"Aw, can't it wait?"

"I think it's important for you to know what you're getting into."

"You make it sound like…it's gonna be bad." Nerves fluttered in his stomach. "Is it?"

Her eyes dropped. "I guess that depends."

"Okay." His mouth had gone dry and swallowing was difficult. "Hit me."

"Would you like some water? You look like-"

"Stop stalling and spit it out." Her eyes narrowed at his tone- -he hadn't meant to sound so angry, so he backpedaled. "What I mean is, let's get it over with."

"You're right. Sorry."

She flipped her hair, then positioned her hands into her lap, closed her eyes, took a breath. He liked how she prepared herself to speak.

"Okay. Kiba." Her eyes were on him again, this time steady. "For a very long time, I considered myself in love with Sasuke. I did everything for him. The style of my hair, my clothes, what I said, everything was carefully prepared to impress him. I even lost my best friend over him."

She sighed and in the low light, Kiba saw the glassiness to her eyes, smelt the truth in the words. Saying them was hurting her, but they both needed her to finish.

"And then…he left…for that…that bastard that'd killed the Third. To say I was devastated…would be an extreme understatement. When you, and Shikamaru, and Chouji, and the others left, I…I could do nothing, but resolve to save all my love for him, and when he returned, he could have it all."

A single tear coursed from the corner of her eye, fell to her chin where it dripped off. He wanted to go and beat the living shit out of Sasuke for making her cry. He wanted to reach out and touch her, but he knew that would disrupt the moment, so Kiba remained at the other side of the couch, fairly seething.

"And you and the others fought so hard. Any one of you could have died, would have, if it would've brought him back. When you all came back empty-handed for the effort, how did I feel?" A sardonic chuckle. "Furious at you for not getting him to come home. Why hadn't the six of you been able to get him? You didn't try hard enough. You weren't strong enough.

"I was so angry. And angry at myself for supposedly loving him so much but not doing a goddamn thing to help him stay. I realized…I'd been so blind. Sasuke left because he wanted something else more than anything. And it wasn't love. It wasn't friendship or happiness."

Her throat contracted as she swallowed her bitterness, and he could almost taste it on his own tongue. That bitterness worried him- -would he be able to put her together if she fell apart from it?

She sniffled and continued. "I hadn't even registered on his radar. It wouldn't have mattered if I'd declared my love, if I had begged him to stay. I didn't matter to him. What was in my heart for him was worthless.

"That…tore me to pieces. I hid in my room, crying, using up all the tissues in the house. I was a pathetic waste of space. It was a long time before I asked myself what the hell I thought I was doing.

"Why was I so absorbed in one person who didn't even acknowledge my existence? How useless! Finally, I was able to stop crying and stand up. But I felt so empty, so cold, hollow. Then I ran into you.

"We bitched at each other like we always did, and then, I had an epiphany. A veil lifted from my eyes. And after being blinded by my fanaticism for Sasuke for so long, what I realized was crystal clear."

Her point, her whole reason for her actions was about to be revealed. It would change him, he knew it would. His stomach somersaulted; his palms went clammy. Through his nerves, he smelled a fluctuation in Ino's scent. She was no longer afraid and sad, but confident.

Ino's voice resonated. "You have always acknowledged me. I existed to you. And then…I was in love with you. And the way I felt about Sasuke had been a sort of…had been a mask to cover those feelings."

Having said that, she stopped, her eyes watching him quietly as he processed the information. He came up with: Ino. Was. In. Love. With. Him. Ino was in love with him. Ino was in love with him?

"Why didn't you say anything?" he burst out. He grabbed her shoulders. "Are you telling me you've felt this way for, like, three years?"

"The feelings for you were…so much more intense, and they scared me." She pulled his hands from her shoulders and twined her fingers with his. "If they scared me, they would for sure scare you. And it's been longer than three years. I guess…I've always had this…thing for you. But denial kicked in because there was no way I should be attracted to you when Sasuke was so brilliant and beautiful."

Yamanaka Ino had been attracted to him for this long and he never noticed? What kind of an idiot was he? In the moment of realizing his blindness, he let go of her hand to slap his palm to his forehead.

Ino laughed. "You don't have to feel bad! I did a superb job of covering up my feelings, if I do say so myself."

"Yeah, I had no idea. Like none."

Her smile after that was smug; she shrugged. "I didn't want to scare you away."

Kiba sat back when a thought occurred to him, and the thought gave him a jolt of nervous energy- -a sort of elation and chilling electricity at the same time.

"Ino…" His lungs constricted. "Are you telling me you…that you…love me?"

She hesitated and her eyes dropped. Kiba squeezed her fingers, but she didn't respond.

"Ino? Do you love me?" he whispered.

"I…I don't-"

He released her hands to put his on her neck, parting her hair like a curtain to get at her skin. Her pulse tripped under the gentle pressure of his fingers at her throat.

"Please tell me the truth." He kissed her. "I need to know."

She nodded. "Yes. I do love you."

Only then, his insides shrank away some. He had no idea what to say. Did she expect him to say 'I love you' back? He wasn't sure if he could tell her that; his feelings for her were so raw and fresh and confusing. He'd never experienced being in love with someone before, so how could be sure what he felt was love? Would she withhold sex to get him to say it? She rubbed her nose on his.

"Hey, don't freak out. I'm not finished yet." Her eyes glimmered in the soft light. "I decided that I wanted to tell you this before things escalated because it's unfair for me to feel this way and know what the feeling is, and then to…dump it on you. You deserve the time to sort out how you feel. You don't have to say it back…I'm not pressuring you."

Hm. Obviously, she'd spent a lot of time thinking this through. Looking at her, he finally understood the secret she'd been keeping, how she'd thought of him enough to be careful with his feelings. All the mixed signals she'd given off finally made sense now- -the whole slapping episode, everything. She had said she didn't want to scare him away…and currently, he wanted nothing more than to stay by her side.

"So is this what you meant when you said you wanted me to know what I was getting into?"

"Hm-hm. And," she said softly, "I want you to know that I'm not…expecting you to be Sasuke. I want you to be completely Kiba."

"Well, good. 'Cause that's who I am." He kissed her. She hesitated, so he broke the kiss. "There's more."

A sigh from her parted lips. "Look, I know this is probably a lot to take in. And I know you wanna get to business, but sleeping with you is something that is important to me."

"Hm."

He stole another kiss from her, mind already five steps ahead. She wiggled and pushed him, not meanly. He was stronger, so even though she tried to get space, he could keep her near and place a few light kisses along her jaw. The fog her presence and scent cast over him returned. His body, his heart, needed her. He no longer feared competition with Sasuke.

Ino persisted. "Kiba. Shinobi do things that they might regret, that they might feel guilty about. It could be that something will happen between you and Yukari."

"Hm-hm." More kisses to trail along her neck and collarbone. "Right."

"Sex with you is a promise that no matter what happens, you can always come back to me. Always." She paused. "Are you listening?"

"Hm." His tongue tasted the vanilla-lemon he loved, swirling at her pulse. "Got it."

Her hands dipped under his shirt, and her fingers trailed up his sides, sending sweet shivers down his spine. His mouth found hers, crushed, and made him breathless. Against his chest, Kiba felt Ino's own chest heave.

"The bed," she said, "now."

Together they stood, kissing mouths, chins, cheeks. In the few steps to her bed, they managed to shed and discard their pajamas. Each completely naked, Kiba laid Ino gently across her bed, too intensely focused on her to take the extra time to allow her to shift her head to the pillows. She adapted, grabbing one and shoving it under her head, as Kiba stared at her.

Those breasts and hips called to him, but he wanted to burn this picture so deep into his brain that he'd never be able to shake it. Her hair spilled out like a pool of sunshine, her eyes seductive, and her mouth in a slight tilt; legs bent at the knee, the lines of them leading to her tuft of hair and one of her properties he desired most. Everything about her fit his definition of perfection.

And not because she was the first naked woman he'd seen. Something about Yamanaka Ino had grabbed hold of him and stuck with him. Now, more than ever, he needed to feel her, to memorize the curves, the softness of that skin, so he straddled her and spread his hands up her stomach to cup her boobs.

She made a soft noise and let him touch her to his fill. He swooped his hands all over, sometimes gently fondling, other times using his rough calluses to extricate a cry from her. After some time, he lowered his body to hers, satisfied with her delicious curves, feeling swollen, almost heavy.

"You're burning up," Ino whispered, her hands stroking his back.

"So are you."

Her cheeks had a deep flush to them; the heat radiated from her. In her scent, he could tell she was ready even without their usual frenetic bout of foreplay. Likewise, his arousal was there, like a liquid pulling, and though he'd been anticipating sex, expecting that fierce, angry lust to explode out, he only felt relaxed.

They had time, and Kiba was sure of her feelings for him, so there was no rush; he could afford to walk instead of run. But, strangely enough, Ino was tense. He felt how taut her muscles were under her skin, the sweat, and his nose picked up some anxiety.

"Yer nervous," he said, shifting slightly to his side. "You don't have to be."

"I'm…excited and…a little afraid that I won't please you."

He traced her inner thigh with his hand. "Relax some. You already please me fine."

When his fingers rubbed against her slick folds, Ino's hips rode up, into him, and she cried out. Her cry set his arousal simmering- -then to boiling when he slipped a couple fingers inside her and she cried again, breasts rising and falling.

Her misty eyes searched his. "I can't stand it anymore. I need you inside me."

He couldn't help the breathy laugh. "You sound like we're making a porno."

"Shut up," she said, with a smile. "You know what I mean. The condoms are over there on the nightstand."

"Condoms? The last time we almost did this without them."

They would have if the damn doorbell hadn't rung. Stupid genins. He reached over to the nightstand and found Ino had already taken them out of the box and had separated them along the perforations, and in being her usual girly self, had put them in a candy dish to make it look pretty.

"And that would've been a mistake," she said, as he grabbed one and inspected it. "I've started birth control, but it's not effective until you've been on it for a while."

He opened the wrapper, the potent smell of latex hitting his nose (gross!), and touched the condom, curious. Cold, plastic-y, and greasy.

"This thing looks disgusting." He tossed the wrapper to the side and concentrated on rolling down the condom on his erection. "Great. It just made me wilt a little."

"For heaven's sake, you make it sound like it's this terrible thing."

"I don't like it. It feels…weird." Kiba really detested the condom. He should be completely uninhibited- -that was the nature of the world. "Ugh. Slimy."

"That's the lube. Now get over here. I'm about ready to die, I'm so turned on."

As he shifted over Ino, parting her legs further, he felt a slight tingle on his shaft. The condom must've had some chemicals in it or something. Would that feeling go away? He wanted to feel Ino and all her glory without anything separating him from her. Her hand touched him; he jumped a little.

"Now who's tense?" Ino asked.

"You are, still." He could feel it as they worked together to position his tip at her entrance. "Take a breath."

She did and at the same time, he glided in with her help. Entering her so easily surprised him; he expected there to be some resistance or something. The condom had finally warmed to his body temperature, and he could feel how her inner walls conformed to every crevice. She felt so hot, so good, like nothing he'd ever felt before.

"Oh, my God," Ino whispered. "I didn't…think it'd be that easy."

"How does it feel?"

She caressed his face. "It feels good, but it…feels like you're not in all the way."

"Here…lift yer hips some."

When she did, they both inhaled sharply when he slipped in deeper. The friction he felt pulsed sharp pleasure through him, up his shaft, spine, and harpooned his brain. Instinctively he rocked his hips; Ino groaned softly, bit her lip and Kiba's balls tightened as arousal surged through him, more from her reaction than from his movement into her.

He leaned to kiss her, trying for passionate but ending up tender. In doing so, Ino shifted, and he felt how their hips aligned more comfortably than before. He rested most of his body weight on his forearms and was wondering what would be the best way of starting- -using his forearms or his hips?

"Hm," Ino moaned, her arms reaching out. "Now's a good time to move these."

And she promptly grabbed both of his ass cheeks and shoved him forward. Immediately, throbbing heat, all over. A grunt escaped him, the same time Ino groaned again. He couldn't resist. Without her help, he rolled his hips forward, loving the pleasure that burned through him. Her groan was a little louder, and Kiba saw how dark her eyes were under the heavy fringe of lashes.

They picked up a steady rhythm, punctuated with their soft noises. His feelings for her stirred, laden with arousal and lust, and he felt so connected to her, like a life-line had formed between them. Part of his logic remained conscious, but the majority of his brain had locked into the tinge of an orgasm that promised to be the biggest one yet.

He ducked his head to nibble at her throat, slipping an arm under her lower back to elevate her hips. With the changed angle the pace quickened; with the quickened pace, conscious thought flittered away, replaced by concentration on the rising, tense heat from under his belly.

Out of some instinct, he could feel the same emotions and the same sensations humming through Ino that had reverberated through his insides. They were clear reflections of each other. Her arms had flung to the sides, fingers curling into the comforter. Her groans had turned to gasps, her sweat gleamed on her skin; she was beautiful, completely in tune with him- -his partner.

"It's…happening," she told him, so breathlessly, even as she threw back her head. He already knew. "Kiba, yes!"

After that cry, things went a touch hazy. The heat and steady movements of their hips and the slight tightening of muscles, to get just a little closer, to rise a little higher, combined and flowed through him. He couldn't even think of himself as a whole person, not anymore, not connected to Ino like he was.

So when her body contracted suddenly, back arching her into him, hips begging for uncontrolled movement, he gave it to her, and felt the pleasurable squeeze on his groin, the pressure at its most intense before an orgasm hit, so huge that he couldn't see through it. But, oh, it felt so good. If he made any noise he didn't hear it as he pumped and shuddered a few times and felt Ino do the same under him. After a few moments, Ino's sweaty face, her eyes deep and sparkling, and her lips came back into focus.

"Mission Lose Our Virginity…a success," she said and laughed, low in her throat. "Nice work, partner."

Again- -they were in tune with one another. Perfect harmony. A part of Kiba's brain sparked, gave his spine a buzz. She was his. She would always be his.


A/N: Next chapter: Consequences. See you then!

Edited 11/17/09: You're to Yer

Edited 07/20/10: Replaced incorrect hyphens with dashes = "- -"