"Ow," you look over at the brown haired boy sitting next to you, "Why'd you bite me?" You reach up to your shoulder to find a small trickle of blood coming from the wound.
He grins at you, "I was marking you as my mate." He leans over and licks the blood up.
"Kiba!" you blush very red and he sits back up and grins at you.
"What?" he cocks his head to one side, "I can pick my mate."
You look stunned for a moment, "We're 6 years old," he just shrugs when you hear a faint bark in the distance.
He stands and looks down at you, "I have to go now, but it is a promise, you'll see." and at that he runs off.
You wake from your musings as you look at the mark still on your shoulder 12 years later. It's not a scar but it is still definitely there. You have hidden it all this time, not sure what to say to your friends or your family. 5 years ago you went to confront Kiba about what he said and did that day, but found him surrounded by girls. They were giggling at everything he said and you started to fume. At the time you weren't sure as to why you got so mad, but you do now. He happened to see you and gave you a quick flash of a smile before going back to his conversation. You blushed and stomped away.
Many times you tried to talk to Kiba about it and you either found him surrounded by females or his team mates. When you start feeling jealous of Hinata you started to understand why seeing him surround by girls always pissed you off. You had wanted to talk to him about it because you were hoping that he would remember the promise.
Suddenly there is a knock on the door and you quickly pull your shirt over your head and make sure the mark is covered. "Come in mom."
An elderly woman enters and looks you over, "That is what your going to wear to meet your suitors?"
You finish getting dressed and look at her, "I told you I was not going." Your sisters had been given arranged marriages, and even though they weren't unhappy, their husbands wouldn't dare doing anything to the 3rd Hokage's daughters, but they weren't happy either. In fact it was your sister that gave birth to the Hokage's first grand child, Konohamaru. But it's not what you want, you want to chose your ma... husband. You reach up and touch your shoulder where the mark was.
"Are you okay?" your mother gives you a concerned look.
You shake your head a couple of times, "I'm fine. I need to get going."
You were on your way to the Hokage's office for a mission that you asked for. A couple of days ago it was announced that Kiba was going to be getting married and you just wanted to get out of town, the longer the better. "We were just 6 years old after all." you hold back the pain you feel in your stomach as you think about that day. "It was foolish to think that it really meant anything." you mumble as you enter the building.
You knock on the Hokage's door and wait for her to answer. "Come in." You see the 5th Hokage sitting behind her desk with piles of papers on either side of it. "Are you certain about this?" You nod once and the Hokage hands you some papers. "This is your mission," You read through the papers. "Are you sure you want to do this kind of mission? You could be gone for a few months to a few years."
You fold up the papers and look at the older woman, "I'm certain."
She smiles at you, "Then you have three days to get everything together that you will need."
"I should only need one." you interrupt. "I will leave in the morning."
She frowns then turns her chair to look out the window, "Very well. Please be safe."
You leave the Hokage's office and head to the shops of the village. You want to get out of the village as fast as possible but you also want to linger a little, you will be gone for a long time and want to be able to remember the sites, sounds and smells of home before you leave.
As you walk through the village you hear people talk about Kiba's wedding. The announcement said that it would be held 6months from now. You think over the mission description, "I wonder if I can make it last at least 6 months." In your musings you walk into the weapon shop. You hand the clerk a small list, "This is what I will be needing."
He looks over it quickly, "you're in luck most of this is in stock, the rest should be arriving this afternoon."
"I will come back in a couple of hours then." he gives you a nod and you leave the shop. You've never really talked to anyone much in this town but you are not unknown to them either. Just as you know most of the names of the villagers they know your name. Arisa Sarutobi the youngest of the 3rd Hokage's children. Your brother the only son of the old Hokage was killed a couple of years ago by the Akatsuki Hidan. But his girlfriend and one of your best friends Kurenai had his son about 5 months after his death. You love your little nephew to pieces and like his father he is a very skilled and intelligent, though you think the later may be more due to his personal teacher then anything.
Despite how lazy Shikamaru is he makes a very good teacher and takes it very seriously. You were so busy musing about the class you watch between the two that you didn't see the very person coming down the road. He happened to side step you and drew your attention to the sudden movement. You bow quickly, "Sorry, I was not paying attention."
"Tch," is all he says. You see Choji and Naruto on the other side.
Naruto gives one of his famous smiles and bursts out, "We're going to celebrate Kiba's engagement. What to come with us?" Choji stabs his elbow into the blond's ribcage, "Ow, what was that for?"
You were about to say sure when his exclamation reminded you of why you were leaving, "Thank you for the offer Naruto, but I leave for a mission in the morning and have many things to do." And walk away from the three boys.
You walk with purpose to your next destination, no more day dreaming you needed to get out of town. And the sooner the better, to much was beginning to cause doubt in yourself. At your next destination you leave the clerk with your list and comment that you would be back later that afternoon to pick everything up. You head to the restaurants area, you have a favorite that go to that offers you quiet and most importantly solitude.
The waitress takes you to your favorite table and hands you the menu. After taking your drink order she leaves and you open the menu. It is mostly formality that you actually look through the menu, but every once in a while you do find something you want to try. Today on the other hand, you want the usual, a nice steak with vegetables. You want something familiar right now.
When the waitress returns you give her your order. She gives you a downcast look, "I'm sorry but we need the steaks for a catering order that we are doing this evening. They ordered all the steaks in town, I would recommend chicken as we still have some of that."
You let out a sigh, "Okay, how about the #4 then, grilled with mixed vegetables."
She bows and walks away. To your self, "I wonder who would order that many steaks..." You remember what Naruto said earlier, "Would they need that many? I wonder who all is going there?" you shake your head, "It doesn't matter."
When your food arrives you look at it cautiously. The waitress notices, "Is there something wrong?"
"No, I just don't feel very hungry anymore."
She smiles, "It's alright you should eat a little any way, you need your strength." she bows and walks away.
You look at the chicken and start pushing around the vegetables. You sigh again, take a bite of the chicken. "I really wanted that steak." you moan in your head. You stop when you feel some ones presence start to walk up to your table. It's Hinata, she has her usual look about her but you can tell she is excited.
You smile and gesture to the chair across from you. "Thank you." she mumbles out.
"Would you like something to eat or drink?" you smile at the shy girl.
"Some soda if that's okay."
You nod and flag the waitress over, "Soda for miss Hyuga please." The waitress bows and heads off tot he kitchen. "So, what brings you here?"
She looks down and starts fumbling with her fingers, "I wanted to talk to you."
The waitress brings Hinata's drink and goes to help a couple that just came in. "What would you like to talk about?" you have a feeling it's about the announcement and Naruto.
You watch her blush a deep red and look up at you. "Score one for me." you say to your self.
"It's about Naruto, isn't it?" she blushes and looks down. "With this talk about Kiba getting married you were hoping maybe Naruto would ask you." She nods slightly again. You giggle at the brunette. She looks hurt, "I'm sorry but Naruto is rather think and it may take him a while more before he gets the idea to ask anybody, and that includes Sakura." She continues to blush and drink her soda. You manage to eat more of your lunch but not much.
She looks at your plate then looks up at you, "Is something wrong, you didn't eat much."
You shrug, "Not very hungry. That's not unusual before a mission."
"You're going on a mission?" her eyes are huge and full of shock.
"Yes, I'll be leaving in the morning."
She seems thoughtful then excuses herself and leaves the restaurant. You watch her go and pull your money out for the bill. "I wonder what that was about." You hand the waitress the money and leave yourself. "No time to worry about it need to pick up my stuff." you say to yourself.
The shops had all your stuff ready when you walked in and they all said the same thing, "Be safe." Not really odd but not something they usually say. It was only a recon mission and even if that carries it's own risks they are minimal.
You continue home, once there you begin pack your things and setting out your clothes for tomorrow. You are just about done when you hear a knock on the door. "Come in mother." But this time it wasn't your mother. "Kiba? Why are you hear? I thought you had a party for this evening."
"I do." he notices your things, "So what I heard was true, you are going on a mission."
You nod, "Yes, they need some recon done along the northern border, I will be back in a few months."
"That's good but I heard that you were engaged." you look at him curiously. "Your mother told me that a suitor came and asked for your hand. She gladly accepted, she's been worried about you. She's not going to leave forever and she wants to see you married before she passes on."
You clench your fist, "She didn't tell me." then you remember this morning maybe that was what she was talking about. Going to see your suitor so he could ask you to marry him. "It doesn't matter, I'm leaving for my mission tomorrow morning."
"No your not."
You glare daggers at him, "What? Why would the Hokage listen to you about something that I asked for?"
He grins and walks up to you, you try not to show what his nearness is doing to you. He reaches up and grabs your shirt at the collar. He starts to undo the top buttons when you grab his hand, "What are you doing?"
He smiles and leans close to your ear, "You'll see." he undoes the buttons and slowly pulls the shirt off your shoulder. "You see, the mark still exists that means that you still agree to the mating bite I gave you." You flush and your mom and his mom walk into the room, "It's still here." he comments over his shoulder at the two older women.
"Why didn't you tell me?" your mom walks up and touches your shoulder, "If I had known I could have made better preparations." She looks back at Kiba, "I didn't know until Kiba came by this morning with his mom and told me about it."
Kiba's mom puts her hand gentle on your mother's shoulder, "Let's leave these two alone, it looks like they have much to talk about."
As she passed Kiba his mom leans over and says, "Behave yourself."
"Of course." he smirked at you and waited for the door to close. He started to walk your direction. "Is there something wrong, Arisa?"
You back up a couple of paces, "No, but why didn't you tell me about it."
He stops and gives you a curious look, "But I did."
"When?" you can't remember anything.
"When I gave you the mark, I told you it was a mate mark." he cocks his head to the side.
"We were 6 years old." he looked hurt, "I wasn't sure about it...and when I did finally go to talk to you, you were surrounded be girls." your turn to look hurt.
"Every time?"
"No, sometimes you were with your team."
He walks up to you and you back up into the wall, he places his hands on either side of your head. And closes his eyes, "I remember those times."
You push him off you, "I thought you had forgot that was why you were always around those giggling girls."
He looks into your eyes and smirks, as he watches you blush, "You weren't jealous were you?" you turn away but hear him walk up behind you. "I could only handle all those "giggling girls" because I knew you were mine." He wraps his arms around your waist, "You were jealous, I'm surprised you weren't jealous of Hinata for being on the same team." You were quiet and he caught on, "You were jealous."
He nips the base of your neck, "So are you happy that I spoke to the Hokage in your behalf?"
You turn in his arms and look him square in the eyes, "If you had come back to me later, you know when we were older, this wouldn't have been necessary. I was wonder what every one getting worked up about."
At this time he gently places his lips on yours, "Do you forgive me?"
You cross your arms, "I don't know."
He pulls you in closer, and kisses you again. When he tries to pull away you place your hand behind his head and keep him in place. The kiss lasted several minutes and when it was over you leaned your foreheads together, "So does this mean I'm forgiven?"
You smile slyly, "We will see soon enough." You pull him in and give him an urgent and desire filled kiss.
He walks you slowly back to your bed and he lowers you to it with out breaking the kiss. Before you guys could do anything further your mothers knock on the door and walk in, "There will be plenty of time for that. Right now you two need to get to your engagement party."
Kiba kisses you one more time and helps you up off the bed. He turns tot he door and offers his arm, you push it out of the way and wrap your arms around him. "Let's go."
