Chapter 9: Who Knew Chapter 9: Who Knew

Ino soon got ready to visit Shikamaru, who would be getting home in a little bit. But just as she opened the door to leave her house, she looked up and saw Inuzuka Kiba. Ino sighed. Seeing his face once a day was enough, so what did he want now?

"Tsunade-sama wants to see us."

Ino groaned. Was it really necessary? "Fine."

They walked in silence to the Hokage's office. When they arrived there, Tsunade folded her hands. "Enemy ninja have been spotted in the forest just outside the village. There are reports of strange activity." She stated.

"We have ninja all over the perimeter of Konoha, who are making camps are staking out, watching for any signs of strange or dangerous activity. I need you two to be one of these groups. And stake that area out until further notice. You are to leave as soon as possible."

Ino's frustration boiled inside of her. "You want me to go with him?"

"Is there a problem?" Tsunade shot her gaze to Ino.

"No, it's just…Shikamaru just got back from his mission, and…-"

"Shikamaru will have to wait. There are more important things on hand." The fifth Hokage said sternly. Ino out of fear of Tsunade's wrath, fell silent.

"Yes, Hokage-sama." She nodded. As soon as they were dismissed, Ino groaned as Kiba and her left the office. "This is your fault!" She turned and poked him hard in the chest.

"My fault?" He looked slightly surprised, and offended. "How is this my fault?" His eyes narrowed as he spoke, "It's not like I asked to go on this mission, let alone with you." He retorted and began to walk out of the building.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" She shot back, walking after him.

"Only that I wouldn't want to be stuck with you for who knows how long." He replied.

"My apologies before hand, but I would sooner shoot myself than request that." He added with an obviously fake and sarcastic cheery tone in his voice. "Ah, but you, of course, would be more than happy to be with me for a couple of weeks, no?" He suggested, winking at her and giving her a toothy grin.

Ino glared hard at his back as he turned again and walked ahead of her.

"Trust me, that would be the last thing I would want." She muttered under her breath.

The two of them parted ways to go and pack at their homes. And as Ino packed, she heard a knock at her door. When she opened it, Shikamaru was standing in her doorway. "Shika!" She jumped on him, hugging him tightly. He returned the hug and held her tightly. "I need to talk to you, Ino." He said as he released her.

"Well, I just found out I'm going on a mission." Ino scowled as she ran upstairs and grabbed her bags, bringing them downstairs. "We can talk plenty when I get back, okay?" She said, happy that she was able to see him before she departed. He nodded and sighed dramatically.

"Shika, I'm sorry, but thisis important." She replied. "Tsunade-sama will have my hide if Kiba complains about me being late." She complained and picked up her bags, walking up to him and giving him a small peck on the lips. "Walk me to the gate?" She requested, smiling. He sighed and nodded, offering to take her bags.

When the gate was in view, Ino noticed Kiba leaning against a wall nearby, with Akamaru by his side. The large dog barked and ran toward Ino. "Hey, Akamaru!" She smiled, kneeling down and ruffling the dog's fir. It'd felt like ages since she'd seen Kiba's canine companion.

She stood and turned to Shikamaru, who had put her bags on the ground next to her.

"Well, this is where I say goodbye." She gave him a small smile and shrugged. "I'm just sorry I can't spend more time with you after you've been gone for a week. And I'm told we won't know until further notice, just how long we'll be gone."

Shikamaru pulled her close and kissed her lightly, embracing her.

Kiba rolled his eyes at the scene, just before the couple pulled away.

"There'll be plenty of time when you get back." Shikamaru smiled, waving goodbye and walking away from them.

Kiba scowled and began walking out of the gate. "Come on." He growled. Ino raised an eyebrow at his sudden irritability, but shrugged it off.

They soon arrived at the spot they were to camp at. It took only a short time to get to, considering it was only a few miles outside of the village. Rummaging through her pack, she realized that in the rush of leaving her home, she'd left her other bag, which held her tent, and the clothes that she would sleep in. She scolded herself and cursed aloud. Kiba, who already had his tent set up, glanced toward her with a raised eyebrow. "Something wrong?"

"Yes." She said and stood, staring at her bag. "I left my tent and pajamas at my house. This just isn't my day…"

Kiba laughed. "Nice job."

"Well, it was an accident!" She defended. "I was in such a hurry and Shikamaru arrived at my house, so it must have slipped my mind."

"If you want, you can share my tent." He suggested, smirking.

Ino turned quickly to him. "Hah, I'd rather sleep outside." She crossed her arms.

"By all means, go ahead." He said just as he finished setting up his tent. "If you change your mind, I'll be waiting." He winked at her and went inside.

Ino was absolutely appalled at his previous sentence and didn't know how to respond.

She soon decided to set out her sleeping bag. It had gotten dark by that time. And now all they had to do was sit, and wait for anything suspicious, or for someone to come and relieve them of their mission. But what if it rains? She thought as they lay on her sleeping bag, looking to the sky. It looked as though it would be a pretty stormy night. Just after the thought crossed her mind, small trickles of water began to fall on her face. She groaned and sat up, as the rain began to fall harder. A flash of light told her that lightning had struck in the skies. The thunder of it caused her to jump up, grabbing her bag quickly making her way to Kiba's tent. It was quite ironic, really. She loved the rain, but still had not gotten over her explicit fear of thunder and lightning.

She, along with her bag, were soaking wet when she went inside. She looked over and saw Kiba's oversized dog, Akamaru lying beside Kiba, who sitting up in his sleeping bag. Evidently he was already trying to sleep. He wasn't wearing a shirt, causing her to get a bit flustered. "I, um…" She began, but paused when Kiba laughed at her. "I knew it."

"Well excuse me for not wanting to sleep out in the rain!" She defended. Just after she spoke, lightning struck again and she winced, covering her ears and sitting down quickly.

Kiba laughed again. "Still afraid of lightning, little Ino?" He teased, making her anger rise. "S-Shut up!" She yelled, hugging herself for warmth as she shivered.

He sighed. "I suppose I should give you something of mine to wear. It would make sense, considering I don't need my comrade getting hypothermia or catching a cold." He grabbed a pair of sweats and a T-shirt out of his bag. She quickly snatched them out of his hands and moved to the other side of the tent. "D-don't look!" She scolded, as he laughed and turned away. She changed quickly, not wanting him to peek. And as she moved to unbutton her shirt, her hand brushed against a locket. She clasped it in her hand for a moment.

Never had she figured why she still wore the thing that Kiba had given her so long ago. But she felt an attachment to it, and didn't want to let it go. Thus, wearing it every day, she treasured the small trinket.

She shrugged off her thoughts and finished changing, being sure to tuck the locket into her shirt, as she'd always done.

"Feel familiar?" He said, smirking as he turned back toward her once she was done changing.

It did. She remembered. Two years ago when she went to him after being soaked by the rain and frightened by the lightning. She wore his clothes then, as well. It was an overwhelming sense of deja vu. The clothes warmed her quickly and stopped her shivering but she was still cold. She no longer had a sleeping bag, since it was outside in the rain. So she lay down as far away from Kiba as possible on the empty floor of the tent, not answering his previous question.

Out of habit, she smelled his shirt. He smelled the same as when they were fifteen. She missed his smell. As soon as she realized what she was thinking, she stopped, inwardly scolding her self. She shivered slightly again. Kiba noticed this, and laughed lightly.

"Ino, if you want, you can have my sleeping bag." He offered.

She sat up and her gaze fell on him. She hadn't noticed before then, but he was much more attractive now than he was when they were still speaking to each other as friends. Of course, he'd grown into more of a man, instead of a boy. His torso was much more toned now.

"That's alright." She said sternly, her cheeks a light pink color. "I'm fine. I-I don't need to take it from you."

He was making it really hard for her to hate him as much as she wanted to. He was supposed to be a huge jerk, she thought. And he was. Yet, here he was again, for the second time, offering his clothes and bed to her.

"You're cold, Ino. We could share it if you'd like."

Ino looked disgusted at his offer. "I don't think so."

"Not like that!" He replied defensively. "I'm not always perverted, you know!"

She laughed sarcastically at his words. "Right…" She rolled her eyes.

"Fine." Kiba grunted, lying down and closing his eyes. "I was only trying to help."

It was silent for a little while, when lightning struck again, causing Ino to jump and seem to scoot much closer to Kiba without being aware of it. Her fear seemed to take over her and get rid of any clear thoughts in her mind. She crawled into his sleeping bag and felt him tense for a moment, but he relaxed soon after. Her cheeks flushed red and she was thankful she was turned away, and he couldn't see her face. It was an uncomfortable position, for her. Her back was pressed against his bare chest, after all.

"Don't get any ideas, Dog Boy." She scoffed, and heard him chuckle.

A few moments later, she could hear an even breathing coming from Kiba, telling her that he was asleep. Of course, it would take her much longer to fall asleep, seeing that it was extremely awkward for her to be sleeping with him. She eventually forced herself to close her eyes and pretend he wasn't there, and allowed sleep to take over.

The next morning, when Ino woke up, just before dawn she felt something around her. It took a few moments for her to realize that Kiba had an arm over her torso, holding her close. Her cheeks turned a bright pink color, and she attempted to lift his arm off of her without waking him.

It was a failed attempt, of course.

She resisted the urge to groan out of slight aggravation and embarrassment when the unconscious Kiba only pulled her into a tighter embrace. She sighed, feeling completely helpless. She wanted so badly to slap him awake, but he would only realize what a position they were in, and it would be much more embarrassing for the both of them that way.

Akamaru then lifted his head, perking his ears to a noise that came from outside of the tent. The large dog's sudden loud bark caused Ino to jump and startled Kiba awake. They both quickly sat up. Kiba lifted himself to stand. Ino hadn't realized before that he was only wearing boxers. If ever there were a brighter shade of pink than she already had been earlier, she was wearing that shade on her cheeks now.

"What is it boy? You hear something?" Kiba questioned Akamaru and held a kunai firmly in his hand as he unzipped the tent and peeked outside. There, he saw about two raccoons snooping around the campsite. He sighed with relief.

"Just a couple of raccoons." He reassured both Ino, and Akamaru.

Kiba patted Akamaru on the head as he walked passed him and to his bag. He took out a pair of pants and put them on. Ino felt a bit awkward, watching him dress, so she exited the tent inconspicuously.

Ino sat on a tree stump outside. Things were not going well for her: she forgot her tent and nearly caught a cold lying out in the rain, and was forced to sleep in the same tent, and sleeping bag with Dog Boy. Not to mention they were going to have to share the same tent every night until who knows how long. She sighed, wishing she could have Shikamaru there with her to encourage her.

She sighed. Akamaru seemed to be aware of her bad feeling, and rubbed his head against her arm as if to encourage her. She smiled slightly and rubbed the over-grown animal's head.

"Tent's all yours to change in." Kiba called, coming out of said tent.

As Ino changed in the tent, Kiba made a fire outside, along with breakfast. "Canned beans, Mm-mm. Can't get better than that, eh, Akamaru?" He said in a sarcastic tone to his canine friend.

Ino soon came out of the tent, with her usual purple outfit, glad to be in her, own dry clothes again. Though she did miss the smell of Kiba's clothes. As she sat back down on her stump, Kiba handed her a bowl of beans. She nodded her thanks and stirred her food with a spoon. She didn't have much of an appetite at the moment.

"Something wrong?" The brown-haired boy raised an eyebrow.

Ino awoke from her daze with a start. "What? No." She shook her head quickly. "I'm just a little tired."

"Well stay alert, Barbie. This isn't a camping trip." Kiba teased.

"If it was a camping trip, I would want the company to be a bit more pleasant…" Ino muttered as she held the bowl of hot beans, taking in its warmth.

Kiba growled slightly at her comment as he sat next to her on the large stump.

"Oh but Akamaru's company is quite enjoyable." She added, giggling, after the large dog barked and rubbed his head against her arm.

"You know," Kiba began slowly, staring at the fire, then moving his dark gaze to her as he smirked, "We're here all alone… And there's really nothing to do… I suggest we have a little fun." He nudged her with his elbow.

Her expression quickly transformed to one of utter disgust and she made a strange noise, "As if." She stuck her tongue out for emphasis on her disapproval. "I hope that's not how you lure all the other girls into sleeping with you." She pushed him rather aggressively off of the stump, and muttered, "Scumbag…" under her breath.

"Oi, oi!" Kiba lifted himself from the ground. "I didn't mean it that way at all, Ino!" He raised his hands in front of him. "Not everything I think of has to do with that. Jeez, you'd think you were the perverted one." He sat cautiously back onto the stump. "I meant that we should think of a game to play. Like, sing camping songs, or… a scavenger hunt, or…something." He said in a rather exaggerated tone and sighed.

"Unless… Since you were thinkin' it, you know-" His words were cut off when Ino's fist collided with the canine-like man's face.

He rubbed his cheek, wincing in pain, before suddenly bursting into speech once more, "And I'll have you know, that I do not lure women into sleeping with me!" He pointed out, "I'm just so irresistibly adorable that they can't help but want to." He flexed playfully and gave her one of his trademark, toothy grins.

"Bleh, save me the details, Inuzuka." She said, turning her head away from him, apparently bored with the subject, her tired eyes staring into the trees as Kiba continued to talk in spite of her attitude toward him.

"'Tis a cryin' shame I gotta turn them all down, eh…?"

"Hmm?" Ino's head turned at that. "You mean… You're always bragging about all of the women you get, yet you've never slept with…any of them?" That was unexpected to her.

Kiba nodded his head. "It's hard being a womanizing virgin. Way too many women want me." He shook his head and whistled.

Virgin!

"Eh! What about all of those girls? Those late nights with all of them…the mornings of leaving them all alone before they wake… All the broken hearted girls in Konoha." Ino began to recite a list of both facts and rumors about Kiba.

"You listen to everything people tell you?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Face it, Kiba. You're the heartbreaker of Konoha. Of course I believe it." She replied dryly.

"Alright, alright. So I've been around a lot of women. I've just never found a special enough girl… Not since…" He paused, rubbing the back of his neck.

Ino felt a knot form in her stomach.

"Since what?" She found herself speaking without thinking.

"It's not important." He stood abruptly, "I'm gonna go for a walk. Akamaru, come!" He called his dog, which barked in reply and followed close behind Kiba. They both soon disappeared in the trees, leaving Ino in silence.

It was quiet, and the sun was just barely beginning to come up. Ino could hear the chirping of the birds, and the flowing water of the nearby river. The wind blew her hair all over, which annoyed her to no end as she attempted to fix it over, and over again, but to no avail. She sighed in frustration and gave up after a few minutes, but as the wind blew long blonde hair in front of her face, she noticed something in her shiny locks. "Beans!" There was sauce and beans stuck in her hair. "Ewww. How did I ever manage to get beans in my hair!" She wasn't a messy eater, after all.

She decided it would be best to wash her hair in the river. She headed to the river, and when she got there, her gaze scanned the area curiously. It was all too familiar. It was the same riverside that Kiba first told her that he liked her. She chuckled slightly and soon removed the thought from her mind. When she reached the flowing water, she had the urge to go for a swim. "A full bath might be nice. But it's freezing…" She mumbled as she felt the water with her hands. Maybe a rush of cold would wake her up a little.

She was right.

As soon as her clothes were off, until all she was wearing was her necklace, she jumped into the water. When she emerged to the surface she screeched at the low temperature.

It took her quite a while to get used to it, but she did momentarily. She began swimming around, relaxing in the water.

" Hey Ino! I-" She heard a call and she turned to see Kiba come out of the forest. His eyes widened and he stopped talking when he saw that she had nothing on.

"KIBA TURN AROUND!" She squealed and lowered herself further into the water and swam to the edge, so that both the water and the edge of dirt would cover her naked body.

Kiba quickly turned around. His cheeks reddened considerably, and he stood awkwardly as Ino lifted her self out of the water and began getting dressed.

"You're uh…wearing my locket." He said in a strange, yet soft, tone. He rubbed the back of his neck, still staring off into the trees.

Ino paused and looked down at the silver trinket. "I um… It's- it's not the same one." She lied. "I threw yours away a very, very long time ago." She spoke quickly, and nervously, her cheeks pink as she finished getting dressed. "Shikamaru gave this one to me." She said softly, obviously lying, as she lifted the locket and opened it, revealing the picture of Kiba and Ino.

"Oh…" He sounded disappointed, and felt a little hurt by that. But he understood. She was angry and hated him for so long, why wouldn't she have thrown it away? Although, it was an important thing when he had given it to her. Kiba turned and she fumbled with closing the locket.

"Eheh… What do you want, anyway?" Ino said with a hint of annoyance in her tone.

"I wanted to show you something. Hurry. The sun's almost up." He grabbed her by the arm and she squealed as he dragged her quickly through the trees, passed their campsite and into a small valley, where a grassy hill stood tall in the center. The wind blew twice as hard out there as it did in the trees, and Ino began to shiver, her wet hair hitting her face in the wind. She hugged herself for warmth.

"Come on." Kiba said, grabbing her by her wrist and dragging her along until they reached the hill and started walking up it. Ino yanked her wrist away.

"There b-better be a good reason for this, mutt." She mumbled, shaking. Her voice trembled and her teeth chattered as she glared at Kiba's back from her spot a few feet behind him.

"There is, trust me." He smiled, turning and taking off his jacket before throwing it at her. She caught it and raised her eyebrow prior to shrugging and putting the black coat on.

When she reached the top of the hill, where two trees sat, Ino gasped. "It's gorgeous." She whispered as she stared at the sunrise. As the wind blew, petals from various types of flowers that resided in the valley floated passed the two. "See? Told ya it was worth it." Kiba smirked and grunted in accomplishment as he crossed her arms and leaned on one of the trees to his right.

Ino's eyes danced in awe as she stood beside Kiba and stared at the horizon as hues of orange and yellow glided across the sky. Soon enough, she found herself still staring at the sky, letting her head tilt to the right and lean on Kiba's shoulder. He tensed and his gaze fell on her. The lighting made her look more beautiful than ever. But he knew, all too well, that she was loyal and belonged to someone else. He'd lost his chance long ago, and accepted that fact. But he'd wished that he could simply go back in time, and fix everything. But she seemed happy enough with Shikamaru, and whom would he be to try and ruin that?

"You're a little close to me, for a taken lady, aren't ya?" He smirked.

Ino's head jerked away when she realized the close proximity between the both of them. She glanced at him, and she found him staring at her. "Sorry." She mumbled.

Ino's faced turned light pink and she took off the jacket, snagging the locket on it in the process, and when she handed it to him, the trinket undid itself and fell from her lean neck without her noticing.

"I'm going back to camp." She said awkwardly, shoving the coat in front of him and averting her gaze. He reached out and grabbed it as he turned his gaze back to the horizon, remaining silent.

Ino sighed, walking away and back down the hill. She was soon gone and Kiba turned so that his back was leaning against the tree. He sat down and hit his head against the wood a few times, taking a bit of irritation out of his system, when he spotted a silver glint in the grass beside him. "Ino's locket…" He muttered.

Out of curiosity, he lifted the heart by its chain. It hung from his fingers as he examined it. It looked just like the one that he'd given her two years ago, same carvings and everything. If he didn't know any better, he'd say it was the same one. He opened it up and furrowed his eyebrows at what he saw. "Ino…" He muttered under his breath as he touched the picture with his index finger. The picture of two soaked teenagers kissing after a rainstorm had just passed.

Why would she still be wearing it after all that time?

He closed it and clenched the locket in his fist, closing his eyes and sighing. Maybe if he'd at least tried, sometime in those two years, he could have won the back. But he was too busy being an idiot and looking to other women for comfort. Trying to fill some kind of hole that may have been there after he let Ino go. But it was far too late by now.

He was still in love with Ino. And he would admit that in a heartbeat, if it wouldn't ruin his chances of ever restoring a friendship with Ino. And he knew it would. He was afraid of what she'd say and didn't cope well with rejection. He wasn't rejected often, he mused as he stood and made his way back to camp.

Ino walked into the clearing where their camp resided and plopped herself down on the stump near the almost blown out fire, but the embers still burned with a bright orange color. She rubbed her neck as she sighed in slight frustration, only to not feel the chain that hung around her neck so often. She looked down and felt her neck to find that the locket was gone. She gasped and looked around the ground below her, thinking that it might have fallen at any time, a bit panicked as she kneeled, searching through the grass. She stopped abruptly and chuckled, realizing that she looked like a fool. She looked up at Akamaru, who stared at her with wide eyes, one ear perked higher than the other. She sighed and sat back on the stump. She didn't know why she treasured the trinket so much. But it didn't matter anymore. There wasn't much of a chance of her finding it now, unless she backtracked searching through the dirt all the way back to that hill. And she wasn't about to do that over something that shouldn't have meant as much to her as it did.

"Hey, Ino…" She heard Kiba say from behind her. She turned quickly, startled, but loosened up when she saw that it had only been him.

"You dropped this." He said, lifting the chain that rested on his fingers in sight.

"Oh, thank you, Kiba!" She said and stood, rushing over to him and taking the locket from where it hung. "I was freaking when I realized I'd lost it along with the picture of the two of u-" She paused. "Me and Shikamaru." She finished, turning around so that Kiba didn't see the nervous glint in her eyes.

"Save it, Ino." He spoke quietly, "I know what it is." He referred to the locket and what was inside. Ino felt her heart leap slightly, the beat of it pounding quickly, but softly. "What do you mea-" She began as though she had no clue what he was talking about, but his voice cut her off. "I looked inside." He said, rubbing the back of his neck with an awkward expression as she turned toward him.

Before she could say anything else he walked over to the fire, "I don't see why you kept that stupid thing," He mumbled, "When it meant nothing in the first place." He picked up a stick and moved the wood and embers around, trying to start the fire once more to warm the chilled air around the campsite.

The blonde kunoichi's heart dropped slightly. Meant nothing… His words hit her pretty hard and they repeated in her mind. "O-Of course not..." She stammered in a quiet whisper, embarrassed. It was almost inaudible, but Kiba's keen ears caught it and he stole a glance toward her. He didn't want to make things confusing or hard for Ino. So he was just going to pretend he didn't mind, he'd decided.

Ino stared at Kiba, holding the locket close to her chest as he tended the fire. Of course it meant nothing. She'd always known that… Right? She'd been telling herself that for the last two years. But it was different coming from him. It hurt more to know that she was right about him not ever caring.

"Right." He said, nodding in response to her quiet reply.

"E-Exactly. It means nothing." She said, throwing the heart-shaped trinket and stared at it when it hit a rock in front of her, landing in the grass beside it. "It's just a worthless little necklace." She stated and Kiba raised his eyebrows. "I'll have you know, I spent a lot of money on that thing, miss." He pointed out, feeling slightly offended.

"Oh, like your money and what you do with your time matters even the slightest bit to me!" She spat out.

"I never said anything about my time, Princess. So maybe you were thinkin' about it. Care to spend a little more time on this?" He flexed and blew a kiss to his own bicep before winking playfully at her.

"Ugh, you are impossible, Kiba." She rolled her eyes at his obvious attempt to woo her.

"Impossible?" He raised a brow, "Or irresistible?" He suggested.

"Oh, please." Ino scoffed, "I resisted you two years ago, and surely I can do it now." She crossed her arms and Kiba fell silent. He felt as though she'd just thrown four shuriken right into his chest. But he wouldn't admit, or show that, of course. But still, he couldn't think of a threatening or witty comeback for that.

Ino realized that maybe it was a bit harsh, and she, too, fell silent. She sighed, then quietly made her way into the tent. "Where's Shikamaru for clarification when you need him…" She mumbled as she sat down inside and curled her knees to her chest, resting her chin on them.

Kiba's gaze fell on the rock that the locket hit as he stood by the fire. He made his way to it, and gently picked up the silver heart. He clasped it in his hand and sighed as he stuck it in his pocket and looked over to the tent.

Suddenly heard movement nearby and instantly, Akamaru stood next to him, alert and cautious. He saw a head emerge from the bushes and a kunai knife flew passed Kiba's head and into a tree behind him. Such bad aim. He mused and Akamaru barked, soon vanishing into the bushes to chase after the culprit. Kiba growled and was on the enemy's tail as well.

He stopped running when he was in a clearing and he heard whispers from all around him. He clutched his fist around the hilt of a kunai when a man dressed in all black with a black mask walked out of the trees. He wasn't wearing the symbol of any village on his attire, nor did he have a headband. He pulled a long sword from a sheath and got into a battle stance, evidently wanting to do one-on-one combat with Kiba as his colleagues watched.

Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. Hope you enjoy it.