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Wow, I must have guiled some people into reviewing my story, I got more reviews after Movement 4 than I've had the entire time. Anyways, I'm very grateful for the attention. Thanks can come later, on with the movement.

Movement 5 – Love

Ah, the one thing I earlier said was a bunch of bullshit...

Why was I so skeptical about it? Well, can you blame me? I haven't been exactly the favorite villager in Konoha. The daily beatings and insults were a good indicator of what I assumed to be my eternal destiny, no matter what I did: Hokage or not...

After a while it justs rolls off of ya, the hatred. All those insults and beatings soon just peeled off of me, much like a snakes skin. I would soon get over the things that were bothering me the past few weeks, only to have a new set of problems latch onto me. My initial reaction was to resist, to fight back. My secondary reaction was to persuade, and teach them that I wasn't a bad person.

My third reaction was to not care anymore. Dangerous, no matter how patient or caring you tend to be, once you don't care anymore, you tend to do the most reckless things imaginable. I can still see some marks on my wrists from such times, always slightly off from a fatal cutting of my arteries.

I would always hold back, and then sulk back into an empathetic state. No matter how much I despised it, I had a duty as a living being to live until my destined time. It was like a prison sentence, with no reason to go on.

I had to find a reason, and I found one in a young girl...

As I would observe her from the sidelines, as oblivious as a ghost, I could see a bit of myself in her. When she was still a little girl, she too, was trying her hardest to belong. That was the difference between her and me I believe, because she was lucky enough to succeed, and make her own place in our class of rowdy ninja kids.

Still I held no quarter against her, for she was actually an inspiration. She never gave up, so why should I? It would slowly go from inspiration, to admiration, to the remarkably accurate word of 'crush.'

Still, I wasn't foolish enough to think it would be more than that. I still had that dark shadow surrounding me, always making sure I knew my place in world. I was the outcast, meant only as a means for others to let out their anger and abuse. I was the one who would bring out the most savage behavior in people.

I was convinced over a period of 17 years that I was destined to be alone, never truly accepted, never truly loved. I was there to be people's crutch, and nothing more.

I was convinced...

I was so fortunate to be proved wrong...

It had a month since the graduation party, and Naruto, sure enough, was put to work. His abilities actually proved to be useful for quite a few situations, and Tsunade-sama was sure to give Naruto his fair share of the work; Konoha still needed funds desperately, and any able shinobi was to be honored for their dedication in this turbulent time.

However, and honestly to Naruto's surprise, he was given some leave time. They said it was he earned it, but he was sure the Council of Elders had something to do with the sudden break he was ordered. Still, he wasn't one to let people know he was disappointed, in fact, he would show those old crones and enjoy this time off.

That's what he had in mind while he was walking through the street. Naruto's brisk walk was cut off however by a large white mongrel standing in front of him, who he recognized right away as Akamaru.

"Yo," said a voice, and Naruto looked to see Kiba on top with a nod and a wave. "Got a minute?"
"That's about all I got lately, why, you need a sparring partner?" replied Naruto.
"Nope, just need to talk to you," said Kiba with a smirk, "after seeing your exhibition match, I'm gonna need someone to get me up to your level."
"Lead the way then," said Naruto.

With that, Kiba took Naruto to a small cafe. The two boys sat down and ordered some drinks.

"Ok," asked Naruto, "who are you, and what did you do with Inuzuka Kiba?"
"What's that supposed to imply?" shouted Kiba. "The Inuzuka family may be beast tamers, but we know a thing or two about being gracious hosts!"
"And what part of that yelling is considered 'gracious?'" asked Naruto rubbing his ear.

Kiba just took a few breaths, realizing how much control he would need to use just to talk to the Uzumaki. By that time their drinks came, to which Kiba guzzled and handed the glass back for a refill.

I laughed to myself at his reactions. And people call me a impulsive knucklehead! Still, if there was anyone I could relate to, it would have to be Kiba. And despite how much we argue, we had a mutual understanding after our first fight, during the Chuunin exams so long ago.

Still I had to call him on his behavior, as it was quite...polite...no offense...

"Ok Kiba, what's on your mind?" inquired Naruto.

Kiba shifted around, seeing that he and Naruto were relatively alone right now.

"It concerns Hinata," he said.
"And?" asked Naruto, motioning with his hand for Kiba to specify.
"Look, you know the girl since elementary in the academy right?"
"Well yeah, we were in the same classes for the academy..."
"Well what do you know about her?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean! Her hobbies, favorites, such and such."

Naruto was confused with this line of questioning. Kiba was on the same team with Hinata.

"Wouldn't you know more than me? Hinata's your teammate, not mine."
"She's still rather, resistant. I just wanted to know from another source is all," said Kiba, looking around the cafe again.
"Why me?"
"I just told you why."
"No I just mean why not ask her yourself?"
"Because I don't want to."
"Why?"
"Because."
"Because why?"

Kiba had enough of this at this point, his inhibitions fading away.
He slammed his palms on the table and growled at Naruto, who was surprisingly not shocked at his behavior.

"Because I like her! Satisfied you rat bastard!" asked Kiba at the top of his lungs.

A few glasses could be heard shattering as they collided with the ground. Kiba, not wanting to explain himself, nabbed Naruto by the collar and ran out of the cafe.
It was a good hour of laughing before Kiba had Naruto's attention again.

"Oh man, I gotta admit Kiba, that outburst of yours ranks up there with the all-time greatest!" chuckled Naruto, to a still grumbling Kiba.
"One of these days Uzumaki, I'm taking your hide, I swear it..." he mumbled.

"Anyways, I am curious as to how this happened."

Kiba looked to see Naruto serious, so he decided to vent.

"I guess it started a while ago, but it didn't hit me until the party. It seems to work for us, but I just know the Hyuga Main Family will throw a fit if they find out. I don't know what to do."

I sighed at that. It was times like this that reminded me of how I was just a crutch. Kiba actually thought I would have experience with these sort of issues? I've never even kissed a girl, much less gone steady with one!

"You know, Shino told me something at that party. He said 'if something is to happen, it happens.'"
"He's said that around me and Hinata as well, but I still don't think he's being realistic."
"Well, do you got any brighter ideas?"
Kiba sighed, "I guess you've got a point there."
"So relax, and if I were you, I would enjoy the fact that someone finds my mangy butt attractive."

Nauto started to walk off, before he heard Kiba run up behind him.

"Thanks Naruto," he said, rolling his eyes in a rather stubborn mood.
"Someone's gotta be able to get through to you," replied Naruto with a shrug.

The boys walked a bit more before Naruto's attention was caught as he saw Sakura come out from one the local stores.

"Hey Sakura-chan, how ya doing?" he yelled to her with his typical grin.

The pink-haired girl jumped at his voice, and turned to see him.

"O-oh, hi Naruto-kun. Um, I'm good, how are y-you?" she stuttered.
Naruto raised an brow at this. "I'm fine, what are you up to?"
"Nothing important, just some shopping for Tsunade-shishou so...bye!" and with that she sprinted towards the Hokage offices.

Naruto was in awe, to say the least.

"What the hell was that about? She's acting more like Hinata than herself." he asked aloud.
"Don't know, but she sure got nervous when she saw you," said Kiba, leering at Naruto. "Can't blame her though."
Naruto just chuckled a bit then waved Kiba off. "Like you know anything dog-face. Anyways, I'm heading home for a nap."

Kiba looked off to see Naruto turn the corner, and then ran himself towards the Hokage offices.

I awoke later that afternoon. Well, more like that evening. Hey, when I do anything, whether training or napping, I take it seriously!

As seriously as say...a kunai thrown through my bedroom window...

Naruto was startled fully awake, as a kunai flew into the wall opposite his bedroom window. He quickly looked outside, trying to find any signs of an assassin. No luck however: the guy who attacked Naruto was quite good at getting away quickly. He turned to the kunai for any clue, such as distinguishing marks and design. It appeared there was a small note wrapped around the handle.

'I'm really getting sick of these ninja delivery boys,' he grumbled to himself, as he pulled out the kunai and unfolded the note, seeing letters written in what appeared blood...

Head to the Hokage's Offices immediately.

Refuse and the pink girl's blood gets spilled some more

"Pink girl..." as soon as he deduced their threat, he was pissed. He immediately burned the note and sped towards the Hokage offices.

The front doors were blasted open. Apparently Naruto decided now wasn't the time for strategic entrances. However, his rage had blinded him to the shadow who crept up on him and held him down to the ground.

Naruto grunted as he tried to escape the hold, but obviously his attacker had the leverage in this case.

"Let me go now, or they'll need a brace to keep your jaw in place!" he growled.
"It's too late for threats Uzumaki Naruto, now prepare yourself..." he felt the stranger free one of his hands to motion to someone in the corner.

'Shit, this is it,' he thought, and closed his eyes waiting for the inevitable death blow.

I was ready to die. When he said 'prepare yourself' I assumed that's what he meant.

Apparently, he meant me to die by way of glucose shock...due to birthday cake.

Its times like this it pays to pay attention to the date: October 10, 2003. My birthday...

"Surprise!" shouted a bunch of voices, and Naruto opened his eyes to see none other than Kakashi holding him to the floor, and his friends in front of him with giant smiles on their faces.
"You mean to tell me," said Naruto, "that you placed a fake ransom note in my apartment just so you could lure me to this party!"
"Pretty much," said Kakashi, as if it happens all the time. "The blood part was my idea."

"I'll get you back for this someday Kakashi-sensei, I swear," he said rather morbidly, as he found he could now pick himself off the floor.
"You guys did this for me?" he asked, after taking a few minutes to let it all sink in.
"Well, we probably would have forgotten that it was even today," admitted Tsunade, shrugging sheepishly.
"What happened?"
"Apparently," said Kiba, approaching Naruto, "Sakura found out and wanted to do something. Figures she was nervous when we saw her earlier today: she could have blown the whole surprise right there."
"Kiba asked me and he was nice enough to round up a bunch of the class to come to this," said Sakura, who just smiled like she just pulled off the scam of the century.

Now you all knowing my past, you can be assured that my birthday wasn't exactly a great day for me. In fact, a part of me wished to just forget the date October 10 entirely just for that reason.

Like every October 10, I cried that day, but not for the same reasons as before. Now, I had friends and family to share it with.

I found it hard to get a break to myself, and I really wanted one. But sure enough, Fate made it so that I was the center of attention for the entire time. Its not that I didn't mind, but I did have something in mind that night. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

It was rather orderly for a party involving professional killers, and within three hours, the party finally died down. I wasn't ready to go to bed just yet though. I found myself wandering slightly outside the city gates, finding myself standing by a large pond. I found a tree to sit back against, and just looked at the moonlit sky, trying to take in everything today.

It rather interested me that Sakura even knew my birthday, much less tried to find out about it. My rational mind tried to wave it off as her just putting two and two together. After all, surely she could figure out my birth was the same day Kiyubi was sealed, couldn't she? Still, a part of me, a part I thought was killed a long time ago tried to scream otherwise.

It was getting rather uncomfortable for me. It was like an itch you can find, but can't reach, no matter how hard you stretch your arms to get to it.

No, that wasn't it, I was just scared. Again, I was scared of something I told myself was destiny long ago. Even now, I'm still doubting it. Am I really that stubborn? Or am I just holding out for a flash of light in the dark?

"Naruto-kun?"

Naruto was snapped out of his trance when he heard the voice of the girl in question. He turned and faced her. "How'd you find me Sakura-chan?"
"You're not to find Naruto-kun, but it did take me a while. Can I talk with you?"
"Sure," he said, and patted the grass next to him, to which Sakura obliged him.

"Did you like your surprise?" she said, trying to make conversation.
"Oh yeah, that was great, I've never had a birthday party before."
"I see," she said, knowing full well his reason why. "That must have been hard."
"More than you know," he said, causing her to turn, seeing his forlorn eyes.

"But the scary thing is that I was used to it. I was to ready to die quite a few times. The first was my battle with Sasuke at the Valley of the End. Then the final battle with Sasuke, then our fights with Akatsuki. I didn't care enough to want to live, but I knew that I'd be ok with losing my life during those times."

"Why would you ever think something so horrible!" she asked.
"I convinced myself Sakura-chan. Ever since our days at the Academy." He was starting to break down a bit, as tears started to form in his eyes.

Sakura opened her arms, and let Naruto vent, to which he gladly accepted.

"Naruto, go on, I want you to finish what you were saying," she asked, almost demanded of him.

Naruto got up, feeling better, though tear stains lined his face.

"I...was convinced that given my burdens, that I was born to live alone. The beatings and insults I took day after day would just further persuade me. I knew I was here for a purpose, but not for a decent one, or a dignified one. I was convinced that I was here to be the village punching bag. And after I realized that, I almost was happy, and was ready to give up trying to fight against it. Then one day, I saw a little girl at the academy."

"A girl?" she reiterated.

Naruto nodded, "she was like me, in the sense that she too, felt alone in the world, felt like an outcast. However, she never gave up trying to prove them wrong. She strived every day to show the village that she was a person to be accepted. I admired that about her, and she inspired me not to give up either."

"Who was she Naruto?" asked Sakura. She was rather curious as to who this mystery girl could be.
"You really want to know?" asked Naruto, taking a small gulp. This could be his chance, and he was summoning the courage to let her know.

Sakura nodded, she gave him the go-ahead to talk about it.

"Don't you remember your life in the academy Sakura? I was talking about you. You were the inspiration for me to not give up on my life, on my future."

Sakura looked at him quizzically, then her eyes widened when she analyzed his question. She did have a rough time of it before she became her own person! And she was Naruto's inspiration!

"I, I don't understand," she said to him, "I was a bitch to you, just like all the others. And yet you're saying I inspire you?"
"That's right," he nodded, "That day, when team 7 was made, I finally felt the starting of my new life. I wasn't alone anymore, I had friends and teammates to laugh with, to cry with. For those brief moments in time when we were on missions, I wasn't a crutch to people, I was a person. I took those moments, and promised myself I would always try to make more like them."

While Naruto was busy with his speech, he failed to notice that Sakura had slumped over. She was trembling...

"Sakura, what's wrong?" he asked her.
"Its just I can't believe it," she said to him.
"Can't believe what?"

He would have to wait for his answer though, Sakura tackled him right then and there, and in the moonlit night, mashed her lips to his.

You know those times where your life flashes before your eyes? Yeah, that was one of those moments. Her lips touching mine was nothing short of mind blowing. And it wasn't half-assed either, she was really kissing me!

Disappointingly for Naruto, Sakura pulled back after a few minutes. He opened his eyes to see her crying and smiling at the same time.

"Sakura-chan?"
"Just 'Sakura' Naruto."

Naruto gaped at this.

"Are you sure?"
"I am," she said as she laid on top of him. "I'm very sure now. It's funny, you're idiotic, arrogant, brash, brutish..."
"Hey!"

"And I still fell in love with you," she said smiling at him before kissing him deeply again.

We stayed like that for a while, content under the moon.

Man, can't wait until my next birthday...

Ok, managed to get this next one out pretty quickly. Is it too short? I got the feeling I rushed it a bit. Anyway, if I get reviews, I'm sure one responsible reader will let me know.

"Thank You!" To the Following:

conlan0414863

There ya go, more typing...

Dirac Blade
Thanks for the encouraging words. Personally, I don't think of my writing as top notch, and people tend to convince me otherwise. Thanks for the review!

dbzgtfan2004

I'm glad you like the story. Would you believe this is my first drama?

Mod Soul 792
I figured that comment fitted Kiba's character quite well. As for the fight scenes, I have trouble thinking about them. I'm always stuck somewhere 'How long do I make it? What are the strengths? Weaknesses? How does it end? Does someone die? What are the styles?' and a bunch of other questions that keep me off the computer for weeks. Thanks for the review!