Chapter 3: Teams and Decisions
A few years have gone by since Sakura and Kiba have met. They became friends, talking to each other during class, playing games during lunch and laughing almost always. And whenever Ino was absent, Kiba would keep Ami and her friends away from Sakura and he would walk her home to make sure nothing happened to her. Both were really happy and liked being with each other and thought they would be friends even after they graduated, but all that changed after Sakura found out that Ino held feelings for Sasuke.
Kiba Inuzuka was very excited today. Today was the day he was going to tell Sakura his feeling for her. They've been friends four four years now and had only two years left till they graduated, and he couldn't be sure that they would be on the same team. So he was going to tell her today, tell her how much she meant to him, how much he loved her. Running through the park with his dog Akamaru runing with him, Kiba finally picked up on Sakura's scent and ran to her. He was so happy about finding her that he didn't catch the other scent that was with her.
Kiba and Akamaru stopped behind a tree to look at Sakura who was sitting on a bench, Ino sitting besides her. They looked like they were talking about something very important.
"Oh, well. I guess I can tell her once Ino leaves." He said to Akamaru who barked quietly agreeing. Kiba could only imagine about what might happen after he tells Sakura his feelings. Sakura could reject him and it could ruin their friendship, but if she feels the same way then the two of them will be together and be in love. Kiba could feel his cheeks heat up at the thought and looked at Sakura with a shy smile. 'Time to go. The minute Ino leaves, I'm telling her everything.' He told himself about to walk over when he heard Sakura start to speak.
"By the way Ino, uh..." Sakura began looking down at the ground the entire time. To Kiba she looked sad.
"Well what is it, Sakura? Why do you look so down?" Ino asked wanting to know. Kiba also wondering. He didn't like Sakura being sad and wanted to know why she was sad and if someone cause her to be. If they were, then he would make sure that they apologized to Sakura and swear never to bother her ever again!
"It's just...I heard that you..." Sakura still couldn't finish her sentences. It was like she was to scared and sad to finish them.
"Come on, what is it?" Ino wanted to know what Sakura want to say to her. She was thinking that Ami or someone said some stupid joke or made up a dumb rumor about her and she was upset about it.
"Well is it true what I heard, you like Sasuke too?" She finally asked looking at Ino.
Ino gasped at sakura who only continued to stare at her. She couldn't believe it, someone told Sakura about her feeling for Sasuke. She made sure never to Sakura, because she knew that the pink haired girl had the same feelings for the boy, and Ino didn't want to mess up their friendship.
"So...I guess that means...we're rivals from now on." Sakura stood up and walked away. Ino stood up too and watched her best friend or now her ex-best friend walk away. She turned around her back now facing Sakura and ran. She ran home with tears in her eyes, hating everything that happened today.
Once the two girls left, Kiba who heard everything sat down leaning agaisnt the tree and looked down at Akamaru who was trying to comfort his master. A look of pure shock and despair was on the Inuzuka's face. He couldn't believe what he had just heard, or rather he didn't want to believe it.
"Her and Ino are rivals now? Because Ino likes Sasuke? So all this time...Sakura has...liked...?" Kiba couldn't say it. He didn't want to say it, hear it, didn't want it to be true! "But how can she...like him? Sasuke! That guy's nothin' but a jerk!" Kiba stood up and punched the tree that he was just leaning agaisnt. He pulled his hand away and looked at it as the blood began to flow from his wounded hand. He growled at the pain that was now in his hand, hating that he couldn't be stronger and deal with the pain, like a real ninja. Was that why Sakura liked Sasuke? Because he was strong and Kiba wasn't? No, that couldn't be the reason why. It just couldn't be. He growled again, making all thoughts of Sasuke leave his head. Kiba started to walk away from the tree that showed a stain of his blood, Akamaru following after him. "Whatever." Was all he said before going home to try and forget about what just happened. Forget about what he heard today.
/2 Years later/
Everyone had passed the test and were all now Genin and were being put into a three man team. They were waiting for Iruka-sensei to announce what teams they would be placed in. Both Ino and Sakura were fighting about Sasuke once again. Once Sakura announced their rivaly they have never once stopped fighting, everyday they were always yelling and screaming at each other. As for Kiba, he stayed away from both girls, Sakura the most. Every time he looked her way and/or was near her his heart would start to beat fast and it would hurt. He hated this feeling, hated that Sakura cause this feeling in him and didn't even know that she did it it. Hated that Sasuke had Sakura's heart but he just ignored her, treating her like she was dirt. He hated that she grew out her hair. 'What's she thinking? It looks better short.' He looked at her long hair in disgust wanting to take a kunai and cut it. But he just stayed in his sit watching all the girls in class beat up Naruto for kissing Sasuke.
Iruka walked in soon after and old everyone to calm down while he explained what would happen to them from now on. All the girls fought for it, but Sakura came out as the winner and sat next to Sasuke. Kiba had to stop the growl that wanted to escape when he saw how happy she was next to the Uchiha. It wasn't right Sakura should be sitting next to him, smiling happy because she was next to him, because she loved him, not Sasuke!
"Squad seven." Iruka began to annoce the names. "Naruto Uzmaki, Sakura Haruno, and..." Sakura, Kiba, and Naruto all held their breaths. Sakura praying for Sasuke, Kiba praying that Iruka would call his name, and Naruto praying for anyone but Sasuke. "Sasuke Uchia!" Iruka finished not knowing that he just crushed two of his students hopes, but made one very happy.
Sakura threw her hands up in the air showing just how happy she was. Naruto just put his head down on the desk and kept saying "I'm doomed" over and over again. And Sasuke, just sat there looking bored and annoyed.
'Come Iruka-Sensei! What's the matter with you? Why's you have to put them together?' Kiba felt like punching something, namely Sasuke's face. How dare he look so upset. He was on Sakura's team, something that Kiba wanted but didn't receive. The Uchiha should be grateful for being placed on her team. Kiba made a fist, ready to jump Sasuke, but stopped himself when he remembered where he was. The feeling he had, it was just like the time when he punched that tree two years ago. The feeling of heartbreak was coming back. 'Just forget it.' He told himself.'Looks like Sakura gets to be with her beloved Sasuke.' Kiba glared at Sasuke with pure hatred of how he held everything he loved and wanted, before turning back to Iruka-Sensei and acting like his heart didn't just broken all over again.
"Squad eight. Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inzuke, and Shino Aburame." He began to announce squad nine.
'I guess this is good. Shino and I are good friends and can read each other movements easily, and Hinata is alright, I guess. Just wish she talked more and didn't stutter as much.' He thought with a smirk looking at his two teammates before his gaze went back to Sakura. A sigh escaped him as he watched her, wishing that things were they way they were. Wishing more then ever that it was him, she liked. That she was rubbing it in Ino's face because they were on the same team together. That she loved him the same way Kiba loved her.
"Squad Ten. Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi." He annouced all the teams and told them all to get lunch so they could get to know one another better. Ino groaned and put her face in her hands. 'Great! I'm with the Mr. Lazy and the kid who can't ever stop eating!' Ino just wanted to run home and hide. She glared at Sakura for being able to be with Sasuke, she just scoffed and turned her head away. That's when she saw Kiba, he seemed to be looking at something. She followed his gaze and saw that it landed on Sakura. She went back from Kiba to Sakura to back to Kiba and then back to Sakura. She turned her head to look once again and then saw it. Saw the look of love and longing in his eyes. 'For Sakura? But why would he be looking at her like that? I thought Kiba wasn't friends with her anymore. Unless...!' A light bulb went off in her head. 'Kiba likes Sakura buts doesn't like that she likes Sasuke, so he pretends to hate her.' Ino wanted to scream in happiness when she thought about it. It made sense to her now, she and Kiba would fight a lot back when all three were still friends but he was always near them, she thought it was to just annoy her, but now she see it's because he wanted to be Sakura. 'So Dog-Boy likes Sakura? This should be good.' Ino just smiled and stood up with her teams. After lunch she was going to have a talk with an old friend.
Everyon soon left with in team for luch. They took Iruka's advice to get to know one another. Well most of them. The only team that didn't was team seven with Sasuke going one way, Sakura looking for him, and Naruto trying to go to Sakura but she sent him off. This team has a long way to go.
"Oh! I can't find sasuke anywhere." Sakura sighed in defeat sitting down on a bench that was near the school. "I wonder how the other teams are doing? Probabaly better then us, but we probably wouldn't have this problem if Naruto wasn't so annoying and if Sasuke only...!" Sakura didn't know to finish that sentence. She didn't want to say anything bad about Sasuke, even though deep deep deep down she knew that if Sasuke only stopped to try and work with them then they could be an amazing team. "Guess I can only hope and wait to see that we get better. But still...why Naruto? I'm going to go insane with him. I would have perferd someone else like Shikamaru, Choji, Shino, or even...Kiba." Sakura looked down at the ground for a minute as she said his name. "Maybe not Kiba. I mean sure we were good friends back when we were kids but now..." After Sakura and Ino stopped being friends, Kiba began to act cold towards her and even stopped talking to her, and Sakura had no idea why. "I don't get understand he stopped talking to me. We were really good friends, but after Ino and I stopped being friends, then he stopped too. Why? He and everyone else knows we stopped because Ino liked Sasuke too, so maybe he got mad because...He likes Ino!" Sakura told herself looking up and began to think.
"Yeah! That must be why! He's mad cause Ino liked Sasuke and because she and I keep fighting, he's mad at me because I keep yelling at the person he likes." Sakura said out loud thinking she got the right answer. "It makes sense now. Kiba likes Ino and is mad at me cause I'm always fighting with her. Hey maybe after I win Sasuke's heart I'll try to get them together. It's the least I can do, being the good hearted person that I am." Sakura smiled and began to eat her food.
Speaking of Kiba, he and his team were doing great. They got along and each of their attacks and abilities went well together. Shino and Hinata decided to head back to class while Kiba went to go throw the packages of his lunch away. As he did this, he heard Sakura talking to herself and say his name. Curiosity got the better of him, and like the last time, hide behind a tree to listen in and heard everything she said about him and Ino. He just stood there with a look of pure shock and annyonce on his face as his right eye began to twitch.
'Is she serious? Where the hell did she come up with that stupid idea! Now way I could ever like Ino! She's way too loud and annoying.' He thought thinking over the very loud obnoxious blonde that he put up with during his childhood because he wanted to spend time with Sakura. 'Come on, Sakura! You're suppose to be the smartest kunoichi of our class, how can you not figure out that it's not Ino I like, it's you!' He wanted to come out and tell her the truth, that he had feelings for her and no one else, but old wounds of his heart weren't letting him. 'No. She still likes sasuke. What's the point in telling her now? She'd only reject me and I feel like having my heart broken again.' He thought giving a heavy sigh of defeat before heading back to his team.
But he left a little to soon because once he did, Sakura gave a heavy sigh herself and looked at the ground once again. She was upset about something.
"Why do I feel this way? I like Sasuke, and now I know that Kiba likes Ino, I should be happy. So why does my heart feel like it's in pain. It's like when I picture the two of them together my heart begins to feel like it's being squeezed and I can't breath. But why...? I don't get it? I like Sasuke, so i should be upset thinking about Ino and Kiba as a coupe." Sakura told herself wanting an answer to feeling she had deep in her chest, but it never came. "Ok, I get that I use to have a crush on him, but that was when I was like ten, and besides the day I thought about telling him was the day when Ami told me about Ino. So there's no point in even telling him now." She said nodding her head and was about to eat again but realized what she just said. "No! Wait! I'm not gonna tell him! There's nothing to tell! Those feelings...they're in the past. Right? No! Don't think this way sakura. You love Sasuke, and soon enough he'll see that you're the one he loves too." Sakura nodded now happy and went to finish her meal.