Stellar

2. Friends

Sasuke looked up from his book, confused.

He had heard the small sound of Kiba walking over, he even heard the slight thump on the table as he set something down. Sasuke assumed it was Akamaru. Kiba had worked so hard just to get Sasuke to agree to spend time with him, spending hours following him around. And Sasuke fell into his trap. He let himself be eased into this small corner of being content that was Kiba's odd friendship.

Still, despite spending nearly 2 weeks in each other's company, Sasuke realized he knew very little about Kiba. What about his favorite color? His favorite food?

And why the hell did he have so many books?

"I didn't realize you were a bookworm..." Sasuke drew the words out slowly, struggling to contain his surprise.

Kiba looked up, his eyes trailing over the small stacks of books surrounding him after he realized Sasuke was talking to him. "Oh, yeah no. I'm not." He grinned. "It's really because I love the topic."

Sasuke peered at the titles that ranged from each book. 'Astronomy: The Study of Stars' and 'Constellations of the 5 Nations' caught his interest.

"Astronomy?" He tried his best to sound indifferent and uninterested, but Sasuke could hear the interest seep into his voice.

Kiba nodded excitedly.

"Stars, constellations, space, planets, even the legends and myths tied to it." His voice was wistful; Kiba's eyes were shining.

Sasuke stared. He stared at the covers of the books, the colors of galaxies and stars, then at Kiba. He stared, even as Kiba went back to his book.

He forced his eyes down back to his own book.

::

"We should totally prank him, dattebayo."

Kiba nodded, although he didn't say anything, and took a bite out of his onigiri.

They had been sitting on a park bench together, just eating snacks and talking about everything and nothing. Naruto had been in disbelief about Sasuke showing the slightest hint of emotion, and Kiba pretended to be offended when Naruto recalled the many pranks Kiba missed out on.

Naruto was Kiba's only friend, except for Sasuke (maybe, since Sasuke hadn't said it yet and Kiba didn't want to seem too eager) Though their friendship never really extended past ditching together, pranking, and chatting every now and then while eating, Kiba couldn't help but appreciate him.

Finally, he swallowed his bite of onigiri. "Yeah, definitely. He seems really mean."

Naruto grinned and hopped off the bench, beginning to rummage through his bag for something useful. Kiba stared as he muttered and tossed random and peculiar things out. Akamaru barked indignantly when a plastic baby was accidentally thrown in his direction.

"Sorry Akamaru." Naruto apologized sheepishly. He reached into the orange bag and pulled out a red object.

Kiba quirked an eyebrow, placing down his lunch. He could feel his lips quirking up, and he barked out a laugh. "Aren't those kind of illegal?"

Naruto smiled and pulled out a second firecracker. "Only kind of, dattebayo."

His companion snatched it out of his hand, and together they snuck over to the man, trying to contain their snickers.

::

"Hey Sasuke?" The greeting came out as a question, and Sasuke looked up to see Kiba's puzzled look. "Um, what are you doing?"