Ojos Asi [[private -- nyrax]]

Kiba just smiled as Akiko continued to play with Akamaru, she truly did love that dog it seemed. She always seemed to be intrigued by him, if he could jump into her arms and curl into a ball Akiko would probably never let go of him. Kiba just used his hand and fixed his hair up a bit, it had gotten a bit messed up in his fight after all. He turned to Akiko with that same smile.

As she moved over and sat in his lap Kiba didn’t push her back or act awkward as he might have before, she was fully clothed so it wasn’t really awkward. He didn’t care what his mom or sister thought, he wasn’t that kind of person. “Well then a bit of sausage and whatever else you could make to go with it might be nice”, Kiba admitted. “As long as it’s good I’m up for anything”

"Meat." She teased, sticking out her tongue. "I should have been able to figure that out." She giggled slightly and slid out of his lap. "Ok!" She said, going into the kitchen and started to look through the fridge for something to make. "Do you like omelets?" She asked, turning to face him. "I make them different than most people. I've never seen anyone or any restaurant make them the way that Onee-sama taught me."

She grabbed a few ingredient and pulled them out, placing them on the counter. Turning her head as the door slammed open, two woman walked in, one of which Akiko recognized and she moved back over to Kiba slightly. THe other was older and looked sorta like Kiba, which she assumed was his mother.

"Kiba!" His mother's voice was strong and quite loud. "What happened? I heard you got into a fight with Seiko?!" She was in front of him now, standing face to face with her son. Recently, he'd grown taller than she was. Even the woman in the main family were fairly tall. "Why did you fight him, who started it?!"

“Oh an omelet sounds like it would be just perfect right now”, he admitted with a grin. “I just want anything you make, because I am certain that anything you make will be grand I am sure of it”, he said with a happy grin as Akiko began to walk off towards the fridge. He just watched her work.

He couldn’t help but wonder if his fight with Seiko was going to bring consequences or not. The guy had said that this wasn’t over but would he really come back at Kiba? He couldn’t tell, and that was the main thing that worried him about all of this. The consequences that he thought were going to come weren’t quite what he expected. The door slammed open and Kiba leapt up, grabbing a kunai on his way up.

He immediately put it back in his pocket as he recognized the two scents. “This should be good”, he muttered to himself as his mother walked over and started to give him a huge interrogation routine. “Nice to see you too mother”, he said before he decided to just come out and say it. “You know Seiko’s reputation as well as I do, he isn’t the kind of person you leave your daughter with”, he said simply. “I went to report to Tsunade about the mission, only to return to Seiko making moves on Akiko”, he said simply. “I just fought him in order to make sure that he wouldn’t do it again”, he said seriously. “That’s all there is to it”

Tsume walked passed Kiba, bending down to look into the large brown eyes of the smaller girl behind him. She didn't move but she didn't seem comfortable with the gesture, almost like she thought she was in trouble. She met his mother's stare however, and then unsurprising, she smiled, tilting her head to the side, her eyes closing. "Hi Mrs. Inuzuka." She said sweetly.

This made her smile. "I like her... What's your name."

"Heisha Akiko!" Akiko opened her eyes this time and looked up to see a horrified look on her face. "What?" She asked, backing up a few steps, scared of the look she was getting. "Did I do something wrong?"

Hana had the same look on her face and the two looked at Kiba with a desperate and pleading look for him to explain.

"Kiba..." His mother was now speaking to him in the language they used to communicate with their partners. It was low, and below the auditory allowance of human hearing. "Did you know her clan when you brought her here? Or what they've done?"

Kiba watched the interaction between his mother and Akiko, wondering what was going to happen in the end. The one thing that he prayed wouldn’t happen was for Akiko to reveal her last name, he had a feeling that his mother and older sister would probably know the history even though he didn’t. Hana was always trusted more anyways. He gave a light smile as he watched the interaction between them. It looked like it was going well, at least right up till Akiko said her full name. “Of course”, Kiba muttered to himself.

As his mother spoke to him in only the language that he could understand he walked over to Akiko before smiling and placing a hand on her shoulder. “Sorry, family talk, it’s about the fight”, he said before turning to his mother and switching into their tongue. “No mother I am a complete moron, or player as you might believe and just had her in for a good time. Of COURSE I know who she is, this is a mission straight from Tsunade herself”, he said seriously. “I am supposed to keep an eye on her, despite what ANY of you might think”, he said as he shot a glare in Hana’s direction. “Now then……….don’t you think that you’ve scared her enough as it is? She’s just a child and Tsunade believes that she is being manipulated”

Akiko blinked, looking at him and nodded. This seemed to be more about her, but she knew that Kiba would never lie to her. She felt that he was, but closed her eyes and was about to move away when Kiba touched her. Looking up at him, she smiled and her hands went behind her back, coming together softly. Was this really about her? She wondered. Would Kiba ever lie to her?

Tsume narrowed her eyes as if she was about to slap him. As much as she moved Kiba, she had never let him speak to her with disrespect. She growled, but didn't strike him. He was much older than before, and whereas he hadn't learned any respect for the only parent that he ever knew and the only one that raised him - she didn't treat him like a baby.

"I didn't think that at all." She said, glaring at him. "You'd never hurt someone like her, and I know you to know that you think more of yourself than to hurt a girl her age. Besides... I can tell by her scent that she's an innocent." She looked at the small girl and sighed. Looking back at him, she bit her lip slightly, showing her fangs.

"Her brother is far more dangerous than you know, Kiba. I remember him, and I was a teenager when he was around. He was strong... His best friend was..." She sighed, closing her eyes, shaking her head, trying to calm herself down. "Be careful." She said finally. "If she is being controlled, whether or not she means it, she has the power to kill someone. You almost lost Akamaru once." She warned. It seemed she didn't believe Akiko would attempt to kill him, but make him seek revenge instead.

The look that entered her eyes was maternal and showed that she truly cared about him. She came forward, kissing his forehead. "I'm proud of you Kiba." She said, smiling at him once her lips left his skin. "You always where the type to stand up for what you believe, whether or not you were the only one to think it." The smile showed that she'd stand by him, and support whichever choice he made, even if it caused problems. She had faith in him. Kiba wasn't like him.

Kiba just stood his ground, thinking that this was not going to go over too well. “Forgive me for assuming mother”, he said as he glanced at Hana. “I guess just because someone thinks that doesn’t mean that everyone will”, he said in an annoyed voice to his sister before turning back to his mother. “That would be because I haven’t touched her, nor did I want anyone else. That was why Seiko and I fought”

Kiba just let out a small cough. “I have already been informed about him and his entire family, if I ever got involved with a fight with him I know that he’d kill me in a matter of moments, that or he would just make it so long and drawn out that I felt every ounce of pain that he wanted me to feel, I already know”, he said flatly. He was always tired of being treated like a kid. This was a mission from Tsunade herself! What was he supposed to do? Say no? Kiba had far too much pride for that. Kiba turned towards the ground as he remembered that day. “I know……….I know that”, he said softly as the memory of that battle with Sakon and Ukon flashed into his mind. “I would die myself before letting Akamaru get killed”

The look that he received next was one that shocked Kiba. Although he tried his best to not let it show. The kiss on his forehead was an even larger surprise to him. He just stood there as she said that she was proud of him. He couldn’t help but give a small smile at that. “Thanks mom….I love you”, he said in his normal voice so that even Akiko could understand that. “But I know what I must do”, he said as he returned to their own language. “This is a mission from Tsunade herself and I will not embarrass our clan by failing, I will accomplish this……….I promise”, he said with a smile.

Akiko blinked, shifting her weight slightly, feeling out of place. It was like she didn't belong there, and she knew inside that she didn't. Come on, they clearly didn't want her to hear what they were saying, and because both their facial expressions changed, she sighed. Going back into the kitchen, she started to make breakfast, letting them talk somewhat alone.

There weren't far, but she smiled when Kiba told his mother he loved her. It was comforting, and even though she didn't remember either one of her parents, she still somehow felt a strong connection to them. Almost like they never left her.

Tsume looked into his eyes and two of her knuckles touched his forehead. It was something she used to do to him when he was small to tease him. She started to do it when he told her to stop kissing his forehead because it embarrassed him. He was a BIG boy and he didn't need his mother to take care of him anymore. "I love you too baby." She seemed really proud of him, looking into the kitchen at the young girl that seemed to understand what was going on.

"I understand." She nodded. "When the Hokage gives you a mission, you don't ignore it; but make sure your happy with the decision you have to make Kiba. If it comes where you have to kill her... make sure that you're not too attached that it'll be too difficult." She said, looking from the small girl to her son. "You mean far more to this clan than you seem to think you do, and I want you to survive to see it. Not die because you think this clan needs you to take on a criminal for honor."

She covered his lips before he could argue. "But I trust your judgment and know that you'll make the right choice." She said, smiling at him again and turning. "Be good. I'm leaving the village for a week or so with your sister on a mission." She turned to face him.
"Which means that in our absence, you're the clan's leader." She said with a grin. He'd never been left alone to lead the clan before, and she felt he was old enough now to try. She originally wanted Kiba to go with her, but Tsuande forbade him from leaving the village because of Akiko.

"You better not burn anything down or throw any parties!" She teased - which made Hana snort and turn away. The first time their mother left - when she was 16, leaving her in charge - that's exactly what Hana did.

Kiba at first had no idea what his mother was doing, but as her knuckles reached his forehead he suddenly remembered back to when he was a kid, she would do it to signify a kiss between them because Kiba wouldn’t take the actual thing. He let out his own smile and small laugh as the memories came back to him. He was really a lot luckier then he gave himself credit for. Kiba was starting to understand that.

A small frown formed on his face as she mentioned the choice that he might have to face. If the village thought that Akiko was a threat and had to kill her, would he be strong enough to face the challenge? Would he cower and find himself unable to strike? He didn’t know what to say right now. What could he say after all? He just gave a small nod. “Yeah I know”, he said slowly. He didn’t know what to say. He knew he was important, but it seemed like no one else really seemed to think so.
He looked up to say something but suddenly found that his lips were just completely covered. He didn’t say anything as his mother once again seemed to show more compassion then she had shown in ages. Kiba couldn’t help but wonder, was she actually proud of him? Or was she scared that something awful was going to happen on this mission?

“Yeah I getya……wait what!?”, he asked suddenly surprised, he even reverted back to his normal voice. “Me in charge of the clan? Really?”, he asked surprised as the look on his face clearly showed that he didn’t suspect this at all. “Wow….thank you”, he said with a small smile before looking serious. “I mean…don’t worry I won’t let ya down”, he said with a large grin. “I won’t let ya down”, he repeated as he watched them both walk off.

“Akiko did you hear that!?”, he shouted as he ran over and hugged her. “I get to be in charge of the clan and my mother loves me!”,he shouted as he gave her the tightest hug he had ever given her.

Tsume grinned at her son, making it clear where he got the toothy grin from. "You heard me, chibi." She teased, winking at him. "You get to be the boss just like you always wanted." She laughed slightly as she turned around, raising her hand to wave at him.

"Like I said, be good and don't follow that list you made when you were six, if you do, there won't be a clan when I come back and I'm going to have to have 5 more kids to replenish what you destroyed. And I'm too old to raise them, so it'll be your job. To change them and feed them." She smiled. She missed being able to tease him like this. She did see his father in him more recently, but their personalities where NOTHING alike.

Hana gave him a slight glare. They had been fighting, but the look was as if to say 'you better do SOMETHING to not make me took bad.' She turned her back as the two females left the house, closing the door behind them.

Akiko made a small sound of surprise, almost like the sound Hinata would make. She smiled and looked back at him. "Yeah! You get to be the boss!" She said, twisting around in his arms with a smile on her face. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and smiled, now facing him. She let her face meet his, her cheek resting against his. She felt so good in his arms. She trusted him.

"So does that mean everyone has to listen to you?" She asked, moving so she was resting her hands on his shoulders. She was above him, and he was holding her above him almost like she was his bride or something. The symbolism was lost on her, but she loved being in his arms like this.

“I can’t believe you still remember that!”, Kiba shouted with a large laugh. “Man I was one dumb kid when I was that young”, he admitted as each item came into his head one at a time. Forcing all the clan members to build a giant statue of him would DEFINITELY not fly right now, Kiba still had to admit that the thought was quite nice. He laughed to himself.

Kiba watched as his sister turned and gave him a strong glare, he of course knew what the glare had meant. She wanted his first time as a leader to be worse than hers. Kiba hoped he did well. It would be something to rub into her face after all the bad shit that she had said about him.

“Yeah I know isn’t it great!?”, he asked as he looked down at Akiko who had moved in her arms. He didn’t really realize the position that he was holding her in, but he didn’t care either. He just smiled down at her, glad that she could share this joy with him. “I guess everyone does, but only in like official stuff”, he admitted as he looked down at her with a smile. “I mean I can’t tell them how to live their everyday lives and how to train, but yeah I guess I do”, he said smiling.

Akiko smiled at Kiba happily. "Well, you get what you wanted!" She siad, when her feet touched the floor. She went back to cooking and when it was done, she gave him some. She'd made home fries and toast to go with the omelet. She smiled at him and sat down, handing him a plate. "Here.." She added, starting to munch on the toast. Looking down at Akamaru, she tilted her head to the side.

"Can I feed him?" She asked. Kiba had extra sausage on the side, as well as everything inside of it. It was something like a western - it had ham, peppers, onions, broccoli, sausage, and cheese. Watching the dog, she smiled, pulling one off the counter and giving it to him. She didn't see what was bad about it... Some people didn't feed their dogs at the table... but... it didn't seem like it would bother Kiba.

As she looked up, she smiled. "So what're you gonna do as clan leader?" She asked, her legs pulling up to her chest. She leaned forward a bit and continued eating, as if her legs close up didn't bother her. She seemed really flexible, and her limps could easily move in directions that most woman couldn't.

“Yeah I guess I really do get to do that”, Kiba said as he set her back down slowly. She went over and continued to cook for him, she was so nice to him. He made his way and sat down in his chair, looking up at the ceiling as the weight of being clan leader was suddenly starting to really hit him. He supposed he just never really thought about it, always thinking that Hana was just going to gain control and all.

Kiba took a deep whif of the food that was handed to him, his mouth nearly drooling at the mere smell. “Oh Akiko, just smelling this and it seems amazing”, he said as he slowly began to dig into his food. He glanced back up to Akiko who asked if she could feed Akamaru. “Be my guest, but be warned he will probably think you’ll always feed him if you are going to do that”, he said with a small laugh.

Kiba stopped eating as Akiko asked him what he was going to do. “In all honesty I haven’t really thought about it too much”, he said as he leaned back in his chair. “I just want to make sure that everyone is okay, because I don’t want mom or sister to be disappointed in me”, he said a bit nervously. “I just want to do a good job”

Akiko looked over at Kiba and fed Akamaru again from the table. "I don't mind." She said like it didn't bother her, because she liked Akamaru. She rubbed his head and smiled happily. He was so cute and was rubbing against her, which didn't bother her at all.

She tilted her head to the side. "Well... do you want to be clan leader when you get older?" She asked. Sure, Hana was older than him, but he was a boy, right? In most clans the rights were passed to a male rather than to a female. But then again, his mother was the clan leader, so it might not be like that? She scratched behind Akamaru, feeding him again. Her head popped up. "Oh!" She went over to the fridge and pulled out the bone she promised him that morning.

"Sorry." She handed it to him and went back to the table. He followed and laid down at the side of the table, partially under it, eating the meat from the bone and then started to chew on it.

Glancing up at Kiba, Akiko smiled. "You'll do a good job no matter what. You're sweet and confident, and you'll do anything to make her proud, so you will!" She smiled and went back to eating. "You're really skilled and talented and sweet! You can do anything!"

Kiba gave a small shrug. “I don’t really know, I never really felt like people would listen to me even if I was the clan leader”, he admitted. “I told you not a lot of people around here are huge fans of me, although I might have won some points with the ladies with that fight back there”, he added with a laugh. “But in all honesty, it might be nice I just really don’t know”

Kiba watched with a curious look as Akiko got up and made her way over to the fridge. She made her way back with a bone and handed it to Akamaru. “Hmmm, how long have I had that waiting in there?”, he asked himself with a small shrug before turning to look towards Akiko again. He watched as Akamaru ate on the bone that Akiko had so kindly provided with a content look on his face.

“You are too………you’re right”, Kiba agreed simply. He wasn’t sure how well he would do but at the very least he had Akiko there to support him, and that was more strength then he needed on his side. “Thanks Akiko, I feel like you are always looking out for me”, he said happily.

As the two of them ate, Akiko couldn't help but giggle slightly. She was eating less than half of what he was and it took her much longer to eat. It was almost like she wouldn't put too much in her mouth at once - like it was too small to hold much. As the two of them ate, she smiled. Kiba was so nervous and she didn't know why. He was so confident and strong before, but he just seemed so afraid of making a mistake and disappointing his mother.

"You looked out for me?" She tilted her head to the side. "Kiba-kun!" She said, getting his attention, standing up at the table. "We're going to make you more confident!" She said happily. "We're going to make this easy for you to do and you're gonna love it! I promise!"

The door sudden;y opened and one of the younger boys that was int eh courtyard earlier ran over, jumped into Tsukiko's arms, kissed her cheek, gave her something and ran off as fast as he could laughing. He stopped in the doorway. "I love you Akiko!" He called and then ran off with another group of smaller boys laughing.

She giggled looking at what he gave her. "A... a flower..." She muttered, looking down at it. "I've... never seen this before." She tilted her head to the side. "Kiba, what is this?"

Kiba knew that there was always a difference between being a warrior and being a leader. In his heart Kiba felt like he was more warrior than anything else. He saw how broken up Shikamaru was after every single one of them had nearly died. Kiba just wasn’t sure if he could handle that. He just gave a small shrug to himself as he continued to eat his food, trying to figure out what exactly it was that he was going to do now.

As Akiko suddenly got onto the table Kiba just blinked. She had a plan to make him more confident and a better leader? She was so young though, how would she be able to help him with that? Youki perhaps had taught Akiko about this to? The Inuzuka couldn’t say, but he was suddenly interested in what she had to say.

And then Kiba watched with a smile as a kid ran over to Akiko before jumping into her arms and giving her one of the clan’s flowers. “That kid means business”, Kiba remarked with a small laugh as Akiko seemed completely confused. “That kid likes you, when a member of our clan gives that flower to someone it means that they want to love and be mates for life”, Kiba remarked as he looked at the strange flower. “You see those flowers help us get along better with our animal partners, so it’s kind of a metaphor of wanting an even stronger relationship, with you in this case”

Akiko's eyes widened. "Really?" She asked, looking up at him, and she smiled simply. That made her feel warm inside. A feeling flooded her body and she looked at the door. He'd run off with some other smaller boys, but she pulled a bobby pin out of her hair and put the flower into it. The flower stayed there contently and she sat down and continued to eat.

She felt flattered by that. "Does that mean your clan likes me?" She asked, smiling at him. Her light brown eyes met his black ones and she smiled happily. "I like it, it's pretty." The flower was a reddish, orange-brown, and it stuck out in her hair - a sharp contrast but it was almost a match to the light brown shade. Her hair was multi-colored, it faded from light to dark brown in random places, natural highlights moving through her entire hair.

"Does that mean you like me?" she asked, not able to look at him for the first time. A light pink blush was on her face like she was worried about the response.

Kiba just gave a nod. “Really”, he repeated as he looked at Akiko with a small smile. She seemed to be so happy from the gesture; it was like that one flower made her entire day. He wasn’t sure how she really took it, she seemed to be well pleased from the act, apparently she was extremely happy. Kiba just smiled and leaned down to continue eating. Kiba was still very hungry after all.

“Oh yeah I’m certain that they do, couldn’t you tell by how they seemed to gather around you while you were outside?”, he asked with a clear smile as he glanced up. “We are like dogs, it takes a lot to make an enemy out of us but if you are our friend then we are loyal to that”, he said as he continued to fork the omelet into his mouth. “Well of course I like you”, he said not noticing her blush at all. “Couldn’t you tell from the first time that we met that I liked you?”, he asked, not realizing how Akiko was probably taking it.

Akiko looked up at him. "Yeah, but I figured it was because I was new..." She said, tilting her head to the side. "One of them said I smelled nice." She laughed quietly, looking over at him. That made her feel better - he liked and cared about her. She'd never asked that question before, and to be honest she was never sure what the answer would be. It was a great comfort to know he did.

She finished eating and put the the plates in the sink and rinsed it off. "Ok, so do you want me to teach you to be more confident?" She asked, tilting her head to the side. She didn't seem like she was at all worried about it. "I'll make you the ultimate leader!" She said confidently, putting her hand on her chest.

Kiba shook his head. “Nope, they like you for you. Believe me I have seen them not be so nice to some new people we have run into”, Kiba said with a laugh as Akiko mentioned that one of them thought that she smelled nice. “That just means he really likes you, it’s just like saying you are pretty. To us the nose is as important as the eyes”, he said as he quickly finished up the meal Akiko had prepared. “As usual you are too nice to me Akiko”, he said jokingly.

Kiba grinned as Akiko asked if he was ready for the training that would make him into the ultimate leader. The Inzuzuka had to see this, just because he was curious as to what she was talking about. “Alright I am definitely ready sensei”, he said with a salute. “What do you need me to do?”

"Come on." She said, taking his hand and walked outside with him. She led him outside of the house and went to the training groups right next to the clan's grounds. She walked over there with him and pulled off her over shirt so she was just in a white tank top. "ok!" She tilted her head to the side, thinking about how to do this. "Do you know how to use any elemental jutsu?" She asked, smiling at him.

Kiba just walked with Akiko, wondering what it was that she was going to do to try to make him into a better leader. His eyes widened as she started to remove her shirt, but thankfully she had something underneath it. He just gave a small sigh, with Akiko you never could tell what was going to happen next after all. “Elemental jutsu?”, Kiba asked. “Not a clue, I just know my clan jutsu”, he admitted.

Akiko tilted her head to the side. "Ok... so you don't know any?" She crossed her arms. "All jounin have to know at least two to pass the test." She pursed her lips. "Ok!" She said confidently. "Do you know which you have an affinity for?" She asked, going over to him and taking his hand, closing her eyes. Her chakra moved around her body, this time it was actually visible.

Her hair moved around before falling, all her chakra going back into her body. She looked up at him and tilting her head to the side. "You have an affinity for earth and air." She said with a nod. "Which would you rather learn first?" She rose one of her feet and kicked the ground. A pillar rose and she sat on it, crossing her legs. "I'm really good at both, they're my favorites with water, so i can teach whichever one you'd like."

Kiba just tilted his head slowly. “Two to pass the test?”, he questioned curiously. But before he could do anything Akiko had already moved over to him and taken his hand into hers. Kiba still had no idea what was going on, but he was getting much more convinced as time went on that Akiko was meaning for this to go somewhere. He just watched with wonder as Akiko began to do something, he didn’t even know what was going on.

Kiba just blinked as Akiko outright told him that he had an affinity for both earth and wind jutsus. How could she tell? Kiba just let it go though. There were a lot of things about Akiko that he didn’t understand. “Well I get to pick?”, he questioned as he scratched his head. “Well uh……I don’t know”, he remarked. It’s not like he knew which one he’d use more. “You choose, you are the teacher”