Ways to Blame Yourself - Chapter Two
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Naruto franchise.
My Note: Here is my rewritten and revised Chapter Two which I personally think is much better and less clunky than the original chapters. Remember your reviews on my writing (plot and character reviews are excellent too) help me shape this work.
I would also like to thank Magneat-o for being an excellent Beta Reader as well as the excellent readers who reviewed the first chapter for me.
Friday 16th November, 2012 – 1:20 pm - Konoha High
Kiba let out a weary sigh of exhaustion as he finished running through his club exercises with the other members and exited the locker room. Club activities had run through most of lunch again and all the members were worn out from Kiba's tough training regime. He felt absolutely ready to head down for lunch as he felt his stomach rumbling loudly in anticipation for a good meal. It was hardly unusual for Kiba to grow a large appetite after sparring against Rock Lee for so long as the green clad club member was always challenging him for the position of Karate Club Captain. Kiba knew it would be easier just to forfeit the position or throw a match but he respected that Lee wouldn't want to become Captain like that… also Kiba's own stubborn pride wouldn't allow him to lose on purpose. However, he now simply wanted to go and sate the growing pit in his stomach.
"Man, I hope Hinata's saved me something. She always cooks the best food!" Kiba thought to himself excitedly as he began to salivate at the thought of all the different lunches that the Hyuga heiress could have prepared and packed today. "Doesn't really matter what it is, it'll be better than whatever Sakura brings… girl can't cook right."
"Kiba?" a masculine voice spoke up from behind him. "You in there?"
Wiping the drool from his lip, Kiba turned with a smile to see Kankuro standing behind him. The older teen was wearing the same basic uniform as Kiba - the white shirt and dark grey pants - but with the noticeable addition of a black hooded jumper.
"Hey, Kankuro," Kiba smiled happily. "How long you been standing out here?"
"Just a little while," Kankuro answered just a touch too quickly. "Wondering if you were doing anything for lunch today or are you…?"
"Yeah, I'm off to hang with Sakura, Naruto and the others."
"Sasuke?"
"Yeah… I guess if he's there, too…" Kiba replied with a great lack of enthusiasm. Kankuro smiled at the reply but it slowly vanished as he huffed slightly and began to walk backwards.
"Well, the offer's open anytime you want to join me and the others, Kiba," Kankuro sighed and turned away from the Inuzuka. "You guys are never at the dining hall. Where d'ya go?"
"Nowhere special," Kiba grinned, watching as Kankuro nodded and disappeared around the edge of the school's gym.
With a chuckle, Kiba waited a few seconds to make sure Kankuro wasn't coming back and started to hastily make his way to the bottom of the hill the school sat proudly upon. Once he reached the base, he was standing before an immensely tall wire mesh fence that bordered the back edge of the Konoha High grounds and separated it from the small forest that grew on the other side. After a brief moment of searching across the fences chain links, as it never took him long to find it, Kiba came across the fairly large tear in the wire. He pulled the broken fencing to the side without any worry of catching his uniform on the broken metal stems.
Once he had made it to the other side of the fence and stood tall with the trees, he turned back to the school hill to check that none of the students or teachers had seen him pass through. Kiba turned back to the trees and started to make his way through, following a narrow path created from the numerous footsteps that had crossed this way.
After a few moments of walking, Kiba stood at the opening to a small clearing that consisted of smooth and even ground free from all plant life spare the grass growing on the ground. Standing at the furthest point from Kiba on the opposite side of the clearing was a tree that was unusually large and much thicker than the others in the forest, its increased size causing the natural monster to jut slightly into the clearing.
In front of the tree sat a rather old and worn-out looking couch that had been moved into the forest by none other than Kiba himself after his dog, Akamaru, had begun to tear it to pieces. Kiba's mother decided to have the tattered lounge replaced so Kiba decided that it was best to put it to use. On this couch sat three girls the same age as Kiba: the tough Sakura Haruno, the popular Ino Yamanaka as well as the immensely timid Hinata Hyuga. Sakura sat on the left, holding a conversation with Ino while Hinata sat quietly on the opposite end. Kiba also noticed, with a hungry grin, that the Hyuga girl held an unopened bento box wrapped in fancy cloth.
Allowing his eyes to wander away from the box, Kiba noticed the three boys who sat at the base of the tree, backs leaning against the large trunk. Sai sat furthest to the right and was currently enthralled with drawing in his art book. Sasuke Uchiha, on the other hand, was furthest to the left. He wasn't paying any attention to the others and instead seemed to be reading some sort of heavy book. And last but not least was Naruto Uzumaki, who was sitting dead centre between the two black haired males with a ridiculously happy grin plastered on his face as he spotted Kiba entering the clearing. The warmth of the blonde's grin made Kiba realise just how different both he and Naruto were from Sai and Sasuke.
Kiba couldn't help but return the smile with his usual wolf-like grin.
"Kiba!" Naruto shouted in greeting as he stared brightly at the brawny brunette. The blonde's loud greeting caused the other five members of their group to look up before all except Hinata returned to their earlier actions.
"Hey, Naruto…" Kiba smiled fondly before looking at the others. "And hey, everyone else."
"You know how long it is until we have class?" Naruto questioned, causing Kiba to chuckle under his breath as he watched Sasuke bring the book closer to his face in some sort of attempt to regain concentration.
"Man, lunch only started a while ago… I can't be that late," Kiba trailed off in thought.
"We've got fifteen minutes, Naruto," Sasuke muttered impatiently from behind the pages of his book. "Fifteen."
"Thanks, Sasuke," Naruto smiled at the raven haired student. Kiba could almost see the smug smile that Sasuke no doubt wore behind the pages of his book.
"Yeah… Thanks, Sasuke," Kiba mock agreed with Naruto, his voice tainted with bitterness. "I could've figured it out myself."
"Sometimes I wonder," Ino spoke up from the couch with an entertained smile. Despite his annoyance at Sasuke, Kiba couldn't help but flash a smile at the blonde girl.
However, his smile vanished as he watched Sakura reach to the side of the couch and pull out a small box. She stood and walked to Kiba, smiling as she offered him the bento box.
"I didn't think you'd bring any lunch again so I made you something from home," Sakura smiled at Kiba, failing to notice the pained expression on the Inuzuka's face.
"I did as well Kiba… if you want some…" Hinata offered quietly from the couch, picking up the bento box from her feet and holding it on her lap.
"Hey, thanks, Hinata," Kiba smiled in relief and walked past Sakura, happily accepting Hinata's bento box. "You want some, Naruto?"
"Sure, I'd love-" Naruto attempted to answer but was instead cut off as he caught sight of Sakura's glare.
"Hey, what about my extra lunch?" Sakura asked the pair of boys angrily, raising an eyebrow as both boy's grimaced. "Doesn't anybody want it?"
"I'd hardly think so," Ino snickered from the couch.
"We're really just fine with Hinata's lunch, thanks," Kiba answered quickly, almost tripping over his own words.
"Y-Yeah, I'll just share with Kiba," Naruto continued on. "We share our food all the time."
"But, there are two meals," Sakura stated sceptically. "You don't need to share. Plus, Kiba you just finished activities with the Karate Club. This lunch is filled of all the necessary ingredients for a healthy and rejuvenating meal."
"B-But…" Kiba stuttered, desperately attempting to find some sort of loop hole. "Don't you want some lunch?"
"I've already eaten."
"Ah…" Kiba groaned in defeat. "But then… Sai wouldn't have any!"
All eyes fell upon the artist with the ink black hair. Even Sasuke turned slightly to watch how Sai would respond to the small struggle going on before them. Sai himself looked up from his art book, a rather fake, thin smile forming as he directed his gaze to Sakura.
"No thank you, Sakura," Sai answered, his smile not even faltering. "Your home cooking is unfortunately disgusting."
Kiba should have realised that Sai lacked any true sense of tact to defuse the situation and yet he hardly regretted passing the baton to the socially stunted student.
"What was that, Sai…?" Sakura asked slowly, the anger in her voice noticeably building with every word. Kiba, Naruto and Hinata recoiled in anticipation while Sai's smile remained true. Ino meanwhile had begun to laugh at Sakura's reaction and Sasuke just sighed before looking back at his book.
"You heard him, Sakura," Ino finally managed to say after she suppressed the giggling. The blonde girl took out her phone and started to swipe through the screens.
"You know how blunt Sai can be," Naruto attempted to calm the pinkette.
"Yeah! Your cooking isn't that bad," Kiba barked in agreement. With Kiba's final comment, Sakura seemed to have calmed down before walking over and dropping into the space between Sai and Sasuke. Naruto and Kiba however just dropped to the ground where they were already standing, casually landing on the ground, facing the rest of the group.
The atmosphere in the clearing slowly quietened down. Sai and Sasuke both closed their respective books while Sakura scooted so her back was against the tree. It seemed as if the wind had gotten colder and the students had gotten quieter.
"Kiba…" Ino started to speak up as she tucked away her phone.
"What do you mean my food 'isn't that bad'?" Sakura asked, her head suddenly turning to face Kiba with a glare in her eyes. Kiba would have answered with some hope of not getting the crap kicked out of him yet was cut off as Ino cleared her throat. The brunette turned to the girl and even he could notice she looked slightly… conflicted.
"Kiba…" Ino repeated slower than before. She sounded as nervous as Hinata had in her younger years. "Do you… like… Naruto?"
As the blonde girl managed to ask Kiba the question, all in the group were taken aback at the suddenness. Sasuke, Sai and Hinata all looked at Kiba with curious eyes while Sakura turned to look at Ino in surprise. Naruto and Kiba just sat on the ground, both unmoving as they just watched Ino for a moment, mouths agape.
"Wha-What?" Kiba stammered out in disbelief. Despite being one of the most wild and intimidating students at Konoha High, Kiba had never felt so exposed before. "What do you mean by that? What are you saying?"
"Kiba can't like Naruto," Sai cut in bluntly. "He's already with Kankuro, after all."
"What? No!" Kiba barked angrily at Sai. "Kankuro's like my brother. He's straight. I-I'm straight. Both of us are straight."
"Well, some brothers are closer than others," Sasuke stated nonchalantly. Some would say it was an ironic comment coming from him.
The group went silent for a moment, only breathing could be heard from the individual students. Nobody knew what to say next, or at least everybody refused to say what they were thinking deep down. Slowly Kiba stood up and turned away from the group, looking the way he came.
"Well, Kiba? Is it true?" Ino almost shouted at the Inuzuka who did nothing but stand silently, refusing to turn to meet anyone's gaze. "Do you like Naruto?! Or are you and Kankuro…? Or what? What is your deal, Kiba?!"
"Ino… don't…" Hinata whimpered as she held her knees tightly against her chest.
"Ino," Sakura warned sternly.
"I'm sure it's him and Kankuro," Sai smiled from where he sat, not actually paying Kiba any attention.
"C'mon, Kiba," Sasuke offered up the brawny student a chance to answer the group, or namely… Ino. "Why don't you give us all an answer?"
"A-Answer…? You want my answer…?" Kiba managed to ask back. He attempted to ignore how weak and stupid he sounded but his insides were being torn apart by the numerous feelings and emotions that fought for dominance. Unfortunately for Kiba, two particular emotions shared a habit of winning… they had always made a habit of becoming the main fall backs in cases where he was up against the wall, backed into a corner he didn't understand how to escape.
"Do. You. Like. Naruto?" Ino repeated once again, even slower than before.
"Kiba…" Naruto finally spoke up but he was unaware that the two emotions of Kiba had already risen to the surface. Before anyone could continue or say another word, Kiba was overcome with both Pride and Anger.
"HA!" Kiba barked, with a cruel and angry laugh. "OF COURSE I DON"T LIKE NARUTO!"
Ino, Sakura and Hinata stared at Kiba in shock at the sudden outburst, even Sai looked slightly taken aback and lost the thin smile he had been wearing all this time. Sasuke rose a single eyebrow before he grew a sickening smirk while Naruto sat on the ground, staring at the ground with empty, emotionless eyes.
"HOW COULD I LIKE NARUTO?!"
"Kiba…" Sakura warned sternly, rising from where she sat.
"HOW COULD ANYONE LIKE NARUTO, FOR FUCKS SAKE?!" Kiba continued to shout desperately as he faced the group with a snarl on his lips. He continued to shout as the others watched mostly in shock from the intensity until finally…
"KIBA!" a voice yelled at the brunette moments before he felt a painful slap across his cheek. The surprising force from the strike caused him to take a full step back and yet he quieted down as he looked up at the one who delivered the hit.
All were surprised as Hinata stood in front of Kiba, her offending hand floating motionless from the moment she had slapped Kiba. Less surprised was Kiba when he saw the sorrowful look on the girl's face as her pale, lavender eyes were brimming with tears. Kiba's gaze fell in shame and he stared at the ground, disgusted with himself.
"K-Kiba," Hinata started apologetically, already reverting to her normal self. However, the girl didn't say another word before she ran past Kiba, nobody could get a word in as she already managed to pass through the trees and out of sight.
"Hinata…" Kiba managed to mumble after she left, looking up to see Sakura staring at him. Her hand was stretched out at her side, pointing towards Kiba's direction but not at Kiba himself. Slowly and painfully, Kiba followed the direction she gestured to and of course he found himself looking at Naruto who now stood at his side. The worst part was that Naruto wasn't even crying, not sobbing in the slightest but instead just wore a small, apologetic smile as if he understood what Kiba had just gone through and there was no blame.
"Naruto…" Kiba managed to say, breaking the new silence that had enveloped the students "I am so…"
The Inuzuka boy couldn't even manage to finish his pitiful excuse of an apology before he bolted, running as fast his could through the trees. He followed Hinata's lead and didn't look back. He was honestly scared… it was a new concept to experience for him.
"Kiba, wait!" Naruto shouted as he followed the brunette, not looking back to the others for even a second before he too disappeared into the tree cover.
Sakura, Sai, Sasuke and Ino sat in silence as they allowed the results sink in. Three students ran away and they were just sitting there, not knowing what to say or do. Except, however, for Sasuke, who grew a smug smile and almost leapt to his feet. The Uchiha only hesitated for a second as he bent down to grab his book before he began to walk back towards the school. Before he left the clearing he stopped and turned to the other three.
"Naruto is a loyal mutt, isn't he?" Sasuke chuckled darkly. "I guess some dogs do stay loyal after you kick them."
Sasuke turned away from the group but felt a pressure on his shoulder, pulling him back to face the large tree and the students beneath it. Onyx black eyes met green ones before Sakura's fist lodged itself into the side of his face, square in the cheek.
"Sasuke Uchiha, you are a worthless piece of shit," Sakura hissed at the raven haired student as she pushed straight past him. "You and Ino both need to learn how to stay out of other people's business."
"Sakura…" Ino started to say but Sakura raised a single hand, silencing her.
"I don't want to hear it, Ino… not now, anyway…" Sakura cut her off and left the clearing.
"Well, that did look quite painful," Sai announced casually as he approached Sasuke. Ino hurried past Sai to help Sasuke up but instead found herself being pushed away by the Uchiha.
"Shut it, Sai," Sasuke cursed as he glared coldly at the smile. "You're nothing."
"Says the highly renowned Uchiha member who was just bitch slapped by a Haruno," Sai laughed lightly and casually walked away with Ino ducking to his side.
"Says the orphan," Sasuke shot back spitefully.
"Oh, quite a clever retort," Sai called, easily amused as he and Ino left the scene.
Sasuke knew that nobody in the group knew where they truly stood with each other. Sakura and Kiba couldn't be very happy with Ino who in turn probably wasn't going to feel comfortable around anyone else in the group besides her darling boyfriend, Sai. It was only a matter of time before everything became crumbling apart with Naruto and Kiba at the centre of the destruction.
My Secondary Note: I hope you've enjoyed the revised and rewritten version of this chapter and it would be great if you could review and feel free to pm with any concerns or questions.
Also a poll will be going up for the next story I'll be writing so find that information on my profile.