The Ice Prince

Chapter 3

Kiba's POV

Uploading the story to my Instagram, I take a swig of my beer. After the events of today, the alcohol was most definitely needed. I hadn't bothered with updating the guys fully on what had happened at the bakery. They got the gist. Naruto and Sakura shut down my attempts. I left with my tail practically in between my legs. Did I actually find out what was wrong with Naruto? Absolutely not.

Some would pin it to the enigma of women.

Maybe that's what I needed to do. They were baffling enough.

But, having known Naruto for the last 6 years, it didn't sit right with me. The blonde wore her heart on her sleeve. For her to be having a reaction like this…

I was pried from my thoughts by Shikamaru nudging me. Looking up from my phone, I turn expectantly to him. Nara didn't often instigate conversation, mostly finding it too troublesome. So when he rarely did, you listened.

"Don't beat yourself up over today. Naruto will come around, like she always does. She just needs some time to process. It's a shock to us all. Hopefully we'll get some answers soon enough."

I take another sip of my beer as I listen. The others are too engrossed in recounting a game played during the season. Nodding along, my eyes roam from Nara's face to my beer, swirling it in the glass. As much as it was probably just her needing time, I couldn't settle. Maybe it was because she reminded me so much of my sister. Hana could be headstrong just as much as Naruto and it was often me having to chase away the unpleasant guys who'd made themselves known to my sister. Hana's problems often became my own, despite her being the older sibling. The spark of her temper and thrill of a fight had me intervening more than was necessary. She called me the overbearing, protective brother. I think any sibling could argue their other sibling as being overprotective though.

Naruto's always been a constant on our team, even if that didn't involve her on the ice. …Well, she had made herself known on the ice plenty of times. We'd jokingly saved each video when she had. But she was there after a shit game, slapping us round the heads and not letting us sink too far into our shame. When we won, you heard it first from her. Naruto's entire social media was dedicated to our hockey team; I don't think I'd ever seen her post anything that was just about her.

If anything happened to us, she was the first to hear about it. Lee had been seriously injured in our first year, to the point he may have never walked again, let alone got back on the ice. Our fiery blonde was adamant he'd be back out on the ice. We'd all kind of come to terms with it, heck even Lee had. The guy had been heartbroken. There was no coming back from an injury that severe. Leave it to Naruto to be stubborn though.

The story goes that she apparently stormed into every bar in the city, claiming she was looking for a doctor. Not quite the place to find a doctor but clearly she'd known something we hadn't. Eventually she'd found them, exactly where she'd been looking. This blonde haired woman with hazel eyes, with another formidable temper and rack to boast, had proceeded to get into a heated argument with Naruto in the bar. We hadn't seen the tab they'd wracked up but they'd ended up drinking each other under the table, just for the point of this woman looking at Lee's injuries. Apparently some favour had been pulled but blondie had managed it. Somehow she'd found the best doctor in our city and convinced them to look at Lee's medical files. Then Tsunade Senju had operated and whilst the recovery had been long, she'd got Lee walking and back out on the ice.

It's just the way Naruto is. She doesn't give up on anyone and she's always first in line to help. She'd go to extreme lengths to help anyone, no matter what. Sometimes I wondered just how far that went and sometimes if it was to her own detriment.

"Do you honestly think he just threw the towel in?" I pondered, glancing again at Nara's face. His hazel eyes met mine before looking away again.

Covering a yawn, he half heartedly shrugged.

"Honestly? No clue, Kiba. A lot can happen in three years. Maybe there was something more important that came up than the sport."

I jolted at the remark. Something more important than the sport? I side eyed his beer. Just how many had he drunk?

Before I could argue the point, my phone buzzed in my hand. Glancing down, I spot a message from Sakura.

"Room for one more at the booth or am I too late?"

I was partly shocked she'd actually reached out to me. I'd thought that, after today, she'd definitely have me in the dog house for a little while. It looked like I was still in her good graces, somehow.

"Always" I replied.

Putting my phone on the table, I ruffle my hair as I announce "Sakura's joining us in 10 minutes."

"That's troublesome."

The retort had me grinning, despite what he meant by that.

"Does Ino want to come and join us, seeing as Sakura is?"

I'm assuming Naruto's taking the night off?"

Shika sighs, putting his drink down as he shoves his hands in his pockets. Resting his head back on the booth he says "Just leave her, she's worked her arse off this season running around after us all. We'll see her in the next few days anyway with training starting."

Right, training…that was going to be interesting. I don't think, in history, this has ever been done before. Naruto and Shika must have pulled some serious strings to pull this off. If they managed this, I wonder what they were planning for the duration the teams were with us. Naruto mentioned going undercover of all things. I didn't quite know how that was going to work with her notorious flare for the dramatics when we were playing but she seemed confident. So it was best to leave her to her own devices. As they say, ignorance is bliss.

"You kept awfully quiet about this upcoming training, Shika. How could you not tell us? Even a heads up would've been appreciated."

The change in topic to focus on our upcoming events brought the table's focus to the lazy hockey player. He didn't seem ruffled in the slightest. Slowly blinking, he let out a dramatic groan. If the guy didn't want to be involved in this discussion, he should never have gone along with creating these plans without us in the first place.

"It seemed more effort than it was worth to not agree with Naruto's idea, in truth. She got the idea during the season, when we were facing off against the Iwa team. They were giving us a hard time and their play was so erratic, we hadn't seen them play like that before either. As we all know, Naruto's dad was a former NHL player. He's now gone into coaching but he's obviously picked up a lot along the way, subsequently Naruto has too. It was thanks to her that we could break Iwa's hold on the puck."

The team nodded, following Shika's explanation so far.

"Thanks to his fame as well, Naruto's been able to strike up conversations with the other coaches. Given her gift of the gab and charisma, she gave them a hard bargain that they couldn't decline. We know they want to exploit us all as much as possible to further their own teams and we'll be doing the exact same. But it also gives us the chance to really see how they work."

"I sometimes wonder who really coaches this team, Hatake or Naruto." Neji comments with a wry smirk.

In a debate it would be pretty close. Hatake had actually been coached by Naruto's dad until three years ago, when Hatake took to coaching as well. We never really got to the bottom of why he gave up the NHL. We'd all watched reruns of his games and he'd been pretty on par with Uchiha back in the day. Not that Hatake was old, old. I think everyone was just as baffled. Some joked that he kept turning up to the actual games late and it reached a point that he got turned away. Some say he had a massive falling out with a teammate. Others say it just wasn't his calling.

I was distracted from the conversation when I spotted someone whisk by. Wearing a white mini skirt and powder pink blouse, Sakura gives us a quick wave before heading to the bar. Ah, right on time. Downing my own drink, I mutter that I'm getting a refill before shuffling round the booth and heading over to the pinkette.

Resting my elbows on the bar, I turn to look at Sakura. Her hair's slightly damp, possibly from a quick shower before heading here, and there were definite bags under her eyes. Working at the hospital was no joke and I had the utmost respect for her pulling long shifts like she was and still finding the energy to socialise.

"What'cha drinkin' Sakura? I'll get it."

"Are you trying to get back into my good books, Kibbles?" Sakura lightly teased, nudging my shoulder as she dipped her head towards me. Her eyes twinkled in the light as she mirrored my position.

"Good books? I never realised you had a book in the first place. How often do I end up in the naughty book then?" I wiggle my brows as I wolfish grin spreads across my face.

Rolling her eyes, Sakura cracks a smile as she says "Oh please, let me pop that ego balloon right now. Most of the time you're fine, you know how to talk to women, but things like today were a hiccup in your streak."

"Ohhh, a streak? How far is my streak then?" I joke, "If I rarely go into the bad books, what happens when I do?"

Pretending to flutter my lashes, I ask "Do I have to get my temperature checked, Nurse?"

"You arsehole, you just had to go and make it weird." she muttered, shaking her head in disappointment.

"What can I say? I'm a sucker for a nurse."

Rolling her eyes, Sakura flags the bartender as she remarks "Oh please! Don't try me with that chestnut. We all know what you're a sucker for and it has nothing to do with blue scrubs and very much more about warm, gooey, honey-

"What can I get you guys?"

I leap at the interjection, wanting to stop that thought train in its tracks. We were not here to talk about me and my situation, which I remain adamant isn't a situation. It can't be a situation if I don't make it a situation, right? Right?

"I'll take another," I motion to my glass, handing it over. "What can I get you, pinky?"

"Double rhubarb and ginger gin and tonic please," she rattles off, smiling prettily as she turns to me.

"You goin' hard tonight? Don't you have work tomorrow?" I ask, raising my brows at her order.

"I'm off for the next three days, actually. I pulled some extra shifts to help out a colleague." she answered, wiping underneath her eyes.

The bartender sets off to go and make our order, leaving us alone at the bar once more.

Grinning, Sakura teases "Oh look, no bartender to interrupt us now. I couldn't help but notice you cut our conversation off very quickly just then, Kibbles. You weren't getting flustered, were you?"

"You wish," I retort with a snort. The indifference she has when talking about that situation, which isn't a situation might I add, creates a pang of annoyance. This internal battle had been going on for so long that even I had become exhausted by it. There just didn't seem to be a clear action in the imaginary battle, let alone the real life situation, that was not a situation.

"Come on, Kibbles, how long has it been? 6 years? 5? It's so endearing but my god, the blue balls you must have." Pursing her lips, she continues dryly "The worst part is, it's self-inflicted. Why haven't you made a move already? You chat to me, Naruto, Ino and Tenten with enough ease. Heck, you're flirtatious even. Why can't you do that with her?'

Furrowing my brows, I open my mouth and promptly snap it shut. What? She didn't know what she was talking about. She must've had a really long shift if she'd reached the point of spewing this rubbish.

"Well, thank you for being so concerned about my sex life." I snap, thanking the bartender as he passes over my drink. I chug some of it to try and distract myself from the prickle of irritation starting to intensify at this conversation. I'd been in a good mood up until this point. Why was she trying to start this right now anyway? It wasn't a situation. No, the real situation was Uchiha being back and Naruto acting weird.

At that point, the bartender had come back with her drink. Mumbling to put it on the tab, I turned to fully look at Sakura. I couldn't understand what had possessed her to come up with this topic. Was I really in the dog house? For what?

"Oh, come on Kiba, lighten up. I'm only trying to help you out here. This whole situation-

"My situation, which isn't a situation by the way," I emphasise with a pointed look "is off the table. The only situation that we should be focusing on right now is the one between Naruto and Uchiha."

"What situation?" Sakura asks, "Naruto's fine. Obviously it's a shock to us all that he's left the NHL. So Naruto's reaction is completely understandable in my opinion. She just needs some time, that's all."

"Oh yeah" I huff, sipping my drink, "because she often storms out of meetings over big news like that. She didn't storm out and act like this when Lee had his injury."

"Well no but that's different." Sakura states, shuffling from foot to foot as her brows furrow slightly, a pinched expression appearing.

"How? How exactly is that different? If anything, Lee's situation was a lot worse. The guy could've been bound in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, Sakura."

Her lips parted, her eyes flashing as she argued back "Right, but Naruto didn't exactly stand around either. We both know she went from bar to bar to find Tsunade to help Lee."

"Right, yes she did. But she hasn't exactly gone out and hunted down Uchiha and knocked some sense into him, has she? In that meeting room, it was like she couldn't even stand to listen to the news. She looked like she was going to burst into tears."

Sakura's shoulders slumped at that, twirling the stem of her glass as she mulled over that information. What exactly had they discussed then? Didn't girls usually have girly chats involving all things, like feelings and tampons?

I plunged on.

" I mean, come on, Sakura, we've all seen Naruto the last three years. She's different. She just seems to have her guard up all the time. Whenever Uchiha's even mentioned, she comes up with some excuse to skip the conversation or she distracts us all with some ridiculous idea or thought."

"Right but you know she cares so much about this team. She's the one who cheers the hardest on the side lines, she'll argue until the cows come home to any referee who's being unfair, she'll be the one to pick everyone up after a shit game. She loves all of you like you're family. Sasuke and Naruto's thing they had going on was inevitably going to cause a strain when he left for the NHL. She's still working stuff through, even now"

Wait…what?

Mind blown, I utter ""A thing? You mean they were actually going out? Like officially?"

By the way Sakura's eyes widened and the colour drained from her face, it told me enough. But why the heck had Sakura known and no one else? Did they not trust us or something? Wait..what if the others knew too? Was I the only one who didn't know?

"Why didn't they tell us?" I whisper, staring at her face hoping she'll respond.

The idea that they kept this a secret from us added salt to the injury. Did they think we wouldn't celebrate them being together? I mean, sure, they could be an interesting dynamic at the best of times but..to not tell us. We went through everything together, on the ice and off. What made them want to hide it from us all? We were a family, through and through, weren't we? Heck, we'd all crammed in studying together to make sure we got the grades to continue playing hockey. They threw a goddamn party when I passed my maths test, so I could play hockey with them all.

"Enjoy the drink, Sakura. I'll see you later" I mutter, my mind lost in the thoughts whirling through my mind.

"Kiba, wait-"

Before she can stop me, I push off from the bar and head out. I don't even bother to bid the guys night.

What the actual fuck has just happened?

Naruto's POV

"I-chi-ra-ku, I-chi-ra-ku, how I love you. How I love you. Filling up my tummy, filling up my tummy-"

The tune was catchy and put me in higher spirits than I had been all day, especially as the sun had set and my stomach had made itself known. I was in this frustrating stage where I'd get hungry though but wouldn't know what I actually wanted. So, my go to was ramen. My mouth was watering at the thought, even now. I'd ended up throwing on some leggings and heading out the door with my car keys. I could've easily walked to Ichiraku. It was a lift ride down then a cut across a park to head into town. But I highly doubted anyone wanted to see my snotty face. I'd glanced at myself in the mirror before I'd left and a weak laugh had tumbled past my lips. I'd readjusted my hair into a high ponytail but that was as far as I'd gone in touching up my appearance. The puffy eyes and red nose were so easy to rectify.

My thoughts were cut into by my car speakers blaring a ringtone. Hitting accept, I smiled as I said "Hey Sakura, funny you called, I was going to message you later. Thanks for today, I really appreciate it-"

"Hey! No worries, honestly. Look, I just wanted to check, has Kiba messaged you at all?"

Her voice sounded slightly breathless, like she'd been running.

"No? Why?" furrowing my brows as I focus on driving "I mean, I haven't checked. I'm in the car to go and get Ichiraku at the moment but I can check when I pull up?"

"No, it's ok…I just- he left the bar like 5 minutes ago and he wasn't in the best of moods, that's all."

"What's wrong with dog breath? Is he upset about this morning?" I ask, taken aback for Kiba to be in a bad mood like this. Kiba tended to bounce back from things fairly quickly. It was one quality that had taken years to drill into him though. He used to take things at face value a lot. To the point that I'd had to have a serious conversation with him about the appropriateness of getting into fights every single time he was on the ice when an opponent decided to make a measly comment about one of us girls. It was all for a reaction.

"No, not really, I mean, he's worried about you. You know he doesn't like seeing you upset. He mentioned something about the way you left the meeting room earlier today and it seems to be playing on his mind."

I pull a face, recalling the exact moment Kiba would've been referring to. Damn it. I'd always had to fight my emotions at times like those. But this time… I shake my head. Let's not go there, otherwise it won't be just ramen I pick up on this trip, It would be another tub of ice cream too.

"I'll…speak to him or try and catch him at some point over the next couple days. Give him some time to chill out. We've all been hit pretty hard by…it."

"I do have to say sorry though, Naru…" her voice trailed off, building the nerve to speak again as she took a deep breath.

"He knows…about you and Sasuke."

What?

It's like a trigger went off, causing my body to freeze in complete paralysis as my heart suddenly kicked up a notch, pounding to the point I thought it would escape out of my chest. My eyes stared off into the distance as my hands clutched the steering wheel like that might ground me from what I just heard.

He knows...about you and Sasuke.

For fuck sake. The whole team would know by tomorrow night, that was for certain. Kiba wouldn't do it to be malicious either. He'd probably think he was the only one who didn't know and he'd want to verify that. I could reach out, talk to him. But that would lead to questions and questions requiring answers. Answers I don't think I was ready to give. Definitely not. My only hope was…

"Does he know everything, Sakura?" I choke out, my mouth feeling heavy and my throat tightening. If they did…

"N-No, just that you guys were…y'know…"

Pulling up outside Ichiraku, I pull the handbrake up as I stay seated in the car with my eyes clenched shut. For three long fucking years I'd kept this secret. Three years. Down the drain because Sakura had decided to have a drink and rile Kiba up, leading to them both being riled. I suppose it wasn't going to remain a secret for long, it was amazing it had lasted for as long as it had.

"I need to go."

Before giving the chance for Sakura to respond, I hung up.

The next reaction I had was completely out of my control. I hadn't even realised I'd done it by the time it had happened.

I balled my hands into fists and thumped them repeatedly against my wheel, my mouth letting out noises of frustration as I stomped my feet like a child.

It lasted not even thirty seconds but, by the end, I was clutching the wheel again with my head bent over and gasping heavily as I tried to regain control over my breathing.

I don't even recall when the tears started falling.

I definitely can't tell you whether they were out of anger, or heartbreak all over again.

Author's Note:

Dun, dun dunnnn!

Well, things are getting verrryy intterreessttinngggg, aren't they?

10 points to whoever works out the tune used for Naruto's song haha!

As always, please let me know your thoughts :)

See you in the next one!

Honey-Emily98