Make Me Believe

Disclaimer:I do not, under any circumstance, own any of the Naruto characters mentioned in this story. I do have full rights to my original character Alyson, and I will mention more characters as I go along and will add them here.

Words in 'italics' are thoughts.

Authors Notes: Been a while, hasn't it? Well then; let's get started, shall we? Please don't forget to read and review; your input and criticism really do help me out. =]

Chapter One: The Meeting

Blond hair was scattered on a pillow. The sun trickled in through the cracks of the blinds and curtains, forcing blue eyes awake. A gentle yawn was heard through the small one bedroom apartment. Alyson had just recently moved away from her mother's and on her own. She was already missing the smell of breakfast wafting into her room. Alyson slowly sat up, her hands at her sides against the velvety texture of the comforter. Things had been going fairly smoothly, considering she was nowhere near her immediate family. She had moved from a small, quiet village about five days away to Konohagakure.

Swinging her feet over the edge of the bed, the blond walked toward the silk curtains and pulled them apart. The hustle and bustle from the awakening streets below and the singing birds that were perched outside her window made her smile. Change was nice ever once in a while. Generally a happy person, the sixteen year old blond was always optimistic. She'd only been in Konoha for a week and a half but had spent most of her time unpacking and organizing her new home until it was the way she wanted it to be. Her mother knew some of the civilians that resided here and they came over to help her during their free time. It was lucky that her mother had befriended the head of the village, because she had helped them locate the perfect little apartment for the young woman.

'I'm going to have to thank Lady Tsunade for her kindness.'

Music began to play throughout the apartment. Alyson was in the bathroom just washing her face. Glancing in the mirror, she pursed her lips. She was going to have to go to the market to grab a few things. She hadn't realized that she was running out her morning routine products. Perhaps she would stop by and see Tsunade while she was out. Brushing her long, blond hair what reached her mid-back, the five foot four woman gave herself a side part and began putting on a simple splash of makeup that consisted of powder, eyeliner, mascara and blush. She wasn't the biggest fan of being all dolled up if she wasn't going anywhere fancy. There was a knock on the door.

The young lady made her way to the front of the apartment, peeking through the peephole, only to see long-time friend Sakura Haruno. Smiling, she opened the door. "Hi there Sakura, what brings you here?"

They exchanged a hug and Sakura spoke, "Well I was wondering if you wanted to grab a coffee or something with me. I was on my way to the hospital for my shift and I realized I still have a bit of time. Thought I'd pass by and show you around Konoha."

"That would be amazing!" Alyson exclaimed. Sakura simply giggled at the blond and patted her on the head gently. "I'll just grab a sweater and we'll head off."

As the alarm clock went off, there came a muffled grunt and a large hand moved from under the covers—violently and franticly smacking everything and anything near where the noise was coming from until finally the male shut the machine up.

A curse followed suit. "Dammit..."

The Inuzuka had just returned from a mission the night before and he wasn't ready to get up yet. At least Tsunade had had the courtesy this time to let him get some sleep after he reported to her. The last time she made him stay up to write the written report. He ended up writing gibberish that even Sakura couldn't understand. The image of the pink haired kunoichi rushed through his head and he groaned for the second time, smacking his head against the headboard.

"Son of a bitch..." Kiba rubbed his head slightly, and Akamaru raised his head from his paws, yawning and blinking a few times at his partner in crime.

A small woof was heard and a sneeze, before Akamaru rested his head again and stared at nothing. Kiba wished he was Akamaru so he wouldn't have to deal with all this heartache and romantic crap. It had been months since he and Sakura had broken up, but he still couldn't get over it. Frankly, it pissed him off. She was with the traitor Sasuke now and he knew at the time it was probably going to end as soon as he found out the Uchiha had returned. As one last, desperate act he'd proposed to her.

That was the biggest mistake of his life.

Now, Kiba was a grouch when it came to love. All romantic encounters were on a strict day by day basis and he often never called a girl back after their one night together. He didn't think relationships were worth at this point. It just meant getting his heart torn out of his chest for the second time and he wasn't down for that. The brunette ran a hand through his thick hair and glanced over at the tired Akamaru.

"C'mon, Ak. We gotta go see Tsunade now," he mentioned.

Another yawn from Akamaru was the reply and the man sloppily got out of bed and shrugged into his ninja attire. He had stepped out of the apartment and made his way down the hall while Akamaru followed. The sun stung his eyes slightly, still wanting some sleep. He probably should have grabbed a coffee on the way out the door but it hadn't occurred to him since he was pretty sluggish. Maybe he would grab one from the local coffee shop on his way to the mansion. Being a ninja did have its perks, though. He knew nearly everyone in Konoha. The people all smiled and waved to him as he walked by, but if he didn't know better, they probably preferred Akamaru. The dog was too much of a suck up for food and attention.

'Dang mutt...' he thought, affectionately.

It was then he noticed a head full of pink. Eyes widening, Kiba looked around to see if he could find anywhere to hide. He'd been taking mission after mission to avoid Sakura and he even asked Tsunade ahead of time to make sure she wasn't a part of his groups. He didn't know how he could handle it or how. When Sasuke was around though, he'd flirt like mad with the woman but he was still pretty torn even seeing her. He tossed that ring he spent so much money on into the river than ran through Konoha.

It was then he noticed a head of long, blond hair—one he had never seen before, next to the object of his torment. In the sun, the hair had flecks of brown and the blond seemed to act like a halo from the back. Who was she? Apparently, Kiba was a little out of the loop. Mustering the balls to walk to Sakura, he poked her on the shoulder.

"Hey Sak, what's kickin'?" Sakura turned around and gave him that smile he'd fallen in love with. He squashed that little feeling down with a gulp.

"Oh, Kiba, hi, I'm just grabbing a coffee actually with my friend..." Sakura gestured to the blond, who had stunning blue eyes. His brown eyes gave her a once over, and he smiled a toothy grin. Akamaru barked.

"I didn't forget about you either, Akamaru." Sakura giggled and patted the horse-like dog on the head.

It was then Kiba looked more closely at the blond, knowing that Sakura would have given him a nice smack for looking at her the way he did. She had all the qualities Kiba looked for in a potential sex partner.

"Kiba, Akamaru—this is Alyson. She just moved here a couple weeks ago. I know her because when I went to her village with Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi-sensei, we got acquainted with her mother." Kiba nodded, understanding how the two knew each other.

"Yo. I'm Kiba." He said, placing a hand out and grabbing her small hand in his larger one, he gently placed a kiss against it and watched her blush slightly.

'Score one for Kiba.' He thought wickedly to himself.

Sakura twitched slightly, knowing exactly what he was planning on doing. She wasn't going to allow Alyson to be a victim in his little game he's been playing lately.

"She's sixteen." Sakura said, a smirk appearing on her face.

Surprised, Kiba straightened and smiled at the blond. His gaze went to Sakura and glared at her slightly. Logically he knew he couldn't be mad at her for ruining this for him, she was only that messenger and it wasn't as if it were her fault the girl was too young for him. But he couldn't help feeling irritated with her. It wasn't any of her business what he thought about other women, she'd made that very clear when she'd broken up with him. Aly was perfectly capable he imagined of telling him her age if she was bothered by his attention. It also bugged him that the pink haired woman could still read him so well that she'd known what he was thinking.

"It's nice to meet you, Kiba." Came Alyson's gentle voice.

Even despite the age now it was clear with the type of voice she had it seemed as though she were too nice of a person. She could be a good friend and all but nice girls were the ones you settled down and had a family with—Kiba wasn't looking for anything that serious right now, or ever again.

"Yeah, you too." he replied, turning to Sakura and making an excuse to leave, "Anyway I gotta get goin'. I'll catch you later, Sak—nice to meet you, Alyson. Let's go, Ak..." He waved and gave his cocky grin before walking away. He wouldn't grab coffee this morning and he continued on his way toward the mansion.

Alyson stood there with the kunoichi and blinked. Sakura glanced over at her friend and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't mind him, Aly. C'mon," Aly looked over and smiled at her friend, nodded and continued on her way to get a coffee, wondering why Kiba had decided to leave so quickly. There seemed to be a little bit more to it than just a few things to do.