Love Through Negotiation «COMPLETED»

Chapter 30

Epilogue

Kiba raised a hand to stop the blond from talking a single word more. The other hand was being used to pinch the bridge of his nose to stem the headache from overtaking every fiber of his being. "Hold up man, you've gotta lay it out for me better."

He was back in hidden leaf for the first time in what felt like years, but was actually only months. Not a lot had changed and not that many people heard the news that the world was saved… or even in danger in the first place. The two of them were in the middle of the street, right outside kage administration.

Naruto closed his mouth and gave the dog boy a big, toothy grin. "What's up man?"

The dog boy in question bent his legs a little bit and gently lowered his hands until he was staring at the palms. "…So, I know you got married off to five other chicks. I got that from that big announcement a few months. And I also know you went off with them to announce at the other major villages too, that makes sense. But… I just… What happened?"

Naruto shrugged, looking to the ground and to the side. "Well… we all hated each other at first and that wasn't too cool, but we all bonded as the days went on."

Kiba swirled his hand around, nodding. "Yeah, yeah, I got that. You and your magical ability to make friends with just about everybody and all that. Makes sense… But!"

Naruto held out his closed fist and stuck out one finger. "I fell in love with Temari in a way that's a bit hard to describe." He stuck out two fingers. "Fu was in love with me for a while and was okay with sharing, and Temari decided that she was okay with it too." He stuck out three fingers. "I fell in love with Yugito next, who was also okay with sharing." He stuck out four fingers. "Then Kurotsuchi, who I fell in love with at first, confessed, and now she's part of it all too."

Kiba looked like he had his soul sucked from him. He sighed, putting a hand to his head. "I guess I shoulda expected that. What about the last one? Wasn't she, like, thirty?"

A hand encircled around Kiba's shoulder like a vice. A palpable killing intent overflowed from behind him and threatened to drive him mad. "Who's thirty now, dog boy?" Mei asked serenely from behind him.

"You are, Mei," Naruto said, quirking an eyebrow with his arms crossed over his chest. Kiba whimpered slightly when Mei withdrew her hand and slowly walked to Naruto's side.

"I know, loverboy, I'm just teasing," she said, wrapping an arm around his back in a flirtatious way.

Kiba pointed a finger at Naruto and then Mei, looking like he'd just seen a ghost. "W-Wait, hold up. Her too? How old are you again?"

"She's just teasing," Naruto said, patting her on the back twice. She smiled like the world were made of roses and walked off.

"See you, darling," she said enticingly as she left.

"Mei's on her way to talk with the other kage," Naruto explained to a dumbfounded Kiba. "And no… we're not in that sort of relationship… yet."

"Yet."

Naruto nodded. "Maybe in the future. But I'm also happy where we are right now and she is too."

Kiba let out a breath of air slowly. "Okay. Cool. But that's not the biggest part of your goddamn story. What about the whole thing with saving the world?"

Naruto shrugged. "I mean, yeah, that was important and it did happen, but it's not like…" Naruto struggled for words for a little bit. "It's not like I was doing it because I wanted to save the world or anything, if that makes sense. I was just doing what I could and it kinda fell on me in the end. Honestly, I'm just glad we all made it through unscathed. Most of us, that is."