I know it's been a while and I always apologize for this, but everything I think things get better, something else always happens so I'm going to stop making these promises of faster and more updates that I obviously can't keep. Anyway, glad to see that everyone is still so supportive and I'm happy to oblige you all with this new update. Enjoy and review as always.

Chapter 9

The day was seemingly perfect to any other person that had the ability to actually enjoy it. The weather was nice and the sun was shining. Birds were singing and the sky was clear; not a cloud for miles. Yup, another one of those perfect days that Sakura would just never get the chance to enjoy.

Sakura sighed as she kept up her steady pace behind Kiba. They had bid their farewells, packed their things, and were now only moments away from their village. Kiba hadn't wanted to stay any longer and she honestly could not blame him because the vacation was over before it even started for her also. Whatever Tsunade was thinking, had failed.

The girl stared at the back of the dog nin head as they walked and considered a few things. Ever since they left the village, Kiba hadn't quite seemed himself. For one, not that she was complaining, he was quieter than usual. And he would often look back at her with some strange look that she couldn't quite place.

Sighing, Sakura tried to focus on the trip at hand. They were almost back to Konoha and there she would see as less of Kiba as possible. Hopefully, she would also be able to get Tsunade to consider giving her more time off from the hospital since this little 'vacation' was a bust.

Kiba glanced back as Sakura and noticed that she seemed lost in her own thought so she didn't catch him looking at her this time. Facing forward again, he inwardly groaned and ran his hand through his messy brown hair, trying to focus and clear his head.

When Kiba had started having those flashbacks, he had decided to go and talk to Akamaru and he was unbelieving of anything his friend was saying. All the dog had done was hint at how he should try to get closer to Sakura and remember that she was still an option. There was just no way in hell Kiba could accept that. Ever!

Sakura was not even close to one of the girls that could be on the list. Hell, he had a better chance of it being Ino or something.

Kiba thought for a second. He wasn't trying to insinuate that there was anything wrong with Sakura. Sure she was very pretty, beautiful even, in a weird way. Her eyes were an amazing emerald like he had never seen before and her hair, as odd as it was, had an exotic appeal to it, and her scent…..

Kiba shook his head of the thoughts. That was a territory he did not want to cross with his mind right now. They could not get back to the village soon enough for him. He needed some space to think and be himself. He needed to go home and rest and then go find one of his flings and relieve some stress.

"Something wrong with you? You seem very uncomfortable." Akamaru asked, riding on Kiba's shoulder.

"You already know and I'm not talking to you about it." He muttered back, making sure his voice was low enough so that Sakura didn't hear their conversation.

"Don't be mad at me for making sense." the dog said. Humans! They never could just accept things for what they were; always having to do things the hard way.

"Let's just drop it. You don't make sense so don't think for one second that you're right in any way."

The group continued on in silence for a little while longer until the gates of Konoha could finally be seen in the distance. Sakura could barely conceal the excitement she had for being able to go home again and sleep in her apartment and relax. Kiba was thinking some of the same things, although his included more than sleeping.

Being home was good, but he was instantly reminded that he had a lot going on right now. Somewhere in this village he had a mate to find and still had no clue where to start looking. Also, he had a clan to take over and start getting used to his alpha role.

3

Tsunade sneezed and rubbed her nose. Almost on cue, there was also a cold chill that went down her spine. Something was off. She didn't know what it was, but she felt something. Like someone was talking about her or something was about to happen.

"You ok there?"

She refocused her attention to the woman that was standing in front of her desk. Tsume and she had been working closely to see if there was anything they could do about Kiba's situation from their end. Of course, only he and the other person bared the mark (which was inconveniently invisible right now) so neither of them could physically tell.

Tsume had been patrolling the village looking for anything out of the ordinary with any females and Tsunade had examined all women who came into the clinic that could fit the description of what Kiba would go for. She wasn't really sure what she was looking for. For the mark to be hidden, there had to be some chakra work going on here, but she wasn't positive how to identify it so she checked and hoped that she found anything that could be considered out of the ordinary. Nothing had come up.

The list of Kiba's classmates was still an option. She had decided it best not to bother any of them too much so that no suspicions were raised. The last thing anyone wanted was for this to get out to the public and they had been working hard to keep things under wraps.

"Yeah I'm fine." Tsunade leaned back in her chair, hands folded. "I'm not really seeing anything else that we can do."

Tsume nodded. "You're right. Kiba is the alpha male and she the alpha female. They must find each other on their own. There is no way we could sniff her out."

"I thought your clan could always find their own?" Tsunade commented.

"Yes, but like I said, the heat masked his scent and when they made contact, her scent too. We can't sniff her out through his scent and we don't even know who she is to look for hers."

This really had become nothing but a waiting game. As simple as it sounded, this unnerved Tsunade more than anything. She still had not come up with a way to handle the legal matters or this. Rape and clan tradition were all at risk here. It was still a very messy situation.

"I don't know how they do it, but ever since the Rookie 9 graduated the academy, there has been disaster after disaster." Tsunade commented.

Tsume smiled. "Yeah, they definitely are a lot more active than we were at their age."

Just then the door to the office opened and Shizune entered. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but Sakura and Kiba have returned to the village and are requesting to see you." she said in a rushed tone.

Tsume and Tsunade looked between each other and then back to the messenger girl.

"Is there anything wrong with them?" Tsunade asked.

"Uh..no..at least I don't think so."

This time Tsume spoke. "So they seem…fine? No problems?"

"Well…They don't seem overly friendly, but I'm not sure what you mean."

Tsunade just dismissed Shizune and instructed for them to be sent in. Asking all these questions would just raise suspicion. The girl quickly left the room and went to go and get the two ninja.

"Well, time to see how things went on their 'mission'" Tsume smiled.

Tsunade steadied herself. She was hoping to kami that nothing happened on this mission. They were back too early so that was already a bad sign, but hopefully nor one that led to Tsume gaining a daughter in law, Kiba getting a wife, and Sakura killing them all.

The doors to the office opened again and the two ninja entered, stopping in front her desk and bowing. Kiba looked when he saw his mother standing next to the hokage.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, unsure. He half wondered if Tsunade knew about his situation and if so, how she felt about.

"Oh, we were just visiting." Tsume said.

Tsunade cleared her throat to gain the attention in the room. "So, how did things go?" she asked. "I noticed you two returned early."

Sakura spoke this time. "Well, we appreciate the vacation, but it just didn't work out."

"Oh, and why is that?" Tsume asked, now interested.

Tsunade half glared at her. She knew the woman was fishing for information.

Kiba swallowed. "We just weren't in the mood for a vacation."

After that an awkward silence filled the room. Kiba and Sakura made eye contact with no one while Tsume and Tsunade stared them both down, trying to decipher the meaning behind this silence.

"Well, is there anything else?" Tsunade asked. "If not, then you both can go."

Kiba and Sakura bowed again and then they both exited the room. Sakura was going to ask about her extra time off, but she figured that she could just come back once those two were done 'visiting'.

As the doors closed Tsume chuckled. "That wasn't strange at all." she commented.

Tsunade turned to look at her. "What do you think?" She was really hoping that this was not the pair.

"We're about to find out…What do you think?"

Tsunade turned to see who her question was directed towards and noticed Akamaru sitting on the fllor in front her desk. Kiba hadn't noticed that he got left behind.

"I'm sure Akamaru can give us a firsthand run down of the situation." Tsume commented.

The small dog barked and walked over to Tsunade, jumping onto her desk. "I think that those two are something to be interested in."

Tsunade watched the exchange between the two of them, not being able to understand what Akamaru was saying anyway.

"Interested in how?" Tsume asked.

"Simple way to put it; I think she's the one."

33333

Sakura and Kiba walked out of the hokage's tower and into the streets of Konoha. It felt so good to the both of them to be back home in their own village and away from that vacation and the memories with it.

"Well, this has been…fun."

Kiba said, stopping at the point where the two of them would split and go their separate ways. There was a moment of silence where the both of them just looked around.

"All things aside, this mission or whatever wasn't completely horrible." Sakura said, being the first to break the silence.

Kiba scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess I was kind of an ass in some parts. I do apologize for that." he admitted.

She thought for a moment. Yes, he had been an ass, but a lot of the things he did also helped her, especially that night at the club.

"You weren't that bad. I do appreciate what you did for me….Well, I gotta go."

She finally turned and walked away, heading towards her apartment. Kiba stood and watched her receding form for a few more seconds. It felt…odd…to watch her walk away like that. He could have sworn he felt something compelling him to follow, to make sure she was safe and that no one touched her.

Shaking the thoughts from his head, he finally carried on in his own direction. Now that the vacation was over, he had other things to worry about again. He had to find this mystery girl and solve some serious problems; but where to start looking for her?

33333

Naruto ordered another bowl as he leaned back in the booth, petting his already full belly. "Man there is nothing like Ramen before bed." He had already eaten 3 bowls prior.

Shikamaru stared at him in mild disbelief. He knew that the boy could eat but this was inhuman. "Don't you think you've had enough?"

"Of ramen? Never!"

Naruto and Shikamaru were sitting in Ichiraku's and talking to pass the time. Naruto was waiting on someone that Tsunade had wanted him to meet and Shikamaru was just bored and was waiting for Choiji to ditch Ino and meet up with him.

"So, what's the deal with the mysterious person you're waiting for?" Shikamaru asked, remembering.

Naruto shrugged. "Not sure. It's some guy from Suna."

Shikamaru arched a brow. "What is he coming here for?"

"He is supposed to be training under Tsunade and Sakura for medicine so that the meds in Suna can be better prepared to help people."

Naruto personally thought it was a great idea that Konoha and Suna were helping each other out this way. With Gaara as the Kazekage, things had really gotten more peaceful between the two and more convenient.

"So Sakura's getting a student?" Shikamaru toyed with the idea. She was still somewhat of a student herself, but he guessed that her knowledge and skill was on a pretty high level.

Naruto nodded. "Yup, hopefully he's a cool guy and she gets a boyfriend out of this." Naruto said. "I think that if she wasn't such a loner, she would enjoy life more instead of spending all her time at the hospital."

Shikamaru wasn't one for getting into other people's private business, but he did have to admit that she spent a lot of time there, so maybe Naruto actually had a point.

Just then, a figure walked over to the table and smiled down at the two nin. Naruto and Shikamaru looked to see their visitor and eyes him. It was a boy, around the age of 21. He stood tall with black spiky hair and dark eyes. He had a half smile on his face, almost like a smirk.

"Well, since you are the only guys here, I suppose you're who I'm looking for." he said to them both, flashing a toothy smile. "How are you? Name's Kazu."

I feel like this is short, but I am going to end it there. And to help give you a visual of Kazu, think Ichigo with black hair and roy mustang eyes.

Anyway, hope you all liked it and I know the suspense is killing for when the two of them will find the truth out, but you are just going to have to keep reading and find out.

But, uh-oh, Kazu might give Kiba a run for his money ;)

Cya