I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 10

The Aftermath

Koharu tried using her arm to cover the bright light that was disturbing her sleep. It was too damn early to be awake, and she could feel the headache that would be bothering her the rest of the day. She flipped to her other side in hopes of being able to fall back asleep, but noticed how different her room smelled.

Slowly opening her eyes, her vision adjusted and made out an outline of a body. Gasping, Koharu pushed her body away from the person, causing her to crash out of the bed. Her head was ringing intensely and she bumped her funny bone against the leg of a side table.

As she cradled her elbow, she looked down and frowned at the clothes she was sitting on top of. Her shoes were scattered in the mess of clothes and papers on the floor. Straightening her back, she peeped over the bed.

Her eyes widened as she took in the image of Kiba sleeping peacefully. He was laying on his back, his head turned away from her. Despite the unpleasant wakening, he had somehow managed to sleep through it.

Resettling in a more comfortable position, Koharu tried her best to remember what had happened. She sat there for a good 5 minutes before realizing that her last recollection was dancing with Choji, holding hands as they circled around Tenten while she chugged from some unknown bottle. She sighed at her failure to recall the rest of the night.

Blacking out was a rare event, especially since she already knew how sensitive she was to alcohol. Coming from a community college didn't really help the fact that her opportunities to get wasted were nonexistent. If it weren't for Temari inviting her out so much, she would have never really known her limits.

Kiba's arm moved to cover his head, causing her to stiffen. Having him wake up was the absolute last thing she wanted. She took note that he was in a t-shirt and boxers, and thanked the gods that he wasn't naked. Quickly, she grabbed her shoes and shuffled the tangle of objects on the floor until she found her phone.

"Please don't be dead," she muttered under her breath. Flipping the device over, the little red icon indicated that her phone was on the verge of dying. Taking her time to get up, she realized how heavy her head felt and eyed the water bottle on the side table. She bit her lip, and grabbed it before tip toeing out.

Slowly creeping open the door, she poked her head out and relaxed when she saw Naruto and Hinata sleeping soundly. Hinata was sleeping on the couch, while Naruto slept on the floor beside her with his arms around a trash can.

As she walked out, she sniffed the air and identified the disgusting scent of vomit. Wrinkling her nose, she hurried out so she wouldn't get sick as well.

Once she was in front of the building, Koharu panicked when she couldn't recognize the streets. It didn't seem like they were anywhere near the house or near campus. She bit her lip, contemplating on how she'd be able to get home. She had no idea if the walking distance was doable, and her phone was already at 5%.

She flipped through her contacts and cursed when she realized who her best contact was for a situation like this. She really needed to make more friends at KU.

The moment his phone vibrated, Shikamaru's hand shot out to retrieve it. There had been too many times Temari chewed him out for waking her up with his alarms and notifications. She was still knocked out from the previous night's activities, but he knew better than to take the chance of possibly disturbing her.

He brought the phone to his ear, whispering quietly, "What."

His eyes slowly opened when he heard the caller speak.

"How troublesome…" he smirked.

Koharu sat awkwardly at the dining table as Shikamaru scooped scrambled eggs onto her plate. Her head was resting on the table in her arms, eyeing the fluffy little yellow mountains. Shikamaru returned the frying pan onto the counter before taking his place next to her.

He started eating in silence, not wanting to probe her. He knew the girl well enough that letting her speak her mind first would make the conversation a lot easier.

Koharu turned her head forward so that she no longer had to see the plate or Shikamaru's arm. She mumbled something incoherent into her arms. Shikamaru frowned, unable to understand what the hungover girl said, and poked her arm.

Turning her head back, Koharu began softly, "He doesn't even know I left… He was still asleep and I didn't want to wake him up. I don't remember anything that happened last night. I'm pretty sure he didn't try anything…"

She slowly sat back up and looked sadly upon the breakfast that Shikamaru made.

"Both of our clothes were still on, so I don't think anything that bad happened."

Shikamaru took a small sip of his orange juice, analyzing her face. He could tell that she wanted to cry. He'd known the girl for a while now and had witnessed her suffer through some harsh events. Whenever something bad happened, she always kept the same facial expressions before announcing that she needed to be alone with Temari. The girl would travel the greatest distances just to speak to her best friend, but never once did she break down until they were alone.

"You seem pretty sad about nothing happening."

Koharu remained motionless, keeping the same vacant stare at her plate.

"Knowing Kiba, I'd be surprised if nothing happened. But I'm sure Temari already explained that to you."

Shikamaru watched as she grabbed the fork, using the metal utensil to separate the eggs from the sliced tomatoes and sausage that were sitting on the plate.

"He's not that bad of a guy. I saw him go through a relationship, and he treated that girl like a queen."

"When I woke up this morning, I was disappointed that we still had our clothes on. I was hoping for some sort of clue that would tell me we did… you know. I know I was drunk and I don't remember the night, but I kind of wish we did something…" she finally spoke. Her voice started out weak, but her voice grew steadier throughout her explanation.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, wondering when the hell did she develop such strong feelings for the guy. He knew they were smitten with each other, but he wasn't expecting the girl to cling for any type of affection that could have possibly occurred.

"It was just one night," he stated. "If he really didn't do anything with you, he probably cares about you and wants to see you again. He probably didn't want to ruin it. No offense, but you and the other girls were wasted. I don't think any guy that cares would try to put moves on you if you're intoxicated like that."

Koharu pushed the plate away from her. Placing her arms back on the table, she rested her head on them.

Frowning, Shikamaru moved closer to her, "He'll probably call you or something. I've known him forever, and judging from what I've seen, I think he has feelings for you."

Koharu finally looked up at him, making eye contact. Her eyes filled with guilt. "When I woke up this morning, I kind of wished we did something… but at the same time, I kind of wished he was someone else…"

Shikamaru sucked in a breath. 'Well, shit,' he thought. He began feeling sympathetic towards his old friend. Kiba could be an asshole towards girls, but he had a hunch that this was a different situation.

"How long have you known?"

Koharu frowned at him, feeling defensive. "I wasn't doing this on purpose. I really do think I like him, but I can't explain why I felt the way I did this morning."

"The school year isn't over," he said firmly. "You've got until May."

Koharu's eyes narrowed at him.

"What you do up until then is entirely up to you. You're lucky only Temari and I know what's going on. If anybody else in the group knew, they'd probably have a fit about the way you've been acting."

"I'm not trying to hurt anybody," her voice raising. "I wasn't doing this on purpose."

"Our little group has been friends for a while. If they found out, they'd take Kiba's side immediately."

Koharu stood up, "You act like I've already made up my mind. I don't know what I want! And why are you taking his side? You're the one that was warning me to stay away from him. Aren't you my friend? I thought you were on my side."

Shikamaru got off his seat, upset that she was raising her voice. "I'm not taking anybody's side. I'm just warning you about what might happen. I know you were Temari's friend first, but I think it's fair to say that we've gotten close as well. Look, I'm trying my best to be unbiased and look out for the both of you. You're both pretty volatile."

"Volatile?" her voice screeching, "What the fuck is that supposed to mean? He's the bad guy!"

A loud bang brought both of their attention towards Temari. Her fist was on the door, her face exhausted from the previous night's activities.

"Is there a reason why the two of you woke me up when I'm fucking hungover?" she frowned. "Not exactly a big fan of hearing you argue. If anything, it should be me arguing with one of you, not you guys arguing with each other."

Koharu and Shikamaru pointed at each other, "(S)He started it!"

Temari face palmed herself, sighing at the two. Why did her boyfriend and best friend decide now of all times to be annoying?

Temari, Shikamaru, and Koharu were drinking smoothies at an organic juice bar located in the downtown area. They were seated inside amongst other morning stragglers getting their juice fix. The loud noise of blenders would rise and fall, along with people chatting on their phones as they grabbed a drink after coming from an early morning workout.

"Why am I always the third wheel…" Koharu mumbled to herself as she stirred the smoothie around with her straw.

Shikamaru flicked his straw wrapper at her, "Stop being troublesome. You know it wasn't always like this."

Temari brought her fist down on the table, annoyed by their constant bickering. The two had fought the entire way since she woke up. They had agreed to get smoothies to help with their hangover, but had not settled the whole Kiba situation.

"Koharu, you can't blame Shikamaru for saying those things to you. He's just worried. Even if you ended up getting Kiba's hopes up, you probably wouldn't be able to sleep from all the guilt."

Shikamaru smirked at his girlfriend's statement, while Koharu glowered.

"Shikamaru, you shoudn't have jumped to conclusions. If you're going to warn Koharu, you didn't need to bring up the group. They have nothing to do with this and saying that is like an attempt at intimidating her. We were both there this past summer, and it's not her fault if she's still healing from what happened."

The two eyed each other, knowing what the dirty blonde had said to be true.

"What a drag. Sorry," Shikamaru leaned back against his chair.

"Yeah, same," Koharu chewed on her straw.

"Don't get too emotional now," Temari rolled her eyes. "Now that that's out of the way, what are you going to do? Kiba's probably waking up soon and he'll notice you're gone."

Koharu continued chewing at her straw, before looking up at her best friend through her eyelashes. She sat up straight, "I wasn't kidding when I said I liked him. I think I still do."

"What about this morning?" Shikamaru raised his eyebrow.

"I don't know," she admitted, leaning against her hand. "I honestly don't know where that came from. I've been having a lot of fun with Kiba. We don't see each other much, but I do enjoy talking to him."

"Bet you're having real intellectual conversations with that idiot," Temari grumbled.

Shikamaru gave his girlfriend a look, sending her signals to cut it out.

"Look," she sighed. "We can't tell you what to do, but we can only hope you'll listen to our opinions."

Koharu pressed her lips together, ready to hear the words of wisdom from the experienced couple. Shikamaru and Temari were honestly the most reasonable and sensible people she knew. Very different to her own sporadic personality.

"There's nothing wrong with dating Kiba," Shikamaru started off.

"Yes, there's nothing wrong with that. As long as you don't hide any secrets from him. You don't need to tell him everything, but the least you can do is be open about how you're unsure," Temari said.

Koharu shrugged, the advice was simple and made sense. "How am I supposed to be transparent with him when he hasn't been with me?"

Temari frowned, "I thought you said it was obvious that he wanted you."

"Mmm…" her eyes scanned the little shop as a woman entered carrying a dog in her purse, "Yeah, but if there's one thing I thought was weird last night, it was Sakura."

Shikamaru's ears perked up, "What do you mean?"

"She kept staring at us the entire night. It was kind of weird and stalker-ish. I mean, I'm friends with her and I like her, but it was really strange. I asked Kiba about it but he shrugged it off. I don't think he knows that I know that they dated. You think they still like each other?"

Temari shook her head, "No way. Sakura's head over heels with Sasuke. Kiba probably just didn't want to talk about it. He hates it when people bring up their relationship. We all think he just has a grudge against her because she ultimately rejected him for somebody else."

"Now hold on," Shikamaru paused. "We don't know for sure what Kiba's feelings are about that. The only person that really knows what's going on in his head is Shino, and maybe Naruto. None of us really know what he thinks of Sakura, or if he thinks of her."

Koharu's eyes hardened at the information. She didn't like the idea of chasing somebody that still had feelings for an old ex.

Shikamaru noticed the steely look in her eyes. "I just wanted to list the possibilities. It's your job to find out what's up with him."

"And until then," Temari smirked, "You really don't need to be honest with him. You can just have fun. No point in spouting out your feelings if he's not willing to give some info."

Koharu smiled slyly at the idea. Sure, she was slightly confused about the boy, but at least she could have some fun if he wasn't willing to give in. Even if he did have feelings for Sakura, she'd just make him forget about them and plant herself in his mind. Koharu wasn't one to back down until she got something. Her past relationships were proof of that.