Flashback:

Akamaru howled, a smirk on his face.

"Oh… so you're JEALOUS! Ok, I understand now. Fine, you can go out with Hinata and all, but when you finally realize that your feelings aren't going to change, Neko will definitely be long gone."

I growled, about to snarl back a response, but I felt a presence near me.

"Uh… so… I heard from a little bird that you're going out with… Hinata…"

I looked up, to find none other than Neko being the one speaking to me.

My heart skipped a beat when I met her eyes.

"Why the hell did I ask Hinata to be my girlfriend when I clearly love Neko?"

Chapter 25: End of the Silent Treatment

Neko's POV

I was training with Naruto, nothing special, when and I watched Hinata suddenly run over to Sakura, telling her something in a rushed fashion.

"I've never seen Hinata act like that..."

Naruto and I stopped training, both equally curious.

"Usually Hinata isn't one to be overly ecstatic about things… I wonder what's up…"

Naruto and I both made our way over to Sakura and Lee, who were now both looking crazy happy.

"What's up, Sakura, Hinata?"

Naruto asked, looking at the three of them.

Choji, nearby, was watching with shifty eyes, as if he suspected something, but soon went back to eating.

Hinata looked at the two of us, her face pink.

"Kiba and I… are going out."

Naruto's eyes lit up as a smile appeared on his whiskered face.

"That's great, Hinata!"

I couldn't say the same for myself, though.

I swayed on my feet a bit when I heard the news; could today possibly get any worse?

Of course, I was happy for Hinata; I was so happy, I was nearly jumping around with Sakura, and Lee looked quite inspired with the flames in his eyes.

But... my heart held me back.

"Is this how... he... felt? When he found out about Naruto and I? Is he trying to get me back? Or... trying to make me want him back through pain?"

The thought made me bite my lip, which I had been doing a lot of recently, and I frowned.

Naruto was smiling his sparkly, Lee-like smile, which I personally adored even though I had to have been the only one not smiling, because it hurt too much.

Suddenly, I felt a longing to talk to Kiba, and I felt my legs begin to move toward him.

"Why would I talk to him, you stupid heart? I don't want to see his face again if I can help it!"

Even though I knew that wasn't true, I still wanted to talk to him nonetheless.

"It's been too long since... we've talked at all..."

Talon meowed at me, sounding irritated that I was going to talk to him, but I whispered to her:

"I have to."

The way I had said it... it sounded like I needed him in my life.

"Psh. No."

Naruto must have seen me whisper to Talon as well as my first step toward Kiba, and he asked me: "Whatcha gonna talk to Kiba about, Neko?"

I turned to him, feeling embarrassed.

"I was going to… congratulate him… you know…"

Looking into his eyes, I realized that he might know exactly what was going on, though he didn't say anything about it... the thought made me shiver.

"I can't let anyone know my feelings right now..."

Without a second thought, I began to walk toward Kiba and saw that he was talking to Akamaru.

Akamaru was barking something at him in what seemed like an angry manner, and as I approached him, I told him what was common knowledge at the moment, but it was as if I was muted when I said it to him.

"Uh… so… I heard from a little bird that you're going out with… Hinata…"

Kiba's POV

I was still in a stupor moments after Neko said that sentence to me.

This was the first time we've talked to each other since I fucked up.

"Am I dreaming? Is she… really talking to me?" I thought to myself, feeling almost lightheaded with surprise.

After a moment, I sat up and stared at her. Her eyes, more particularly.

"Yeah… where'd you hear that?"

She looked almost confused. "Oh… Hinata told us. Congratulations."

Talon was on her shoulder, glaring at me something fierce, but I managed to choke out: "Yeah. Thanks."

I couldn't help but think;

"I thought she absolutely hated me… and I thought that she'd never want to talk to me again REGUARDLESS… but… she's ok with me enough to talk to me after nearly a month. I hope I didn't make another fucking mistake..."

Another mistake... those words were enough to make me go cold all the way down to my naval. If I had just ruined everything again... I don't know what I'd do.

Neko just stared at me for a moment, and during this awkward silence, I sat up shaking my head, trying to clear it.

"Can't stop thinking about her... can't all of these images of HER be images of Hinata?!"

Neko just kept staring at me, until Akamaru went up to her and barked.

She looked at me and asked: "What… what did he say?"

I glared at Akamaru, and looked back up at her.

"He said he misses you and that devil cat of yours."

"Little bastard..."

Neko suddenly looked hurt, and I wanted to take my words back instantly. "She's not a devil, Kiba."

I only stared at her, trying not to say anything else to make her hurt, and soon the whole entourage was around us.

Hinata knelt down to my level and grasped onto my arm and whispered to me.

"My father doesn't like me to be out so late, even if it's with friends... so… could you… take me home?"

Akamaru jumped onto my head as I stood up, taking Hinata with me.

"Yeah, sure." I smiled at her and began to lead her away from the group.

Akamaru was whimpering, and I asked softly. "What's the matter, boy?"

Akamaru barked. "I wanted to talk to Talon. She is NOT a demon cat."

I snorted. "Tch, don't remind me."

Hinata looked up at me. "What's up with Akamaru?"

"Nothing, he's just angry with me because he wanted… to train."

I quickly filled in that sentence, and Hinata smiled at me and turned back to the group.

"Bye, guys!"

I felt my eyes wander into the ground when I felt one particular gaze, and it was one that he didn't want, yet wanted so desperately.

"I'm with Hinata, she's with Naruto. I don't think there's any way to go except forward. I just… gotta forget about her, and concentrate on Hinata. I gotta let her go..."

Looking down at Hinata, the one I had always thought of as second best to Neko before Hinata and I were together, and tried to imagine her being the one thing on my mind.

It wasn't hard or anything, but it made me a bit nervous.

"It'll be tough as hell to make it that way..."

I finally turned around, and I was met with a scene that I will likely never forget... not to mention that I already saw it happen once; Neko and Naruto.

They were kissing very subtly, but more passionately than last time.

I watched for a moment, my thoughts vacant, until the two needed to pull away, and they just looked at each other with nothing other than the one emotion that I didn't want to see; affection.

I shook in anger.

"How could he just… take her from me like that? It's like…"

I stopped walking as everything clicked in my mind. Anger took over as all the muscles in my body tightened.

"He did it on purpose."

Yeah, yeah, I know… this one is pretty short, but it's a bridge for another chapter :P I hope you all like this story… I'm thinking of writing more when I'm done with this one! :O Shocker! Well, I read all of my most recent reviews, and I cried when I saw how many people love this… Thanks! Ok, rate/review! :)

10/10/12: AGAIN, IT'S NARUTO UZUMAKI'S BIRTHDAY! BELIEVE IT! Alright... so nothing much was changed for this bridge-chapter... ok? :D Rate/Review!