Chapter 7: Starting Over
'Ok this is it.' Kiba thought standing in front of Naruto. 'I'll show Sakura once and for all that I'm just as strong and cool as Sasuke is, heck I'm better then he is. Sure beating up on her teammate probably isn't the best way to win a girl over, but oh well. It's not like I planned for this to happen.' He thought getting ready for his fight.
Naruto, over on his end of the ring was full of excitement. He was so ready to fight. "I've been waiting forever for this! Sorry Kiba, don't take it personally if I blow you away." He told him full of confidence.
Kiba got annoyed at Naruto. "Urgh! That's just what I was gonna say, only not so politely! Right Akamaru!" Akamaru barked agreeing with Kiba. 'Man, I really hate this kid.'He couldn't to end this fight and make Naruto shut up. The match didn't even start yet and he was always giving Kiba a headache.
"Oh yeah, well talking easy. Let's see what you got to say at the end of the match." Naruto shouted back. He wanted this fight to start, he didn't like how Kiba was talking to him and he wanted him to shut up and to prove what a great Ninja he was.
"Little squirt." Kiba muttered putting Akamaru down.
"What a second, are you kidding me? What's the puppy doing here? He's just gonna get in the way!" Naruto yelled out at him, he didn't want anything interfering with his match.
"Deal with it! I never go into battle without Akamaru!" Kiba said with Akamaru barking with him.
"Come on. Isn't that against the rules or something?" Naruto asked pointing at Kiba and Akamaru. He didn't think it was fair for him to be fighting with Akamaru. Didn't that give Kiba an unfair advantage?
Hayate just looked at Naruto before replying. "No. Like Shino's bugs they are a part of him. He is within the rules!" He said turning away.
X
Looking down at Naruto and Kiba, Sakura had to sigh at Naruto's stupidity. "Jeez, doesn't Naruto know anything. Everybody knows that all Inuzuka fight with dogs." Sakura shook her head.
"You know how Naruto is Sakura. He's always ready for a fight even when he doesn't know anything about his opponent." Kakashi told her looking down at Naruto.
"Yeah, you're right. I swear he's gonna get himself killed one day because of that. I mean everyone knows that all Inuzuka's fight with dogs. That's why Akamaru is always with Kiba, and why Kiba can speak to Akamaru and other dogs. That and because of their animal instincts and other animal traits that it's so easy to know that Kiba and everyone else in his family would fight with a dog." Sakura stated showing off her knowledge of Kiba and his clan.
"Everyone or just you, Sakura?" Kakashi asked her with some amusement in his voice. "Iruka told me that you were one of his brightest students back in the academy but it seems that you know more about Kiba's clan then anyone else in your class." He told her. You could see that there was some amusement in his eyes. "In fact it would seem that you know more about Kiba's clan then you do about Sasuke's." Kakashi was enjoying himself right now.
Sakura froze instantly and her cheeks were glowing bright red from her blush. "I never said that."
"You didn't have too. It's obvious that you know much more about Kiba then you do about Sasuke, even though you say you love him." Yep Kakashi was enjoying himself and Sakura could tell.
"Well that's because I grew up with Kiba. I never really hung out with Sasuke when I was little. I was to shy." She told her sensei.
"To shy to hang out with Sasuke but not with Kiba?" He asked her. You could see an amused smile under his mask.
"Well…Kiba was…and I was…I was a weird kid ok!" She was getting both confused and annoyed. She didn't know why she was so shy to hang out with Sasuke but not with Kiba. She didn't understand why she always felt nervous and a bit lonely when she was with Sasuke, and with Kiba she felt happy and comfortable. Or maybe she did? "Let's just watch the fight ok?" She didn't want to talk about this anymore.
X
Hayate had just finished explaining to Naruto that Akamaru was within the rules and he could fight with Kiba. Naruto started dumbfounded at Hayate before turning back to Kiba.
"Whatever. Fine with me. I do my best work with a handicap." He said confidently. 'Man Kiba must really weak if he needs to fight with his little puppy. This is gonna be such an easy match!' He thought happily. He was gonna show everyone how strong he was and how fast he was gonna beat Kiba.
"Ha! We'll just see about that!" Kiba smirked. "Akamaru. You stay right here and leave this to me. I've got it." He told him standing up. Akamaru whined but understood.
Sakura looked down at the too and were worried. 'I hope Naruto will be alright. I know he's gotten a lot stronger but Kiba's strong too,' she thought worried for her teammate. It was true that Naruto was stronger but who knows how much stronger Kiba had gotten since she last saw him. 'Well Kiba mostly fights with Akamaru so maybe it won't be so bad.' She tried to convince herself.
"You shouldn't worry so much, Sakura." Kakashi said placing a hand on her shoulder. "Naruto will be fine. After all he's the main reason why we survived in the land of waves, he did fight against Haku alone after Sasuke collapsed and I'm sure that he was a lot of help during the second part of the exam."
Sakura thought back to when they went to the land of waves were they met Zabuza and Haku and how Naruto and Sasuke were able to fight them both. And he even fought Orochimaru all by himself when Sasuke was too afraid to. 'Yeah, that's right. Naruto is strong and he can win. So what if Kiba's strong, he's still a stupid jerk.'Sakura thought with some anger. She was still annoyed at Kiba for what he said to her before.
"Go on Naruto! You can't lose to this jerk!" She shouted down. She didn't care what Kiba said to her later on, he pissed her off and now she was fighting back.
'Jerk? She's calling me a jerk?'Kiba thought to himself. On the outside he looked confident and cool but on the inside he was a mess. 'Aw man! I had to go and piss Sakura off just before my match. Great, now she's hoping I'll lose. How am I going to impress her if she's mad at me and wants me to lose? On top of that…' He turned his attention to Naruto, who looked happy that Sakura was cheering for him. 'I'm fighting her teammate. And it looks like she wants him to beat me. Great, if I win Sakura's gonna hate me, but if I lose then not only will she think that I'm weak but I'll never be able to live it down!' Kiba wanted scream at this point. What was he supposed to do now? This whole situation was driving him insane. Does he forfeit the match or beat Naruto and just hope that Sakura doesn't hate him anymore then she already does.
Everyone who was watching the fight was talking amongst themselves. They were all saying the same thing, Naruto weak and he can't win. And Kiba is so lucky to have gotten an easy fight.
Kiba heard all this and smirked. He looked at Naruto for a quick second before calming down. 'Why am I worrying? It's true what they're all saying. Naruto's way too weak to win against me. I'm sure Sakura will understand when I beat him. But still I wonder how much stronger he's gotten since he graduated?' Kiba wondered going down memory lane, thinking back to the academy and how Naruto failed to do the transformation jutsu. 'Ha! This is going to be over soon enough.'Kiba thought before speaking over to Naruto.
"Look I feel sorry for you, so I'm gonna finish you off with one shot. K?" He told him making a fist. He would beat him with one attack and then talk with Sakura about why he's been acting this way. Once they leave, he'll ask her to come with him and then once they were totally alone, he would confess his feelings to her and ask her to be his girlfriend.
"Yeah? You think so? Well good luck trying to beat me." Naruto replied back. No way was he going to lose to Kiba. He could remember all the times Kiba had teased him because he couldn't do some of the jutus right, but Kiba wouldn't tease him anymore after he beat him.
'Oh, I don't need luck kid.' Kiba thought just as Hayate called the match. Getting down on his knees to focus his chakra and use his jutsu.
'Ninja art of Beat Mimicry. All Fours Jutsu!'
Getting down on both his hands and knees Kiba activated his jutsu and stared Naruto down. To Naruto he seemed more like an animal then human right now. 'I'll take you down in one quick attack kid.'
"Here I come." With that said Kiba ran at Naruto with amazing speed, and elbowed him right in the gut. He sent him flying backwards and unconscious.
Sakura gasped when she saw Naruto go flying and hit the floor. 'No, Naruto!'She was worried about him. 'Maybe he's still weak from the battle with Orochimaru and those three grass-nin we faced before coming here.'She thought, looking over Naruto, checking to see if he was alright and still conscious.
Kiba stood and smiled at himself. "This little guy is going to be out for a while. You can call the match." He said to the proctor, a little proud of himself. Sure he wanted a tougher opponent but he would just have to wait until the preliminaries were over to fight a real ninja.
'I knew it would be easy but man that was way to easy. I barely used the full power of my jutsu.' Kiba smirked to himself. 'And I'm sure everyone saw that I wasn't using my full power, which means Sakura can't be mad at me and I was able to show her a little of my abilities.' He thought to himself stealing a quick look at Sakura. He thought she would be looking at him either glaring or impressed, but instead she was ignoring him and looking down at Naruto and she looked worried.
'What? You gotta be kidding me! I just won the match and she's ignoring me! Come on! What does a guy have to do around here to get the attention of the girl he likes?' He wanted to scream. Why was it so hard to get Sakura's attention? What did he have to do? Dye his hair black and act like he hates everything good and pretty around him?
While Kiba was trying to think of why he couldn't keep her attention, Sakura looked back at Kakashi, trying to see if the battle was really over or not. Kakashi looked at her and smiled though his mask, making her smile as well. 'So that's it,' she thought back to when the first became a team and how Naruto said he wanted to become Hokage. 'I always made fun of his boasting. I thought he was crazy,' her mind flashed back to when they first fought Zabuza and how at first Naruto was scared but then he pulled himself together and fought hard. Him and Sasuke fighting with each other, and everything he did during the second part of Chunin exams.
"What? No way!" No way could Naruto be getting up. He was sure that he was unconscious.
'I was wrong about him,' Sakura smiled as she watched Naruto stand up on his feet. She thought about how he stopped Orochimaru's snake, him fighting the one hundred clones, and his ninja way. 'Come on, Naruto. Show 'em what you got.' Sakura thought. She knew Naruto would fight and show everyone his power.
Naruto stood up, panting, he took a hard hit to the gut but he wasn't going to stay down.
"Don't ever…Don't ever understatement me!" Determination was in his eyes and he was ready to fight Kiba. He wasn't going to lose to him or to anyone else here.
"'Atta boy Naruto!" Sakura cheered. She was proud of Naruto right now, he was standing tall and she knew he would give Kiba a run for his money.
"Yeah, yeah. More tough talk. Look at yourself in a mirror, you're a mess!" Kiba called back. He didn't think that Naruto would actually still be conscious from his attack. 'I guess has gotten a little stronger.'He didn't think much of that though. His attention was brought back to Sakura and how she was cheering happily for Naruto. 'Stupid kid. Just wait once this fight is over, she'll be cheering for me.'
Naruto didn't seem fazed by Kiba mocking him. "Ha! I just wanted to see what you got. And frankly you hit like an old lady." Naruto gloated back. He grinned at Kiba, showing his attack didn't have that big of an effect on him.
Kiba growled at Naruto. He didn't like that last comment he made. Saying he was weak when he hasn't even made a move yet. The only thing he did was get hit and end up looking like a beat up old doll.
"You have a better chance of winning this if you sent that puppy in to fight for you." Naruto added on. He didn't believe that Kiba was as tough as he once thought he was.
Kiba was really annoyed now. "You're gonna regret that." He growled.
X
"Uh-oh." Sakura was worried now.
"Something wrong, Sakura?" Kakashi asked his student. His attention was on the fight, but he wanted to see what she had to say.
"That last comment Naruto made, he really upset Kiba with it. Not only did he call him weak, but Akamaru too and that's one thing Kiba won't stand for. When you insult or hurt Akamaru you're basically asking Kiba to kill you." She told her sensei. Sakura could remember that more then once Kiba would beat up the kids at the academy because they made fun of Akamaru.
"Really? Is that so?" For some reason he sounded amuse again and Sakura didn't like that.
"Sensei? Why do you sound so amused? Aren't you worried for Naruto?" She asked him. Sakura found it weird to see him acting so calmly, and she wanted to know what he found that was so amusing.
"No, not really. I know Naruto can take care of himself." He told her. Hands in his Jounin uniform pockets, if Sakura was facing him, she would have seen the smirk he was wearing under his mask.
"So, is that why you're amused? You believe that Naruto will win and find it funny that everyone's worrying about him." She wondered, that sounded about right. Everyone was saying that Kiba would win this, and she was sure it would be surprising to everyone if Naruto did win.
"Nope." He said.
"Then what?" She really didn't understand her teacher sometimes. He was just so confusing to her.
"Oh, it's nothing really." He said in a light tone. "It's just that as this match goes on, you keep showing me that you know much more about Kiba, who you say is nothing more then an old childhood friend, then you do about Sasuke, who you say you are in love with." He looked down to a now blushing Sakura.
"Kakashi-sensei! Didn't I tell you before to drop it!" Sakura yelled at her Sensei, trying to will her blush off her cheeks. She couldn't believe he was saying stuff like that.
'Just what is Kakashi-sensei saying? I mean of course I know more about Kiba's clan then Sasuke's. I grew up with Kiba and I met a lot of people from his clan, and Sasuke's entire clan was wiped out, so I know just about everything that everyone else does. There's no other reason…right?' Sakura herself wondered for a moment. 'Stupid Kakashi-sensei making me think weird things.' Hoping to take her mind off her thoughts, she went back to watching the battle.
X
Kiba was annoyed now. How dare he call both him and Akamaru weak. He was going to wish that their names hadn't been picked to fight each other. "Come on, Akamaru!" Barking in agreement, Akamaru and Kiba ran at Naruto. This time Kiba was going to make sure that Naruto stayed down. "Take this!" Throwing smoke bombs at Naruto, Kiba had the upper hand at attacking him. He threw punch after punch, knowing Naruto wouldn't be able to see or predict when his next move will be, all the while waiting for Naruto to fall in his trap.
Naruto, knowing he needed to get out of the smoke, ran out as fast as he could. He knew he was a sitting duck just standing in there. But once out, Akamaru jumped at him and tackled him back into the smoke screen to finish him off.
"He fell for it!" Kiba was pleased with his plan. He knew that there was no way Naruto would beat him. The kid may have gotten a little stronger, but he was still a weakling. As the smoke cleared, they all saw Akamaru wagging his tail and an unconscious Naruto lying next to him.
"Yeah! This fight is over." Kiba cheered holding his arms open to Akamaru, who was running towards his master. "Good doggy. Way to go…" Kiba stopped mid-sentence. Something didn't smell right about Akamaru.
He was right. The minute he got close to him, Akamaru jumped up and bite him on the arm. Everyone who knew Kiba and Akamaru were shocked and surprised. They never once had seen Akamaru bite him before. "Akamaru? What are you doing?" Kiba couldn't believe it. He was too shocked to think of any reason why Akamaru would bite him. That's when he got his answer.
"Surprise. Got ya! Hahaha!" Akamaru disappeared in a puff of smoke, and Naruto speared. Still biting Kiba's arm.
"You used a transformation jutsu!" He couldn't believe Naruto actually fooled him. "You little…get off! Let go of me!" Kiba shook Naruto off his arm and glared at him.
Naruto stood up and looked sick to his stomach. "You smell even worse then the dog."
Speaking of his dog, Kiba couldn't find Akamaru. "What ya do with him? Where is he?"
"He's right here." A shadow-clone of Naruto said holding up a whimpering Akamaru.
"How did you…? Ok." Kiba was mad now. Naruto was playing with him and Akamaru, but he wouldn't let that get him down.
"Wasn't that amazing? Amazing." Hinata said looking down at Naruto.
"That was amazing, Naruto!" Sakura cheered down to him.
'Urgh! Not only did he make a fool of me, but now Sakura's cheering for him. Again! I hate this kid almost as much as I do Sasuke.' Kiba was ready to attack Naruto with everything he had but he knew that wouldn't be good. If he did that it could turn out ugly. He clamed himself down and went back to focusing on the match. "What do you know? Gotten a little stronger I see, but not nearly strong enough, cause now I'm gettin' serious."
"Oh? Well that's good, cause I want to seriously knock you out!" Naruto made a fist at Kiba to show him he was ready for him.
Kiba wanted nothing more then to knock Naruto out right now. He just wanted to punch him right in the face and be done with this stupid match. 'There's no point in getting angry at this loser that will only distract me so I just need to calm down.'Taking in a deep breath Kiba calmed himself before reaching into his weapon pouch and took out two pills. One pill he swallowed the other he threw to Akamaru.
"Naruto, if I were you, I would let go of Akamaru." Kiba had a strange look in his eyes. Akamaru was looking weird too, his fur turned blood red and he let of a growl you would only hear from a lion and not a little puppy. Akamaru kicked at the shadow clone and jumped onto Kiba's back.
"Let's go, Akamaru!" Akamaru barked and Kiba used his jutsu.
"Beast Mimicry! Man-Beast Clone!" Two fierce looking Kiba's appeared and Naruto was freaked out by now. The look in the two Kiba's eyes told him that they wanted to defeat him and would everything they can to do so.
"He's go a crazy look in his eyes all of a sudden. Hey wait a second he took something! No fair! That's cheating! He outta be disqualified!" Naruto turned to the proctor complaining like a little kid who didn't get any dessert.
"Food pills. They're just another tool, they're allowed." Hayate calming explained coughing.
Naruto really didn't like this guy. "Aw! You're no help at all!" He pointed and pouted at him. Stupid proctor wasn't helping him at all. "Fine whatever!" He turned back to the two Kibas and was ready to fight them both off.
"Let's finish this." Both went into attack mode. "Now on all four jutsu!" They each aimed their claws for Naruto's head and body. Their speed and strength had Naruto just barely dodging their attacks.
"Naruto!" Sakura cried out when she saw Kiba almost hit Naruto with his last attack. With the way he was now, she wasn't sure if Naruto would be able to beat Kiba, let alone fight him now.
"I will…I will be…Hokage. I will!" Naruto groaned out, he was trying to regain himself from Kiba's last attack. His head was spinning, his body hurt, and he was bleeding from he side of his head. He didn't look to good right now.
Kiba just chuckled at Naruto's weak whines. "And how you gonna do that? By lying flat on your face?" He smirked, he was enjoying this. Naruto may have mocked him in the beginning but now it was Kiba's turn. "I got news for ya, I'm gonna be Hokage." He laughed when he saw Naruto tense up at his words.
'That's going too far, Kiba.'Sakura thought, looking down at her fallen teammate and Kiba. 'A little mocking is ok, but to say you're going to take Naruto's dream is going to far.'She was still confused about her feelings, but for right now, she would cheer for Naruto. She would cheer him on to win this match, and get closer to his dream about being Hokage.
Naruto was struggling to stand up and Sakura wanted to help him. "On your feet, Naruto!" She wanted him to win this battle. She knew this match was important to him, he was fighting for his dream and she didn't want him to give up.
Kiba tried not to growl, he could smell the scent come off of Sakura. She wanted Naruto to win, but Kiba couldn't let that happen. He wouldn't lose to this weakling, even if it make making Sakura unhappy for this one day, he would win.
Naruto stood up again and Kiba used the same attack from before. Just like last time, it got Naruto fighting to keep his balance, but this time he had a trick for Kiba. As the smoke cleared, there were three Kibas now standing in the ring.
"Perfect! Good one, Naruto! Brilliant!" Sakura cheered, she was happy and amazed at what her teammate was doing. He was really starting to show was an excellent shinobi he was. "He's made himself look like Kiba, so now Kiba doesn't know which one to go after. He's got to be careful because he might be attacking Akamaru." Sakura explained to those who were a little slow on the update.
"Ok, so I see you've gotten better at the transformation jutsu," Kiba looked at the two who had the same face and body as his. "But you forgot one little thing, I admit you look just like me and that threw me for a minute, but I still know which one is you." He smiled a confident grin to one of the clones in front of him. "You can't hide from me. Wanna know why?" He sent the clone flying to the ground with his fist. "I can smell ya, kid. There's just no getting past our sense of smell."
'No way.'Sakura groaned looking at the three Kibas. 'I didn't think Kiba's sense of smell would develop this quickly and so strongly. Before he would have to be right next to the person to see which was the fake.' She couldn't believe he got his nose that much stronger in such a short amount of time.
The clone disappeared and in its place was Akamaru!
'Now way! It's impossible!'He didn't understand how Naruto could gave fooled him. He turned around to the other clone. "So it's you, messing with me!" He sent the other clone flying, waiting for Naruto to appear next. Like the last time, Akamaru appeared again.
"Wha…?" Kiba couldn't believe it. He was fooled! Quickly turning around, he saw Naruto running towards him and was kicked off to the side. "Little squirt." He growled, incredibly annoyed right now.
"The smart shinobi is careful how he uses his jutsu. Otherwise it's liable to come back and bite him on the butt. Dummy." He grinned to Kiba, indirectly telling him that Naruto could beat his jutsu and use it against him too.
Kiba growled at Naruto. He hated the blonde so much at this point. 'Arguing with this kid is a waste of energy. I can't play his game. Gotta keep calm. Keep calm.'He bit down on his hand, making it bleed while he tried to relax himself. It wasn't working, Naruto had him to wire up at this point. 'Where is it?'There was only one other way to calm himself. Kiba sniffed the air until he found the one smell that always made his mind and body relax. 'There it is. Sakura's scent, smelling good and better then ever.'He took in a big whiff of it, letting his body stand up when he was sure he could relax a little. Her scent always did that too him, it calmed him down even when he was on the verge of going insane.
Once he felt he was ready to fight again, Kiba began thinking of a plan to use. 'Ok, I still have the advantage. I'm a lot faster then he is, he can't keep up with me,'He pulled out his shuriken, ready to throw them all. 'All I have to do is watch for an opening, slip in from behind, and take him down with my all fours jutsu. That's right. No worries. Just keep my head, there's no way I'll lose this match.'He told himself, wanting to end this battle already. He wanted to be done with all this.
Kiba attacked, making sure Naruto couldn't try and use his new move of his. It didn't what it was, as long as he didn't use it, and then everything would be fine for Kiba. Throwing the shuriken, he had Naruto on this toes trying to dodge them all. He then went in after him, using his speed to his advantage, making sure that Naruto could make any hand signs. Only once did he send Kiba off, but he didn't do any damage to him. Then Kiba went after him and used his claws to send him flying to the ground, adding more to the damage he had already caused him.
"Naruto!" Sakura cried out, worried about her teammate. Her cries were bothering Kiba even more, making him want to attack Naruto even harder when he saw him standing up. "On your feet Naruto!" Sakura called to him again, willing him to stand and fight.
Kiba looked at her for a quick moment. He couldn't really let his mind wander to Sakura but it did. Why she was still cheering for this weakling he had no idea, she should have been cheering for him. He was the one winning this match. Not only that but all the cheering she was doing adding onto his level of annoyance. He didn't like that she was giving so much care to Naruto because he wanted those feelings on himself.
So to work off some stress, Kiba decided to keep going after Naruto until he was back lying on the floor. "Ha! You wanted me to get serious, so I got serious!" Kiba panted out, believing that this fight was finally over and he won. "You get it now? You were just kidding yourself; you never even had a chance." He was confident until he saw that Naruto was struggling to get back up.
It was time to end this. Kiba charged at Naruto, using every bit of power he had left to finish him off. "I've got you now." He was behind Naruto in a flash, ready to attack. He had him right where he wanted him, until Naruto farted right in his face. His hands went directly to his nose, trying to block out the smell that was burning his nose.
"Urgh! Nasty!" Kiba chocked out, trying hard not to throw up. The smell was so bad; he couldn't even pick up on Sakura's scent to make him feel better.
With Kiba at his disadvantage, Naruto used this moment to use his Uzumaki Barrage on him and won the match.
"Yes, Naruto! That's my teammate! Way to go" Sakura cheered, so happy that he had won the match. That he had shown them all that he was strong.
The Chunin Exams continued from there on and the next few battles that took place were some that no one was going to be able to forget. Hinata vs. Neji and Gaara vs. Rock Lee were probably the two battles that would be known as the battles that no one would ever want to experience. The outcomes of each were just as bad as the battle and everyone agreed that they would never wish that on their worst enemy.
The battles soon ended and the third Hokage explained to all those that had won what the exam were for and what was expected of them now that they had won. He said that preliminaries were over and the finals would begin in one month. So everyone needed to train hard and be ready for their next fight. They then drew who they would fight in the finals and were dismissed once it was all over.
Sakura immediately headed for the hospital once everything was finished. She had to check and see if Sasuke was ok. She knew it wasn't fair to her or Kiba but she was really worried about him, and the curse mark that Orochimaru had placed on him. She asked for his room but the lady at the desk said that he wasn't allowed to have any visitors.
"Oh I see." Sakura sighed in defeat. She could only wonder if it was because of the curse mark. Were the teachers worried that Orochimaru would attack him at the hospital? She would have to ask Kakashi-sensei next time she saw him. "What about Rock lee?" Sakura was worried for him too. The way Gaara fought Lee off she was afraid that he was already half dead by the end of the match.
"I'm sorry but he's in no better shape then Sasuke is, so he isn't allowed any visitors either." The women told Sakura. She felt sorry for her but there was nothing she could do. Rules were rules and she couldn't break them for anyone. "Is that all miss?"
"Yes…no wait. What about Kiba Inuzuka?" Sakura hoped he was ok. She knew that Naruto would never do anything that could be fatal but you never know.
"Inuzuka…" Flipping through some papers, the girl at the desk found his file and began to read it. "He's fine and is allowed to have visitors, but he's asleep right now so if want to see him you'll have to come back in an hour." She told her smiling.
"Ok, thank you." Sakura left the hospital with a small smile on her face. At least Kiba was well enough for her to visit; now all she had to do was wait for an hour before she went to see him.
"What I should do now? Naruto probably went off training, Kakashi-sensei is nowhere to be found, and Ino's either with her team or at her family's flower shop." Deciding she should get Kiba a flower when she visited him, Sakura made her way to the Yamanaka flower shop. Poking her head in Sakura saw that no was at the counter.
"I wonder were everyone is?" Sakura wondered to herself looking around at the pretty flowers trying to decide which one she should get for Kiba. She knew it couldn't be a strong scented one or else it would bother his nose. 'Maybe I should bring him something else.' Getting ready to leave the shop a flower caught her eyes and she head over to look at them.
"Oh wow! Hydrangeas!" Sakura smiled down at the beautiful smelling flower. "If I remember correctly Kiba said that he likes these flowers."
"See something you like, Sakura?" Jumping at her name, she turned to see Ino's mom standing behind her with a bouquet of roses in her arms.
"Hellos Mrs. Yamanaka." Sakura stood up and greeted her.
"It's nice to see you again Sakura." She greeted Sakura back and put the bouquet on a table near by. "I see that the Hydrangeas have caught your eye. Are you planning on giving them to someone special?" She smiled sweetly. It was like she almost knew what was going on in Sakura's head.
"Kind of. You see one of my friends is in the hospital and I wanted to give him something to make him feel better." She had to look down at the ground for some reason. Just talking about giving Kiba something was making her shy and her face hot.
Mrs. Yamanaka had to smile at Sakura and how she was acting. From what Ino has told her Sakura isn't the shy little girl anymore but this friend of hers seems to make her turn back into that shy little girl. "I see. Well would you like me to make a bouquet for you?" She asked moving towards the Hydrangeas. "Do you have a particular color that you want to give? You know each color means something different." Sakura didn't think of that. If she gave him the wrong color with the wrong meaning it would be like she was saying that she hated him. She had to think this over carefully.
"Um…I want…no! I mean…well…uh…um…hmm?" She didn't know which one to get. Ino was the one who would tell her what the flower meant. She didn't know the meaning of any of these flowers. "I…um…I don't know which one to get." Sakura said in defeat. She wanted to get Kiba a good flower with a good meaning, not one that might mess up their relationship even more.
Mrs. Yamanaka gave a light laugh at how much Sakura was struggling on the flower. "Why don't you think about it and then come back. I promise you that the Hydrangeas will still be here when you return." Agreeing with her Sakura left the store and headed home to study up on flowers and their meanings.
Fifteen minutes into studying Sakura gave up. She would never understand everything about flowers, Ino's the flower girl and I'm…" She stopped and remembered what Kiba had told her so long ago.
'You're not a flower girl, you're a kunoichi.'
"Yeah that's right. I'm a kunoichi and I don't need to worry about this stuff. I sure that whatever flower I give him Kiba will love either way." Happy with herself Sakura left her house and went back to the flower shop.
"Excuse me? Mrs. Yamanaka?" Sakura stood in the door way with her hands folded behind her back.
"Ah! Sakura, you came back faster then I thought. Have you decided on what you're going to give you friend?" She asked her moving next to the Hydrangeas.
"Yes, I was wondering if you could give me a bouquet of the blue ones." She pointed at the light blue Hydrangeas. The sunlight was hitting on them directly and they gave off an angelic look and feeling.
"A wonderful choice with a wonderful meaning." Mrs. Yamanaka smiled and carefully grabbed a handful of blue Hydrangeas and made a beautiful bouquet out of them. "Here you are my dear." She handed Sakura the bouquet. "Did you know Sakura that blue Hydrangeas stand for happiness and are perfect for saying whatever's in your heart." She told her.
Sakura looked down at the bouquet in her hands and thought that it was the perfect thing to give to Kiba. "Thank you." Sakura left the store with a bright smile on her face. Visiting hours already started for Kiba so she started to jog to the hospital before the smell of something delicious caught her nose. "Smells good." She looked to where the smell was coming from. "Hamburgers? He's probably hunger by now and I'm sure he would like it if I brought him some. I should probably get Akamaru something too." With that decided Sakura headed into the restaurant and ordered one large hamburger with everything on it.
Back at the hospital Kiba had just woken up just a few minutes ago and was already going out of his mind. The doctors said he was find but wanted him to rest some more before they let him start moving again.
"Stupid doctors!" Putting his hands behind his head Kiba glared up at the ceiling almost like he was blaming it for keeping him there.
"I'm really hunger!" He wanted food but none of that disgusting hospital food. It tasted terrible and its smell left his nose burning. "I need some real food in me. Not that sorry excuse of crap that they serve." He said looking down at the sleeping Akamaru, laying down at the end of his bed, he was glad that he wasn't hurt to badly either. Looking back up at the ceiling Kiba just staring at it hoping something good would happen.
He closed his eyes and let his nose sniff out all the smells that were there.
His eyes flew open when he caught one scent. He quickly sat up and sniffed the air to see if his nose was lying to him or not. 'This scent! There's no mistaking it! I would know this scent anywhere! It's…"His thought came to a stop when he heard the door to his hospital room being open. He gulped when the scent became stronger and the figure stepped inside the room.
"Hi Kiba." Sakura walked up to Kiba's bed and smiled down at him.
Kiba suddenly felt like doing a few hundred cartwheels. "Yes! Alright! Sakura came to visit me and by her scent she didn't visit Sasuke or anyone else first! Just me!'He let a happy grin spread out onto his face.
"Hey Sakura. Thanks for coming." He put one hand behind his head and was praying that he didn't say anything stupid that could make her anger with him.
"No problem. Anyway here, these are for you." Sakura handed him the blue Hydrangeas. "I hope that their not to strong for your nose." She added.
Kiba took the flowers from her and let another happy grin come onto his face. "Nope! They're perfect! Thanks Sakura, I really appreciate this." He had a small blush on his face. He couldn't believe how lucky he was, Sakura didn't seem mad at him anymore, she was here visiting him when she could be with one of her teammates or friends, and giving him flowers. Now what would make this perfect is if she brought him some real food.
"Oh that's right!" Sakura suddenly spoke up digging through a bag that Kiba only just noticed. "Here, I thought that you might want this." She handed him the hamburger. It was still warm and fresh and smelt great.
Kiba suddenly felt like crying tears of joy. 'There is a god! And this god wants me to be happy with Sakura by my side!'Kiba took the burger from her hands and greedily ate it savoring its flavor. He doesn't remember ever being this happy then he was now at this moment. Now what would make this moment perfect was for Sakura to suddenly confess that she's been in love with him all this time and not Sasuke.
"I also brought some treats for Akamaru." She told him sitting on the bed and putting the now awake puppy on her lap and fed him the doggy treats that she bought him. Akamaru barked happily and ate them greedily just like Kiba. He wagged his tail at Sakura and licked her face showing his gratitude for the treats and the visit. "Aw! Akamaru! You're even cuter then I remember!" Sakura laughed at the puppy, which was now on his back asking her to rub his belly, she could only laugh again and began to rub Akamaru's belly and was telling him how cute he was.
'Lucky dog!'Kiba thought crossing his arms at he looked at hi dog who held all of Sakura's attention. In between the belly rub Akamaru looked at his master and it almost looked like he winked at Kiba. 'That little sneak! He knows it too!'Kiba didn't like being jealous of his dog, he loved Akamaru, but wanted Sakura's attention on him right now.
Sensing his master's distress, Akamaru jumped away from Sakura and moved over to Kiba to go under the blankets to get some rest, but not before barking to Kiba "She's all yours".
The room got quiet very fast and Kiba was trying to think of something to say. Nothing stupid that would insult her but something that would make her want to stay longer. But what? He couldn't think of anything. He felt like such an idiot!
"Kiba?" Sakura voice snapped his attention back to her. "Yeah? What's up, Sakura?" Kiba could hear Akamaru laughing at him from under the blankets.
"Did you like you burger? I hope that I got one that you liked. If not I don't mind going back out and getting you another one." She told him, a smile never once leaving her face.
"No! I mean…the burger. No it was good, really good. I liked it a lot." He wanted to slap himself. He sounded like such an idiot.
Sakura gave a light chuckle to him. "Good. I'm glad. So how are you doing?" She asked him.
"All right I guess. I didn't think Naruto was so strong. Man your sensei must have put you through some kind of training to get the kid that strong." Kiba said wondering exactly how Kakashi trained them. It still didn't seem possible that Naruto had actually beaten him, but it happened.
"Yeah well, Kakashi-sensei is no push over and neither are our missions." Sakura began to explain everything that happened since day one of her training with her sensei and her teammates.
Time went by for the two but neither noticed. Two hours had already passed and Sakura didn't seem in a hurry to leave yet. In fact by the way things were going it looked like she was going to stay with him for a few more hours, which was fine with Kiba. He wasn't ready to say goodbye to her yet, not when she was here with him giving him attention for once and not Sasuke.
"Man! I can't believe you guys actually went on an A-Ranked mission already. Lucky!" He pretending to be upset and pout. He was a little bit jealous since he only went on one C-ranked mission, but he didn't let it bother him to much. A-Ranked missions were dangerous and he was worried if something might have happened to Sakura while she was there.
Sakura had to laugh at him. "Trust me, it may sound cool but it was anything but. I have to say that that mission is one that I will never forget." Sakura told him remembering all that had happened. She looked at the clock on the wall and saw how much time had passed since she got here. She knew she should leave soon, after all his teammates would probably be visiting soon and she didn't want to bother them. But that didn't stop her from getting upset over it; she was enjoying herself and didn't want to leave. She finally realizing just how much she really did love him and if she left without telling him then she knew she would regret it.
Reading her body langue Kiba was not only able to see that she was upset but was able to smell it on her too, along with the smell of regret too. But he had to wonder what made her suddenly get so upset? Was it something he said? Was she mad at him again! Or maybe…she was upset because she wanted to go and see Sasuke. Was she regretting visiting him instead of seeing Sasuke first?
"Sakura?" He knew he didn't have a right to ask her it but he really wanted to know why she was upset now. "What's wro…"
"Say Kiba…"Sakura cut him off before he could ask her. "Do you remember when we were little kids and Ino would always ask you why a boy would want to hang out with two little girls?" She suddenly couldn't look at him.
Thinking back to his childhood, Kiba did remember Ino asking him that a few times. "Yeah, I remember. Why? What about it?"
"Well, I was just wondering…why did you hang out with us all the time? I'm sure you had other friends who did more stuff that you thought was fun." Sakura would look at him but then look back down. She wanted to run away at this moment but she wouldn't let herself. She was going to get an answer and if it wasn't one that would help then she would tell him her feelings.
"Uh…!" That took by surprise. He didn't think she would ask him that. His face suddenly became hot and was debating if he should tell her the reason why now. It seemed like the perfect time, no one else was there with them, Sakura seemed to be enjoying spending her time with him, and he was positive that the day the Chunin exams started he felt more then friendship coming off from her. He should tell her now before something ruins this moment. "Because I liked hanging out with you guys." Too bad he was too much of a coward to say it.
"Oh, I see." Sakura looked down again before looking back up into his eyes. "Uh…Kiba. You know growing up I always thought of you as a really good friend, but now I…I…" She was scared to say it. She was afraid to say it but she had too. She just had too! Her cheeks were stained red and she was shaking from her nerves but no matter what she was going to say it.
Kiba by now was confused. He was wondering what was wrong with Sakura. He was shaking, her face was red, and the smell of love for him was all over her body.
'Wait! The smell of love! For Me! Don't tell me…is Sakura…is she going to tell me that…that…THAT SHE'S IN LOVE WITH ME!' Kiba gave her a quick whiff without her noticing. He wanted to make sure that what he was smelling was really love and not something else.
'No way! There's no other smell on her except for love! Yes! Sakura's in love with me!'He gave a mental fist pump in the air at the smell. 'Ok, gotta calm down. Can't be too aggressive or I might scare her off. She seems nervous but by her scent she's not gonna leave until she tells me. Once she does, I'll take her in my arms and tell her my feelings for her too.'With that thought Kiba waited for the three little words he's always dreamed of hearing from her. It would only be a matter of time now.
"I…I…" She never knew it was so hard to say just three words. She's never had trouble expressing her feelings for Sasuke so why was she now? "I…I…I…" 'I have to do this! I have too! There's no way I'm gonna walk out of here without saying my feelings!'
"Kiba I…I Lo…"
Knock Knock
"Kiba, it's me and Shino. We're coming in." Kiba's sensei and squad leader of team eight Kurenai Yuhi walked in with Shino beside her. She held a small bouquet in her hands. They walked inside and noticed a beat red Sakura sitting on the bed with a very annoyed looking Kiba. "Oh! I'm sorry. Are we interrupting something?" She asked wondering if they should leave and come back later.
"Uh…"Neither one knew what to say. It would be rude to tell them to leave but both really wanted to continue with what was going on. They let a minute pass before Sakura got up from off the bed. "No, don't worry. I was actually just leaving."
"What!" Kiba's luck suddenly ran out.
Kurenai blinked in confusion, wondering what happened between the two. "Are you sure Sakura? You can stay if you want too, we don't mind." She told her.
"No, it's ok. I need to get home soon." She told her moving towards the door. She turned back around and waved at Kiba. "Bye Kiba. I hope you recover soon." She left the room after that and headed home suddenly feeling very depressed.
As soon as Sakura was out of the room Kurenai and Shino turned to ask Kiba what was that all about, but couldn't because he curled himself up into a fetal position and was sulking. "Kiba? Are you all right?" Shino raised an eyebrow that was hidden behind his shades.
"No, I'm not all right!" Kiba stopped sulking long enough for him to be annoyed with his teammate and sensei. "Why'd you guys have to walk in now! Sakura was just about to tell me that she loved me! I could smell it on her! She almost said it but stopped when you guys walked in!" He went back to sulking in the fetal position again.
Kurenai and Shino looked at each other before staring back at Kiba.
"Shino, do you understand what happened here?" Kurenai asked him, hoping he at least had some idea about what was going on. She was very confused by Kiba's action, having never seen the Inuzuka like this before.
Shino shook his head no, saying he didn't have the answers she wanted. "No, not really. But what I do know is that from now on Kiba is going to be trying harder and harder to be alone with Sakura." Shino said. If you knew him well and had very good hearing you could hear the amusement in his voice.
"This close. I was this close to hearing I Love You from Sakura." Kiba was mumbling to himself. He really hated how things turned out for him in the end.