Author's Note: Whew! Who would have seen that coming? Kiba and Ryu actually had a fight! Yikes! So… How long do you think it will take for them to make up? Let's find out, shall we? Anyway, I hope I'll be able to update more… Happy Reading!

Ryu

How Hard It Is To Say Sorry

A few days passed after the fight between Ryu and Kiba. Neither one had said a word to another. TenTen, Lee, Neji, and Guy could tell something was wrong as Ryu stopped talking as much as she used too. She just showed up to training and went home by herself. Kurenai, Hinata, and Shino were dumbfounded at finding Kiba equally as inactive as Ryu.

He didn't even want to fight extra rounds with anyone. He wasn't talking like he usually did either. This odd behavior grated on Hinata's fragile nerves as she nervously paced around her room after a day of training. Kiba had become so listless. At first she thought he might have just gotten sick, but now it seemed more serious then that.

She was worried. She wanted to talk to someone, but wasn't exactly sure who to ask about him. She took a breath and decided to ask her father. She walked around the house and bit her lip the entire way to the training room. She poked her head in to see her father working with her younger sister. Her heart started raving; she didn't think she could do this. Hizashi finally saw her.

"Oh, Hinata," he said. She gulped when he said her name. "What is it?"

"Uh... Um... "She bit her lip, and suddenly lost nerve."Never mind! I'll tell you later!!"

She quickly slammed the sliding door and took off down the hall. Neji heard the quick patter of feet and stopped to see Hinata run past him. He watched her turn the corner and keep on running. What happened? He looked down the hall to see if anyone was chasing her, mainly her father.

No, it wasn't that. What, was everyone in the final rounds losing their minds? Normally, Neji wouldn't be concerned about something like this but he was curious. He also knew where Hinata would be when she freaked out like.

There were three gardens in the Hyuuga house. One was for everyone to enjoy, one was a zen garden in which the main branch meditate and trained. and the other was Hinata's. It was a forgotten plot in the area of the house that he had come upon accidentally some time ago. He had glimpsed Hinata working with the soil, planting flowers and herbs. It seemed she had taken the forgotten garden and turned it into a psychological haven for herself; somewhere she could go and breathe easily.

He gently opened the sliding door so that she wouldn't hear it and looked in on her. She was sitting on a boulder mostly covered in moss, and was agitatedly picking one of her flowers apart. He knew she wouldn't be doing that unless something was severely bothering her. He stepped into the garden, and quietly walked over to her so he wouldn't spook her. She seemed so absorbed in her worry that she didn't even notice him.

He cleared his throat. Hinata nearly fell off the rock, the noise scared her so badly. She looked up at him, panicked. Her eyes went wide.

"O-oh! N-Neji!" she struggled to say. Neji tried to soften his face for her; he knew he severely frightened her.

"Hello, Lady Hinata," he said as he sat on the rock next to her.

Hinata thought she might faint. He cocked his head at her.

"I couldn't help but notice that you're a little... worried. Is everything okay?" he asked her.

Hinata blinked. She had been looking for someone to talk to but she hadn't been expecting this. Actually, Neji was the last person she had thought who would be concerned about her. She took a breath and got back up on the boulder.

"Um…' She started to form the sentences in her mind. "I've been worried… about Kiba. He's… not acting like himself."

Neji looked down at the ground. "The Inuzuka boy, right?"

She nodded. He looked back at her. "He's friends with Ryu, yes?"

Hinata nodded once more. "Yes. He usually likes to go see her…" she said. She then thought a moment. "But… I don't think he's gone over in a while…"

"Really?" Neji looked up at the sky. "Ryu hasn't been acting quite like herself either…"

He started to connect the dots in his head around the same time Hinata was. If Kiba was acting strangely, and he was friends with Ryu, and she was acting strangely too… Hinata looked concernedly at him.

"Do you think something happened?" she asked.

Neji looked thoughtful. "Maybe," he said. He got up from the rock and walked out the garden.

Neji quietly watched Ryu the next day at training. Lee was training with her that day, and as usual, she was trying to improve her punches. He wanted to tell her to give up already on trying to improve her arm strength. It just wasn't going to happen until she gained weight. Ryu had stayed skinny as the day she arrived, which was ninety-eight pounds at five feet, one inch.

Needless to say, she was exactly built to be able to knock someone out with her fists. In a way, he was glad that she had her ninjutsu to fall back on. If she didn't, Ryu wouldn't be a ninja at all. She was still unnaturally quiet as she went about training. Neji and TenTen were working together. He noticed TenTen was visibly agitated by Ryu's silence. She sighed as she threw a kunai knife into the ground.

"Ooh! This is so IT!" she grumbled. She turned to see Ryu and Lee sparring.

"Ryu!!" she shouted to her.

Ryu took Lee down with a swift kick and turned to her. "Yeah?"

"You're coming with us to lunch!!"

"I am?"

"Yes, you are!"

Ryu didn't have time to protest more as Lee quickly pounced on her. Whether this was to keep her from responding or because he wanted to keep practicing wasn't very clear. Lunch seemed to happen very quickly and TenTen ordered all of them over to Ichiraku's, a place where they could all agree on what to eat. Ryu sat on the far left and TenTen quickly sat beside her to interrogate her. Lee chose to sit in the middle, and Neji decided to eat off to the side.

He would just listen and volunteer the information when it seemed necessary. As soon as the ramen was put down, and Ryu started to eat, TenTen started to question her.

"So, Ryu, how've you been?" she asked, the question completely normal. Even though she had asked it that morning.

Ryu shrugged. "Can't complain," she said as she chewed.

TenTen waited for Ryu to elaborate like she usually would, but the only sound was slurping. She frowned.

"Alright, that's it!" She slammed a hand down on the counter, making everyone jump.

"You've been acting weird ever since that day off! Now, you're going to tell me what's wrong, or so help me, Ryu, I'll go crazy!!!" TenTen finally exploded, jabbing at Ryu with her chopsticks with every word.

The girl was backed up against the wall to avoid the eating utensils.

"Nothing is wrong, TenTen!" she said as she gingerly prodded the chopsticks away.

"Then why are you acting so weird?!"

"I'm not acting weird!!"

"Yes, you are!" Lee jumped in. "You keep looking off into the distance and sighing. Are you sick?"

Ryu blinked, exasperated. Had they been this worried all along?

"No,"

"Is Al sick?" asked TenTen.

Ryu shook her head. "No,"

"Is Raikera sick?"

"No! No one is sick!!" she said, slightly appalled. "I'll tell you what's wrong! What's wrong is that my friends won't let me eat my freakin' lunch! That's what's wrong!"

She quickly turned around and busied herself with eating. TenTen and Lee turned to their own food, their efforts proved fruitless by Ryu's waiting stomach. Neji took a sip from his drink.

"Ryu and Kiba had a fight," he said, letting sentence drop like it was nothing.

There was a moment of dead silence broken by Ryu's choked coughing. She whirled on Neji in an instant after that.

"Where the hell did you hear that?!?!" she demanded, her eyes turning a fierce shade of purple accompanied by yellow sparks.

TenTen and lee quickly leaned out of the way of the girl's fiery gaze. Neji calmly looked back at her.

"From Hinata. Apparently, Kiba hasn't been himself lately…" he said. He then started to eat once again.

Ryu sat there for a moment, looking at him. She then turned back to her food and sat still. TenTen and Lee gingerly went back to their food. TenTen watched Ryu for a while, who wasn't eating anymore. Ryu then got up from her stool, put hr money on the counter, and turned to TenTen.

"Can you tell Guy I went home early to train on my own?" she asked her.

"Uh… Sure," she said.

Ryu then walked away in the direction of her apartment. TenTen looked back at the quiet Neji. She wanted to yell at him, but knew that would be useless. Still, couldn't he have been a little gentler? If Ryu and Kiba had a fight, it must have been about something important.

Ryu and Kiba had been friends since she had set foot in the village, the fight couldn't have been about nothing. She wanted to talk to Ryu about it, but she knew she shoulder leave her alone since that seemed to be what she wanted. Ryu walked silently to her apartment, her eyes still purple. Stupid, stupid Neji!! she fumed inside her head. Why did he have to find out?! Why couldn't it have been TenTen or Lee? Of course it had to be the most heartless person I know!!

Ryu wanted to kick every stand she saw. She wanted to ring Neji's neck. She wanted… She anted Kiba. She shook her vigorously. NO! No! No! she thought. You can't think about him right now!! You have to train!! You can deal with stupid idiot later!!

She sighed as she walked into her apartment. Al and Raikera greeted her with growls and meows. She knelt down to pet them, and walked over to her cluttered table. It was covered in books, papers, chopsticks, and empty instant ramen cups. She hadn't had time to cook actual food so she had resorted to easily made store bought stuff.

She had been too busy studying to do anything else. If she was going to be ready for the final exam, she would have to brush up on her old techniques. She had been finding it hard to concentrate though. Her mind kept wandering to Kiba and the fight. She didn't know what to think anymore about him.

She wanted to forgive him, but she couldn't since he hadn't said a word to her since that night. She just wished he could understand, or at least take the time to try… He just didn't see this sort of thing from her point of view. Then again, she hadn't really given him a chance either. She hadn't told him anything about her past experience with other spirit mediums and, more importantly, about Inu.

But if they were just going to argue about Gaara, which she thought was very stupid, then how could she explain things. All this along with mixed feelings whirled in her head while she tried to study. She blinked at the pages she had just turned. She didn't remember one thing about what she had just read. Her head hit the book with a THUMP!

Al watched his mistress, concerned. Raikera was equally concerned, but was confused. After all, she had only been in the world for three months, how could she understand what was going? She just knew that Ryu had been upset ever since that night when the boy that smelled like a wolf had yelled and she had yelled back. Al, who had been in the world longer then Raikera, had understood completely. He also knew what the problem was.

If only Ryu and Kiba could just meet up, he was sure that they could work something out. The boy had been around as long as he had, so he couldn't really imagine, or imagine as much as a cat could, Ryu without Kiba and vice versa. The orange tabby nudged Raikera, saying through touch, I'll be back. A slightly alarmed Raikera followed him to the window, growling lowly. Where are you going? Don't leave me with her like this!! I don't know what to do!!!

Al hopped onto the window sill and popped the screen open. I'm gong to see Akumaru. I won't be long. Just let her pet you and rub her knees, that should make her feel better. He jumped out the window, and Raikera plopped onto the floor, pouting. She didn't want to be stuck with Ryu all alone, not with her like this. Al quickly went through the streets and alleys.

He had been born in Konoha, and knew every inch of it. He also knew where the Inuzuka house was as well. He just hoped Akumaru was there. Akumaru was there, and so was Kiba, who was trying to escape his berating partner and guilty feelings.

YOU!! YOU!!! You're so stupid!!! Akumaru threw at him. Did you have to over-react? That was the dumbest argument I've ever heard!!

Kiba growled. "Will you leave me alone?" he mumbled unhappily.

No! All because you got jealous, you might have just lost one of your best friends!

"I didn't lose her!" he said quickly. He wasn't willing to admit that he might have messed up completely with Ryu.

It had been an hour after the argument that he had wanted to run back to her apartment and apologize. But he wasn't sure what to say to her. He had completely bad-mouthed one of her friends, and that wasn't so easy to forgive. He was also aware of how jealous he had gotten of Gaara. He wasn't even sure where all that feeling had come from, he'd never been so jealous in his life.

He felt stupid and guilty all at the same time. He wasn't exactly prepared to face Ryu yet, even though his conscience was begging him to apologize. He wanted to say he was sorry, but didn't want to say directly to Ryu. What if she got mad at him again, like she had at the end? He had never heard Ryu swear in the time he had known her, so he knew he had gotten her angry.

He was just too confused and hesitant to go see her, but Akumaru wouldn't have it. The puppy refused to cooperate with him until he apologized to her. He also wouldn't stop yelling at him. Apparently, Akumaru was very upset over the entire thing and wanted more than anything to see Ryu again.

Well, you are going to lose her if you don't do something!! Akumaru continued. Ooh, how come you have to be so possessive?! Ryu can have other friends too you know!!

"Ugh, I know that Akumaru! Now will you please leave me alone? If all you're going to do is bother me about Ryu, then go pout somewhere else!!" Kiba finally snapped at him.

The puppy gave him a broiling look and then sulked out the back door.

Fine, I will, he said half-heartedly.

The unhappy pup plopped himself down in the backyard, frowning as much as he could. Stupid Kiba and his stupid ideas and stupid, stupid, stupid… Why couldn't he just accept that Ryu liked Gaara and that was that? Sure, he used to be a psycho homicidal maniac, but he was different now, right? Hek, he saved the person he tried to kill once so he must have changed. Akumaru laid his head down on his paws.

He then looked up as he heard a rustling in the bushes. An orange tabby cat came through and looked around the yard. The puppy was about to jump up and start chasing it when he saw that it was Al.

Hey! The cat meowed to him as he bounded over. I've got an idea to stop this nonsense if you want to listen!!

Al came to find Ryu asleep on her books. She had studied herself to sleep. So he had let her sleep a few hours before pouncing on her. Raikera helped him in getting their mistress active again, though she didn't know exactly why they were doing this. Until Al told her that is.

It had taken a little encouragement, but Ryu finally let herself be led out by her pets. They obviously wanted out for some reason or another. So she tied Al's ribbon around his neck and put Raikera on her leash and went out the door. Ryu tried to let she relax as they walked around. Konoha at dusk was fairly calming, especially with the final rounds coming up.

It seemed that the night before hand was seen as a festival and a lot of the local people and businesses were gearing up for it. Strings of lanterns were already hung everywhere and glowed lightly from the sunset. She sighed as she let her mind wander, letting go of all her worries about studying, training, and Kiba. Al seemed to be having fun, leading her and Raikera around. He seemed to be leading the in the direction of the clock tower, where she had first met…

Dang it, she thought as it reminded her of Kiba. She shook her head. The clock tower square had a fountain if she remembered right. So, they continued to walk. At about the same time, Akumaru was leading a leisurely walking Kiba around to the clock tower as well.

He had been a little pensive, but had decided to try and relax in one of his favorite hobbies. If you could call walking a hobby that is. When they got to the square, the clock was happily chiming away at seven-thirty. Akumaru jumped onto the fountain's rim to walk around. Kiba looked around at the crowd, and thought he saw a distorted reflection in the fountain's stream.

He shrugged, and sat on the low wall to watch the crowd go by. He took in a deep breath, and was startled by a familiar scent. Fresh air and the teasing scent of something that couldn't be named: Ryu. He stood up and looked around, startling Akumaru. The dog wanted to swat himself on the head; he had forgotten about Kiba's nose.

The boy started to walk around the fountain, but quickly halted when he saw Raikera on her leash. He peeked around a little more and saw Ryu leaning against one of the higher walls, looking up at the changing sky. Ryu was letting her mind wander around the clouds when she thought she felt eyes on her. She quickly looked and thought she saw a flash of something. Curious, she walked forward.

If only she knew that Kiba nearly fell over trying to get away from her view. He was getting out of here; the sooner the better! He quickly started to circle the other side of the fountain, Akumaru following behind him. Al looked to the other side of the fountain, and saw Kiba going in the opposite direction Ryu was. The cat thought quickly.

Al suddenly dashed around Ryu's legs and ran to the other side, dragging Raikera's leash with him. It quickly wrapped around one of Ryu's ankles, and before she knew it, she was being tugged on to go in the other direction.

"Ah! Ah!" she squeaked, hopping on one foot as she was being dragged to the other side, right where Kiba was.

He suddenly came out of nowhere, walking quickly and looking behind him as if he was being followed. Akumaru dove between his legs, making him lose his balance.

"Agh!!"

"EEK!" Ryu squealed as they both promptly fell on top of each other.

Raikera and Al quickly tangled them together using the leash, Akumaru barking incoherently to add to the confusion. Ryu tried to wiggle out of the leash while Kiba, to his embarrassment, was trying to entangle himself from Ryu's long legs. They finally looked at face to face, and looked at each other for a moment. Kiba blushed the tiniest bit, and looked down at the tangled leash. He looked up at her.

"Um… Do you want some help?" he asked.

She nodded. "That would be appreciated," she said.

He started to carefully unwind the leash from her legs, his own coming free once they weren't part of the mad human knot they had accidentally formed. He got up, and offered Ryu his hand to help her up. She looked at it for a moment and then took it. She brushed herself off. They looked at each other once more.

Kiba was biting the inside of his cheek, his conscience screaming at him to say something. Ryu didn't know what to say to him; why did she suddenly feel so guilty?

"Um…" Kiba unsurely let out, but Ryu quickly turned around.

"I have to go. Thanks for helping," she said quickly.

She started to walk away, and Kiba thought he felt something rip inside of him. Akumaru looked obstinately from one teen to the other, and then bit him right on the leg.

"OW!!! RYU, I'M SORRY!!!" Kiba blurted out from the sudden pain.

Ryu spun around on one heel. "What?!"

"I said… I said I was sorry!!" He sighed, and then looked at her, his eyes showing his feelings of remorse.

"I… I never should have said anything. You choose your friends, not me. And I'm sorry I said those things… I'm pretty much sorry for everything…"

Kiba bit his lip. "Do you forgive me?"

Ryu stood there, looking at him. There was no emotion on her face at all. Kiba waited, his heart anxious. She looked away and then sighed. She then looked at him again, looking weary and defeated.

"Do you want to get something to eat?" she asked him.

He blinked. "Uh… Sure," he said.

She started to walk away once more and he caught up to her. They silently walked to the restaurant district. Akumaru panted happily as they walk, glad of his accomplishment. Ryu stopped to investigate a small dumpling stand, and she jerked a thumb at it.

"What do you think of here?" she asked.

"Sure, I love dumplings," said Kiba.

They both took a seat and ordered dumplings with some red bean soup. The air between them still felt a little uneven, and Kiba still felt guilty. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Um… So, are you sure you forgive me?" he asked, his voice quiet.

She looked at him, a little questioningly. It then changed to being sheepish, a small smile peeking out from her face.

"Yeah, I forgive you." she said. "But…"

Kiba held his breath.

"It was kind of my fault the fight happened," she said, not exactly looking at him. "I didn't really tell you anything about me or my past experience with spirits and spirit mediums-"

"Whoa, whoa! Wait a second!!" Kiba cut in. He pointed a finger at her. "I was the one who flipped out, not you. So I don't want to hear anything out of you about being sorry."

Ryu smiled. "Well, that is kind of true, but still. I think you need to know why I feel the way I do about these kinds of things."

The cook put down the dumplings and the red bean soup. He smiled kindly at them, and they smiled back. Ryu rummaged for her wallet and opened it. She then took out the picture of her, Dr. Masuda, and Inu, and handed it to him. Kiba studied it, his dumpling stick in the air between the plate and his mouth. Ryu pointed at Inu.

"That right there is why I feel so strongly about spirits," she said. "Inu's half human and half demon because of a demon dog inside of him. But he's the sweetest little kid I've ever met, and people have always freaked out when they meet him because of his appearance,"

Kiba began to understand. He was a cute kid, he could give him that. His eyes seemed to hold a gentle light even though they gleamed the lemon yellow of certain breeds of dogs. He then thought of Gaara, and Ryu's words about him.

"Oh…" he said. "I think I get it now…"

He looked at Ryu, a little guilty. "Sorry, Ryu, I didn't know..."

"I know, that's why I told you," she said, picking up her cup of soup.

She then surprised him by putting a finger to his lips.

"Now, I don't want to hear another word about that fight. As far as I'm concerned, it never happened." She said. She winked. "'Kay?"

Kiba tried not to blush. "M'kay," he mumbled so he bite her finger.

They finished their snack, and Kiba decided to walk her home. It was dark after all. They discussed what happened to them during the week while they walked. Ryu told Kiba about her fruitless studying. He encouraged her to keep trying, and to start eating real food again.

"You're not going to gain any weight if you end up eating ramen every night,' he said. He couldn't help but look her over after he said that.

"Have you been able to gain any weight while you've been here?" he asked her. He remembered how skinny she had been when he first met.

"A little but most of its muscle," she said. She poked her rib cage. "You can still count my bones though. Guy's tried everything to get me above a hundred pounds, but it's not working…"

"You weigh less than a hundred pounds?!" Kiba nearly shouted. This was news to him! "How much do you weigh?!"

"About ninety eight and a half." She said simply.

The boy gaped as they neared her apartment. "You're kidding me!" he said. He stopped and put his hands out. "I don't believe it; let me pick up."

Ryu shrugged. "Sure, but I don't-yeek!"

She squealed as Kiba easily lifted her up off the ground. His eyes widened as he held her up.

"Wow! You're like a feather!" he said.

He continued to walk to her apartment with Ryu in his arms. He was able to toss her up and down a little, making her laugh. Her laughter carried easily, making him laugh as well. He was able to carry her up the stairs and then put her down. She was still giggling as she opened her door.

"Thanks, Kiba,' she said. Al and Raikera went around her and inside.

"You're welcome," he said. "Good luck in the final rounds."

"You too. Good night."

"Good night."

She went inside and he walked down the steps. He smiled to himself, glad that he and Ryu were friends again. But he was worried now. If she faced either Sakura or Hinata, both of them could easily send her flying. Even then, if she did make it to the final round, it would be Gaara, himself, Aki, Saphira, Sara, or Ikara that she would be fighting. Any one of them could do serious damage to her if they wanted to. He bit his lip. Akumaru bumped the back of his leg.

You know, he said. She's a ninja too. She wouldn't have beaten that Viraj guy if she couldn't stand her ground.

He sighed. "That's true…" he said.

Akumaru rolled his eyes. Don't worry; she'll be fine.

Kiba truly hoped so as he walked home. The final rounds were next Friday. Both he and Hinata were going to have to work their butts off if they were going to be ready. He thought of Gaara and that Aki boy. This was going to be one hek of a show for the audience.