Naruto was first to wake, in part because Kiba moved around in his sleep a lot. They were close together, their limbs wrapped around each other to minimize the effect of the cold air on their bodies. Which was all well and good when people were trying to conserve body heat, but less good when someone is trying to get up without dragging the other person with them. Fortunately for Naruto, the other person in this case was Kiba, who is a deep sleeper. However, Naruto is a very loud person.

Kiba rolled over with a loud grunt, just as Naruto was trying to remove his arm from Kiba's grasp. This pinned Naruto's arm to the ground and pulled Naruto down on top of Kiba. Naruto landed on Kiba awkwardly, hitting Kiba directly on the nose with his foot. Kiba sat up with a start, further unbalancing Naruto, who fell over in a loud, ungainly heap.

Feeling his nose with one hand to make sure it wasn't permanently damaged, Kiba glared at Naruto. Naruto flipped himself upright, and then scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. Still glaring at Naruto, Kiba stood up and walked over where they had left their clothes on the ground. Kiba quickly pulled on his own clothes, then bundled up and threw the remaining clothes at Naruto. Kiba leaned against a tree, arossrossed his arms over his chest.

"So...what do we do now?" Kiba was unsure just how to proceed with things. Certainly, most relationships didn't happen like this. There were flowers and shy glances and blushing. 'Then again', Kiba mused, 'neither of us like flowers or are prone to blushing or shy glances. Do you think you could stand Naruto, out on a romantic date? To where, Ichiraku? Not likely.' While Kiba thought to himself, Naruto struggled into his clothes, which were now ripped and dirty. Well, dirtier then usual.

"Uh...act normal?" Naruto seemed a bit dazed. The Nine-Tail's cries had ceased, leaving Naruto's mind quiet for the first time in months. "We could just go back to town, say I wanted to train, and that we lost track of time."

"I was talking" Kiba put extra emphasis on that part. "more about the whole dating thing." Kiba waved an arm around aimlessly. And whatever response he expected from Naruto, it certainly wasn't Naruto falling over from laughing so hard.

"Dating? Dating!?" Naruto managed to control his laughter a bit, so he was no longer howling with laughter. "You do whatever the hell you want to do. It's not like there are any rules for this sort of thing." Naruto paused. "Or if there are, no one bothered to tell me t tht them. In any case, I'm perfectly fine if we don't do the whole dating thing. ...Unless you want to buy me ramen." Kiba groaned, internally. Always with the ramen. Naruto stood up, then, and turned to walk away. Kiba reached out with one arm towards Naruto.

"Oh! Naruto, before you leave..." Kiba paused for a second. "You want to train again tomorrow morning?" Kiba lowered his head, blushing a little. Naruto turned around, a small smile on his lips.

"Yeah." Naruto grinned. "Maybe next time you'll be able to beat me." Then Naruto turned back, and slowly walked away, heading back to town.

---

They parted ways there, Kiba heading to meet up with his teammates, and Naruto went off to do whatever it was he did on days he had no missions or training scheduled. Laze around and eat ramen, mostly.

Aside from a few questions from people about just how he managed to get so beaten-up before noon, Kiba had a good day. After a little searching around and asking the right people, he found a few scrolls on the topic of chakra shielding, which he proceeded to study for the rest of the day. He knew it was a bit of a stretch to learn to block against Naruto's chakra attacks in one day, especially when there was no one around to train against, but he hoped to at least learn the basic defense moves.

The two met up again that day, completely on accident. Later that day, when Kiba was walking back to his house with Akamaru, they passed Ichiraku Ramen. Naruto, of course, was busy eating bowl after bowl of ramen there. Miso flavor, Kiba noted with a sniff.

Naruto had noticed to two walking down the street, and waved them over. Kiba walked over to the seats, Akamaru following behind him. Kiba sat down on the stool next to where Naruto was sitting. Akamaru sat in between Naruto and Kiba, the large dog growling softly at Naruto.

"Hey, uh, Kiba...I don't think your dog likes me." Naruto seemed a bit embarrassed. He offered the dog a ramen noodle. Kiba grinned as Akamaru nearly bit off part of Nar's h's hand as the dog ate the noodle.

"He's challenging you." Naruto blinked.

"Huh? Uh, why's your pet challenging me?" Akamaru took offense when Naruto called him a pet, and tried to bite Naruto again.

"Akamaru's not my pet." Kiba patted Akamaru on the head, which seemed to mollify him a bit. "You might become a member of our pack, someday." Kiba lowered his voice, so only Naruto could hear. "And it's 'cause he can smell what happened this morning." Naruto blinked twice, in rapid succession, then blushed mightily.

"That's...creepy. And how can he still smell that? I took a long, hot bath!" Kiba rolled his eyes. Naruto had gotten smarter the past few years, but he still had the uptake of a bag of rocks. Large, obtuse rocks.

"He's a dog. He can smell things well. Because he's a dog. And that's something dogs can do." Kiba hoped he was being blunt enough for Naruto.

"Oh...right." Naruto scratched the back of his head. There was a short pause. "So, I'll see you tomorrow morning?"

"Yeah. And be ready, I fully intend to beat you this time." Kiba stood up, and turned to leave. He stopped when he heard Naruto start to speak behind him.

"Good. Because if you didn't, there would be no point in fighting." Kiba walked off into the night, Akamaru trotting behind him.

---

Just after dawn, Kiba awoke. Yawning loudly and rubbing his eyes, he sat up, wondering for a few seconds just why he was getting up this early. 'Oh yeah, 'training' with Naruto...' He stumbled out of his bed, and headed towards his closet to dress. Akamaru raised his shaggy head from the bed, and looked at Kiba for a second before plopping his head back down on the sheets and falling back asleep.

Kiba sleepily walked to the clearing, not surprised in the least when he saw Naruto casually leaning against a tree, waiting for him.

"Hey." Naruto's voice was low, harsh against the quiet of the morning.

"Hey. Ready?" Kiba stood at the center of the clearing, facing Naruto. Seeing Kiba standing there, ready to fight, Naruto pushed his palms against the tree and stood up straight.

"Of course." And with that, Naruto raced forward, flinging an astounding array of weaponry at Kiba. The Nine-Tails' voice had started again, it's low growls in Naruto's mind blending with the growls Naruto made as he attacked. They clashed together, each one attacking and deflecting in turn.

Kiba jumped back, taking a half-second to use his Gijyuu Ninpou, before lunging towards Naruto, moving much faster. He could smell that odd scent Naruto had around him sometimes when he fought, thick and cloying like a perfume. It smelled wild, above everything else, and it was so strong he could never quite figure out just what it reminded him of. Some animal, maybe.

He saw Naruto start to build up in preparation for one of his chakra lashes, and the smell became almost too strong for Kiba to bare. Kiba managed to land a punch or two on Naruto before he felt the chakra surge towards him in thick tendrils. Furiously hoping, Kiba thought back to the last night's training, and brought up what he hoped were chakra barriers around his body.

He saw, with a bit of delight, in the instant before the chakra hit him, that his chakra seemed solid, like a thick barrier. And then, with a surge, Naruto's purple-tinged chakra hit the barriers and... went straight through them. Kiba jumped back, and used his chakra to tighten around the invading tendril, a move that seemed to hurt Naruto, as if his chakra was like a limb.

Kiba pressed forward, vaguely remembering the words in the scroll yesterday. He shifted his chakra a bit, slowing down the lashing energy, before hardening his shields. Naruto lashed out again, and his time the shields almost worked, deflecting the most of the attack. Kiba was had the breath knocked out of him as opposed to getting flung to the other side of the clearing, and took the opportunity offered to him.

He took in a deep breath, refilling his lungs, then dashed around to Naruto's back and dug his long, sharp fingernails into Naruto's neck, hoping he remembered enough about acupuncture so he could pull this off, as well. He felt a small node under his fingers and pressed down in the patterns he sort-of remembered from his training. Naruto's body jerked back, then slumped over onto the ground, unconscious.

Kiba blinked. That certainly went quicker then he expected. He didn't know you could knock people out with those points. 'I suppose I'm lucky I didn't kill him. I should study up a bit on acupuncture points, so I can know what I just did to him. Assuming he doesn't try to kill me when he wakes up.' He had been hoping to paralyze Naruto long enough to deliver a knockout blow, but this worked just as well. Although, after the hours-long fight yesterday, this certainly felt...anti-climatic.

Kiba sat down and waited for Naruto to wake up.

A few minutes later, Naruto groggily regained consciousness, of a sort. He sat up, noticing he was sitting in front of the giant sealed gate in his mind. The Nine-Tails was raging in his prison, yelling out some highly inventive curses. The Nine-Tails did not like losing, especially to someone who he could have stepped on in his original form.

'You worthless brat! How could you lose to someone that much weaker then you!' Naruto cringed, he could feel the hot, angry breath of the fox wash over him. Now would not be a good time to lose control over the Nine-Tails.

'Hey, like it or not, we lost! Now stick up and live with it!'

'Never...never in all my years have I lost to someone that weak! I should go and squash him for disrespecting me!'

'You are not squashing Kiba! We'll just fight again, later. And we'll win again!'

'What do you mean by 'we', boy? I will crush his bones next time!'

'You are not crushing Kiba, either! Just buck up and take it like a man!' Naruto had to bite his lip to stifle the giggle that welled up at that statement. He did not think the Nine-Tails would like being laughed at. 'Now settle down. God, you can be such a hassle some times.' Naruto could see the Nine-Tails' eyes glaring at him, but the fox said nothing more, seemingly preferring to seeth in his prison.

Naruto blinked a few times, then returned to the real world.

Groaning a bit, Naruto sat up again. His neck really hurt. That and his pride. Even after arguing with the Nail-Tails, Naruto couldn't belive that Kiba beat him. Admittedly, Kiba had been surprisingly inventive with his strategy, but...Naruto thought Kiba was below his own level of power. Sighing, Naruto chalked it up to his lack of skill at strategy.

'He must have learned a bit from Shikamaru, I guess...'

Kiba looked over at Naruto, who was rubbing the base of his neck.

"Uh, sorry about that." Kiba stammered out a small apology. "I didn't remember how to do that technique correctly. Although I still won." Kiba did not sound very apologetic. Naruto stood up, his hands clenching into fists.

"You jerk! That wasn't fair!" Naruto was annoyed.

"You're not a very gracious loser, are you?" Kiba looked at Naruto, who now seemed slightly abashed. "If you really don't want to...uh..." Kiba faltered for a second. "Go through with this, I'll be okay."

"What?!" Naruto blinked. He looked over at Kiba, who seemed distinctly worried. 'What, does he think I'm suddenly that fragile, that I'd be pissed off enough to deny him his...spoils? ...Although, I am being a bit of an ass about this.' Naruto also did not like losing, and while he probably could not have stepped on Kiba, he certainly thought he was a better ninja then him. To Naruto, losing hurt, even when he was fighting someone much stronger then him. So when he lost to Kiba, who was around Naruto's strength...it hurt. But he certainly wasn't going to chicken out and leave. He did, after all, Kiba want to know what it felt like. Naruto stopped thinking along those lines abruptly, his face flushing red.

Naruto blinked, then relaxed, his hands dropping down to his sides. He took off his loose orange shirt, tossed it to one side, then pulled off the while muscle shirt beneath. He walked the short distance between them, then pressed up against Kiba and wrapped his arms around him. Naruto looked up at Kiba, and smiled.

"So," Naruto's voice was a soft whisper against Kiba's ear. "what are you going to do now?" Kiba looked down at Naruto for a second, before pushing him back and starting to remove his own clothes.

Casting aside his grey sweatshirt, Kiba shoved Naruto against a tree, before pressing their lips together passionately. Kiba broke the kiss after a few seconds, breathless and flushed. He moved his hands down Naruto's body, tracing his fingers over Naruto's scars and more recent cuts, before reaching the waistband of Naruto's pants. He fumbled with the buttons, before popping them each out of place in turn.

He could feel Naruto's heated breath against his neck, and Naruto's hands as they smoothly unbuckled his belt. Sliding out of his pants and boxers, Kiba pressed down on Naruto's shoulders, forcing him to his knees. Naruto bowed under the pressure of Kiba's strong hands, and knelt down, his lips and tongue tracing lines down Kiba's body.

Naruto crouched on the ground, one of his knees on the cold ground. He looked up at Kiba, watching as his lips tilted upwards in a smirk. Naruto leaned forwards, taking in Kiba's cock to the root. He heard Kiba's shuddered gasp at his touch, and the tightening of Kiba's hands on his shoulders, his sharp nails cutting into Naruto's skin.

Naruto slowly bobbed back and forth, humming deep in his throat. Kiba was moaning, now, his voice rough and ragged. Naruto would have grinned, had his mouth not been otherwise occupied at the moment. He settled for scraping against Kiba's hard flesh lightly with his canines, feeling Kiba buck towards him.

Soon, Kiba pulled away, gasping for breath. Naruto grinned, then. Kiba knelt down, his hands rummaging around in his discarded pants. Naruto watched as Kiba apparently found what he was looking for, and pulled his hands out of his pockets.

'Lube. Of course.' Naruto was amused, at least, that Kiba had managed to think ahead. Kiba moved, crouching down till he was looking right at Naruto, at his wildly spiky blond hair and his mischievous grin that he wore even now. Kiba pressed forward, kissing that grin off Naruto's face. He leant towards Naruto, pressing Naruto back till they were both lying on the ground, Kiba on top of Naruto.

Kiba felt Naruto's erection pressing against his, and he slowly slithered down Naruto's body, feeling the friction of their bodies against each other. He looked up at Naruto, who looked back with his blue eyes that went wide a fraction of a second before Kiba took Naruto's hard cock into his mouth. Below him, Naruto whimpered quietly, air hissing between his clenched teeth as Kiba sucked on his dick.

Kiba felt Naruto'sy moy move beneath him, Naruto's hands twisting themselves into Kiba's brown hair as Naruto thrust into Kiba's mouth. Kiba moved his hands, one of them softly moving over Naruto's inner thigh, the other stroking whatever part of Naruto's shaft that was not in his mouth. Naruto panted, his tongue lolling out, then made some noises that sounded almost like a fox in heat.

Naruto tensed up, his hands pulling on Kiba's hair as his body arched up off the ground. Kiba smelt the change in Naruto sweat and saliva, as Naruto shot off into Kiba's mouth. Kiba tasted Naruto semen, rolling it around in his mouth, before swallowing it. Kiba raised off Naruto, and smirked at Naruto, who was lying on the ground. Naruto's hands had untangled themselves from Kiba's hair, and now lay on the ground beside Naruto, who was panting.

Kiba unscrewed the lid on the jar of lube, and dipped his fingers into the slick fluid, coating his fingers. Kiba stroked his shaft, spreading the lube over it before flipping Naruto on his side. Kiba re-coated his fingers, before slowly sliding one into Naruto's puckered hole. Naruto let out a high-pitched yelp, before he bit his lip, cutting off the sound half-formed.

Kiba slowly slid his fingers into Naruto, waiting till he could smell Naruto was ready. It wasn't long before he could tell Naruto's body positively hummed with desire. Kiba knelt behind Naruto, and slowly eased his erection into him.

Kiba felt Naruto tense up instinctively as Kiba entered him. Kiba pressed up against Naruto, his chest pressing against Naruto's tanned back. His hands snaked around Naruto's body, toying with Naruto's nipples. Naruto exhaled, his breath hissing out from between his parted lips. Kiba smiled against Naruto's neck, before nipping at the lobes of Naruto's ears. Naruto drew breath unevenly, his breath hitching.

Kiba eased the rest of his length into Naruto's body, enjoying the feel of Naruto's body against his. Kiba's hands trailed down Naruto's body, tracing the well-defined muscles there. Reaching down, Kiba took Naruto's cock into his hands, slowly stroking up and down. Each time Kiba's fingers moved over the base of the head, Naruto would gasp lightly, his body arching towards Kiba's touch.

Kiba inhaled deeply, smelling the fresh wind and the earthen chucks that had been kicked up during their fight and Naruto. Naruto, as always, smelled wild. Although now, Kiba noted, Naruto's smell was almost completely drowned out by the scent of lust rising of them.

Kiba balled his hands into fists, and pressed down roughly on Naruto's body, scraping his knuckles on skin. He bit down on Naruto's shoulders, leaving bruises as he sucked and nipped on Naruto's flesh. He started moving, his body thrusting back and forth, pistoning his cock into and out of Naruto. Naruto squeaked whenever Kiba thrust fully inside of him, his breath coming in gasps.

Naruto loved the feel of Kiba's body beside him, all hot breath and power. He turned around, his breath hitching as he felt Kiba twitch inside him, till Naruto was sitting on Kiba's lap, their noses almost touching. Naruto wrapped his arms around Kiba's body, pressing them together. Naruto tilted his head upwards, and kissed Kiba deeply as he felt Kiba start thrusting into him again.

This was even better for Kiba. He could see Naruto's face now, his blue eyes half-lidded and glazed over with lust, and his blond hair sweaty and pasted to his face. Kiba brought up his hands to Naruto's neck, avoiding touching the wound from the fight, and pulled Naruto towards him, deepening their kiss. Naruto moaned into Kiba's mouth as Kiba thrust upwards, burying himself completely in Naruto's body.

Kiba reached out with his tongue, moving it into Naruto's mouth and tasting Naruto. Kiba twisted his hands into Naruto's hair, pulling him closer. Naruto mirrored Kiba's move, his deeply tanned hands moving in Kiba's thick brown hair.

Kiba could feel his orgasm approaching, and moved one hand down to Naruto's erection. He pumped slowly, his hand moving with the same rhythm as his thrusts into Naruto. Kiba broke their kiss and bit down on Naruto's shoulder, hard, as he came, shooting deep into Naruto's body. He could feel Naruto's muscles move as Naruto moaned loudly into Kiba's ear. Then Naruto came, as well, his seed spilling all over Kiba's stomach.

They stayed together for a while, panting. Kiba's arms encircled Naruto's body, while Naruto's arms hung down, his hands moving slowly over Kiba's legs. Then, slowly, Naruto stood up, whimpering slightly as he felt Kiba's dick slide out of him. Kiba looked up at Naruto, who was standing in between Kiba's splayed legs. Naruto leaned frd ard and encased him in a bone-crushing hug, before kissing Kiba. He pulled back after a second, moving his mouth to Kiba's ear.

"We really should do this again." Kiba blinked, hesitant for a second, before smiling widely.

"Yeah, we should."

---

And so it became a sort of habit for the two. At first, Kiba was only able to scrape out a victory once every week or so, but as they fought more, into the colder winter months, he was able to fight on more even footing with Naruto. If was, perhaps, not living happily ever after, but they were both content with it.