Of Dogs and Men

Naruto was dead. Or at least his own spirit within him. At the age of 17, he gave up and the Nine-Tail Fox Demon, Kyuubi, finally took over him completely. Nobody has seen him since the day he left. But, then again, this story isn't about him, anyway?

Kiba, now at the good age of 17, lay in his bed sleepily. He was finding it hard to sleep, his thoughts wandering. His blanket shoved off to one side of the bed as he just lay there, tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable enough to sleep. He looked at the clock. 1:14 am. Not a good sign. He reached out to the floor by his bed and patted the sleeping Akamaru. He sighed quietly. Ten years ago, he would've had to take Ritalin for this but he knew this wasn't the ADHD he had as a child and as a preteen.

His thoughts were trickling over his special somebody. Hyuuga Hinata. After Naruto disappeared, she basically fell apart. Kiba felt bad for her, but also happy for himself since finally he had her all to himself. When they were Genin, this might've been a problem, since they were on the same team, with the bug master Shino. Back then; it wouldn't have been a good idea since if something were to happen, if something bad were to happen to either of them, then the team would've fallen apart.

Kiba glanced back over at his clock. 1:27 am. He let out a tired moan. He was so tired, but he just couldn't stop his mind from wandering about. He sat up. He had recently grown his hair long, so as he got up, it draped down his back. He yawned loudly, but not audible enough for anybody to wake up from it. Not even Akamaru.

He stood up out of his bed and walked over to his bedroom window. He gazed out at it. Konoha always looked its best at night. The moon hanging in the sky, like a child's dimming nightlight over the city, gave it a neat glow.

He reflected back on the Chuunin Exams he had taken when he was fifteen, two years ago. His whole team, Hinata, Shino, and himself had become Chuunin after it. He was constantly worried about Hinata throughout it, but he doubted that the shy girl had noticed it. Her opponent in the final exam was Sakura, the feisty and clingy girl who constantly was thinking about Sasuke. Even after he had left to seek great power from Orochimaru. Kiba sighed as he continued to gaze out his window.

"Hinata!" Kiba called, as he ran towards her on his way to the stadium, "Wait up!"

"What is it, Kiba?" Hinata said quietly, turning back to see Kiba. She was doing that thing with her fingers again. Naruto was with her, too. She blushed such a red that it made her look like a tomato.

"Hinata… please… withdraw from this!" Kiba said, "I… I couldn't just stand on the sidelines and watch you get hurt…" 'And it would hurt me a lot if I had to fight you.' Kiba left that last bit out.

Hinata smiled. "Thank you, Kiba. For worrying about me." She said, "But…I'm strong now. I'm sure I can do this, right Naruto?"

Naruto. Loud as always. "Yup! Believe it!" Naruto said to Kiba. He was still oblivious to Hinata's love for him, and Kiba's jealousy over him. Hinata and Naruto continued their trek to the stadium.

Kiba stopped walking and watched them leave. "Hinata… be careful…" he whispered softly. He then continued towards the stadium.

Kiba woke up to Akamaru licking his face. He looked at his clock. 10:13 am. Well, at some point he had managed to get himself back into his bed and fall asleep. He got up and put Akamaru's collar on him, and then got dressed. He no longer wore the jacket he had worn as a genin. He had outgrown that. He put on a black t-shirt with the character for Inu written on it in a deep red, and then baggy black denim pants. He tied his Konoha forehead protector around his head, and put the pouches for his Kunai and Shuriken on.

He stepped out his bedroom door, and went downstairs for a quiet breakfast, consisting of assorted meats. Ham, bacon, bologna and salami. Sometimes being carnivorous came in handy. Especially when there's no other food in the house.

Kiba walked down the streets, heading towards Hinata's house, not expecting at all what he would find once he got there.