When Sasuke Met Naruto (SasuNaru)

- Chapter 49 -

Kiba Inuzuka awoke that Monday morning to the incessant beeping of his alarm. For a minute or so he chose to ignore the sound, opting instead to turn over onto his belly and try to muffle the sound with his pillow. Soon, though, the pressure of Akamaru pouncing onto his back forced him to give up any illusions of going back to sleep, at which point he haphazardly slapped at the alarm clock until the sound was silenced. Satisfied, Akamaru yipped once and trotted over to his master's face, where he licked Kiba's face happily.

"All right, all right, I'm up," Kiba groaned before scratching the puppy's head. "I'll get you breakfast in a minute, okay?"

Yipping again, Akamaru hopped off the bed and raced out of the room for the kitchen while Kiba groggily kicked off his sheets. He sighed.

Alone again... naturally...

Swinging his legs over the side of his bed, Kiba ran a hand down his face. Ever since their housewarming party for Sasuke, Naruto had spent every night at the Uchiha's house, leaving Kiba on his own with Akamaru. Sure, he was happy for Naruto – he wanted nothing more than to see his best friend find true love. The problem was, of course, that seeing his roommate in such a satisfying relationship only reminded Kiba of his single status.

Standing up, Kiba stretched and faced his mirror on the opposite wall. With the exception of his mild case of bed head, the Inuzuka thought he looked pretty good, posing in his black briefs. He flexed his biceps and admired his physique for a moment, having worked hard on it under Gai's tutelage.

Now, why can't I get any girls with muscles like these? Sasuke practically needs bodyguards to keep the girls away from him, and he's scrawny as a twig. And gay! What's the deal?

The dog boy shook his head. Maybe he just wasn't meant to find love yet. Scratching his bare midriff, the depressed teen strolled out of his room and into the kitchen, where Akamaru was waiting over his dog dish. He barked irritably, causing Kiba to roll his eyes.

"Hold your horses, boy. I'm getting it," Kiba said, picking up a large bag of dog chow. He poured some of the kibble into the bowl, at which point Akamaru began to stuff his face, paying no heed to his master. Waving a hand dismissively, Kiba left the dog and started towards the bathroom, saying, "You're welcome."

Once in the bathroom, Kiba unceremoniously slipped off his underwear and turned on the shower. After waiting a moment for the water to warm up, he stepped inside and closed the curtain, allowing the steam to build up within. With the hot water running off his shoulders and rolling down his lean back to his bubble butt, Kiba allowed his mind to wander.

Were there even any girls he was interested in? Sure, there were some hotties around, but so many of them just had the most repulsive personalities. Ino, for example – yeah, she was gorgeous, but Kiba was pretty sure he'd shoot himself if he somehow wound up with her. Same went with Sakura, though Sasuke seemed to think she'd turned over a new leaf. Who else was there? Tenten? If Ino and Sakura had bad personalities, then Tenten's problem was that she had no personality to speak of. That, and she was already dating Neji, and Kiba really didn't want to get on Mr. White-Eyes' bad side.

There really aren't a ton of girls I'd even consider. Too many of them only have eyes for Sasuke, and the ones that don't are already taken...

Grumbling in frustration, Kiba picked up a bottle of shampoo and squirted out a handful of liquid. He then began to rub it into his hair as he tried to sort out his dilemma. He felt as though he was missing something. There was always Temari, he supposed, but he knew she was taken, and there was no way he was going to try to steal her from Shikamaru. There were some lines you just didn't cross.