Ah, the Konoha library. My favorite place to be when I'm not training. The smell of old books, the feel of new books, and the fictional or nonfictional words written inside of them. The titles on the spines attract me, grabbing at my curiosity and daring me to read further than the title. Some day, my books will be in here, and then a girl like me will be gazing at it and wishing to be an amazing author like I am. I mean, will be.
Hey, don't call me a geek. Don't look at me as a glasses wearing, shirt tucking, scrawny little nerd girl that shouldn't even be a ninja. My hazel eyes can cut you in half when you piss me off, and my tan skin just makes my skinny figure look better. My brown hair that waves past my shoulders compliments me, and no, I don't wear glasses. I'm not even scrawny, just skinny.
Any who, I couldn't decide what book to read. I'm supposed to find the rest of my team, but they kind of forgot to give me that little piece of information on where they were. So I decided to stay there until my team decides to look for me.
Suddenly, I heard the crying of a dog. I turned around, still holding onto my book, and saw an adorable little dog with white fur. His eyes where like slits, and his mouth's outline was brown, along with a huge single brown spot covering most of his drooping ears. His hair was messy on the top of his head, as well as on his chest. The dog limped inside, holding up its right paw and trying not to walk on it too much.
"Come here boy," I whispered, kneeling down. It gave me a warning glace, baring his teeth. "I'm not going to hurt you, I'm going to help you. Here." I held out the palm of my hand. He looked up at me, still baring its teeth, and limped over to me. He began sniffing my hand warily. After around a second, he liked my palm and allowed me to look at its paw. I sat down and pulled him onto my lap, then turned his right paw towards me.
"Aw, you've got a few splinters in your paw. Let me take them out. It's kind of going to hurt," I said to the dog, who seemed to understand me more than any human ever could. I plucked out the few splinters it had in its paw, and when I finished the pup was totally grateful and jumped on me. He started to lick my face as I laughed and protested.
"Akamaru?" I sat up to see a boy with a gray jacket on, the hood pulled on and making the fur on the hood seem like his hair. He wore his leaf forehead protector on his head, and under his black eyes were huge, fang-like red markings. I could see that his canines were bigger than the rest of his teeth, which was actually kind of cool. He also had gray pants the reached his calves, and blue sandals. The dog, which I guessed was Akamaru barked happily to the boy and ran to him, jumping in his arms. I smiled at the happy sight of the two and stood up while the dog barked a conversation that the boy actually seemed to understand.
"Hey, thanks for fixing my dog's paw," the boy said gratefully, giving a small smirk. I nodded.
"No problem. He's cute."
"Cute? He's vicious! Right, Akamaru?"
"Woof!" the dog barked its response, wagging it's tail. It looked like it was smiling at me. I giggled.
"Uh, I'm Kiba."
"Karina. Aren't you hot?" I asked, getting on my toes (because this guy was pretty tall) and pulling his hood down. He let me, and the hood revealed messy, black hair. This made him look even cuter. Not that I thought he was cute or anything.
Okay yes, you caught me. I liked Kiba the second I saw him with his dog. He was so caring towards him, it made me melt.
"Kiba!" a boy with blond hair called out, waving a hand frantically. Next to him was a rather... big boned boy with swirl marks on his cheeks, and a boy with his black hair tied up into a ponytail. "Let's go! That ramen isn't going to buy itself!" the boy yelled, running over to us.
"Who's the girl?" big boned boy said throw munching on some chips.
"This is-"
"The girl has a name. And it's Karina," I spoke up, stepping forward and grabbing one of the chips confidently. Yeah, suck on them apples.
"Hmf," big boned scoffed and turned around, heading towards the ramen shop.
"Uh, that was Choji, that's Shikamaru, and loud mouth here is Naruto," Kiba said, introducing me. I smiled and waved at them.
"Hey, are we going or not?"
"Yeah, let's go Kiba!"
"Can Karina come?" Kiba asked hopefully. I blushed. If this guy likes me back, then this is the start of a beautiful relationship, know what I'm saying?
"Sure, but I'm not paying for her," Naruto said, running off. Shikamaru walked away, and Kiba and I walked after them. Akamaru nipped at my feet, making me laugh. I took his challenge and ran forward, racing with Akamaru. Soon, Kiba joined us, and we all raced to the ramen shop.
"I WON!"
"Woof!" We had all made it there at the exact same time, but that didn't matter, because that wouldn't stop the playful bickering we would get into.
~x~
Ring, ring, ring! Ring, ring, ring!
"I'm coming!" I shouted to absolutely no one. Well, not exactly no one. The phone, of course, but hey, I'm weird like that. I picked up the phone. "Karina here."
"Kari! Are you coming to Naruto's welcome back part?" Ino asked, seeming excited. I smiled.
"Of course! Who isn't?"
"I'll tell you who is. Kiba!" I couldn't help but blush. "Kari, I can feel you blushing through the phone!"
"Can not!" I shouted, Ino erupting into a fit of laughter.
"Just be there, and dress for your little doggy boyfriend. Ciao!" Ino quickly hung up the phone before I could reach into the phone and choke her. I sighed then ran into my room.
After taking a quick shower, I dressed into a black, sleeveless dress that was tight around my skinny body, but then puffed out after it reached the waist, a single red rose on the right side of the dress. I wore fishnet leggings and a fishnet under shirt, as well as black and red combat boots that looked great with this dress. I grabbed my hand purse (that had an awesome kunia inside just in case. You never know) and headed out to where Naruto's party was being held.
~x~
Over the years, everyone had matured and changed in looks. Hinata with her longer hair, Sakura with her shorter hair, Choji had more muscle, and Shikamaru had a firmer look on his face. I peered around for Kiba, but when I couldn't find him, I walked over to Hinata.
"Hi Hinata! I love you're hair. It's so long and pretty," I complimented her. She smiled shyly at me and I grabbed on lock of her blue hair.
"You're hair grew longer too," a familiar voice said. I turned around to be face to face with Kiba. Kiba hadn't changed much, though my tastes had changed and so instead of seeming like cute little Kiba, he was leaning way more towards the hot department. His hair was a bit longer, note the messier style, and his smile still made me melt. He wore a black leather jacket with zippers on the chest, a fishnet undershirt that I strained to see through just to get a peek at his abs, and black leather pants. Even his sandals and forehead protector were black. Kiba smiled down at me and I noticed how much taller than me he really was.
"Y-you look great," Kiba said, blushing. I blushed back.
"Uh, you two. Hey, where's Akamaru?" I asked, looking for the dog that had brought us together. Kiba smiled sheepishly.
"Ino wouldn't let me bring him inside since he kind of got bigger."
"Aw come on, how much bigger could he have gotten?" I asked.
And I was sorry I asked. Akamaru was so big, I could ride on him. "Akamaru!" I shouted. The dog whirled its head towards me, barked loudly, and came charging at me. "Wow boy, take it easy there, AH!" Akamaru tackled me to the ground, licking my face with his huge, slobbery tongue. I heard Kiba laugh and joined him.
"Kiba! Get this dog off of me!" I shouted, flailing my hands towards him.
"Akamaru, down boy," Kiba commanded. Akamaru got off of me and barked playfully. I smiled and rubbed off the slobber, then gave the dog a big bear hug.
"Ah, you're so fluffy and cute!" Akamaru growled. "And vicious," I added. Akamaru let me sit on him as I pet his head affectionately. "He's gotten so big. And so have you! You were tall before but wow, you're even taller!" Kiba laughed.
"Yeah. It's been a while." Kiba sat next to me, and surprisingly, Akamaru didn't budge. He could still stand up, even with our combined weight.
"I know...," I muttered, looking up at the sky. Kiba did the same, and for a while, we stayed silent.
"I missed you. A lot!" we both said in unison. We must have both blushed a deep shade of red, and I thought I heard Akamaru chuckle. I patted his head and he stopped whatever he was doing, whether it was panting or chuckling.
"Let's face it, we've missed each other. Big wow," I muttered, looking up at Kiba's eyes. His adorable eyes, and then at his lips. Is it true that if you look at a guy's lips, you want to kiss him? It must be true.
"You've gotten prettier than before," Kiba said lowly, leaning forward.
"You too... I mean, not that you've gotten prettier, I meant that you got better, as in hotter, er I-" He did the pleasure of cutting me off. He stopped my lip's blabbering by putting his over mine, his kiss soft but hesitant. I remember the years before, when I said this was the start of a beautiful relationship. As Kiba kissed me and I kissed back, I thought, this was a start of a beautiful relationship, even though it did take a while.
~x~
Three years! That's how long me and Kiba have been dating! Can you believe that? I've never been with a guy that long! So incredible! And today was Kiba's birthday. I clutched the gift in my hand (dog collar-like necklace with his name and birthdate on it. Cute, right?) and walked down the streets of Konoha, people passing me and giving me respectful smiles. I smiled back and heard a dog crying. It didn't sound like Akamaru though. I looked to my right and saw the gleam of a dog's eyes at the edge of a dark ally.
"Here boy. Don't be afraid," I whispered, walking into the ally. The dog's eyes slitted into half open, devious eyes that looked snake like.
"I won't, but you should be afriad," Orochimaru hissed at me. My eyes widened and I turned around to run away, but he grabbed onto my arm and pulled me towards him, pressing my body against his. "Don't try to run away. Just give in to me," he hissed into my ear and started biting on my neck. I screamed in terror, but he made it so no one could hear me, however his evil powers could do that. He tugged at the shorts I was wearing, and I dropped Kiba's present and reached for the kunai in my purse, but he pushed it away and proceeded to strip me.
~x~
I stumbled out of the ally, clothes carelessly tossed on. I looked around and saw that no one was around, and broke down crying.
I was just raped, so don't you dare call my a crybaby or I'll rip your throat out. My whole body felt dirty, I felt abused, and even the tears that rolled down my cheeks looked dirty. I wiped away the tears and stumbled home, where I took a shower.
But even then, I couldn't wash away this dirty feeling that trailed around me. As much as I rubbed down the soap, scrubbed my skin, and washed my body, this feeling wouldn't wash down the drain with the water of the shower and my tears. I got into my clothes, and when I was brushing my hair, the door knocked.
Company? No, not now! I tied my hair into a ponytail and walked towards the door. I pulled the door open and my heart shattered and my eyes ached when I saw a happy yet somewhat disappointed Kiba at the door.
"Karina, you said you were coming to my house and you never came...," he trailed off and walked towards me. At first, it seemed like he was going to kiss me, but then I realized he was examining me neck. I pulled away and my heart throbbed when I saw the shocked expression on his face.
"Why... why is there a hickey on your neck?" Kiba asked, his voice cracking with either anger or sadness. I placed a hand over my neck and looked for the words to say.
"Wait, Kiba, I can explain-"
"No, you can't! How could you do this? How could you do this to us? Didn't we mean anything to you? Three years! Three. Years!"
"Kiba, please let me finish!"
"No, leave me alone! I don't ever want to see you again!" Kiba shouted, turning around. I grabbed his sleeve but he pushed me away, leaving me to stare after him. After he totally vanished, without looking back even once, I broke down again crying. I heard the cry of a dog again, but this time I was relieved to see Akamaru.
"C-come here, boy," I whispered, and he rested besides me. I stroked his white fur and sniffled, wiping the tears away. "Oh, Akamaru, you won't believe what just happened..." Akamaru cried again, and looked up at me as if to ask to go on.
So I explained to him what happened. As weird as it was, I talked to the dog about my feelings and the events of today. He looked up at me and licked my tears away.
"Oh, Akamaru. Is there any possible way you could get Kiba to come back, and let me explain what happened?" Akamaru barked his reassurance and ran off.
"Wait! I'm going too!" Ino shouted out of nowhere, causing me to jump up in surprise. She looked back at me and smiled sweetly. "Don't worry, I'll be back to comfort you soon enough."
~x~
Kiba's Pov
I pounded the boxing bag even more, wondering where Akamaru was. I could really use him right now.
How could Karina do this? I thought we were absolutely going to get married! And to think today I was going to propose to her. This must be a sign, showing me that I should never have anything to do with her.
And who was she with? Was it Naruto. He always told me how lucky I was to have her, and how he'd kill to get a girl like her. Or Choji. He and Karina were always so competitive and yet nice to each other. Was that a form of flirting? I gave a frustrated growl and used my now enlarged claws to shred the bag angrily into pieces.
"Woof!"
"Akamaru!" I exclaimed in relief.
"Open this door, asshole!" Ino shouted. Ino, what was she doing here? I let them inside and Ino instantly slapped me across the face.
"What the- What was that for?"
"You're a dumbass, Kiba! A dumbass! You know what, that hickey was what Orochimaru did when he RAPED Karina, and all you did was dump her? You ass!" Ino slapped me again, grabbed the neck of my shirt, and pulled me close to her so that her angry breath touched my skin. "Now you listen here. You go apologize to your girlfriend and comfort her, because right now she's never going to get over the shock and abuse without you." She pushed me away and laid her hands on her hips, glaring at me. Akamaru cried, causing me to look down. He gave me a look, and my gaze stiffened.
Orochimaru is going to pay.
~x~
Karina's Pov
I waited, trying to stop the tears, as the day turned darker and the stars shined brightly. Maybe Kiba refused to come, and I'd never be able to explain to him. If that was the case, I'd just kill myself right now-
"Karina!" Kiba called out, running towards me. Tears swelled up in my eyes (what is up with me and crying today?) and I staggered to get up.
"Kiba I-" Kiba pulled me into a strong hug.
"Don't. I know," he whispered, kissing my cheek. I sobbed into his shoulder for a while, grabbing onto him without ever wanting to let go. Unfortunately, he let go of me but kept me in his arms, and gazed down at me. "I'm sorry... for being a jerk." Kiba said, rubbing my cheek with his thumb.
"It's okay... I'm sorry for ruining your birthday," I said, looking down shamefully.
"Don't apologize! Orochimaru ruined my birthday."
"Kiba... I'm scared..."
"I'm scared for you," he whispered, pulling me close.
"What if I get pregnant?" I asked, sniffling. Kiba kissed the top of my head, making me feel a little better.
"Don't worry. We'll raise it together, just like a father and mother would. It would be easier after we get married," Kiba said. I looked up at him and he smiled, trying to make me feel better. That worked, but what worked more was when he pulled out a box with a ring in it. "Would you marry me?"
"Kiba..." I spoke nervously, feeling pain in my stomach. Would Kiba ever mistreat me like Orochimaru would?
"I'll never hurt you. Ever," Kiba whispered. I smiled. The line had instantly made me feel more confident.
"Yes, Kiba. I will marry you." Kiba beamed down at me, pick me up, and carried me inside. We weren't going to do anything, because Kiba knew I wasn't ready for that after this experience, but just being with him was okay. This was the start of my true happiness.