"Did I make it? Did I miss my mission?!" The force with which Kiba opened the door to the Hokage's office was almost as intense as the volume of his voice. The fifth herself shot up from a usually undisturbed slumber.

A little drool was smudged on her chin. "Huh? No the dice weren't loaded!" The middle-aged woman threw up her arms in defense of her face. Kiba assumed a relaxed position and cocked his head to the side. Akamaru, his small white companion, mirrored his movements. She winced even harder, waiting for the first blow. After an awkward few seconds she finally peeked through her long blonde lashes.

"Oh, it's just you." She attempted to lower her voice and pull her shoulders back to assert her authority. Normally her stern demeanor would have been a success. But the pair of shinobi in her presence were trained to read body language. Her voice had dropped exactly an octave and two notes, Kiba noted this automatically. Akamaru made a small noise, the equivalent of a sigh.

"Well..?" The brunette assumed she knew why he was here, she had in fact sent a messenger to his home the day before with orders to report to her that next morning for a private assignment. Only he was two hours late. To his misfortune she leaned in her chair to peer at the clock on the wall behind him. Her caramel eyes narrowed and focused back on him. She didn't have to tell him he was late. Akamaru whimpered and pulled his tail between his legs, Kiba himself dropped his slit eyes to the ground.

"Well, I'm assuming by now the person you were supposed to meet has already found their way to the Inuzuka Residence, alone." She scolded. "However, I can only trust you with this type of assignment so I still want you to meet them."

Kiba looked up confused. His eyebrows pulled together beneath the Konoha headband he wore, causing it to shift. "My mission is a person? Wait, you sent them to my house?! How do you know they aren't some--"

"Kiba enough, Tsume and Hana will tell you all about it when you get there."

"M-mom and sis know..? Hey wait, I thought this was some sort of solo mission!" He pointed a finger directly at her and pouted a lip.

She leaned forward on her desk, and rested her nose on her crossed hands. "I would expect this insubordinance from Naruto, but not from you."
The boy immediately stood tall and all emotion wiped from his face. "Y-yes, sorry ma'am. I'll just, uh, get going then." He spun on his heels and Akamaru jumped with great strength to rest on one of his broad shoulders. He moved towards the door.

"Kiba..." She almost whispered after him, knowing he could easily hear her. "Pay close attention the next few weeks." And with one hard look to the west wall, Kiba disappeared hesitantly through the doorway.

There was a long pause until Akamaru's bark could be heard from beyond the walls of the building. "That kid is going to get himself into a lot of trouble if he doesn't." Tsunade kept her eyes down on her desk as a figure seemed to emerge from nothing. They were shrouded in a black cloak with an animal mask, Anbu.

"He's come a long way. Long enough to be called a young man, you know that as well as I. He sensed you were there."

"Even if I know that to be true, if he fails to keep her in check...I will be taking her into custody." The figure backed into the shadow of the wall once more and disappeared just the way he had come.
"I know that." Tsunade breathed.



"Oh man Akamaru, this better not be some kind of a joke. We haven't had a mission since Shino was here.." He began reminiscing about the last mission he and his teammates had been sent on as he bounded in the direction of a distant hill. A reassuring growl came from the small dog which was now resting in the V his hooded-sweatshirt created. "You're right...it'll go better."

The relationship the Inuzuka shared with their Ninken was unrivaled by any other clan. A unique language was formed between man and dog, one that couldn't be understood by any sort of outsider. It was often the case where Kiba found himself misunderstood by his peers. He'd been dubbed "Dog Boy", which didn't bother him as much as when they said he smelled like one.

He reached the hill, which was more of a mound, and stood at the base of a tall staircase. Barely out of breath, the boy heaved a sigh and pressed back on his heels. As if he was a rocket getting ready to launch. He paused though, peered up at the sun, and then took off. Instead of using the stairs he leaped from tree to tree, howling in excitement as he went. Maybe the others weren't so far off in giving him the nickname that they did.

His feet touched softly on the hardwood surface of the deck that ran around the Inuzuka residence. It was like he entered a different mode. Kiba crouched over, almost reaching his hands to the floor. He quietly removed his shoes as he rounded a corner. At first there wasn't a sound aside from birds chirping in nearby trees. But as the boy focused, hushed voices became audible.

"..I couldn't imagine it will be that much trouble. I'm just glad you finally found a place you can be yourself. Well, so to speak." The raspy voice of Kiba's mother chuckled from behind the walls of the kitchen. It was still a distance away, but he could smell her, and his sister as well.

"..thank you so much Tsume, Hana. I can't thank you enough. I hope I won't be too much of a burden to you and your family."

Kiba froze mid-stride. 'That's a new voice.' He strained to pick up on anything about the unfamiliar presence sitting with his family. By now he guessed it, she, was the person the Hokage had been talking about. The thing was, his senses were blocked...not a whiff, not a sound besides her voice, he couldn't detect anything about her at all.

Akamaru slipped from him jacket and ran around the corner barking furiously. Kiba couldn't move yet, he was waiting to hear from his companion. The barking stopped abruptly, followed by a whimper. A red flag went up in Kiba's head and suddenly every muscle in his body tightened. He clenched his jaw, bearing his teeth, "Akamaru!"

His hood flew back as he picked up speed. As he rounded the corner his claws caught in the paper thin material of the open kitchen door. This jerked him backward and he stopped, but he assumed a defensive position in the doorway and glared into the room, waiting for his eyes to adjust.

"Easy there boy." He heard his mother laugh again.
Just like that everything became clear. His mom was leaning casually against the counter with a smirk on her face. His sister, Hana, was knelt near the low-risen table. She looked a little concerned, but she was always sort of that way. And Akamaru was rolled onto his back, legs and arms dangling and getting his...belly scratched? Kiba shut his mouth but remained in his hunched position. He pulled his hand free from the door and shot a glare at the person who was touching Akamaru.

Her scent seemed to shove it's way into every pore of his body. It was so, refreshing. Not like wet dog refreshing, but something he'd never smelt before. It teased him almost. She was beautiful. He couldn't deny it, despite the fact that he hated her for being in his house. He hair was wild with sable curls that Akamaru was snapping playfully at. Her skin wasn't soft, instead it was worn by the sun and the earth, just like his. But he knew he would still have liked to feel it. She was smaller, but it was apparent that she spent long hours training to tone her muscles and hone her skills. Then there were her eyes. Piercing blue, with yellow rings around her pupils. He didn't even notice she was staring right at him until Akamaru jumped up into his stomach, forcing the boy to wrap his arms around him and tumble backwards to the ground.

"Hey, cut it out!" The stress and tension in the boy's body was gone as soon as Akamaru was lapping his face. Kiba continued to snort. It was quiet until he sat cross-legged with his friend rested in his lap. He looked down tenderly with a small grin.

"Well now that the hard part is over," Tsume began, pushing herself from the counter and moving to stand with her arms crossed in between Hana and their guest. Kiba peered up, trying to keep his attention on his mother. But at the same time the girl stayed in his peripherals. "Kiba this is Kazue. Kazue Ookamizuka."

It wasn't until then that Kiba realized she also bore red fang markings on her cheeks, with slight alterations. Instead of only one she had two smaller ones on each corner of her jawline. "Ookamizuka..?" He repeated as he scratched behind Akamaru's ear. "Is it--"

"I'm not surprised he hasn't heard of it, it's a very small branch of the Inuzuka Clan in Iwagakure." Her voice was lower, and not directed towards him either. Kiba felt slightly offended that she not only belittled his knowledge on his Clan, she hadn't addressed him directly, she wasn't even looking at him anymore.

He rose with his companion in his arms. "Must not be a very famous Clan if I haven't heard of it." He retorted without thinking.

"Kiba!" Hana scolded him sharply. Akamaru kicked away from him and jumped to the floor, returning to Kazue. The boy now felt very betrayed. A low growl was making its way up his throat.

"No no, it's okay." Kazue brushed off his shot at her. But she pulled Akamaru into her arms to assert her presence to him. Now she looked directly at him. Her eyes were large, and her face square. Unlike the Hokage's attempt earlier, this was intimidating, he was a little taken back. "When I said my clan was small, I meant to that I'm the only one left."

Kiba was grumbling to himself while he threw a small red ball over and over and over again against the wall at the end of his bed. Each time he threw it a little harder. The words 'dumb, girl, stupid, and mission' were audible enough. He knew it too. In fact, he knew she could hear him, he wanted her too. Because she was in the next room eating dinner with his family. A dinner that he was refused 'due to his behavior to house guests'. Even Akamaru had deserted him. The teenage boy rolled onto his side in defeat, although he wouldn't admit it. Truth was, he felt something close to guilt about Kazue's situation.

Kiba pushed himself from the mattress and flipped in the air so that he was facing the one window in his room. The sun had set now, but the moon shone brilliantly over the house on top of the hill. Unlike the sun he could stare straight at the moon for as long as he wanted. He found nighttime a lot more pleasant that way. Also for the fact that it was cool, and everything seemed almost clearer at night. It could have been because his eyes were more accustomed to darkness than the average shinobi's. It was also the only time of the day that he found himself completely relaxed.

"Kiba?" Or not. He didn't move, instead he remained facing the wall and pouted a little. But there was a pause from the figure at the door.

"What?" He was forced to breathe.

Hana slid the door on its track and it clicked closed as she entered. He couldn't just hear her crossing the room, he could feel her presence move. Each step she took, the slow thrummed beating of her heart, and then the soft settling of her on the edge of his bed. She pushed something into his back. He already knew what it was, and for that gesture he knew he had to sit up and face her.

He took a quick glance at the large piece of meat sitting on the plate near him, but then he looked at his sister.

"I know it may seem like a lie, but believe me when I tell you Kazue is very thankful to be here." He couldn't help but scoff at what she said. But Hana didn't pay any mind. She only waited patiently.

"How long is she staying here? And why?"

She sighed once, and looked out the window. "As long as she needs. She's one of us Kiba." He didn't press, but at the same time he couldn't help but notice she avoided his second question. He knew he wasn't going to get much information from her, so he tried a different approach.

"Hey sis, did you know about the Oomaizuka Clan?"

She swung her head to look at him in disbelief, "I thought you were joking earlier!" She giggled. "Yeah, they are probably the oldest branch in the Inuzuka Clan. Or were at least." That feeling of guilt returned. But he didn't interrupt. "They're also the only branch that don't possess Ninken.."

"..actually, my father told me that a long time ago we did have Ninken once." A soft voice came from the doorway.

Both Kiba and Hana reacted defensively. It was safe to say neither had heard Kazue, or sensed her at all for that matter. Kiba tried to play it off cool, but felt slightly self-conscious and vulnerable sprawled on his bed. He was about to object to her being there but she didn't meet his gaze now, and went on.

"We had wolf companions instead of dogs. My father said that the bond between beast and man was so strong that they became one." Kazue paused and looked down at her clenched hand. "But I always thought that was just a legend." She laughed the awkward silence off. "Truth is that the wolves we once called brothers left the land and haven't returned since." Kazue tried to force a sweet smile at Kiba. As a peace offering. He was still bitter, but it was obvious that his guard dropped slightly. With the level of control this Clan had over their senses, everyone could sense the air become thinner once Kiba had warmed up to her.

Hana was quicker to understand Kazue's intentions than Kiba. She stood up from the bed and moved towards the door and the girl. Kazue's stance stiffened a little, but Hana only smiled and then patted her shoulder as she exited.

"Anyways, I just wanted to say good night." Kazue's voice ended with a high note and she turned and began to close the door. Kiba took this as a sign of stress and vulnerability.

"Kazue, wait." He reached an arm out after her, and seemed to grab hold of her. But he was ten feet across the room.

She seemed to weaken at the sound of her name, coming from that mouth. It wasn't the harsh and unfriendly tone he had been using earlier. This one had depth, like she could sink into it. She was under his submission now, which was fine for the moment...this was his domain. Kazue did as she was told and looked over her shoulder at him.

Kiba looked over her for a while. Not like an animal going in for the kill. But like a friend taking in another after a long time apart. He took note of the many small scars the moonlight now made visible on her bare legs. They seemed to travel beyond where he could see. He wondered briefly if she was purposefully wearing a draping sweater because of this. He was sure to bring his eyes to meet her's when he spoke. What did he even want to say to her?

"Uhm, I'm sor--"

"Please don't, Kiba." She struggled over saying his name. He seemed to struggle to hear it as well, but like he was hearing it for the first time. As if it was never his own. "Good night." She quickly slid out and closed the door.

"Good night, Kazue."