Chapter 5: Explanation

Kiba couldn't believe it; Naruto was trying to take advantage of Sakura while she was sleeping. He was ready to punch Naruto when he saw him put his arm around Sakura and take out the camera. It took everything he had not to break the camera and Naruto's hand. He really hated that kid. Not only was Sasuke, the guy he's hated since childhood and rival for Sakura's heart, on the team but so was Naruto. It was no secret that the hyper blonde liked Sakura, the whole team just made Kiba want to scream in frustration.

'That little squirt! Why'd he have to end up with Sakura? It isn't fair! I care about Sakura way more then he does! As if things weren't hard enough with Sasuke being on the team too. Which means he'll be together with Sakura a lot, and even alone sometimes if the mission called for it?' Kiba wanted to growl at the thought of Sakura and Sasuke being all alone together, in a dangerous situation, where just about anything could happen. 'The two of them being together is not what I want! Man, why'd Iruka-sensei have to put them on the same team?' Kiba thought dragging his feet across the field where their sensei was taking them. He wanted nothing more then to go back into the classroom, throw Naruto and Sasuke out the window, and show Sakura that he was better for her then those two.

"Kiba!" Shino's voice brought him out of his thoughts of running back.

"What?" Kiba glared at his teammate, instantly regretting how he was acting. He didn't want to act like some spoiled child, but he was just so mad. He was mad at Naruto for trying to take advantage of Sakura while she was sleeping. He was made that Sasuke was always mean to Sakura and yet she still loved him. He was mad that Sakura couldn't see that he was in love with her. And he was mad that he didn't have enough courage to tell Sakura how he felt about her.

"If you end up keeping all your anger and frustration inside of you and never vent it, then not only will it weaken you as a shinobi but it can also make you do things to the one you love that you will regret later on." Shino stood right in front of Kiba as he spoke. His hands were in his pockets, voice at a calm even tone. So

Kiba just stood there and took in Shino's words. He thought that what he said made a lot of sense, but at the same time was wondering how in the world he knew what he was thinking about.

"Yeah...thanks man." Kiba gave a small thankful smile to Shino who only nodded his head and went up to Hinata and their sensei.

Kiba looked down at Akamaru and picked him up to put him on his head. "I gotta admit buddy, Shino really knows just what to say to help you out. Just wish I knew how he could know what I was thinking about." Kiba muttered the last part to himself and his best friend as he joined his team. He decided that instead of getting depressed over the teams, he would get stronger with his and really show Sakura that he was the perfect match for her. Not Sasuke or any other guy in the village.

Everyone after becoming a team trained hard and went on a lot of missions. They didn't really see anyone from their old classes. Only when they were leaving the village for a mission or coming back from one, and that was only on rare occasions. Neither Sakura nor Kiba ever saw one another and both really wanted too. Sakura wanted to see Kiba because she wanted to talk to him about the real reason why he stopped being friends with her, and if he really did like her like she thought he did. Kiba wanted to see Sakura again too, but his reasons where very different from Sakura's. His reasons for wanting to see her were simple; he just wanted to see her again. He hated not being able to see her after so long.

He would always look for her whenever he would leave or enter the village from a mission, but he never once caught any sight or smell of the pink haired girl. He hated not seeing her, but he hated it even more that Sasuke got to see Sakura everyday, and he didn't even appreciate it. That is what pissed Kiba off the most, how could Sasuke not see what a beautiful and amazing girl Sakura was! She was perfect and Sasuke acted like she was just like any other girl.

Then again, Kiba was kind of glad that Sasuke saw her that way. Sure he wanted everyone to acknowledge Sakura as the greatest woman in the Leaf Village, but if Sasuke did finally see what a great girl Sakura was, it would end badly for Kiba. So even though he got mad whenever Sasuke talked down to Sakura, he would always think it was better then Sasuke saying that he liked her.

The time finally came for Kiba, and Sakura, to see everyone again. The Chunin Exams came and the three sensei's for the rookie nine, signed them all up. Everyone seemed ready to take them, ready to test how much they have grown since they became genin. Everyone was ready to fight, all of them were, expect for Sakura. She couldn't stop the wave of nerves that would rush over her body whenever she thought of the exams.

'There's no way I can do this. I can't even beat Naruto, how am I supposed to fight other ninjas from the different villages?'Sakura thought to herself in dread as she neared the academy. She was late and apologized to her teammates about it before they went inside to register for the exams. From there they meet two guys playing a genjutsu on them, a boy named Rock Lee who fought Sasuke and asked Sakura out. Then met Guy-sensei, who scared the three genin for life.

Finally after many distractions, and a very weird sensei/student moment, Squad Seven made their way into the room where the Chunin Exams would take place. As the tree walked in, they were met with all different faces, most scary ones.

"Whoa. What's this?" Naruto stared in shock, with a hint of fear, in his eyes as he and his teammates looked at the other contestants in the room. Sasuke just gave them all one of his glares and Sakura had to stop herself from running out of the room and hiding behind Kakashi.

"Gee. I guess, we're not alone." They really weren't. The whole room was filled with ninjas from every hidden village. Each one looking scarier then the last. 'Oh man. I had no idea there'd be so much competition.'Sakura looked around the room more and saw that everyone ninja there was staring at the three of them. 'If being scary looking is one of the tests, they got me beat.'Sakura gulped thinking of what the actual test would be like.

"Sasuke! Where have you been?" Sakura's attention and everyone else in the room was thrown towards Sasuke grunting as Ino jumped onto his back. "Boy, you have no idea how much I was hoping you'd show up here. I've missed those brooding good looks of yours." Ino had a small blush on her face, either ignoring or not seeing Sasuke glaring at her, silently telling her to get off of him.

"Hey you porker, back off! He's mine!" Sakura glared at Ino, pointing an accusing finger her way. She really hated how Ino would always jump onto Sasuke like she did. Didn't she know that she was just making Sasuke get more annoyed at her by jumping on him? Ino really needed to try something else if she ever wanted to get some kind of attention from Sasuke.

'What a minute, what am I thinking? Why would I ever want Ino to get attention from Sasuke?'Sakura wanted to pull her hair out at the thoughts she was having. 'Ok, so I've been with Sasuke long enough to know that he's a lot different then what I thought he was at the academy. That shouldn't change anything though! I still have feelings for him…right?'She didn't want to continue those thoughts. She loved Sasuke, she just knew it.

So instead of trying to figure out where those weird thoughts were coming from, or hearing Naruto fight with Shikamaru, she looked through the crowds to see if she knew anyone else taking these exams. Off to the side of the room, Sakura saw something white moving.

'Is that Akamaru?'Sure enough, it was Akamaru sitting on top of Kiba's head, wagging his tail at her. 'Aw! Look how cute he is. I've missed seeing him.'Sakura gave a quick smile to the puppy and was thinking about going over there to say hi to Akamaru, and Kiba, when she saw that he and his team were already moving towards them.

Sakura looked at Kiba and then looked away, if what she thought was true, if Kiba really did like her then she really needed to talk him. Even though it would probably be very awkward and weird. It would probably be even worse if what she thought wasn't true, she would probably never live down the humiliation.

Sakura for once was happy that Ino opened her big mouth; it got Sakura to forget for a moment her thoughts about Kiba. She turned back around to glare at Ino for saying something about her forehead. She got it already, she had a big forehead. She didn't need to be reminded of it every day!

With the start of the exams, Kiba and his team made their way to the third floor while everyone else fell for the stupid genjutsu that some two Chunin put up. Hinata was able to detect it and warn them about it and Kiba was able to smell the transformation that the two Chunin were using. He however, didn't smell any sign of Sakura.

Kiba and his team were the first one of the rookie nine to enter the room. Each of them could tell that they had some tough competition and they decided to go off to the side to talk and watch their opponents. It was better for them to remain low and try and see if they could find some weak points in the enemy. After a few minutes they saw Ino and her team enter. The room began to fill up after that and it seemed that no one else was going to enter.

Kiba gave a heavy sigh as he looked at the door. 'Guess Sakura isn't coming. Man, the only real reason why I came to this stupid thing was because I thought it would be the perfect way to see Sakura again. I thought for sure that her two teammates would come.'Kiba gave another sigh, looking at the door one final time, hoping that Sakura would walk in with a bright smile on her face and come running over to him, saying how much she missed him and beg him to help her get away from Sasuke. Of course that would be too good for him.

When he was sure that the door wasn't going to open again he turned his attention back to his teammates who were keeping to themselves. He started talking about what they would probably have to go through taking this exam; his sister had given him some tips about what the exam usually holds. While he was explaining his sister said, Kiba and everyone else in the room heard the door open, and turned to look at who opened the door.

The moment the door opened, Kiba's nose was filled with her scent. He couldn't help but allow the happy grin to appear on his face when he saw Sakura, and her team, enter the room. 'Yes! All right! She did come. It may be late, but Sakura came! Yes, now's my chance to show her how much stronger I've gotten since I became a ninja.' Kiba grinned thinking about how he was going to show off to Sakura and how she would be so impressed with him, she would forget all about Sasuke and be into him. He turned back to his team and talked about how they had to fight hard and prove that they were better team.

As Kiba was talking he unconsciously sniffed the air and found Sakura's scent. He inhaled deeply and sighed to himself as he breathed in her scent. No matter where he was or what he was doing, Sakura's scent always seemed to calm him down. Kiba stopped talking and listened to what Shino was explaining to Hinata when he felt Akamaru's tail start wagging, he was getting a whiff of Sakura's scent as well and he liked it.

Out of the corner of his eye Kiba could see that Sakura was standing just before the door and she looked nervous. Who could blame her, everyone in the room was looking at her team, and none of the looks were friendly ones. That made him growl, how dare anyone look at Sakura like that. Scaring her to the point where she wanted to run and hide, he could smell her fear and he hated it. Kiba, not wanting her to be so scared, decided that he would go over there and make her feel better.

Kiba moved to turn his body in Sakura's direction when he heard a loud shriek. He and his team, as well as everyone else, heard Ino's loud voice when she jumped onto Sasuke. Next came Sakura's voice, but her voice was filled with anger, she was upset that Ino was hugging Sasuke. That anger made Kiba himself get angry.

'Come on! She still likes him? Why can't she see that Sasuke is just some stupid jerk who will never ever have any type of feelings!'Kiba wanted to growl as he watched the fight take place between Ino and Sakura. He was ready to run over there and start a fight himself when he caught another whiff of Sakura's scent. She was confused. About what he wasn't sure, but he would find out.

Suddenly Sakura's eyes were in his direction and she seemed to have a smile on her face. That one smile made Kiba's heart beat ten times faster then it was before. He finally had her attention on him! 'This is great! It means that she's happy I'm here. Which could only mean one thing...Sakura is finally starting to have feelings for me!'Kiba wanted to jump with joy at the thoughts. Them being apart for so long made her miss him, which made her think about him, which made her start to develop feelings for him.

'This is great. Now to go over there and show that I'm strong and ready to fight for her.'Kiba turned to his two teammates, saying that they should join the group. Shino and Hinata agreed and they moved to the other two rookie teams. With each step, Kiba could feel his heart rate increase.

'Just be cool. I gotta calm down before I start acting like an idiot and scare Sakura away.'Kiba took in a deep breathe and put on his game face, trying to show that he was both cool and strong.

"Well well, what do you know? It looks like the whole gang is back together again." Kiba had on a confident smirk, hands in his pockets, happy that he was closer to Sakura. He caught a strong whiff of her scent and had to stop the happy grin that wanted to overtake his face. Somehow her scent changed a little from the last time he saw her, but he didn't care, it only made her smell even greater.

"Oh, hi Naruto." He heard Hinata greet Naruto and wanted to sigh. He could smell the love she had for the hyper ninja, wondering what it was that she saw in him.

"You guys to, huh? Man, everyone's here for this stupid thing." Shikamaru was bored as ever and that annoyed Kiba, and many others. What was a drag for Shikamaru was an opportunity for Kiba. That opportunity was to win over Sakura's heart.

"Yep, here we all are. The nine rookies." Kiba gave a laugh at the stupid nickname people were giving them. It didn't matter that he was a rookie, Kiba was still strong. "This is gonna be fun. At least for those of us good enough to make the cut, right Sasuke." He looked directly at the Uchiha, challenging him. If Kiba ever got the opportunity to fight him, he was going to give it his all and destroy him.

"Kiba. Careful you don't get over confident." The way he talked even annoyed Kiba. Of course he was confident, he was strong and he would beat Sasuke, proving to Sakura that he was the best and that she should love him.

"Just wait. We're gonna blow you guys away. We've been training like crazy." He told them all, of course he meant everyone but Sakura. He knew there was a chance that he might have to fight her, but if that did happen, he wouldn't go all out. He would fight enough that he could win without hurting her. He gave a quick glance her way and was once again happy that her attention was all on him. Oh yeah, this Chunin exam was starting to look good for him.

Sakura was now very confused on what had just happened. It sounded just like Kiba had challenged Sasuke and she wasn't upset or annoyed with him. She's seen so many guys challenge Sasuke back when they were at the academy and she always got annoyed. She hated that they thought they could beat him or tried to put him down, but she wasn't mad with Kiba. It was weird since she always got mad at one who talked to Sasuke that way.

'Well, maybe not always.' Sakura thought with a blush as her mind began to wander. She remembered that whenever Kiba challenged Sasuke, like he did just now, she didn't get as mad as she usually does with the others. She had always thought it was because he was her friend, but now she wasn't to sure.

They arguing between the rookies stopped when the proctor for the first exam showed up and explained that they had to take a written exam. Everyone shut up after that and took the exam, and after some difficult stuff they passed the first exam and were ready for the next one. That's when the second proctor showed up by coming through the window and announced that they had to meet up at a training ground the next day.

They did as they were told and met up at the forest of death where they got these release forms and stuff. They had to read it and then sign it.

Sakura got her form and left her group to sit down under a tree and read quietly. But once she sat down her mind began to spin with questions about herself, Sasuke, and Kiba. She was so confused that she gave up on reading and just stared off into space.

'Urgh. I don't remember ever being this confused before.' She thought to herself as she looked up at the sky. 'Wait. That's not true. I remember being this confused once. Back when I was still a kid and Kiba had just stopped being friends with me.' Sakura looked away from the sky and back down at the ground. 'That's right, we were playing a game and something happened between Kiba and I.'Sakura's mind began to take a trip down memory lane.

/Flashback/

It was a clear day and all the young academy students were out in a field training and working hard to be ninjas. This was normal for the students and they were all having a great time. For their training they were playing a game like hide and go seek, except with this game it was hide and hunt down the enemy. They were broken up into two groups, the enemy group and the hunting ninja group. To win the game you had to get a ribbon that the other team had. The enemy team had red ribbons and the ninja team had white. There was a time limit and whoever had the most players won.

Sakura was on the enemy team, wearing both her regular red ribbon and her game one on her head, was hiding behind a bush from three people on the opposite team. She knew that she would be caught since one of those three people was Ino and she always found Sakura when the played games like this.

Ino, who saw something red out of the corner of her eye, turned her head to Sakura and smiled. "Hey I see one." She called to the two people that she was with. They all turned and went with Ino who was walking closer and closer to Sakura.

She was ready to run when her shirt got stuck in the bush. 'Oh no! I'm trapped. I have to get away! I told Ino that I wouldn't lose to her anymore.' Sakura tried to pull herself free but soon gave up when she heard Ino and the two other girls looking through the bush. 'Looks like Ino will get me again.' Sakura thought sadly as she waited to be found, when suddenly a hand came out and pulled Sakura free. She turned her head to see Kiba behind her holding a red bird. He put a finger to his mouth as to say be quiet. She did and waited for him to do whatever he was going to do.

Once Kiba saw that Sakura wasn't going to make a sound he realized the red bird in his hands, right at Ino and her group. They moved out of its way and looked around before leaving. "Guess it was just the bird I saw. Sorry guys." Ino apologized to the two and they all left.

Kiba suck his nose in the air and began to smell for their scents. Akamaru wasn't with him because their sensei said it was an unfair advantage and because it would be too easy to spot him. When he knew that they were far away he grabbed Sakura by her hand and help pulled her out of the bush.

"Thank you, Kiba." Sakura thanked him and started pulling leaves and twigs out of her hair. She hadn't realized how dirty she had gotten during the game.

"Yeah, no problem." Kiba replied putting his hands in his pockets and looked at the ground. When a moment passed he turned fully away from her and started to walk away.

"Kiba!" He stopped walking and turned his head around to face her.

"Well...um...why'd did you help me? You're on the opposite team so I'm your enemy?" She asked him looking down at the ground. She was nervous and Kiba could tell. "Besides...I thought you wanted to stop being friends with me, so I figured that you don't even like me." She added playing with her ribbon. "I thought you hated me." She added quietly, like she hoped he wouldn't hear her.

Kiba after hearing her words sighed and turned back around and walked up to Sakura. "It's not what you think. I don't hate you."

So then why...?" Kiba stopped her before she could finish her question.

"I just need to do what I'm doing now for a little while longer. I know that I'm not making much sense now, but I swear Sakura, that someday I'll tell you why I'm acting this way. I'll tell you everything." He told her with his cheeks turning a light shade of pink.

Sakura took a moment to take in and think about what he just said to her before replying. "Ok." It was simple and sweet and Kiba smiled at her.

"Ok then...well see ya...!" Kiba stopped mid-sentence when he felt Sakura's hand in his hair. He could feel his face heat up. When her hand left he looked directly at her to see her smiling and holding a leaf in her hand.

"Sorry about that, but there was a leaf in you hair." Sakura explained showing him the leaf. She was smiling brightly and her cheeks were a light pink and she looked and was really happy for some reason.

Kiba could feel his face heat up again as he looked at Sakura's smiling face. He was actually thinking about telling her everything now but he knew that he shouldn't.

"Yeah well...see ya!" With that said he took off in a run back to the field where the teachers were. He knew that he must have looked really stupid to Sakura, but it was all he could do at this point.

Sakura watched Kiba sprint off to the field and she stood their watching his form disappear. She gave a little sweat drop when he heard him trip over a branch and then get back up again.

'I wonder what Kiba means by he'll tell me everything. Before he would always play with me, now he doesn't even come near me but he says he doesn't hate me. I'm confused.' She tried to think of what Kiba might tell her but no thoughts were coming to mind. 'I guess I'll just have to wait until he tells me.' With that thought, she headed to where her sensei was.

X

"You know if you keep staring off into space like that, you're going to miss your chance for the second part of the exam." A voice brought Sakura out of her flashback; she looked up to see Kiba looking down at her smirking. His hands were behind his back and Akamaru was right with him but the little puppy left to curl up besides Sakura.

'This…is exactly like the moment of how we became friends' Sakura realized as she started petting Akamaru who was very happy with the attention he was getting.

"So what are you thinking about that's got your full attention?" Kiba crouched down to eye level facing Sakura.

"Just thinking about some stuff from the past." She answered him still petting Akamaru.

"Like what?" Kiba wanted to know what she was thinking about. Before he kept calling her name and waving to her. It took him a few good minutes before he realized that her mind was off somewhere else.

Sakura hesitated before answering. "That time when we were still back in the academy and we were playing hide and catch the enemy. Do you remember that? You helped me out even though you were on the other team." She answered him.

Kiba's cheeks felt like they were burning up as he thought about the memory. He remembered that day. It was just a few days after he stopped hanging around with Sakura. He saw her a few times that day, but he could never bring himself to catch her. And when he saw that Ino was about to get her, he just had to help her. He couldn't watch her get caught by Ino, he knew it would kill her if that happened.

"You told me that you would one day tell me why you stopped hanging out with me." Sakura looked at him with a small smile. "So is that day today? Are you going to tell me why?"

Kiba could feel his heart beat quicken at the thought. Sure he had always planned on telling her, but not like this. Not when they were about to take an important quiz that could take away their lives.

'I can't tell her. If I tell her, she'll only think about that instead of the quiz and then who knows what'll happen to her. I gotta make up something and quick.'Kiba told himself trying to think of anything that he could say that would help her understand that he couldn't tell her yet. He finally thought of something but wished that he hadn't.

"Why should I tell you anything?" He quick stood up with Akamaru back on his head and he crossed his arms. He turned his back to Sakura. "Yeah, I might have told you before but not now. I mean we're enemies now! And this isn't some stupid game. We could very well lose our lives during this thing, and there's no way that I'm going to have a guilty conscience when I become a Chunin!" He wanted to kick himself at how horrible he sounded. He didn't mean for him to sound so cruel but it was all he could think of on short notice. He could only hope that Sakura wouldn't be to mad at him.

Sakura just sat there with her mouth wide open and her eyes staring right at Kiba. You could easily see in her eyes that what he said hurt her. But he also pissed her off. She stood up behind Kiba and like him crossed her arms and turned her back on him.

"Well excuse me for asking a simple question. You know what, you're right. This isn't some stupid game, and we should only be thinking about this test and nothing else. Thank you for clearing that up for me, Ki-ba!" Sakura walked away from him. She was angry and amazed that she didn't hit him.

'What's his problem? What'd I ever do him to ever desire that kind of treatment? Well if that's the way he wants to be, fine! See if I care.' Sakura walked back to her team not trying to hide the fact that she was angry. The other ninjas may have scared her at the start of the exams, but now they were all scared of her and the deadly look she had in her eyes. She was pissed off and everyone knew it.

Kiba quickly turned around and watched Sakura walk away from him and back to her team. He couldn't believe himself. He wanted to win her over and impress her, not piss her off and break her heart. He gave a low annoyed growl before turning and punched a tree. His hand began to bleed from the pressure placed on it.

'Damnit! Why do things always end up like this?'Kiba growled thinking about what she said to him. He cringed remembering the way she said his name full of anger and annoyance. He sighed to himself and looked up at Akamaru who was whining trying to make him feel better.

"Thanks buddy." Kiba petted the puppy and walked back to his team as well. He knew that the next time he saw Sakura he would apologize and hopefully explain why he was so mean to her today and everything else.