Constructive Possession

A/N: Peace-Love-Yaoi, there are so many great characters in the Narutoverse, even in the filler, that are largely overlooked. I couldn’t help but add a couple here and I’m pleased when other writers make use of them as well. Kurai Kisu is very fond of Menma from the filler and I just love her for using him in her fics.

Nite Nite, yes, the fact is Kiba is a very attractive man, and if you’re a guy who is into other guys (at least in my AU) there is no way Kiba will go unnoticed.

yaoilovergirl, take heart. Read on to learn more about the fate of Kiba and Kabuto.

Tyra, I didn’t make you wait too long, did I? ^_^

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Warning: unbeta’d; language; yaoi; violence

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Kabuto walked out of the bathroom and made his way back to the living room. He resumed his perch on one end of the Inuzuka’s couch. He reached for his bottle of beer, only to discover it was empty. He looked over at his friend, who glanced at him sheepishly.

“Er, sorry, Yakushi, but you were gone and I finished my beer and yours was just sitting there getting warm and man, is that good beer.”

Kabuto placed the bottle back on the coffee table. “Don’t give it another thought.” He looked toward the television, pretending to watch the movie while trying to figure out how to take home the bottle they’d both drank from as a souvenir without looking like a complete freak until the Inuzuka resumed watching the movie.

Then he sat and watched him.

Kabuto couldn’t remember the last time he’d been invited to anyone’s home for a social call. Well, to be fair, he could—but it wasn’t an occasion he wanted to remember. That evening had started out simply enough, but evolved into something so painful Kabuto missed a week of school afterward.

Kabuto had imagined once or twice what it would be like to ‘hang out’ with Kiba Inuzuka. Sitting in the other’s living room watching him laugh and smile, and knowing he himself had a hand in making it all come about—it was even better than Kabuto’s fantasies.

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“If I’d known you were going to laugh until you cried, I would have brought Kleenex.”

Kiba got up from the couch to retrieve the DVD from the player, all the while wiping his eyes. “Man, that was hysterical!” he exclaimed.

“Yes, it’s what you call an instant classic”, Kabuto replied as he watched the way the muscles of the Inuzuka’s ass flexed beneath the sweatpants the man wore. That is ridiculous, Kabuto thought to himself, shaking his head. Gods, I need more beer.

Kiba tossed the DVD over near Kabuto and plopped back down on the couch, reaching for the remote. He sighed deeply, sinking further into the cushions on the couch.

Kabuto watched him intently from his position on the other end. “Your vacation seems to be agreeing with you.”

Kiba glanced at the gray-haired man. “You wouldn’t have thought so a couple of days ago.”

“Why not?”

Kiba continued to flip the channels. “Let’s just say a lot’s happened since Friday.”

“I guess a lot would have had to, or I wouldn’t be sitting here right now.”

Kiba knew a prompt when he heard one. Most of the time, at least. Okay, he had invited Kabuto over and told him he needed to discuss something with him. They’d had a leisurely dinner, complete with beer, good beer—on Yakushi—and watched a movie. Now it was time for Kiba to own up.

He turned off the television and set the remote on the coffee table. Then he turned his body on the couch so that it faced his colleague. “Yeah, about that.”

Kiba stared at the cushion on the couch that rested between the two men. “I don’t know where to begin.”

He wanted to tell the Yakushi everything. He felt he owed him that much.

“This past weekend was like a bad acid trip, except there was no acid. There was some smelly booze, but no acid. Anyway, I’m through it now, at least the first phase of it, and I guess I had a couple of epiphanies along the way.”

There was silence while Kabuto waited for Kiba to continue. When Kiba said nothing Kabuto asked, “such as?”

“Don’t interrupt”, Kiba responded, getting up from the couch and walking around to the other side of the coffee table to stand in front of the television.

He looked Kabuto in the eyes then. “You asked me a question about a week or so ago…about Hyuuga.” When Kabuto didn’t respond, Kiba asked, “Do you remember?”

“I asked you if your hang-up was about Hyuuga or men in general or if that was what you hadn’t figured out.”

Good memory. “Yeah, that”, Kiba responded.

“And what have you decided is the answer to the question, Inuzuka?”

Kiba opened his mouth to speak, but the words were catching again. NO. You can do this, he told himself. You are not a coward.

Those days are over.

“The answer i-isn’t a simple one,” Kiba choked out, “at least not for me. B-because, uh, the answer is that I sort of have a crush on Hyuuga that’s kind of indicative of a…well, I guess I’m attracted to guys.”

It was out. For the second time in four days Kiba had admitted his bisexuality.

Gods, say something, his mind screamed at his guest.

“Okay”, Kabuto responded. “What was your other epiphany?”

Kiba made a face then. “That’s all you have to say?”

“Well, no offense, but I’m assuming there’s something else you haven’t told me since your realization that you are bisexual is of no consequence to me.”

“What do you mean it is of no consequence? I’ve been out of my mind for—“

Kabuto shook his head. “That’s not what I said, Inuzuka, I meant that you finally owning up to liking guys doesn’t make a difference to me.”

Kiba was stunned—again. How come everyone he confessed to was so casual about it all? Hadn’t he just made a major confession—again?!

Kabuto stood up then. “Inuzuka, what you just confessed to me I have suspected for some time, so I’ve had a day or two to get comfortable with the idea.” And I couldn’t be giddier about it. He moved closer to the man, slowly, so as not to alarm him. “It’s also something you could have told me over the phone.”

Kiba stilled at that last statement, averting his eyes. “Yeah, that.” He gulped then, took a deep breath, and met Kabuto’s eyes again. Kabuto wore an expression Kiba couldn’t readily define, but he refused to let it stop him.

“Yakushi.” There was resignation, no determination in the way Kiba spoke his name aloud that made Kabuto stop in his tracks.

“I’ve been a real jerk about all this for a long time. People could see I was…troubled, I guess, and were trying to help but I was being an ass. You were one of those people. You’re a decent guy.” Kiba took another deep breath. “I asked you to come here tonight to tell you I’m sorry.”

I asked you to come here tonight to tell you I’m sorry. The sound of those words stopped Kabuto’s heart. He simply stood there, staring into the eyes of his friend. He couldn’t believe he’d just received an apology! Him, Kabuto Yakushi—the chew toy, the freak, the nerd—the weird kid.

There was vulnerability in those dark brown eyes, different from anything Kabuto had previously observed in his younger friend and it was drawing him even more, making Kabuto need to reach out to him.

He edged a little closer. “No harm done”, was his response. “The important thing is that you’re coming to terms with everything and moving forward.”

“Well,” Kiba stated, looking down at the floor, “I’m coming to terms, I guess…I mean it’s hard to feel like I’m moving forward, though, when I’ve got to spend the next two wee—“

Kiba didn’t finish his sentence due to the lips that suddenly pressed themselves against his own, forcing his head up and his words back into his mouth. He barely registered the pressure of a hand threaded through the curls at the back of his head before he felt a tongue touch his teeth. Kiba’s eyes grew wide. Before his brain could catch up, Kiba raised one forearm in a defensive move that broke contact between the two men’s bodies, balled his fist, pulled his other arm back and swung. Hard. His brain caught up, too late to pull the punch. Kabuto’s neck jerked from the impact of Kiba’s punch to his jaw and his body fell over with a hard thud.

Kiba stood over the body of his attacker in a defensive stance, panting hard, nostrils flared, eyes wild, and adrenaline coursing through him. Kabuto lay in a bloody, writhing heap on the Inuzuka’s recently-cleaned carpet, holding his swollen and throbbing jaw.

"Aw, fuck!" Kabuto moaned. His whole head was in pain and his body hurt from where he hit the ground.

"Yakushi, you son of a bitch, you're getting blood all over my carpet!"

"Shit, Inuzuka, I think you broke a tooth!"

"Serves you right asshole, what the fuck did you think you were doing? Huh? Did you think you were going to…ply me with beer and pizza and then get--"

"No, are you kidding?” Kabuto was breathing harshly, blood from his mouth spattering the carpet with every breath. “I’m a forensics analyst; you think I don’t know the ratio of alcohol content to body weight? You had four beers and you've got to have what, twenty pounds of pure muscle mass on me? I would have been out of my fucking mind to think--"

"Well then what, Yakushi?!"

Kabuto continued to writhe in pain on Kiba's floor. He felt that punch in his ears. "Hold on, Inuzuka, I'm trying not to drown in my own blood or choke on tooth enamel here. Gimme a second, okay?"

Kabuto’s whole body throbbed from the impact of that fist. He hadn’t been hit this hard since high school. He decided to blame the whole affair on temporary insanity induced by the consumption of two bottles of Irish beer.

Combined, of course, with the mesmerizing sight of the Inuzuka’s ass.

"Son of a bitch, Inuzuka. You hit like a Mack truck. Ow."

Kiba was livid. He kissed him—the Yakushi kissed him! A man kissed him! Oh gods—his first male kiss had come from Kabuto Yakushi!

Kiba watched the man writhe on the floor. He regretted hitting him so hard. The Yakushi was a small man compared to him. But he couldn’t help it. Kiba never saw the man coming—he responded the only way he was going to when being suddenly physically attacked.

"Inuzuka,” Kabuto began, “you've been laughing and smiling for two hours. I haven't seen you in a mood like this in months, and to think that I had a hand in that...”

Kabuto sat up, slowly. His head was still throbbing and there was blood all over his clothing. He didn’t look up, fearful of the look on the Inuzuka’s face.

“If I'd left here without ever doing what I just did, what would you have done? Would you have still been smiling and laughing? Or would you have been feeling a little guilty for thinking I was the kind of guy who would have done something like that…”

Kabuto raised his head slowly to look the other in the eyes, “and then maybe a little hurt that I wasn't?”

The question stunned the Inuzuka. He lowered his fists.

“I just…I didn't want you to stop smiling."

"What's it to you, Yakushi?” Kiba asked in a small voice. “What do you want from me?"

"I want you to be happy.” Kiba made a face then that told Kabuto he wasn’t buying that explanation for a minute. It didn’t matter that Kabuto meant every word.

“And I want you to be my friend." And maybe get sloppy drunk with me some night so I can touch your ass.

Kiba saw a look on Kabuto’s face that told him he was being sincere. Didn’t the man have friends? Why was Kiba’s friendship this important to him? Suddenly Kiba remembered things that Kabuto had told him, things that would have been clues if Kiba had been paying attention. He himself had told their shift commander that he thought the Yakushi was weird, which, in retrospect, probably wasn’t a good idea considering the captain had one red eye and wore a mask across the bottom of his face.

I feel like a gigantic asshole.

The Yakushi wanted Kiba’s friendship. Was it too much to ask?

"I don't go around kissing my male friends, dickhead." Kiba was absently aware of that foreign taste--Kabuto’s taste--that still lingered on his lips.

Kabuto had a snappy comeback about the fact that none of Kiba’s friends looked like Neji Hyuuga on the tip of his tongue but held it fast. He was losing enough blood as it was.

Kabuto wiped more blood from his mouth. "So noted."

Satisfied that a truce had been reached, Kiba stepped forward to offer Kabuto a hand up, just as Kabuto had that day a month ago.¹ Kabuto watched him for a moment, and then took his hand. Maybe he shouldn’t have been, but he was surprised at how easily Kiba had hoisted his bleeding and bruised body from the floor.

“Why don’t I get you some i—“

“No need, Inuzuka.” Kabuto turned, slowly making his way to the kitchenette to retrieve his keys. He was tired. He was bruised, and he was bleeding and he was sore, but he wasn’t going to feel sorry for himself. As long as he’d known Kiba Inuzuka, the guy had never made anything easy. At least Kabuto knew that, with their friendship, his life wouldn’t be as boring.

“Where are you going?” It seemed like a dumb question, even to Kiba, but he was feeling guilty and didn’t want the man to leave just then.

“To get medical attention”, Kabuto responded without looking back. “I'll see you around."

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Kabuto left.

Kiba watched the door close behind him. He thought of going after him, of insisting he come back inside to be bandaged up, and then letting him drive him to the nearest medical facility to own up for what he did.

The thought surprised him. Kiba hadn’t known he’d had it in him. What had changed? He wasn’t sure.

Kiba went into the kitchen to retrieve the trash can. He didn’t want to be faced with the mess in the morning.

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Kiba scrubbed himself vigorously in the shower. He told himself it was because he didn’t want to go to bed smelling like beer, but he knew it was bullshit. He was trying to wipe away the memory of Kabuto’s lips, his tongue, and that hand pressed into his nape, and for the first time he wondered what Kabuto was thinking at that moment.

Had Kiba’s lips felt soft to him? Had his hair?

Had Kiba tasted good to him?

Kabuto had told Kiba that he’d kissed him to keep him from feeling like he wasn’t attractive to men. That wasn’t the same as being told he was attractive.

Kabuto had also admitted wanting Kiba’s friendship. Was it because he didn’t find him sexually appealing?

Gah! Kiba thought to himself. There he was in the shower, trying desperately to rinse away the traces of the man who’d given him his first male kiss, a man whom Kiba did NOT find attractive, and all the while wondering why the man didn’t want him.

Fucking masochist.

Kiba shut off the shower and stepped out, reaching for a fluffy towel to dry his hair. He walked in front of the mirror, still mostly obscured by the steam from the shower. He could make out traces of his reflection in the foggy glass.

Fucking hypocrite.

Kiba grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste knowing his gums would likely be sore and bleeding before he was done.

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The night air from the open bedroom window was like a lover’s caress against Kiba’s freshly washed skin. He sat on his bed in the darkness, staring out the open window and contemplating the day’s events. Everything was changing so fast…if someone had asked him four days ago if he thought he’d be in his squeaky-clean apartment being kissed by another man, he would certainly have considered punching that person just for asking the question. Now, four days later, Kiba felt like he was living a whole different life—someone else’s life.

Kiba lay down on the bed, tucking his hands between the pillow and his head and in closing his eyes, knew he was saying a kind of goodbye.

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A/N: (1) Kindred, Chapter 13.

Well, well…Kiba has his very first yaoi kiss! And it’s from Kabuto! I figured since I wasn’t going to make them a couple I’d let Kabuto have something, LOL. Of course he got a bit more than he bargained for. It’s a damn good thing Kabuto can take a punch!

Kabuto and Kiba—what happens now? Stay tuned and please leave a review!