Ino had flown into a rage. "I don't need your help, mutt! My marriage is fine. We are happy together. It's like we were meant to be. Now leave me alone!"

He watched her go, her feet slapping the ground loudly as she stormed off. At least this time when they had fought she hadn't slapped him. He looked down at Akamaru, who was looking right back up at him. The look on his face saying "damn, you're an idiot."

Kiba shrugged. "Not my fault she can't handle the truth."

Akamaru looked unamused and snorted before getting up and beginning the walk back towards their home. Kiba planted his hands firmly in his pockets before following suit.

He really was only teasing her. He realized that that run in with her could have gone so much smoother if he had just played nice. Unfortunately, he tended to have the mentality of a kindergartener when it came to girls: the more he liked a girl, the more he teased her. Obviously, he liked Ino a lot. It was hard not to fall in love with her all over again just by seeing her standing right in front of him. Her platinum blond locks were practically glowing in the sunlight, her revealing outfit allowed his eyes access to every sensuous curve of her body, the way the wind blew her flowery aroma right up his nose….

"I shouldn't have asked her about the sex," he decided. That was probably what had pushed her over the edge and into a pit of fury. In hindsight, that question had been far too inappropriate and personal. He hadn't been able to help himself, though. He knew that Ino and Shikamaru had most likely consummated their marriage ages ago, yet he still wanted to cling to the hope that he could be Ino's first. Somewhere in the darkest depths of his being, Kiba felt guilt weighing on his conscience. Even if she had chosen to drop everything and leave Shikamaru right now to be with Kiba, she wouldn't be Kiba's first. Why hadn't he waited for her?

Because she got married and I lost all hope. Because the pain of loneliness and rejection was too much to bear. Because my pride won over my morals.

This day had started out so perfectly, and now Kiba felt like everything had gone to shit. It was all horribly, utterly wrong. He just wanted to go inside and sleep the remainder of the week away.

"Akamaru, I'm heading inside," Kiba said when they had finally reached the house. "Feel free to chill out here and let yourself in later. I'm just feeling a little tired."

Akamaru let out a soft whining noise, begging Kiba to stay outside and play with him. Kiba just shook his head and unlocked the door, letting himself in. "I'll see you later, okay boy?"

He stepped into the house and shut the door behind him. He examined the disaster area that was his living room. It definitely screamed bachelor pad. His clothes were strewn about the room, covering piles made up of bottles, cans, and pizza boxes. His couch was ragged and drooped from all the times he had plopped onto it.

I really need to get my priorities straight, he thought to himself, taking in the smell of the mess around him.

He peeled his shirt from his back and kicked his pants to the side. He teetered over towards the couch and slouched down into it. Sitting in silence, it didn't take long for his mind to drift to Ino and her afternoon shopping. He thought of how she had gone through so much trouble to collect everything needed for her carefully planned dinner. He had smelled the freshness of the ingredients and knew she had spent a pretty penny just for her husband. His eye brows furrowed as envy put a dark cloud over him. He came home every day to an empty house while Shikamaru was living the good life with the perfect woman and couldn't care less. He was taking her completely for granted. And what was worse? She was letting him!

Kiba snarled and slapped at an empty beer bottle that had been resting on the coffee table by the sofa. It flew from the table and shattered against a nearby wall.

Why hadn't he told her when he'd had the chance?

Because you were scared. You chickened out. The thought infuriated him. She didn't love you anyway.

That thought probably hurt the most. She had never been serious with any guy, ever. But one day, she just up and gets married? Not to mention she could have picked any guy in the village, but picked Shikamaru. Even Choji would have been a much better option. He would have at least tried to give a resemblance of a fuck about her. But, instead, she chooses Shikamaru, who hardly even acknowledges her.

He wanted to yell at her, tell her how stupid she was. How dumb her decisions have been. Tell her Shikamaru is a douche, that Shikamaru doesn't love her. He wanted to tell her that he loved her, that he has always loved her since the day she back handed him. He wanted to tell her that he would hold her and listen to her and wouldn't keep her locked in a house all of the time. He'd take her to dances and buy her beautiful gowns just so he could waltz with her and show off his gorgeous girl to everyone-and he didn't even like to dance! He wanted to scream it all to the world, except everyone else would hear it but her.

All the thoughts swimming through his head were pushing him to exhaustion. It didn't take long before Kiba drifted off into a restless slumber.

She was straddling him, the skirt of her sheer nightie bundled up well above her thigh. She shoved him down onto the bed with a mischievous grin on her face. She pulled the nightie up and over her head, unveiling the lacy pink bra and thong underneath. She tugged her hair out of its signature high ponytail and shook it, fluffing it with her fingers lightly, making it look all sexy and messy. Kiba swallowed.

"Ino, I've wanted this for so long. But Shikamaru-"

She pressed a finger to his lips to silence him. Their eyes met and she bit her lower lip and smiled. Her hands traveled down to the front clasp on her bra.

This is it, Kiba thought.

Just as she was about to set her breasts free, a thunderous knock came from the bedroom door. Ino's head whipped around, surprised. "Who's that?"

"I don't know," Kiba said. "Just keep going. They'll leave eventually."

She giggled and returned to unclasping her bra when another knock sounded. This time, more urgent.

"You've got to be kidding me," Kiba muttered. He was growing impatient, and he'd be damned if anyone was going to cock block him today!

Just as Ino began to stand up and head towards the door, Kiba grabbed her at the waist and flipped her down onto the bed. He was inches above her now, and his breathing came out ragged as he gazed down at the beauty beneath him. He had to have her, his instincts were practically screaming at him to take her.

"You're mine now," he growled. She squealed with delight as he lunged at her and nibbled at her neck. His hands groped at her, sliding along her body, loving the silky feel of her skin on his fingertips. Suddenly, a doorbell rang. Kiba sat up on his knees and paused, turning to face the bedroom door curiously. His bedroom didn't have a doorbell…?

Kiba's eyes popped open and he instantly closed his eyes again, hoping to fall asleep quickly and return to his dream. The doorbell rang again and he felt the hardness in his lower area begin to deflate. He growled and roared and chucked another glass bottle at the wall where it exploded onto the floor. Kiba narrowed his eyes at the door.

Whoever interrupted my sleep is going to pay big time.

He leapt off of the couch and stomped towards the door. Tearing it open, he barked out "What?"

The familiar scent of flowers made his heart flutter and his eyes widened with surprised when he realized the person standing before him was none other than the gorgeous Yamanaka herself. Her hair sat atop her head in a messy bun and there were circles under her eyes. She wore a baggy t-shirt and a pair of tiny jean shorts. His heart ached at the sight of her. She still looked beautiful.

Her blue eyes grew as she took in his appearance. As her gaze drifted lower, her hand flew up to her mouth and her face turned about ten shades of red. "Oh!"

Kiba gave her a questioning look. He looked down at himself to see what the big deal was and realized he was only wearing boxers.

Perfect…

Floundering to mask the embarrassment, Kiba slapped his usual cocky grin on his face and laughed. "What? Never seen a man in his underwear before?"

Ino looked away quickly, her face growing redder-if that was possible. "You're an idiot."

Ouch. "So, what brings the princess out of her castle? Mingling with the peasants today?"

She rolled her eyes and glared at him. "If you'd shut up for five seconds, I'd tell you."

Kiba's smile straightened out and he folded his arms over his chest, leaning against the door frame and staring at her, awaiting her explanation patiently.

She took a deep breath and exhaled. "I…I thought about what you said the other day."

He thought back to their run in at the market a couple of days ago. "Okay."

"I think…" she stared down at her shoes. "I think I need your help."

Kiba raised and eye brow at her. She was looking everywhere else but directly at him. It was obvious that she didn't ask for help often, nor did she seem to like the idea of him helping her.

I must be a last resort.

"Help?" he played dumb. He was trying to decide how he felt about helping the love of his life make another man love her.

She fidgeted before finally locking eyes with him. "May I come in?"

He stared at her blankly for a moment, shrugged, then turned around and headed back towards the couch-his main source of comfort the past few days. Hesitating, she followed him in and he heard the door click behind her.

She's in my house.

He mentally kicked himself for not cleaning up after himself. Sitting down, he looked over at her and saw the obvious look of disgust on her face. She was inspecting a pile of unidentifiable garbage, her nose crinkling.

"Help?" he repeated, hoping she'd focus on him and not the rest of his messy house. She blinked as his voice pulled her from her trance and she nodded.

"You offered me your help."

"What do you need help with? You guys are perfect together, remember?"

She silently padded over towards him and sat down on the opposite side of the couch. Her eyes were glued to the floor and she began to speak slowly, as if she were measuring the weight of each word she said. "You were right. Absolutely right."

He nodded silently. I know.

"That night," she began, "I made him dinner. I specifically told him I wanted him home on time. I told him not to be late."

That prick. He didn't…

"He never came back. He was supposed to be meeting with Temari but…I'm starting to think he's going to her for…other reasons," her voice cracked a bit. "I fell asleep on the floor and woke up in bed. He was sleeping on the couch. He still hasn't apologized. I've been ignoring him, hoping he'd get the hint and talk to me, but he-"

I noticed a tear fall from her face and drop onto her thigh. She wiped it away quickly with her finger.

"He just doesn't care."

At this point, she had burst into tears. She wasn't making any noise, hoping that Kiba still hadn't noticed that she was crying, but the silent sobs shook her body. She wrapped her arms around herself for comfort, like a pathetic self-hug. Kiba wondered how often she had held herself like that, wishing someone else were holding her for comfort and pretending it was Shikamaru's arms that were cradling her.

He watched her cry until the anger he had felt towards Shikamaru had drained from him, only to be replaced by pure empathy for Ino. He knew how it felt to wish someone would love you back. Even if Ino didn't love Kiba, he still wanted to see her happy, even if he couldn't be the source of that happiness.

Kiba reached an arm out to her trembling body and curled it around her shoulders. He pulled her to him until the two were hip to hip, and se buried her face into him, openly sobbing now. Her cries and sniffling filled the air around them and Kiba felt the tears streaming on his bare chest. He combed through the golden strands of her hair.

Her crying continued for a good ten minutes or so before she finally pulled away from him, her tear stained face directed at him. "I'm so sorry, Kiba. I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine," Kiba picked up what looked to be a clean shirt and dabbed at her cheeks. "I'll help you, princess."

She nodded solemnly and scooted away from him. His skin felt cold where she had been touching him. He felt the goose bumps reaching for her, begging for her to come back.

"Look, I'm not going to claim that I'm some great marriage counsellor or anything," he began, "but I will give you the best advice I can. Although we have both known Shikamaru for years, I'm a dude. He's definitely told me more in depth details about his sex life than he's told you."

Ino nodded once more and sniffed loudly.

"I promise I will try my best to help you. I'm sorry he's acting this way towards you, but I'll try my best to change that, alright?"

"Thank you, Kiba."

The silence in the room slowly grew until it was almost deafening. Kiba felt, in that moment such a string urge to tell her what he really thought.

You deserve better. You can be my princess. I'll wait on you hand and foot. Loyal, like a damn dog.

But he had already promised he would help her patch things up with Shikamaru. He couldn't go back on his word and, now that she seemed to be connecting with him, he didn't want to lose her again by confessing his feelings now. He'd rather have her as friend than not have her at all.

"Where's Shikamaru now?"

"Another meeting with Temari," she spat out the name like it was a swear word.

Kiba heaved a sigh and stood up. "Well, let's head out. There's a great restaurant right around the corner. I eat there a lot."

"Do they make pizza?" she teased, a tiny smile finally materializing on her face. She motioned towards all of the pizza boxes.

Kiba chuckled. He felt ecstatic that she was finally smiling. "Not quite. Come on, let me take you out. I'm buying."

She seemed willing but hesitant.

"You wouldn't have to cook. Plus, if you really want my advice, guys don't like clingy girls and girls who wait around for them. They like girls who lead their own lives and have goals and ambitions. So here's step 1: stop waiting around for him. Come to dinner with me."

The blond beauty's face lit up a little more and she quietly said, "Well, if you're buying…"

A/N: yo yo yo! sorry if this chapter is shorter! Been busy with sociology homework (sorry to those that think that's a shit excuse :P) We'll get to the better parts of the story real son though! I work the next few days but I have all of Saturday off, so, if I haven't posted before Saturday, Ino's next chapter will definitely be up by then...hopefully...maybe...perhaps...Please read and review. I love hearing from you guys :)