Title: Halos and Hallelujahs.
By: Kaara.
Disclaimer: Naruto is owned by Kishimoto.
Rating: PG15, mostly for language.
Note: Yay, Kiba/Ino. I don't even know, man. I've been wanting to write them forever but I'm pretty shit at Kiba and I've basically murdered Ino's personality in this. But whatever. I do so hope that you'd enjoy it nonetheless and leave me pretty reviews or criticism or everything in between. It would be nice, yeah.

Halos and Hallelujahs

1.

When Kiba meets Ino for the first time, they're on the roof of the school building. He's ripping open the plastic from his lunch bread and Ino is standing at the very edge of their intertwined world, perfect statuesque with mannequin proportion. A trail of scarf (blue-green where's your school spirit today!) snaps behind her in windspread tangles, goldspun hair over pale skin and lips the colour of ripe strawberries.

Kiba freezes. "What the hell are you doing?"

Ino tilts her head, leans a fraction forward and Kiba's heart flatlines for a second because they're too high up and he's too far away. She looks at him with glittering frost-blue eyes, says over the chorus of wind, "Flying."

And jumps.

It's one point five minutes and a minor heart attack later that Kiba rushes to look over, knuckles white over grey concrete. At the back of his mind, he's already constructing a narration to phantom police officers that involves a scene where he pleads (heroically, of course) for that girl to please step back, miss, let's talk this over–

– only that there's nothing to see down there. Just a couple of freshmen walking towards the cafeteria, right through the spot where the broken ragdoll of a girl should have been.

Goosebumps prickle across Kiba's arms and he jumps when someone laughs in the distance.

(Kiba gets nightmares some nights, where his mind replays this scene over and over again like a broken record. Ino keeps saying fl-fl-flying and instead of that jump, she grabs Kiba's hand and then there's nothing but cotton-white clouds and too-hot sunshine and her smiling lips are red red red. He reads about Icarus and thinks his wings should be made of quicksilver instead of wax.)

2.

The second time Kiba sees Ino, he screams "I repel you, evil spirit!" so loud that it echoes throughout the empty hallways. Crumpled papers and an assortment of unwanted things roll out from the rubbish bin he had dropped (goddamned cleaning schedule) but he's too busy making various religious symbols to notice.

Ino blinks, looks more confused than offended. "Excuse me?"

"Go back to where you're from!" Kiba flails and nearly trips on a pencil with broken lead. He doesn't take his eyes off Ino because he watches enough horror movies to know how dead girls pretend to be all alive and pretty (and she is pretty, a part of his brain observes with detached interest) before they go Bride of Frankenstein on your ass. "Rest in peace!"

They spend the next few seconds staring at each other and Kiba resists the urge to blink. Ino's mouth quirks into the beginning of a grin, eyes crinkling half-moons and she takes a step forward. Kiba stumbles back. His back hits the wall and his throat clamps in panic.

She comes close enough that Kiba can smell the spring in her hair. It's something out of season, it's nearly winter out there and Ino reminds him of chrysanthemums.

Her lips brush against his cheek, a whisper of soft skin and it's like a line from a love song, only not really because she's supposed to be dead and he's checking out a ghost what the hell is wrong with him oh god—

"Boo."

3.

"I can't believe you thought she's—"

"Shut up, man."

"Did you scream?" Naruto turns to Ino, who sits cross-legged between them. Her lips curl into a smirk every time she catches Kiba's eyes; mostly makes him want to crawl into a hole and die. "Did he scream, Barbie?"

Naruto leans well into Ino's personal space when he utters the petname, bestfriendsforever that they are (nobody understands how or why but Naruto is overenthusiastic at best and Ino teeters borderline psychopath so they might just be a match made in hell). Kiba scowls. Naruto doesn't notice but Ino catches his eyes again right at that moment and does that little odd thing she does with her eyes. Like she knows what he's thinking. Kiba wonders if he should be terrified of Ino.

He aims a kick at Naruto before Ino can say anything and ignores the wounded look he gets in response. "You jumped off the roof," he says to Ino, biting and accusatory. Because it's either that or he's losing his mind. Kiba is rather attached to his mind, despite the collective public's belief that he rarely uses it. "I saw you."

Ino cocks her head to a side, hair spilling over her shoulder and uniform and non-regulation skirt (too short to be legal, really, and Kiba despairs at the sight of her creamy thighs). She had it in a ponytail earlier but Naruto steals her hairtie, wraps it around his tiniest finger (it's a promise Ino-chan, pinky swear by default, Naruto says gleefully) and Kiba prefers her like this, drowning in liquid sunshine. She coos, "Oh baby." And he knows she's not taking him seriously. He's almost resentful, if only she doesn't look so delighted. "I think you must've missed your medication."

Her smile is supernova, bright enough to scorch and Kiba absolutely, a hundred ten percent wants to believe her.

4.

"Why haven't I seen her around before?"

Naruto stops chewing his ramen, wipes his mouth with the back of his hand before he says slowly, meditatively, "Maybe you just weren't looking."

Kiba stabs his chopsticks into the depth of his ramen bowl and scowls.

5.

They end up on the rooftop again, like a loop of a bad movie. This time in the middle of Algebra and Kiba skips because he hates Algebra and Algebra hates him. It's tragic but there it is, no use mourning over it. The sky is a canvas of white-blue, quiet and cloudless and somewhere in the rambling hallways of the school, Shikamaru grumbles about the lack of his fluffy best mates. Kiba lies on the cool concrete, idly scratching his stomach and wishing he has Akamaru with him. Mostly wishing he's at the veterinary clinic instead of school; at least he would be doing something he actually likes.

Animals are his forte. People (especially girls who look like angels but lie like the devil incarnate) aren't.

"Inuzuka."

Kiba cracks an eye open and nearly bites his tongue off when he finds himself looking straight into familiar eyes, too close for comfort because Ino takes proximity for granted. A curtain of hair frames either side of his face and the sun paints a halo over the crown of her head, shadows like distorted wings spanning out of her silhouette. Ino is smiling benignly and Kiba follows some sort of long-forgotten survival instinct and keeps very, very still.

"Hello," she continues, completely disregarding the fact that her nose is inches away from his. That he's inhaling the carbon dioxide she exhales, like an exchange of bizarre love confessions. "You shouldn't skip classes. Your grades are bad enough."

"I get by," he manages to strangle out, the words more mumbled than uttered because he's distracted by the dark crescents of her eyelashes. Up close, she looks impossibly unblemished. Something damned near perfect. He's almost sorry when she pulls away, but she arranges herself next to him in a flourish of white-gold brilliance and it's a poor consolation. She still smells like spring and chrysanthemum and a million other things Kiba tries not to think about. He props himself up on his elbows. "What're you doing here?"

"Running away."

Kiba turns to her, startled because she doesn't look the part of a runaway. She's the type the world revolves around; the axis, night and day and everything in between. "From what?"

Ino smiles. She threads her fingers over her knees, nails the colour of Caribbean sunsets and he notices the tiny scratches on her fingertips. As out of place in her perfect fragile existence as the tender look she's giving him.

"Gravity."

6.

"She's crazy."

Shikamaru's expression remains unimpressed. He's slumped over the table and his arms are folded over an opened copy of 'Lord of the Flies', cheek creasing the pages. "Troublesome."

"Yeah, that too." Kiba tips his chair back and angles away from the window, because Ino is sitting in the courtyard. Talking to a girl with unnatural pink hair about whatever girly nonsense girls talk about, looking normal for once since their conversation probably doesn't include Ino's desire to leap off buildings. "You know her, right?"

Shikamaru doesn't deign that with an answer, appears catatonic to the rest of the world and Kiba is about to give the other boy a well-deserved shove before he realises that Shikamaru is watching him from behind folded hands. Which is unnerving because Shikamaru cares little about everything but apparently cares enough for Ino to feign disinterest. Kiba returns the scrutiny with a raised eyebrow and they spend minutes trying to read each other.

"She stargazes," Shikamaru ends up muttering. He sounds disgruntled, as if he has just shared a secret he isn't supposed to.

"The hell does that have to do with anything?"

Shikamaru shifts, closes his eyes and within a few seconds, snores.

Kiba begins to think that maybe cloud-watchers and star-gazers are completely, aggravatingly batshit by nature.

7.

Ino comes to the rooftop when it isn't freezing cold or spitting rain and Kiba makes it a habit to bring an extra milk carton. Only because Ino doesn't seem to consume anything else and he maybe-likes the way she smiles in that peculiar affectionate way when he nudges the carton towards her.

8.

The dogs clamour over him to the point of mauling and Kiba groans, pushes off Akamaru and assorted other breeds so he can breathe. His sister shakes her head in the office, glass separating them but she's grinning in good humour; Sundays are their favourite day. The clinic is closed to the public and Hana does the account while Kiba exercises their collection of canines. He grabs several leashes from storage even as Akamaru persists, manages to lick a long wet strip of drool along the side of Kiba's hand.

"Look out for cars!" Hana screams on his way out, obligatory big sister comment and Kiba raises a hand in the universal gesture of leave me alone, thanks. The dogs bark in tandem.

He stops by the park in the middle of his usual route and the dogs run off in front of him, pulling the leashes into taut lines until they suddenly stop. Right in front of Ino and there must be something wrong with the universe because Kiba doesn't believe in fate and destiny and all calculated coincidences shebang (he leaves that to Hyuuga Neji, angst extraordinaire). There's a bouquet of flowers clasped to her chest, fresh and vibrant. Probably from a boyfriend of a modern-day fairytale and Kiba isn't jealous. Mostly, probably.

"Are you stalking me?" she asks, eyes twinkling. Kiba remembers what Shikamaru says about Ino and he thinks of constellations mapped out inside her veins, if she is the centre of a universe larger than his own. One of the younger dogs crowds against her enthusiastically and she laughs, bends forward to pet the offender.

Kiba scoffs and attempts to rein in his unruly congregation. "You wish."

"I do, actually." Ino says things like she means them, every syllables and words and Kiba has to remind himself about the 'she's completely crazy' part all over again before he starts believing her. "Are all of them yours?"

"Yeah. My sister's a vet." He watches Ino scratch the back of Akamaru's ear, earning her a sloppy lick in return and an onslaught of dogs demanding their share of affection. She looks genuinely pleased, accommodating their demand with the kind of laughter designed to break hearts. "Nice flowers," he blurts out, straining to keep his voice neutral.

She must have heard the question behind his words, because her smile cuts deep into her cheeks. Her fingers smooth over the crinkled tissue papers wrapped around her bouquet. Kiba picks out a number of carnations and daisies and that's pretty much what his knowledge of horticulture amounts to. "Thank you."

"Just came back from a date, huh?"

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're jealous."

Kiba chokes. "Hell no."

She hums quietly at his vehemence, smile widening to showcase a row of teeth, and plucks a white carnation from her bouquet. The flower droops ever so slightly as she tucks it into the fold of his jacket, striking contrast against the brown leather and she's close enough that Kiba can count the individual strand of her soot-black lashes. He wonders if she can hear the sound of his heart jackhammering away.

"For remembrance," she says and he wants to tell her that she's made to be unforgettable. Her fingers linger over the flower in a lover's caress, before she withdraws. "See you around, Inuzuka."

Kiba stands rooted to the ground until Akamaru whines and butts his wet nose against Kiba's hand.

9.

Ino used to go out with Sasuke, Kiba finds out. He doesn't care but for whatever reason, Naruto finds it important enough to inform him. The teacher is late again (Kakashi-sensei's track record is excellent in that department) and Naruto has decided to kill time by channelling his inner girliness through gossiping. His reluctant audience consists of Kiba, Shikamaru and Chouji, all of whom in varying state of I-don't-give-a-damn-but-I'm-too-lazy-to-clobber-you-to-shut-you-up. Shino sits apart from them and Kiba envies him for his foresight when it comes to self-preservation.

"He's a jerk," Naruto grouses uncharitably. Shikamaru grunts something like 'mmrghh' from his perpetual slumped form so Kiba takes that as an agreement with Naruto's statement. He still doesn't see how this has anything to do with him. Because he's not interested in Ino. Not really. "Like grade-a, prime beef asshole. I don't know what she saw in him."

Kiba knows Sasuke. He doesn't like Sasuke but he maybe can understand the logic behind Sasuke-and-Ino. The mirrors would love them. Kiba's eyes land on Ino, the fluid lines of her body as she lounges on the window ledge, her face upturned to the sky and lips pulled into a wistful half-smile. She looks immersed in the cobwebs of daydreams, maybe of flying and halos and wings. Two absurdly pretty people getting together, like a cardboard cutout of a tragedy in the making. The Prince Charming without a happily-ever-after and a Princess who cares more about zero gravity than glass slippers. If they're going along with the fairytale analogy, Kiba thinks he must be something along the like of a dragon that guards over towers and princesses. Because dragons are badass.

(And because Ino wants to fly. Who the hell says dragons can't end up with the princesses anyway.)

Chouji stops funnelling chips into his mouth to offer, "Girls really like him, though."

"They're dumb." Naruto makes a face and his voice turns shrill, pitched into a disturbingly accurate girly whine. "Ooh, Sasuke-kun! You're so pretty! Your fart smells like French perfume! Please let me kiss the dirt on your freakish purple-painted toes! Kyaaaaa!"

"For a dude, you're scary good at being a chick," Kiba observes after a moment of appalled silence. He heard rumours of Naruto cross-dressing and going around pretending to be Ino's half-sister, blue and gold winning combo like some kind of glittery beauty queens on acid, but he doesn't believe it until today. Naruto needs serious psychiatric help. Like Oprah or something. "Shut up, will you. And get your feet off my table."

10.

"What is it with you and jumping off buildings?"

Ino shifts her attention away from the novel in front of her (the reading assignment that Kiba conveniently forgets) and looks vaguely amused at his question. The library is pretty much deserted except for a few studious heads bent over books in between towering shelves and the tight-lipped librarian manning the counter. Ino is helping Kiba with Algebra homework (you're not even trying, she chastises and smacks his head with the textbook) and he finds it disturbing how she has the whole airhead act down pat, spoiled prettyface with her daddy's platinum credit card for the general public to scavenge upon. When she's actually damned smart. Top three in the whole school. Barbie with a brain and one hell of a punch. Kiba has the bruises to prove it.

"I don't jump off buildings," Ino eventually says. She peers at the chickenscratch of numbers on his exercise book and picks up her pen, crossing out three quarter of Kiba's answers before replacing them with her neat handwriting. "Don't you think it's unfair?"

Kiba stares at her downturned head. Her hair is parted at the back of her neck, revealing the graceful arch of lily-white skin. "What is?"

"That somewhere along the line of evolution, we failed to achieve flight. That wide, wide sky. It's such a pity."

"Huh." He settles back against his chair, trying to wrap his mind around her words. It takes about a minute before he gives up because yeah, abstracts concept isn't really his thing so he does the next best thing. Kiba grabs Ino's hand, relishes the alarmed look on her face. He takes that moment to move closer. "This whole flying thing, you know, I don't really get it. I think you're fucking crazy. But—" He hesitates when her face hardens, slips into the blank, dangerous look that dares him to continue. It should've been enough of a warning but Kiba pulls her to him instead, even as she resists. "Listen. You can't fly forever, yeah? So—so if you get tired or bored or whatever, I'll be waiting for you on the ground. Okay?"

11.

On a Tuesday, the sky grey and overcast with the premonition of an incoming storm, Ino places a misshapen lump of a riceball next to Kiba's daily milk carton. He looks at her for a second too long, too surprised to say anything.

And then Kiba realises that it's a token of something (something gentle and scary and his heart threatens cardiac arrest at the thought). He grabs it before she can change her mind, takes a bite and remarks loudly that it 'looks weird but the taste's okay, do you have more I'm fucking starving'.

Ino throws her head back and laughs, frost-blue eyes as warm as summer.

END

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