I stare down at the letter that I hold in my hands in disbelief. I know that I should be happy but somehow dread fills me. I hadn't thought about it at the time, the recruiters that would be at our big game. They were there for the seniors, recruiting for college teams. I never gave much thought to them watching both games, and never in a million years would I have guessed they would be interested in me.

The letter I hold is an invitation to go to a summer soccer program and to work towards going pro once I graduate high school. I am stunned into silence. I have no idea how to react to this. I feel like I want to scream and celebrate but on the other side I don't want to be gone all summer.

"You look like you just saw a ghost." Hana says looking up from her breakfast and raising her eyebrow at me. "Earth to little brother, what the hell do you have?" She says annoyance creeping into her voice.

I toss the letter on the kitchen table and lean back in my seat. "How long has the mail been sitting on the counter?" I ask in a daze still.

Hana scrunches her brow as she picks up the letter. "Uhhh...about a week maybe..." She says trailing off as her eyes start to scan the letter. Her jaw drops as she reads. "This is fantastic news Kiba!" She exclaims looking back up at me with a wide grin. It disappears when she sees that I'm not sharing in her excitement. "Why aren't you happy about this?" she questions waving the letter.

I return her gaze, not sure how to respond. Why exactly am I not thrilled? Soccer is my life, it has been since I was small. I had clung to it for the mere fact that my father got me into it before he had passed. So why did I feel uneasy about leaving for a whole summer? I'd be lying if I said I was completely clueless. I hesitate to go because of Sakura, and even I knew that's why I'm not over flowed with excitement.

When I don't respond to Hana's question she sighs. "Kiba, this is something that you would kill for. You have to go." She says firmly from across the table.

I know that I have to go. I would be a fool not to accept the invitation. I just need to figure out how I am going to break the news to Sakura. Even though Ino, Hinata, and her have been inseparable I know that something has started between us, and I really don't want to leave that behind.

I stand taking the letter and shove it into my pocket. "I have to get going to school." I say curtly leaving the kitchen and Hana before she can say anything more. I don't want to talk to her about my problems, especially when there is a girl involved.

When I exit the house Choji and Shikamaru are waiting for me. Choji smiles brightly at me. "Morning Kiba!" He says cheerfully.

I nod in response before we start our normal trek to school. I can see that Shikamaru is eyeing me from the other side. "What's wrong with you?" He asks dully shoving his hands in his pockets.

I reach into my own pocket, pulling out the letter and handing it to Shikamaru, and his eyes scan the letter as he quickly reads it. "Well that's troublesome." He mutters as he hands the letter back to me.

I grunt and nod shoving the paper back into my pocket. "Tell me about it." I know that Shikamaru is on the same page as I am. He's a genius, even I can see the way that he sits there and evaluates every situation. He knows that I don't want to leave what may have been started with Sakura, and he's right it is going to be troublesome.

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(,(')(') Authors Note❀