If a man knew he was going to war and wouldn’t be able to have a decent drink in months, the most logical thing to do was get a little hammered, right? That was Kiba’s way of thinking. He held the bottle of cheap Takawaka sake in hand, but it had not yet been opened. Akamaru continually tried to snatch it out of Kiba’s hand, but he always managed to keep it out of reach. “Go get your own.” At this, Akamaru raised his nose insulted, turned around, and bounded down the halls. Kiba laughed.
As he opened the door to his room, Kiba paused for a moment. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. He had tied Inuko up and gagged her, just to make sure she didn’t get smashed. Even if he overlooked his own hypocrisy, was it really such a good idea to get intoxicated in the same room as a girl who couldn’t defend herself at all? He shook his head. He could restrain himself. He always could, and one bottle of cheap sake wasn’t going to change that.
He opened the door and walked in. neglecting to close the door behind him, he scanned the room. Funny, Inuko wasn’t in the spot he had left her….
The door glided shut behind him, and he heard the lock fall into place.
“It’s payback time.”
Inuko tackled him from behind, but Kiba managed to keep his balance, and she began to claw at his face. He swung himself around, hoping to throw her off. Inuko bit his arm to maintain her grip, all the while Kiba kept his free arm (and the sake bottle) high above his head. He threw her off with a jerk of his arm, and planted his hand on her forehead, keeping her subjugated. She clutched his throat, and he could only keep his windpipe from being crushed by tightening his neck muscles. They stayed in this standoff for a while.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
“What the hell is wrong with me?!? You tied me up, gagged me, and left me in your room all day! That’s what’s wrong with me, you inconsiderate bastard!” She grabbed his neck with her other hand, and he lowered himself so that they were face to face.
“I did it for your own good.”
“You’re insane.”
“I did it for your own good and you know it!”
Inuko breathed deeply and loosened her grip. Kiba’s hand lifted from her forehead, and her hands slowly fell to her side. Kiba took a few steps backwards, and fell back into a seated position. He played with the bottle in his hands.
“I suppose bringing this along makes me a really mean hypocrite.”
Inuko sat up half heartedly. “Now I am going to kill you.”
“Aw, lighten up. I don’t mind sharing, but there doesn’t seem to be any cups…” Kiba said, looking around the room. When he looked back at Inuko, she had unexpectedly pulled 2 cups…seemingly out of thin air. She was truly a bizarre person, then, to keep sake cups on her person, but if Kiba had only ever been interested in normal things, he would have just carried out his life at home in the Leaf as a dog breeder. He threw her the bottle lackadaisically and she began to pour into her own cup. “I, for one, just can’t figure out how you got out of that knot.”
“Bah. It was fairly simple. Knots aren’t that different from bows.”
“Ay, Kurenai would be so disappointed in me……”
“Kurenai? Who’s she? Your mother?”
“No, my ninja sensei….”
Inuko spewed a full mouth of sake. “Your WHAT?”
Kiba leaned back and stared up at the ceiling. “It’s just as well I brought the sake with me; you’ll probably need it to believe half the stuff I’ll tell you.”
