[Third person pov | Everywhere, tbh]

After forcing Kakashi to get them barbacue, they all followed him back to his apartment, much to his dismay. He had to watch as they dragged his TV from the living room and into Aria's room, stealing all the extra blankets and pillows as they did so. Kakashi could only watch with disdain as they trashed his house for the third time this week, raiding his kitchen, and stealing the stools from his bar to help make their fort.

He wasn't even mad at this point.

[Still third person pov | Outside Aria's wINDOW OH SHIT-]

It's not like he meant to end up there.

He never did, but it still happened anyway. He'd be on a walk with Akamaru. He want on a walk with him everyday of every week, and he'd been going on those walks since he was deemed old enough to leave the house by himself. He wasn't sure how, but he continued to end up in the same place he was trying to avoid. He'd just get so lost in thought that he wouldn't notice until it was too late, and until he couldn't turn back.

The curtains of Aria's bedroom were always drawn at night, and Kiba was quite glad for that. He was a twelve year old boy, and he was currently in the process of undergoing puberty. Horny, with a voice that constantly cracked and a sudden fear of acne break outs, he found that he couldn't control himself. He'd stand there, and he'd wait. For something. Anything, really. Because he had a crush, and when you have a crush that really doesn't like being around you all that much, you've got to take some drastic measures.

It was ways a silhouette, and yet he could clearly tell it was her. Nobody else had her body type. The girls in his class were either too tall, thin and wiry, or they simply starved themselves in a desperate attempt to make themselves appear fitter. Skinnier. Kiba hated that, and maybe that's why he liked Aria so damn much.

She ate whatever she wanted to eat, letting the whispers shot her way roll off her back like they were nothing. When she'd gotten here, she was a twig. A sad, short little twig with ratty hair and clothes that hung off her body. But now, healthy, happy and loved, Aria had grown into herself. She wasn't fat, not at all. But her body type, well, it was larger. Thicker, per say. She was still short, her growth having been stunted, but she was beautiful still.

Sometimes her shadow would dance by, the faint sound of singing urging Kiba closer. But he wasn't aloud. He couldn't go to her door and knock like Sasuke and Naruto. He couldn't stay up with her until midnight laughing only to pass out on the floor. He couldn't wake up, relieved that Kakashi had informed his caretaker of his whereabouts. He could do none of it, and that made him...sad.

Dancing, singing, bouncing and laughing, all Kiba could do was watch as the girl he knew and loved moved through life without him.

[Canterbury's pov | Aria's room]

I stared at them, sleeping, and a horrible thought came to mind.

They're so peaceful, and so unknowing. They wouldn't even know it happened. I could just down and end each one of their sad little lives, like I was supposed to. Like I was born to. But I just... I can't. I care too much, and that's the end of it. I have failed my mission, and they'll be coming for me soon too. I don't know what I am anymore. But there's something, something inside of me, that's darker than you know. It constantly eats away at me, weathering my psyche down.

They actually think I'm a pig, too.

I'm not. Not really. But now I know my job. I have to protect the princess. They want her dead, the kingdom. I can't let them do that. Not after I've gotten to know her so well. Aria, so kind, and so pure-hearted. I can't let what happened to her mother and father happen to her. I can't. I just can't. I don't care if I was created to murder her.

I absolutely refuse to kill Aria Maren Petrova.