Kiba 20

WOOP WOOP!! 20th chapter! Officially the longest running story I have ever written on here! Woop!! :D

Sorry for the late update, have had extreeeeeeeme writer's block :L but anyway, LESH GO!! :D

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"Hotaru said to me herself that she didn't have a boyfriend!"

Kiba growled, "Bullshit!"

Ryo shook his head, "Sad, sad puppy. Fighting for a girl who won't even admit that he is her boyfriend." a malicious smirk spread over Ryo's face as he saw the hurt in Kiba's eyes. "She must be really ashamed of you."

Kiba clenched his fists as the taller male's eyes met his.

"Or just not care for you at all..."

The tense atmosphere was suddenly broken as a certain redhead reappeared, looking confused.

"Kiba?" Hotaru frowned, folding her arms. "What are you doing here?" her eyes narrowed in suspicion, then she sighed. "You know what? I don't even want to know. C'mon, Ryo."

Kiba couldn't stop the hurt from running through every cell of his body, "Hotaru, I can explain-"

"Explain what?" Hotaru asked, seeming truly confused, and she frowned at him, sighing, "I'll see you whenever, Kiba."

Then she stalked inside of the restauraunt, and Ryo followed, a smug look on his face. Kiba stared at the door for a long moment, before turning on his heel and walking away. It was better he did that, than storm in there and do something he'd regret later.

It wasn't until the morning that Kiba finally arrived home, and the moment he closed his door, someone was knocking frantically on his door. With a sigh, he answered it, only to find Sasori, frantic.

"Kiba! Is Hotaru with you?!" Kiba frowned, remembering how she'd shrugged him off earlier- or the day before, he should say.

"No, why?" he asked, and Sasori ran his hand back through his unruly red hair.

"Oh, God." he groaned, starting back down the narrow path that led down to the Inuzuka household. "Well, if you see her, tell her to come straight home!"

Kiba stared, dazed for a second, before it clicked in his mind. "Wait, Sasori, what's going on?!" he rushed to catch up to Sasori, and grabbed the slightly taller man by the shoulders. "Tell me!!"

Sasori slowly lifted his gaze to Kiba's, a look of desperation on his face. "She didn't come home last night, and I don't have a clue where she is!"

Kiba's eyes widened, "She didn't contact you at all?!"

Sasori shook his head, and Kiba frowned worriedly. This was so unlike Hotaru. There was no way that she would ever just disappear for the night and not tell Sasori. She would know that he would have worried himself silly, and Hotaru was anything but thoughtless. Kiba knew that for certain.

"I'll help you search." he said, calling Akamaru, who was at his side in an instant. Sasori gave the younger man a grateful glance, before running out of the gate. Kiba soon followed, Akamaru hot on his heels.

After a few hours of searching, Kiba was close to giving up. Passing the restauraunt from the previous night for a third time, thoughts of that bastard Ryo filled the Inu nin's mind.

Muttering to himself, Kiba kicked a rock, not flinching as Akamaru appeared beside him, having been searching in the trees. The dog pushed his large head against the man's side, and Kiba attempted a smile.

"It's okay, Akamaru. Hotaru doesn't care about that guy." he said, and Akamaru just whined. Kiba grunted; the dog wasn't doing a good job of reassuring him.

Kiba's half-smile dissappeared when he caught scent of someone familiar. Ryo-teme. The trail ran down an alley, and Kiba followed it without thinking. It led him down to the back of an old apartment building, with an orchard running behind it. It went through the orchard, then doubled back and cut sideways from the centre of the orchard. It then followed through an old dump, and in the confusion of the many different scents, Kiba almost lost the scent. Thankfully, he had Akamaru, whose nose was considerably stronger.

The scent trail then went through the baker's district, and into the woods just outside the main gate.

'How would that bastard Ryo get out of the gates alone? The guards wouldn't have let him go if he wasn't accompanied, since he's a visitor.' Kiba thought, stopping to sniff the air. 'And I definitely can't smell Hotaru, or anyone else, with him.'

There. Kiba stopped in front of a large section of the outer wall. This was where the scent was most concentrated. However, now, there was a second scent intertwined. A human scent.

Akamaru yipped suddenly as he caught scent of something, something familiar. The dog pushed onto his hind legs, his forepaws pressed against the huge wall as he sniffed at a patch inquisitively. Kiba went over to him, and peered at the wall. He recognised that scent... Taking out a kunai, he chipped away at the wall carefully, and, as he had anticipated, it crumbled away much easier than it should have. Imitation brick.

As the rock-like material fell away, Kiba frowned in irritation and minor worry. A paper bomb had been set... and a very strong one at that. And set to detonate the moment someone tried to remove it.

"But who would do this?" Hinata asked a while later, and Kiba's gaze formed into a glare.

"That bastard Ryo, that's who." he snarled, though he felt a slight smugness. He had known that that guy was up to no good.

"The guy that Hotaru's showing around?" Shino asked, and Kiba nodded, "Are you sure?"

"Positive, I can smell him all over this place!" Kiba cried, frustrated. Why weren't they calling in to Hokage-sama already?!

"But my bugs aren't sensing any unfamiliar chakra." Shino said, calling the insects back. He had a slight frown; the expression that usually meant that something was wrong. Kurenai eyed the Aburame anxiously.

"Shino? What is it?" Shino folded his arms, looking unhappy about something.

"The only chakra they sense is Hotaru's."

The other members of the group froze in shock. Then Kiba growled.

"What did you say?" he glared at Shino, and then at the rest of the group, feeling -for lack of a better expression- flabbergasted. (lol I LOVE that word) "You guys don't honestly believe that Hotaru did this?! I haven't even caught her scent here!!"

The others gazed at him sadly, and Hinata stepped closer to the brunette. "Kiba-kun, it's not that we suspect Hotaru-chan, but her chakra-"

Kiba shrugged off the hand she had placed on his shoulder, what used to be a form of comfort becoming an annoying hindrance.

"I don't believe this! We're her teammates! How can you all be so quick to distrust her?!" Kiba demanded, and Kurenai looked hurt.

"Kiba, we don't-"

"Save it! I'm going to find Hotaru." Kiba turned his back to them, stalking out of the clearing, only to halt as someone called after him.

"What do you mean, 'find Hotaru'?" Kurenai asked, and Kiba tossed a scornful glance over his shoulder at his now anxious-looking team.

"Didn't you know? She's gone missing." and with that, he melted into the trees, dog following closely behind.

Kiba sighed to himself as he paced down the streets of Konoha for what felt like the millionth time that day, unable to find Hotaru's scent. Even the restauraunt from yesterday had lost all trace, probably thanks to the rain that was now pouring down on the world. With an annoyed grunt, Kiba turned and started in the direction of his home.

"Kiba!" the brunette quickly turned, coming face-to-face with an edgy-looking blonde.

"What is it, Naruto?" he asked, unimpressed, folding his arms.

"Sasori found Hotaru-chan! Turns out she got drunk out with that Suzuki guy, and both of them got lost on the way home." Kiba blinked at Naruto; the blonde seemed on edge for some reason, "She's now back home sleeping it off."

"Huh." Kiba said slowly, "It's not like Hotaru to get drunk."

Naruto just shrugged, but Kiba didn't miss how the whiskered boy fidgeted a little with his hands as he spoke, "Well, that's what Tsunade-baa-chan said when we took Hotaru-chan in to get her looked over. I don't really know much else." Naruto's gaze then flicked over to the trees, "Well, I gotta go, Baa-chan says she has a mission for me. See ya, Kiba."

The blonde then made a hasty retreat into the trees, and Kiba cocked his head to one side in confusion. What was that about? Naruto seemed nervous about something, but what?

Akamaru whined low, and Kiba laughed. "Yeah, I'm hungry too. Let's go get dinner, boy."

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Later that night, Kiba lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He just didn't understand it.

How could Hotaru's chakra be running through that paper bomb, if Hotaru herself hadn't been there? If she had been drunk, she wouldn't have thought to cover her scent, and if she had been setting up paper bombs, why take Ryo with her? And why didn't she cover his scent too? This whole situation just didn't add up.

But there was no way in Hell that Hotaru would ever do anything to harm the village! Kiba refused to believe it to be so! It had to be down to that guy Ryo, it just had to!

Growling to himself, the brunette slid out of his bed, grabbing his jacket, careful not to wake Akamaru. If he remembered correctly, the Uchiha clan had information every clan in the Leaf, and a few others. If it was to prove Hotaru's innocence, Kiba was certain that Sasuke would help him.

He slid open his window and swung out, balancing on the outside windowsill long enough to shut the window behind him. He knew that he was grasping at loose threads, but he couldn't shake the irritation of the case from his mind. The 'dog boy' knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep easily until he knew that Hotaru hadn't betrayed her village.

"Oi! Sasuke! Open up!" the window slid open, and an annoued-looking Sasuke poked his head out.

"Kiba? What do you want?" Sasuke was puzzled; Kiba had never called round before, let alone this late at night. What reason could he possibly have for it?

"I want to see the Uchiha's Konohagakura clan records." Kiba said, straight to the point. After all, he saw no reason to beat around the bush, when it was urgent. Sasuke, on the other hand, looked as though he was going to murder Kiba.

Kiba took a backwards step as Sasuke leapt out of the window, landing directly in front of him. The older boy folded his arms, staring the inu-nin down, and said brunette couldn't help but feel the slightest bit intimidated. Though they were the same height and build, Kiba was well aware of just how much pain one would feel if struck by the mangekyou sharingan. He had seen the effects it had had on enemies during missions, and it wasn't pretty.

Even so, Kiba squared his shoulders, prepared for whatever the Uchiha threw at him.

"And why, pray tell," Sasuke said coldly, his anger hidden well, "would I let you view something that has been in the Uchiha family for generations, and is classified to the Uchiha clan only?"

Kiba wore a determined frown, "Because, there's something suspicious about that Ryo guy. I want to find out what."

"You sure you aren't just jealous that he's around Hotaru so much?" Sasuke asked, a slight smirk quirking his lips. Kiba's eyebrow twitched.

"It's not like that!" he protested, then quickly took a deep breath to calm himself. "I found his scent all over a removal detonating paper bomb, strong enough to blow a hole straight through the East wall, where it was placed."

Sasuke's eyes widened minutely, "But that's-!" he cut himself off, eyes scanning the perimeter. He then sent Kiba a meaningful look, before his face turned blank once more, and his voice dropped to a whisper. "Has he been arrested?"

"No," Kiba whispered back, set on edge from the Uchiha's tone, "it wasn't his chakra powering the bomb. It was Hotaru's."

Sasuke immediately put the pieces together in his mind, quick as always; he was one of the Leaf's top Jounin after all. Obviously, it had been Ryo's scent all over it, but Hotaru's chakra, so Kiba wanted to find out this Ryo's clan's abilities. The raven haired man leaned closer to Kiba, speaking in such a quiet voice that Kiba almost didn't catch it.

"Go out, take a detour, then come around the back." then Sasuke straightened up again, "Sorry, back pain from my last mission."

Kiba was confused for a moment, before realising what Uchiha was talking about. There must be someone watching them; the back pain thing must have been an excuse for the leaning. The Inuzuka quickly pulled himself together, "That's okay."

Sasuke's apologetic expression turned cold once more, and Kiba was at a loss of how the older man was such a convincing actor. "But in any case, the Uchiha clan data bank is classified, I still can't let you see it."

'Act the part.' Kiba thought hurriedly, and started to glare, "Don't you care about our friend?! You-"

"Leave, before I have to use force." after a little longer of false arguments, Kiba was finally 'persuaded' to leave. The man growled to himself as he left, though the irritation was not genuine. He then ran at top speed back to his home, letting himself in through the front door. Thankfully, there was only one, so that person would stay surveying his house. And, another good thing; his family was still sleeping.

"Okay..." Kiba tried to calm his breathing; it wasn't exactly what you would call a short distance to his house from the Uchiha compound. Right, so now all he had to do was sneak out of the back entrance, hoping that the spy wasn't any good at sensory techniques, and get back to the Uchiha compound. Fun.

But he was doing it for a good reason, a reason that drove his determination past it's maximum.

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God, that was so annoying!! Everytime I tried to write the word 'human' it kept typing as 'humna'!! D:

Lol xD

Well, you guys should love me for actually updating. I had no IDEA how this chapter was gonna go, so :P I've been putting it off, and reading Furuba (Fruits Basket) instead! :3

Also, in case you didn't notice, Sasuke didn't leave with Orochimaru in this story. I know that that tears a hole straight through the basic plot line of Shippuden, but meh. My story, my plot ^^

AND AND AND sorry for another crappily written chapter. And the content is kind of el crapola also. Gomen, gomen. I don't know what it is, it just seems that my writing abilities go out of the window with this story at the mo. I think it's probably because I'm trolling through the boring chapters at the moment. Oh well, next chapter will be a lot more interesting hopefully. Although I highly doubt it could get any less interesting than this chapter... sigh...

I can't wait to get out of all the Ryo shiz now. It's draaaggging on too much, and this is only the second chapter of it. Lol. But the thing is, I had a plan of how it's gonna go down, but then a new idea hit me, so the previous is going to come a little later. The new plan involves Kiba confessing his LOVE!!! 8D EEEEEEEEE!!

In any case, fan, vote and comment! :D Also advertise my story where you can please! It would be much appreciated!

And can I just say??

KYO IS FUGGEN AWESOME.

Kthxbai.