Part 5

Kiba sat up, summarily dumping all the puppies off him to tumble onto the couch and floor. They yapped protests, but quickly went back to wrestling with each other in their new location.

"You want in with us, or do you want to stay out here and play?" he asked his partner. Akamaru considered it, then yawned hugely and indicated he'd just as soon go to sleep. He'd worked just as hard as they had that day, after all. Playing was all well and good for puppies who had nothing more strenuous to do during the day, but not for a working dog.

Kiba just grinned back at him, and forbore to mention Akamaru's tendency to jump in and show the puppies how wrestling was supposed to be done.

"All right, let's go," he said, coming to his feet and stretching hard. He could feel sore muscles protesting, and winced when he thought about how much more battered Neji probably felt, since he had his own bruises and Kiba's to deal with. "Want a hot soak first, actually?"

Neji had matched Kiba in stretching, and also winced at the pain in his muscles. "Actually, yes," he said. "A bath is probably a good idea anyway," he added ironically. "We're both filthy."

"All right, we'll do that first, then," Kiba agreed. "And no, you guys do not get to come with us!" he added to the now excited puppies. There was little the brats loved more than splashing around in the tub... splashing being the operative word.

"Definitely not," Neji agreed, moving with Kiba towards the door. "I hate the stench of wet dog, and you all need to calm down, anyway."

Kiba laughed. "Yeah, right! 'Calm' and 'puppy' are mutually exclusive words. They only have two modes of operation; 'hyper' and 'asleep'." He grinned fondly at the yapping furballs as they followed the two boys down the hall. Between a few 'gentle' nudges with his foot and Akamaru's help, he somehow managed to get the door to the bathing room closed with him and Neji on one side, and all the dogs on the other.

The bathing room was panelled in fragrant cedar wood, and was obviously a relatively old structure. The relatively new addition of running water was evident in the out-of-place look of the shiny faucets in the soaking tub and on the walls in the scrubbing area. It wasn't nearly as nice as Neji's private bath, but it was large and had a pleasant scent permeating the room.

"You go ahead and start scrubbing off, I'll fill the tub," Kiba said, after visually measuring the distance and deciding they would just barely be able to get that far apart.

Neji glanced around the room uncertainly, decided that while it was small and rustic it was pleasant enough, and began to strip down, averting his gaze from Kiba as usual. As he drew off his clothing, angry red welts became visible all over his body, particularly on his arms and legs, in spots where Kiba had felt blows as he blocked kicks and punches.

Once he had the water flowing at the right temperature, Kiba turned to scrub himself off as well, and stopped short at the sight of the marks on Neji's body. After a moment, grimacing, he continued on to grab soap and a washcloth. He felt guilty, but he thought if he said anything Neji would probably just brush it off.

When it came down to it, they'd both had worse injuries in training. You didn't get to be a ninja by avoiding injuries. Still, Kiba felt a little guilty. At least they'd made progress to show for the effort.

"We've probably got some bruise balm or muscle salve around if you want, after the bath," he offered as he sat at another of the stools and turned the water tap on. "I know I could use it."

Neji grunted non-committally. Though the bruises already hurt a lot less, the balm sounded like a good idea. "Well, if you want some, I suppose I could put a bit on myself," he said grudgingly, wincing as the scrub brush hit a tender spot. "The bath will help a lot, though."

"Heh. I feel like I'm back in the academy, when we first started learning taijutsu," Kiba commented, trying to be careful not to aggravate any of his own scrapes and bruises as he scrubbed, figuring it would hurt Neji again. "Y'know, back when the instructors would hand our asses to us just to keep us from thinking too much of ourselves? Or did you never have to go through that?" Presumably even Neji was at one point young enough that the chuunin instructors would have been able to defeat him relatively easily.

"I went through it like everyone else," Neji said, rinsing off and shivering in the cold water. "I wasn't always this good," he added with a sideways glance that quickly turned into a blush as he got an eyefull. He looked away and moved towards the bathtub quickly.

"Well, that's good to know," Kiba said, laughing softly. "Scary as you are now, if you were this good on pure natural talent alone I'd have to resent you or something. There's nothing worse than working your ass off to get good, and watching someone blast past you without even breaking a sweat."

Neji shrugged, sliding into the hot water with a soft hiss. "I was always better than the other children my age, that's why they call me a genius," he said, without modesty. "But that doesn't mean I haven't improved."

Dunking himself with cold water to rinse off, Kiba shivered and growled under his breath at the cold. "Well, I suppose even the ones who go anbu by the time the rest of us become genin don't start out that good," he said, amused. "After all, it'd be kinda creepy if you came out of the womb ready to fight that well."

"Exactly," Neji said, settling into the water with a sigh and closing his eyes. "Besides, people don't usually have great coordination when they come out of the womb, otherwise there probably would be people like that," he added with a tone of amusement.

"Probably!" Kiba laughed, padding towards the tub and sliding into the steaming water. He left enough space between him and Neji for them to stretch out, but he couldn't quite sit across from him. The tub was big enough to hold the entire family of whoever was clan head; Kiba's family was relatively small compared to many of the Inuzuka family units.

Neji scrunched up while Kiba got in, then stretched out again, kicking Kiba and flushing slightly as he rearranged himself, trying to find a way to sit comfortably without in any way touching the other boy under the water.

Water splashed at him as Neji fidgeted, and Kiba shook his head to get the worst of it out of his hair. "Does it bother you that much to be touching me a little?" he asked, curious. He made no move to get out of Neji's way; there was nowhere he could go, without scrunching himself into a ball, which he wasn't inclined to do. That would be counterproductive to the purpose of getting his sore muscles to relax.

Neji stopped moving at the question, opening his eyes and blinking at Kiba. "I...was trying to stay out of your way," he said, frowning. He settled down, his legs coming against Kiba's again. It was simply unavoidable, but it was instinct to him to try not to infringe on someone else's privacy by trying to find a position that won't require them to touch each other. "It's automatic, I suppose," he said uncertainly.

"Weird," Kiba pronounced, shrugging as he watched Neji settle in. "Not a reflex I have, that's for sure. Seems to cause a lot more trouble than it'd be worth... isn't it hard work making sure you never touch anybody by accident?"

"Isn't it hard work having to be around people all the time?" Neji returned, in the same tone of voice. "It doesn't cause trouble, it's just common courtesy. And if there's not enough room, there's not enough room. I was about to stop trying, anyway."

"Well, it's not like I go around letting myself bump into everyone around me," Kiba chuckled. "You make it sound like I have no manners at all."

He tried to imagine what it would be like to go through life being utterly paranoid about touching anybody by accident; at least, it seemed to him that was how other people lived their lives. It was hard to picture.

"And it's not like I go around terrified of touching anyone," Neji replied, unknowingly echoing Kiba's thought. "I just give people personal space. Especially when they're naked," he added, rolling his eyes. Not that I spend a lot of time with naked people, particularly in a situation where I can't avoid touching them, he thought, inching away from Kiba slightly.

Kiba didn't miss the slight movement, and his dark eyes sparkled with laughter, though he didn't outright snicker. "Well, it seems like it sometimes," he commented. Actions speak louder than words, Neji... "Man... could they have picked two more different people than you and I to stick together? Seriously."

Neji nodded. "At least neither of us is a girl," he offered.

"At least we're both from shinobi clans!" Kiba shot back. "Have you seen some of the crap the non-shinobi families put their shinobi kids through? Groundings, curfews, rules out the ass... They just don't seem to understand that once you graduate, you're not really a kid any more, not by our standards."

Neji shuddered. "I can't even imagine," he said. "If we're old enough to fight and kill enemy ninja, why can't we be old enough to stay up late if we want?"

"Hells, can you imagine your family telling you that you're not allowed to 'go play with your friends' because you're grounded?" Kiba replied, snorting. "Or trying to pass that excuse along to your jounin as to why you missed a mission?"

That had happened to Sakura, not that long ago - Hinata had told him about it, and he'd been totally flabbergasted by the very idea. For that matter, so had Hinata. Kakashi-sensei had been forced to go and explain in detail to the Haruno family that Sakura was, in fact, working, and there was no excuse for her not to show up on time.

"D'you suppose that's why most of the students who go on as ninja are from shinobi families?" he wondered aloud. "I mean, not all of us are from the big clans, but most of us at least have other shinobi in our immediate family somewhere. Our families understand what we're going through, and make concessions for us."

Neji frowned in thought. "They don't just make concessions, but they also start training earlier. Even if it's just in the kinds of attitudes that you need to be an effective ninja - they're instilled from birth."

"Which is probably why most of the best ninja are from the shinobi clans, not just families with shinobi in them," Kiba drew the thought to its logical conclusion. "Makes sense... clans like the Hyuuga, Inuzuka, and Aburame have centuries of experience in training their members to be as good as they can be, with the specific techniques they specialize in."

"That and our careful manipulation of genetics," Neji said sourly. "And - in most cases - we give the advantage to the most powerful people within our clans, to keep making the clan as a whole more powerful."

"On the other hand, I can't imagine being in our families and not being a ninja," Kiba commented, careful not to react to Neji's tone. The last thing they needed was to get into that discussion. "I mean, I've got relatives who didn't become shinobi for one reason or another, but not many! And I just can't figure out how they can stand it."

Neji chuckled, his tone relaxing again. "I know what you mean. I've never even thought about not becoming a ninja."

"I've thought about it, but only briefly, like I said earlier," Kiba laughed, sliding a little deeper in the water. "I think it's kind of one of those 'you're nuts if you do, and you're nuts if you don't' sort of situations."

Neji chuckled. "I think you're right." He sighed, relaxing into the tub, and found himself sliding against Kiba. He twitched, started to move away again, and then gave it up as a bad cause and just allowed himself to settle, stiffly, against the other boy. He doesn't care, so I don't have to apologize. Just relax and soak, Neji.

There was a companionable silence between them for several long minutes, as the heat and gentle massage of the water slowly relaxed sore muscles and soothed bruises. Every so often Kiba opened one eye to check and make sure Neji wasn't getting any closer to him - he hadn't forgotten about the way this stupid jutsu seemed to like pulling them closer together any time they weren't paying attention. And, if he were being truthful, he didn't mind the brief eyefulls of Neji's toned body, either.

For the most part, though, he just kept his eyes closed and drifted, until Akamaru gave a warning bark from out in the hall, and Kuromaru's deeper voice answered him. "Aw, damn," Kiba sighed, sitting up reluctantly. "We'd better clear out, or we'll be sharing the room with my family shortly."

Neji opened his eyes and a look of panic crossed his face briefly. He jumped to his feet and got out of the tub in record time, grabbing a towel. Sharing a bath with Kiba was one thing. He was not sitting around naked in such a small space with the rest of his family.

Eyes dancing again, Kiba shook his head as he climbed out a bit more calmly. "Relax, we've got enough time to make it back to the room, easily," he assured the skittish older boy. "That's why Akamaru warned us."

Shrugging into one of the - seldom used, but present in case of guests - cotton yukata, Kiba tossed another to Neji and ran a towel briskly over his hair as he gathered up his discarded clothes with his other arm.

Neji wound his hair in a towel to keep it from dripping, then donned the yukata. "I wasn't sure how much time we had," he said in embarrassment.

With a fanged grin, Kiba dropped his used towel in the basket full of other such towels and slid open the door.

The puppies, for once, were nowhere to be seen. Listening for a moment, Kiba realized it was because they'd all gone racing off to greet their mother as she came in the front door. "Quick, if we hurry we can get some fresh clothes and get into the room before the puppies catch up and we have to fight to keep them out," he announced, laughing as he dashed down the hall towards the clothing room.

Neji's eyes widened for a moment, but his body was already moving, and he quickly caught up with it mentally, dashing off after Kiba and easily keeping up with him. They ducked into the room just before the other ninja came around the corner and Neji couldn't help but give a soft chuckle of laughter at the look of mischief on Kiba's face. "You're weird," he accused, smiling.

"No, I'm normal - everyone else is weird," Kiba asserted, still grinning as he turned to hunt through the closets for some long, soft shirts they could wear to bed. "This good enough to sleep in?" he asked, turning to show one to Neji. "I wasn't sure if you'd want to sleep in the same pyjama pants you were wearing yesterday or not."

"Given all of the running around and fighting we did in them, I don't think I'll want to wear them again until they've been washed," Neji said. "This looks fine." He took the shirt and held it up, concluding that it was long enough - barely.

"That's what I figured," Kiba agreed, quickly shrugging out of the yukata and pulling the long shirt on. It was going to drive him crazy to sleep in it, getting it all tangled up around him, but it'd be worth it if it made Neji a little less skittish.

Neji also dressed quickly, the towel coming loose as he pulled it over his head. With a muffled curse, he fought with the tangled clothing, trying to pull it down over his head without bringing the towel down with it.

"Need some help?" Kiba asked in amusement, glancing over at his tangled teammate. "Now I remember why I keep my hair short!"

"No," came Neji's muffled voice as he reached up and pulled the towel free, his hair cascading down his back. At the same moment, he lost control over the yukata, which slid to the floor, but he quickly tugged downwards on the shirt, pulling it into place. Growling, he bent down to grab the towel and yukata again. "I like my hair," he said stubbornly.

"I like your hair too, I'm just glad I'm not the one who has to take care of it!" Kiba retorted, listening briefly at the door. Distantly down the hall, he could hear the sound of laughter and splashing, accompanied by the excited yaps of the puppies. "Oh, good, they'll be busy for a while," he said, and shoved the door open, heading for the room they'd slept in that morning. Akamaru fell in at his heels, yawning and licking his nose. Kiba noted that his partner's fur was wet - presumably the puppy had taken a quick bath with the rest of the family before returning to Kiba.

Hearing all the splashing and laughing, Neji glanced back towards the bathhouse as he followed Kiba. "What are they doing in there?" he asked.

"Bathing," Kiba said as if it should have been the most obvious thing in the world, giving Neji an odd look. Well, honestly, what did the older boy think they were doing?

Once he shut the door to the room behind them, the sounds were cut off fairly effectively. He could still hear them, but he doubted Neji could. They'd be able to sleep well enough.

Someone had been in during the day and remade the bed with fresh linens, thankfully. Kiba yawned and stretched, and offered the small tube of muscle relaxant he'd grabbed from the other room. "Here, you probably need it more than I do."

"Why does bathing have to be so noisy?" Neji asked, taking the tube and sitting down on the bed, trying to decide which of his muscles needed it the most.

"That's what happens when half a dozen puppies get involved in the process," Kiba told him, settling down to sit cross-legged at the foot of the futon. "You should try it sometime, it's fun."

"No thanks," Neji said without missing a beat. He rolled up his sleeve and began to rub the muscle relaxant into his arms, and then his thighs, two of the worst areas. "Kiba?" he asked after a moment, hesitantly. "Could you do my back, please?"

Kiba had been half in a trance, doing a couple of automatic meditations to help him unwind and relax before sleeping. It was the sort of thing every ninja learned from an early age. He opened his eyes and gave an easy smile. "Sure, no problem," he agreed.

He snagged the tube and squeezed a fair bit into his palm, dropping the tube and rubbing his hands together to warm it. He shifted around behind his teammate, waiting for the older boy to arrange himself and lift his shirt.

Neji hesitated, then pulled his shirt over his head, folding it in his lap then pulling his hair forward over his shoulder to give Kiba access to his back. "Thank you."

Nodding, Kiba set to work smoothing the balm over Neji's rather battered back. Hinata had taken the time to teach both he and Shino the proper technique for rubbing out sore muscles, showing them where the most common blockage points for chakra flow were and how to release them. He couldn't see the process like she could, so the best he could do was approximate her actions, but it was better than most people knew how to do.

He put the knowledge to good use now, careful to keep his touch light and impersonal. The last thing he wanted now was for Neji to get skittish again because Kiba was getting too personal!

Neji groaned aloud as Kiba hit a spot that was particularly tender, his head falling forward as his eyes slid shut. Kiba was surprisingly good at this. Almost as though he knew where to press to release the chakra! "You're good..." he purred, his words slurring slightly from pleasure.

"Heh." Pleased, Kiba moved on to work on the next point. "Thank Hinata's infinite stores of patience. Then again, I suspect she only stayed so diligent at teaching us because she wanted to get sore muscles rubbed out for a change, instead of us begging her for a massage." He grinned at the memory. "Even Kurenai-sensei finally caved and got in on the lessons."

Neji's eyes snapped open. "She...did what?" he asked. Despite his shock, he couldn't quite achieve his normal level of indignation. This just felt too good.

"She showed us how to do this properly," Kiba repeated, amused by Neji's attempt at indignation. "What's wrong with that? I wound up with a nasty cramp that seized up half my back during training one day, and she fixed it for me." He'd been showing off, but he wasn't about to admit that.

"Once Shino and I realized she was so good at it, we started pestering her," he added, his grin widening. "Eventually she got fed up with us and made us learn to do it ourselves, so she wouldn't always have to do it for us. And then she got her own back by demanding some in return."

"Oh..." Neji said vaguely, frowning. "Well, it's weird to think of my cousin with you and Shino, with your shirts off and her hands all over you. Can you blame me?"

Kiba couldn't help but snicker. "You make it sound perverted or something. Trust me, the amount of pain I was in that first time, I was in no position to appreciate having a pretty girl put her hands on me. And it's not like we stripped down - most of the time we still had our shirts on. And she and Kurenai-sensei always did, of course."

He shrugged. "I don't see what the big deal is. It wasn't in any way sexual. Does this feel sexual to you?" He certainly hoped it didn't, considering the effort he was going to in order to keep things casual! "I mean, honestly... Kurenai-sensei was involved!"

Neji shook his head. "No...I guess not," he said. "Anyway, I said it was weird, not perverted, or sexual or anything else. And I guess I overreacted. Forget I said anything." First hugging, now massage. What else was Hinata doing with them? Not to say it was bad... Neji had just never expected to learn these sorts of things.

"You just sounded so shocked, I thought maybe you were getting the wrong idea," Kiba told him, shrugging and moving on to the next spot. "It was just team bonding stuff. Didn't you guys ever... no, you know what? Forget I asked that. I already know the answer."

Despite himself, Neji let out a laugh. "Surely we know each other well enough by now to know the answer," he said. "And...I didn't really get the wrong idea. I'm convinced that you and Hinata aren't involved, that nothing inappropriate is going on. I was just surprised."

"Well, you know," Kiba rolled his eyes, "Enough of the guys congratulated me on 'having such a hot teammate, and an even hotter jounin'. I mean, as if Kurenai-sensei would ever look twice at me or Shino. Give me a break."

Neji glanced back at Kiba, his eyes widening. "Good lord," he said disgustedly. "At least no one came to the same conclusion about my team."

Snickering, Kiba nearly fell over with the force of his sudden laughter. "Well, the only person I've heard go on about Gai-sensei in admiring tones would be Lee, and... I just really don't want to go there. Tenten's cute enough, though - I'm sure you'd have gotten the knowing comments and nudges and winks if you were the sort of person people would dare make those comments to."

The older boy thought about that for a moment. "I guess she's cute," he said disinterestedly. "I never really thought about it. She's one of the only girls who has never thrown themselves at me, so I just appreciated her in that respect. That, and she's good to practice with."

"You're lucky she's not the type to throw herself at you," Kiba commented. "I always felt kinda sorry for Sasuke, getting stuck with Sakura on his team. Must've driven him nuts. Well, could've been worse... he could've had Sakura and Ino on his team." He snickered at the idea, as he leaned back on his heels and patted Neji's shoulder. "There, that's as much as I can do for you."

Neji shuddered in sympathy at the thought, then straightened up, stretching. "Thank you," he said. "It feels a lot better now." He turned, aiming a soft smile at Kiba before turning away again and putting his shirt back on. "Now...do you have a brush I could borrow?" he asked.

"Oh, uh... somewhere," Kiba said, distracted by the thought. "Might have to steal one of my sister's; she's the only one in the family with really long hair." He started to rise to his feet to go searching for one, then made an irritated noise when he remembered Neji would be forced to traipse after him.

"Akamaru, go ask nee-san for a brush, will you?" he asked his partner. Akamaru gave him a plaintive look; the puppy was quite happily settled in the corner near the heater, soaking up the warmth after a long day of battles. After a long moment, the dog sighed and made a bit of a production of getting up, stretching, and trotting to the door.

"Thanks, buddy!" Kiba said as he rose long enough to open the door for him.

Neji eyed Kiba in surprise as Akamaru left. He was relieved he'd sent the puppy instead of forcing them both to go, but he was confused. "You don't...own a brush?" he asked, as though he couldn't imagine how Kiba got through life that way.

"No, I usually just use a comb," Kiba said, shrugging. "My hair's not long enough to need anything more than that." He tugged his fingers through the short, spiky locks as if to demonstrate; he hadn't yet done anything other than towel his hair dry, but it looked pretty much the same way it always did, just a bit messier.

Grabbing the tube of bruise balm, he started rubbing it on his own sore muscles, much as Neji had been doing before asking for help. When Akamaru scratched on the door a few minutes later, he absently muttered, "Can you let him in, please?"

Neji got to his feet and just barely made it to the door. He began to open it, then realized that a horde of puppies was outside, and opened it just a crack. "Kiba and I are going to sleep, so none of you can get in except Akamaru!" he said firmly, glaring specifically at Hoshi. The puppies whined, but when he refused to back down, they stepped back, allowing him to open the door enough for Akamaru to enter, and then close it behind him without any of the other puppies getting in.

"Thank you," he said to Akamaru, taking the brush from his mouth and beginning to run it through his long hair as he returned to the bed.

"See, you're getting the hang of it already!" Kiba congratulated him with a grin. He'd known the puppies were out there, of course, but it hadn't occurred to him until after he'd asked Neji to open the door that he might not be able to keep them out. He'd expected Hoshi, at least, to worm her way in before being thrown out again.

"Well," Neji said with a smirk. "At least I don't have to kick them to keep them out, like you do."

"I do not kick them!" Kiba replied, incensed. "I just... nudge them. It's not like I hurt them, geez. You make me sound abusive or something."

Neji rolled his eyes. "I was teasing you, Kiba," he said. "I know you're not abusive!" Well, well, that was a tender spot...

Only somewhat mollified, Kiba patted his lap and Akamaru trotted up to sprawl over the offered surface. Kiba ran gentle fingers through his partner's still damp fur, combing out the tangles. "There's nothing lower than someone who'd deliberately hurt a helpless animal," he muttered, eyes narrowed. "You shouldn't joke about it."

Neji eyed him, the teasing expression gone, as he continued to brush out his hair. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I thought it was...so obvious that you'd never hurt them, that it would be clear I was only teasing you. I didn't mean to offend you."

There was a further moment of silence as Kiba continued to stroke Akamaru's soft fur, before he finally sighed and glanced up to offer the older boy a half smile. "Sorry," he said, genuinely contrite. "It's a bit of a sore subject. I wouldn't recommend teasing any Inuzuka about something like that." He rubbed Akamaru's ears, much to the puppy's delight. "It'd be something like me accusing you of beating up on Hinata to get her to stop pestering you about something."

Neji winced. "I'll remember," he said. He sighed softly and focussed on finishing with his hair, watching the interplay between Kiba and Akamaru out of the corner of his eye. He'd never really realized the depth of feeling between them - or really seen the look in Kiba's eyes when he played with or petted Akamaru.

Unaware of Neji's thoughts, Kiba continued to play with his partner, his mood lightening rapidly as Akamaru started mock-fighting him, growling playfully. The puppy grabbed the corner of a pillow and Kiba snagged the other end before Akamaru could drag it away; an impromptu game of tug-of-war ensued, leaving Kiba breathless with laughter.

"You could help me, here," he accused Neji when Akamaru nearly pulled him over at one point. The puppy was much larger than he'd once been; he still wasn't anywhere near his adult size, but he was big enough and strong enough to give Kiba some challenge.

Neji smirked at him, almost finished brushing his hair. "First of all, I'd have to stop what I was doing," he said. "And secondly, do you really think I would do all of this, only to mess it up again? Besides, I was enjoying watching."

Huffing a sigh of indignation, Kiba gave him a sour look. "You're my teammate, you're suppose to be on my... ack!"

His lecture was cut off when Akamaru gave an unexpected yank on the pillow corner, catching Kiba unprepared and off balance. He tumbled forward out of his sitting position, winding up sprawled over the futon not far from Neji, with Akamaru triumphantly dragging the pillow to the other side of the room, where he promptly dropped it and curled up on it. Kiba started laughing again, holding his stomach and fighting just to breathe.

Neji couldn't help it. When Kiba fell over on the floor and began to howl, he lost it. Dropping his brush, he grabbed for his stomach and doubled over in laughter.

Startled by the sound of Neji laughing like that, Kiba blinked up at him, his own laughter trailing off into mere chuckles. "You should laugh like that more often," he said impulsively. The moment the words were out of his mouth, he regretted them; chances were Neji would get all self-conscious now. But at least his sincerity had come through in his voice.

Kiba was right. As Neji registered the words, his already lessening laughter cut off fairly quickly, and he reddened, turning away and grabbing his brush again. "I don't see funny things like that very often," he said defensively.

Staying where he was, Kiba just kept grinning up at the older boy, though his smile had the faintest overtones of wistfulness and regret to it. "You have a nice laugh," he told his teammate honestly. "I like hearing it, that's all." When he was openly laughing and smiling like that, Neji was... well, drop-dead gorgeous, honestly. Kiba wished he'd kept his mouth shut, so he could have enjoyed the sight for a few more seconds.

Neji glanced up answering Kiba's grin with an oddly shy smile. "Thanks...I guess," he said doubtfully. He'd finished with his hair and tied it back again, setting the brush aside. "Are you done playing, then?"

Delighted that he'd unexpectedly gotten the other boy to smile again, Kiba nodded and hauled himself back up into a sitting position. "Yeah, looks like he's tired himself out, so we might as well go to bed, too." He stood and padded over to the light switch. "You ready?"

Neji nodded, pushing himself further up on the bed in preparation for lying down to sleep. "I'm ready," he said.

Nodding, Kiba killed the lights and padded back over to the futon, setting his weapons beside the mattress where he'd be able to easily grab them if he needed them. There wasn't anywhere comfortable to keep them on his person in just this thin cotton shirt.

"Same as this morning?" he asked as he slid under the covers, trying to get comfortable.

There was a short hesitation before Neji answered. "Might as well," he said, sliding under the covers and rolling over to face Kiba. How long am I going to be able to deal with this? he wondered, feeling his body already beginning to react and drawing up his legs a little more to keep Kiba from settling completely against him.

Kiba could hardly miss the scent of arousal that wafted towards him as Neji shifted the covers and curled up a bit. He wondered if Neji was aware that he could smell it - probably not. Or rather, he probably hadn't thought through the implications, since he certainly did know just how sensitive Kiba's nose was.

Impishly, he decided to do something a little different. Instead of rolling over to present his back to Neji, he curled up so he was facing the older boy, head settled firmly against Neji's strong shoulder and one arm lightly draped over the other boy's waist.

Neji stiffened at the unexpected move. It wasn't unpleasant - and certainly helped with his problem - but it confused him. And instantly made the problem worse. "What... are you doing?" he asked, a tinge of nervousness in his voice.

"Hmm?" Kiba's breath ghosted over Neji's collarbone as he spoke, and the younger boy had to fight not to grin as the scent of arousal spiked sharply. "Do you always sleep in the same position?" he asked innocently.

Neji swallowed, audibly to Kiba's ears. "No...of course not," he said, shifting and trying to relax. He's right, I'm just overreacting.

He's so damn cute when he's flustered, Kiba thought, just a little smugly, as he settled in and tried to slow his own breathing. It was hard to relax; Neji's aroused scent was driving him to distraction, and he suddenly realized he might have put himself in just as awkward a position as he'd done to Neji. Oops. Didn't quite think this through clearly...

Neji frowned as Kiba's energy flow began to shift. It was clear that something fairly significant was going on, but he wasn't sure he could understand the patterns he was seeing. Then again... he was pretty sure he'd seen them before, but not nearly as pronounced.

Suddenly, his eyes widened as he made the mental connection, and a soft noise escaped his throat. He looks like the girls... when they look at me, and they're thinking of... no. That's ridiculous.

"What?" Kiba asked, seizing on the soft sound as a source of distraction from his current predicament. Thank the gods Neji's sense of smell was nowhere near as acute as his. He'd often thought that 'normal' people's inability to smell things like this put them in untenable situations because they misinterpreted each other more often, but in this particular case, he was just as grateful!

"What are you thinking about?" Neji asked, his voice tight as he fought not to reveal his embarrassment and the way his own body was now reacting even more strongly with the suspicion that Kiba might feel the same way.

Blinking, Kiba was careful not to hesitate before answering. "That this is nice," he admitted truthfully. "But very, very different from sleeping with my family." Neji sounded angry... but Kiba could smell embarrassment under the anger. Which meant one of two things; either Neji was afraid Kiba had noticed his reaction, or he'd noticed Kiba's reaction. He wasn't sure which was the better scenario.

"Nice?" Neji asked, in a careful tone. Nice? Just nice? "That's all?"

That made Kiba pause. "Am I more likely to get beaten up for saying 'yes, that's all' or 'no, it's not all'?" he asked with some measure of amusement. Ah, what the hell, he can't hit me right now anyway without hurting himself too... "You almost sound like you might be disappointed."

Neji reddened, reminding himself that he'd only hurt himself if he punched Kiba for the tone in his voice. He hesitated a long time before finally answering. "I won't beat you up, regardless, unless you lie to me," he said. "But...I guess I was disappointed."

"Out of curiosity, what made you ask?" Kiba wanted to know before he was willing to go down the mine filled path that had opened up before him.

"You...looked strange," Neji said quietly. "It reminded me of how girls look when they ask me on a date. Only moreso. And different because you're a boy."

"I 'looked' strange?" Kiba repeated incredulously. His acting ability wasn't that bad, surely. And how much could Neji possibly see in the dark room?

Then it hit him. "Oh, I get it," he exclaimed. "You can see my chakra flow or something, can't you? Even without activating the Byakugan?" That made a lot more sense. And then he started to chuckle. "Here I am wondering if you realize I can smell the changes in your mood, not even thinking to wonder if you can see the changes in mine."

"Yes, I can see your chakra flow," Neji said, then sighed. "You... smelled me?" he asked, sounding almost pained. Does he always know what I'm feeling? I had no idea he could interpret moods that way!

"Hey, you don't get to complain about my way of interpreting people if you've got a trick of your own to use!" Kiba said good-naturedly. "Yes, I can smell your moods, if they're strong enough or I'm close enough."

He pulled back a bit - just far enough that he could see Neji's eyes in the dim light from under the door - and raised an eyebrow. "So? Now what? Just 'cause I can tell you're interested doesn't mean I'm going to jump you..." He leaned forward again, though he kept his eyes on Neji's, and lowered his voice. "Unless you want me to?"

Neji's eyes widened a little. "Does that mean you want to?" he asked in a hushed tone. DoI want him to? While his body was giving an enthusiastic 'yes', a large part of him was terrified of the consequences. Particularly because he didn't know what consequences there might be.

Kiba's eyes gleamed, even in the darkness. "You're the one looking at my chakra flow, you tell me," he teased. He shifted a bit, letting the edge of his foot trail against Neji's leg. He could still be courting a serious rejection, here... but the older boy's body at least wanted what Kiba was offering. Whether his mind would follow suit was the only question.

Neji drew in a sharp breath as Kiba's foot touched him. "I... I can't tell that much," he murmured, though he was leaning forward, almost automatically. "Do you want me, Kiba?"

Ah, hormones... gotta love them, Kiba thought in a bit of a daze as Neji leaned closer and his arousal scent spiked again. He wasn't even sure if he meant his hormones, Neji's, or both. Hell with it... He closed the distance and fastened his mouth hungrily on the older boy's, putting the desire he felt into actions rather than words.

Neji stiffened for an instant, before his own hormones took over. With a soft moan of desire, he pressed into the kiss, winding his arms tightly around Kiba and crushing the other boy to him.

The soft shirts they were wearing weren't much of a barrier between them, yet Kiba was already half mad with the desire to feel Neji's skin against his. He shifted his legs again, twining them with Neji's and rubbing against the older boy as he opened his mouth. Without really meaning to, he took command of the kiss, demanding entry with his tongue and letting the force of his emotions carry him away.

Neji's eyes popped open with surprise as Kiba shoved his tongue into his mouth. Moments later, however, his control vanished once again and he was swept away by the demands of his body, moaning loudly as Kiba seemed to find every sensitive spot inside his mouth.

Shivering slightly, Kiba pressed even closer. Neji tasted even better than he'd imagined, and though he hesitated to use the word 'submitting' in context with Neji for any reason, having the older boy give way to him like this was damn near intoxicating.

In all honesty, he wouldn't care if Neji wrested control of the situation back from him, either. But at the moment they seemed to be followed Kiba's lead, and that was good with him. It meant he could indulge himself. The arm that had been draped lightly over Neji's waist tightened, then slid upwards, his finger seeking the sensitive spots on Neji's back and neck.

Neji moaned again as Kiba's nails scraped over the back of his neck. It didn't even occur to him to try to fight for control - he was enjoying it far too much to try to change it. His own hands slid downwards, exploring the planes of Kiba's back, and tracing the muscles through the thin shirt.

Growling softly under his breath - a sound that was very much indicative of pleasure, and not anger - Kiba pushed forward, turning Neji half on his back and leaving him sprawled out over the taller boy's chest, with one knee wedged between Neji's thighs. This is... getting a bit out of hand rather quickly, he realized, but he wasn't quite able to keep himself from running a hand down Neji's torso, searching for the hem of the shirt. He wondered if Neji could feel everything happening to Kiba, as he could with the injuries.

Neji squirmed as Kiba pushed him over, feeling a flare of nervousness, but the hand quickly distracted him. "Kiba," he gasped, panting for breath as he also searched for the hem of the other boy's shirt.

The sound of his name on Neji's lips, in that particular, almost desperate tone, sent a bolt of heat straight through Kiba. He forgot to worry about whether they might be going a bit too fast, and just gave himself over to the sensations.

Nuzzling against the junction of Neji's neck and shoulder, Kiba's mouth found skin at the same moment as his hand discovered the hem of the shirt. He slid his fingers under it and pushed back up again, tongue flicking out to taste the sweat gathering on Neji's skin. Another, louder growl was his only verbal answer.

Neji cried out softly at the touch of Kiba's tongue, his head falling back and to the side to open his throat up to Kiba's touch. He somehow found the hem of Kiba's shirt as well, and his hands slid up Kiba's back, teasing at the skin and searching for sensitive spots.

When Neji tipped his head back like that, exposing his throat, instinct took over and Kiba bit down, his sharp canines digging not-so-gently into the soft flesh there. It was enough to mark the delicate skin, though not enough to break through and cause Neji to bleed. At the same moment his hand found one taut nipple and pinched it, then rubbed over it almost soothingly.

Neji cried out again in surprise as Kiba bit him, his eyes flying open. An instant later, the mixed pleasure/pain of what Kiba was doing to his nipple got through and he relaxed again, moaning with pleasure.

The sudden cry jerked Kiba back into reality, and he realized what he'd done. He flushed a bit, and licked at the wound to sooth it, though it didn't seem like Neji was exactly protesting. The idea of the powerful Hyuuga genius bearing his mark was... provocative, to say the least.

Neji moaned softly as Kiba's tongue soothed the bite. He opened his eyes, looking up at Kiba vaguely. "You bit me," he accused, though he didn't really sound upset.

"Sorry," Kiba replied, sounding no more contrite than Neji had upset. "That's what you get for showing me your throat like that." The soft growl was still present in his voice, and he pinched the hard nipple again, watching for the reaction this time.

Neji flinched, his breath hitching in his throat. "It's OK," he said, reddening and giving Kiba another shy smile. "It didn't hurt."

"Good," Kiba said, ducking his head and running his tongue over the spot again. "Cause I'm sure I'll end up doing it again." Instinct was a powerful motivator, after all. He nipped at Neji's collarbone, just a soft bite this time, not even intended to leave a mark, just to evoke the sensation.

Neji squirmed again, gasping. "H-have you done this before?" he asked, a little desperately. Kiba seemed so... confidant, and Neji felt like he had no idea what he was doing.

"I've messed around a little, nothing serious," Kiba admitted, feeling heat surge within him again at Neji's squirming. Slow down, he reminded himself frantically. You're not going to impress him into a repeat performance by being a five-minute wonder. He didn't need to ask if Neji had ever done anything like this before. The answer was glaringly obvious. "But I do know what I'm doing, if that's what you're asking."

"Oh," Neji said, not sure if he was happy that at least one of them knew what they were doing, or upset that he didn't measure up, despite being a year older. "Okay." Forcing away his nervousness, he pushed upwards, his lips seeking Kiba's once more.

Kiba chuckled against Neji's mouth at the uncertain tone that had been in the other boy's voice. He set out to reassure him - or at least make him forget about his worries. The best way he could think of to do so was to so thoroughly distract him Neji wouldn't even be able to remember his own name.

He nudged his knee up a little higher, feeling Neji's burning erection pressed against his thigh. Kiba's shirt was riding up, leaving nothing between them but skin, and he growled again at the sensation.

Neji moaned into Kiba's mouth, quickly forgetting his nervousness, as Kiba had hoped. The sensation of skin-on-skin rapidly drove him mad. He buried a hand in Kiba's hair, enjoying the soft texture of his hair, while the other slipped between them, teasing a nipple in imitation of the other boy.

Jerking, Kiba moaned and squirmed, encouraging the touch. Neji, he remembered wryly, was known as a fast learner. It was going to be all Kiba could do to stay one step ahead of him. "Shirts off," he gasped as he pulled away slightly, panting and growling.

Startled both by Kiba's sudden bucking movement, and by the order, Neji didn't hesitate to obey, sitting up quickly. "Y-you too," he gasped, his voice muffled by fabric as he pulled the shirt over his head.

"I'm working on it," Kiba agreed, squirming to get his arms out and pull the soft fabric over his head. The moment he'd tossed it aside he was back on Neji, straddling the older boy's waist with both legs this time as he pressed forward, rocking their hips together.

Neji made a soft, whimpering noise in the back of his throat as Kiba rocked against him. How could something so simple feel so good? "K-Kiba..." he groaned, dropping back against the bed and rocking his hips upwards. He'd never been pinned like this before - at least, in a situation where he didn't need to escape from the pin - and he was finding that he sort of...liked it.

"I really..." Kiba paused to nip at Neji's throat again to emphasize the words, "like it when you say my name like that." He rocked forward again, a little harder this time, one hand bracing him at the side of Neji's chest. The other slid up and down the taut skin of his torso, dipping a little lower each time.

"Y-you do?" Neji gasped, squirming helplessly as Kiba's hand teased him by dipping lower and lower. "How did I say it?"

Giving in to his own desperation as well as Neji's, Kiba wrapped his fingers around both of them, gripping just tightly enough to give the pressure they were both craving. "Like you're drowning, and I'm the air you need to breathe," Kiba growled in his teammate's ear, nipping at the lobe as he did so.

Neji cried out as Kiba squeezed him, bucking in place but unable to move much with Kiba's weight on his thighs. "Kiba!" I sort of feel that way, he thought to himself before the rest of his higher brain functions fled. One arm wrapped tightly around Kiba, the other hand curled in the sheets, fighting for some kind of stable anchor.

Neji's thrashing served only to rub them together harder, and Kiba wasn't complaining. Oh, yeah... I could definitely get used to this. Mmngods, that feels so good...

He might not have much practical experience, but Kiba knew they couldn't take this too much farther without some form of lubrication, which they didn't have readily on hand. Oh, there were plenty of things they could have used - but all of them were outside the room, and he didn't feel like traipsing out after something. Or sending Akamaru, since someone would have to give the puppy the stuff to take back to Kiba. He briefly considered using the muscle relaxant, but a half-remembered story told him that might be a bad idea.

Well, he wasn't exactly complaining about what they were doing now. And if he had his way, they'd get a chance to try the rest of it later. He tugged his hand up and down their shafts, biting down harder on Neji's ear.

"Nnnngh..." said Neji as Kiba chewed on his earlobe. He couldn't quite seem to form syllables more complicated than that anymore, but he also didn't quite care. Reaching down, he put his own hand over Kiba's, following the tugs and rubbing the heads of their cocks with his thumb without forcing Kiba to change his rhythm. Oh gods...more...

Kiba shuddered under the increased stimulus. This was a hell of a lot different than what he did himself, or the fumbling messing around he'd done a couple times with one of his cousins, which hadn't even gotten this far. It felt... bigger, like the universe was centered inside him and expanding rapidly, drawing him out with it.

He was a teenager, he'd never had sex with anyone before, and it had been almost two days since the last time he'd gotten off - he wasn't going to last long. At least, from the way Neji was writhing beneath him, he wasn't going to embarrass himself by coming too soon before the older boy. "Open your eyes," he ordered, staring intently at his teammate - boyfriend? lover? He didn't quite dare think in those terms yet - and waiting for those pale eyes to open. "I want to see the look in your eyes when you come..."

Neji opened his eyes wide, startled again as he looked up at Kiba. "K-k--..."

He never got the name out. With a sharp cry, he arched his back and bucked his hips once again as his orgasm slammed into him without warning.

The sudden tensing of muscles against him warned Kiba a split second before warm white gobs splattered over their hands and stomachs. He felt a thrilled split second of pride at being able to wrench such a visceral reaction from the aloof Hyuuga, before all coherent thought was overtaken and whited out by his own orgasm.

"Ne...ji..." he growled as it hit him, the syllables almost unrecognizable in the rough snarl. He rocked against Neji hard, fangs sinking into the older boy's shoulder hard enough to draw a bit of blood this time, the coppery taste flooding his mouth as an odd counterpoint to the ecstasy flooding his nerves.

Neji let out another cry as the pain of Kiba's teeth mixed with the pleasure of his orgasm and got all tangled up and confused. He collapsed to the bed, gasping.

Groaning, Kiba collapsed on top of him, not releasing his hold on Neji's shoulder for another moment. When he finally drew away, head spinning with the aftermath of the most intense pleasure of his life, he was slightly horrified to see the blood on Neji's shoulder.

He was a little more horrified by his own gut reaction to it, which was a nearly incoherent sense of 'MINE'. But only a little bit more.

"Sorry," he murmured, voice still rough with passion as he reached up with one shaking hand and wiped away the traces of blood. He could still taste it in his mouth, hot and fresh and vitally alive. "Didn't mean to hurt you." At least it wasn't that bad a bite - it was no worse than any of the other cuts and scrapes they'd gotten in practice today.

"Huh?" Neji asked intelligently, turning his head to try to see the bite, but it was too close to his neck to be visible. "You didn't hurt me," he said, pushing Kiba's hand away, and then wrapping his arms tightly around him. "But it hurts when you touch it now, so leave it alone."

Didn't mind me marking you, hmm? The thought pleased Kiba to no end, and he settled down into Neji's arms with a complacent hum of pleasure. Who would have ever thought... he must get tired of being so in control all the time, I guess.

Neji made a sort of purring sound in the back of his throat as Kiba settled down on top of him. The weight was oddly comforting, rather than oppressive, and helped to stave off the horrified 'what did we just do?' that was threatening to intrude on his consciousness. "Why did you bite me, anyway?" he asked curiously. "I never heard of that, before."

There was a part of Kiba that really didn't want to answer that, for fear of driving Neji off. Inuzuka rarely had relationships outside the clan, and it wasn't entirely from a desire to keep the bloodline pure. Many people were put off by just how much like their dogs the family had become, just as many people - Kiba included - found the Aburame clan and their bugs to be vastly unappealing.

But Kiba was honest by nature, and trying to hide things, especially important things, from someone as important to him as Neji had just become felt wrong.

"You bared your throat to me," he admitted, a bit reluctantly. "It's a... dominance thing, like me flattening myself in front of my mother. My instincts got the better of me." He rubbed his cheek anxiously against Neji's shoulder, hoping the older boy wouldn't take it the wrong way.

Neji blinked, a little discomfited, partly by Kiba's use of the word 'dominance', and by how anxious the other boy was. "What does it mean, though?" he asked in confusion.

"Uh, well... you offer your throat when you're submitting to someone more powerful than you, or in authority over you," Kiba said. "Then the alpha bites at it, without doing any damage, to accept it." He shrugged. "It's a sign of trust, as well as an assertion of dominance."

Neji coloured. "I didn't mean-- I mean...I didn't know..." he subsided, grumbling. Why does everything have to be about dominance and control? he wondered.

"I know you didn't mean it that way!" Kiba hastened to assure him, flushed at least as badly as Neji. "I'm just telling you why I reacted that way, that's all. Trust me, I do not think of myself as dominant to you," he added wryly.

After a moment of hesitation, he finished, "Like I said, it can also be a sign of trust. Ultimate trust. I'd offer you my throat, anytime."

Neji looked at him, a sort of cautious nervousness mixed with hope in his eyes. "You were ordering me around a lot," he pointed out softly. Not that I really minded at the time, his traitorous mind supplied and he blushed again.

"Well..." Kiba raised an eyebrow at him, though his blush didn't fade. He could just make out Neji's own blush in the dim light, and he wished he could see better. Except then Neji would be able to see his better, as well. "It just sorta... worked out that way. You weren't complaining."

"Yeah," Neji agreed grudgingly. Not wanting to argue, or even get upset, he chose to bury his face against Kiba's chest instead. If he gets uppity, I'll put him in his place, he promised himself. He said he knows he's not dominant to me, and I did like it. I don't want to ruin it now!

When Neji burrowed against him instead of delivering the argument or lecture Kiba half expected, it left the younger boy a bit lost for words. Finally Kiba settled for wrapping his arms around Neji tightly instead, nuzzling into that thick, dark hair and inhaling the sweaty, musty scent of Neji and sex. "Now you smell really good," he commented, stifling a yawn.

"Good," Neji replied softly, nuzzling back hesitantly. "...Kiba?"

If the family had bonded to cats instead of dogs, Kiba would have been purring at that moment. As it was, he didn't have a tail to wag to show how content he was, but it came through in the sleepy satisfaction in his voice. "Hmm?"

Settling against Kiba, Neji shook his head. "Go to sleep...we'll talk in the morning," he murmured.

"No, what is it?" Kiba wanted to know, curious now. He was sleepy, but not so exhausted he needed to go to sleep right that second. Mostly he was just so content he was drowsy with it.

Neji hesitated a long moment. "I...was just wondering what happened," he whispered. "What it means...for later. But you don't have to answer now. We can talk about it later." I don't want to ruin this any more than I already have...

Kiba was silent long enough that Neji started to think the younger boy really had decided to drop the subject. In reality, Kiba was just trying to decide what to say. "Later... I certainly wouldn't mind continuing this," he finally said softly. "As for 'what happened', I'm not entirely sure myself, but I'm not unhappy with it."

"Okay," Neji said softly, relaxing against Kiba. "Me too," he added in a whisper.

Smiling against Neji's hair, Kiba stroked his hand over the older boy's muscled shoulder. "Get some rest," he said softly. "We both need it."

The futon mattress rustled as a new weight was introduced to it and Kiba felt Akamaru stretch out at his back, settling in. Sandwiched between his partner and his - lover? Yes, he thought he could be justified in using that term now - his lover, Kiba felt just about as happy as he'd ever been in his life.

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

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