Chapter 13

Hinata

After Kiba left, Hinata had no choice but to wrap up his belongings as well. Break was about to be over, and she had to hurry so that she could check up on Akamaru upon Kiba's request while he tried to catch up to Sakura.

She made her way to the kennels where she saw Akamaru sitting outside, head on his paws. She called out to him from the fence.

Akamaru wagged his tail happily, the big dog almost overwhelming her.

She heard a sigh, and turned to see Sasuke Uchiha resting his elbow on the fence, looking at the dogs in affection.

"I miss Shiro," he addressed her when he caught her looking.

"He was a Shiba Inu," he continued when she didn't say anything. "The best boy, very playful, always getting in trouble. Now that I think about it, the name Akamaru would be better suited to him and Shiro to this fella."

Hinata looked at him warily, unsure what to make of this sudden conversation. His not-so-pleasant brush with her fiancé had barely happened half an hour ago, and he was just sitting here, talking to her nonchalantly. She disliked him; he made her feel uncomfortable for some reason even though all the times he had spoken to her had been out of respect. She didn't like the way he looked at and spoke to Neji though. Nor did she like the way he addressed Kiba.

Maybe that could change, she thought. Hinata hated conflict. Maybe she could ask him why he was always so rude to him. But for some reason, he always made her want to snap back at him, which was very unlike her.

"What happened to Shiro?" She asked cautiously. She did not remember seeing Sasuke ever with a dog. He had also - she felt - wrinkled his nose every time he had spotted Kiba.

"I don't know. I never saw him again after my brother slayed our entire clan. Perhaps he ran away," he said. "Perhaps he too died that day."

"I'm sorry," Hinata said, sympathizing.

He sighed. "There was an incident... When Shiro was a pup, he fell in the river by the bridge and was about to drown, and that foolish Naruto who was just a little brat at the time actually jumped in after him without any regard for his own safety. I knew immediately then that I loved the pup too much and... Forget it. You're staring. You're being weirded out."

"No no," she protested lamely for she actually had been staring. "I was just... uhh... You... We never talk. And you're a mean person. You didn't strike me as the type who could love anyone... I mean..." she shook her head. That came out so wrong. "I… didn't know you were a dog person."

He looked her then, maintaining direct eye contact. She flushed, but continued looking at him steadily. Why was he looking at her like that?

"Would you believe me if I called over Inuzuka's mutt - I mean dog - from you?" He quickly changed his definition looking at her shift in expression. Before she could reply, he tore his eyes from her to focus on Akamaru. He snapped his fingers suddenly and whistled to get his attention.

There's no way that'd work, Hinata thought. But the big white dog actually turned away from her to look at the raven haired boy curiously.

Sasuke clicked his tongue, and Akamaru yelped, and walked towards him cautiously. Hinata kept looking, surprised, all the way till Akamaru sniffed his fingers, then nuzzled his head beneath them. Sasuke scratched his head, and Akamaru whined happily.

"Wow," Hinata whispered, unbelieving. So did he just come occasionally to the kennels because he missed his dog? That was the sweetest thing she could've ever imagined, especially coming from someone like Sasuke.

"This dog is actually... well-mannered. Cute even," he said absently.

"I... Better get back," she managed to stammer, but he didn't look over. He continued scratching behind Akamaru's ears with his lone hand and just nodded in acknowledgement.

She wondered about the strange exchange all the way back to her class. She felt her face and ears to find them strangely warm. She stopped by the toilets to wash her hands and splash her face, and ran into Sakura and Ino who were already inside.

Ino

Ino walked in the bathroom to freshen her makeup before her next class. Just as she was reaching in her bag, she heard someone trying to hide a sniffle. Her ears perked up and she turned towards the direction of the stall.

"Sakura?" She called out, concerned.

There was a flush, and Sakura walked out, her eyes swollen.

"Don't rub your eyes so violently like that," Ino stopped her, holding her hand. "What's wrong?"

"It's... nothing. I... No one talks to me anymore. Everyone think I'm this really horrible person for hurting Kiba." She laughed bitterly. "And they don't even know the thing with Kakashi-sensei."

Ino gasped. "Sakura, is Kakashi the reason you're..."

Sakura nodded, eyes filling with tears again. "I didn't even know he was going out with his sister. Not until you told me. And I..."

"Oh… no," Ino said sympathetically, realisation dawning on her. She held her palms. "You broke up with Kiba because you have feelings for the Hokage."

Ino wondered why she had refrained from telling her since the beginning. She genuinely cared for her wellbeing. But then she remembered that Sakura had come looking for her around her house that day and she had been preoccupied with Shikamaru. She had also mentioned in passing later when they had met up the next day that whatever it was that she had to say, she had to think twice now because Ino told everything to Shikamaru. Ino had thought it was a joke and nothing to be taken seriously.

Since Sakura was in a self-destructive spiral anyway, she felt that she no longer cared. Her guilt was eating away her insides and she had to tell someone. She had already told Neji.

"But he'll tell Hinata, who'll tell Kiba!" Ino exclaimed.

She shook her head. "No, he won't. He's been the only one who has actually known since before shit hit the fan. And he hasn't breathed a word to anyone. In fact, he advised me not to go around telling anyone else either, since hurting so many people and then politics and my reputation and all."

Ino felt a pang of guilt and sympathy of her own. She should've paid attention to her friend's conundrum sooner. She had obviously been distressed since well over a month and hadn't shared because she was afraid she'll tell Shikamaru. Which, um. She might still anyway. Sakura knew what she signed up for when she decided to tell her.

"I… I also… confessed to Kakashi-sensei. I thought he liked me back. We… we kissed. But then he… told me he can't do this and to go back to Kiba. But I couldn't do that to him. I told him I needed a break. This was all too much for me."

Ino's eyes and mouth were getting wider with every word she spoke.

"You guys kissed?" She whisper-shouted.

Sakura nodded balefully.

"And… Kiba doesn't know this, obviously." Ino sighed, exasperated.

It was at that moment Hinata walked in. She glanced at them and went to the sinks without uttering a word. Ino gripped her hand supportively as she felt Sakura hold her breath the entire time and the look Hinata shot at them made them both extremely nervous.

"Great. Now even Hinata knows I'm a filthy, vile cheater," Sakura sighed after Hinata walked out. "I want to tell him myself before she does. I want it to come from me instead of anyone else. I want him to hate me and punish me for what I did. I can't be with him."

"Oh, no, Sakura," she shook her head. "I think that's a bad bad idea."

"Why is it a bad bad idea?" Sakura questioned. "It's only a matter of time now. He deserves to know that the girl he was with is a whore. I told him the truth; that I had feelings for someone else, and that's not even the half of it. He actually had to run away from me to avoid seeing me, and he doesn't even know anything."

She sighed. "No, Sakura. First, stop calling yourself that. Secondly, Hinata may not have heard, let's not act rashly. Thirdly, Shika told me that Kakashi had actually sent Kiba away on a mission. Come on, we're late for class."

They exited the toilets together. Neji never minded as long as they reached within fifteen minutes of the start time, which was exactly the reason a lot of the students straggled. They saw a few of them from afar just walking in.

Sakura's ears had perked up. "What?" She cried, shocked.

"Yeah," she said, as always, excited when she was able to deliver a news firsthand. "He sent him to the Valley of Judgment."

"Why there?" Sakura asked. "For herbs? And why alone?"

"He wasn't alone silly, he had Akamaru with him," Ino said. "But don't you think it's so coincidental? He sends him away just when you tell him you need a break."

"But now it makes sense, that when Kiba told Shika to make a note that he was leaving, Hokage assigned him a mission instead to keep him away longer," Ino continued absently, thinking why would Kakashi interfere. Did he think he was helping her? "You have to inform the village before leaving, right? So I guess Kakashi-sensei's mission just coincided, or he moved it up seeing the chance. Because from what I know, Kiba just intended to spend a weekend away, not an entire month."

So Kakashi had interfered, Sakura pondered. He had deliberately kept him away longer for whatever reasons. Why? Who did he think he was?

If he wanted nothing to do with her, why was he so keen on interfering in her life?

Hinata

Sakura and Ino suddenly got quiet when she walked in. She knew they were talking about Kiba - Sakura's eyes were a clear indication as well as their sudden silence - but paid them no heed at the moment. Not wanting to stay longer in the awkwardness, she hurriedly wiped her face and walked out, glancing back at them curiously. She had heard some snippets of a rather strange conversation. Her mind had not processed it though. All she thought of was how these two girls at one point had a rivalry over Uchiha Sasuke, a boy who loved dogs.

She found Neji alone in his classroom depositing his things while he waited for the stream of students to come trickling in anytime soon.

He turned towards her then, and before she could ask, her body reacted strangely. She leaned in and met his lips, catching him completely by surprise. His face was flushed when she moved away, looking at him with the steam in her eyes still present.

"H-Hinata-sama? Are you alright? People are all around us," he whispered intently. She never displayed public affections, and neither did he. She was rather shy, and he liked to keep his affairs private. Not to mention, he wondered himself if it was even allowed in Academy premises.

"I... I don't know. I just felt like it," she admitted, a little breathless. He deliberated for three seconds, then got up, locking the door before reaching for her and displaying her on his desk, uncaring about the consequences of their actions at the moment.

He began caressing her shoulders to her breasts, her sleeves falling to her elbows and exposing her biceps and her cleavage as their lips locked again as the students tried and found the door locked and knocked. There were cheers followed by immediate hooting when someone remarked that they had seen Hinata go in just a few seconds before.

There was a scuffling sound and they broke apart in shock as Hinata looked up and Neji turned around to see Sasuke casually taking a seat at the third and topmost row of the room, smack at the centre. He had teleported inside willy-nilly and was now resting his chin on his palm, elbow on the table.

"Oh, don't mind me. It was time for the class and the queue was getting bothersome so I let myself in. You guys carry on; I'm not even here," he smirked.

"You could've waited patiently outside like everyone else," Hinata snapped, very annoyed as she hurriedly adjusted her top. This boy... He was unbelievable. Just when she was beginning to think he may have a nicer side to his dark personality, that many were just misunderstood about his true nature, he goes to prove that he's just a jerk all over again.

"I didn't know what was the hold-up," he shrugged. "The color on both of your faces is as red as my girl Karin's hair," he further mused. "You should do something about that."

She knew Neji was trying his hardest to restrain himself, not wanting the previous episode to repeat. He turned to open the door of his classroom, muttering silent obscenities.

Hinata kept frowning at Sasuke, and he winked.

She blinked in response, surprise taking over. Did he just wink at her? No, that couldn't be. He wasn't even smiling – or smirking – anymore. It was like he had gotten bored of the matter.

His gaze made her feel like she couldn't hide anything from him and she shivered.

Why did he have to insert himself in her life around every corner lately?

Why did hearing him say Karin's name annoy her even further? Just because he was unsatisfied with his partner away, did he have to start ruining things for her too? It was the second time in a day.

Why was this boy so keen on interfering in her life?