Ino glared at the back of Kiba's head as he guided her towards the woods behind his house. She couldn't believe him. She was gone two weeks and the first thing he does is go right back to chasing tail. She ripped her eyes from him, folding her arms across her chest, and glaring into the forest.

As soon as he had opened the door and she had gotten her first look at him in weeks, everything had flooded back to her and she felt as though no time had passed between them at all. She almost felt excited, glad that they were able to go back to hanging out. Sure, being with Shikamaru again had been fun and it was almost like they were friends again, but Shikamaru didn't bring with him the same excitement that Kiba brought.

Emiko. The name tore through her chest and she shot another look at Kiba. That had completely ruined the moment. She had been pumped to surprise Kiba by showing up on his doorstep, but now, she just wanted to get right to training so she'd have an excuse to hit him.

"We're here," she heard Kiba call to her over his shoulder. She looked passed him at the makeshift training field. There was a banged up old tree stump covered in cuts and kunai and a few sacks of flour hanging from some trees as mock punching bags. It brought her back to her academy days. Back when she hadn't even given Kiba the time of day. She stole a glance in his direction, trying to imagine him in his old outfit with his shorts and a jacket with the hood up. Back when Akamaru was small enough to ride around on Kiba. Now it was the other way around.

"Great," she said flatly. Akamaru sat by her feet and she scratched behind his ear, causing him to lick her hand in response.

"So, how about you warm up for a bit and then we can get started?"

"Sure."

She turned away from Akamaru and walked towards the punching bags. She tried to ignore the feeling of Kiba's eyes watching her as she strolled up to one of the dangling pouches and began throwing punches at it. It felt good to hit something for once. She hadn't actually done much physical activity in a long time, save for walking around the village when she had to collect groceries. It felt as though every punch released a portion of her stress. All of her built up anger and frustration was slowly escaping her body through her fists, and she was relishing in the feeling.

"Whoa, go easy on it," Kiba's voice came from behind her. Ino had been so caught up in her own imaginary battle with the flour sack that she jumped in surprise and swung a fist at him. Kiba easily fell back, dodging her knuckles by mere inches.

Ino locked eyes with him. He looked bored, apathetic, like he didn't care either way. It annoyed her. It reminded her of her husband. She swung another fist at him. This time, he held a hand up to grab her fist. He gripped her hand in his own and threw a right hook at her. She tore her hand away and leaped backwards, doing a successful back flip onto the tree branch above her. She stared down at her legs in shock. Had she really remained so flexible after so long? It was almost as if her reflexes had never even left her.

She gave him a cocky smirk. "I won't go easy on you."

Kiba disappeared only to reappear beside her, mere inches from her face. She planted her hands on her hips and looked up at him, an evil smile decorated both of their faces.

"You've made that very clear, princess," he breathed. She shivered under his gaze as his hand crept across her cheek, pushing her bangs from her eye. Something told her he wasn't talking about their fight. He leaned in closer to her, and her face began to grow hot. She was practically hypnotized by his eyes, her body becoming more frozen the closer his face got to her own. Just as his lips were about to touch hers, he maneuvered his head and licked her cheek.

She was frozen in shock as he pulled away, a cocky smirk on his face. The wind made the spot where his saliva sat colder than the rest of her face and she gaped at him.

"Tag. You're it," Kiba roared with laughter, turning on his heel and shooting out of the tree and onto another.

Shaking off the surprise, Ino collected her senses and tore after him, kicking off of trees as she went. The wind whistled passed her and she closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of the wind combing through her hair. It had been so long since she had enjoyed the feeling of soaring through the air. She was surprised when she felt the presence of someone gliding beside her, but she relaxed when she realized who it was.

"It feels nice, doesn't it?" His voice was soft.

She grinned and nodded.

"I feel...free again," Ino admitted.

She stopped on one branch and opened her eyes. Kiba had jumped onto one just above her. She looked up at him and he stared back down at her, giving her that same look he had given her so many times before. That look that made her feel as though he was peeking right into her soul.

She swallowed. "What are you thinking, Kiba? When you look at me like that."

There was a long pause before he finally spoke. "I can't tell you. Not yet."

She watched him turn away and drop down from the branch and onto the forest floor below.

A/N: I feel bad. I know my chapters seem to get shorter and shorter. It's just a shit ton easier for me to write smaller chapters. I have to be in a certain mood while I write and if I try to force myself to continue writing when I'm not feeling inspired, everything just turns out shitty. Sorry! There'll be a new chapter up pretty soon, and much more training in the future :) R&R as always. Love hearing from you :) All Time Low is my life as well. I'll be seeing them soon. A few weeks, actually. ADTR is amazing. I don't know anyone who doesn't like them. Even my mom likes them haha i hope all is well with you guys :)