Yay! This story is almost up to 60 reviews! Wow, did you know that Microsoft Word doesn't think 'yay' is a word? Hehe. Anyway, it seems like you guys liked the pairing of Kiba and Temari, so I'll continue it! As a quick recap, when we last left the two, Kiba had just run off, leaving a very confused Temari behind. What will happen next? Read on to find out!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. –steals Temari's fan and uses it on random people–
"Damn it, where did he go?"
Temari was wandering around the streets of Konoha, looking for Kiba. He had taken off so suddenly, leaving her behind. She rubbed her wrist where he had grabbed her; it was still red from his sharp nails. "Jeez, maybe he really does have claws. He could draw blood with those things!" She hadn't realized she had said this out loud until people started giving her weird looks. She was glad she didn't actually know anyone in the village; they would think she was some psychopath that talks to random body parts or something.
She continued her walk through the village, not knowing where she was or where she was going. People continued to stare at her, though with the looks most strangers get when they enter a foreign village, not the strange looks she had received when she had been talking to herself. She vaguely wondered where she was, but she always kept the Hokage's building in sight so she could find her way back. She was tired of searching, however, and was about to give up when she saw a familiar face.
Hey, he's on that kid's team! She thought, recognizing him as Shino; not that she could remember his name. She walked over to him. "Hey, have you seen your teammate around?" she asked, putting on as friendly a face as possible. "We were having a chat when he ran off all of a sudden. You know, the one with the cute little dog?" She wanted to puke at that last line. Cute little dog? What the hell am I thinking?
Shino shook his head. "No," he said, no emotion showing on his partly-hidden face. Great, Temari thought. Stick a gourd on his back and he'd be a Gaara clone. "However, if I see him, I will tell him you were looking for him," Shino continued before walking away. As he left, Temari saw a few bugs scurry up his arm. Ok, now that's just creepy, she thought, a look of pure disgust on her face. She decided that Konoha was full of freaks. She sighed and continued walking. She had been walking for about ten minutes when she was stopped.
"Hey, babe!" A man said, walking unsteadily towards her. Judging by the smell of alcohol surrounding him, Temari figured that he must have been drunk. As if the small hiccups he let out now and then and his wobbly walking weren't a dead giveaway.
"What did you just call me?" Temari asked, her eyebrow twitching slightly. She wasn't really the type of girl who liked being called 'babe' by random drunkards she met on the street. Or random people who weren't drunk, for that matter.
"Aw, come on!" the man hiccupped, now standing directly in front of her. He reached out and placed a hand on her chest. "We can have a lot of fun together, you know."
"Get off of me, you pervert!" Temari yelled, pushing him away from her. She was very tempted to pull out her fan and kill the bastard then and there, but she didn't want to ruin the new peace treaty between her village and the Leaf village. Still, the man persisted, and fell forward so that his head landed right between her breasts. "That feels nice…" he murmured, the smell of sake even stronger now that he was closer to her. She turned a bright red and was about to forcefully shove him away when someone else did her the favor.
"Yo, bastard," Kiba said, grabbing the guy by the collar of his shirt and dragging him away from Temari. "She said she didn't like you doing that, so get the hell away from here!" He pushed the guy roughly away from him, and the drunk staggered off.
"I-I could have done that myself," Temari stammered, her face slowly returning to its normal color. She pulled up her shirt where it had fallen slightly from when the guy had fallen on her.
"Wow, you're welcome," Kiba said sarcastically. "Remind me next time not to help you. Or maybe you were liking it?" This comment resulted in him receiving a hard shove from the flustered kunoichi. "Shut up! What are you even doing here, anyway?"
"Shino told me you were looking for me. Did you really miss me that badly?" Kiba replied with a smirk. He was definitely back to his old self; not the flustered and confused ninja Temari had met earlier.
"Hell no!" She shouted, a small blush creeping up her neck. "You just ran off so suddenly, that's all. It's rude, you know." Just then, Akamaru stuck his head out of Kiba's shirt and barked. Temari gave a small shriek and leapt back, causing Kiba to laugh. "What, don't tell me you're afraid of Akamaru?" he said, petting the small dog on the head.
"O-of course not!" Temari said, her blush reddening from embarrassment. "I-it just startled me is all." Akamaru barked again, causing Temari to make a strange noise that sounded like a cross between a shriek and a squeal. She expected Kiba to laugh again, but just the opposite.
"What's wrong?" he asked, his voice suddenly serious. "You really are scared of him, aren't you?" Kiba was confused. He had never met someone who was actually scared of Akamaru before; after all, it's not like he was some killer attack dog or anything like that. He sat down on a large rock on the side of the road and motioned for Temari to join him. "Why are you so afraid of him?" he continued when she was settled beside him. "Did something happen between you and dogs?"
Temari hesitated before answering. "I guess you could say that," she said quietly. "It happened when I was really little; about four or five. I was playing when someone's dog got loose. It was this really big bulldog, and it started chasing me. I wasn't looking where I was going and feel into the nearby river. We had just had a huge rainstorm, so the waters were really high, and I couldn't swim in the first place. I would have drowned if Gaara and Kankuro hadn't come and pulled me out. I guess that's why I have a fear of dogs."
Both of them were silent for a moment before Kiba said, "I'm sorry I laughed at you earlier. I didn't realize it was something like that. But, you know, Akamaru isn't like that. He wouldn't hurt anyone without a good reason." Akamaru gave a small bark of agreement and nuzzled against Temari's leg. The kunoichi shuddered at the touch. Kiba smiled. "Don't worry, he won't hurt you. I promise."
Temari slowly reached out a hand to pet Akamaru, then pulled it back, shaking her head. "I can't do it," she said softly. "I want to pet him, really I do. But it's just not that easy…" Her voice trailed off. She closed her eyes in disappointment, then opened them when she felt something warm on her hand. She looked down to see that Kiba had placed his hand on hers.
"Don't worry," he said gently. "I'll help you." For some reason, Kiba really wanted Temari to see Akamaru the same way he did; not just as a dog, but as a friend. The Sand shinobi gave a small nod, and slowly, Kiba pulled her hand towards Akamaru. He waited for any signs that showed that she was uncomfortable and wanted him to stop; but he saw none, and he continued. After a moment, Temari felt her hand touch the dog's soft fur, and she relaxed a little.
"See? It's not that bad, is it?" Kiba asked, smiling. Temari also had a small smile on her face and nodded again. Kiba looked down and saw her wrist; it was the same one that he had grabbed earlier. It was still red, and he could have sword he saw a small drop of dried blood as well. "I did that to you, didn't I?"
Temari opened her eyes, which she had unconsciously squeezed shut, and followed his gaze down to her wrist. Her eyes softened when she saw the pained expression on the young genin's face. "Don't worry about it. It doesn't hurt as much as it looks." She gave him a reassuring smile. "Really." She resumed petting Akamaru. "He's so soft!" she said with a laugh. She also noticed that Kiba's hand still rested on hers, but oddly, she didn't mind.
Kiba smiled. "Isn't he?" he said, happy that the girl in front of him was enjoying herself. Seeing the large smile on her face even made him forget about hurting her earlier; the fact that it didn't seem to bother her helped him to forget, too. He glanced up at the sky to see the sun slowly lowering itself behind the forest of trees outside the village. Seeing the setting sun gave him an idea. "Hey, can you come with me for a bit?" he asked, a light blush settling on his face. "I have something I want to show you."
Temari looked up at him. "Sure," she said, the smile still on her face. She stood up and brushed herself off, slightly disappointed that his hand no longer rested on top of hers. Akamaru jumped off the rock and landed beside her.
"Great!" Kiba said, smiling brightly. He reached down and grabbed her hand again, only this time he actually held it, instead of just resting it gently on top of hers. He was careful not to hurt her with his long nails again. As they walked, Kiba kept careful track of the position of the sun. It wasn't completely sunset yet; the sun hovered just above the trees and the walls that bordered the village.
He led Temari almost all the way to the other side of the village, away from the surrounding forest; the whole time he held her hand, silently pleased that she wasn't complaining. As they were walking up a steep hill, however, she began to wonder just where they were going.
"Hey, where are you taking me?" she asked; her voice had a touch of annoyance in it. "We've been walking forever, and it'll be dark…" her voice trailed off when they reached the top of the hill, and saw that it overlooked a large blue lake. Its icy blue surface reflected the brilliant colors of the sunset, turning the water an arrangement of reds, oranges, and purples. "…soon."
"Well? What do you think?" Kiba asked, not sure if she liked things like watching sunsets. He needn't have worried, though. Temari turned to him, her eyes glittering with delight. "It's beautiful," she whispered. "Thank you." She sat down on the grassy hillside when something dawned on her. "I don't think I even know your name."
"It's Kiba," he answered, sitting down beside her. Akamaru ran around them playfully before laying down in front of his owner. "I don't think I know yours, either."
"Temari," the Sand ninja said, staring at the beautiful sunset in front of her. The sky was a mixture of pink and orange around the sun, but turned to a soft purple the further up in the sky her eyes traveled. "You know, purple is my favorite color," she said softly, just loud enough for Kiba to hear her.
"Really?" Kiba said, spreading his legs out in front of him. "Well, I'm glad you could see it. You know, while you're here in Konoha." He really was glad that he could show her a good time before she left.
In the glow of the sunset, Kiba gently placed his hand on top of Temari's, and the two sat like that until well after the sun was hidden beneath the surrounding hills.
Great, more OOCness. Grr. I'm trying as best I can to keep them relatively in character, but sometimes it doesn't really work out. Meh. Anyway, thanks for reading chapter eight! As I'm writing this, I still don't have a title for it yet. Does 'Sunset' sound too corny? Well, I guess it could fit, seeing as how the ending to this chapter was corny, too. I wonder if Temari really does have a favorite color…
I know, Gaara and Hinata weren't even in this chapter. Please don't kill me! There will be a lot of moments of them in the upcoming chapters! I already have it worked out. Well, kinda. Poor Shino. He's all alone. Unless you want me to pair him with Kankuro. -shudders- Anyway, on a different note, have you noticed how I keep making psychotic characters? First Michio, and now some perverted drunk guy. I hope they aren't a reflection of my personality or something. -shudders again- Well, by now I'm sure you're tired of my random babbling. As always, please review!
Ja ne!
