An Unlikely Pair (Kiba Inuzuka x Reader) pt.3 (final)
Summary: Kiba secretly likes the reader, which isn’t great because they can’t stand him and definitely do not like him back. No seriously guys there’s definitely no way the reader likes him back that’s absurd.
Word Count: 1.2k
“That’s it!” Kiba remarks, a bit too loudly for your taste, while Akamaru lets out a small “boof.”
“Hm?” You look at them curiously. Another two hours had passed wandering aimlessly in the forest in the vague direction you had seen your teammates leave in. The sun would set soon, you were starting to get hungry, and honestly, you were thinking of giving up. Of course you would never admit that. You were way cooler, smarter, and better than the dog boy your sensei teamed you up with and there was no way that you would admit defeat. At least not until he had.
“Something smells off here. Right Akamaru?” The dog let out a small whine, which you could only assume was a confirmation.
“What is it? Do you think it could lead us to the scroll?”
“It’s the only lead we’ve had and we’ve been out here for four or five hours. I say we go for it.” You simply nod in response. “Akamaru, go on and follow the scent. We’ll be right behind you.” The dog yips before running off, you, Kiba, and Akemi close behind.
He finally comes to a stop, not even five minutes later. You’re in another clearing and you assume that the scroll must be around here somewhere. As you search around you notice some footprints. “Hey Kiba, I think we might be a bit too late,” you say, pointing to the ground. “Do you notice any scents? Of Hinata or Hanae, or maybe Shino or Haruki?” Instead of Kiba responding, Akamaru does, bounding up to the fresh footprints and sniffing around. Looking to Kiba, it seems that he nods as he growls and whines.
“He says that it smells like Shino,” the boy translates. “They must’ve gotten the scroll first.”
“Shit!” you exclaim, frustrated that it took you so long to find a lead. But then you feel a mild tugging in the back of your skull. The feeling that accompanied Akemi having something important to show you through her eyes. “Shit, wait. One sec. Akemi might’ve found something.” You do your hand signs and then succumb to the feeling in your head, your brain adjusting to the vision of your cat, instead of your usual human eyes. And as Akemi finally opens them, you see it. You gasp.
“What is it?” Kiba asks you, but you can’t hear him when you’re in the mind of your cat.
“Okay Akemi,” you mutter under your breath, “let’s get it.” You remain in the mind of your cat as she pads up to the scroll, grabbing it in her teeth, and once she is securely on her way back to you, you pull your mind out of her own. “She’s got it,” you tell him excitedly. “Haruki and Shino may have gotten to this area but they didn’t actually find the scroll. And no wonder, the brush it was under was so dense, I’m honestly even surprised Akemi could crawl through it.” Perfectly timed as always, Akemi showed up, scroll in mouth, and dropped it at your feet, as she sat down to briefly groom herself, getting the sticks and dirt and cobwebs out of her fur.
“I’m surprised Shino didn’t use his bugs to find it. Maybe they didn’t even know the scroll was here when they came through,” Kiba mentioned offhandedly. “I guess it doesn’t really matter though.”
You nod as you grab the scroll, then drink some water and offer some to Kiba and the pets, before packing it all away in your bag. “Well dog boy, looks like we did it. Maybe we aren’t that bad of a team after all.” You smile at him and offer him your hand to help him stand up.
“You know, I was never the one to say we would make a bad team.”
“Shut up before I change my mind.” And for the third time that day, he found himself smiling at your retreating form, him and Akamaru following closely behind you and Akemi.
As you returned to the training grounds, scroll in hand, you and Kiba laughed as he recounted a moment from earlier today, Akamaru and Akemi chasing each other, but not nearly as aggressively as they used to. But when you saw the six others sitting there, clearly waiting for your arrival, the smiles dropped from both of your faces.
“Wait. You guys are back already?” Kiba asks, curiosity clouding his features.
“I think you might’ve forgotten something,” you laugh, a smirk on your face as you hold up the scroll. “As always, I’m simply the best.”
“Hey! You can’t take credit for that! Akamaru did all of the work!”
“That’s so not true and you know it! If it weren’t for me and Akemi you would’ve left the clearing without the scroll! We were the ones who found it under all the shrubbery.” You let your face fall into your hand, frustrated with the boy you were finally starting to warm up to.
“I guess it doesn’t really matter. What I’m more worried about is why you guys,” his gaze returns to your teammates, “came back without the scroll.”
“We gave up about an hour ago. At least that’s when Hanae and I did,” Hinata admits quietly, her gaze aimed directly at the ground.
“Same for us, honestly,” Haruki agreed.
“Oh well,” you sigh as you toss your sensei the scroll. “You know I've never been wrong when I say I’m the best. I doubt that’s gonna change any time soon. Seems a bit unfair that they did an hour less work than us, didn’t get the scroll, and then just got to sit around though.” You smirk at the twins before turning your gaze back to the jōunin.
“Yeah, yeah.” Tanji waves his hand dismissively at you. “We’ll buy you ramen sometime this week or something.”
Kurenai speaks up, “And it seems that all of you have learned at least the basic intentions of this training exercise. The physical aspect was not nearly as important as the lesson you should leave here with. Working with other shinobi that you aren’t used to can be difficult, you have to take each other’s skills, needs, wants, and experiences into account before you can make decisions for the whole team. It doesn’t come as naturally as when you’re working with someone you’ve worked with every day for months, or years.”
“Nah, it was pretty easy,” you say before you pick Akemi up. As you pet your cat you don’t notice the knowing looks that everyone (except Kiba) sends your way. “Okay for real though. I’m so hungry. Is training over? Who wants to join me for ramen?” The six awaiting shinobi mumble admissions that they ate while they were still waiting for you to return. “You WHAT?! I can’t believe this! Can you believe this Kiba? What about you two?” you ask, looking from Kiba’s dog to your cat. “You can’t believe it either? That's because it’s ABSURD!” You jokingly glare at the group before you, then look Kiba dead in the eyes as you state, “I guess I’m getting ramen alone,” before storming off.
“Come on Akamaru.” Kiba said to his dog, the two following wearily after you. “At least let me walk you there!” he calls after your retreating form. To everyone’s surprise, you slow and wait for him to catch up.
ASK: Can you please write a scenario where Kiba’s crush is nervous around dogs because they were attacked by a stray when they were little? Thank you so much! I love your work!
Once Bitten, Twice Shy
=-=-=-=
“Kiba I’m starting to doubt your confidence. Instead of talking my ear off about why [Y/N] is wonderful, try talking to them more. Or at least tell them how you feel. It’s been years,” Shino crosses his arms, “I’m sure they’d greatly appreciate the compliments and your shared feelings.”
“Are you kidding me?! I can’t walk up to them with Akamaru in tow and say that! He would freak them out.”
Shino turns towards Hinata as she chimes in, “There’s no harm in letting them warm up to Akamaru over time,” she places a hand on Akamaru’s massive head, “even though he’s normally around when you talk to them that doesn’t mean they will immediately get used to him like magic. You have to take it slow. The constant close contact won’t do much if you don’t show them how sweet Akamaru can be.”
Kiba looks at Hinata and considers her words. He really wants to skip ahead and have [Y/N] be comfortable around Akamaru already. He was ignorant to think to have him around like that would do anything. Kiba knew they were still nervous and just assumed it would go away the more they were around Akamaru. He had always been hopeful they would get used to Akamaru after all these years. Maybe…he could start small and go look at puppies? Or ask Kurenai for advice?
“I’ve got it!” Kiba exclaims, startling Hinata and causing Shino to raise an eyebrow.
“Got what exactly? What’s your plan Kiba?”
“I’ll just show how sweet Akamaru is and then they’ll definitely grow to love him!” Kiba runs off in search of his long-time crush. Akamaru barks at Kiba then follows him.
Silence.
“Didn’t you just say that Hinata?”
=-=-=-=-=
Akamaru laid down in a small opening. Peacefully panting and watching Kiba encourage [Y/N] to walk closer to him. It was quite interesting seeing them take a few steps towards him and ultimately end up at the same spot they were in when this started. To move things along Akamaru would remain flat against the ground and shuffle his body closer to them.
“Kiba why are you trying so hard to get me to like Akamaru? I like him already!”
“I know you do but I want you to be comfortable around him.”
“But I am comfortable around him.”
Kiba huffed, “No you’re not! You can’t even walk over to him right now.”
[Y/N] gave Kiba a hard stare, “…that’s just because he hasn’t approached me. I’d feel better if he was the one to approach me first.”
“Alright,” Kiba motioned for Akamaru to come over. At that moment he realized Akamaru was closer to them compared to when they started two hours ago.
Akamaru slightly lifted his body off of the ground and shuffled his way to them. He tried to look as small as possible when approaching them. He could sense [Y/N]’s nervous energy. He stopped a yard away from them.
Kiba grabbed their hand and sat down in the grass bringing them with him, “alright Akamaru come closer.”
[Y/N] and Akamaru locked eyes. They knew they were still a bit nervous around him, but they didn’t want Kiba to look down on them. They hesitated before sticking a hand out towards him, palm side up.
Akamaru shuffled forward again and touched his nose to the tip of their finger. [Y/N] let out a small ‘eeck.’ Akamaru decided that’d be enough and backed away from them.
