"Not again.."

Sakura and Kiba emerged from the jungle. They stood on a small hill that stood over the back of the town, overlooking the main street. They had only been gone an hour, and the streets of Konoha was in ruins.

"What the hell happened? Dinosaurs?" Kiba asked, observing the ruins. The houses had seemed to be left untouched, but it was a different story when it came to the rest of the street. The stalls and food stands that once lined the outside of the road had been shattered into shards of wood. Fruit and vegetables of all kind lay splattered into the gravel earth, and branches which had been stripped from the prehistoric fauna lay scattered across the paths.

"No, not dinosaurs. They wouldn't be this stupid and neurotic."

Kiba watched as Sakura stormed down the hill in anger. She was making no effort in slowing down as she clenched her fists and headed towards the street in an unforgiving anger.

He couldn't seem to keep up with Sakura, who happened to know what all the commotion was about. Kiba tried to push his way past a large group of people who were crowded together murmuring amongst themselves. They had all seemed to be gathered around something, or someone, up ahead.

"What are you doing back here again, Temari. Go back to your hole in the ground that you call home."

A tall girl with thick blonde hair sat seated on some kind of dinosaur at the front of the crowd. Her arrogant expression peered down on Sakura as she pushed herself to the front with anger.

"Oh if it isn't Sakura, once again coming to the rescue." Temari said, laughing smugly to herself. "This is no way to treat a visitor darling."

Sakura's eyes burned with anger. "That's because you're not a visitor. Visitors don't come and try to destroy a community on a monthly basis in order to get what they want."

"Oh hush with your pathetic words, Sakura. Your father agreed to give us the supplies we needed, since my father was the one who got them here in the first place. He refuses to do it so you and your cruddy little town deserve everything they get."

"That's because you're situated outside of the Jawline, you moron. There's no way we're risking our lives, and our livestock for your benefit." Sakura folded her arms and continued to glare daggers. "If you and your stupid crew weren't so power driven you wouldn't need to do this to yourselves."

Kiba watched on in confusion as the two women angrily exchanged words. He didn't understand a thing they were talking about, and quite frankly, confusion was the last thing he needed more of.

"Uhh, can someone please explain to me what all this is about?" Kiba asked, looking to the people beside him for an answer.

"I'm guessing you're the boy they found on the beach yesterday afternoon," the guy to his left said bluntly. His voice was almost eerie as Kiba struggled to get a glimpse of his face.

"Erm, uh, that would be me." Kiba replied. There was something about that sentence that made Kiba feel incredibly foreign. He was starting to realise now that it would take him a long time to be able to call this place home. As comfortable as he felt around Sakura, he realised now that he didn't know anyone. He had no friends. He was only known as the 'boy who was found on the beach', and that was all they knew about him.

""Well, I suppose if you're living here now, you may as well get an insight on the kind of stuff that happens around here."

Kiba was trying hard not to stare, but it was hard when the boy beside him was covered head to toe in clothes. A hood hung shadily over the top half of his face, as the collar from his coat perched high around his mouth area. Deep black sunglasses shaded his eyes. Kiba really couldn't make out a single facial feature of the guy, and was a little creeped out by his shady appearance.

"The blonde girl you see up ahead is Temari," The boy pointed to the lean blonde woman atop of the dinosaur. Thick, wavy blonde hair gathered into four pony-tails complimented her slender body. She wore black shorts, although a little worn, that harboured a Knife pocket and small shotgun. Her skin was light and her left arm was marked with brown and white paint. Some kind of tribal markings, maybe? Or perhaps a form of camouflage? Whatever it was, Kiba didn't dwell on it. Although the blonde was beautiful, there was something about her face that Kiba couldn't quite bring himself to like. A look of deviance, pure nasty rebellion seeped through her cruel smirk and revengeful eyes.

"Her father and a small group of followers left the village a few years ago. Her father and Sakura's father had a disagreement over who held the authority of the village, you know, who was chief and who made the laws, stuff like that. After Temari's father didn't get what he wanted, they packed up and left. Apparently it was said that he was going to start his own community." Kiba looked on as the two girls continued to argue up ahead, exchanging hurtful words as the verbal jabs continued to be thrown. "Little did they know the full extent to what they were getting themselves in to. It's dangerous, outside the Jawline. Being too ashamed to come back to the village they decided to contact the people on the outside of the triangle, who said they'll send through the supplies they needed if they mine the earth here in Konoha and send it back through to them."

Wait, what? Kiba's head began to muffle with confusion and anger. He could distinctly recall Sakura saying there was no way off the island, that there was no way to go home or contact anyone. Yet Temari and her followers somehow had a way of doing exactly that? And have supplies being sent through to them? Now he was starting to have second thoughts about Sakura. Why would she lie to him like that?

Before Kiba had the chance to ask any further questions, a large squawk was heard from the sky above. A shadow was cast over the village street as the dinosaur's massive wingspan blocked out the sun. Above him, a large flying dinosaur glided in the sky, circling the street as it screeched with a vicious intensity. Kiba could recognise the dinosaur form books he read as a boy. It was called a pterodon.

"Oh look who decided to join us," Temari smirked as the flying dinosaur landed loudly beside her. The pterodactyl's wings blew the dirt from the ground as it steadied itself, causing the villagers to choke on the dry, red dust.

Sakura's eyes narrowed as she saw the man on top of the Kyoryu. It was Temari's father, a power driven man full of horrid and callous intentions. It had been a while since she had seen him, for he usually sent Temari and her brothers to do all his dirty work. Sakura always thought he was just typical overriding scum; throwing around his orders as he sat back and observed it all from his high horse, or in this case, his pterosaur.

"Oh Sakura, you were always one to jump to your father's side, weren't you." The man's voice was deep and solemn. "Go run to father dear and tell him we want the earth mining drill. If he doesn't give it to us, we'll have no choice but to take it from you ourselves."

"You both think you're so high and mighty on top of your Kyoryu's. How about you get down and level up with the villagers and me, we'll see how threatening you think you are then." Sakura's blood was at its boiling point. Sakura loved her home, her village, the people in it. She could tolerate a substantial amount of bullshit, but threatening her home was not part of it.

Kiba could almost feel the heated glare between Sakura, Temari and her father. The uncomfortable tension was tight enough to cut. The man on the flying dinosaur raised his eyebrows as he glared down at Sakura with a questioning glance, his face did not look like he was very patient, nor did he look impressed by her comment.

"If that's what you wish, then so be it." With an angry force, Temari's father tossed his saddle ladder to the side of his Kyoryu. The crowd of villagers nervously watched on as they observed it unravel, the power-infatuated man slowly climbing down it.

Sakura's heart started to pound within her chest as she instantly regretted her choice of words. She knew from stories that had been whispered around the village and her own father's accounts that this man was dangerous. And here she was, outnumbered and without her mount, going up against pure peril. Her big mouth got her into this situation and it sure as hell wasn't going to get her out.

He was standing so close to her that she could feel his hot, dirty breath on her forehead. Her body trembled with nerves but she kept her eye contact, refusing to glance away, and refusing to show any fear, even though the pounding of her heart beneath her chest wanted to make her hurl. Kiba watched on from behind the crowed, nerves making his palms twitch as well, although he felt more angry than scared about the whole situation. Maybe it was because he hadn't heard or witnessed the true damage these guys were capable of, but he would learn it in time. For now he was worried about what this shady excuse of a man was about to do to Sakura.

"Go and tell your dad, that we want that drill."

His breath burned her skin. She remained glaring up at him, her jaw clenched tight. "No."

"You're not making any efforts to work yourself back into our good books, are you? You pathetic excuse of a woman!" Temari's father raised his hand as his expression tightened with anger. Sakura froze and Kiba's eyes widened, adrenalin all of a sudden captivating his body.

"Don't you dare hit her!"

"Enough of this, Baki! You will NOT, lay a single hand on my daughter."

It took a good twenty seconds for Sakura to start breathing again. Baki's hand was still frozen solid above her face. When her heart rate slowed and her eyes began to force themselves to blink again, she managed to follow Baki's gaze to the very back of the crowd.

After Kiba's anger subsided, he focussed his glance towards the bellowing voice he heard come from behind him. A man with white grey hair sat upon an enormous dinosaur which appeared to be from the Ceratopsian family. The animal was huge, towering over the crowd of people as they parted to make room for the giant Kyoryu to walk through. Kiba realised that it must have been Sakura's father, and felt a wave of relief.

"Well if he isn't a minute to late," Baki said, a distasteful grin still ever present on his sour face.

"I told you to leave this place alone, Baki. You want something, you come and see me. You leave my village and my daughter out of it."

"She was the one who got herself involved!" Temari yelled from her Kyoryu. She pointed a finger at Sakura who still looked shaken up from her earlier experience. "Her attempts to try and be a hero always fail miserably. She's pathetic."

Almost as if Sakura had instantly recovered, she gathered the nerve to rapidly shoot back at the blonde wench. "I swear ill rip you from your ugly over-grown chicken of a Kyoryu Temari!"

"Enough!" The two fathers bellowed at once. Jiraiya climbed down from his Kyoryu, grabbing Sakura's arm with forceful grip and pulling her behind him, away from Baki's view. He didn't want her getting any more involved with this man and his dangerous intentions than she already was. "Leave, now." The white haired man said to Baki with a solemn expression. There was a silence.

Kiba could hear the distant groans of dinosaurs, their calls rising high above the forest canopy. Low and droning, surprisingly it relaxed Kiba a little, somewhat providing him with comfort. The deep wails from the dinosaurs in the distance broke the silence which was making Kiba's stomach turn. The street itself remained silent and tense, as villagers watched on soundlessly, almost too scared to move away from the former villagers discrepancy. Kiba could see the corner of Baki's mouth rising into a malicious smirk and he frowned at his smugness. Kiba was not taking a liking to this man and the threat he was posing on the village and knew that someone, or something, had to do something about it.

"If that's an order, I guess ill have to follow it." Baki slowly lowered his head, his smirk still caught in the corner of his mouth. As he bent down, he spat spitefully at Jiraiya's feet, the disgusting slaver landing at the man's shoe. "Until next time, chief.'

With that, Baki turned to climb up his saddle ladder. The large Kyoryu's wings flapped powerfully as it hoisted itself into the air, stirring the dirt from the ground and hurling it into the villager's faces. Sakura and her father attempted to shield themselves from the dust which was being inhaled into their lungs, but there attempts were hopeless. There was no stopping the wave of sand. The Kyoryu swiftly took off into the air, heading east into the late afternoon sky.

Sakura, her father and the observing villagers couldn't stop coughing. The sand was piling up inside her chest, her mouth was dry, and her lungs were aching. She peered up through the cloud of dust with her arm sheidling her mouth. Temari was still there, mounted on her Kyoryu.

"You may have got your way now, but I haven't forgotten Sakura," the blonde yanked hard on her Kyoryu's reins causing its head to jerk into the air. Her brows furrowed as she gritted her teeth. "It'll be two years this Saturday since it happened. I'll see you at the Annual Jaunt, but don't you dare expect it to be a friendly one."

And with that, Temari kicked her Kyoryu, and it sprinted off into the distance.

Once the dust had settled, the crowd of people began to spread out, some cleaning up the remaining debris from the streets and others heading back to their homes. Just like that, Temari and her dad had left, and everyone continued to carry on with what they were doing. Kiba was confused by this; why wasn't everyone scared? Why was everyone acting so calm, and as if the whole argument didn't faze them? It was rare that something as intense as the argument that just folded out before him would just be forgotten about so quickly.

It was amazing how hard it was to try and spot Sakura amongst the immense gathering of people. Kiba tried to scan the crowd for a head of pink hair, but he could not see her anywhere. It was then he remembered her father grabbing her and pulling her behind him. She would be with him and his Kyoryu, Kiba thought, his target of vision shifting as he realised. He then started to scan the crowd for her father's dinosaur. Amidst the other dinosaurs that were pulling carriages, transporting people and even the littler ones that scurried along the ground, Kiba spotted it at the very end of the street. He wasn't impressed about Sakura's lies, and he was going to take no time in finding the actual truth.

"The name's Shino, by the way."

Kiba quickly came to a halt as the creepy looking guy he was talking to earlier spoke. "Uh, sorry man, I guess I forgot to introduce myself before. The name's Kiba." He replied, reaching out his hand.

"I'm a friend of Sakura's. She told us about you the night her and Jiraiya found you on the beach. She's taken on a huge task, you know." Shino stared at Kiba through shaded eyes. "It wouldn't be easy on her to explain something like this to you, so go easy on her."

Kiba frowned, feeling as if Shino could already predict what was going to happen. It was almost as if he knew Kiba had been lied to and tried to settle him before he had words with her. Well that wasn't going to happen. Kiba was going to get to the bottom of this strange, weird escape conspiracy, whether his words were harsh or not.

He nodded at Shino before he took off running down the street. Surprisingly the pain in his shoulder had subsided, whether it was because his fall had knocked it back into place, or because his mind was focussed on other things now. More important things.

Jiraiya's dinosaur was travelling slowly, which enabled Kiba to catch up to it quickly. "Hey, Sakura!" he called from below, jogging beside the enormously large creature. Sakura glanced down to see the dark haired boy running beside them, the feeling of anger striking her as she realised she had forgotten all about him.

"Crap,"she murmured, disappointed within herself. She was so wrapped up in her argument from earlier that she had forgotten all about Kiba. Temari and her father had immersed Sakura in a pool of fear and hatred to the point that she couldn't even think straight. She tapped her father on the shoulder to let him know that she was hopping off, before sliding down the saddle ladder with a swift, quick ease.

"Kiba! I'm so sorry, I got so caught up in arguing with Temari that I forgot all about-

"About the fact you've spent this whole day lying to me?" Kiba snapped, disallowing her to finish her sentence. "You're buddy Shino told me all about Temari and her father, and how there's a way off this island. When the hell were you going to tell me about this huh?"

"Kiba, please you don't understand-

"I understand perfectly, Sakura! I don't know what kind of sick fucking mind trick it is you're trying to play on me here, but it's not working. Tell me how to get off this place so I can go home!"

Sakura's mouth dropped in awe before she clenched it again in anger. Her cheeks burned with a sudden resentment as she couldn't believe the words that were coming from his mouth. "Are you kidding me right now?" She said, her anger rising. "My father and I saved your ass from getting eaten by raptors last night, and all you've got to say for yourself is how horrible I am because I lied to you? I lied for a reason, Kiba! I'm protecting you!"

"Protecting me? So far you've succeeded in making me vomit, made me fall from a fucking tree and put me in the presence of twenty foot high dinosaurs! I don't know what you're definition of protecting is, but its different from the definition we use back at home!"

"You know what? That's it, I'm done! Do whatever the hell you want Kiba; I've spent this whole day trying to look out for you and explain everything as best as I can. My father was right; this was too big of a responsibility to take on, if you want to leave than go right ahead." Sakura angrily waved her finger to her left. "The perimeter gates are half a mile to the east, and the Jawline is another two miles north of that! You're a big tough guy, go right ahead! I'm sure they'll just let you through the fragment with no worries; that's even if you make it there!"

Kiba could pick up the sarcastic tone in her words. With that, Sakura turned around and stormed off to the end of the street, before disappearing behind a building. Kiba's fists were clenched with anger as he through them to his head. He gripped his messy brown hair, clenching his jaw as he realised he shouldn't have entered that argument so aggressively. But how else was he meant to deal with it? Sakura had spent the whole day lying to him. Kiba had woken up physically sick with confusion and her plan was to keep him there, without letting him go home, and without letting him look for his father and sister. She had not mentioned them at all, and he was starting to become frustrated. His father was strong. His sister was strong. There was no way in hell that a measly storm would kill them; no, not when he survived it.

It crossed his mind that they could have possibly been rescued by someone. Maybe they too were washed up on the island, but on another beach? It had also occurred to him that this island was indeed inhabited by dinosaurs… meaning the waters would have some pretty ferocious creatures lurking in its depths, too. But they couldn't be dead; they just couldn't.

The afternoon air was disgustingly hot. The further he travelled the muggier it got, the sorer his legs became, and the more terrified he felt.

It was a stupid idea. He should have never have argued with Sakura, yet alone flee from the village by himself, unarmed, without a single clue about where to go, or what lurked in the dense bushland before him. But he couldn't bring himself to go back. His fear was great, but his ego was greater. He couldn't retreat back to the village and go crawling back to Sakura.

That was one of the downfalls of Kiba's persona. He was, to his advantage, ruggedly handsome, strong, and protective. All wonderful traits when put to test. But then there was his stubbornness, his immense ego, his habit of not thinking things through. To many times had he landed himself in trouble back in his home town because of it, and it was no different here.

Beads of sweat streamed down a crooked trail, slowly seeping into the coral abrasions on his muscular legs. He tried to push past the agonising stinging, but the heat and thick air which smothered the stuffy forest floor was only adding to his discomfort. He had been walking for over two hours, and he wanted nothing more than a break. Kiba placed himself down on a nearby rock, catching his breath but making sure all of his senses were on high alert. His throat was dry, his head pounded, and his shoulder was starting to ache again. He wanted nothing more than to be home. Hell, he'd even settle to be back in Sakura's house, safe and sound within the gated village of Konoha.

"Inuzuka, isn't it?" A familiar voice called from in front of him.

Kiba's head shot up, his heart thudding beneath his chest. He had become so focussed on regretting his choice to leave that he completely zoned out, one of the most dangerous things to do when you're by yourself, surrounded by thick forest and flesh eating dinosaurs. He frowned in confusion when he saw the lean blonde before him, her arms folded against her particularly large chest.

"I know you. You're that girl from before. What are you doing here, and what do you want."

The blonde girl snickered, taking a few steps closer to the exhausted brunette. "The question is, what are you doing out here? I hope you've realised you passed the Jawline about half a mile ago… Its not exactly rainbows and flowers once you've passed that, darling."

"I know exactly where I am," Lie. All lies. "Temari, isn't it? I don't know what kind of trouble you caused back at Konoha, but I don't want anything to do with it. Go home." Kiba stood his ground, staring sternly at the devious blonde.

The corner of her mouth upturned, letting out a sarcastic giggle. "Oh, Kiba. That idiot Sakura has unfortunately got to you before I did," She took a few more steps toward him, almost strutting as she looked up at him with scheming eyes. "It's sad to watch you think she's so innocent, so guiltless. You don't know the half of what she's done,"

"Shut up," Kiba interrupted. His mind was going into overdrive. He couldn't care about anything this blonde was trying to say; all he wanted to know was why she was all the way out here, and why she was approaching him like this. "I don't care for anything you have to say. Tell me why you're following me."

"Ooh, you're an aggressive one, aren't you?" She was so close now that her chin was almost resting on his shoulder, her cold blue eyes now staring straight ahead as she whispered softly in his ear. "I know you want to go home, Kiba. I can see it in your eyes. But I thought I'd just let you know, that we have something that might interest you." She smiled a sly smile, before using her hands to grasp the top of his pants. Kiba's breathing haltered, his body and mind turning stiff for a split second, before feeling her slide something cold and hard into the top of his slacks. He jerked back swiftly, still keeping a close eye on her as he felt that her hands were getting a little too close for comfort. The blonde winked and started to steadily walk backwards. Kiba glanced down and noticed the silver plated handle hanging from the top of his pants. His heart pounded as he slowly pulled it out, realizing what Temari had placed in his pants was actually, a gun.

"Why are you giving me this-

But before he could finish, he looked before him and realised the blonde was nowhere to be seen. He wanted to call out her name, ask her what it was she was talking about, but knew it would only draw attention to him. Unwanted attention from ferocious carnivores. So, using his head for once, he placed the gun back into his pocket, and continued walking.

What was it that Temari had to offer him? Was it a way off the island? A better place to live besides Konoha? And what was all that stuff about Sakura being a horrible person? His brain rattled with confusion as he tried to make out the lustrous blondes words.

His thoughts wouldn't last long, though, as his body froze at the sound of a close, low, snarl. The putrid smell of decaying flesh seeped into the air, constricting the brunette in a sickly fear.

A/N: Thanks for reading, and Please take the time to Review! :)