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"Nn, hey Shino," Kiba watched his feet swinging over the edge of their back porch, "C'mere."
"No. The light is better here," Shino answered over his book, turning the page.
"So? I told you to get over here. Your stupid book can wait."
Shino grunted and laid his book on the table. "I thought be were supposed to mellow out as they age," he complained, padding over to his lover.
"You should talk," Kiba laughed. He patted the deck beside him. Shino sighed and seated himself.
He leaned back on his palms, staring out across the lake their residence bordered. "You had something to say?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah!" Kiba scratched behind an ear, "I guess I did. But I kind of forgot. Heh, sorry."
Shino frowned and sighed, moving to get up. Kiba grabbed his sleeve.
"Naw, stay. You're already over here anyways."
Shino took a moment to consider his stiff joints and vaguely fatigued eyes, and remained. Kiba smiled a little, running a hand through his gray-streaked hair. Shino tugged at a lock of his own grayed hair, eyes doggedly tracking the path of a damselfly. Kiba exhaled softly, humming deep in his throat.
"I can't believe I'm so old," he moaned, tilting his head back, rubbing his neck. Shino's eyebrows drew down.
"I'm older than you..."
"Only by a year, bug freak," Kiba chuckled.
A silence, disturbed only by the hum of insects.
"Fifty years... fifty years," Kiba murmured, eyes closed. Shino watched his lover sway. "I spent fifty years of my life being a ninja... and just like that, I'm not."
"I hit that time a year ago..."
"Yeah, I know that," Kiba drawled softly, letting his toes graze the grass as his legs swung. "I just... sometimes I think about all the people who never made it to retirement like this, you know?"
Shino nodded once, curtly. He knew.
But Kiba felt like elaborating; "We were the lucky ones, you know, the lucky old geezers who can look back and say:
" 'Thank god I wasn't Neji, who had his eyes gouged out by another village for their Byakugan ability.'
"Or, 'Thank god I wasn't Lee, whose muscles detached in the middle of a fight.'
"Or, 'Thank god I wasn't Tenten, who got blinded and deafened by a flash bomb.'
"We're the lucky old geezers who can say, 'Thank god I wasn't them', and you know what?"
Shino blinked. "I'm not a geezer..."
"Hey! I'm tryin' to be serious here, c'mon."
"It doesn't suit you," Shino answered dryly, adjusting his glasses.
"Bastard..."
He sighed. "I'm too old for this..."
"Ha!"
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Chapter notes:OHM'GOD, I FAIL.
Yeah, I was trying to delete Water Chasing Water and I accidentally deleted this one.
I'M SO SORRY TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED OR FAVORITED THIS (which I don't think anyone favorited it, so it's alright) but yeah, like I said, I'm a loser and I fail at life. Feel free to smite me now.