Inuzuka Kiba; 2 Years Later

Age 14

-Next Time-

I asked Hinata yesterday if she wanted to walk with me to the Tournament and she agreed. No, it wasn't a date. We were just two teammates walking to the tournament since we were both in it.

That's right, I finally made it to the tournament.

Unfortunately for me, I've had a cold for the past few days. I wanted to do some last minute training before the tournament, but I had hardly been able to get out of bed because I felt so sick. Akamaru wasn't very nice either. He was just making fun of me the whole time for being a pussy but I am so obviously not a pussy.

"See Akamaru?" I said, showing him the program. "I'm in the program here. I'll read it to you. Fourteen-year-old Inuzuka Kiba is a tenacious young genin from the Village of the Leaf. He's scheduled to fight against seventeen-year-old Jiyuu Yatara from the Village of the Sand. Both of these fighters are new to the Chuunin Exam so no one really knows what to expect. However, we're all rooting for the home team! That's the only article about me though."

I looked at Akamaru who didn't appear to be interested.

"Hear that?" I said. "They're rooting for me!"

"How come I wasn't mentioned?" Akamaru asked.

"I don't know." I said. "I didn't write it."

"You ALWAYS take the credit for EVERYTHING!" Akamaru said.

"Akamaru, geez!" I said. "Are you on your period or something?! You've been so mean to me lately! And I even have this cold!"

Akamaru turned his head away from me. It's okay because I didn't want to talk to him anyway. I looked at the clock to see that it was time to meet up with Hinata.

"Oh, let's go." I said, though I didn't directly speak to Akamaru because I wasn't talking to him. "MOM!! I'm leaving!!"

"Good luck, Kiba!!" she called from upstairs. "I'll be watching you!!"

I shut the door behind me.

So me and Akamaru didn't walk very close to each other as we went to Hinata's house. I knocked on the door and Hinata opened it very quickly.

"Hinata, you ready to go?" I said.

"Yeah!" Hinata said, sounding excited as she stepped outside and shut the door behind her. "Are you ready to fight?"

I was going to eagerly respond, "YES! Of course!" But then I remembered that I wasn't ready to fight at all. "No, not really." Is what I REALLY said. "I've had a cold for two days! And besides, Akamaru's been being really difficult lately!"

"Have not!" Akamaru argued.

"Have to!!" I yelled back.

"Oh no." Hinata said, sounding concerned. "How are you going to be able to fight together?"

"Ask HIM!" I said, pointing at Akamaru.

We went to the stadium and waited in the overhang area. I observed my opponent, that girl from the Sand Village named Yatara. She wasn't really letting on any information.

I kinda wish I had paid attention during the preliminaries so I at least knew HOW she fought.

"Hey, Akamaru, were you paying attention during the preliminaries?" I asked, momentarily forgetting that I wasn't talking to Akamaru.

"YOU should have been paying attention." Akamaru said.

"I know that!" I said. "But you should have been paying attention too!"

"Why?" said Akamaru.

"Because you're my partner!"

"I never would have guessed by the way YOU hog all the glory!"

I didn't want to talk to him anymore. I looked at Hinata who was only kind of staring off into space.

"Hinata, I'm going to go and watch Sasuke's fight." I said.

"Okay." She nodded.

I went over to the opening where I could see Sasuke's fight. I almost missed it though since Sasuke beat his opponent from the Mist village in about a second. The rest of the village clapped and cheered, but I wasn't impressed all that much. I did give a courtesy clap though.

Some kid…oh wait. That was Ino. (She looks like a boy now.) Ino was getting up to start the match. Hinata was supposed to fight Ino. I looked over at Hinata to see that she was reading something.

"Hinata!" I yelled. "Hinata, it's your turn to fight! You don't want to be late for your own fight!"

"Oh right!" she said, putting down the program and running out as well.

I was going to watch Hinata's fight and cheer for her, but there was a little bit of downtime of the set up. So I decided to go over and join the controversy between Sasuke, Lee and Naruto.

"Hey Sasuke." Said Naruto. "You think you're SO cool just because you beat that Mist guy up! Well you're NOT!"

"Right, Naruto." Said Sasuke.

"Sasuke!!" Lee said. "Promise you'll save the finals for your fight with ME!!"

"I'M fighting Sasuke in the finals!!" said Naruto.

"I thought we all mutually decided that I was going to fight Sasuke in the finals." I said, only to escalate the battle for no reason whatsoever. I had no intention of actually JOINING IN on the competition of who thought they were going to fight Sasuke in the finals, I just wanted to throw a little gasoline in the fire. Why? I don't know. Just because it's fun.

I went back over to where I could see the fight as the argument got louder. I had succeeded in my mission. Yay!

Ino was beating Hinata senseless.

"GO HINATA!!" I yelled even though she was clearly already running low on stamina.

I don't think Hinata heard me because the crowd was being too loud.

"COME ON HINATA!!" I yelled through cupped hands.

She collapsed to the ground. I don't even think she had an opportunity to fight back at all.

"HINATA!!" I yelled. "YOU CAN STILL WIN!! GET UP!!"

No one else was even watching the fight.

But then the examiner ended the match and declared Ino the winner.

The medical ninjas came out to get Hinata off the field as Ino walked back into the overhang without any concern towards Hinata. She didn't even take a minute to find out if she was all right.

I hurried out to where they were putting her on a stretcher.

"Hey!" I said to the medical ninjas. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she'll be all right." Said one of them.

"She just got a hit on the head." Another one added.

I looked at the examiner who gave me a look. Oh yeah! I wasn't supposed to be there.

I went back to the overhang where I suddenly heard Jiyuu Yatara saying to Ino, "I hope I can fight you later on!"

She wouldn't be fighting Ino later on because I was going to win. And I had to make sure she knew that. "Hey!" I said. "You're fighting ME next and I'm going to beat you!"

I looked at Akamaru and gestured for him to come.

He sighed under his breath and followed after me. The three of us went out to the fighting area.

I didn't feel up to fight. My nose was stuffy and my head hurt.

"Inuzuka Kiba and Jiyuu Yatara." Said the examiner. "Go."

The fight seemed almost like a dream, as if it didn't really happen.

"Akamaru, come on!" I said. "Pick it up!"

"YOU pick it up!" said Akamaru.

"Hey!" I said. "This is no time to argue with me!"

"YOU'RE arguing with ME!" Akamaru argued. But that wasn't true. He was SO arguing with ME.

My mind suddenly wandered.

I thought; "Hey! Isn't Shino supposed to be watching the tournament? How come he didn't wish us luck before it started?"

"Because he's away on a mission you idiot." Said Akamaru.

"WHAT?!" I demanded. I knew he was away on a mission, but it just had escaped my mind. The reason I shouted was because I was pretty sure I had only thought that comment about Shino but apparently I had said it out loud.

"Will you STOP talking to that dog?!" yelled Yatara.

"What?" Akamaru and I said at the same time.

"All you're doing is arguing with that dog as if he's talking to you." Said Yatara. "Stop trying to make me think you're INSANE and let's have real fight!"

"I'm not INSANE!" I said, sounding as offended I could so that she could know the true depths of my displeasure with her comment.

That was certainly a rude thing to say. Even though Akamaru was as dumb as a stump, that didn't mean I couldn't still carry on a conversation with him. How come no one seemed to understand that? Hinata understood that. Shino understood that. Kurenai understood that. No one else really, besides my family of course.

Speaking of Hinata, I wonder if she's all right.

"Come on!" said Yatara, sounding whiny. "Fight me already!"

"Fine!" I said. "I'll show you! Come on, Akamaru!!"

"Geez Kiba…" said Akamaru. I frowned at him, but attacked Yatara anyway.

I think Yatara and I were pretty evenly matched. We took turns hitting each other and Akamaru did pretty much absolutely nothing to help. Under normal circumstances, I would have been able to beat her so easily but I just couldn't focus with Akamaru being difficult and this cold bothering me.

The next thing I knew, I was looking up at Hinata's face.

Where was I? How had I got there?

These thoughts entered my head at first, but then I remembered that I would have to be polite and say hi to Hinata.

"Oh…hey Hinata." I said, sitting up as well. It was embarrassing to be lying down on a bed. I guess I was in the medical area. I saw Yatara over on another bed. Well, at least I regained consciousness before her.

"Kiba, you shouldn't sit up!" Hinata said in her usual concerned voice. "You don't look well!"

"I just have a cold." I said, swinging my legs off the bed.

Hinata looked down and appeared to very sorry. Just when I was about to question why she was upset, she said, "I'm sorry I missed your fight."

Hinata! She was so funny sometimes. To think I'd get upset about something like that. She was acting as though that sort of thing actually mattered a lot to me.

"Don't worry about it, Hinata." I assured her. "You didn't miss anything good. Actually, I'm kind of glad you missed it since it's kind of embarrassing."

"Oh, okay." She said, looking relieved.

I was about to suggest that we watch the rest of the tournament when the door to the medical place swung open. I saw my mother standing there and immediately knew what was coming.

"KIBA!!!" she shouted, running over. All the dogs came over as well.

"H-hi mom…" I said, waving slightly, but she ambushed me, checking my arms for injuries.

"Oh Kiba…" she said. "I never should have let you in the exam while you were sick! I should have been a better mother and realized that you were not fit enough to fight in the exam! What did I do wrong?"

"Mom, it's all right—" I began

"Kiba, you sound congested." My mom said, whipping out a tissue and putting it up on my nose. "Now blow."

"Mom!" I said, looking over at Hinata. Thankfully, she was talking to her own father. So, while Hinata wasn't paying attention, I figured I'd humor my mother and blow my nose.

"Kiba, I want you to come straight home!" said my mom. "I'll make you some chicken noodle soup and wrap you up in some blankets and won't let you leave home until you're all better! Oh, what was I THINKING?! How could I have let you enter the exam! I knew I should have listened to your sister!"

"Mom!" I interrupted her.

"Yes Kiba?" she said as she dabbed some tears away with a tissue. I didn't even want to know if that was the same tissue I had used.

"It's okay." I said. "You don't have to worry about me. Hinata and I are going to watch the rest of the tournament!"

My mom looked over at Hinata and then back at me. She looked a little sly. "Is it a date?" she said.

"No!" I said. "We're just going to watch the tournament!"

"Okay, okay." She said in a mocking tone. "Come on, boys. We're leaving Kiba and his girlfriend alone."

"She's not my girlfriend!" I said, REALLY annoyed. She always did that.

She and all the dogs left. Hinata's father had left too. And the medical ninjas told us it was all right for us to leave as well.

"I don't see how the Sand girl won that round if I'M able to just walk out and she has to stay for medical attention." I said to her.

"I think you were knocked out before her." Hinata answered.

"I guess." I frowned. "Hey, Hinata. What did your dad say to you?"

"He said I did a good job." She answered.

"You did, Hinata!" I told her. She sort of smiled, but she looked sad.

We walked over to the stadium where we could watch just as Naruto was being carted off the field.

"Ha!" I laughed. "I'm glad Naruto didn't win. His mouth is always flapping. Don't you think, Hinata?" Hinata didn't say anything. She really did seem sad. Maybe she just wanted to go home. "Hinata, do you want me to walk you home?"

"I'd rather stay out."

"Okay! Do you want to go eat?"

"Actually…I'm not very hungry."

Um…I don't understand "Girl". The language in which everything meant the opposite in which someone was saying. Well, if that was the case then that meant Hinata actually did want to go out to eat.

"Hinata, I'm going to take you out to eat." I said, just making sure.

Sure enough, she agreed and we went out. Not… OUT as in a date… but just out to a restaurant.

A waiter came over.

"And what does the little couple want?" he asked.

"Oh, we're not a couple—" I said. Why does EVERYONE say that?!

"--Not together—" Hinata said frantically.

Hinata smiled at me. I smiled too.

"Okay…just friends then." The waiter said.

"Yeah." I said. "We're on the same team."

"Oh, teammates." said the waiter. "What'll you have?"

After the waiter took our orders, he left.

It was a little awkward. "Hinata, isn't that funny?" I said, trying to laugh but it was hard. "That waiter thought we were a couple!"

"I know!" Hinata said. "Imagine that!"

"That would be weird!" I said, not knowing how to continue. "I mean… yeah, that would definitely be weird!"

"Too weird!" Hinata said. I reached for my water but bumped Hinata's hand and spilled my water all over her.

"Oh…I'm sorry!" I said, grabbing a napkin.

"It's all right!" Hinata answered. "It's only water."

I took the napkin over to her. When we were twelve, it was easy to clean each other up when we spilled water on each other. But suddenly… we were fourteen. And it was weird to touch her.

"Here…" I said, handing it to her. "You can uh… dry off a little bit with that."

"Oh, okay." Hinata said.

We were moved to a new table.

"Kiba…" she said.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Do you think that either of us will become chuunins?" she said.

What a question! Time for a candid answer…hm…maybe I'd just say the truth. That's all Hinata wants to hear. "Not today, Hinata." I said. "And not tomorrow. Not the day after or the week after or even a month from now. But I have a good feeling about next year."

"Why?" she asked.

"Because I'm going to train harder." I replied. "And I know you will too."

Hinata nodded and smiled. And for the first time that day, I don't think it was a forced smile.