The Game *Kiba x OC* (COMPLETE)

Processing

Kitara Takeda

My team was able to leave the village without trouble the following morning and our trip back was rather uneventful. I stayed silent most of the trip as well, my thoughts circling around my family and the box I never strayed far from. I couldn't get Kiba's words out my head either from that night we met with my parents. I hadn't expected him to say any of that and if I didn't know better, it sounded like he really cared about me. That couldn't be the truth though. We hate each other outside of our challenge. I have noticed that I don't find him quite as terrible as I did in the beginning. I've actually had fun in his presence. Maybe I don't hate him anymore? I certainly don't like him though. That would be a step way too far from the truth. Kurenai-sensei dismissed us after we arrived in Konoha again, offering to speak to the Hokage in our place. She had warned me that I could possibly be summoned to discuss what had happened with Lord Zana, which did happen that same day. Since then, I'd locked myself away in the apartment. It seems that coming back knowing that I was truly going to be alone besides Aya's remains broke the dam I'd built inside while we were on the mission. I've skipped training, though Kurenai-sensei had given me an offer to take a few days if I needed it, and Kiba had apologized to me and told me that his mother needed him to be home for a few days so I hadn't seen him since either.

I unfold myself from the ball I'd curled up into on my bed and slowly get to my feet. I'm not sure what or why, but something in me has changed. I can feel it but I'm not sure what that means. I strip out of my clothes and get into the shower, desiring that first and foremost. I'd sadly slacked on my personal hygiene since we got back. Once I'm properly cleaned and shaven, I wrap a towel around myself and pull on a black tank top and a matching pair of short cut shorts. I dry my hair the best I can and secure it all in a sloppy pony tail. I drift into the kitchen and start a pot of coffee and start to look through my cabinets and fridge, making a list on a piece of paper as I go. I'll have to actually start to feed myself I suppose. I'm just glad that it seems the money I receive from my grandparents every two weeks is still coming in. When my parents left, they visited for a few days and told me not to worry about money, that they'd take care of me either until they came back or until I reached Chunin level or higher. They didn't want me to stress about getting a job on top of everything else, so I regularly received a sum of money in an envelope from Yugakure.

I set the list aside and fill a large lidded cup with coffee and sip it as I head toward the hall closet. When my parents left with Aya, they'd stored extra boxes in it. Now it will come in handy for me. I pull them out and pause before deciding to open all of the windows. The sun is shining and there's a nice warm breeze. After tracking down tape, I drag the boxes down the hall to my parents' room and open the door.

"Takeda?"

I tense as I hear my name from a distance, then feel a wet tongue on the back of my leg less than a second later.

"Hello Sweetie." I mumble to Akamaru as I continue on my task, Kiba will find me soon enough.

"What are you- wearing?"

I raise a brow and glance down at my clothes. I hadn't paid too much attention to my clothing as I put it on, not expecting company.

"Clothing, Inuzuka." I retort, finally straightening and turning from writing on the box on the bed.

His eyes are wide and trained on my body, a dark blush on his cheeks. I smirk and slowly cross the room, stopping a breath away and I use a finger to gently close his mouth.

"Stop gawking, Darling. It's unattractive."

He huffs and looks away, grumbling that he wasn't gawking and that it was my fault for walking around half-naked. I roll my eyes and remind him that he'd seen me wear both items before, just not together.

"If it bothers you that bad, grab a shirt from my room or a jacket or something." I call over my shoulder as I return to the task at hand.

I snicker as I hear him leave and a minute later I reach out to catch the bundle of fabric tossed at my head. I slip it on, finding it to be an over-sized white shirt with a stretched collar, so one side falls over my shoulder. It's long enough to fall at my mid-thigh so I'm more covered now at least.

"I thought I was unattractive?" I chuckle as I turn back to grab another box to tape together. "You said so yourself, yet you looked at me like Choji looks at food."

He doesn't respond, but a moment later asks what I'm doing and how I'm feeling.

"I'm not sure how I'm feeling, unless 'different' counts as something. And what I am doing is responding to this different feeling. I got the overwhelming urge to do things so now I'm doing them." I explain to the best of my ability.

"So what is this part?"

"They're not coming back and not the parents I'd hoped they would be. There's no sense in having this room set and ready for them. I'm going to pack it all away and donate it. Once it's cleaned up, I plan to turn it into an art studio."

He laughs and tells me that it won't last if I can't keep myself from wrecking the apartment and passing out in random places.

I raise a one-fingered salute in his direction and reach up to the top shelf of the closet to grab more of the items down to sort through. I can barely reach it, but my fingers brush something and I curse as I hear something shift. I feel myself get tugged out of the way and I crash into Kiba's chest as everything on the shelf tumbles to the floor behind us. When the noise stops I look up and thank him as our eyes meet. I feel a twinge of something in my chest and wonder if I'm getting sick again but finally look away and free myself to inspect the mountain.

"This is going to take a while." I sigh. The closet was my first stop and it's been three hours already.

"Have you been eating while I was gone?" He asks suddenly and I shrug noncommittally as I start to pretend to be invested in the pile of junk. "Takeda-"

"Don't Takeda me." I cut in. "I haven't been out to get food or anything and I ran out of those freezer meals back before we even left for the mission."

I let out a surprised squeak as I'm lifted into the air and put over his shoulder.

"What are you doing?"

"You need to eat. You've lost weight."

"No food."

"We will get some."

I sigh and accept defeat as he refuses to let me down. He notices the list on the counter and grabs it, commenting that he was surprised it wasn't just ramen cups and oranges. I hit his back in response and tell him to at least let me get down so I can get to my money.

Kiba and I return from shopping a while later and let Akamaru come in ahead of us since he finally got to tag along with us before putting the bags on the counter tops. I put the groceries away as he starts to cook, having offered to do it so I could continue working until it was done. I coo that he's too sweet and pinch his cheeks before moving back to the garbage mountain we'd left behind. I pull the box off the bed and sit in the floor, tossing each item into it's respective area as I go. I'd gathered a few bags to use for trash, boxes were for donate items, and I kept a pile on the bed of things I considered keeping. I'll deal with them later. Most of this seems to just be random documents they'd never bothered to get rid of over the years along with a few scribbled pictures that Aya had drawn. I put scan the documents before tossing them in the bag and put Aya's pictures on the bed. I pick up another stack of documents and skim through them absently before noticing the certificate of my birth. My eyes widen as I read the words.

"Holy shit." The words slip out of my open mouth.

"What? Also, it's break time. Food is ready."

"Yuki isn't my mother."