This is a story in six short parts, written for the livejournal community 64damn prompts.

Disclosure

It's always a mistake with her, isn't it? The wrong words, the wrong reactions, the wrong advice. He just can't seem to get it right, can he?

He tries to get over her, he really does. He dates other girls, he takes solo missions, he gets drunk off his ass but he can never quite get her out of his head.

It's almost funny, he thinks as he tips back the glass and sinks into delirium. Almost.

END.

07. Opposite

They're alike in many ways, Kiba and Naruto. It's in their eyes, she thinks; bright eyes that reflect that unbreakable determination, that unwavering belief, that unshakable confidence.

But at the same time, there is something unmistakably different about them. It isn't in the wild way they look, or in the harsh tone of their voices, or in their brazen actions—it's deeper than all that. It's in the way he holds her when Shino is hospitalized, the way he brings her flowers when she gets sick, the way he grins when she hands him his birthday present, the way he's looking at her in her summer yukata.

Maybe, she realizes his dark eyes bore intensely into hers, they aren't that much alike after all.

END.

25. Acid

The alcohol runs like acid down his throat, burning the whole way down. Sometimes he wishes the fire would engulf his heart, burn it away, and leave in its place an empty hole of nothingness, because the nothingness must be better than this.

But the acid only burns his stomach, and he wakes up the next morning with nothing but a hangover and a heavy heart.

END.

58. Enemy Gate

She stands before the Inuzuka home, trembling with a feeling she can't quite recognize. It isn't fear, nor nervousness, nor excitement, nor dread.

It's destiny, she decides as she knocks on the door. Destiny.

END.

06. Seize the Day

“Kiba?” Hana repeats. “He's not home. He's on a mission.”

“Oh,” Hinata sighs, eyes to the ground. “I'm s-sorry for b-b-bothering you, Hana-san.”

Hana laughs. “Hinata-chan, you know you're welcome here. In fact, we'd like to see you here more often.” She leans in conspiratorially, her voice dropping to a whisper. “Kiba'd like to see you more often, too. He misses you.”

Hinata blushes deeply and bows. “Thank you, Hana-san. I-I'll see you later.”

“Sure thing, Hinata-chan. He should be back in three days.” Hana winks as Hinata turns to leave, and calls after her, “I'll leave the gate open for you!”

Her blush deepens, but she thanks Hana all the same.

END.

56. The Beginning is the End is the Beginning

The next three days pass quickly, and Kiba does not return home. It's torturous, being forced to wait like this, unsure if he's even alive. But she can do nothing else, and so the days pass, hour by hour, minute by minute, the seconds on the clock ticking slower and slower until she's forced to break it just to salvage what little bit of her sanity is left.

He comes limping through Konoha's gates on the sixth day, and the first thing he says when she enters his hospital room is, “You look like shit, Hina-chan, what happened?” She doesn't care about the bags she knows are under her eyes; all that matters is that Kiba is home, damaged and bandaged from head to toe but home.

She wakes up the next morning in his bed, her head on his chest and his arm wrapped protectively around her waist, and there's not a place on earth she'd rather be.

END.