Disclaimer: I am not owning Naruto but this story is mine.

Memories deferred-Kiba's story

Kiba isn't sure how team 8 fell apart. He thinks slowly, trying to remember every crack that eventually lead to the fall of such a great team.

Kiba remembers when Hinata first started watching Naruto. That was a long time ago, when they were still new genin. But Naruto only started to truly see her a few years ago, when he returned from his training with Jiraiya.

Kiba was there when Hinata and Naruto first kissed, and they laughingly fell down, right onto a small, insignificant twig. He felt like shouting, "See? That's the sound of my heart breaking," when the surprisingly loudsnap sounded, but that would hurt Hinata, and Kiba would never do anything to hurt her. He loved her that much.

With Shino, it's a different story. Kiba had always tried to provoke him into giving some sort of reaction. He never did succeed, not during all those years. So maybe it was the combined effect of Shino's silences and Hinata's betrayal that made Kiba stop trying. He stopped trying to get Hinata's attention because he was alwaysoutshined and he stopped trying to get Shino's acknowledgement because he was always ignored. It was futile to stop the inevitable.

During the next few years, team 8 broke apart. But neither Shino nor Hinata realized how Kiba felt, how the jealousy welled up in his heart when he was Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji walking down the street together. So every night, Kiba would wait patiently, hiding, until he could make sure Hinata got home safely. And once in a while, he would dart into the yard of the Abrurames' to search for a glimpse of the familiar long, white coat.

Even broken teams are still teams, you know. They always were, and always will be...'til death ends it all.


Hi. This is the first story of a four-shot of how team 8 fell apart. Next up is Hinata, then Shino and finally Kurenai.

Enjoy and review!

Achillea