Hey guys! Just letting you all know that I will be posting a couple of more chapters tonight :)

Chapter 9: Guilt

"Sweetie it's time to get up, you don't want to be late for school!" Inoichi called out from the other room. "I'm not feeling too well daddy, I think I'll just stay home," she replied "Aw okay darling I'll let you be."

When it was time for homeroom, Kiba noticed immediately that Ino wasn't there. He never meant to yell at her but he wasn't sure what else he could do. 'Kiba, seriously, you don't need to worry about Ino. It's not like she actually ever had feelings for you! Just forget about her, there's nothing to worry about,' he assured himself. He shrugged off the feeling but every now and then, Ino would come across his mind. He didn't realise how much he actually liked the girl. 'Getting over her is going to be harder than I thought' he sighed to himself.

A week later, Ino still hadn't showed up at school, and Kiba, Sakura and the rest were starting to get worried. He started to regret what he said to her. If he had only said it in a less harsh way then maybe she would've understood. "Kiba? Do you know why Ino hasn't been at school all week?" Sakura asked in a concerned tone. "I mean, you two are pretty close so I thought you'd know. "No sorry I have no idea," he replied. 'Aw man I really do hope she's okay. No, Kiba you had to do it for your own good! If you keep on worrying about her, then you won't ever get over her!' he told himself.

The next day Ino decided she had missed enough days and forced herself to go to school. 'Okay Ino. All you need to do is try and avoid Kiba as much as you can then you will be fine!' She told herself, giving herself some confidence. But deep down, it was a huge struggle for her. She couldn't just pretend she never had feelings for the boy. She didn't even know how much she truly liked Kiba until the day he broke her heart. She felt empty without him. Even though they weren't dating, she enjoyed being around him and now everything was different.

When he told Ino that he loved someone else, she felt as if he stabbed her through the heart. She had never suffered so much pain in her life. She knew she had to be strong, but she wasn't sure if she could handle something so unexpected. She knew it was going to be hard to avoid him because for one, they live next door to each other, and two, he was in all of her classes. Still sitting on her bed, she wasn't sure if she could do all this.

She looked to her left and spotted the photo of her and the boy she had left on her bedside table the other week. Picking it up, she stared at the boy in the photo. This intense feeling all of a sudden struck Ino. It was a feeling she had been desperately craving this whole week. It was happiness. She remembered how happy her first crush made her that night years ago. She didn't know why she never tried to make contact with him again. Maybe it was because she never had the courage to tell her dad about him.

She then made an agreement with herself. If she stopped liking Kiba, then she would ask her dad about the boy, and arrange plans to see him again. She knew it was going to take time but Ino agreed to herself and smiled. And no it wasn't a fake smile, it was a true one. It was the first time she felt happy ever since Kiba hurt her. Before she left for school, she placed the photo into a picture frame and left it on her bedside table.

When the bell rang for homeroom, Kiba looked around to see if Ino was around, but there was still no sign of her. He knew he was the reason she had been away this whole time, and he had never felt so guilty. As he sat down he noticed Naruto flirting with Hinata. He never really had anyone to talk to in class. It used to always be Naruto but now he's always talking to Hinata. Resting his head on his desk, he waited for Iruka to call out the roll.

"Hey Ino!" Sakura called out. Kiba immediately looked up and saw Ino by the door. "Hey Sakura!" She waved. She didn't look sad, which he was relieved about, but she didn't look happy either which made him feel guilty again. As she walked towards her desk, she completely avoided eye contact with Kiba.

'Okay Ino, just don't even look at his face and you should be fine' the blue eyed girl told herself.

Kiba wanted to talk to her but he knew if he did then he would never get over her, so he kept his mouth shut. He could tell she didn't want to be around him and Ino could tell he didn't want to be around her either. But deep down, they both really liked one another. He wanted to apologise but he knew she would never forgive him. There was an awkward tension between the two for a while until Iruka broke it off.

"Ino, how come you've been away all week?" Iruka asked the blonde haired girl. "I've been really sick, that's all," Ino replied. Kiba looked down to his feet in fault. He knew damn well she was lying. When the teacher dismissed everyone, Ino was the first to get up and leave the classroom. 'She probably hates me, but I don't blame her,' Kiba thought to himself, feeling horrible.

What did you think about this chapter? This chapter took me a while. I was thinking about introducing a new character but decided not to. Please review and tell me what you think so far!