Chapter Ten

"Sasuke, you really don't need to walk me home," Sakura said, smiling sweetly. For the rest of the day, Sasuke had kept a very watchful eye on her. Any man who came near her was an enemy in his eyes; part of her was embarrassed from the looks she got from boys and jealous girls alike, but the other half of her was very happy.

Sasuke turned his face in the other direction as they walked, staring out towards the street. "I'm fine walking you home."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

There was a silence between them then, and Sakura wasn't sure what to say. The first thing that came to mind was the fact that he liked her. Naruto liked her. And Kiba . . . well, she wasn't exactly sure about him. But the problem was that even though she didn't much like the third candidate, the first two were so good to her. She tapped on her lip as she looked up at the sky and walked. 'I only like them as friends . . .'

Her eyebrows knitted as she thought intensely about the situation. 'Both Sasuke and Naruto are good friends. Naruto is always fun and makes me laugh, while Sasuke makes me feel safe and taken care of . . . They're always so nice to me. I guess . . . I wouldn't mind going out with either one, but . . .'

Sakura stopped in the street and looked down at the crevices in the sidewalk, frowning deeply. 'It's not fair. Not to Sasuke or Naruto. I'd feel like I was doing something wrong, going behind the others' back. They're best friends! I wonder if they even told each other about this. If they didn't . . . this could get a lot worse.'

"Sakura?" Sasuke called, and she looked up. He was standing right in front of her, and as she looked around at the scenery, she realized they were right in front of Naruto's house. He must have mentioned to Sasuke that she lived right there. She glanced across the street for a second to see her own home. She was lucky to stop right there for conviences' sake, but at the same time . . .

Not even answering a reply to her friend Sakura sat down on the steps in front of Naruto's house, sighing. She didn't want to go home now; not to all that arguing, not when there was so much to think about. She would suffocate in there with everything she had on her mind. 'And everything in my mind involves Sasuke and Naruto . . .'

"Sakura . . ." Sasuke said her name again, and this time she looked up. He shuffled his feet and found a seat next to her, sitting comfortably close. He rested his elbows on his knees and looked forward as he spoke, his fingers locked together. "If there's anything that's bothering you . . . you can talk about it. Is it about Kiba?"

'Sasuke's always so considerate,' she thought to herself, smiling. She let her head rest on the wall that framed the stairs, closing her eyes. "No, it's not that . . . I don't want you to worry. It's something . . . Something that I wouldn't feel right telling you."

"Telling me?"

"I feel like if I did . . . I'd be going behind Naruto's back."

Sakura opened her eyes and looked to Sasuke to see if there was a reaction of some sort; she didn't want him to be hurt by this. She noticed a hint of surprise on his face, but nothing like pain. She inwardly sighed of relief, but became curious as those features faded away and it became something different . . . It was almost a hardened expression, a determined one.

"Is that it?" she heard him mutter, his eyes looking down. Sasuke didn't understand it; something inside felt angry. Of course, Naruto was his best friend and the three were always together, but . . . didn't she see him as his own person? He didn't know her long, but he was sure . . . she was different than those other girls. 'But Naruto . . . I want to say it, but . . .'

Before he could even control what he was saying the words flew from his mouth. "We can keep it a secret. We don't have to tell him."

The silence between them straight away became uncomfortable; both were surprised. Neither one could believe that he had actually said something like that out loud. How far was Sasuke actually going for Sakura? So far that he'd go behind the back of the one person he knew all his life? Was it really . . . worth it?

Immediately regretting his words, Sasuke turned his face in the other direction as he stood up. He really didn't want to look at her and see her face. "Sorry . . . I'll just go home now."

Sakura closed her eyes completely, forcing them shut until she could no longer hear his footsteps on the sidewalk. Right now, she was feeling low. Not upset, not disheartened, but low. Incredibly low. She brought her hands to her face and for the second time that day she cried, but not for herself.

'This sucks,' she thought, wiping the make-up from her face off onto her sleeve and sniffling heavily. 'What am I doing? All I wanted was to be their friends! At this rate they're going to hate each other . . . They're going to end up hating me . . .'

Someone from a window had watched everything, his ears once perked in curiosity. Now his eyes glowered with rage.

"Akamaru!" Kiba cheered as he busted the door open, his arms spread wide and his mouth a large grin. A tiny white puppy with black spots on it's ears and a wide mouth yipped and hopped into it's owners' arms. Kiba squeezed the little dog tightly, rubbing his cheek against its' nose with affection. Quickly it made its way into his coat, sitting comfortably as if it had always been there.

Inuzuka Kiba rarely ever went home; it's not that he didn't enjoy it, he was just fine being scolded for goofing off in class as long as he knew his parents loved him. His smile grew even wider as he sniffed the air around him, looking at a hard solid ground that unfortunately had damp yellow spots all over the place. Tall, chain-like cages with loud barking and hissing bounced over the echoing walls, and yet he couldn't be any happier.

"I'm back!" he called out, scratching Akamaru's head. There was only one door amongst the many in the animal shelter that didn't lead to dogs, cats or rabbits; that was the office room, and as he took a peek in the open room he saw shy eyes look over to him. "Hey, Hinata."

"K-Kiba . . ." she replied in a small voice, standing up from the chair. She averted her eyes and frowned, fiddling with her fingers. "Sorry . . . I . . . I was just taking a break."

Kiba waved it off with a laugh. "Naw, it's okay. We can get to work later; besides, it's volunteer stuff! You're cleaning dog shit for free."

He was hoping this would get a laugh out of his old friend, but unfortunately all she could manage was a smile so small he could barely see it. He sighed as he came in, sitting down in one of the three chairs across the main desk of the office. He patted the one she had been sitting in previously, slightly warm, and she obeyed.

Of course, everyone knew each other in this neighborhood for the most part ever since they were little. But, just as Sasuke knew Naruto personally and girls like Ino were closer to other students like Chouji and Shikamaru, Kiba knew Hinata better. There was another friend in their little circle, but even after all the years he still wasn't sure what to think of him. 'Shino never talks . . .'

Hinata brought up the courage to speak; with Kiba, it was easier than with other people. "Kiba . . . is something . . . bothering you?"

Without even realizing it his face had turned from cheery to sullen. He at first looked to Hinata, whose face was solely concerned, then down to Akamaru who whimpered. He sighed heavily. "I've been suspended for two weeks. Sasuke told the teacher we got into a fistfight."

"Oh!" Hinata turned her face closer, her fingers lightly resting on Kiba's cheeks. "Are you o-okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bump on my head, that's all." His face went from sweet to serious as he looked off in the other wall. "I know I was pissed then, but seriously . . . I've had time to think about it. I deserved to be hit."

Hinata didn't say anything but kept her hands over her chest, listening. These were rare moments where Kiba was so serious. "Sasuke knocked me out because . . . well, you know Haruno Sakura, right? That new girl? She's been here a couple of weeks."

Nodding, Hinata waited for him to continue. She remembered Sakura was in a few of her classes. "Well, I sort of . . . made a move on her. A pretty big one, and . . . Now I just feel like an idiot."

This made Hinata a little curious. "Do you like her?"

Kiba made a small smile; he was glad she didn't ask him to go into further detail. Then again, Hinata was never one to make people uncomfortable. "Kind of. I only talked to her the one time, but in class I thought she was nice. Pretty cute too, and she doesn't hang all over boys like that pig Ino."

The two snorted together at Ino's little nickname; they really didn't mind her, but at times being with her for an extended period of time was just unbearable. The mood somehow felt instantly lighter for the both of them. Hinata relished such a dearly close moment, so absorbed in it she was startled when Kiba pulled her into a friendly hug.

"Actually, it almost sounds like I'm talking about you!" he said, laughing a little. Her eyes became wide as he said it, and her cheeks began to burn with embarrassment and cheer. Her body became limp against his chest, but she made sure not to crush Akamaru, even if she was rather comfortable in her friends' arms. " . . . Thanks a lot for listening."

He let go of her, and the two exchanged mutual smiles before he stood up and said he had to clean the dog cages. She stood as well, saying she had to work on the cats. "Shino . . . He promised he would be here to help later."

"That's cool," Kiba replied shrugging. "Guess we can all head out for pizza after this. It'll give me an excuse to avoid the house for a few more hours!"

Hinata giggled. "Yeah . . ."

Sakura had no choice but to go back in her room to finish her tears. She leaned against the wall while sitting on her bed, her pink fluffy covers warming her legs. She felt at least a little better by crying all of her feelings out for a while, but in a way it didn't seem enough. She really wanted to talk about it with someone. She frowned. 'Anyone but Sasuke and Naruto . . .'

After a moment more she remembered she had gotten the phone number of another person she was slowly becoming friends with a few days before. She didn't want to talk about every little detail, but if she just got the message across to her, then everything would be okay. 'I'm sure of it.'

Sakura picked up the phone on the desk next to her bed and slowly began to dial the number that was on a small slip in her other hand. As she held it, she waited patiently while the other side ringed only a few times before someone on the other line finally picked up. "Hello?"

"Hello," Sakura started, a little bit of cautiousness in her voice. She hadn't called before, and she wasn't sure what to say exactly. "Is Yamanaka Ino there?"

"Sakura?" the voice on the other line said. Almost instantly Sakura smiled, feeling lucky that she didn't have to go through the trial of a mother or father. "Hey! What's up?"

"Can I talk to you about something?"

She wasn't sure what Ino's expression was; smiling for helpful, or scowling for a no? Maybe she looked confused . . . Sakura could hear the rustling sound of plants in the background as she waited for an answer, but was quickly given relief. "Sure! What's on your mind?"

Sakura took in a deep breath, wondering how she was going to form her words. She didn't want to lie . . . Hopefully Ino wouldn't catch on. She remembered her saying that she had a big crush on Sasuke in particular. "Well . . . I feel like I'm caught up in some sort of drama. There are a couple of . . . guys at school who like me, and I feel really bad. They're friends and I don't want that to be ruined because of me."

"Oh," Ino replied. She sounded very understanding, like she was taking it all in. "It sounds really bad for them . . . but probably worse for you. In a weird way though, I sort of envy you!"

"Envy?" Sakura said with a small giggle. Already she was feeling better; something about Ino lit up a conversation and just made her feel better. "How?"

"Oh, come on . . . two guys liking you! It sounds so romantic! Are they hot?"

Sakura blushed as she thought of both Sasuke and Naruto. Sasuke was definitely as gorgeous as a boy could get, no doubt about it. Naruto was . . . well, he wasn't bad looking. Not at all. He was actually very cute to her, but at the same time he didn't have that same glow as his best friend. Still . . . "I guess so! Yeah!"

Ino squealed over the phone in girlish excitement. "Ooooh! Girl, you're so lucky! I say get with them both!"

Sakura's heart sank, even if Ino started laughing afterwards as if it were a big joke. That wasn't the advice she wanted at all. Not that she was looking for advice at first, but now that they had gotten the ball rolling . . . Well, she did get what she wanted. She told someone else about her feelings, and everything felt much better.

"Sakura? You there?" Ino called. Sakura fell out of her trance.

"Yeah!" she replied quickly, unconciously straightening up like she was being drilled. "Sorry . . . I was zoning for a minute."

"That's okay. Hey, I think I know someone who can help you out. He's a lazy dork, but still . . . he good with solving stuff. Maybe he can get things settled between you and everything."

"Really! Who!" Sakura was excited about this. She would do anything to get some real help!

"He's a friend of mine, Nara Shikamaru. Know him?"

X x x x x

Things are starting to get more complicated. And it's Shikamaru to the rescue! He's sexay. I luv him. -heart- lol!