Sake and Secrets

Inuzuka Kiba had never once been a man of his word.

Inuzuka Kiba nearly always broke his promises, even though he made few to break.

Inuzuka Kiba loved nothing more than taunting his rival, Uzamaki Naruto.

So that is what he planned on doing tonight. To waste another night of his life as a love-sick eighteen-year-old. That is the reason he was currently sat at the bar in one of Konoha's nightclubs, not too far from the table which offered a resting place for the Jounin team seven, Uzamaki Naruto, Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Sasuke, without Akamaru, since his sister needed to give the large dog his monthly check and that could take a while. They had been there for two hours and the konoichi of their team was no where in sight. Naruto had mentioned about her saying she would be there, but so far no signs of arrival proved his theory.

Kakashi got up and left, muttering an excuse our favourite Inuzuka had trouble hearing, and the two other males were left alone. It was then that the blonde noticed him and nudged Sasuke in the side, pointing to the lonesome dog-nin, drinking his Friday night away. Sasuke seemed to sigh and nod his head while Naruto cheered.

"Kiba-teme! Come and sit with us!" He called out. Kiba turned his head and nodded, politely, and in an 'un-Kiba-like manner', accepting the offer. "Sakura-chan should be here any minuet now, she promised. Her training with Tsunade-baa-sama probably ran long again."

"Face it Naruto, she's not coming." Stated the dark Uchiha, sounding slightly relieved. It was a fact that, upon is return, Sakura had not exactly welcomed him back with open arms. No one trusted him for a while, but at least they weren't as cruel to him as Sakura was. She had smiled at him, then scowled, called him multiple names and finished it all off with one of her strongest blows. He spent the first eleven month of his five year village arrest in a full-body cast.

"Who's not coming, Uchiha?" Asked a female voice from behind the men. They turned to see Sakura, dressed in a mid-thigh-length, black skirt and a white baby-tee, which stopped a few inches above her belly button. To finish the look, she had her red Hatei-ate on as a belt and some black heels, similar to the ones worn by Tsunade and Shinzune. It was safe to say, without lying, that that was not the first time Kiba had ever ogled a girl in public, but, it was the first time he had stared so openly at Sakura, since he never stared at or big-time flirted with girls he really liked. To add to the fact he was ogling, he was caught by Naruto, her over-protective brotherly figure.

"Hello, Kiba-san, what are you doing here?" She wondered once her green eyes acknowledged the presence of the Inuzuka dog-nin, without the ever-present company of his friend, Akamaru. He raised a rough eyebrow at her to be faced with only curiosity.

"I was invited over by Naruto-teme, Sakura." He replied in a typical Kiba-ish way. She smiled and took the seat between him and Sasuke, Naruto pouting a little at her choice. "Don't even think about getting served too quickly, the waiter here is really slow." Kiba informed her, slightly wondering why he was even able to talk to her for that matter, without turning into a nervous wreck like usual.

All of a sudden, the waiter flashed forwards and beamed at Sakura, being the pervert he was, he was ready to take any orders from a beautiful girl. He continued to grin as he removed a pad and pencil from his apron and positioned himself to take orders. Sasuke and Kiba had to suppress sniggers when they saw the Sakura was avoiding and/or ignoring all of his attempts to flirt with her, even though Naruto remained oblivious.

"I'll have one large bottle of your strongest sake please." She requested, beaming a smile back at the flirtatious boy.

They made an odd group, the four of them.

One Brown-haired, brown-eyed, misfit of a dog-nin, clothed in a grey shirt and some black, fitted jeans. On his feet were some brown walking boots and, to complete his 'I-don't-give-a-damn' look, he had a silver fang hanging from his neck, attacked to a leather chord.

The next person of the group was the only Uchiha to survive the massacre ten years ago and, after he had killed his brother, the last Uchiha live. His onyx eyes and midnight-sheen hair were complimented well be his choice of clothing, a black dress shirt and some white, full length trousers with black boots and wrist-length black gloves.

Then you had the happy-go-luck blonde of the group. His bright eyes livening up the night of any downing attitudes of the people he knew. He wore an orange, short-sleeved shirt and some blue trousers, in the same style as his team mates. His shoes were open-toes, blue ninja sandals and he didn't wear his black-banded Hatei-ate in its usual position, or at all for that matter.

Finally, to complete the group, was a konoichi, who's hair glowed with the colour of the dawn sky and who's emerald green eyes could trap any man far better than a genjutsu could any day. A small smirked played at her lips as she challenged Uchiha Sasuke to a sake drinking contest, to which he accepted and they each lifted their glassed to drink.

They had each consumed five Tsunade-portions of sake and were still going, although Sasuke seemed to be the obvious loser by this stage, since he was the more drunk of the two. The dark boy dropped his bottle mid-chug and collapsed to the ground. Naruto rolled his eyes and then turned to Sakura, who continued to drink despite her victory. The blonde sighed and got off of his seat, hoisting Sasuke into a walking position, but supporting most of the drunken 'avenger's' weight.

"I'll take Sasuke-teme back to his place if you take Sakura-chan to hers when she passes out, deal?" Naruto suggested smartly. Kiba mentally noted that Naruto used the word 'when' rather then 'if' but nodded regardless of his grammar and the Uzamaki vessel left with the brooding alcoholic slung over his shoulders.

Kiba then turned to Sakura who, even though she was wasted already, continued to drink. He was amazed by her alcoholic intake and only assumed that she had picked up her drinking from the training sessions with Tsunade. He made another note to check in on one of these 'training sessions' to see if they really did just sit around and drink sake for hours on end. Knowing the Hokage, it wouldn't surprise him much if she did.

Sakura dropped her sake bottle in drunken weakness and the Inuzuka teen decided that it was time to take her home. She protested but eventually gave in and he supported her as they walked out of the nightclub and in the direction of her apartment. She absently played with the ends of his wild brown hair as they walked and, had he not been aware of her alcohol intake that night, Kiba might have blushed.

"You have really nice hair." Sakura commented in a trance-like state. He snuck a look at her face to see it tinted with a drunken blush and couldn't help but think that it look a bit cute on her. "Why is your :hic: hair nicer :hic: than mine?" She asked him, hiccupping slightly every now and then.

"I don't know." He responded quickly as he observed her short pink tresses in slight awe at the way they framed her face. "I like your hair." He added as an after thought, although it was true. Kiba knew better than to hit on Sakura when she was sober, that was suicide. He didn't, however, know of the effects of him hitting on her while she was drunk. He had liked her for a while and, maybe, if he could tell her the way he felt while she was drunk he would have more courage in doing so when she had sobered up again.

"You're really handsome." The konoichi slurred with a lopsided grin, this time, Kiba did blush, but only a tiny bit. He could have easily blamed it on the drinks he had, but both he and Sakura knew that he had consumed no alcohol at all that night.

"Um…thanks." He replied, not too sure about what he should say to the intoxicated girl.

"I really like you Kiba-kun." She told him. For a moment, Kiba believed he was in heaven, but then remembered that she was drunk and probably didn't know what she was saying. It wasn't until he felt her arm leave his shoulder and two wrap around his waist that his face flushed a deep red. Sakura giggled at the colour and pocked his cheek lightly.

He failed to notice a calculating gaze briefly appear in the Jounin girl's eyes, before it was replaced with a drunken sparkle again. She removed her arms from around his stomach and let her fingers slid across his six-pack abdomen, hidden always under baggy shirts and jackets. She grinned at him and then walked ahead, wobbling slightly with each step. He rushed up after her to catch her when he noticed her starting to fall and picked her up.

Their faces were inches apart and Kiba's face reddened again. Sakura had a glazed look in her eyes as they leaned in closer, before Kiba closed the gap and captured her soft, cheery coloured lips with his own, rough ones. It was a simple peck on the lips, but it made Kiba soar just to fell the medic's lips on his, to feel her hands wrap around his neck, to smell the drunkenness which surrounded her. Remembering that last point, he broke the kiss. It was wrong to take advantage of her when she was like this, no matter how right it felt to him.

The rosette girl had fallen asleep in his arms during the rest of the journey to her home, but he didn't mind. She was light and her wakened presence would have been slightly awkward. Kiba had no idea how he was going to fact her the next time they meet. Will she even remember the kiss? A part of him wished she did, but then his common sense wished she didn't.

Her arms gingerly and tiredly reached up and wrapped around the dog-boy's neck as he continued to carry her, bridal-style, up the stairs to where she lived. Her apartment just happened to be on the third floor, the same one as Naruto, and in the same building also. Suddenly, the Inuzuka boy was glad that it was so late. He would have gotten questioned by Naruto before thinking up some decent answers.

Too late did he realise that he didn't have a key to open her door and set her down inside. The though made Kiba groan as he, while blushing heavier than Hinata did around Naruto, searched her pockets and found the key in her right hip pocket. He was glad that he had found it there, since the only place after the hip pockets were the breast ones, and he would have rather taken her to Naruto's place and explained that he didn't have a key than violate the girl that much. He had some respect for her privacy after all.

Once she was tucked into her bed, Kiba stared at her innocently sleeping face and gave her a lingering peck on the lips, before leaving the house and locking the door behind him, slipping the key beneath the now-locked door before he went home.

However, as soon as she heard the door lock and the key slide across the floor, Sakura got out of bed, fetched the key and place her fingers to her lips, where the light kiss still remained from her memory.

Inuzuka Kiba had never once been a man of his word.

Inuzuka Kiba nearly always broke his promises, even though he made few to break.

Inuzuka Kiba loved nothing more than taunting his rival, Uzamaki Naruto.

Inuzuka Kiba liked to believe he knew more than most.

There were three facts about Haruno Sakura, however, that Inuzuka Kiba had no clue about.

Fact one, she was an incredible actress.

Fact two, she liked him too.

Fact three, Haruno Sakura never got drunk.

Fact four, her training with Tsunade wasn't only to enhance her ninja abilities.

Fact five, like her sensei, Tsunade, Sakura had the uncanny ability to dissolve the alcoholic content of any drink, reducing it to nothing more than flavoured water.

But, he didn't need to know that.

Shadow Quil