Chapter 9: Scent and Memories
Kiba raced up the stairs in record time. He wouldn't waste a second of his time that he had with Sakura. He ran to his room and took in a deep whiff of the air. His room is normally filled only with his scent now was a mixture of his and Sakura's combined. A wide grin spread onto his face at this. He would have a very pleasant sleep tonight, filled with dreams of Sakura. Not wanting to waste anymore time, he stripped off all his clothes and jumped into the shower. He grabbed his bottle of shampoo and began to wash his hair and body of the sweat he produced during his run.
'Sakura's scent is all over this place. She was in here too.'He thought to himself smelling everything. It was like he was in heaven. Their two scents together smelt so good to him, he couldn't get enough of it. Although something didn't smell quite right to him.
He turned off the shower once he felt that he was clean enough. Wrapping a towel around his waist, he stepped out of the shower and dried his hair with a nearby towel.
"What the…?" In the process of drying his hair, he caught a whiff of his scent and was surprised that it wasn't what he usually smelled when he was done showering. He turned around and grabbed the shampoo bottle and growled when he saw what it was.
"Stupid Hana, she gave some girlie shampoo." Kiba growled at the bottle. Now he was going to smell like a girl. "Great, now ma will probably make fun of me for smelling like a girl." He sighed and chucked the bottle of Minty Rainforest Mist Shampoo with extra body back into the shower.
He dried himself off and stepped out of his bathroom and back into his room. From there he searched his closet for an outfit that he deemed worthy enough to wear in front of Sakura. No way was he going to wear his regular clothes, this was to important of a night for him to just wear whatever. He had to look nice for Sakura, to show her that if she chose him she wouldn't regret it.
Finally after throwing almost everything he owned out of his closet and onto the floor of his room, he finally found something that he could wear. It was a long sleeved red shirt with black strips running down the sleeves and matching black pants. He looked himself over in the mirror and smiled at what he saw.
"Oh yeah, I look good." He said happy with his appearance. He didn't have his leaf village headband on and let his hair fall free around his head. He had thoughts about combing it but decided against it, whenever he tried to comb his hair it somehow always turned into a bowl shape that resembled Lee's and Guy-Sensei's haircuts.
"Well who cares, my hair looks cool not matter what." He told himself jumping back onto his bed. His head resting on the pillow he was able to smell Sakura on it too. There was only one other time when his room smelled so much like her. It was the first time she visited his house.
/Flashback/
The sun was shinning brightly in the sky over the Leaf Village. Everyone in the village were enjoying the peaceful clear day and going about their daily life. This was a good day for all of them, but for some it was one of the most important days of their life.
"But Kiba…!" A seven year old Sakura cried as she was being pulled along the streets of Konoha.
"No buts, Sakura." A seven year old Kiba said back dragging his pink haired friend/crush down the streets. "You're coming over to my house today so stop trying to escape." He added dragging her some more. Akamaru was on her other side wagging his tail. He was happy that she was coming over to play.
"But why now? I thought today we were supposed to go to the park with Ino to play?" Sakura said trying to break free. She didn't know what caused Kiba to change his mind so suddenly. Yesterday they all agreed to meet at the park so they could play together, but then Kiba showed up at her door and dragged her out of her house, saying that they were going over his house. "Ino won't like this." She mumbled to herself.
Kiba stopped walking and let go of Sakura's arm. "Come on, Sakura. I want you to meet my family! We've been playing around with each other for over a year and to make it official, I have to introduce to my family!" He told her trying to sound serious. "It's the rule!" He cried trying to convince her.
"Really?" Sakura looked at him not really sure what she should say. She had never heard of anything like that. "How come I've never heard of it?" She asked him looking for an answer.
"Well…uh…because you're not an Inuzuka. Yeah, we hear things that regular people can't hear." He told her trying to smile. Actually that wasn't it at all. The only reason why he even heard that as because of a TV show that his sister was watching last night.
/Flashback within a flashback/
Kiba was walking through his house, Akamaru by his side, he walked into his kitchen to get them both a snack. He got them both a snack and proceeded to walk into his living room where his sister sitting on the couch watching a show.
"What ya watching sis?" Kiba asked looking up at his sister.
"Nothing, just waiting for this show to finish so that mine will come on." His sister Hana replied looking at the TV with a bored expression.
'Oh John!'
'Oh Mary! I love you with all my heart!'
'If you really loved me then you wouldn't be ashamed to introduce me to your family! Have we been doing nothing but playing around with each other for a year now? If you really had any sort of feelings for me you would have introduced me by now. And yet you haven't introduced me once!'
"Then I shall. Tomorrow morning I shall bring you to my house and from there you will meet my family.'
'Oh John!'
"Mary.'
The TV blinked before changing to another channel.
"Finally. I didn't know how much more of that I could handle." Hana said happy that her show was finally on.
"Hey sis?" Kiba called his sister and looked up at her with questioning eyes. "How come that girl was making such a big deal about going over that guy's house?"
"What you mean the girl on TV? Well because they've been together for almost a year and she must have thought that the guy didn't care about her because he never introduced her to his family." She said trying to explain things to her brother. "To the girl that's what makes them official."
"So two people become official when the guy introduces the girl to his family?" Kiba asked her.
"Yeah, I guess so." Hana told her brother.
"Ok. Thanks Sis!" Kiba thanked his sister and ran up to his room with Akamaru. Once the door was closed he jumped onto his bed and started planning.
"Ok, Akamaru, I better get things all neat in here." He jumped off his bed and started to clean his room.
Akamaru looked at his master for a second before he started helping him.
"Thanks boy. I need all the help I can get. If I'm gonna bring Sakura over tomorrow to introduce her to mom and Hana, I can't have a messy room."
/End Flashback within the original Flashback/
"Come on, Sakura! I want my mom and sister to meet you!" Kiba took hold of Sakura's hand and led her to his house. He couldn't wait to introduce her to them. Just like his sister said, they would become official…whatever that meant.
"But…Ino?" Sakura tried to remind him about their play date with Ino but it looked like he wasn't listening. She sighed and let him guide her to his house, but she knew that tomorrow she would have to explain to Ino why they didn't show up. Though she already knew that Ino wouldn't be happy after she explained it.
It didn't take them long to reach the Inuzuka compound. Kiba grinned when he showed Sakura his house. His house was one of the biggest in Konoha because they house and train so many nin-dogs.
"So what do you think?" He asked looking at her.
"Wow! It's so big!" Sakura stared up in amazement at the house in front of her. "You live here?"
"Yep. Me and Akamaru!" He said proudly with Akamaru barking to agree with him.
"That's so cool." Sakura gave him a happy smile. She really did like his house and how cool it looked.
Kiba could feel his cheeks heat up. Her smiles always made his face get hot, and butterflies in his tummy. He hated the feeling before but he liked it now and he liked that only Sakura made him feel that way. When he watched her smile it was like a light would form around her and would shine for only him.
"Let's go in!" He said after realizing that he was making a fool of himself just standing there. Kiba lead her into his house and into the living room where his sister and mom and her companion Kuromaru were.
"Mom! Hana! Kuromaru!" Kiba ran into the living, bringing Sakura along with him.
"Kiba? Who's this?" Hana asked getting up from her spot on the couch. Her Chunin vest was still on but it was unzipped. Kiba figured that she just finished training or a mission.
"This is Sakura." He smiled introducing Sakura to his family.
"Uh…hello." Sakura being as shy as she is, hide halfway behind Kiba. "It's nice to meet you." Her hands were on his shoulders and her head was sticking out. The rest of her body was hidden behind Kiba's. There was a light pink blush on her cheeks but it was nothing compared to the one that Kiba had on his face.
He knew how shy she was and had seen her hide behind Ino before, but it was different now. She was hiding behind him now. He wasn't use to Sakura being this close to him but he wouldn't complain. If this made her feel better he would let her hide behind him. Besides, he liked the thought of her relying on him to protect her.
Hana looked at her brother's friend and smiled. "It's nice to meet you Sakura. I'm Kiba's sister, Hana." She held out her hand for Sakura to take it.
"H-Hello." Sakura took Hana's hand but she was still hiding behind Kiba.
"Mother, don't you want to say hello?" Hana turned to look at her mother who was watching Sakura and her son.
"Hello Sakura. I'm Tsume, Kiba's mother." Tsume said from her seat. "This is Kuromaru, my companion." She pointed down to Kuromaru who barked in return to Sakura.
"Hello. Nice to meet you." Sakura greeted them; she didn't want them to think she was rude.
Tsume looked at Sakura and then at her son. "Kiba, you should have told us you were bringing a friend over. I would have made you clean your room." She said with a smirk. She wanted to get to know this girl that was making her son blush. She knew her son and he usually acted around girls. Normally Kiba never wants to be near girls, saying they're weak and stupid, but with this one he was happy that she was close. She could smell it from her son.
"That's alright mom. I cleaned my room last night." He said to his mom. He knew that if it wasn't clean then she would make him clean it until it was spotless.
"You…did?" Tsume and Kuromaru gave him a look that said they didn't believe it.
"It's true." Hana said going back to her seat on the couch. "When I went to wake him up this morning the whole room was clean. For a minute I thought I was in the wrong house." She added with a laugh. Like her mom she was confused at how Kiba was acting. Cleaning up his room was weird too. "You can actually see the floor and everything." She added crossing her legs.
"See. I cleaned it up so Sakura and I could play in it." He said taking hold of Sakura's hand again. "Come on, Sakura. I want to show you everything." He was so excited. He had completed his mission. He had introduced her to his family and now they were official. Though he still didn't know what that meant.
"Ok." Sakura let Kiba pull her up to his room. "Your sister and mom seem nice." She said as they climbed the stairs.
"Yeah, they're ok." Kiba agreed opening his door to his room. "Let's play Ninja!" He announced brining Sakura into his room and jumped onto his bed.
From there the two kids played together until Hana came in to announce that dinner was ready. When she walked in, the two were busy playing ninja. Kiba's pillow was the rouge Ninja and the two of them were the good Ninjas.
Hana couldn't help but laugh at the sight. "If you two don't mind taking a break, dinner is ready." She led the two out of the room and down stairs to the kitchen. "Let's eat."
All four plus the two dogs began to eat their dinner and talked in-between bites.
"Sakura…" Tsume spoke up suddenly. "You may want to call your family and tell them that you'll be spending the night here."
"Huh? Why is that?" Sakura asked looking up at Kiba's mother. Kiba looked at her too. He wondered what made his mother invite Sakura to spend the night. Not that he didn't like the idea. If Sakura spent the night then the two of them could continue to play together for the rest of the night
"Because it's going to start raining pretty bad soon and it would be better for you to just stay over instead of getting sick in the rain." She said picking up her plate and put it away. Hana moved and put everyone else's plate away and brought out some dessert for them all.
"How do you know?" Sakura asked looking out the window in the kitchen. The sky was starting to become dark but it didn't look that bad.
Tsume turned and gave her a smirk. "I can smell it."
"Oh." Sakura looked down at her hands before she jumped off her seat. "Uh…thank you for the offer but I don't want to be a bother. I can still go home now, the sky doesn't look that bad, and I should be able to make it home in time. Thank you for the meal." With that said Sakura started to leave the Inuzuka compound.
"Huh?" Kiba turned his attention away from his dessert and watched Sakura leave his house. "Sakura wait!" He chased after her.
Hana watched them go. "Shouldn't we stop them?"
"They won't go far." Tsume said looking out the window. "Hana, you better call her parents before they send the Anbu out looking for her."
"Sakura." Kiba stopped her just as she opened the door and stood outside his house.
"How come you're going home? You heard my mom. She said you can stay over."
"I know that, but I don't want to be a bother to anyone." She told him. She really didn't. She only met them today and she didn't want it to seem like she was taking advantage of their kindness.
"You're not a bother. My mom wouldn't have offered if you were. Besides, I want you to stay. I…we were having so much fun together." Kiba could feel his cheeks starting to heat up again. He really didn't want Sakura to leave just yet. He was having so much fun with her. "Actually Sakura…I…I…"
BOOM!
Just like that the storm started up. Rain poured down and thunder boomed in the sky. Lightening flared up lighting up the dark sky.
"Life stinks." Kiba muttered as he and Sakura were getting soaked in the pouring rain. He almost told Sakura that he liked her, and even though he wasn't sure what her answer would be and was scared that it would be a rejection, he is upset that he was stopped. He hoped that stuff like this wouldn't happen a lot.
BOOM!
"Ahh!" Thunder exploded in the sky, scaring Sakura. She yelled and held onto Kiba in fright. Her head buried in his chest, arms wrapped around his waist, as she tried to escape from the thunder and lightening.
"Uh…" Kiba, not use to this, brought her back inside his house.
"Glad to see you two are all right." Hana was there to greet them both. "You two have better change out of those wet clothes before you catch a cold." She reached hand out for Sakura to take. "I've already called your parents and let them know that you'll be spending the night. Now come on, you can change in my room." Hana took hold of Sakura's hand and led her up to her room.
Kiba watched his sister take Sakura away and put a hand to his chest. His heart was beating so fast and his face felt very hot. Hotter then it usually does when he's with Sakura. He already knew that he liked Sakura so why was he acting this way? He didn't understand why he felt so different.
"You better hurry and get changed pup." Tsume said to her son. She had her arms crossed and was leaning up against the wall nearby. "If you catch a cold, then you won't be allowed to play with Sakura."
Kiba looked up at his mother and nodded. "Right." He made his way to his room to dry himself off and put on some dry clothes.
"K-Kiba?"
He had just got on his clothes when he looked and saw Sakura standing in his doorway. She had on some of his sister Hana's old pajamas. She didn't have the ribbon Ino gave her in her hair. Instead she was holding it in her hands.
"Sakura." He went over to her and brought her over to sit down on his bed.
"Sorry. I made you get wet." She apologized.
"Hey, don't worry about it. I don't mind, its better then taking a bath." He laughed trying to lighten the mood.
Sakura giggled at that. Kiba always made her laugh no matter what mood she was in. That why she valued her friendship with him so much.
BOOM!
"Ahh!" The thunder sounded again and Sakura held onto Kiba in fear.
"Sakura?" Kiba placed his hand on her head and tried to calm her down.
"I'm scared." She said quietly. Her head still hiding in his shoulder now. "Ino told me this scary story where monsters come out when it thunders."
Kiba looked down at the girl who he cared for. His heart was beating so fast and his face felt really hot. He wasn't sure what was happening to him. He just knew that he liked Sakura, a lot.
"It's ok." He spoke in a soft voice. "Ino only told you that story to scare you. There are no monsters." He said rubbing her head the same way his sister did for him when he was scared of something.
"Really?" Sakura looked up at him. Her eyes were filled with trust, she trusted him completely that he was telling her the truth and not lying to her.
Kiba liked that look. He wanted her to always look at him like that. "Yes. And even if there were, you don't have to worry. Kiba Inuzuka won't let any bad monster get his friends!" He announced trying to sound like a super hero, like the ones on TV.
"Thank you, Kiba." Sakura wrapped her arms around his waist again. This time it wasn't because of fear, she was hugging him for making her feel better.
"N-No Problem." Kiba knew that his heart would explode soon if it kept beating as fast as it was. "We're friends, I won't let anything hurt you Sakura." He promised her. He knew that no matter what the situation was, he would keep that promise. "Now let's go to bed before my mom comes in and starts screaming." He was not joking. His mother really would come in if she heard them up and not sleeping.
The two kids plus Akamaru moved the blankets down and pillows around until they both found a comfy spot.
"Kiba." Sakura called him from her spot on the bed. Because he knew that she was still scared, Kiba let her share his bed. Akamaru was curled up around her side, he was giving her comfort as well.
"Yeah, what is it?" Kiba asked from his spot. He was sleeping right next to Sakura. He wanted to make her feel safe. This way if she was still scared or woke up in the middle of the night she could see that he was there with her.
"Um…will…will you hold my hand?" She didn't look at him but she held out her hand for him.
"Huh? What for?" He turned onto his side to look at her. He wondered if she was still scared of the monsters that Ino told her about. He was gonna have to talk to about that, he didn't like her scaring Sakura.
"Because…Ino said that if the monsters do come, they'll go away if they see I'm holding hands with a friend." Sakura said still not looking at him. "She said that monsters get weak because of good things like friendship and love. So…can you hold my hand while I sleep?" She asked him again. Even though he told her there were no monsters she didn't want to take any chances.
Kiba looked at her and smiled to himself. He reached out and grabbed hold of her hand. "Ok. I'll hold you hand and I won't let go." He promised her.
"You swear?"
"I swear."
"Thank you!" Now that she was sure that no monsters would get her, she could go to sleep now. "Good night, Kiba." She said good night and closed her eyes letting sleep take over.
"Night Sakura." Kiba watched as she fell asleep and listened to her breathing. He looked up at their hands and moved closer to her. Suddenly he felt like he needed to be close to her. He caught a whiff of her scent and smiled. He didn't know tat smelt so nice.
/End Flashback/
Kiba thought over the memory and rolled onto his back to stare up at the ceiling. That was the first time he ever let a girl come over his house. He liked that Sakura had stayed the night with him, even if he didn't get a chance to say goodbye to her the next morning. Apparently he was in such a deep sleep that he didn't hear his sister trying to wake him up so say goodbye to Sakura. He had woken up not five minutes after she left and he threw a tantrum at his sister for not trying harder to wake him up.
"I'm still amazed at how much of a deep sleep I was in. Sakura's scent calmed me so much that you would think I was in a coma." He mused to himself thinking everything over. "Well there's no point in just staying here. She's downstairs in person and waiting for me." He told himself jumping off his bed and running out of his room.
He ran down the stairs and smiled at the sight of Sakura, his mother, and sister all sitting at the table with Akamaru and Kuromaru lying under the table. The image was one he liked seeing, and one he hoped to seeing more often.
"Well look who finally left his room." Tsume commented when she saw her son. "Took you long enough." She added setting down the plates of food for her family and guest.
"Seriously, I was about to send Akamaru up there to check and see if you fell asleep in the bath again." Hana added in taking a sip of her drink.
Sakura giggled at what Hana. "He's fallen asleep in the bath?" She asked wanting more details.
"Oh yeah, you would think he would want to get out as fast as he could, but once in it's almost impossible to get him out. This little doggy just loves sitting in the bath and cleaning himself." Hana and Sakura laughed at the red face Kiba making his way over to them.
"Hana!" Kiba cried sitting next to Sakura. "Don't tell people things like that!"
"Why not?" Tsume took her own seat next to her daughter. "I tell everyone all the time. Since it was so hard to get you to take one when you were little, it's a miracle at how long you take them now."
Sakura hand to place a hand over her mouth to stop herself from bursting out laughing.
"It's not funny!" Kiba cried again praying that his sister and mother would stop. How was he supposed to show Sakura how cool he was if they keep telling embarrassing stories? Next thing you know they'll take out his naked baby pictures.
"Oh come on, Kiba." Sakura tried to calm him down. "You have to admit that it is a little funny." She said pulling some hair out of her eyes. She didn't have her headband on so her hair was falling free down her face. She was smiling at him and the light that he would always see when she smiled appeared around her.
Kiba had the sudden urge to run his fingers through her pink locks. He liked how soft they always looked, even after the second part of the Chunin exams, Sakura's hair to him looked good. Especially after she cut it too.
"By the way Sakura, do you normally use Minty Rainforest Mist Shampoo?" Hana asked her. "It smells so natural on you that it couldn't have been the first time you've used it."
Sakura nodded her head. "With extra body. It helps when I have to train for long hours with no break. My hair won't as gross to others and it smells nice too."
"I know what you mean. I use the same type, I can't have people coming into the vet and thinking I'm incapable because I bad looking hair." Hana replied smiling. "And you're right about the smell. It's one of the few types of shampoos that aren't to strong for ours noses." She added on.
'Looks like Sakura really likes that type of shampoo? I am so using that stuff from now on. If Sakura likes it then I can like it too!'Kiba thought taking a bite out of his dinner. Who knows, maybe wearing her favorite shampoo would work to his advantage.
"But it's not that easy to come by, I have to practically hunt it down when I go shopping." Hana said finishing up her own share of dinner.
"I know what you mean. Before I could never find it, but Shikamaru helped me find the spot where it always is." Sakura said not knowing she just upset Kiba.
'Shikamaru? What the hell is doing helping Sakura finding shampoo? I should be the one helping her track it down. I'm the one with the nose! You would think it would be too troublesome for him, unless…Shikamaru likes Sakura too!' Kiba let out a low growl at the thought. He had never once smelt any sort of affection coming off the shadow user for Sakura, but that didn't mean he wasn't hiding it. Also Kiba didn't usually hang out with Shikamaru so he could never be sure if he did or didn't have any sort of feelings for Sakura. 'Well even if he did, it wouldn't matter. No way I'm gonna let some lazy bum try and win over Sakura.'He told himself thinking of a plan that would let him know if Shikamaru did indeed like Sakura, and if he did, what he would to convince him that Sakura was his.
Tsume and Kuromaru were able to sense Kiba's anger before anyone could. They knew the cause of it too. What Sakura said about Shikamaru helping her find something she liked and used.
"Tell me Sakura, are you and Shikamaru dating? Is that why he helped you find your shampoo?" Tsume asked and Kuromaru moved over to Kiba. He growled up at him, telling him to stop growling and calm down.
"No." Sakura shook her head. "Shikamaru and I aren't dating, we're just friends. The only reason he helped me was because Ino was annoying him a lot one day and I gave him advice on how to calm her down. In return he helped me find my shampoo." She told them the truth about Shikamaru and her shampoo.
Kiba let out a sigh of relief. 'Good, Shikamaru doesn't like Sakura. He just wanted to know how to shut Ino up. Can't say I blame him, that girl is so loud sometimes.'He thought crossing his arms.
"Well I better check on your clothes now, Sakura. They should be done by now." Hana got up from her seat and headed off to check on Sakura's clothes.
"I better get going too. Gotta train a few new pups." Tsume and Kuromaru left soon after that, leaving Kiba and Sakura alone together.
"So…" Kiba rubbed the back of his head trying to think of something to say. He finally had some alone time with Sakura, and he couldn't think of anything to say.
"So…" Sakura was the same way as him. She knew that she had to talk to him about what had happened at the hospital but she didn't know how to start it.
"Arf. Arf." Kiba looked down to see Akamaru motioning for them to go into the back yard.
"You wanna go in backyard? We have one of those garden hanging chairs, we can look up at the sky and talk." He offered silently thanking Akamaru for helping him.
Sakura liked the idea and smiled. "Yeah, that sounds nice."
"Cool. Let's go." Kiba stood up from his chair and waited for Sakura to get up before he led her to his backyard and sat down on the garden hanging chair, Sakura sitting down next to him.
They sat in silence before Sakura broke it.
"Kiba?"
"Yeah, Sakura?"
"We need to talk."