Hiiii! Here's the next chapter!

Chapter 11: Meeting the Others

Sumi sighed at the pile of paperwork scattered across her desk. It was hard to find regular work in a ninja village like Konoha. She glanced out the window. She'd started at sunrise and the sun was now high in the sky. She hadn't even had breakfast yet. Guess she was having another instant ramen meal.

"S'uuuuupp, Sumiiiiii?" Kiba's voice rang from the front of Sumi's house. She rushed to go open the door for him only to find out that he had already let himself in. She planted her hands on her hips! "Kiba!" she scolded. He replied with a grin, and she rolled her eyes. Kiba had no shame. "You're about to eat instant ramen?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Sumi blushed. "How did you know?" she asked. "You already opened it didn't you? I know what it smells like before its cooked," Kiba explained. "Wow," Sumi said. She didn't even know pre-made instant ramen had a smell. The Inuzukas sure were amazing!

She turned back towards her kitchen and Kiba followed her in. He noticed the pile of papers on her work desk. "Whatcha doing?" he asked. "Job hunting," she answered with a sigh. " "Why? You could just work with me," Kiba said. Since Sumi had played such a large part in Kiba's Yumegakure mission, he split the pay with her. That was the money she'd been living on. "Sorry, but I'd rather had a job that didn't involve risking my life," she said.

Then she noticed something was missing. "Where's Akamaru?" she asked. "Oh yeah, that's why I came here!" Kiba exclaimed. Sumi panicked. "What? Is he missing? Did he run away?" Kiba laughed. "Of course not! He's at Kakashi's place!" Sumi calmed down. "Rokudaime sama? What does that have to do with me?" she asked. "They asked me to come fetch you, and are holding Akamaru captive until I come back with you," Kiba explained.

Sumi raised an eyebrow. "They?"

"The Konoha 11! And Sai!" Kiba replied with a grin.

"Who are the Konoha-eleven-and-sai?" Sumi repeated. "My friends. Duh," Kiba grinned. "So Sai isn't one of your friends?" Sumi asked. Kiba cocked his head. "Well, I don't really talk to him much, but he counts, I guess. He wasn't there when Sasuke left, so he isn't an official member of the Konoha 11," he said. "I still don't get it, but never mind that. Why are you all meeting in the Hokage's house?" Sumi asked.

"Today's one of the few days we're all in the village and free at the same time. Kakashi-sensei is the only one who doesn't mind if all of us crash at his place at once. More like he doesn't complain, but whatever!" Sumi looked down. "I'm not sure I wanna meet your friends all at once..."

Kiba smirked and leaned forward so his face was right in front of his. "What? You shy?" he teased. Sumi turned red and staggered backwards, falling on her butt. Kiba laughed, and she glared, embarrassed. Kiba extended his arm and pulled her up with ease. He's strong, she thought with surprise as she suddenly found herself back on her feet. Kiba flashed her one of his oh-so cocky grins. "Don't worry. I'm sure they'll love you!"

"S'up people?" Kiba announced, walking into Kakashi's home, a nervous Sumi trailing close behind him. "You're late!" a pretty blonde girl hissed at him. "Yo!" a guy with his black hair pulled back into a spiky ponytail said to him. "Oh! Is that Sumi?" a pinkette said enthusiastically! Sumi squirmed as every eye in the room was focused on her. "Um, hi. I'm Sumire Murasaki," she said. She was suddenly surrounded by people. "Wow, she's cute," someone said. "I'm Ino!" the blonde from earlier grinned. "I am Rock Lee! The spirit of youth shines through your beautiful face!" another said. Sumi wasn't sure whether that was a compliment or not. "Er, thanks?" she asked.

"Just ignore him," another advised. Sumi lost count of everyone that introduced themselves to her. "W-welcome to Konoha...although I might be a bit late," the one Sumi recognized as Kiba's best friend said shyly. "Want some chips?" another asked. "I like the shuriken design on your shirt. Do you like weapons?" Sumi was overwhelmed. The one with pink hair seemed to get the hint.

"Get out of here, stupid boys! She doesn't want to talk to you!" she announced. "You're so loud," someone yawned—Shikamaru? "And mean too," Kiba said. The pinkette glared daggers at them and they cowered. Just then, a blond boy with blue eyes and kitsune markings on his cheek walked out from the kitchen, a pile of snacks in his arms, Akamaru circling his feet. "What's going on?" he asked. Akamaru spotted Sumi and bounded towards her, jumping on her and knocking her off her feet. Kiba laughed. The blond dropped the snacks on the table and helped Sumi up.

"You must be Sumi! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, ya know!" he grinned, extending his palm. Sumi scrambled to her feet and shook his hand. "Naruto? As in, the Uzumaki Naruto? The savior of the 4th Shinobi War?!" she exclaimed. The boy blushed and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, but that was ages ago!" he said. Sumi was starstruck and was about to blurt out how big of a fan she was when the pinkette stepped in between them. "Don't hog her, Naruto!"

Sumi was surprised. She didn't think the "savior of the world" would be ordered around by a girl. She recalled Kiba mentioning NaruHina on the first day they'd met. Maybe the pink-haired girl was his girlfriend? That'd explain things. But the girl she'd seen through the window at the ramen shop had blue-black hair. Maybe the hero was just friendly and modest, despite his status?

Before Sumi could ask, the pinkette grabbed her hand. "Come on, let's go to that end of the room, where the idiots can't bother us," she said. Sumi shot a panicked look at Kiba but he just grinned and winked. "Have fun," he mouthed, and he and Naruto crashed on the couch with the other guys.

The other girls were already seated in a circle at the other side of the room, snacking from a single bag of chips. Sumi sat between the blonde and the Kiba's best friend. "Hey!" the brunette—Tenten?— said. Then she introduced herself. "I'm Sakura!" the pinkette said. "I'm Hinata," Kiba's best friend smiled. "I'm Ino. You're kind of quiet," the blonde said bluntly. "I'm not really used to being thrown into a group of people," Sumi said, a bit offended. "Don't mind Ino. She's a diva," Sakura said. "Mind your own business, Forehead!" Ino retorted. "What was that, Ino-pig?" Sakura challenged. "Calm down, you two!" Tenten snapped.
Ino turned her attention to Sumi. "Sorry about the onslaught of people. We don't usually get new people in our group," she said. "Really?" Sumi asked. "Yeah. We've been stuck together since our Academy days. We're sick of each other!" Sakura stuck out her tongue. "Well, all of us except Tenten, Lee and Sai," she added. Sumi looked at Tenten in surprise. "I'm a year older than them," Tenten clarified. "So is Lee. He's the one dressed like a green fashion disaster." Sumii turned to look while the other girls giggled. "Sai is the cute one with black hair," Ino pointed. "He joined Sakura and Naruto's team when Sasuke went rogue," Ino added.

"There are only 11 people here," Sumi said suddenly. "Uh, yeah?" Sakura tilted her head, wondering why it mattered. "Kiba-kun said that we'd be meeting the Konoha 11 plus Sai. So there should be 12 people here, other than Akamaru and I," Sumi explained. The girls looked at each other, silently communicating. Sumi noticed a sadness in their eyes. "That's because Neji-nee-san died," Hinata admitted.

Sumi's eyes widened. "I had no idea. I'm sorry!" she apologized. "No p, girl. It was Kiba's fault for not explaining well," Sakura smiled sadly. "Forget that for now. He wouldn't like it if we mourned too much. Anyway, there are more interesting matters at hand. Kiba-kun, huh? So you're friends with Dog-Boy, huh?" Ino leaned forward, an intrigued look on her face. Sumi wasn't sure what to say in reply and blushed slightly at what Ino was implying. "We're just friends. He showed me around," she said, struggling to keep her voice from shaking.

"And he still hangs out with you? Interesting..." Sakura hummed. "Does he hit on you?" Ino asked, eager for gossip. "No, we're friends. He's more of a tease," Sumi replied. "Oh yeah, there's no way Kiba would actually show his love." Ino exaggerated her voice at the word love. "True true. He's totally tsundere!" Tenten laughed. "Kiba-kun has a weird way of showing his feelings," Hinata offered in her quiet voice. "So, do you liiiike him?" Ino asked the big question. Sumi looked down. "We're friends."

"Suuuure. Everyone starts out as 'just friends', you know," Ino said. "Yeah. Temari and Shikamaru were just friends," Tenten grinned, making air quotes. "And Ino and Sai were just friends," Sakura teased. Ino blushed, but didn't miss a beat, saying "And Hinata and Naruto were just friends." "Okay, I get it! Seriously though. We're—" "Just friends?" Sakura finished for her. Sumi gave up. "Yes."

Ino looked at her thoughtfully. "So nothing interesting has happened between you guys?" she asked. "Well, he almost got me killed if that's what you mean," Sumi answered. "What?! OMG, how?!" Sakura demanded. "Spill!" Ino added. "It wasn't that big of a deal..." Sumi began. She told them about her Yumegakure mission, Shinjurou and Seiji. "That actually sounded fun!" Tenten said. "A psycho poison-specialist? How come I don't get missions like that?!" Ino whined. Sumi grinned. "Personally, it was terrifying, but I guess it'd be fun for you shinobi," she said.

"Oh yeah, you're not a kunoichi, are you?" Ino asked. Sumi shook her head.

"So how do you like Konoha so far?" Sakura asked. "It's fun. The people are nice. It's hard to find a job around here though," Sumi answered. "Really? Maybe you're just not looking at the right places?" Hinata suggested. "What are your areas of interests?" Ino asked. Sumi shrugged. "Anything really," she replied.
The girls went through a list of possible jobs for Sumi. Growing borred, they lapsed back into giggling and gossip. They told Sumi about all their friends, and the DOs and DONTs. Sumi learned not to call Chouji fat, ever and to never expect Shikamaru to help her do anything, ever.

Eventually, they ended up joining the guys and they all told different stories and reminisced their childhood memories. Sumi laughed so hard, she cried. Now she kind of wished she'd grown up in Konoha, with them. Her childhood was no where near that fun. She shook her head to clear memories of her childhood. If she thought of it too much, she'd fall into depression, and she didn't want to taint this beautiful memory.

Kiba caught her eye from time to time to make sure she was having fun. She was touched that he cared so much. She started to think of what the girls had suggested but shook that thought off too. Right now was for fun. She could worry and ponder later.

The day was over much too quickly though. One by one, they left, wishing everyone a good night and telling Sumi that it was nice to meet her. Naruto, Sakura and Hinata stayed back so they could clean up Kakashi's home. "We're off then," Kiba said to them. "Come by again later, kay?" the blond grinned. "It was nice meeting you, Sumi-chan. I hope we can be friends," Hinata said shyly. "If Kiba does anything to you, let me know and I'll make him regret it!" Sakura said, punching her fist. Kiba sweat-dropped and Sumi laughed. "Thanks everyone! Good night!" she said happily.

Kiba and Akamaru walked on either side of Sumi. Konoha was usually bustling with people, even at night, but the road to Sumi's house was quiet and empty. The stars and the moon provided the only light and illuminated the trees; it was beautiful. But Kiba and his partner were silent, which was kind of uncomfortable for Sumi. All she could hear was the sound of her own heart beating, which was getting faster by the second.

Just when she thought she couldn't take it any longer, Kiba spoke. "So did you have fun?" "Yeah. Your friends are really nice," Sumi smiled. Kiba exhaled. "Good. You looked kinda uncomfortable, so I was worried," he said. Sumi was surprised. That was what was bothering him? "No no! I mean I was kind of overwhelmed at first but everyone's really nice and I got used to them!" she blurted. Kiba grinned. "We are kind of a lot to take at once, aren't we?" he laughed. "You really are, but I kind of like that about you guys," Sumi replied.

Kiba's confident smirk returned. "Of course. We're just awesome that way," he bragged. "But I'm really glad you had fun," he added, a bit more serious. Sumi stopped and faced him so he could see her smile. "Me too," she said. He smiled back, and at that moment, the world stopped. It was just them, just Sumi and Kiba, smiling at each other, just happy to be happy. It was bliss, just the two of them.

"Bark!"

Oh yeah, and Akamaru too.

Thanks for reading this chapter! Hope you enjoyed it!

If you'd like to see my final drawing for Sumi, or learn more about the Tenro clan from the last few chapters, PM me! ^_^