Demi: I am terribly sorry about the more than epic delay in updating this story. University happened, moving country and I've recently fallen quite ill, so all that has come together in a sort of euuuuurgh way. Also, i've been cooped up with my Assassin's Creed story, and my interest in Naruto has failed - I just haven't kept up with the manga at all. In fact, the last i read of it, was... shite, i actually can't remember xD Safe to say that this is more than an AU now - there will be things that don't add up because i'm completely unaware of what has occured recently/in the past year of Naruto haha, faiiil.

But i'm determined to finish this story. Shadow (my Zelda story) is being rewritten, and Need You (the AssCreed story) is continuing as planned - both my editor and I are shifting to get our arses re-inspired.

Also, to Ryukai-MJ, I'm sorry about not sending this to you for editing and generally keeping you informed. I'm a bad panda Dx

"...uro..."

His whole body tingled with shivers, as grinning lips teased his skin with nipping kisses, trailing down his neck and collarbone and settling over his navel, before licking a long, slippery stripe up to his Adam's apple. His body shuddered as the cool air attacked the wet trail, and he arched up, moaning when his chest touched the incredibly warm body above him. Reaching up and grabbing the other, he pulled them down, groaning at the warm weight on top of him but breaking off when a mouth covered his, tongue slipping past his lips. His hips jolted upwards at the sensation, grinding up against- oh gods, that felt good.

He pulled his lips away from the other's, mouth opening to let out a loud-

Bark.

Kiba jolted awake and promptly fell off his bed, crashing to the floor with a muffled thump; if he hadn't had been so tangled in his covers, the fall would have hurt like a bitch in heat. Speaking of a bitch in heat...

He cursed. That had been an amazing dream. An amazing one. He hadn't had one like this for... for... years. Although it had caused a certain side-effect that he would have to take care of later, it was worth it. But he couldn't help but realise that this dream must have been caused by his impromptu kiss with Kankuro the day before, as when this dream-being kissed him, he could taste-

"What the hell happened?" a voice demanded in his doorway.

Kankuro.

"You fell out of bed?"

"Stop grinning," Kiba snapped, placing Akamaru's food on the floor. "Or I will put Rohypnol in your coffee."

"Kinky," Kankuro muttered. Suddenly, he yawned.

That sent Kiba off too; he covered his mouth as a large yawn came over him, tears forming in the corner of his eyes. "Gods, you bastard," he cursed. "What's wrong? Didn't get enough sleep?"

"You kept me up half the night."

Kiba froze. "W-What?"

"You just kept groaning really loudly..."

"R-Really? Oh..." Now mortification gushed through him; dear gods, how embarrassing? "E-Erm..."

"Sounded like a bad dream."

What? "What?"

"You just kept groaning and whimpering, and saying 'No, no, no' a lot," Kankuro murmured, staring with glazed eyes down into his coffee. "You sounded... in pain."

Wait, what? He was talking about an entirely different dream, then... because Kiba definitely remembered agreeing whole-heartedly with what was going on, and it certainly wasn't pain he was feeling...

But then, what was this dream that Kankuro heard him having? He didn't remember having a bad dream or a nightmare at all. Possibly a night terror then, Kiba surmised, shrugging and pouring his own coffee.

"Sorry, I don't remember it."

"Mm, you settled down after a couple of hours," the puppeteer told him. "Even Akamaru was worried."

"You were worried?" Kiba asked, grinning cheekily. He sat down at the table opposite the elder, stroking Akamaru's head when it rested on his thigh.

Kankuro snorted. "Not particularly. Just wondered if the dream was going to make you rabid. I've seen a few dogs do that. Not pretty. Seen people's faces literally ripped off..."

"Lovely..." Kiba shook his head. "But I seriously don't remember this dream."

"Not everyone remembers dreams they have."

Part of Kiba wished he would forget the dream he did remember. Parts just kept popping up, causing him to lose track of what he was doing or for warmth to pool in the base of his stomach or...

He mentally shook his head. No, stop thinking about that...

But he honestly couldn't remember any part of his night being bad, or enough to warrant whimpering and groans of pain. All he could dredge from his mind was- yes, that. Unless the nightmare led into the dream, and his mind had blocked off the bad part in favour of savouring the good bits. Plausible; minds were tricky things and could be little bastards every once in a while. Yet, the dream began with him lying on the bed and lips descending on his neck and...

No, he had been embraced. He was standing and being held against that warm body, hot hands shifting up-

No... no, cold hands. The hands were cool, much cooler than the warm body he was against, but that didn't bother his dream-self, only causing pleasant shivers to cruise his body, as the cold hands shifted up the back of his shirt and drifted carefully, teasingly along his spine and back down again, trailing around his waist so that warmer arms could hold him tightly against the firm frame of-

"Kiba."

He jolted again, nearly knocking his coffee over. He cursed, and took a calming breath.

"Sorry, what did you say?" he asked Kankuro.

The elder paused, regarding him with a disguised stare. "There's someone at the door... Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Must be more tired than I thought," he mumbled. With all his strength, he fought down the blush that had been trying to drift onto his cheeks, but found himself slowly losing. Quickly, he stood and left the kitchen, taking deep breaths as he went, opening the door to find- "T-Temari! H... Weren't you going back to Suna?"

"Change of plan," she snapped.

"Temari," a cool voice murmured. Kiba poked his head around the door to find himself face-to-face with Gaara. "Calm down. There's no point in getting riled." The Kazekage looked directly at Kiba. "We know Kankuro is here, and we know what happened."

Temari let out a harsh breath, a cross between a huff and a sigh; it sounded like she was trying to calm herself.

"We just want to talk to him," Gaara continued. "If that's okay with him."

"Of course it's okay..."

Kiba turned to see Kankuro standing awkwardly in the kitchen doorway.

"Yeah, well, that's a first!" Temari hissed, glaring. "You haven't let us speak to you for nearly a year!"

"Temari."

She glanced down at Gaara.

"Stay out here."

"Wha-?"

"You need to calm down," the redhead continued quietly.

"Gaa-!"

"Out."

Temari paused and stepped away from the doorway. Kiba nodded at Gaara, when the Kazekage asked him silently for permission to enter, and so the redhead slipped his shoes off and passed over the threshold. Kiba closed the door behind the other and was about to leave for the kitchen when-

"Stay."

The dog-nin froze, looking up at Kankuro just as he was about to pass by the elder. "...Okay, if you're sure..."

There was a moment of stifling, tense silence.

"So are you going to explain to me why I received a message from Baki telling me that the entire theatre district of Suna have gone berserk, declaring war on you?"

Kankuro shrugged. "Everyday life in Suna."

"Somehow I find that hard to believe," Gaara murmured, eyes and expression emotionless. "Particularly when Baki had to render the entire Puppet Troupe completely useless, meaning that the missions being sent our way are having to be passed onto Konoha if they need to be done, because Suna's shinobi force is effectively slashed in half."

"I didn't realise it had gone that bad," Kankuro murmured. He shook his head. "An argument between Shin-sensei and I got out of hand, that's all."

"You hit him."

"...He said some things."

"What things?"

The puppeteer shrugged.

"Kankuro..."

"I can't remember much anyway. There's no point in-"

"Kankuro... tell me what was said. I cannot defend you if I don't know the full story."

Kiba placed a hand on Kankuro's upper arm. "Kankuro... maybe you should tell him. Everything, I mean. He can help, and... he's going to find out sooner or later. I mean, I know and-"

"-And you weren't supposed to know. It's only because that fuckin' idiot, Iwao suspected something and told you," Kankuro cut in, icily. He huffed, shoving his hands in his pockets, shoulder hunching. "No one was... was supposed to know, but I..." He clenched his eyes shut. "I know it's good that you did find out because I would lose all sense of being human if you weren't..."

...By my side.

"...Here," he finished, eyes still shut.

"...Kankuro..." Kiba sighed. "He's not going to judge you. He's your brother. And Temari's not going to give you hell, is she?" He paused. "Well, maybe for not telling her about this shit... damn older sisters... 'Kuro, just tell him. In one big breath, get it over with. Before I set Akamaru on your ass."

The puppeteer tensed visibly. "I..." His eyes slid open, but remained out of focus. "I can't feel anymore. My hands are so numb and my arms are... soon, I'll be just like a puppet."

Gaara was silent for a heart beat or two. "What can be done about it?"

"Tsunade-sama, Shizune-san and Sakura are looking into it," Kiba told the Kazekage quietly. "They did tests yesterday, and we're waiting for results, but they're sure something can be done."

"Good..." Gaara murmured. "Temari isn't going to be pleased that you hid something like this from her." He looked down at the ground. "I must say that I'm hurt that you did not think you could trust me, after all the things I confided in you."

"I'm sorry," Kankuro said quietly. "I just... I... Shin made me believe that it was... right."

Gaara nodded slowly. "I will have to tell Baki about this. He will not be happy about this either. And Shin will be questioned, of course. I'll have Temari on the case... I would advise you to remain here, in Konoha."

"Yeah, sure..." Kankuro mumbled. He scratched the back of his head. "Listen, I'm not trying to get rid of you, but you better get going. If you're going to try and pacify the entire theatre district, you'll need to start as soon as possible." He sighed as Gaara nodded. "I'm... sorry for this shit, Gaara..."

"No point in apologising. What has passed has passed. I'm doing what any brother would do – I'm doing what you would do for me. This has gone beyond Kage responsibilities."

"Here."

Kankuro slowly looked up and cautiously accepted the cup. "I thought you were going motherly on me and making sure I didn't drink too much. It's not even midday."

"You look like you need it," Kiba mumbled, sitting next to him on the couch.

"What I need is for everything to be..." Kankuro drained half the cup, and ran a hand through his hair. "To be better... to not be like this."

"Shit happens – Gaara will sort it out."

"I hope so." The elder slumped back against the couch. "Listen, Kiba... Thank you. For-"

"I get it, it's okay. I understand. And it's fine." Kiba grinned reassuringly at him. "Honestly. Just doing what Konoha nin are supposed to do."

At Kankuro's confused stare, Kiba's grin grew.

"Sticking our noses so far into other people's business, they can't help but surrender."

Kankuro let out a strangely-canine bark of laughter, shaking his head sadly. "That's true. Completely true..." He glanced at Kiba in the corner of his eye. "But sometimes, I guess, it's not bad that you do – Orochimaru, Akatsuki..."

"You..."

"I'm on the same level as them in terms of trouble?"

"Oh, much worse than them, I can assure you," Kiba replied, laughing and leaning back against the arm-rest of the couch, grinning broadly all the while. "I had to be signed off all missions to pursue you, so even Tsunade thinks you are too."

"Either that or she doesn't think you're able to handle other missions-"

He was cut off by a pillow to the face. He dropped his sake when his reflexes called for him to grab the projectile, but then frowned at the spilled mess. Slowly, he looked up at Kiba and cocked an eyebrow.

"What was that for?"

The dog-nin shrugged, nonchalantly. "You insulted my skill."

"You knocked over my sake." Kankuro's eyebrow twitched in mock-annoyance. "What are you gonna do about it?"

Well, I could always-

Kiba mentally flinched, cutting that thought off before it could lead... elsewhere. He shook his head, running a hand through his hair.

"I can get you a new cup," he suggested. "Or we can go... somewhere? For food and... yeah."

"After you clean that up."

Kiba quirked an eyebrow at the elder's tone of voice. "I hope," the dog-nin said, "you weren't suggesting that I'm some kind of bitch. Yours, namely."

"Not at all, not at all..." Kankuro's tone of voice said otherwise. "But I bet you'd enjoy that."

"Ha, in your dreams," Kiba shot back.

No, in your dreams, Kiba, his traitorous mind retorted.

The puppeteer, however, merely chuckled and leant back against the back of the couch, green eyes half closed in contented amusement. Kiba sighed, shaking his head; he knew Kankuro was waiting for him to clean the damn sake off the floor. Ugh.

"Akamaru," Kiba called, pointing to the floor.

"You can't..."

But Kankuro trailed off, when the large white dog did indeed trot to the intended space and begin to lick the spilt drink. Kiba quirked an eyebrow, smug grin plastered on his face, as he stared the elder right in the eye, but all he got was an averted gaze and a huffing sigh.

"You know... I never, in a million years, thought I'd say this but... I think I miss Kei."

"Your alcoholic, chain-smoking human-turned-feline coffee-fiend? Hah, seriously? Just from watching Akamaru mop up sake? Jeez, Kankuro..."

"I know..." the puppeteer agreed, shrugging. The mood suddenly plummeted.

"You miss home."

"...I d-"

"Anyone in your situation would, Kankuro," Kiba murmured, staring the elder straight in the eye. "You've been driven out of your home and your country, you've left your friends behind, everything you love... fuck your manly pride, for a moment – this is me you're talking to."

"...Manly...? You need to stay away from those green-spandex freaks... starting to sound like them."

"Hey!"

Demi: Any reviews are very much appreciated. I need to get a kick in the arse to keep going, seriously. I'm trying to find lots of yumming fanart and stories to keep the KankyKiba flame going, but knowing people are waiting on updates from me is the biggest kick. Cheers for all the support, guys :D