Part 2

They had reached his wing. Neji slid the door open, moving down the hallway to the end where his room was, and opening that door. His room was spare, with a bed, table, and several amenities, but little in the way of personal trinkets or decoration.

"You and me both," Kiba sighed, sympathetic. He generally tried not to think too hard about his own marriage prospects. He was still too young, thank the gods. And he'd keep putting it off just as long as he could!

Glancing around, he took stock of the room, one eyebrow raising. It might as well have been one of the spare rooms, for all the personality it had. "Sure you've got the right room?" he joked. "Doesn't look like anybody lives here to me..."

Neji frowned at Kiba. He had some framed certificates on the wall, and the occasional award. On his desk were some pens and an extra head protector hung from a shelf. A few books on strategy and ninjutsu sat on the shelf. To him, it looked like home. "What's wrong with it?" he asked.

"Never mind," Kiba snickered quietly to himself. "So can we get a bath, or what? I... shit, I don't have any other clothes." He scowled at his own stupidity. "I shoulda gone home long enough to get some stuff, at least. Though then kaa-san probably woulda cornered me. Damn."

Neji nodded. "There's an ofuro through there," he said, indicating a door at the back of the room. "You can use that, and I can send your clothes to be cleaned. They'll be clean by morning." He moved to his closet and opened it up, pulling out a loose bathrobe and holding it out to Kiba. "Will this do, for now?"

"Yeah, thanks," Kiba took it gratefully. The blood was drying, and it was starting to itch. There were times when he hated being such a close-in fighter.

Then he paused. "Uh, Neji... how far is the bath from the door?" He tilted his head at the older boy. "You gonna be stuck standing against the wall or something?"

Neji blinked, for a moment not understanding, and then it hit him. He couldn't believe he'd forgotten... "I...I'm not sure," he said. "I think I might have to be in the room with you. It's a large room."

Making his way to the door, Kiba peered inside and visually measured the distance. "Five and a half feet... You could probably sit just on the other side of the wall. Or you could just join me. You may not be as bloody as I am, but surely you want to get clean." He made a face, not understanding how someone could not be desperate for a bath after a day of training in the woods, followed by a vicious fight.

Neji hesitated. Did he want to sit against the wall, unable to move, and then force Kiba to do the same thing, or just bite the bullet and get into the bath with the other boy. What difference does it make? Let's just get this over with! "I'll get in with you," he said in a carefully neutral tone.

"Okay," Kiba agreed, not thinking anything of it. "You might want to scrub off first, 'cause there's gonna be bloody water all over the place when I do it." The water would all go down the drain in the scrubbing area, of course, but there was only one scrub brush, and it would probably need to be sterilized after Kiba had used it.

Neji nodded, leading the way into the bathhouse. The room was easily twenty feet across, with a huge tub at the far end. Though the room was large enough for at least two people to use, the fact that there was only one stool, and a few bathing implements that were obviously Neji's - not to mention no other doors in the room - showed that it was intended only for the nephew of the head of the Hyuuga clan.

In some ways, Neji's arrogance when dealing with his family was understandable.

The boy began to draw off his clothes, averting his gaze and trying not to think about the fact that Kiba was there.

It honestly didn't occur to Kiba that Neji might be uncomfortable bathing with him. After all, this was one of the rare habits of his that the rest of their society didn't look twice at; most people were used to bathing in groups. If he'd thought about it, the fact that Neji had this huge, private bathing room might have clued him into the fact that the older boy probably wasn't used to having anyone else around.

He started stripping as well, shrugging off his heavy outer jacket, revealing the armour he wore underneath. Getting out of that was always a little trying, since it was designed not to come off easily. Once it was off, leaving him in just his pants and thin t-shirt, it became obvious that a lot of his apparent bulk was actually just his clothes; his frame was thin and wiry.

Once Kiba's clothes were off, and Neji's as well, it was apparent that the boys weren't so different in build after all. Neji was taller, longer in the torso and leg than Kiba, but they had a similar, narrow frame.

Neji sat down on the stool and doused himself in cold water, hitting a button on the wall. When the button was depressed, pumps started up in the walls and the tub began filling with steaming, fragrant water.

"Nice!" Kiba exclaimed, a little enviously. He didn't exactly have to carry buckets to fill his family's tub, but it certainly wasn't as sleek and high-tech as Neji's. And this was just NEJI'S, not anybody else's. "I guess there are perks to being a member of Konoha's most influential clan..."

Neji looked up at Kiba, then quickly coloured and looked away when he saw Kiba just...standing there. Naked. He cleared his throat. "I guess," he said with a shrug. "Don't you have baths?"

"Of course I do, dumbass," Kiba gave him a dirty look. "Geez. First you accuse me of living in a pigsty, and now of not taking baths. But I don't have anything nearly as nice as this." He shrugged. "Maybe I should make you spend at least one night at my place... you might appreciate what you've got a little better."

Neji smiled slightly. "I was only kidding, Kiba," he said. "I wasn't accusing you of anything." He had finished scrubbing down and dumped another bucket of cold water over his head. His hair, unbound and flowing, was flattened to his body by the water, the seal on his forehead standing out against his pale skin.

Kiba couldn't resist sneaking a glance. Nobody ever got to see Neji with his hair unbound. It was like, a law of nature or something. It was a little weird, seeing it now, but he had to admit the older ninja had reason to take pride in his appearance. His eyes flicked briefly over the seal as Neji turned to get into the bath, but it didn't really bother him, except maybe on principle. His family would never treat its members the way the Hyuuga treated their branch families. Luxuries or not, he was suddenly reminded of why he was glad to be an Inuzuka and not a Hyuuga.

Then all thoughts of philosophy were swept away as he finally was able to dump a bucket of cold water over his head, and start scrubbing off the dried blood and gore. "There are moments when I question the sanity of anybody who does our job voluntarily," he said wryly, checking a couple of minor cuts that were revealed as the blood came off.

Neji slipped into the hot water, unable to stop a soft sigh of pleasure from escaping his lips. He opened his eyes and gave Kiba a look heavy-lidded with contentment. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Here I am, covered in blood and guts, and cuts and bruises," Kiba grumbled as he scrubbed hard at a stubborn patch of crap. "I train most of the day, every day... and chances are good I'm not gonna die of old age." He snorted in amusement. "I could have chosen not to go on as a genin... I'd be in high school right now, safe and sound and getting out of shape at a desk, looking forward to forty years of a desk job before retiring in comfort..."

Neji raised an eyebrow. "So why didn't you?" he asked, a slight smile on his lips, though he still didn't look directly at Kiba.

"Are you kidding me?" Kiba grinned, grabbing the bucket and pouring it over his head again to rinse off. "I said there are moments when I question it. Like, maybe five seconds a week or so. The rest of the time, I wouldn't trade it for anything."

Standing, he shook his head vigorously to rid his hair of the excess water, before he made his way over to the tub to climb in across from Neji. He sighed in bliss as he got into the hot water. "Mmph. If there's anything better than soaking out the bruises after a fight - that isn't X-rated - I've never found it."

Neji closed his eyes, nodding. "I agree," he said, his voice softening slightly with more than just the pleasure of the water. Every time he found a point of commonality with Kiba, he felt a bit better about this whole disaster... of course, that was always quickly swept away by other things, but for the moment, at least, he felt as though he wasn't going to go stark raving mad.

He shifted and stretched out automatically, intending to submerge himself in the hot water, and his feet encountered something smooth and flesh-like. It could have been Kiba's leg, or his stomach, or something else, but he pulled back too quickly to identify it, sputtering an apology.

"No problem," Kiba muttered lazily, not even bothering to open his eyes or move at all. He was quite content to stay right where he was for a while, and just forget about stupid binding jutsu or people attacking his friends and teammates. All the Hyuuga were safe in the compound, the jounin and anbu squads would flush out the enemy and take care of them, and this really was one damn fine tub. The only thing that would have made him happier was having Akamaru here with him, but his partner would be happier at home where he could romp with his littermates and the rest of the pack.

Neji opened his eyes and studied Kiba. He was a lot closer to the other boy than he'd thought he was, and he sighed with irritation. He tried to shift away, and ended up moving back to where he was again, exactly out of arm's (but not leg's) reach. At least he wasn't being forced any closer.

Hearing Neji moving around - and a lot closer than he'd expected, there was a scent to the water that was masking his sense of smell a little - Kiba opened his eyes. "That's not six feet," he observed when he saw where Neji was. "Hey... how far is this thing gonna shrink?" he asked in some alarm. "Tsunade didn't say anything about this!"

"I don't know," Neji said, no less distressed, though his voice was a bit more carefully modulated. "I hope it doesn't get any shorter than this." He frowned. "I can't imagine what possible reason there would be to make it get shorter than this, can you?"

"Control," Kiba said grimly. "By now they'd have subdued you, you'd have learned that you couldn't hurt your captor, and they'd be heading straight for somewhere they could lock you up safely, and cancel the jutsu then. I suppose it makes sense that they'd want you as close as possible..."

"But if I were only shamming, and intended at least to inflict as much damage as possible before dying..." Neji winced. "I guess all I'd be able to do is kill my captor and die myself. And I might not even be able to accomplish that much - killing myself while only inflicting serious damage on him. I'm so close to you now that there isn't much I could do that you wouldn't know about."

"And even if you weren't of a mind to commit suicide by killing your captor, you'd still be likely to attack anybody else you could get close enough to," Kiba pointed out. "You're close enough that I'd be able to stop you from hurting anyone else, easily."

Sighing, he sank a little farther into the water, trying to recapture his brief good mood. "Whoever came up with this jutsu is a genius, and deserves to be stuck under its influence for the rest of his life," he muttered sourly.

Neji nodded, growling. "We'll just have to find everyone who knows it and kill them," he said simply. "And try to figure out a counter to it, too."

Kiba couldn't help laughing at that. "All right, but you're the one who gets to kill Tsunade-sama. And probably Jiraiya-sama, too!" He rubbed his forehead, which was still smarting and felt like it might bruise. Right through his forehead protector!

Neji thought for a moment. "Well... I didn't mean them," he said, sounding reluctant. He smiled inwardly.

His dark mood lifted, Kiba chuckled. "Oh, sure," he teased lightly. "As long as you think you can con me into doing it, killing everyone who knows the jutsu is a good idea... but if you think you might have to go up against them, suddenly you start changing your mind." He grinned at his teammate.

Neji couldn't help but smile at Kiba. "Actually, what I meant was that I'll let them live. After all, they're allies. It might be useful for them to know the jutsu," he replied.

"Sure, sure, so you say," Kiba waved that off, his eyes sparkling with laughter. "Personally, I still think the only person we really need to go after is the guy who invented the jutsu in the first place." His grin turned sly. "Want to give me odds that he had a whole harem of girls trailing him around?" He snickered.

Neji gave Kiba a horrified look. "That's disgusting!" he said. "You look like you think that's a good idea!"

Snorting, Kiba shook his head. "Not for me... I'd just as soon have my partners willing, thanks. It was a joke, Neji." He splashed a handful of water at the older boy, grinning again.

Relaxing a little and smiling again, Neji shook his head. "Sorry, I'm a little over-sensitive to that thought. Given that it almost happened to me..." His tone was light, though, his expression friendly.

"Can't blame you for that, I guess," Kiba agreed, shuddering at the thought. The person in control of the jutsu really did have a frightening amount of control over the person bound to them. Under ordinary circumstances, Neji didn't have to worry about being forced into anything he didn't want to do... but what could you do against someone you couldn't fight without hurting yourself, and who you couldn't get away from no matter what you did?

Abruptly Kiba dunked his head beneath the water, intent on drowning his distressing thoughts. It hadn't happened - Neji was bound to HIM instead of an enemy, and he wasn't about to force him into anything. And Hinata was safe, and so was the rest of her family.

Surfacing again, he shook his head to get rid of the water, inadvertently spraying Neji in the process.

Neji let out a cry as he was drenched. Not that he wasn't already wet from head to toe, but it was different when spatters of water were flying into your eyes and up your nose. "What did you do that for?" he asked, sending a wave of water at Kiba in vengeance before he thought about what he was doing.

Kiba had turned to answer him, and so was caught with his mouth open when the water hit him. Coughing and sputtering, he splashed back at Neji in turn. "I was trying to clear my head! What'd you do that for?"

"You splashed me!" Neji replied, and tried to dodge the wave. Instead of dodging away, however, he threw himself bodily at Kiba, and they both went briefly under water in a tangle of limbs.

Thrashing, trying not to laugh and end up breathing water, Kiba tried to force the older boy off him. Neji had height and a bit of weight on him, though... not to mention leverage, since he was on top at the moment. Squirming, Kiba tried to go further under and get out of Neji's hold, but that didn't work either.

So he resorted to the dirty tricks... he started tickling. Neji probably wasn't ticklish, but you never knew.

Neji shrieked, curling into a ball and grabbing Kiba's hands in an iron grip. One advantage of being a Hyuuga that few people talked about was that if someone were tickling you, you could stop them.

It didn't stop that first scream, though. He stood, jerking Kiba to his feet as well, and concentrated on breathing as water sluiced down them and back into the tub.

Laughing helplessly in between spates of coughing from the water he'd swallowed, Kiba let Neji hold him still. A wicked smirk curved his lips, however, and his dark eyes were sparkling. "Damn, you're even more ticklish than Hinata, aren't you?" He snickered. He himself was secure in his knowledge that he was only ticklish in one place, and it wasn't the first thing people went for. And he now had a secret weapon to use against Neji, should he ever need it in the future. "Who would have guessed?"

Neji glared at him, not impressed by the hilarity of the situation. "Do that again," he said, his tone deadly serious. "And you lose the hands."

"That's kind of an empty threat at the moment, isn't it?" Kiba asked, raising an eyebrow. "You know," he added thoughtfully, still smirking, "I bet it's 'cause you were never tickled as kids. You didn't build up an immunity to it like the rest of us."

Neji blinked, then reddened, more at the 'empty threat' comment then anything else. "Maybe," he said. He released Kiba's wrists and rubbed one of his own absently. A black bruise was forming, circling his wrists like bracelets, though Kiba's were only reddened from the tight grip.

Seeing that, Kiba caught Neji's hand in turn, frowning as he studied the rapidly forming bruise. "Holy shit. Well, that answers part of how the captor keeps their victim from killing them in a suicide move - you'd be dead first."

"Definitely," Neji said. "When Hokage-sama hit you, it hit me far worse, as well." He raised his free hand and touched a sore spot in the centre of his forehead. The spot was also bruising, though it was less noticeable under the swirls of the seal. He glanced down at his own wrist, in Kiba's hand, and caught an eyeful of the rest of Kiba's body as well. He blushed brilliantly and pulled away. "I'm getting overheated," he said hastily, moving to get out of the tub.

Blinking, Kiba was at first confused, because the water was actually beginning to cool a bit, and he'd seen Neji endure more extreme temperatures than this, for longer periods of time. Then he caught sight of the flush on his teammates face, and he grinned. Aww, he's cute when he blushes! And it's a good thing he can't read minds, or we'd both be dead now. Nice to know he's not immune to me, though. And I'm so collecting on that bet with Naruto when he gets back. Neji is totally gay, and I knew it!

He realized he'd been standing there like an idiot when he saw Neji turn and start heading back to him, most likely without meaning to. Hastily he scrambled out of the tub and reached for a towel. Taking pity on Neji's obvious embarrassment, Kiba slung it around his hips before grabbing another to dry off his hair, making it stand out from his head in spikes even wilder than normal.

Neji grabbed a towel of his own and wound it around his waist, avoiding looking at Kiba as he began laboriously drying his hair. If he let it dry slowly, it would mat, but if he could get most of the water out now, and brush it, it would dry long and straight. It was an exercise he went through daily, and it had never occurred to him that it wasn't worth the time it spent.

Once his hair was mostly dry, Kiba finger-combed it quickly and then shook his head briefly to settle it. He grabbed the cotton yukata Neji had offered for him to wear, looking at his clothes in distaste. "Ugh. I hope all that blood will come out." He gave Neji a sideways glance. "Please tell me your cleaners don't use any of that scented crap some people are so fond of?" He could always tell when certain people had recently done laundry - Hinata wasn't one of them, so presumably he was safe. He tried to avoid getting too close to Sakura, Ino or, oddly enough, Shikamaru on certain days, though.

"Not that I'm aware of," Neji said uncertainly. "But I don't really know what they do." His towel was shifting and he hurriedly fixed it before continuing to run his brush through his long hair.

"Good. Stuff makes me sneeze, and it smells awful," Kiba said, somewhat plaintively. He started to head for the door, then stopped abruptly, remembering that Neji would be pulled along in his wake. "Um. Can you brush your hair out in your room or something? I'd rather sit down than stand here with nothing to do but stare at you."

Neji nodded, rising to his feet and catching the towel again before it slipped. He shuffled out into his room and moved to his closet to get another robe like the one Kiba was wearing and wound it around his body, then sat on the bed to resume his brushing. He hadn't realized it was such a time consuming process before.

Kiba glanced around. The chairs didn't look terribly comfortable, so that left the bed or the floor. Neji was on the bed, and while Kiba wasn't above teasing his teammate a little, he also didn't want to push the older boy too far. Besides, sitting next to Neji while they were both wearing nothing more than thin robes wasn't great for his composure, either. In the end he elected to drop down to the floor, leaning against the wall next to the bed to keep himself in range. "So, what do you do to keep yourself entertained?"

Neji shrugged, pulling out another portion of hair to brush down to the tips. "I read, and practice," he said. "Sometimes I play a little Go. What do you do?"

"People under the age of fifty actually play that game?" Kiba asked, surprised. "Well, other than Shikamaru, I mean. He doesn't count." Shrugging, he thought about it. "I hang out with my friends, read, play with the dogs. And train with Akamaru."

"We could read," Neji suggested doubtfully. It wasn't as though they could train. They'd already established that - and it was even worse now than before. He gestured towards a sliding door that Kiba had assumed led to a closet or something. "There's more books in there. You're welcome to borrow anything you like."

Kiba couldn't help but chuckle, giving Neji a rueful look. "Something tells me we're going to be bored fairly quickly," he said wryly. "Well, there're worse fates than being bored for a week, I suppose." He glanced out the window - it was already getting dark. "Actually, some food would be good." At least the day had been almost over when they were attacked. Tomorrow was going to be interesting, though.

"Oh right," Neji said. "Food is easy enough to get." He'd finally finished brushing his hair and he wound a tie around it neatly. "We can call the kitchen and have them bring something up," he said, waving a hand at an intercom system on his desk.

"Seriously? That's useful," Kiba said, blinking. "You guys really are big on keeping as far apart from each other as humanly possible, aren't you?" he added thoughtfully. "You don't eat together, you don't bathe together, you don't spend any time together doing anything but training, as far as I can tell..."

Small wonder Hinata, a girl who thrived on attention and affection, had been so lonely and miserable. He wondered how much Neji's cold 'I don't need anybody' demeanour was a cover for loneliness... and whether Neji was actually aware of it or not. Probably not, he decided. He probably thought he really was happier with little to no human contact.

Neji shrugged. "We often eat together," he said. "But the option is there. I'm not going down to the dining hall in a bathrobe, and you have nothing better to wear, so we can call for someone to bring us food and take the laundry away. It's easier."

"Eh, true enough," Kiba conceded, glancing down at his borrowed robe and rolling his eyes. "So they'll take the clothes to be cleaned when they bring us the food, is that how it works?" The sooner he was back in his own clothes, the better he'd feel. "If I'm staying here more than just one day, we're definitely at least going to have to go by my place so I can get some stuff."

"I could call them twice, once to bring food and once to take clothes, but that would be cruel," Neji said,, shrugging. He hesitated, then nodded. "We can go to your place tomorrow to get clothes, if you want. But...I thought you were concerned about your mother's reaction?"

Kiba grimaced. "Yeah, but the longer I put it off, the worse it'll be. Might as well get it over with, I suppose." He debated whether or not to bring Akamaru back with him as well as fresh clothes. He already missed his partner, he wasn't used to being apart from him for so long. Was it really only a few years ago that they'd been bonded? It seemed like the puppy had always been with him.

Neji's mouth twisted with cynical understanding and he nodded. He rose to his feet and stepped over to his desk, now at the limit of the distance he could go without Kiba moving, and punched the button that would call the general service intercom. "Neji-sama? May we help you?" came the voice on the other end.

"Yes," he said. "We will need some food brought up when it's ready, and some laundry service." He waited for the acknowledgement, thanked the person on the other end and disconnected. "It'll be a few minutes," he said to Kiba, returning to his spot on the bed.

"No problem," Kiba replied, stretching and yawning before curling up against the wall again. "I'm not really in a rush, just figured food would be good at some point, and would help pass the time." Curled up like that, in the light robe, with his hair messy from the bath and without his forehead protector, Kiba looked more like a little kid than a dangerous ninja. The red triangles on his cheeks stood out starkly against his skin.

"Think there'll be any more attacks?" he asked, rubbing his nose thoughtfully. "They'd have to be stupid, suicidal, or both to attack the compound, and you're all safe in here for now. But you can't all stay in here forever."

"I'm sure there are anbu combing the area outside of Konoha, making sure the danger is eliminated," Neji replied, stretching out on his side on the bed so he could look down at Kiba more easily. "We definitely won't have to stay in here forever."

Resting his chin on his arms, which were crossed over his knees, Kiba looked up at Neji. "Well, that's a given," he agreed absently. "I'm just wondering if they'll try again before they get caught, or run off. They've got to know they don't stand a chance of getting any of you now... but it'd suck if they hightailed it, then came back in a year or two to try again, or something." He frowned. "I guess it depends on why they decided to try grabbing one of you, and how urgent it is that they get one of you."

"I don't know," Neji said. "They'd be stupid not to run, having failed and alerted us, and Hyuuga have been targeted by such things many times. Most of the time, people aren't stupid enough to try to attack us, but try to blackmail or manipulate us. Still, once they're thwarted, they usually don't keep trying, for a while." He sighed, irritable, as memories of how his father had died surfaced. Why do they do this?

"Well, then... wouldn't it almost make sense for them to try again right away?" Kiba reasoned, not realizing he was bringing up bad memories with the discussion. "Just 'cause nobody's ever done it before. Sure, you've increased security because of the attacks... but you're also expecting that they won't try again because nobody ever has, you know?" He frowned and shook his head. "You know what? Forget it, that didn't even make sense to me."

Neji shrugged, trying not to glare at Kiba. "They'd be fools to attack our stronghold. The reason they want one of us is because we're so powerful."

"The thing I don't really get is, what the hell are they planning to do with you once they've got you?" Kiba continued, ignoring the dark looks Neji was giving him. "How the hell do you steal a bloodline jutsu like the Byakugan?" He shrugged. "Unless they're planning to get offspring off them, somehow..."

Neji lost his battle and glared openly at Kiba. "How do you think Kakashi got his eye?" he spat angrily. Naruto couldn't keep anything a secret, and the story of Kakashi's hidden eye had gotten around months ago.

Kiba frowned, not expecting to be snapped at like that. "I have no idea how Kakashi got his eye, and neither does anybody else!" He rubbed his face with his hand. "Man, however powerful you may be, sometimes I think it seems like more trouble than it's worth."

"He took it, that's how," Neji growled. "I don't know why, and I hope to hell it was for a good reason, but he had it surgically implanted. That's what they want us for. And for the record, being kept as breeding stock isn't any better."

"I never said it was!" Kiba growled back. And when he growled, it was really a growl, with undertones of threat and anger that couldn't really be consciously recognized, but were still heard. When he heard himself, he forced himself to relax the muscles that were knotting up in anger. "Look, fighting about something we agree on isn't going to get us anywhere."

"You asked what they were planning to do with me, and I answered," Neji said in a clipped, cold tone. "Excuse me if it's not easy to talk about in such a casual way, given that my father died because of people like them, and I came this close to being taken today!"

What Kiba really wanted to do was snap back, or even better, throw a punch. Under normal circumstances, he'd probably have picked a fight just to blow off some of the tension they were both suffering from.

But he wasn't a bully, and he didn't go in for picking on people who couldn't hit back - and at the moment, Neji fell into that category. So instead he squeezed his eyes shut, ducked his head and growled, a low wordless snarl that any of the Inuzuka, human or otherwise, would have known to back off from.

Less than... four hours, and we're already at each other's throats. This is not good.

Neji glared, not intimidated by the growling, and angry that Kiba was so angry at him. What's his problem, anyway? He turned onto his back, trying to regain some of his own calm, and push away the memories and feelings that the conversation had sparked inside him.

Angry silence reigned in the room, until it was finally broken by a knock on the door that indicated the asked for food had arrived. Kiba could smell it coming from halfway down the hall - by the time the knock actually came, he'd already lifted his head.

He'd managed to calm himself down a bit. He knew he was over-reacting, but the whole situation was just a little overwhelming, once the adrenaline and shock from the battle and the discovery of the jutsu had worn off. Never certain at the best of times, the nerves were fraying his temper at the edges, and Neji didn't seem to be any better off.

"Look, I'm sorry," he said gruffly as Neji turned at the sound of the knock as well. "This is just... this whole thing is seriously fucked up, that's all."

"I know," Neji said, resisting the urge to snap sarcastically at the other boy. He sat up and swung his legs off the bed. "Let's just eat and... calm down." He pursed his lips, adding as an afterthought. "I'm sorry, too."

Kiba blinked in shock, and nearly said something that probably would have gotten them into another fight, but managed to bite down on his tongue just in time. Wow, he doesn't apologize very often... and I think it may be the first time he's ever done it tome! Which just meant that Neji was actually trying to get along, and so Kiba should as well.

Realizing that Neji was standing there because he couldn't reach the door unless Kiba moved, the younger boy jumped hastily to his feet. "Oh, sorry. I keep forgetting." He moved towards the door.

"It's OK," Neji said tiredly, moving with Kiba to the door. He slid it open and stepped back as a woman entered with a tray. She bowed low to Neji and set the tray on the low table in the centre of the room. Quickly, she gathered up the soiled clothing and left the room.

Making his way to the table, Kiba noted with relief that it was small enough for them to be able to sit across from each other, rather than having to sit beside each other. He knelt, tucking his feet under him carelessly, robe gaping open slightly. "Smells good, at least," he said eagerly.

Neji nodded. "The food is usually good," he said carelessly, taking the lid off of the tray and setting it aside as steam wafted up from the traditional dinner spread. Though he tried to hide it, his mouth was watering. He hadn't eaten since long before the war games that day. It seemed like a million years ago now.

Contrary to popular opinion, Kiba did actually have polite table manners. He even remembered to use them once in a while. With an effort, he made this one of those times. At least Neji, once you saw through his usual poker face, looked almost as hungry as Kiba felt. "Itadakimasu!" he declared, reaching for the plate closest to him. He didn't much care what was on it at this point, so long as it was edible.

Neji had been around Kiba long enough to be used to his... questionable manners, and didn't think much of it. He picked up another plate and his chopsticks, heaping some of his favourites on the plate. There was a huge amount of food - which meant it was barely enough for two growing and hungry boys who exerted themselves almost constantly - and seemingly within minutes, the plates were clean and polished.

"Wow," Kiba said when they'd cleaned the last scraps of food. "Can't fault the food here, that's for damn sure! It's a wonder you're not all fat and totally out of shape, if you eat like this all the time."

Although the meal had been good, it had put him a little out of sorts. Several times he'd automatically started to offer a choice scrap to Akamaru, but of course his partner wasn't there. Not that he'd minded eating it all himself, but it just served as a reminder that he was in a strange place, not at home.

Neji shrugged. "We're all careful," he said. "And we train a lot. It's hard to get fat and out of shape when you train eight hours a day and eat this sort of food." Though the food had been excellent, it was all healthy, and carefully balanced to maintain the wiry, muscular bodies that the Hyuuga all had.

"I know, Neji, I'm teasing you," Kiba replied, laughing. "If there's such a thing as an overweight Hyuuga, you hide them real well. And I eat just as much at home, though," he snorted at the piles of dishes, "admittedly not quite that high quality!"

Neji smiled slightly. "I don't believe for a minute that you eat this much," he said. "You feed half of it to your dogs." He gestured towards Kiba's hand, his sharp eyes having noticed the several times Kiba had tried to feed Akamaru.

Caught out, Kiba flushed. "I don't feed half of it to Akamaru," he protested, embarrassed. "Just a couple pieces here and there."

Neji raised an eyebrow. "So you say," he said, a hint of teasing in his voice.

Huffing, Kiba couldn't help but grin back, grateful that some of the earlier tension was broken. "If I fed half my food to Akamaru, I'd starve to death," he laughed. "That bottomless pit could put it all away and still beg for more, too."

Despite himself, Neji smiled. "He'll never grow any bigger if you don't feed him," he replied. He rose and stretched absently, rubbing his forehead where the bruise was now fully developed and black. He glanced longingly at the extra forehead protector, then decided it would hurt too much to put on for now. And Kiba had seen the seal already, after all.

"Hey, he is bigger," Kiba said, shoving himself to his feet as well. "He's twice the size he was when we took the chuunin exams, and he's growing fast now." He grinned with pride for his partner. The Inuzuka dogs aged more slowly than most dogs, but Akamaru was finally starting to really grow into the dog he would be one day. Judging by the size of his paws, Kiba was fairly sure his partner would always be one of the smaller dogs, but that wasn't a bad thing. Smaller meant he'd be able to hide better, and get into more places.

Neji rolled his eyes. "You're worse than a doting parent," he said, that edge of teasing still in his tone. He moved towards the door that concealed the books and slid it open, making sure to give Kiba lots of time to follow him. It disturbed him that he was starting to get used to having to keep track of Kiba was in this way.

"I am not," Kiba protested, but it was only half-hearted. He probably was, he knew. Well, why shouldn't he be proud of his partner? He rose gracefully and padded over investigate. He was a bit dismayed, though not in the least surprised, to find little in the way of 'light' reading - it was mostly philosophy and ninjutsu scrolls, just like the ones scattered around outside the shelves.

"Out of curiosity, do you ever just relax and have fun?" he asked as he grabbed a history of the fire country and moved to what was rapidly becoming 'his' spot on the wall next to the bed, sliding down to sit on the floor again. Never thought I'd have a spot I'd think of as 'mine' in Neji's room of all places, that's for damn sure, he thought wryly to himself.

Neji gave Kiba a confused look. "What do you mean?" he asked, grabbing a thick tome on basic ninjutsu philosophy that was obviously well-thumbed-through, and settling down on his stomach on the bed to read it.

Kiba curled up wedged into the corner formed by the wall and the leg of the bed, his head leaning against the corner of the mattress and the book across his thighs. "I mean, everything in here is related to studying in some way. Do you ever have fun?" Somehow he couldn't picture Neji casually hanging out with Tenten and Lee the way he did with Shino and Hinata, that was for sure. And as far as he could tell, his teammates were the closest things Neji had to 'friends'.

"Reading isn't fun?" Neji asked, honestly perplexed. What else would I do? He frowned down at the other boy, wedged into the corner. "Are you comfortable down there?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Kiba asked, puzzled. His teammates and Kurenai had asked him that a lot at first, too. He didn't get it - they were all at least as flexible as he was, there was no such thing as a shinobi who couldn't fit himself into just about any odd corner. So why did people always ask him that? "And reading can be fun, but not usually if it's all studying! Don't you ever take a break?"

Of course, that might well be why Neji had been at the top of his class, and Kiba... well, until Naruto had somehow changed his exam grade to a pass, Kiba had been the lowest passing score among those who'd decided to go on as genin.

Neji's frown deepened. "People take too many breaks," he said dismissively. "As for you being on the floor... I'm just saying that if you are comfortable, that's fine, but there is room on the bed, if you prefer. That's all."

"People who don't take any breaks at all burn out at an early age," Kiba retorted. "Small wonder they paired you and Lee up... neither of you knows how to relax. Is Tenten as bad as you guys are?"

He'd coaxed one Hyuuga into relaxing and enjoying her life once in a while... did he feel like trying a second? Of course, Hinata had been a lot more receptive than Neji was. Getting Neji to have fun would be rather like trying to convince his family to let him have a cat - though possibly somewhat more rewarding in the end. Kiba had no use for cats, but a Neji who knew how to relax might be entertaining.

"Tenten...no, Tenten isn't like Lee and I, though she's very devoted to her training," Neji said. "Believe me, I'm in no danger of burning out," he added, though he didn't sound completely convinced. "I relax sometimes... I sleep, after all, and I play Go. Go is a game."

"Well, if you have fun playing Go, I suppose that counts," Kiba said, though his tone indicated he doubted any such thing was possible. "Though considering it's a strategy game, it's still practically studying." Rubbing a hand through his hair, he considered it. "Do you ever do anything voluntarily that isn't intended to improve your skills as a ninja?"

"Like what?" Neji asked. "And Go is fun, just ask your friend Shikamaru." He frowned and set the book aside, sitting up and facing Kiba square on. It wasn't as though he could read with the other boy jabbering at him constantly, anyway.

"Shikamaru doesn't think Go is fun. He doesn't think anything is fun," Kiba said, grinning despite himself. "At least, he says he doesn't. But he obviously has preferences of things that are 'less boring'... he never said 'no' when Naruto and I invited him to skip class with us."

His grin widened as he remembered those days; sneaking out the window while Iruka's back was turned, hearing their sensei yelling in the distance as he realized they were missing again... It felt like a lifetime ago, not just a few years. They'd all been a lot more innocent, back then.

Neji rolled his eyes. "I can't believe you all became genin," he said. "Skipping class and having fun all the time." His tone of voice made it sound like a bad word.

"And yet, here we are... and Shikamaru's a chuunin, no less," Kiba replied carelessly. And Naruto was now widely regarded to be one of the most powerful ninja of their generation, which was why he was off training with Jiraiya... but Kiba was still just a genin. Assigned to a special team, yeah sure, but otherwise not much out of the ordinary.

It pissed him off sometimes, but mostly he just accepted the fact that while he was a good ninja, he was nothing outstanding. He wasn't one of the geniuses... but Konoha needed people like him, too. They couldn't all be Neji or Sasuke or Shikamaru.

"I would have said something like that was impossible, just a few months ago," Neji said, something hard, but sad in his eyes. "It's still pretty amazing to me." He winced. "No offence. It's just hard to accept that people who coasted their way through training, are a year younger than myself, and don't have any natural advantage to speak of, could be at the same level as myself, who's considered a genius and worked hard all my life."

"I wouldn't say we 'coasted' through training," Kiba said, rolling his eyes. "We trained hard. A lot harder than some of the people in our class. So we didn't do well - or in Shikamaru's case, totally ignored - the classwork. So what? I'll leave all the theory and crap to the brain like you and Shikamaru. Besides," His grin turn wry and a bit self-deprecating. "You're forgetting, the only one of the three of us with 'no natural advantage to speak of' is me... Shikamaru is a genius, and Naruto..."

At that, he shrugged helplessly. "Well, who knows what the fuck is up with Naruto? He just never quits coming. Well, you fought him too, you know what I mean." He shook his head. "Just when you're sure you've got him cornered and he doesn't have a chance... he pulls something out of his ass - literally, in my case," he added dryly, "and suddenly he's three times stronger than he was before."

He'd been more than a little shocked and horrified when Naruto, the dead-last in the class, had defeated him in the preliminaries of the third chuunin test. When he'd then proceeded to utterly crush Neji, however, it had made Kiba feel a lot better about his loss.

Neji just shrugged. "I didn't mean any offence," he said quietly. He, of all people, remembered his battle with Naruto during the Chuunin exam. And he respected the other people in his team. It didn't make him happy - he almost felt like he was wasting his time, working so hard - but he had no choice but to respect them.

Sighing, Kiba thumped his head back against the mattress, peering up at Neji. "There was a time when I hated you, you know... and not for the obvious reason. I hated Sasuke, too - anyone considered the 'class genius'. And there's one in every class." He grunted. "Didn't seem fair, the way everything comes easy to you. Here I was training my ass off, and I still didn't have a hope in hell of touching you on my best day. Wasn't until I started working with you on this team that I realized you really do train just as hard as the rest of us. You just start from a better place."

Neji met his gaze, his expression neutral. "Everything doesn't come easily to us," he said. "Part of the 'genius', is working hard." He pursed his lips. "That took me a while to learn, too."

"Yeah, but you make it look easy, so you can't blame people for resenting that you don't seem to have to work for it." Kiba laughed. "And like I said, I learned it too, after working with you for a while."

Neji smiled wryly. "Well, you make your life look pretty easy, too. You certainly don't seem to be working that hard when you're falling asleep in class, or sneaking out the window. The resentment goes both ways, I suppose."

"Oh, I'm definitely going to have you drag you home to meet my family, if you think my life looks 'easy'," Kiba snorted with laughter. "I suck at class type stuff, so I never bothered. But you better believe I train hard outside of class!"

"I know that," Neji said, rolling his eyes. "Now."

Laughing outright, Kiba grinned up at him. "So, we've both grown up some. I definitely like respecting you a lot more than hating you. Makes it easier to work with you, and you're a good teammate."

Neji pinked, wondering why such simple praise meant so much to him. I'm a good teammate? "I agree," he said quietly, unable to help himself from smiling. Kiba's grin was just so damnably infectious.

Whoa, holy shit, maybe it's a good thing he doesn't smile very often, Kiba thought, his eyes widening slightly at the sight. Neji was gorgeous, everybody acknowledged that. He did 'dark, handsome and brooding' nearly as well as Sasuke. But when he really smiled like that... with the faintest blush on his face... Kiba was suddenly glad he was sitting curled up and not stretched out.

The widened eyes were, thankfully, the only noticeable outward reaction he made. Kiba was very good at hiding his occasional reaction to his teammates - not that he cared, or thought it was shameful or something, but he had no desire to end up with a black eye.

"Life takes some pretty fucked up turns sometimes, doesn't it?" he mused. "If anybody had told me a year ago that I'd ever be sitting here having this conversation with you, I'd have laughed in their face."

Now Neji chuckled. What is he doing to me, anyway? he thought. I haven't laughed or smiled this much in a while. "That's for sure," he agreed.

Good, now he's relaxed a little, Kiba thought with some satisfaction. Man, if he looked like this all the time, he'd be beating women off with a stick, and losing!

"Once this stupid jutsu wears off, I should drag you out and show you the world doesn't end if you relax," he murmured, still smiling as he turned his attention to the book in his lap.

Neji blinked at him slowly. "You should?" he asked, sounding suddenly flabbergasted. "How would you do that?" Why would you do that?

Looking back at him curiously, Kiba wondered why Neji looked as confused as he sounded. His statement hadn't been that outrageous, had it?

"I dunno, I'll bring you along the next time we get together for a pick up game of something, or when we crash a restaurant," Kiba said casually. "Usually it's just the guys from my year, but given that you are our teammate, I don't see why you wouldn't be welcome. Lee's come a couple of times."

Neji's expression of amazement didn't change. "But...why?" he asked, honestly confused.

"Because, dumbass," Kiba's voice was full of fond exasperation, "You're my teammate, and a decent guy, and I think you'd probably make a good friend, too."

Neji stared at Kiba for a long moment. Though his expression was slack with amazement and disbelief, his eyes hid most of the thoughts running through his head. Finally he closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. When he opened his eyes again, he was calm, though his voice betrayed some of his amazement. "How did we get from 'I suppose it could be worse, being in your presence for a few days', to friendship?"

Kiba couldn't help but snicker at that. "Hey, I am friends with some of the guys who fell in the 'worse people to be stuck with' category! Shino, for example, is a great friend... he just gives me the creeps, and you couldn't pay me enough to spend a week without being able to leave him and his fleas."

Neji's lips twitched. "But he's already your friend," he pointed out. "Why are you turning me into your next project?"

" 'Cause it's you or Lee, and I'd sure as hell rather spend time with you," Kiba snickered. "No offence to Lee, but... man, he's hard to take, sometimes..."

He shook his head. "And anyway, like I said, I like you. I just think you'd be a lot more fun without the stick up your ass."

Neji hesitated, wondering why he was even considering... but why not? Was there some reason why he couldn't become friends with Kiba? Well, other than the staggeringly obvious reason that Kiba would inevitably give up on him once he remembered he was an arrogant asshole, and move on to better pastures. "All right," he said finally. "But we go out one-on-one - at first. Not with all of your friends. I'll feel... out of place."

Surprised, Kiba twisted so he could look the older boy full in the eyes. Easy capitulation was the last thing he'd expected; he'd thought he'd basically have to drag his teammate out kicking and screaming.

Huh... bet he's more lonely than he realizes. "Sure, okay," he agreed. "Just figured you'd be more comfortable in a group where you wouldn't have to be the center of attention." He supposed he could see where a whole group of people, even if you did know and had worked with most of them, could be a little intimidating to an 'outsider'.

Neji shook his head. "I'll be the centre of attention if I go out with your friends," he corrected him. "They'll want to know why I came, why I'm shouldering my way into their social group. They don't like me, Kiba, and they all know I'm a loner."

Well, he couldn't quite argue with that. It wasn't that they didn't like him - Shikamaru and Chouji, at least, respected Neji and liked him as a teammate. But Neji hadn't exactly created a receptive atmosphere for himself, with the way he'd once treated them all.

"They'll get over it," he declared. "Once they see you're not such a jerk any more. And there's nothing wrong with being a loner - we've got lots of loners in the group. Even loners like company now and again." Personally Kiba didn't and never would understand the whole 'lone wolf' mentality... real 'lone wolves' tended to die quickly without the support of a pack around them. Much better to run with a pack, and just go off on your own when you needed to.

Neji shrugged. "I'd still rather not be subjected to the stares and questions while I'm still 'learning' to relax." Despite his willingness to go along with whatever Kiba was planning, the quotation marks were clearly audible.

"Heh. Suppose I can't blame you," Kiba agreed. His mind was already racing, finger trailing along the supple leather cover of the book in his lap. He'd have to find something Neji would be willing to do, which the older boy would hopefully enjoy at least a little... crashing a restaurant with just the two of them would be a little too much like a date. And two people in a pick-up game of just about anything would only end up as a sparring session - and he'd get his ass handed to him, to boot.

"Well, I'll find something," he finaly declared, eyes gleaming with amusement and mischief. "I've got a couple days to think about it. Assuming you're not utterly sick of my company by the end of this."

"Well, that's fairly likely," Neji said, though his eyes glimmered with amusement. He stretched out on the bed again with his book, yawning. It was getting late already, and somehow time seemed to be flying. Is it possible that I'm... enjoying this?

"Hey, quit that!" Kiba protested, yawning as well. Why was it so hard not to yawn as soon as somebody else did? "And fine, if you're gonna be that way..." Deliberately childish, he stuck his tongue out at the older boy, grinning despite himself even as he did it. Then he turned his attention back to the book in his lap, deciding not to push his luck and keep bugging Neji.

Neji rolled his eyes and returned his attention to his book, then found himself yawning again a few minutes later. Restlessly, he slipped from the bed and moved towards his closet again, rummaging inside for two pairs of pyjamas.

Not exactly riveted by the dry history text, Kiba glanced up and watched what Neji was doing, instead. "Guess we might as well get some sleep," he agreed when he realized what the older boy was after. Sitting up, he shut the book and stretched, popping the vertebrae in his spine back into place. Glancing around, he remembered that Neji had declined his uncle's offer of extra blankets, but there didn't seem to be any other than the ones on the bed.

Neji nodded, turning around with two pairs of pyjamas, neatly folded in his arms. Oblivious to Kiba's confusion about the sleeping arrangements, and trying not to think about them himself, he dumped them both on the bed and then averted his gaze again as he stripped of his robe, quickly dressing for bed.

Kiba stripped and pulled on the sleeping pants Neji had left for him, but he didn't bother with the shirt. It was warm enough not to need it, and he always wound up all tangled if he slept with a shirt on, unless it was tight. For that matter, he didn't much like loose pants, but he'd live.

"I shoulda just brought my bedroll," he commented as he stood, barefoot and bare-chested, surveying the open space beside Neji's bed. "Remind me to grab it tomorrow when I get the rest of my stuff."

Neji hesitated, looking from his bed, which was bigger than a standard single bed, but not exactly huge, and the floor. "Sleep in my bed," he said, his tone and expression almost challenging.

Looking from Neji, to the bed, and back to Neji, Kiba blinked. "What, with you? I'm not kicking you out of your bed, dumbass. Not that I mind sharing, but I didn't think you were the type to be able to sleep with someone next to you."

"I'm not," Neji said shortly. "But that's just the way it's going to have to be. I'm not sleeping on the floor, and neither are you, get in the bed." Glaring at Kiba as though questioning his suggestion was a personal attack, he crawled onto the bed and curled up against the wall, leaving as much of the bed as possible for Kiba.

Uncharacteristically, Kiba hesitated. He knew how he slept... especially without Akamaru there, he was going to wind up wrapped around Neji before the night was over, if the older boy was accessible. Hinata, Kurenai and Shino had all learned that they simply had to sleep out of reach of him, and once he'd realized what he did, he'd taken care to make sure he bedded down somewhere separate from the others in his current team.

"Well, okay, but don't say I didn't warn you when you end up not having slept all night," he finally chuckled, crawling in after Neji. He hit the lights on his way in, leaving them in quiet darkness. With his eyes not yet adjusted, scent became his primary sense, and he was suddenly hyper-aware of Neji's scent all around him. He tucked himself into a ball, yawning.

Neji was silent for a few minutes, careful not to brush against Kiba as he shifted to get comfortable. "Why wouldn't I sleep all night?" he asked.

"Because I am used to having other people around me when I sleep," Kiba replied, his voice rife with sleepy amusement. "People who don't have your kind of personal space issues." He yawned, then added wickedly, "If I encroach on you too much, just shove me off the bed. I probably won't even wake up."

Neji stared at him for a moment, the other boy glowing faintly in the dark, and plainly visible to his eyes. "Understood," he said, not sounding as though he understood at all. Of course he'll wake up if I toss him out of the bed. Strange boy.

Stifling a snicker, Kiba just closed his eyes and grinned. He'll figure it out soon enough, I guess. Hope I don't end up with anything broken...

"Sleep well, Neji," he said aloud. "If we're lucky, by the time we wake up we might not be bound together anymore."

"We can dream," Neji said with a wry smile. And then, with a slight hesitation, "Good night, Kiba." He closed his eyes, drifting into a light sleep.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

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