"You're dating Neji now...?" Kiba's eyes widen at the words he's just said. Shock was crystal clear on his face as you close your locker and look at him. Forcing a smile on your lips.

"Yeah... he's nice. He's a gentleman. Guys like him don't really exist anymore." You say, narrowing your eyes onto the floor as you begin to walk down the hall of your high school. Quickly behind you, Kiba follows.

Today Hinata wound up with a flu so it was just you and Kiba. At first when you found out that Hinata wasn't coming, you began to get very nervous. Being around Kiba doesn't feel very comfortable anymore since you believe that he's very suspicious of you and Kakashi.

"I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel about that," Kiba says. "I guess I just had the wrong idea...maybe."

"You never actually told me why you dislike him so much." You say as you begin to make your way towards the cafeteria. Your lunch is simply a sandwich that doesn't need warming up, so you can't use that excuse to be with Kakashi. Even though it's best for you to keep a distance from him for now.

Kiba shifts under your words. Talking about Neji really brings him out of his comfort zone. You felt that it was about time to hear the reason why. And you assumed that Hinata didn't really know either, though you should definitely doubt it. Kiba let's out a deep sigh from his throat before speaking words. "In some years back, the girls made a top three attractive guys of the school list. It was supposedly cultural. I personally always found it stupid but that thought didn't stop them. The number one was Sasuke, two Neji, and I was three. These guys were picked by percentages of the school, votes. I was obviously irritated to be on that damn list but something else just made it worse. Girls in the halls would say that the only real competition was Sasuke and Neji and that I was just the other decent guy of the school. Therefore picked as number three since there was no one else. And that's not even what really annoyed me, it was the fact that Neji was always so cocky of himself and would point it out too often. Sasuke didn't care and just ignored everyone but Neji was just an ass."

"So he would always be feeding his fangirls the rumors."

"Pretty much." He says with an eye roll. You nod in understanding. You knew that if you were in the same position as him, you'd also be irritated. You wrap your arm around Kiba's shoulder and grin at him.

"I think you're way hotter than Sasuke. Number one my ass." You say, not noticing the small pink tint on his red marked cheek.

You both arrive at the cafeteria and head on to the long line. Just to accompany Kiba until he receives his tray of food.

"So how are things with the competition? We're so gonna win if you represent us." Kiba says proudly and with a hint of greed while rubbing his hands together. You chuckle at his behavior and shrug lightly and slowly. But your smile fades away at the mention of the competition. You've been far too distracted to practice at all!

"Oh my gosh, I haven't even thought of the competition at all these days! Oh how irresponsable can I be? I can't believe myself. It's in three weeks and I haven't even practiced!" You panic, grabbing the sides of your head in frustration.

"It's a short story. Not a book. You'll be fine, now stop crying because I don't want tears in my pizza. It'll make the bread soggy." Kiba says, giving you a wink. You roll your eyes at him with a small smile, just so small that he wouldn't hopefully notice. "I saw that."

"Of course you did. Aren't you supposed to have the same eyesight as dogs or something?" You ask. "I mean, you practically are one."

"Ha-ha, very funny." He says as he pulls a tray into his hands. After a bit of more steps, he receives his slice of pizza along with some apple sauce and corn on the side. You grimace at the weird combination, even though you personally like each of the foods individually.

"By the way, speaking of dogs, how's Akamaru? Has your sister said anything about him?" You say, remembering the little puppy feeling blue for days. A smile creeps onto Kiba's face slowly at the mention of Akamaru.

"He's doing better now. Soon I'll be able to bring him back to school with me."

"That's great! I'll probably visit him until then." You say as you grab an apple from it's bunch. Kiba couldn't take his eyes off of you after your comment. His eyes kept gleaming at you, having an unusual shine to them that caused a bigger smile to erupt on his face.

Once he realized he was staring, he looked away from you while scratching his cheek before you could notice. He quickly speed walks towards the table that you're planning to sit in takes a seat. You could barely catch up to his speed but eventually reached him and sat across from him.

"So...are you really sure you want to date Neji?" Kiba says shyly, staring at his food as he pokes at the bread of the pizza. You eye at him weirdly, knowing that he loves to eat yet he sits and plays with it.

You also found it weird how he wants to come back to the Neji topic. As you pull out your lunch, you respond to him. "I don't date much, I think this would be good for me." You ignore the lump in your throat as you grunt the words. Not that they're false, but it's just so uncomfortable to say such a thing under the circumstances.

"You don't date much?" He stops playing with his food and you notice how he grits his teeth suddenly. The shyness he had just drained away completely. But you weren't completely convinced that all he was feeling was anger at the moment.

Yet the topic ached your stomach. You have to convince Kiba because you're not ready for an unexpected reaction from him. "I don't..."

There was a pause between you both. As if neither of you really knew what to say. At least silence didn't fill the air. It was the chatter of your schoolmates that did instead. Not that it took away the sudden awkwardness away.

Kiba's jaw drops after a long while before he looks up at you, glaring into your eyes patiently. "Let's go to the roof." He says silently. You bite your tongue down as your heart sinks. A heavy block was now weighing down on your chest that made your spine tingle.

"Alright."

~

"So, what's up?" You try your best for your words stay steady. The nerves caused an earthquake to erupt in you. You knew what was coming. There's no running away from it.

Kiba lands his hand on the grey fence, closing his eyes as the wind hits his face. "Why are you doing this?" He simply asks. Not opening his eyes.

You rub your teeth together as you try your best to read him. But his mixed emotions are all over the place. You can't tell whether he'll be angry or sad or annoyed next. "Doing what?"

"You know exactly what!" He shouts as he reveals anger. Bare and plain anger. You gulp the knot in your throat and look out to the view that he just turned away from.

You didn't answer for a bit of time, letting silence eat up the air between you both. But after a while, you answer him. "What's so wrong with pursuing my feelings?"

"Oh don't act vague. I know what's going on between you both. And you either just went through a bad breakup with him and are trying to move on with Neji or you're using Neji as a coverup," he says. "And what's wrong with it? Really? He's like ten years older than us! He's your freaking teacher! That's what's wrong with it."

"I don't need you telling me what I already know. But it doesn't matter because we love each other." Your voice cracks as the knot in your throat thickens. You move your eyes towards Kiba and look at him, wishing for him to be sympathetic. "He's helped me in ways no one ever has before." Kiba's eyes waver at your words. His foot takes a step back as if he's just been thrown something at his chest.

"Ever?" He asks simply, hurt written all over his face as his eyes wander down to the floor.

"Ever."

After a short pause of silence, Kiba speaks his mind. "How do you know he's not playing with you? You could just be for some fun."

"You really think he's going to sacrifice his job to just play around with me?" Kiba grits his teeth, letting his jaw tightening.

"Why are you so damn blind?"

"Blind to what? He loves me!"

"There are other people around you that love you too! Ones you could actually be with freely!" He shouts before speeding his way towards you. Your eyes widen as he arrives, inches away from your face. Your heart beat quickens at his distance, so you take a step back but he just tries to close it.

"Stop."

"It could be so easy with me. Why do you want to complicate everything so much?"

"Step back."

"No." He says as your eyes widen even larger as he grabs your shoulders. You shut your eyes tightly and grit your teeth as the flash of the terrible man appears in your mind.

"No! Stop it! I didn't do anything, please stop it I beg you!" You scream before Kiba steps back confusedly. Your breathing quickens as tears stream down your face. Your throat aches at how you just raised your voice.

"What...what happened to you?" Kiba asks before you land your back onto the wall. Keeping a distance of feet away from him.

You wipe away at the salty liquid on your cheeks and eyes and clear your throat. You grit your teeth as you, surprisingly, build up a stern face and look into Kiba's eyes. "I love him Kiba. It looks wrong, I know, but it doesn't feel wrong and I really hope you will respect that. I also hope you will respect the fact that I don't want to pursue anything with you. You're my best friend and I want nothing more beyond that. Please, please don't ruin it."

Once again, Kiba's eyes waver at you. His jaw begins to shake before he looks down onto the floor. "I'll keep your secret." He says simply before he leaves the roof. And the last thing you heard from were the steps he was taking down the stairs.

Your knees give away as you collapse onto the floor. You land your hands on your eyes as you begin to cry heavily.

Of course you just lost one of your best friends because he couldn't just be a friend. Could he? And the cold and lonely sensation seeps in to your chest.

What a surprise. Another disastrous day for you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you guys think Kiba's feelings were obvious in the book? I think they were lol. But you're jusssssst too dense like Naruto.

- (AnimeFanficPlus)