Chapter 8: Someone Else's Arms

Nearly twelve months had passed since Ino had talked to Kiba. If you had asked her, then, she would have told you that it was the longest, and most awkward year of her life. She ran into him several times, and he'd try to talk to her, but she would just make an excuse to leave.

Soon after her sixteenth birthday, she began going out with Shikamaru. They seemed to have a good thing going on, but she continued to feel as though something was missing.

Naruto and Hinata were officially going out, as well, and they were so in love. They had the sweetest relationship, Ino had thought. It would be somewhat tear-jerking if they had ever been split apart somehow.

Another year passed after that. By then, Ino and Kiba had stopped speaking all together. On her seventeenth birthday, Ino saw Kiba making out with some girl he'd met that night. Shikamaru threw her a surprise party. She didn't mind when she saw that Kiba was there, because after two years, she figured holding a grudge would only harden her. She didn't care anymorem, anyways It had been a long time ago. There was nothing she could do about it. No sense in trying to change the past. Kiba became somewhat of a womanizer that year. Everyone noticed it. Each week he would have an arm wrapped around new girl. People started to talk. While some were concerned for him, others talked of him with disgust and bitterness. Those ones were more than likely the mothers of the girls whose hearts he broke, Ino had mused from time to time.

She once thought that she was one of those girls, whose heart was broken by the Inuzuka boy, but she was mistaken. She did love him. But she was never truly in love with him; she managed to convince herself.

She noticed a great change in his personality in the last two years. He was much more arrogant now. Perverted, and a bit of a jerk at times. She wondered what went wrong with him. Why he had turned out like that. It was anyone's guess, really. He'd become so distant from everyone but his closest friends: Naruto and Shino. But even they didn't know how he turned out the way he was. Most of them didn't really mind though. He wasn't that bad, unless someone provoked his personality.

Two months after her birthday, Ino lay on her bed, it was midnight, and she couldn't sleep. With a frustrated groan, she sat up. Maybe, if she went on a walk, it would wear her down more, and she would get tired. She threw on some warm clothes, and exited her house. The season had just changed to winter, after all. It would be rather cold outside. As soon as she stepped outside, she shivered. She liked the winter, though. She loved the little things about it, like the way you could see your own breath when you exhaled, and the rainy days spent indoors wrapped up in a blanket, with a cup of hot cocoa in front of a fire. She breathed in the cool, crisp air as she began to walk down the street.

She jumped when she heard a sharp whisper from behind her. She turned sharply on her heel, ready to and prepared to attack, when she bumped into someone's chest. She looked up, recognizing a certain canine-like half smile, fangs revealed. "Oh, Kiba! You startled me." Why he had been standing so close behind her, she hadn't a clue. She also wondered why he had been out alone at this hour.Probably just on his way home from partying with his lady friends… She figured.

He continued to smirk down at her. "Now what's a helpless little girl like you doing in the dark, empty streets of Konoha?" He teased.

"I could say the same to you." She narrowed her eyes, turning on her heel and beginning to walk away. To her slight annoyance, he followed, and walked beside her.

Evidently he didn't take the hint.

"I suppose I should accompany you. In case someone should grab you."

"My Hero." She replied sarcastically. "I can take care of myself, you know."

"With a figure like that," He whistled, "You're going to need a lot more than those tiny fists to fight off any bad guys."

She felt her cheeks warm slightly. Flustered, she looked away from him. "Don't flatter me with your pointless words." She said in a stern tone.

"Alright, alright. Just calm it down there, Princess. I didn't mean any harm." He defended.

Princess. She hadn't heard that nickname from his mouth since before they went out when they were fifteen. It was strange that he would use it now.

They walked in silence for a little while, until Kiba decided to break the silence.

"So-o…You still goin' out with Nara?" He asked, drawing the words out slowly.

"Yes. Happily. He's a great boyfriend." She said with sincerity.

Kiba had seemed a bit bothered by her words. "How great? I mean, what could a lazy guy like him offer you?" He said the last part of his sentence rather seductively.

"Loyalty." She replied quickly and bluntly, staring ahead as she walked.

She knew that it wasn't the kindest thing, to bring up such a thing from the past. But it had hurt her, and she had to admit, the scar was still there. Though Shikamaru was there to help her to heal it, she told herself.

"Loyalty?" Kiba raised a confused eyebrow, moving in front of Ino and walking backwards to face her. "What ever happened to that sand chick? Temari?"

"He's not interested in her any more. He's interested in me, and only me. You see, the difference between Shikamaru and other guys is, he doesn't let the girls of his past get to him, no matter how tempting it may be." Ino said, getting annoyed with the Dog that wouldn't go away. Even as she hinted at it, he seemed completely unfazed. That just goes to show that she made the right decision in pushing him out of her life. He really never cared…Ino thought, walking a bit faster and making her way around him.

Kiba stopped for a moment, and then walked to catch up with her. "Well where's the fun in that?"

Ino stopped walking, and Kiba stopped with her. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. That moment made her rather glad she'd broke it off with him two years prior.

"Fun? Do you think being a womanizing man whore who cheats on all of his girlfriends is fun?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

"It's strange. You seem to have grown up on the outside, but you've gotten even more immature on the inside!" She spat out.

"I'm going home. Goodnight, Dog Breath." She reverted back to an old nickname she had for him, as well.

Kiba stared after her as she walked away. "Night, Blondie." He said in a softer, out of his new character, tone. Though he knew she was too far away already, to hear him.

When morning came, Ino blinked as the sun rays shined down on her face. She stuffed her face into her pillow, wishing she didn't have to get up. But her parents were out of town, for what reasons, she didn't really care to know. They were always gone, lately. Though she didn't think much of it. Her dad was always very reluctant to leave her there alone.

His exact words were, "I can't leave my baby to all of the cruel, perverted men that are free to roam these streets!"

She chuckled, as she got dressed, at the memory of him almost sobbing as they both left her to look after the flower shop on her own.

She put her hair up into a ponytail and tied her apron around her waste before she turned the shop's sign to the green "Open." Side. And then, she sat, and waited. It was never very busy at that time of the year. So she predicted it would be another long day. Just like every day for the last two weeks. She sighed and rested her chin in one hand as she sat at the register.

"Good morning, Ino!" Ino's expression brightened as she heard a friendly voice.

"Naruto! Good morning!" She smiled. "Buying something for Hinata again?"

Naruto had been the only frequent customer she'd had the entire season. Always buying flowers for Hinata. It was so sweet of him. They had an adorable relationship. Ino wished she could have the same thing. She had Shikamaru, of course. But, unfortunately, their relationship was almost that of a brother-sister one. Though she'd always deny it in her head, but deep down she knew that they didn't seem right together as a couple. Everyone else said otherwise, saying they looked "perfect" and "adorable" together. But Shikamaru never did anything absolutely adorable for her. They are always together, but it still seemed as though they were still best friends, and nothing more. She wondered if he felt the same way about it.

"Yup!" Naruto said happily as he picked a pretty flower and handed the money to Ino. That was another thing; he'd only buy her one flower at a time. He never went all-out and bought her dozens of roses. It was simple and sweet. She knew she was being selfish in wanting more from Shikamaru, so she shook the thoughts from her mind.

"Thank you!" Naruto called as the bell above the door rang he walked out.

A few hours passed and she'd gotten a couple more customers before it was finally time to close. She sighed and turned the sign to "Close" before taking her apron off, locking up and leaving the shop. It was already getting dark by that time, so she figured she would just head home. It was a Friday night, and everyone would be doing something but her. Shikamaru was out on a mission so hanging out with him wasn't an option. Hinata was obviously with Naruto. But then she thought of someone she hadn't really spent a lot of time with in a while. She picked up the phone when she got home and dialed Sakura's number.

"Hello?" Came the voice from the other line. Ino invited her to hang out and catch up at the ramen shop. "I'll see you at nine then." She hung up the phone and got ready.

The time soon came to leave and she left her house. On her way to the ramen shop, she passed an alley. She stopped when she heard a loud groan. Her curiosity catching up with her, she slowly made her way down the alley as she saw the figure of a man bent over the ground. Was he puking? She winced in disgust and managed to speak,

"Excuse me, but are you all right?"

She mentally slapped herself. Of course he wasn't all right. He was just previously, painfully hurling and coughing all over the ground! When he stood up, she recognized him immediately. She quickly regretted walking down that alley.

"I'm fine, Princess." Came the drunken voice of Kiba as he made his way toward her. She took a step back and grimaced from the aroma of alcohol that surrounded him. "I'm glad I ran into you, Ino." He muttered as he stumbled closer.

"I wanna talk to you." He mumbled slurred words as he nearly toppled over onto her, but managed to keep himself standing.

"You're drunk." Ino hissed. "You can speak to me when you're not intoxicated." She turned to walk out of the dark alley.

"No, wait!" He called, his words slurred because of his current intoxication, and grabbed her sleeve, falling over onto her. She caught him and somehow managed to keep both of them standing.

"I need to talk to you…" Kiba mumbled, almost inaudibly. Ino had to strain her ears to listen.

"You're in no condition to be having a conversation that won't be absolutely ridiculous." She said and propped him up, sighing. She felt rather awkward with his arm around her and both her arms around him to hold him up.

"Come on. Let's get you cleaned up and sober." She said, being his crutch as she took him to her house. Hanging out with Sakura would just have to wait.

As they made their way to her house, Kiba continued to mumble things that Ino couldn't make out.

He stared at her for a moment as they walked. "You're so pretty." He sighed.

"And you're drunk." She said while propping him up yet again, as he nearly fell over.

He laughed, and she winced, as she smelled the sour odor in his breath.

"I don't know why I ever let you go, Ino." His voice grew more serious. "You were everything to me."

For a small moment, she felt a strange pang in her heart pulling at it. "Well, then maybe you should have thought about that before you went behind my back with another girl." She said, remaining calm about it.

He continued to speak as though he were talking to himself. "I let her go…" He mumbled, "I forgot about her. I can't believe I could forget her." He scolded himself in a raspy whisper. "I miss her. I've always missed her." He muttered as he nearly passed out, but Ino successfully kept him awake by lightly slapping him a few times in his face, telling him to stay awake.

"I didn't even like Risa anymore. But she kissed me, and everything just went…blank."

So that was her name. Ino thought. Risa…The one that Ino apparently couldn't surpass back then.

As they arrived at Ino's house, she let him go for a moment and he sat on the steps in front of her door as he waited for her to unlock the door.

"Come on," she said as she helped him up and into her house. She let him wander around her living room as she walked to the phone.

In a drunken stumble, he managed to make his way to the couch. Right across from him, on the coffee table, was a frame with a picture of Ino in it. He picked it up and admired it for a moment.

"Hey, Sakura? It's Ino. I'm sorry, but I can't make it tonight. I ran into a drunk Kiba, and he's at my house." She sighed. Sakura said something on the other line.

"Well, I couldn't just leave him drunk in an alley way. Who knows what could have happened. I don't… - All right. Come on over if you want." She sighed again and hung up the phone.

When she walked back into her living room, Kiba had already fallen asleep on the couch, with a picture frame in his hand.

She took it from his sleeping form and saw what it was. She sighed and put it back in its proper place on the coffee table as she shook her head. She heard a loud knock at the door, and glanced quickly toward Kiba, who was still unconscious. No loud noise would wake him now.

She opened the door and greeted an anxious looking Sakura. "Did he do anything to you?" She looked panicked as she pushed her way passed Ino and into the house.

"Well…" Ino began. "No." Sakura shot her gaze to the blonde girl who rubbed her aching neck. Kiba was pretty heavy, what with all those muscles and everything.

"You hesitated." Sakura read right through her best friend.

"He didn't do anything. But he did say a couple of things…" She stated.

"What kinds of things?" Sakura looked ready to render Kiba unconscious again as soon as he woke.

"It doesn't matter anymore." Ino shrugged. "Just some stuff about the past. It's all done and over with." She smiled reassuringly to her friend.

Sakura hesitated for a moment, but quickly calmed down. "Okay, but I'm staying the night, too." She demanded. "There's no telling what he'll do."

---

The next morning, Kiba woke up, having a huge hangover, and having no idea where he was, until Ino walked out of the kitchen with two mugs of coffee, followed by Sakura, who had her own mug.

Ino handed one of the cups to Kiba, who was a bit alarmed. "I didn't um, try anything…?"

Ino shook her head, reassuring him. He sighed with slight relief and sipped the coffee.

"Well, I gotta be somewhere." Sakura said and set her mug down on the table. "A now that you're sober," she directed her gaze toward Kiba, "I can go." She said, waving goodbye to Ino and exiting the house.

Kiba's gaze landed on Ino. "So," He smirked. "Did you try anything on me?" He raised an entertained eyebrow. "I mean, considering I was intoxicated, it must've been pretty tempting, I imagine. I wouldn't have remembered." He suggested. Ino rolled her eyes. "You're sober now. Kiba, get out of my house." She pointed to the door. "Shikamaru is supposed to be coming back today and I have to get ready." She said. That statement bothered Kiba. Though Ino didn't notice, because she was thinking of what she would wear to meet Shikamaru.

He laughed and got up. "All right, all right." He defended. Just before Ino closed the door behind him, he turned and winked. "Think of me." He smiled. Ino rolled her eyes again and closed the door. She couldn't help but to smile slightly as she stepped away from it.

Very sorry it took me so long to continue the story. Forgive me!

Hope you liked it, though!