NARUTO COUPLE APPRECIATION POST N.2

NARUTO COUPLE APPRECIATION POST N.2

"When I look into your eyes…" (#YOTP)

SHIKAMARU X TEMARI

I’ve always shipped this couple, my first favourite in Naruto world. I am so happy that they finally ended up together.

I’ve also decided to join the #year of the OTP event (info here)

Enjoy!

A little Inuzuka family’s doodle: a sensitive-nose family with a pre-puberty 12 yo boy (and his dog).

I've been reading a lot of Kiba x Hinata fanfic lately, and I think that I'm going to draw a short comic about them...

Kiba’s best worst day - pages 38 - 39

THE END!

Previous pages - Page 1

It’s eventually over!

As you could have noticed, my style changed a lot in every page. I think that this doujinshi helped me a lot to improve!

I really hope that you enjoyed as well this short story!

This is the song that inspired all the story.

Enjoy!

OMG I'M MELTING! I LOVE IT, THANK YOU 🩵🩵🩵

Since I LOVE the way you write (you convey the feelings of the character in a terrific way!), what about a Kiba x Tamaki fanfic at the beginning of their relationship, with her having self-confident problems because of Kiba's beautiful former crush Hinata?

My beloved artist of beautiful KibaTama, KibaHina, Team 8, and so much other content, GiuStoArt! For you, I’ll write anything, and this prompt is very cute. I hope you enjoy what I’ve come up with.

As Pretty As You Are

Ao3 | FFN

Pairing: Kiba Inuzuka/Tamaki

Summary: Tamaki likes where her and Kiba are at, right now.

It’s not too serious, but she can tell he’s smitten with her. It’s what Daku, her closest ninneko, whispers to her, anyway. He’s suspicious of Kiba, and doubly suspicious of Akamaru, but has an open mind. He says that Kiba is doing everything right, so far.

Then, one day, while she’s shopping in the middle market of the Leaf, that all comes into question when she’s approached by Ino.

Word Count: 4.5k

Rating: Teen

~

Tamaki likes where her and Kiba are at, right now.

It’s not too serious, but she can tell he’s smitten with her. It’s what Daku, her closest ninneko, whispers to her, anyway.

Daku’s never been one be open in front of others. A stark black cat, he prefers to keep to himself, or Tamaki. He’s suspicious of Kiba, and doubly suspicious of Akamaru, but has an open mind. He says that Kiba is doing everything right, so far.

Then, one day, while she’s shopping in the middle market of the Leaf, that all comes into question when she’s approached by Ino.

“Hey! Tamaki, right?” Ino gives her a wave as she approaches, one hand wrapped behind her back. Tamaki tilts her head curiously. She knows who Ino is; she knows who all of the Konoha 12 are at this point, who doesn’t? They’re not just all Kiba’s classmates and friends, they’re all hailed as heroes to some degree. Some less than others (Kiba), but still, they all garner some form of respect in this village she moved to some years ago.

“Yes, hello.” Tamaki gives a short nod and a smile, respectfully. “I-uhm, I’m surprised you know me?”

“Well yeah,” Ino laughs lightly, leaning over to peak in Tamaki’s basket. “Kind of hard to miss the first girl who’s ever been interested in Kiba!”

Tamaki pales at that. What does she mean by that? “Oh…”

“Oooh, are those for Akamaru?” Ino pokes inside her basket at some dried sausages and Tamaki looks down as well.

“They are.” She’s trying to win the pup over. Her grandmother called her crazy for trying to make something work with a member of a dog clan, and while she’ll never admit it, it’s part of the reason she’s attracted to Kiba. To irritate her grandmother. She loves her dearly, but it is funny seeing her realize she has less control over Tamaki than she thought. Who’s to say cats and dogs can’t get along anyhow? Sure, Daku swats at Akamaru’s butt sometimes, but it’s out of love. She’s caught Akamaru sitting on the cat’s face on more than one occasion.

“Good idea.” Ino nods her approval and Tamaki smiles. “I’m honestly glad you came around, you know?”

“Oh?” Tamaki tilts her head curiously. She hasn’t had much chance to interact with Kiba’s friends outside of Shino. She’s met Hinata a couple of times, along with Choji when they ran into each other during a date to a barbeque restaurant, but that was the extent of it so far. She does wonder sometimes what her old friends think of her, but tries not to focus on it too much.

“Mhm.” Ino nods again, hand on her hip. With her other hand, she flips her long, cascading hair over her shoulder and she smirks. “After all of those years of that crush on Hinata, I’m happy that dolt is moving on.”

Tamaki freezes.

Crush on Hinata?

Well, this is a new development. The sudden weight on her heart is unwelcome.

“Hey!” Ino laughs, sets a placating hand on Tamaki’s shoulder. “Hey, hey I didn’t mean to make you lock up like that! That’s in the past obviously, she’s dating Naruto now, right?”

Tamaki swallows. That is true, she supposes. Kiba never really got around to explaining how that happened, but she’s spotted the happy couple on a few different occasions. The way Hinata looks at Naruto is like something out of a movie. Tamaki exhales a little breath, formulating a response. “Right…I just—well, I wasn’t aware of this crush.”

“Hinata’s not, either.” Ino rolls her eyes as her hand slides off Tamaki’s shoulder. “Kiba did a good job not showing it too much, and Hinata’s a little clueless sometimes when it comes to things not Naruto, but I always saw it. But you know what? You’re just what he needed.”

Tamaki thinks that Ino’s attempt at comfort is perhaps admirable, but really not very good. She’s unsure of how to respond.

“Well anyway, I just wanted to introduce myself—oh shoot, I didn’t even do that, did I? Ino Yamanaka! I hope I see you around more often.” Ino lifts a hand to wave, and Tamaki weakly lifts hers back, realizing she spoke maybe 20 words to the woman for the entirety of that exchange?

As the high-ponytailed blond skips off, Tamaki feels that weight on her heart grow.

This was not what she needed today.

-

Kiba thinks Tamaki is beautiful.

Not in the same way as other girls. Not like Ino, who is objectively hot and bold. Not like Sakura, who is bright and powerful. Not like Tenten, who is quick-witted and stylish. Not like Hinata, who is soft and sweet.

No, Kiba thinks Tamaki is beautiful in the way that she’s real. She doesn’t do herself up, but when she rolls out of bed, she looks stunning. She doesn’t need to flex knowledge and power, and yet, the words she says are thoughtful and challenge his mind. She doesn’t behave seductive or flirty, and even still, she makes his heart flutter with how she moves and acts.

Like right now. All she’s doing is wiping down counters, thinking out loud about the errands she needs to run, and he thinks she’s grace personified. She’s in an apron and scolding Daku for being too close to a vase of flowers on a shelf near the fridge, about to jump to it and he thinks she’s cute doing it. Daku jumps anyway, and when she curses, loudly, while catching the vase that was bound to be pushed off, he thinks it’s downright sexy.

“Good catch,” he comments loftily, chin resting on his palm as he admires her. She looks over her shoulder, and even though she doesn’t offer him a smile, she’s pretty anyway.

“How long have you just been staring?” she asks, brows furrowing, scowl forming.

“Entire time.” He smirks at the way pink hits her cheekbones. That’s cute, too.

“Don’t you have anything better to do?” Tamaki asks, huffing slightly as she places the vase back in its spot.

“Nothing better than this.” Kiba chuckles when she shakes her head.

She looks up at the black cat who, if Kiba didn’t know any better, looks smug. “Daku, if you jump back on that shelf, I will surrender you to the local shelter.”

Kiba watches as the cat looks at her, unamused. He knows he’s saying something back to her, though he doesn’t know what. It must’ve been something like how he interacts with Akamaru.

“Don’t test me, cat.”

He finds it amusing when the cat opens his mouth with a little hiss back. When Tamaki reaches over to turn on the faucet threateningly, Daku shrinks back with his ears down, growling quietly. Satisfied, she shuts off the faucet. “Thought so.”

“So bossy,” he says as he gets out of the chair, sliding up behind her as casually as possible, hands finding her waist. She tilts her head back to look up at him and he can’t help but rest his gaze on those lovely light brown eyes. They remind him of honey, warm and inviting, and he’s instinctively licking his lips. She reaches out to push his face away and he takes her wrist to stop it from bullying him.

“Authoritative?” she questions, and he wonders why she’s frowning. “Thought you liked…quiet, and shy.”

Kiba releases her wrist and pulls away from her, forehead creasing at that. “What? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Tamaki doesn’t turn to look at him, instead picking up the rag she had been cleaning with and continuing. “Nothing. Forget it.”

“Yeah, no.” His hand finds her shoulder to try to turn her around, and she resists. He huffs, annoyed. “Hey, what’s up?”

“I said nothing,” she snaps, and it makes him recoil. He glances up at Daku, who is now staring at him with lazily hung eyelids. Kiba tilts his head as if the cat can offer him some guidance, but Daku simply looks away.

Kiba wonders what in the hell he did to get this treatment. What does she mean by quiet and shy?

“Maybe you don’t know me well enough yet,” he starts, folding his arms and leaning a hip on the counter perpendicular to the one she’s cleaning, “but I don’t like playing games. I need clear signs, Tamaki.”

She sighs, loudly, and her shoulders slump. His frown deepens as he inhales through his nose, practically smelling the anxiety radiating off of her. “I just…didn’t know you…” The sentence fizzles out.

“I what?” he presses, leaning his head forward. She turns and the grimace on her face isn’t suited for her. He likes it better when she’s smiling with those pearly teeth.

“Had feelings for your teammate.”

Kiba blinks and wonders whose ass he’s going to have to kick for this.

“It’s fine, Kiba.” Tamaki raises a hand, hanging her head. “I’m sure it’s in the past. I’m trying to get it out of my mind…it’s just kind of difficult.”

His jaw flexes as he runs through names until it lands on a particularly aggravating one. “You talk to Ino?”

“She ran into me at the market.” He watches as she fidgets with her apron, still refusing to meet her eyes.

“Pig never minded her business…” He sighs, taking a page from Sakura. He runs his fingers through his hair, then readjusts his collar before stepping towards her. She looks up as his hand cups her chin, and he leans forward. “I’m not keeping secrets from you, Tamaki.” He figures the best way is to be straightforward, he’s never been one to beat around the bush anyway. “If you’d asked, I would’ve told you. So what? I had a stupid teenage crush on my teammate. It is all in the past now, though.”

“I know that…”

“Not sure you do,” he responds with a shake of his head, unconvinced, “if it’s bothering you this much. So I guess I’ll just have to show you.”

“Show me?” Her eyes finally meet his, a little wider now. He nods, smiling.

“Be up bright and early tomorrow,” he finishes, leaning in to press a kiss to her lips. He smiles at the way she returns it despite herself, her hand sliding over the wrist of the hand holding her chin.

If he has to show her, he has no problem doing so.

-

Tamaki does as asked (or commanded, though she chooses to think it was more a request). She’s never been a morning person, Kiba’s the one that’s usually dragging her out of bed. Daku grunts irritably as she pushes him to the side, then swings her legs over the side of the bed. When she approaches her mirror, she scowls at herself.

Since that day with Ino, she’s been questioning far more than she likes. She doesn’t want to be, she knows she shouldn’t. There’s nothing wrong with her, she knows that. She might not be a shinobi, with grand power and skill. She might not be strikingly beautiful, with bright eyes and luxurious hair. She might not be as worldly as others, with travelling experience and cultural insights.

But she is Tamaki, and she thinks she’s enough. She thinks she’s smart and hard-working, she trains ninneko who are some of the trickiest animals. She thinks she’s kind and easy-going, never letting the little things get her down and always offering compassion for others. She thinks she looks as good as any other woman; she keeps in shape, she grooms her hair to sit nicely, she wears formfitting clothes.

She spins in front of the mirror and decides to get changed and clean up before she makes any decisions. She pulls on a sleeveless turtleneck, changes her sweatpants to a pair of shorts for the warmer weather. Straps a satchel around her hips. Then she rustles through a little jewelry box for a nice bracelet and loops it around her wrist.

After she brushes out the tangles in her hair, she looks back in the mirror. Still, she’s unsatisfied. She’s ashamed to admit that she’s thinking of Hinata’s beautiful, dark hair, and her bright, lavender eyes.

Despite her initial reaction, she’s not surprised to find out Kiba may have had interest in her. She’s pretty, she’s strong, and she seems to have a big heart. Tamaki knows for a fact she’s kind, because she’d never been anything but kind to her up to this point. And she believes Ino when she says Hinata had been none the wiser, because she sees how deep her admiration for Naruto runs. She’s only ever encountered Hinata with her arm looped around Naruto’s, and the way she looks up at him with stars in her eyes—well, yeah, it’s pretty clear to her he’s her whole world, and it had probably been that way for a long time.

To be fair, Kiba had never given her any reason to think he had interest in Hinata. He speaks fondly of her like he does Shino, about their time missioning together, their time training and bonding as a team. It’s something she hadn’t had the chance to experience herself, but it was clearly important to him. She thinks of how he described his annoyance with her infatuation with the bright-eyed blond Hero of the War, but he ultimately concluded that he was happy that “the loser woke up and saw what was right in front of him all along.” His words, not hers.

She wonders if he ever resented either of them for it. If he had, he’d never shown it. So perhaps she was getting too stuck in her own mind.

As she waits on her doorstep after laying down Daku’s breakfast, she bounces on the balls of her feet and wishes she had asked Kiba for a specific time instead of simply ‘bright and early’, which could be a broad spectrum of time. But she sees him in the distance regardless, and she’s surprised to see Akamaru isn’t with him. She smiles faintly as he cast a long arm up to wave at her, enthusiastically, and she has to remind herself that this is always how he greets her: with glee, like it’s been months since they’d seen each other. No one else is as happy to see her as Kiba is, and it makes the butterflies in her stomach light up.

“Good, I didn’t have to drag your ass out of bed,” he teases her as he nears, and she rolls her eyes.

“Where’s Akamaru?” she questions, genuinely.

“Dropped him at the nursery.” He shrugs, holding out a hand for her. She takes it. His hands are one of the things she likes best about him, physically. They’re large and encase hers, makes them feel small in his grip. It’s a silly sense of safety.

“You didn’t have to leave him,” she says with a frown. She doesn’t want him to think she doesn’t like the pup. Their relationship is strained right now, but she’s sure that would pass once the pup succumbs to her charm, or at least she likes to think so.

He shakes his head, using his other hand to wave in front of his face. “Hana asked me to bring him by anyway, help train some of the new pups.”

She tilts her head, but accepts that. She hopes he’s not just trying to make her feel better. “So where are we going?”

“And ruin the surprise?” He smirks, casting his eyes towards her. She squints at him. “Give a guy some credit, Tamaki. Trust me, you’ll like it.”

She decides to trust him, because she hasn’t really had a reason not to, to this point. And she’s curious at what he thinks could convince her definitively that those feelings are in the past.

While they stroll through the village towards the outer gates, they engage in normal chatter. He asks her if Daku’s been a pain in her ass this morning, she asks him if Akamaru berated him for going out without him.

As they stray farther and farther from the village, Tamaki feels a little nervous. She hasn’t really packed much, all she has around her hip is a satchel with water and a few snacks. The further they go, the more she wonders where he could possibly be taking her. Again, she’s not a shinobi. She thinks she can rough it just fine, but she’s not nearly as experienced as someone like Kiba out in the wilderness, and she’s sure he’s strapped to the gills with weapons and rations, as any shinobi should. She is not.

“Kiba?” she interrupts something he was saying about the proper diet of a nin dog, “we’re getting pretty far from the village…I’m not prepared for some sort of overnight trip.”

“It’s just up ahead.” He casts a lazy finger towards what looks like a plain old mountain side. “Don’t worry, nothin’ overnight. I got everything we need for the day on me.”

“The mountain? I’m not the best climber…”

He snickers at her, and it just further confuses her. As they get within meters of it, he jogs up ahead of her. She watches curiously as he rubs his palms together before setting them on a boulder that matches him in height. Her head leans back in surprise as he begins rolling it away, revealing a large hole in the middle. Another thing she has to remind herself of is just how strong he is. The size of that boulder must’ve easily been ten times his weight.

She’s surprised that it’s not dark in there like she might have expected it be, like a cave in the mountain side. Sunlight beams through as the boulder comes to a halt, making enough room for a person to pass through. It’s shines outwards, casting a gleaming sheen on the greenery that surrounds the mountain. He holds out his hand for her and she swallows thickly.

Hesitantly, she steps forward and accepts the hand, letting him lead her in. She has to trust him at this point. Her heart beats a little faster, wondering what this grand surprise could be.

And it’s a sight that she realizes was worth the journey for.

A large swath of land, illuminated in the rising sun from a hole atop of the mountain. A sparkling lake in the middle of it, shimmering with the rays from the sunshine. Blooming foliage surrounds it, settled atop lush green grass. Scattered butterflies floating around, landing on select flowers. She even sees an adorable bunny skitter by. The perimeter of the circular area was cast in shadows, but the lake right in the middle was brightly lit and inviting.

“Kiba…” she breathed out, eyes wide like saucers as she takes in the beautiful scene.

“Only taken Akamaru here.” She looks up to see him rubbing the bridge of his nose, a light dusting of pink on his cheeks. She likes it when he blushes, it makes his tanned, marked face look even more colorful, contrasting those gleaming white fangs.

“No one else?” she asks, stepping forward into the sunlight. She closes her eyes as she tips her face upwards towards it.

He approaches from behind. “Nope.”

“Not even…” She lets a pause sit for a moment before continuing, “your teammates?”

“Like I said,” he chuckles, settling next to her with his hands shoved in his pockets, “just Akamaru. And now you.”

Her heart swells a little with those words. She sighs, deeply, contentedly as she opens her eyes back up to the beautiful scenery. “It’s…breath taking.”

She hums softly, already knowing what was coming next. “Like you.” He’s predictable in a good way.

She lets a giggle escape her at that, looking back up at him. The way the sun reflects off his skin is heavenly, she thinks. He’s always looked best bathing in the rays. It was like he absorbed energy from the sun itself, like some sort of plant photosynthesizing. She said that to him once, and he called her corny, but it really felt like it sometimes. She felt his hand slide into hers and begin tugging her towards the lake.

“K-Kiba, you know I don’t really like water,” she tries to protest, hesitant as he leads her to the lake.

“It’s warm,” he points out, as if that’ll make a difference. She chews her lip as he kicks off his sandals. When she doesn’t follow suit, he laughs and drops to his knees, reaching for hers. She tries to nudge him off, but he’s stronger and she’s not really putting up a fight. “Just your feet, huh? You’re already in shorts—which look pretty sexy, by the way.”

“Ah—” She feels heat in her cheeks and knows she can’t resist him. She relents, letting him slide off one sandal, then the other, and she admires the care he takes with her belongings versus his own, carefully setting them aside next to each other neatly. He gets back up and continues tugging her to the water, until their feet are barely submerged. He guides her to sit, and she finds herself tucked away in his arm.

“Told you it was worth it,” he whispers, pulling her in close, and she willingly molds her body into his.

“How did you find this place?” she asks, genuinely curious. It looks untouched by any human, which if Kiba and Akamaru are the only ones who know about it, would make sense. Kiba’s a big believer in leaving nothing but footprints out in nature, and she admires that about him. It’s a philosophy she’s always held, too.

“Training with Akamaru out here. We were hunting for dinner and he caught a whiff of a rabbit in here, wouldn’t stop nudging that boulder, so I finally gave in just to shut him up. Turns out, there was this.”

Tamaki smiles. “That’s a fun story.”

“Yep.” Kiba looks down at her with a lopsided grin, one that she’s thought was cute since he first offered it to her. “And now you’re the only other person who knows about it.”

She stopped to really sit with those words. He was really making an effort to make her feel special, and feel special she did. Honestly, she was relieved, too. When she was first grappling with that stroke of jealousy and battered confidence, she was afraid to let him know about it. She thought maybe he’d be like all the other guys in her past: call her crazy, tell her she’s overreacting, make her feel insignificant and small. She’d never had much luck in the romance department before, she thought maybe it was just her who was the bad egg.

But he was really trying. He didn’t make her feel stupid for how she felt, just simply proved to her that he did in fact only have eyes for her, for now at least. She hoped it would stay that way, because no one had made her heart jump quite like he had.

Still, her instinct was to apologize, so she did. “I’m sorry for doubting you…”

“Stop, Tamaki.” She tilted her head at his interruption. He shook his head. “’m sorry you felt like that. I don’t ever want you to feel like that. You really are special to me, Tamaki.”

She feels the butterflies in her stomach go into a frenzy, words lost on her. So she resorts to snark to cover her fumble. “Who knew you were so cheesy?”

He laughs, and it makes her smile grow. His laugh is clear and bright and she loves to hear it. “Some thanks would be nice!”

She bites back another snarky retort, instead nods. “Thank you, really. You didn’t have to reveal your secret hideout to me just to make me feel better.”

“I didn’t do it just to make you feel better.” He shrugs, pulling himself to his feet. She casts her gaze up at him curiously. “I was thinking of bringing you soon, anyway. Opportunity presented itself, and you know me. I’m a man of action.” She giggles and nods in agreement. He really was. When they first met, he was flustered by her, that much was clear, but he was on her doorstep within a week with hastily collected flowers and a request for a date. It was the most straightforward she’d ever had a man approach her. He continued, “now it’s our secret hideout.”

Those words bring a blush to her cheeks, and she can’t even pretend to dislike it. “Our secret hideout…” She brings a hand up to her cheek, watching as he peels his shirt off. She already knows he’s planning to get into the water, because again, that’s just the kind of man he is. Spontaneous, living in the moment. It’s something she hadn’t realized she needed in the monotony of her day to day. As his shirt flies to the ground, she can’t help but rest her eyes on that muscled torso, the deep v cutting into the waistline of his shorts. She sighs dreamily at the sight. That was also something she hadn’t realized she needed. She never thought herself one to be shallow, but his physique certainly didn’t hurt…

“I like it that way, anyway.” He tears her from her daydreams as he crouches in front of her, hand finding the side of her face. She leans into the touch, enjoying the way his hand size covers her cheek fully and the way the calloused pad of his thumb feels rubbing against her cheekbone. He leans in to take her for a kiss, and she sighs into it, now fully assured that he was indeed telling her the whole truth. When he pulls away, she instinctively reaches back out, ignoring his teasing chuckle as he relents to a longer kiss.

Finally, she lets him go and enjoy the water. As he stands to his full height, he winks down at her and she rolls her eyes, still with a smile. She shoos him away with her hand, giggling, “go ahead.”

She wiggles her toes in the water as he backs away from her. His gaze lingers on her and she feels hot under it, that cocky smirk that never seems to leave his lips. He outstretches his arms as he becomes knee deep in  the water. “Now sit back and relax, little lady, and enjoy seeing this body you’ve only ever dreamt about until now!”

She thinks his charm is foolish for her to buy into, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Well, I just found out that in the last chapters of Konoha Shinden there are those two.

Please.

I AM OBSESSED NOW!

I have just had the confirmation that this unusual couple is perfect!