Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story

Chapter 10

As calmly as she could, Sakura walked toward the edge of town. The sun was just coming up and leaves were falling left and right. If Sakura wasn't so nervous she'd be appreciating the changes in the weather and finding the beauty all around her. She was just too busy thinking about her conversation with Tsunade. 'You can't be distracted by anything while you are on this mission. Constant alert is necessary to your survival. Save your personal life until you get back home.' All she did to respond to that was nod. It's not like she disagreed, but the thought of not being able to say goodbye to Kiba was eating her up inside. A light sigh escaped Sakura's lips as she left Konoha for what might be her last time. Tsunade had given Sakura precise direction on where she was to find Sasuke and when she would have to be there. It was surprising to see how close he was going to be to town. Sakura had an hour of running until she was to reach her destination. With that she set off into the distance, calming and collecting herself, knowing that if she didn't do it now, she wouldn't have time when she arrived.

While Sakura was having personal issues and going on an extremely dangerous mission, Kiba was at home alone. He knew Sakura wasn't home after calling her numerous times until her mom picked up saying she was out on a mission. Lonely without her, he decided to call the guys over like he always did so they could hang out. Though, this time, it was only to get his mind off worrying about Sakura. First he called Shikamaru.

"Hello?" said Shika, picking up the phone.

"Hey, wanna come over? My mom and sister left and I got the place to myself." answered Kiba, getting it all out in one splurge.

"Sure. I'll be there soon." Shika replied before hanging up the phone.

'One down' thought Kiba. He quickly repeated the same process with Chouji, Neji, Naruto, Shino, and even Lee. Soon all the guys were over at his place, deciding on what to do.

"Let's play guitar hero!" exclaimed Naruto, who had recently become addicted to the game.

"No, let's watch a movie." argued Neji, just for the sake of arguing.

"Quiet!" yelled Kiba, breaking the chatter up. There wasn't a sound, and no one dared move. Kiba never yelled, this was weird.

"What's up Kiba, you don't yell. Is something wrong?" asked Shino, who knew Kiba better than anyone in that room.

"No, I just wanted you guys to come over; I didn't expect you all to fight."

This comment startled everyone, even Naruto. Kiba had a problem with them fighting? Something was definitely bugging him. It even looked like Kiba was going to cry.

"What are you, a woman?!" exclaimed Chouji.

"Dude, that was harsh." said Neji, "come on Kiba, what the heck is going on with you? You sick?" finished Neji, completely clueless, but at least nicer toward Kiba.

"I'm fine. What do you guys want to do?" asked Kiba, acting as if nothing happened. To Kiba, everything seemed upside down. Why had he yelled? It's not like anyone was doing anything different than any other time the guys were over. Then it hit him. He had just spent that last two days being gentile and sensitive. Everything had been quiet and controlled. That's why he wanted the guys to be quiet. Not because of anything other than he missed being with Sakura.

While Kiba was hitting self-realization, his eyes glazed over and he spaced out. Everyone around him was clueless of what was going on until Lee exclaimed,

"He has been youthful and found love!"

This simple exclamation made everyone laugh, but earned a shocked look from Kiba. When everyone saw Kiba's reaction, they got curious.

"What?!" exclaimed Naruto. "Who do you love? Do we know her? How are you the first of all of us to have a girlfriend?"

All of these questions were bringing out what Kiba was trying to hide from them. He was just trying so hard to be with Sakura; he didn't want any of the guys to ruin it. Lee would be jealous; Naruto would be over protective, and who knows what the others would think. But, he had to tell them. Kiba didn't want to lie to all of his best friends anymore.

"It's Sakura." he said plain and simple.

"Since when?" asked Shika, not really believing what Kiba had just said.

"Since that party that Ino through the day she got home from the hospital. I'm the one who took her to the park." Kiba admitted.

"You know when Ino finds out about this she's going to kill you, right?" asked Chouji. He, along with Shikamaru, was one of the few people who knew Ino's true wrath.

"It's worth it." Kiba said. Not wanting to talk about this any further, he decided to change the subject. "Do you guys want to watch a movie?"

"Sure." they all responded eventually, realizing, on the most part, that he didn't want to continue on the subject. But one little mind just couldn't help wondering.

"Just, what have you guys done together?" asked Shino, oddly curious about this hidden relationship.

"What do you mean? We went out for dinner, played guitar hero, I took her to the park," listed Kiba, not quite catching what Shino meant.

"No, like, have you DONE anything together?" asked Shino, hoping Kiba would get his drift.

"I don't get it." replied Kiba. The day went on and on like this, Kiba could be as clueless as Naruto sometimes. The group of boys were talking about the girls for quite awhile, and eventually got bored turned the t.v. on and watched a movie. It was a fun night, no matter how uncomfortable it seemed at times, but it didn't help in keeping Kiba's worried mind away from Sakura.

Eventually, Sakura had arrived exactly were Tsunade had described. It was an open field about the size of a tennis court. It wasn't very big and it had a giant tree on the west side. Sakura looked at the sun and figured that she was about half an hour early for the time she had to be there. Sitting down next to a tree, Sakura tried her hardest not to think about what she had left behind. She cleared her head of 'what ifs' and focused on what she had to do. 'I can do it' was still all she could say to keep herself there.

Meanwhile Shizune and Tsunade were arguing away in the office.

"Tsunade, you have to send backup, Sakura can't beat him!"

"She's our only hope. Everyone had a connection to Sasuke. She doesn't remember him. She is the only one who will kill him if it becomes necessary." replied an angry Tsunade.

"Well, when she comes back dead, it's all on you." Shizune finished. She knew it was going to fail. This was a suicide mission. Hopefully Sakura doesn't freak out. Their only hope was that Sasuke still loved Sakura.