Beta read by DarkSacredJewelXoX
It's been a little more then five months since Naruto left to train withJiraiya. Everyone in the village misses him, but they don't let that stop them. Everyone is training hard to become stronger to help Naruto when he returns. They are all training and going on missions as often as they can so they can get stronger and fight. Many are going up and maturing with all this, but there are some who need the help of others to see things that they couldn't see before.
-
"Man, this is so boring!" Kiba Inuzuka sighed, crossing his arms and slouching in his chair. Akamaru was sitting in the chair beside him taking a nap, ignoring his master's sighs of boredom. He, unlike Kiba, was very content with the way things were gong so far.
"You're been saying that ever since we got on," Sakura Haruno replied looking at her teammate. The two were sitting across from each other as they road the train that would take them to the meeting place of their mission.
"Cause its true! Train rides are so boring, nothing ever happens on them." Kiba sighed again and looked out the window. All he saw was a landscape covered in white snow.
"Better to be boring then annoying," Sakura replied, reading a book that she was smart enough to bring all to read on the train. Kiba didn't think to bring anything and was now going insane with boredom because of it.
The two were on their way to the Land of Snow to complete a C-ranked mission for the princess of the land. One of the council members disappeared and no one has been able to find him since. It was their job to find him and being him back to castle. They were riding a train now until they reached the castle of Princess Fuun or Yukie Fujikaze, the famous actress, as many others know her as.
"Why'd we have to take the train anyways?" Kiba asked looking at Sakura. He looked at the book she was reading and snorted at the nameless cover. If he was going to be stuck on a train then she should at least talk to him so he wouldn't go out of his mind with nothing to do. Besides, she was one of the few girls that he didn't mind talking to. She didn't annoy him with her voice like Ino did. That girl did not know when to shut up!
"Because it's faster and easier to travel in," Sakura told him, looking up from her book. "What if the enemy has guards hiding around the area? They could spot us and we could blow the mission," she added putting her book back into her bag. She could tell he was bored and wouldn't stop complaining until they were off the train and moving around again. Being on a team with the very hyper Naruto got her use to it, so she wasn't annoyed as she usually would be.
"So what? Even if they did, I would be able to sniff 'em out before they ever got the chance to attack," Kiba said, pointing to his nose with a confident smirk. "I can take on anything that comes my way," he added looking at Sakura. He had to admit that he wasn't sure how this mission would turn out with just the two of them. He could still remember the annoying little girl that would yell and scream at anyone who upset her. She still does that now, but she is a lot calmer and Kiba was glad. He will admit that she's changed a lot from how she use to be, but she's always training now a days that he wasn't sure if she was even doing missions anymore until he was called in and told by the Hokage herself that they were paired up together for this very mission.
"Yeah well…" Sakura started, but was interrupted when she saw a woman and her son looking for a place to sit. "Excuse me, miss," she called to them standing up. "There is an open spot here." She pointed at her now open seat.
"Thank you young lady." The woman thanked Sakura and helped her son sit down.
Sakura smiled at the woman, picked up Akamaru so she could sit in the seat, and let him go back to sleeping on her lap. The nin-dog didn't complain and went right back to taking his nap.
Kiba smiled down at his dog and was glad that he was comfy and that Sakura was treating Akamaru with proper care. Most girls he knew would have put his buddy on the floor to sleep so they could have the chair all to themselves. He was glad that Sakura wasn't like that; in fact she wasn't like the rest of the girls in the village. She may have been once, but now she really is a ninja who works on perfectly their jutsu, and not fixing their hair with the latest style.
He had to admit that he really liked the new Sakura and was glad she wasn't so obsessed with Sasuke anymore. Her scent wasn't bad either; he wasn't sure how, but it changed after Sasuke left and he liked how she smelt now. Shino and Hinata kept saying that he had a crush on her and that may be true to some extent. The fact of the matter was he needed a strong girl that could handle herself in rough times. Kiba knew that she was training under the fifth Hokage so she had gotten a lot stronger then she used to be, but he still needed a girl that could step in and deal with anything that came her way should something happen to him.
The train ride took little more then an hour or so before they reached the castle. The guards gave Kiba a once over, checking everything on him. They knew who Sakura was from the last time she was here so they didn't check her before they let them in. The two were lead through the halls of the castle until finally reaching the throne room as well as Yukie.
"Sakura. It's nice to see you again," Yukie greeted from her throne. She smiled down at the pink haired ninja that helped save her and her kingdom from her uncle.
"It's nice to see you again too, Princess Fuun," she greeted back, remembering her manners. She may know the princess, but that doesn't mean she couldn't show her respect.
"Please, call me Yukie," she told them both, walking away from her throne and towards the two ninjas. She didn't want to say anything, but she was a little sad that Naruto didn't come; she had wanted to see him again after everything he did for her.
"Oh, alright." Sakura nodded and Kiba just shrugged. He didn't care what he was supposed to call her, he just wanted to start the mission.
"Good, now follow me and I'll explain what I need from you." She motioned for them to follow her down another hall. "About a week ago, a member of my council disappeared without a trace. We've searched the area, but so far no one has been able to find him," she said sadly reaching into her sleeve and pulled out a picture. She handed the photo to Sakura. "His name is Yuuto and I'm worried that someone may have kidnapped him," she said stopping at a door. It gave Sakura and Kiba time to study the photo. Yuuto was an old man, probably around the age of fifty with snow white hair and dark green eyes.
"What makes you think he was kidnapped?" Kiba asked, looking over the photo and moved a little so Akamaru could see as well. The nin-dog was sitting on his backpack with his head resting on Kiba's head. Sakura commented earlier that Akamaru had grown but Kiba didn't see it. Akamaru was always with him, so Kiba didn't see anything different about his dog. The only thing that changed was that he used up a lot more shampoo then he used too, but Kiba didn't think that really matter.
Yukie didn't say anything at first. She opened the door before them and showed what was inside. "This is why." The three stepped inside the room and Sakura and Kiba understood now why she thought he was kidnapped. The room was torn apart, the walls and bedding were ripped to shreds, clothing and pieces of furniture were scattered around the room.
"Whoa." Kiba placed Akamaru own on the ground so they could get a good whiff of the guy's scent and maybe of who ever did this.
"Do you have any idea of who might have done this?" Sakura asked, not leaving Yukie's side. Whoever did this could very well still be in the room or in the palace and she didn't want them trying to get at Yukie too.
"I don't who could have down this, but I do know that this isn't the only place like this," she told them with a dejected sigh. She looked so worried and very tired in Sakura's mind. "About two days ago, the generator that made this land become the Land of Spring was destroyed. We found pieces of it scattered around from where Naruto and my Uncle first fought," Yukie explained remembering everything that happened two days ago. "Sakura, as you remember this land was once a frozen ice burg, but the generator changed all that. It gave this land its people new life. I'm worried that something worse may happen if we don't stop whoever is doing this," she told them.
"Why not just fix the generator then?" Kiba asked from his spot in the room. He already had Yuuto's scent and now he was searching for who or whatever destroyed the room. So far he hasn't smelt anything. At least there nothing human.
"We did the day we found it destroyed, but the next morning it was broken again," Yukie answered with a sad look. She was very worried about the generator and what it was doing to her country. If the generator remained broken, then her people would return to living in a frozen land of snow. She did not want that, she wanted her people to live out in the sun and feel the full power of the life that was in this Earth.
"So you think whoever took Yuuto is also the person that is breaking your generator?" Sakura asked the princess. She wondered if maybe they should head over to where the generator was and see if they could find some clues.
"I believe so." Yukie nodded, looking at the two ninjas. "I must get going; I still have some duties that I need to take care of. I've already prepared room for the two of you and if there is anything you need, please don't be afraid to ask." With that said, she left two ninjas alone in the room to go about their mission.
Once she left, Sakura headed over to the other side of the room where Kiba was. He was still sniffing the bed so she decided to look over the desk that was in the room. Out of all of the items in the room, it was the most destroyed.
'I wonder if it has something in it that the kidnapper wants?' Sakura questioned in her mind, looking everything over. She pulled out all the drawers and looked behind the desk, but didn't find anything. Moving down to her knees, she looked under the desk, patting down at the smooth wood. 'That's strange…' Not as soon as she thought that, the wood under the desk opened up and revealed what it kept hidden.
Sakura picked up the fallen items and smiled; they got their first clue. "Kiba! Akamaru! Look at this!" She called to the dog-nin and his companion. Sakura walked over to them to show them what she found. It was a sliver heart shaped locket attached to a thin silver chain.
Kiba took the locket and he and Akamaru gave it a whiff. "So, is it Yuuto's?" Sakura asked them.
"Smells like it," Kiba replied opening the locket. There was a photo of a young man in the locket. "There's another scent to it though." He leaned in closer, taking in another whiff of the locket. "It's an old scent, but it's still there." He added, looking at the picture that was in the silver necklace.
"Is that supposed to be Yuuto?" Sakura asked taking back the locket. She looked at the picture in wonder, it was of a man with snow white hair and dark green hairs, but this man looked much younger then the picture Yukie showed them.
Kiba looked over the photo and though it over. "Maybe. It could be…"
He stopped speaking and just started to stare off into space. Sakura looked over at him and saw there was a blank look in his eyes. "Kiba?" She waved a hand in front of his face but he didn't respond. She looked down to his side and saw that Akamaru had the same look in his eyes.
Broken heart like the sea
Like love doesn't forgive
Ooh, Broken heart like the sea
Like love…
Broken heart like the sea
Like love doesn't forgive
"Singing?" Sakura could hear the gentle sound of a woman's voice being heard, but she didn't see anyone around them. "Where's it coming from?" She looked around the room(,)but didn't anyone with them. Only Kiba and her were in there. That's when she first noticed the open window. The voice was coming from out there.
And neither do I
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
The singing started up again and Sakura had to cover her ears to stop the horrible noise that was coming from outside. The room began to shake and the walls and ceiling were starting to collapse. She gasped when one of the ceiling tiles nearly hit her. She grabbed hold of Kiba's arm and tried to pull him away.
"Kiba, we have to get out of here!" She pulled at his arm again but he wouldn't budge. Akamaru wasn't moving either. They were both just standing there with a blank look on their faces.
"Kiba!" She tried again but it was the same as before. He didn't respond.
Suddenly the wind picked up and it shattered the windows that were all around them. Sakura pushed them to the ground and out of the way before they could get hurt. Glass fragments scratched at each of them but it would have been a lot worse if they stayed where they were before. The wind blew by even harder and Sakura had to lie on top of Kiba and pull Akamaru towards her so they wouldn't blow away and out the window.
Suddenly another shriek was heard, but it was moving away from the castle and heading into town. Sakura looked over at the broken windows and sighed. Whatever did this was gone but she knew it would be back. Looking down at her teammate she saw that he passed out from what had just taken place. Akamaru had as well.
Sakura let out a low sigh. "Might as well heal them before they wake up and start yelling." She pulled out bandages from her pack and started to work on Kiba and Akamaru.
-
It was a little past sundown before Kiba finally woke up. He was surprised to see that he was no longer in the destroyed room of Yuuto and that he had cuts on him. He immediately looked down and saw that Akamaru had a few cuts on him as well. Both had bandages over the open wounds and it didn't look like either had been really injured. That just left how he got there.
"You're awake." Kiba turned his attention to Sakura walking over to him. She herself had a few bandages on her face and her legs. She smiled at him and petted Akamaru's head. "I'm glad to see that you finally came to," she added, sitting down on the bed.
"What happened?" He asked her once she sat down. Instantly he caught a whiff of her scent and was tempted to fall back to sleep. It was so sweet and she smelled so amazing. Suddenly he wanted to go to sleep with Sakura sleeping right next to him.
'Stupid hormones.' he thought, trying to shake away those thoughts. He had to admit it now; he liked Sakura. She smelled amazing and seemed like she would make a good girlfriend, but he couldn't let his hormones get in the way of the missions. Even if he did have feelings for her, they still were ninjas and they had a mission to complete.
"I was hoping you could tell me," she said, looking directly at him. That was another thing Kiba liked about her. Whenever she talked to someone, she would look them directly in the eyes, showing that they had her full attention. "One minute you're talking and the next you're just standing there like some mindless statue," she explained to him, thinking back to how he was acting. "Don't you remember any of it?"
Kiba shook his head. "Not really. I remember looking at the locket and then I heard this weird noise and then nothing." He told her everything he remembered.
"A weird noise?"Sakura thought before she knew what he meant. "The singing!"
"Yeah. That was the last thing I heard before I blanked out," he said, crossing his arms. Kiba looked down at Akamaru and gave him a confused look. "Sakura? Who treated Akamaru?" He didn't know the Land of Snow or Spring or whatever it's name was had vets for nin-dogs.
"I did," she replied and Kiba gave her a confused look now.
"I thought Lady Tsunade was teaching you medical ninjutsu to heal people?" he asked her trying to remember what it was exactly that Ino told him. He had a mission with Shikamaru's team a few days ago and Ino kept rambling on and on about what it was that Sakura was teaching her. He could remember that he shouted at the blonde almost ten times, telling her to shut up because she was giving him such a headache. Sakura may have changed from all her training, but it didn't look like Ino would ever change from her annoyingly loud behavior.
"She is, but I also asked her to train in ways to help animals. I knew that I would end up on a team with you and Akamaru at some point and I want to be able to help both of you if something happens," she said, reaching over to pet Akamaru again. "I know how much you care about him. I care for him too, that's why I want to help both of you the best I can." She gave Kiba a gentle smile. That smile made his heart beat faster and his cheeks turn a bright red.
Kiba was speechless at this. She was taking on more training so she could help Akamaru too. She knew how he much he cared about Akamaru so she took on more training so that she could help him too. He didn't know what to say to her at this point. He's never heard of any other medical ninja do something like that. Either you become a doctor or a vet, not both. But Sakura, she cared about the two of them so much that she took on more training to help them.
Before he tried to talk himself out of it, Kiba reached over and embraced Sakura in a hug. His arms wrapped around her small frame bringing her head to rest on his chest. His head was on top of hers as he was breathing in her scent. "Thank you." He was breathing her in and he liked it. He liked how things felt for him. Having her in his arms felt so right; it made everything seem so right in the world. There was no fighting, no wars, and no friends dying. It was just the two of them.
"Um…Kiba?" Sakura spoke up after a while. She hadn't expected him to hug her like this. It was obvious he was glad that she could heal Akamaru, but he was acting strange. Or was that just her? Her face felt very hot and her heart was beating very fast. It had never beaten this fast before, not even when she was with Sasuke. Then again, Sasuke never hugged her like this.
She had to admit that it felt nice being in his arms. Kiba was like most ninjas; he had muscles and was developing a nice four pack. She overheard him telling Akamaru earlier today that he wanted to get a full six pack. She giggled as she remembered how determined he look about getting his body stronger, but even if his body was hard and his hands were a bit rough, it still felt very nice to her. She felt safe, just like she should feel.
The two just stayed like that for a couple of minutes. The feelings of being together felt so nice to them, it felt natural. Like it was something they've been doing for a while. Neither Sakura or Kiba understood why they suddenly felt so good being together like this but they didn't want to question it.
"Excuse me?" Both jumped apart when they heard a new voice enter the room. They turned to face a smiling Yukie. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I would like to talk to the two of you." She was trying hard not to laugh at the two young ninjas. Catching them off guard like that was fun but their expressions were even funnier.
"Yes, of course." Sakura stood up from the bed, trying to hide her face that suddenly was matching her hair.
Kiba just huffed and crossed his arms. He didn't like that they were interrupted, but a mission was a mission. Besides they could start all over again, this time with him asking her out properly. Many people thought because he grew up around dogs that he had no manners and he will admit that he could act a little less wild in public, but when it came to stuff like girls he was all manners. Well…at least with the ones he liked and so far Sakura was the only one so he had a lot to prove to her.
Yukie giggled at Kiba, she could almost tell what he was thinking. "I want to talk to you two about the singing that took place." She asked them both to follow her out of the room. "So far there are a few who were injured during the time the singing was heard."
"How many?" Sakura asked going into medic mode. She needed to know how much chakra she was going to have to use for whatever fighting might take place and how much she would need to save for the injured.
Kiba smiled at Sakura at how she was acting. She was so cool to him, very calm and so serious. He liked how when she was thinking, her eyes would flash with all the thoughts that went through her mind. He looked down at her hands and saw them swaying at her sides and had a sudden urge to hold her hand. He felt like a little kid again, but he didn't care. He liked Sakura and that was that.
"Around ten. All are male." she told them, tying her hair up into a high ponytail just like she did in the movies. Sakura and Kiba finally noticed that she was not wearing her robes but was instead wearing a light purple jacket with tan pants and brown snow boots.
"Yukie? Are you going somewhere?" Sakura asked when they started to leave the throne room and were heading towards the exit.
"We're going to the generator. I want to see what is causing all of this," she told them as two guards came up to them, handing Sakura and Kiba their cloaks. It was cold out and they needed them; their snow wear wouldn't help them to much in this weather.
Sakura's outfit was almost the same one she wore the last time she had visited this land. The only difference was she didn't have gloves on this time. She was still learning medical ninjutsu so it was hard to perform it when she was wearing gloves. She decided not to wear them for this mission and would just bear with the cold.
Kiba's outfit for the cold was a black jacket that was a lot like his regular one, but it didn't have the fur attached to the hood. Along with gray pants that helped keep his legs warm and was easy to move in, and gray snow boots that made running easier. He had on black gloves that really weren't for the snow, mostly for mountain climbing and fighting, but he didn't have time to grab regular snow gloves before he left.
"You sure you wanna do that?" Kiba asked, putting on his cloak making sure it didn't cover Akamaru too much. His head was still out, but his body was covered by Kiba's cloak and hood. "Don't your people need you here or something?"
"I've already made arrangements for the rest of my council to cover for me while I'm gone," she answers, as they headed outside and two horses were brought to them. "I know a shortcut to the generator, it'll get us there faster and we may even find whoever is doing all this on our way," she told them, getting onto her white horse.
Kiba got onto the other horse, a nice light brown one, and held his hand out to Sakura. "You coming?" He gave her a flirty smile and waited for her to take his hand.
He didn't have to wait long. Sakura grabbed his hand and helped pull her help and behind him on the horse. Although they were ninja and could easily run through the snow, they figured they should save their energy before they fight this thing. Whatever it was seemed powerful and they needed to be careful.
"Let's hurry. This thing likes to attack at night more often then in the day," Yukie said, not waiting for them to respond before she kicked her horse, telling it to go.
"We'd better hurry," Sakura said, wrapping her arms around Kiba's waist, making sure her grip was tight enough not to hurt him, but tight enough that she wouldn't fall off.
Kiba almost sighed when he felt her arms wrap around his waist. He liked this feeling almost as much as holding her in his arms. They were so going out once they got back to the village!
In an instant Kiba had the horse running at full speed to catch up with Yukie. Once caught up, they rode off in silence, keeping an eye out for anything or anyone that may try and attack them. Along with any sort of hidden clues that could be there to give them some kind of idea of what they would have to face. It was always better to go into battle prepared.
"Kiba, do you have any idea what this thing smells like?" Sakura asked, holding on tighter when they went over a few snow bumps.
"No. I wasn't able to get its scent because I blacked out," he said with a shiver. It wasn't because of the cold; he was used to it by now. It was her breath on his throat that made him shiver. In his family, the throat was the part where Inuzuka's mark their mates. It was the place on the body that was seen by all; it can show everyone who you belong to, who you submit to, and right now, Kiba was having a hard time with his hormones.
"I've been wondering about that," she said and Kiba suddenly forgot about his raging hormones and how they wanted him to mark Sakura as his. "How come you were only affected and not me? We both heard it, but only you and Akamaru were effected by it." She sounded so serious that it made Kiba smile.
'Man, even when she's serious she sounds cute.' He wanted to laugh at himself. Since when did he find anything or anyone for that matter, cute?
"Don't know. Why, do you think you got an idea?" He asked, following after Yukie. He hated to admit it, but the princess really knew how to ride a horse. It was almost a challenge to keep up with her. Almost.
"Kind of. I want to check out a few things first before I jump to conclusions. Like meeting whoever's doing all of this," She said, thinking over her ideas. They had just started to go up a small hill when their horse jumped over a rock, causing Sakura to almost fall off. "Ahh!" She held on tighter to Kiba, burying her face in his throat.
Kiba's heart stopped when he felt her face next to his throat. He wanted to groan at how close she was to something that was considered sacred in his family. Her scent was sooverpowering that he was tempted to stop the horse they were riding just so he could stop and smell more of her. He never had to deal with anything like this before. No other girl smelt as sweet as Sakura did; they didn't even come close to how great she smelled.
"Sakura?" He called to her trying to get her attention. As much as he liked her being close to him, he needed her to move before he did something stupid.
"Huh?" She picked her head up from his neck and tried to look up at him. "What is it?"
"I know this is probably a really bad time, but when we get back to the village…" Kiba was cut short when he almost crashed into Yukie's stopped horse. The two ninjas looked at the princess and she was pointing at the broken generator saying they were there.
Sakura got off the horse soon after, Kiba following her and started to head towards the generator. She wanted to see if she could pick up any type of chakra that the person may have left behind. As she moved away from the horse, Kiba grabbed her wrist halting her movements.
"Kiba?" Sakura turned around to face the dog-nin. What was he doing at a time like this? They may be able to find some clues about their enemy.
"Go out with me." He looked her right in the eyes as he spoke. He never let go of her wrist as he spoke.
Sakura's mind stopped working when he said that. Sure she was used to Rock Lee and Naruto asking her out, but not Kiba. She didn't think he even liked her as that. Wasn't she just some girl he knew from their academy days?
"Huh?" She knew she sounded stupid, but it was all her mind could process.
"Go out with me," He said again, pulling her closer to him. He moved his hand down from her wrist to hold her hand and intertwine their fingers. "Sakura, I want you to be mygirlfriend." He was speaking softly and he was so gentle. Nothing like his usual wild self that she was used too.
"Well…I…" She looked down at their two hands and could feel her face heat up. She was sure it matched her hair perfectly like it had before when Yukie had caught them hugging. Speaking of, said princess was off to the side trying not to be too obvious that she was listening in on their conversation.
"Kiba…I mean…we're on a mission!" She tried shaking her hand free but Kiba wouldn't let her. She had no clue what she was supposed to say to him. This was all so sudden. What was she supposed to say?
"I don't care." He looked like he would have crossed his arms if he could of. He wanted her to see that he was serious and would not quit until he got an answer. "I'm not gonna give your hand back until you give me an answer!" With that said he started to move to the broke generator, the whole way holding Sakura's hand.
They walked past a giggling Yukie. "Cute," she muttered, following the two ninjas.
Sakura sent a glare to the princess and let Kiba drag her along. She figured it could be worse; he could be trying to bite her. She rolled her eyes at the thought and looked over the broken generator.
"Claw marks." She was shocked when Kiba spoke.
"What?" She looked over the machine and saw markings all over it.
"They're claw marks. Whatever did this was an animal," He said getting down on all fours, making Sakura sit down with him and started sniffing the machine. "By the smell of things, it was a bird," He added, sitting back up and pointing his nose up towards the sky. If he was lucky, he might be able to get a whiff of the bird's scent in the wind.
"But what kind of bird could do this?" Yukie asked looking over the machine herself. She couldn't think of any type or bird or any other animal that could do so much damage.
"Who knows?" Kiba just shrugged and gave the machine another whiff. "But it wasn't alone. I smell a human with it. Female." He added on, picking Akamaru up with his free hand and put him on the ground next to him.
Sakura looked over the machine thinking about what Kiba said about the animal. "You think?"
"Stop!"
They looked over to see their missing councilman, Yuuto, running at them. There was a look of pure terror on his face. What the cause of that terror was beyond them.
"Yuuto!?" Yukie screamed at her councilman wondering what he was doing.
"Princess! You must get away from there!" He screamed, pulling at Yukie and dragging her with him. "It's not safe here with that beast here!"
"B-Beast?! What are you talking about?" She tried to get him to let her go but he wouldn't. "Sakura! Kiba!" She called, telling them to follow them.
Both ninjas were dumbstruck by what just happened.
"Random," Kiba commented, watching them run.
"Come on!" Sakura pulled him to his feet and started running after the princess and Yuuto. Something didn't seem right to her and she wanted to check it out.
Kiba allowed her to pull him, happy that at least she didn't let go of his hand yet. He knew he was pushing his luck with how he was acting, but he couldn't help it. He's a fourteen year old boy with raging hormones. Of course he's going to act stupid!
Akamaru was running next to his master when he caught a whiff of a certain scent being carried in the wind. He barked up to Kiba to tell him about this smell.
"You sure?" Kiba asked and Akamaru barked in response saying he was sure.
"What's wrong?" Sakura asked, sparing him a quick glance. She didn't want to take her eyes away from Yukie because she had a bad feeling about the council man and where he was leading them.
"Akamaru says that animal we smelled before on the generator is close by. It's coming right for us," He said, picking up speed and pulling Sakura with him. Akamaru ran along side them, telling Kiba how close the bird was getting to them.
Yuuto was leading them up a cliff before they finally stopped. He was on his knees panting and Yukie was panting herself, but still standing. With all the running, her bow came undone and her hair was hanging down her back. She sent a glare down at the panting man.
"Yuuto, what are you doing here? I thought you were kidnapped!" She cried, crossing her arms in disappointment at the man. How dare he worry her and the rest of the council, making them all believe something horrible had happened to him.
"I am truly sorry princess, but I needed to get away from that beast!" He said again, looking all around them to see if there was anything there.
"Well that beast is getting closer," Kiba said once he, Sakura, and Akamaru caught up. They walked up to the Yukie and Yuuto, still holding hands Kiba noted, both giving the councilman the same glare as Yukie was.
"You might want to start explaining yourself," Kiba told the man, catching the same smell as Akamaru. It was getting closer to them and he needed to know what they would be facing. "Better hurry, it's getting closer." He tried egging him on so he would speak faster. Whatever this thing was, it was coming in fast and it seemed like it wouldn't stop until it reached them.
Yuuto gave them a solemn sigh before answering. "It was thirty years ago. I was a young lad at the time and I was in love with a young woman. She had the most glorious sky blue hair anyone has ever seen with matching sky blue eyes. Skin almost as white as the snow itself with a voice as soft as the wind. She would always wear a white dress that would show off her angelic figure. Her name was Yukiko and she was a traveling shinobi, but I convinced her to leave her village and stay with me. I was young though and soon grew tired of her so I broke all ties with her and told her to go back home. She never forgave me and swore revenge. I feared for my life so I tricked her to come out with me here to the mountains and froze her in a block of ice and hid her away from the world." He kept his eyes focused on the ground as he told his story.
"So it's a shinobi we're after," Kiba said trying to focus in on the scent that was coming in fast. The scent of a bird was coming in right with the scent of a woman. Soon they both would be there in a matter of minutes, maybe less.
"And the real beast we're dealing with is you, not her!" Sakura pointed an accusing finger at the councilman. How could he do something so cruel like that to a person he once loved?! "I take it this use to belong to Yukiko?" Sakura pulled out the locket showing it to Yuuto. "And it's Yukiko that's been destroying the generator because she's searching for you!" Sakura added, already knowing how the generator was being broken.
He didn't respond, he only gave a weak nod.
"What happened? How did she get free?" Yukie asked, her glare never once leaving her face. She didn't think Yuuto was capable of doing something so mean to another person. He always seemed to gentle to her.
He gave another sigh. "It was when you returned to this land princess and found the generator your father was working on. It melted the ice that she was trapped and set her free. I went to go and look for her, but when I arrived at the spot she was already gone. I had thought she had returned home, believing she had forgotten about me, but then she returned not more then a week ago. She looked the same as she did all those years ago." He let out a small whimper, but none of the three humans near him could feel pity for him. He brought this on himself and now he was paying for it.
"I take it that's why you ran away?" Yukie asked him. She needed answers and she needed them now. What was she supposed to tell the other council members when she returned? That Yuuto wasn't kidnapped, just hiding from an old girlfriend?
"Yes. I've been in hiding ever since she's returned," He replied, staring at the floor in shame. At least he understood that was he did was terrible and wrong.
"Yeah, well we need to get ready. From what I can tell, this girl Yukiko is…"
"Right here." They all gasped and looked up to see a young woman riding on a big white bird. She looked exactly how Yuuto described her, long sky blue hair and everything.
"Y-Yukiko?!" Yuuto squeaked, trying to burying himself in the snow. He was shaking in fear and Kiba tried hard not to laugh at how stupid he was acting. Yuuto seemed more like an over grown baby, scared that their parents would punish them because they did something wrong.
"I am so glad to see you remember me, Yuuto." Her voice was dripping with venom as she spoke his name. "I must say that you've changed a lot since I last saw you. You're so old and fragile like you'll go any minute now." She gave a laugh at his shaking form. "Let me speed things up for you!" In an instant she jumped to the ground making hands signs.
"No! Boy! Drain your ears of their chakra quickly!" Yuuto was already doing so when he instructed Kiba, but it was too late.
Music is the might
Music is our soul
Release your will and listen to my song
Let it sooth your mind and become my servant
Listen to my voice and become mine
Only hear me and no one else
Become mine
Sakura saw the look on Kiba's and Akamaru face again. It became blank and all traces of thoughts left him as his eyes glazed over. The two Inuzukas just stood there in a trance and Sakura couldn't believe how long it took her to realize what had happened. The woman Yukiko had placed them under her genjutsu. Sakura had to act quickly, she tried releasing the jutsu but nothing happened.
"What did you do?!" She yelled over at the blue haired ninja. She's never seen a jutsu like this one before.
"I've place him under a little spell. He's mine now." She gave a wicked laugh watching as Sakura tried to break the jutsu.
"Kiba! Wake up! Kiba!" She shook him with her free hand, but it didn't work. He was still in the trance. She raised her hand next and slapped him across the face. For a moment she saw his eyes flash back to normal,but they went right back to their glazed over look again. "No!" She gave Kiba a look of dread. She couldn't break the jutsu, nothing she did was working.
Yukiko gave another laugh. "Nice try but it won't work. Nothing you can do can break my jutsu. It's something I designed myself. It works so that any man around me will fall under my spell and do whatever I say," she said, giving Sakura a bitter smile. "Really sweetie, I'm doing you a favor."
"And how is putting my friend under your jutsu doing me a favor?!" Sakura was ready to punch this girl. How dare she say something like that to her! Kiba was her friend and she was treating him like he was some toy.
"Because my dear, your friend is a boy. While he may be sweet and innocent now, he'll grow up to be a stuck up, rude, inconsiderate man that doesn't care about you. He'll only care about pleasing himself," she said, never once breaking the jutsu as she huffed, sending an icy glare Yuuto's way. "I heard how he asked you out before and how you couldn't answer him. Trust me, he may seem like a good first boyfriend, but soon or later he'll break your heart."
"You…you don't know what you're saying!" Sakura yelled back reaching for her kunai pouch. She would fight this woman if it meant breaking Kiba free of the jutsu.
"But I do. All men are scum! That's why I've decided it's time we got rid of them." She had a look of pure evil in her eyes. She was crazy!
"What?" Sakura gasped when Yukiko told her what her plan was. She wants to great rid of men? "You can't be serious!?"
"But I am. Think of how much better this place will be after we women free ourselves of these disgusting creatures? We will never have to worry about someone peeking in on us while we're bathing, keeping up our figure just so we'll get a minute of their attention, fighting amongst friends because both of us like the same boy. We'll be able to live peaceful." She sounded almost sweet that Sakura wanted to vomit. Her plan was crazy just like she was.
"There's no way I'll let you do that!" Sakura let go of Kiba's hand and ran at Yukiko. She needed to stop her now before it was too late to get Kiba out of her jutsu.
Yukiko only smirked before her white bird appeared before Sakura, sending her flying away from Yukiko. "I'm sorry if I hurt you, but you just need to get used to the idea of a world without men."
"Why you…" Sakura had her fist in front of Yukiko's, aiming for a place in her forehead that would knock her out immediately once her fist make contact with the spot. However Yukiko's bird knocked her back down before she Sakura could even touch her.
"Come on, isn't there one guy that you despise because he hurt you? Because he caused you to break all ties with your friends, made you become different because you thought all of that was what he wanted in a woman?!" By this point Yukiko had tears in her eyes. She was hurt, they could all see it.
Sakura listened to Yukiko's words and her mind instantly flashed to Sasuke. She thought of Ino and how she stopped being friends with her because of Sasuke. How she grew out her hair even though she hated how it looked on her because she heard that he liked girls with long hair. How he called her annoying before leaving her all alone on a bench the night he left the village. Her own tears began to fill up with tears as all these thoughts started to rush over her.
"See?" Yukiko spoke up when she no longer had anymore tears of her own. "Men only cause us pain and I plan on getting rid of them all. Starting with this boy here." She made one more hand sign before singing once again.
My voice is all you hear
My voice is all you want
Do what I wish
Jump of this cliff
Sakura gasped what she heard Yukiko tell Kiba to do. She looked over to see that he and Akamaru where listening to her and moving towards the edge of the cliff. They were walking closer and closer to ledge and their death. Yukiko was watching all of this and was smiling. Her plan was working.
"No!" Sakura tried to run over to them, but was stopped once again by Yukiko's giant white bird. "Get out of my way!" Sending chakra to her fist, she slammed it into the bird's stomach, sending it flying into the bolder behind it. It was knocked out instantly.
"Nice try, but it's too late," Yukiko said just as Kiba and Akamaru walked over the ledge.
"No!" Sakura poured chakra into her feet for a burst of speed and jumped off the cliff after Kiba and Akamaru.
"Sakura!" Yukie screamed when she saw Sakura jump off the cliff. She may be a ninja, but even a ninja could get killed from falling off a cliff like that.
Sakura was falling fast and want to scream in terror as she saw the ocean water approaching fast. She was scared, she was afraid that she would really die, but remembered what was happening around her and what she needed to do. She reached forward and with some effort was able to grab hold of Kiba and Akamaru quickly. Grabbing Akamaru with her left hand and wrapping her legs around Kiba's waist, Sakura threw a kunai with a rope attached it back up towards the cliff and almost screamed in joy when it wrapped itself around another bolder. Her right hand held onto the rope, while her left kept Akamaru close to her.
"He really did get bigger. And heavier!" She moaned, tightening her grip on both Akamaru and Kiba. She was so glad his back was to her and he wasn't facing her. This would have made the already awkward position even more awkward. "I need to wake them up before the rope gives!" She thought over everything she learned about genjutsu and how to break them. An idea came to mind when she remembered a certain lesson Iruka-sensei taught them. "My chakra. If I can put my chakra into their bodies, it'll break the jutsu," she smiled at her idea, thinking it would easily break the genjutsu, but groaned when she realized she had no free hands to do that. "Without my hands, how am I supposed to do this?" She asked herself, trying to think of ways to transfer her chakra to them. She thought over everything she's ever learned about chakra, genjutsu, and even the Inuzuka clan. Maybe something from Kiba's clan would give her some ideas.
"That's it!" Bringing Akamaru closer to her, she bit down on his ear pouring chakra from her mouth into the dog's body. It didn't take long before Akamaru was squirming in her arms; the jutsu was no longer working on him. "Akamaru!" She was so glad that worked.
Akamaru looked over at Sakura with a questioning gaze. She didn't need to understand him to know what he wanted. "Later boy, right now I need to get Kiba out of this jutsu," she told the nin-dog, placing him on top of her head. She had to admit that it felt a little weird, but it also felt a little nice. Maybe that was why Kiba let him sit on his head all the time.
Once Akamaru was on her head, Sakura used her now free hand to bring Kiba's head closer to her and bite down on his ear like she did with Akamaru and poured her chakra into his body. Like with his dog, it didn't take Kiba long to start moving again.
"Wha…? Sakura?" He looked up at her, giving her the same questioning gaze that Akamaru gave her. "Did you just bite me?" He asked, rubbing his ear. He could feel some heat and moister from where her mouth was. It made his cheeks burn at the thought, and made him think of close it was to what his family did to mark their mates. He wondered what he would feel if he and Sakura did mark each other as mates?
"I had to. It was the only way to get you out of the jutsu," Sakura needed him to understand that, and fast. She didn't know how much longer the rope would hold out for them. Even now, she could feel it begin to break from the weight it was holding up. "Do you remember anything?" She hopped he gave a quick answer; they needed to get back up the cliff and stop Yukiko. Sakura didn't want any harm to come to Yukie, or Yuuto.
He may be a complete scum bag in Sakura's mind, but she still had a mission to complete. That mission was to find the missing Yuuto and bring him back safely to the palace. She would finish her mission, and then she would yell at Yuuto and tell him what a complete and jerk he was.
"Sort of? I remember that girl, Yukiko but after that nothing." He looked down below him, wondering why he didn't feel anything beneath his feet. He gasped when he saw the freezing water below. "What the?!" He grabbed hold of Sakura's waist a lot rougher then he should have. The rope that was holding them up finally snapped, sending them flying down into the freezing water.
They hit the water with a giant splash and Kiba was the first to surface. "Akamaru!" He called before he saw his companion swimming over to him. "Good boy." He put him on a passing piece of ice that had fallen off from the cliff above. "Sakura!" He finally noticed that he didn't see her anywhere. "Sakura!" He called again, jumping onto the ice to look at the surrounding water. He finally saw a lock of pink hair floating near him before it went under the water.
"Sakura!" He didn't give it a second thought. Kiba jumped into the water after her, swimming as fast as his arms and legs would let him. He wrapped on arm around her waist before swimming back up to the surface.
He gasped when his and Sakura's head were above the water. Akamaru was barking at them to get out of the water and Kiba listened. He swam over to the ice, putting Sakura on it first before he got on. He looked her over and gasped when he noticed her silent form.
"She's not breathing!" Moving quickly Kiba placed his two hands on her chest and started to press down. He moved his lips onto hers next giving her air. He continued this process about three times before Sakura started to cough up the water that was filling her lungs.
"K-Kiba?" She cracked open one eye to a soaking wet Inuzuka and his dog.
"Sakura!" He was so glad that she was alright. He put one hand onto her cheek and looked at her now swollen lips. He hadn't realized how much pressure he probably put on them, but he didn't care. She was breathing again and that was all that mattered. "I'm so glad you're alright." He rubbed his thumb across her cheek, his eyes still staring at her swollen lips. His cheeks were suddenly burning and he was bringing his head back down to hers.
Sakura did even get a chance to sit back up when Kiba put his lips on top of hers once again. Her body tensed and her cheeks burned. He was kissing her. This time he wasn't giving her mouth to mouth resuscitation, he was kissing her. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do in a situation like this. Tsuande never taught her anything about this!
Kiba wasn't sure if her not responding was a good thing or a bad thing. He guessed it was both. It was bad because it meant that she probably didn't want the kiss, but it was good since she wasn't hitting and yelling at him. He wondered if this was her first kiss or did she give it to Sasuke. The thought alone caused Kiba to give a low growl in his throat.
"Ow!" Kiba broke the kiss when Akamaru bite his hand, barking at him that this wasn't the time for him to be doing something like that. They had an enemy to fight, not plan a date.
"Yeah, you're right." Kiba agreed with his dog and crossed his arms. Even if he did agreed, that didn't mean that he had to like it. "Sakura?" He looked over at his pink haired crush when he saw that she was sitting up, holding her red lips.
She ran her hands over her lips and was blushing like crazy. "My first kiss," she mumbled to herself.
"What?" Kiba still heard her and perked up when she spoke. "That was your first kiss?" He tried not to sound too excited, but he was. If that was her first kiss then that meant Sasuke never kissed her, or held her hand, or even went on a date with her, or anything else that guys and girls do together. He couldn't stop the happy grin that spread onto his face at the thoughts.
'Ha! Take that Sasuke. I kissed Sakura before you did. So even if you dokiss her, which will never happen, she'll always think of me." He thought happily of a certain jealous Uchiha, glaring daggers as he had Sakura all to himself.
Sakura didn't respond, she only nodded her head dropping her hands to her lap. "We…should probably get back to Yukie," she mumbled again, looking back up the cliff. She didn't look at Kiba, mostly because she wasn't sure how she was supposed to look at him now.
Kiba gave her a disappointed look. He didn't like that she was ignoring him; he wanted her attention on him. "Yeah, ok." He sighed again picking up Akamaru and helped Sakura up to her feet. The two ran on top of the water with their chakra before climbing up the cliff. Or Kiba did, Sakura kept slipping because of how soaked she was. Even with her chakra she couldn't get a good grip on the ice wall.
"Get on." Kiba squatted down telling her to get on his back. "It'll be faster and something tells me we're short on time," he said before she could argue. They could hear a man screaming from up top and knew it was Yuuto.
Sakura only nodded before getting on Kiba in a piggyback manner. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs around his waist. After the event that took place, she was a little embarrassed, but she couldn't let that stop her. They needed to finish this mission quickly before anyone else got hurt.
Kiba shivered when her body pressed into his back. He could feel her body's heat, even with their soaking wet clothes. Sakura's head was pressed against his, her hot breath blowing on the back of his neck, making his body shiver even more. How could one girl make him act so different? He wondered if this was the change his mother was talking about as he got older and became closer to the age of choosing his mate.
Kiba climbed up the cliff a lot faster the Sakura thought he would and was impressed at how fast they reached the top. She jumped off his back once there was ground beneath her foot and readied her chakra. She looked over at Yukiko who had Yuuto crying on the ground beneath her feet. To her left was Yukie trying to fight off the same white bird that Sakura knocked out.
"Kiba, you go and help Yukie. I'll take care of Yukiko," Sakura told him.
"No way! I got a score to settle with this woman!" He tried to move past Sakura, but she moved in front of him. He was baring his teeth and claws, ready for a fight.
"You can't. She'll place you back under her jutsu," she stepped in front of him, pushing him over to Yukie. "Her jutsu only works on men so I don't have to worry about falling under it. You need to make sure that the princess is safe," she said, walking towards Yukiko.
"Fine." Kiba didn't like leaving Sakura all alone to fight against this person, but he had no choice but to agree. "I better get a good date after this," he added loud enough for her to here.
"I should be the one saying that. After all, you did take my first kiss from me." If Kiba didn't know any better, he would say that she was flirting with him.
"Sakura, are you flirting with me?" He gave her a toothy grin.
"Whatever you say fang boy." She took off running after that before Kiba could even respond, her fist full of chakra ready to run right into Yukiko's face. The two Kunoichis started their own little fight off to the side of the cliff. Yukiko with her song jutsu and Sakura with her chakra.
Kiba and Akamaru ran towards Yukie and the white bird. "Fang Over Fang!" They used the jutsu and sent the white bird flying off the cliff and into the freezing water. "Ha! Take that!" He helped the princess to her feet and looked back in Sakura's direction. So far it looked like she was winning, but one thing was bothering him.
"Her hands are bleeding." Yukie saw this too from her spot next to Kiba.
Sakura slammed her fist down onto the frozen earth and winced at the pain that shot through her. She wasn't used to using her chakra enhanced strength yet and it was killing her hands. It didn't help when Yukiko kicked her in the jaw, making her go flying crashing to the ground.
"Sakura!" Kiba wanted to run to her, to help her fight Yukiko, but was being held back by Yukie.
"Don't," she warned him. "At this point, only Sakura can fight her. If you go over there, she'll put you back under her control and you could end up fighting Sakura," she added, letting go of his arm when she saw that he wouldn't move towards Sakura. Kiba's intensions may be good, but he could end up causing more harm then good for Sakura.
"But…" Kiba glared down at his clenching fist. He wanted so badly to fight this girl and help Sakura, but what could he do? If he went over then he could end up doing more harm then good, but he had to help Sakura. With the way her hands were, she wouldn't be able to keep fighting for very long. "I gotta do something!" He growled, running one gloved hand through his hair. He looked at his glove for a long while before a smile came onto his face. He took off both gloves and readied himself. "Sakura!" He called out to her, grabbing her attention away from Yukiko for the moment. "Catch!" He threw the gloves her way and cheered when she caught them.
"Huh?" She caught the black gloves on instinct and gave them a confused look. What was she supposed to do with them? She turned her confused look Kiba's way.
"Your hands! There for your hands!" he called to her, hoping she would understand.
She did. She put them on and stood up ready to fight once again. Sending chakra to her hands and feet, Sakura ran at Yukiko ready to finish this battle. Sakura smiled when her hands weren't in as much pain before when she used her fists. The gloves helped her more then Kiba, or she, thought they would.
"It's useless!" Yukiko cried, dodging Sakura's attacks. "I'm doing women all over the world a favor. It's only because of men that we suffer!" She punched Sakura's right cheek, but she didn't move. She only stood her ground, shocking Yukiko and everyone around her.
"You're right. I've been hurt by a boy that I believed I loved with all my heart," she spoke softly, keeping her eyes to the ground. Yukiko only smiled thinking that Sakura finally understood her, but stopped smiling when Sakura looked back up at her. "But it's because of another boy that I want to fight and keep my friends, both girls and boyssafe from people like you!" Her chakra was in her fist for this finishing blow. Sakura ran at Yukiko hitting right in the stomach just as the night gave way to dawn. Yukiko went flying through a boulder and hit the ground with a large thud. She was out cold.
"Alright!" Kiba ran over to Sakura's side once it was over. "Way to go, Sakura. You were incredible!" Akamaru was barking happily with his master, saying he agreed. He helped her steady herself; she looked really tired and ready to collapse. After today's events he couldn't blame her for being tired he was too.
He wrapped one hand around her waist, keeping her from falling to the ground. He used his other to bring Sakura's arm around his shoulder and held on while she tried to regain some of her energy. The battle had worn her out, but she still seemed too bright to Kiba. He was just glad that she wasn't pushing him away, but was instead leaning into him, depending on him. He liked that. He wanted that. He wanted her to depend on him, to believe that he could help her.
"That really was amazing, Sakura," Yukie said walking over to her. "I'm really glad that you came," she added with a soft smile. Although she wanted to see Naruto again after everything he did for her, she was glad that Sakura came too.
"Ex-excuse me?" All three turned to look at Yuuto, who was still shaking in fear. "What are you going to do about her?" He pointed a shaking finger at the knocked out Yukiko. Even with the woman knocked out, he was still terrified of her.
"Oh, don't worry. I already know what I'm going to with both of you." Yukie crossed her arms, silently telling him that she had the perfect punishment in mind for what he did.
-
They reached the castle in less then an hour, sending Sakura and Kiba off to their room to get some rest. Yukie had Yukiko's memory erased of all events and let her remain in the Land of Spring. As for Yuuto, she had him placed him under hose arrest, he can never leave his home again. She had given him the same punishment that he had given Yukiko all those years ago, she hoped it would make him understand what he did to the girl was unforgivable.
It had taken two extra days to fix the generator and erase all of Yukiko's memories before it was finally time for Sakura and Kiba to leave the Land of Spring and return back to the Leaf Village.
"Man, this feels great!" Kiba sighed at the bright sun. They had fixed the broken generator so the snow was all gone and the sun was shinning down. Kiba wasn't wearing his shinobi uniform, but instead had on a black yukata shirt with gray pants and gray scandals.
"It looks like you're really enjoying the weather." Kiba smiled when he picked up on Sakura behind him. He had heard her approaching, but he didn't say anything because he was enjoying the weather to much. Now he was enjoying the cherry blossom scent that was coming from behind him. Her scent somehow smelled so much better to Kiba then the opening fields that were in front of him.
"Yeah, well can you blame me?" He asked, turning around to face her. "It's really…beautiful." He wasn't talking about the weather anymore. He looked over Sakura and gulped as his hormones started working again. 'She looks…beautiful!' He didn't know what else to think about the image that was in front of him.
Sakura was wearing a bright green kimono that stopped just above her knees. A light pink cloth could be seen underneath it. A bright pink obi was tied around her waist, matching the cloth that was under her kimono. Her hair had been tied back into a tight bun with two golden pins and white open toed red laced scandals on her feet.
"It really is amazing isn't it?" She moved to stand next to him to get a better view of the land before them.
"You have no idea." He wasn't looking at the land, he was staring at Sakura. She was memorizing to say the least. He couldn't look away and he didn't want to. Her scent was so natural, telling him that she just got out of the bath. He wasn't picking up on any shampoo smells, so that meant she used a non-scent shampoo. He liked that, it made it easier to smell her natural scent, and her natural scent smelt amazing to Kiba.
"Kiba?" She turned to give him a bright smile and he felt his face heat up so much that he felt his clan markings disappear.
"Y-Yeah?" He sounded like Hinata but didn't care. He was too busy watching Sakura.
She giggled when she heard him stutter and placed her hands on his shoulders. She moved her head to the side and kissed Kiba the same way he did to her when they were still on the ice burg. "Thank you for saving my life." She wanted to laugh at the look that was on his face now. She didn't know what to call it, but she knew it was a look of happiness. "Come on." She grabbed his hand and started to pull him back to their rooms. "We need to get ready to go. Lady Tsuande will be expecting us back soon."
Kiba didn't care that he was being dragged down the hall and everyone was giving him a weird look. Let them stare. He got a kiss from Sakura and he felt like the luckiest guy in the world. Hell, he was the luckiest guy in the world! He had another toothy grin on his face thinking back to the kiss. Yep, life was good.
"Hey Sakura, let me ask you something?" He finally snapped out of it when they were nearing their rooms. They were all packed, they just needed to change clothes and then they would leave.
"What?" She wondered what he wanted to ask her. Maybe it was about the kiss? To be honest, she wasn't really sure why she kissed him. It just felt like something she should do and she had to admit, it felt nice kissing Kiba.
"Back on the cliff when you said that someone hurt you, you meant Sasuke right?" He was suddenly serious that it surprised her.
"Yeah." Where was he going with this?
"But you also said that it was because of another person that made you want to fight to protect your friends?" She nodded saying he was telling the truth. "That other person…did you mean, Naruto?"
It finally made sense to her now. He was confused by her actions and her words. She would always go on and on about Sasuke and it was obvious to everyone in the village that she was very close to Naruto. Kiba was probably thinking she was just playing around with him.
"Sort of," She said stopping once they reached her room. "Naruto did help me a lot to become the person I am, but…" She looked up at him to give him another bright smile. "You helped start to become a whole new person."
"Me?" That confused him. What did he do? Last Kiba checked, he didn't do anything on the mission besides getting placed under a jutsu and nearing killed himself because of it.
"Yes, you." She poked his nose and giggled. "If you hadn't been there, I might have done something really stupid that could have ended with me doing serious damage to my hands." She looked down at her hands, they weren't bleeding anymore and all her injuries were gone after she healed them. "I had thought that because of what I was learning from Lady Tsunade, it meant that I wouldn't have to rely on people anymore, but now I see that isn't the case." She paused, giving him yet another bright smile. "You showed me that I can become strong, but I can still have others help me."
"How?" He didn't understand what it was that he did that he helped her.
"With these." She showed him the gloves he tossed to her during her fight. "A glove is designed to protect someone's hand during the cold. These two gloves show me that I can have my friends protect me and I can still be strong." She held them to her chest like she was holding a child. "Can I keep them?"
He didn't even have to think twice to answer her. "Yes." He still didn't really understand how it was that he helped her, but he was glad that he did. Seeing her smile and be happy like this was something that he always wanted to see.
"Thank you." She reached up to kiss his cheek and went to open her bedroom door when he stopped her. "What is it?"
"Aren't you forgetting something?" He gave her another toothy grin.
Sakura thought it over but nothing was coming to mind. "I don't think so."
"Our date?" His grin got even wider when he saw her blushing. "Did you forget, you promised me a date on the cliffs back there? You said it better be a good one since I took your first kiss." She remembered alright. She had only been half joking with him at the time, but she didn't think he was really paying attention to her. "Well Sakura, once we get to the village I'm taking you out on a date so tell me if you got anything special in mind so I can start planning." He may have looked confident and smooth on the outside, but on the inside he was a nervous wreck. He was scared that she would say that she was only joking and turn him down. 'So what if she does? I'll just keep going until she finally accepts!' He told himself, preparing for whatever reply may come his way. Even if she said she was just joking, he wouldn't stop. He would keep going until Sakura gave him the chance to show her what a great boyfriend he could be for her, and by the Hokage he would do that!
Sakura looked at him and could easily see just how nervous he really was. He really did like her. "Anything but ramen is fine with me. Naruto made me eat it almost everyday," she said, leaning against the door to her room.
"Got it." Kiba nodded, thinking over every restaurant and cafe in the village that he could take her to. "Pick you up at seven?"
"Seven it is," she agreed, saying it was a good time. In her head, she was thinking over her thing she owned and what would be a good outfit to wear for their date. If she didn't find anything, she would have to call Ino for an emergency shopping mission. Kiba was officially the first guy she agreed to go out with on a date, and she wanted to look nice for her first date.
"Great." Kiba ran a hand through his hair, glad that this was over. Now for the hard part, making sure the date went off without a hitch so he wouldn't make a fool of himself. "So…see ya in a bit!" He ran into his room before he really did do something stupid.
"Yeah, see ya." Sakura breathed, watching him go. She had to admit that for her first date, she was really excited. A lot more excited then she thought she would be. Letting a smile form on her face, she went into her room to change and get ready to head back to the village and for her date with Kiba.
