I apologize for the delay. To be honest I haven't felt inspired to write for the past two months or so. The good news is that I've lately been eager to continue on my fan fictions.

Thank you for every favourite, review and follow!

Disclaimer: None of the characters—except for Yuki—are mine.

The Name Sakura Haruno

Chapter 4: A Week Together

They scared him. His onyx eyes were terrifying. Also, he seemed to like the suspense. Kiba didn't like it at all. Instead of torturing him like this with his scary and emotionless stare, he should just say something. Anything.

"You promised her I would go on a date with her?" Ah, the suspension was over. The relief made Kiba sink further down his seat. That, or the scary glare of Sasuke Uchiha.

"Y-yeah, sorta," Kiba mumbled. The mumble was actually more like an ashamed whisper. Sasuke didn't like when people couldn't speak properly.

"Open your mouth when speaking," he ordered.

"Yes, I did…promise her that," Kiba repeated. A sigh escaped the raven's lips. How he knew so many dumb people, he would never know.

"That's not going to happen," he stated. The reply didn't surprise Kiba. However, he had it all planned out.

"I'll do your housework for a week," he said. Sasuke huffed.

"No, that's—"

"A month."

"That's not—"

"Two months?" Kiba asked unsure. His resolve started to falter.

"I don't want you to do my housework for even a day! I'm perfectly capable of cleaning my own apartment. Besides, you would only create a mess."

"Hey, I can clean!"

"I've seen your apartment."

"Crap!" There was no secret Kiba wasn't really the most qualified at being a housemaid. His stupid plan had pretty much gone down the drain. Now he had to find something else to tempt Sasuke with.

"She has really pretty legs," he lured.

"I've seen her; crazy, annoying, fan-girl. Just no."

"Man, com on! I said I'd easily fix the date for her!"

"You must feel pretty stupid now," Sasuke replied. Kiba shot him a glare. However, he had more up his sleeve.

"I'll give you blackmail material about Naruto." At this Sasuke rose an eyebrow. When he reached out his hand, Kiba felt like he had hit jackpot. However, right before Kiba could shake his hand, he retreated it.

"How do I know if you're speaking the truth?" Sasuke asked.

"Didn't you want revenge for him giving up your address and number to the Sasuke freak club?" Kiba smirked. Freak seemed more fitting than fan. Sasuke shook Kiba's hand.

"Deal." And thus, yet another dinner was settled.

The only thing Kiba could do was to stand there and stare. She was jumping up and down, clapping her hands like an excited child. Her pink hair was swaying back and forth.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she squealed as she was about to hug him before remembering who he really was. "You are awesome!" she yelled. Kiba laid his hand over her mouth to quiet her down.

"Yeah, cool. Perhaps time to calm down?" he suggested. Sakura pried his hand of her mouth and laughed cheerily.

"I could kiss you right now!" she exclaimed.

"That…would make me quite uncomfortable." She didn't hear him though, because she was too busy thinking about what clothes to wear on the date. Kiba had to snicker when he saw her looking at herself in the mirror. She held up her hair in many different fashions while rubbing her tummy, wondering about losing a bit of weight.

"Well then. My work is done," Kiba said and turned to leave. Before he got to turn the doorknob, a hand held unto his wrist. He turned questionably.

"Where are you going?" Sakura asked.

"Home…?"

"Of course not. You're having lunch with me!" she said.

"What?"

"You know Sasuke. Therefore, you'll help me so that Saturday will be a success."

"I still don't understand what you're puking."

"You know Sasuke better than me. Therefore, you will tell me all about him," Sakura explained. She had already put on her shoes and jacket before he got to refuse. Since Kiba's mother had refused him of borrowing her car after the disastrous dinner, they walked together to the café they had met at before. Kiba learned that Sakura was quite the talker. She mostly told him about her scary boss, guys she had dated and why the new mall was a failure. He couldn't help feeling he was treated like a female friend. At the café Sakura was more interested in him talking about Sasuke. She wanted to know everything as she put it. Kiba had to tell her all kinds of uninteresting stuff about him, which he didn't really know much about anyway, like his favourite food, favourite movie, favourite music etc. The list went on and on.

"Why are you so interested in that stuff anyway?" he dared to ask. Sakura gave him a look that told him how ridiculous he was.

"Isn't that obvious? I have to match my interests to his!" Her answer sounded so absurd to Kiba's ears.

"OK…? Shouldn't a potential relationship be built on honesty? It doesn't sound like a good idea to lie to him about your interests to get him to like you." Sakura couldn't care less about his moral speech and was more interested in a silly detail.

"You think Sasuke and I have a potential relationship?" She clapped her hands together. "I'm so happy!"

Kiba sighed. He honestly didn't. Sasuke wasn't interested in fan girls, and Sakura was the more than perfect example of one. Sakura continued asking questions about Sasuke. Her interest had changed from his favourite whatever to his exes, which wasn't a lot. However, Sakura got pretty upset after hearing about his earlier two years relationship with a model, which totally wasn't a lie Kiba made up because he was sick of all the questions and her stupid reason for asking them. Suddenly Kiba stood up. Sakura had a puzzled look on her face.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"All this questions about him…aren't these things you should get to know while talking with him?" he more stated than asked. She opened her mouth to answer, but shortly closed it again when she couldn't come up with a good answer.

"Have a good date," he told her. "By the way, I gave you the time and place, right?"

Sakura nodded. "Six o'clock at the fancy restaurant on the east side of the park," she mumbled, still confused at his sudden departure. Had she said something wrong? Kiba nodded to confirm that her information was correct.

"Bye then." He gave her a short wave and left. Sakura felt a little bit lonely after he had exited. She also felt kind of bad for dragging him to the café and bombarding him with questions.

"I have to make it up to him," she said to herself.

The next day Kiba got a call on his way to university. He wasn't exactly thrilled to see that it was Sakura who was calling. If she had more questions now, he would hang up on her right away.

"Yes?" he said in a grumpy voice. He had an early lecture. Who called this early in the morning anyway?

"Wow, you're in a great mood."

"I'm on my way to school. Be quick."

"Look, I just wanted to apologize for dragging you to the café. I know you only promised to arrange the date with Sasuke, but if it helps to lighten your mood, you should know that you've been a great help," she said. Kiba huffed. Even though he wanted to, Kiba couldn't stay annoyed at her after she had said that.

"It's OK. I mean, what wouldn't you do for a friend? After all, we've known each other for five days," Kiba said sarcastically. Sakura laughed.

"Hey, to make up to you, how about bowling tonight?"

"Tonight? Well…"

"I'll pay."

"OK."

They arranged when they were going to meet, and ended the conversation.

It was a long time since Kiba had bowled. In high school, he and his friends had often gone bowling and playing at arcade centres. However, after he actually managed to enter the veterinarian school, he hadn't much time to do nothing but study and meet dangerous pink-haired women…or woman.

There was a chilly wind when he walked from the bus stop to the bowling hall. His mother had still not forgiven him, so driving her car was out of the question. Being broke was a student luxury Tsume had said, teasing him about not being able to buy a car. He could've probably bought a crappy one, but even that would take its toll on his wallet, and it wasn't like his chances with women would grow any bigger with a shabby car. Suddenly he felt a gust of air behind his left ear, and it felt much warmer than the cold wind. Pink hair strands were soon visible before his eyes and a pair of green eyes looked at him.

"Hey, Kiba!" Sakura smiled.

"Do you usually blow at guys' ears?" he asked jokingly. He refrained from telling her that she probably shouldn't because it felt strangely intimate.

"Only the handsome ones," she replied with a teasing smile. Was she flirting? What a girl. She kicked him in the nuts, told him she could kiss him, bombarded him with questions about his guy friend, and flirted with him. There was doubtfully anyone more rollercoaster than her.

"Yeah, I'm such a girl magnet," he mumbled sarcastically.

"That Yuki-girl seemed to be interested in you."

"Well, she's crazy, so she hardly counts," he replied. Sakura laughed. They soon arrived at the bowling place. It wasn't packed with people; however, most of them were high scholars.

"Ah, high school," Kiba sighed in nostalgic thoughts while they put on bowling shoes.

"You miss it?" Sakura asked.

"I miss having an excuse for being stupid," he answered. "My friends and I often spoke against the teachers and played pranks. After school we would bowl and go to an arcade centre, or just hang out somewhere random. It was nice." He smiled at the high school memories. "And you? How was your high school experience?"

"Not filled with games and pranks, I can assure you," she said light-heartedly. "I studied a lot. My dream to be a doctor motivated me everyday to work as hard as I could." Kiba silently admired her for that. Even though he didn't slack too much from school because of his own dream to become a veterinarian, he didn't go for it as whole-heartedly as her. They moved to the bowling lane.

"Which school?" he asked.

"Konoha," she answered.

"Really? You went to the same school as me? Wow. Well, I guess we never went there at the same time, considering you're a grandma."

"No, we didn't, kiddo. When you entered, I was already finished. I distinctly remember rejoicing over the freshmen that had to suffer the same three years I had just completed," she said. Kiba snickered. They looked through the different bowling balls. Kiba noticed Sakura looked at the fairly heavier ones.

"Who was your teacher?" he asked.

"Ibiki Morino," Sakura answered with a shudder. "The most frightful man that's ever lived." Kiba could only gape. He had heard many rumours about him, but had been lucky enough to get Kakashi Hatake as his teacher. Even though he was strict, he was also kind of friendly. At least when he got over the fact that over half the class consisted of morons.

They exchanged stories from high school. Kiba told her about trouble he and Naruto often got into because of both of their mindlessness. Sakura burst out laughing when she thought of how angry the old man Sarutobi had to have been. Their pranks seemed to often revolve around making the principal's life difficult.

The stories of people feeling Ibiki's wrath made Kiba shiver just by imagining it. He had once caught Naruto while Naruto had peeped at the girls changing. The usual sunshine boy hadn't smiled for days.

"I think we're forgetting to bowl," Sakura giggled.

"Yeah…It was fun talking like this. You're actually pretty decent when you put your violent side aside," Kiba dared to say. Sakura didn't care about the slightly offensive comment, because she had a great time herself.

When they started bowling, Kiba was pretty sure he would crush her. An inexperienced girl like herself would probably fail miserably, and he had no plans to be humble about his victory. Turned out Haruno wasn't such a bad player after all, even after using several hours with her head in a book instead of hanging with friends and having fun. Her amounts of strikes made Kiba realise that he would most likely be the loser, and Sakura didn't seem to be very humble about it either.

"Cha! Strike again!" She smirked at Kiba. "What are you going to do, dog boy?"

"Dog boy?" he asked.

"Well, some of your traits are doglike," Sakura stated. "Like your canine teeth." Kiba couldn't help but to self-consciously touch his teeth with his tongue. The laughter that arose from his pink-haired bowling rival made him scrunch his eyebrows, becoming even more insecure.

"Don't worry, it looks good," she assured him. That made him slightly blush, but he tried to cough it away.

After a well-played match on both sides, that Kiba managed to win after all, they wandered in the streets of Konoha for a bit, slowly reaching Sakura's house.

"What were they going to send you?" Kiba suddenly asked.

"Who were going to send me what?" Sakura asked back.

"That was my question," Kiba said with a smile. "The day I called your name when you were at the phone."

"Ah, the day of our fateful meeting," Sakura said like an oracle. She laughed playfully. He glanced at her. Her eyes had been sparkling since yesterday. It seemed like she really liked Sasuke.

"It was just some boxes from my old home," she answered.

"Old home?" Kiba asked.

"Yeah, I lived in Iwa for two years."

"Why Iwa of all places?"

"My mother thought a change of scenario would do me good."

"How come?"

"On account of my rage," she said with a flushed face. Kiba grunted amusedly. Sakura punched him playfully, which still hurt. He stroked his sore arm.

"Don't mock me! I'm better than I was, you know." Kiba's eyes widened. If she was better now than before, how bad did she use to be?

"Oh, don't give me that look!" she said when she noticed the shock in his eyes. They walked in silence for a while. It was nice. Neither of them felt the need to talk all the time, and that without any awkward silences occurring. The street where Sakura lived was nice. None of the houses were big, but it had a nice atmosphere, and the yards were all well tended. They stopped before Sakura's door.

"Thank you for hanging out with me today," Sakura said with a sweet smile.

"Thanks for the invitation," Kiba said back.

"Goodbye," she said, with one hand on the doorknob.

"Bye then. Sleep well." Kiba was about to turn around, but suddenly the small frame of the pink-haired woman hugged him. Before he could react, she had already let go and opened the door. Kiba just stared at the door closing. That was…odd. For a couple of minutes he just stood there, fazed by what had just happened. Then he did the only thing he could do. Go home.

As he closed the door of his apartment, he couldn't help noticing a strange feeling in his chest. His heart was beating rapidly.

It wasn't like they had planned it or anything. Sometimes life just likes to play a game called "coincidences" with you. As he walked into the more and more familiar café, a girly—and also more and more familiar—voice called out after him. How tempting it was for him to not turn around and recognise the woman sitting at the table. Gulping down spit that was barely there because of his dry mouth and anxiety, he turned around and greeted the pink-haired woman.

"What a coincidence!" Sakura said as he sat down in front of her. He agreed with a nervous gesture that was somehow a wave and crossed his legs. She gave him a weird look, but didn't comment on his behaviour.

"You're here to study, huh?" she asked, and nodded at his bag full of books.

"Y-yeah, it's a nice environment for studying." He crossed his legs again. Sakura agreed.

"I'm here to meet Ino actually. Time to rub it in her face that I've got a date she can only dream of," Sakura said with a shrewd smile.

"Is that such a good idea?" Kiba asked with a sceptic look.

"Yeah, sure," was Sakura's simple reply. He shook his head. She was something of her own, that was for sure. He thought about disturbing Sakura's precious eating cake time, and tell her that he should probably go to the library instead. It was hard to say how Ino would react if she saw them like this. Her curiosity when he had called her to get Sakura's number had been of the stubborn give-me-gossip type.

However, speaking of the devil and he arrives. Kiba was suddenly embraced in a hug from behind. Blonde hair strands fell over his shoulder.

"And what are you doing here with my dear friend Cotton Candy, Kiba?" Ino Yamanaka asked. "Perhaps this is a…date?" she suggested.

Sakura snorted "Hah! You will be shocked when you hear who my real date is," she said smugly. Ino gave her a confused look.

"I asked you to come here to tell you that I, Sakura Haruno, have a date with Sasuke Uchiha," Sakura said and flipped her pink hair. The blue eyes of the Yamanaka widened, and she loudly breathed inwards.

"Sakura! How could you?" Ino let go of Kiba and stomped on the ground. He sensed a catfight. He didn't get one though. Instead, he got something that almost flipped him out of his chair.

"How could you say that with Kiba around? And when you're on a date and everything!" Ino stomped on the ground again.

"Wait, what?" Kiba asked in confusion, and spun his head around to look at Ino.

"Ino, what are you talking about?" Sakura asked.

"He called to get your number, and now he's finally on a date with you, but you talk about Sasuke!"

"You called me because you wanted to go on a date with me?" Sakura asked Kiba.

"No, it was about the dinner—" he tried to explain before he was interrupted.

"You went to eat dinner together?" Ino shrieked.

"No, Ino, that was—" Suddenly he wasn't seated in the chair anymore. "Why are you dragging me outside?" He didn't even manage to wave goodbye to Sakura before he was dragged out of the café. While Ino dragged him down the street, she mumbled to herself.

"How could she, that little… And with Sasuke of all… I expected… No, this is bad… Poor Kiba…"

"It's not poor me," Kiba said. Ino stopped and spun around.

"Yes, it is! Doesn't it hurt when she talks about another guy in front of you?"

"No."

"Oh, poor Kiba, you don't have to play tough."

Kiba sighed. "Why do you even think I would be hurt? And about asking for Sakura's number…you got the wrong reason!"

"Naruto told me you were going to ask Sakura out on a date!" she explained.

That damn fly. If you tell someone, at least give them the whole story, Kiba thought to himself.

"Well, that's kind of the truth, however, no, it was not anything romantic. It was a request…"

"Request?" Ino questioned.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, let's end it there."

"If you say A, you have to say B!" she insisted.

"There's no B for you to know!" Kiba stubbornly replied.

Ino huffed. "Fine," she said, "so you don't like her then?"

"No."

"Not even a little bit?"

"No."

"There's not even a single little extra heartbeat when she's near you?"

"…No."

"You hesitated!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Stop it, there's really nothing!" he shouted. "We're just friends." I guess, he added in his mind. If they could really be called friends, was something he wasn't sure of himself.

"Ugh, now my plans are in the drain!" Ino said, dismayed, and sat down on the edge of the sidewalk.

"Plans?" Kiba asked.

"If she got together with you, I could have Sasuke!" she said excitedly. "But now she even has a date with him." She went back to sulking. Women, Kiba thought.

Later that day, Kiba got his second phone call from Sakura. This time she invited him to the movie theatre.

"Why don't you go with Ino?" Kiba asked on the phone.

"Because she doesn't want to talk with me!" That wasn't a big shocker.

"Then find someone else?" he suggested.

"Why?" Sakura asked.

"Because I'm not in the mood for a movie," Kiba replied.

"Then we can go tomorrow," she said. Kiba sighed.

"Who says I'm in the mood tomorrow?"

"I do," Sakura said. "Besides, it'll be fun. There's a great film in the movie theatre right now!"

"A romantic one?" he asked.

"Romantic comedy," Sakura corrected.

"Find a girl," Kiba said.

"Come one!" Sakura whined. She huffed when Kiba didn't answer.

"Too manly to watch romantic movies?" she taunted.

"No, I simply have better taste," he reasoned. He smirked when Sakura slightly growled.

"Don't you have other friends?" Kiba then asked.

"They're all busy."

"What makes you think I'm not? Besides, don't you have a lot to do, too?"

"Not tomorrow at eight o'clock. See you then!" She hung up. Kiba's grip on the phone tightened.

So apparently he was watching a romantic comedy tomorrow night with the girl that made his heart rate increase.

The movie sucked big time. Who actually liked this syrupy mess of a film? Kiba noticed there were a lot of couples watching the movie. A couple of girl friends too. Some couples hadn't watched it at all because their hands and lips had been over each other since the commercials had been on. What a waste of precious money. Well, the money would have been wasted even if they watched it.

It seemed like Sakura liked it though. Her eyes had been glued to the canvas the whole time. He assumed girls were generally more into these kinds of things. Her hand reached for the popcorn on his lap. She was close enough for her smell to hit Kiba's nose. She smelled like a flower. Kiba slightly blushed when he caught himself thinking about her smell.

"Kiba, is something wrong?" Sakura whispered in his ear. Bad timing to get even closer to a guy that's already very aware of your presence. He coughed to suppress the blush.

"No, everything's fine," he murmured. She leaned even closer.

"What?" she asked, not able to hear him above the noise of the film. Kiba shook his head to say it was nothing. Sakura still leaned over a third time.

"Do you understand why that guy that has a crush on the main girl just doesn't confess his feelings? Is it a guy thing?" she asked.

"I don't know. Maybe he's insecure?" Kiba suggested. Sakura gave him an odd look.

"Why? He's hot," she bluntly said. Kiba stifled a chuckle. He noticed Sakura's hand on the armrest, and he got a strange urge to hold it in his own hand. Kiba brushed it off, and figured it was because of all the couples. It set the mood.

He tried to concentrate on the movie. Sakura was right about the guy. He would think about her every second she was in the same room as him, and his heart beat quicker by a mere brush of arms. Kiba suddenly felt something brushing his own arm. He looked next to him. Sakura had just moved to sit better. His heart, though, weirdly began increasing its pace.

At the end of the movie when the insecure guy had finally gotten the girl, Sakura grabbed his hand when they kissed. At first Kiba thought his heart was going to jump out of his chest, but then he realised she was only excited to see the happy ending. Her tears run down her cheeks one after the other. Kiba couldn't help but think it was cute that she got so excited over a movie.

The odd thing was when they left the movie theatre. Sakura's fingers were still entwined with his own, and she seemed to not mind at all. She swung their hands back and forth, and talked enthusiastically about the movie. They walked down the sidewalk towards the bus stop. Suddenly a familiar figure walked on the same sidewalk, but in the opposite direction. The figure stopped at the sight of them.

"Kiba…" the figure said. Kiba and Sakura looked at the person.

"Yuki," Kiba greeted, "hi." Yuki looked at Sakura, and then at their entwined hands.

"You and you girlfriend are together and happy, I see," she said. Kiba looked at Sakura, not really knowing what was OK to say.

"Yes, we are," Sakura replied. "Kiba's the best!" She let go of Kiba's hand, and hugged his side instead. Yuki smiled weakly.

"That's…good." She looked at Kiba.

"It was nice seeing you again. Bye," she slightly waved, and walked past them.

"Yeah, see you…" He stared after, which Sakura thought was a little weird.

"Is everything alright?" Sakura asked. He smiled at her.

"Yeah, everything's good," he answered. They continued walking towards the bus stop, but they were no longer holding hands. Kiba looked down at his hand. Somehow it felt kind of empty. When they stood at the bus stop, it was obvious that Sakura had something she wanted to ask, but she never spoke before the bus arrived.

"Kiba, you're a great guy," Sakura suddenly commented.

"Uh, thanks," he said. He looked away from her to hide his reddened face. They entered the bus. When they sat down, she spoke again.

"Your future girlfriend will be one lucky woman," she said, and gave him a warm smile. Kiba's eyes flickered around the bus. He didn't even know if he should say thank you or not. For the next few stops they just sat there in something that, for Kiba, was an extremely awkward silence. It didn't bug him at all that Sakura's stop wasn't far ahead. The bus was quite empty. After all the clock was probably over ten, and most people were probably at home watching TV or something. Suddenly Sakura leaned her head on Kiba's shoulder. Kiba slightly jumped, but he didn't dare to look at her. He awkwardly coughed.

"Are you asleep?" he asked.

"No," Sakura answered, "just a little tired." Kiba didn't want her stop to come yet. He glanced at her. Her eyes were closed, and she lay completely still against his shoulder. His heart thumped loudly in his ear. This was ridiculous. He barely knew her, and he had set her up on a date with his friend. Still, he couldn't help wanting to stroke her cheek gently. He couldn't help feeling that she should rest on his shoulder. The hot-tempered maniac had grown on her. Kiba didn't mind.

It was time for her to leave the bus. She smiled at him before she rose up.

"Thank you for joining me at the movies," she said. Kiba smiled.

"No problem," he replied. Her eyes flickered a bit. She seemed reluctant to leave.

"Bye," she said, and then she did it again. She hugged him. Before she could retract, Kiba hugged her back. Her flowery smell overpowered his senses, and he was sure that if she hadn't let go of him then, he would've kissed her. She had been so close he could've cupped her cheeks in his hands and kissed her. Sakura left the bus, and waved at him when the bus drove. He had wanted to kiss her. Kiba's hand flew to his mouth. He had almost kissed her.

The next day, the day before Sakura's date, Kiba didn't care to go to vet school. He stared at the white ceiling in his bedroom. It was already noon, but he hadn't bothered getting up from his bed. He had spent four days with her. It felt weird. Kiba had always been a woman repeller. Women didn't see him in a romantic way. The only one that had uttered the words 'let's get together' had been Yuki, and it was only to replace some other guy.

Though Sakura didn't view him like that, she had invited him both to the bowling centre and the movie theatre. She had hugged him twice. It was more than what other women had done. He hit his chest to calm down his heart.

"I don't like her. It's only because she acts different than other women," Kiba assured himself.

Kiba lay in his bed for a while more. When he decided he had thought enough about pointless things, he walked into the kitchen to get something to eat. To his dismay, there was no food to find except for expired milk.

"Ugh, I have to go to the supermarket," he murmured.

The supermarket was only a 10 minutes walk from his apartment, but it was enough for him to consider not eating that day. He felt miserable, and he didn't like that the most likely reason was a girl he had known for only a week. In the supermarket there were a lot of elderly people. Most people his own age or younger attended school in these hours. Even so, his blond friend almost tackled him from behind.

"Kibs, I've missed you!" he said in a smoochy voice, and kissed his cheek.

"Gross. Get away from me!" Kiba yanked his friend, Naruto, away from him, and continued walking towards wherever the milk was. How come he never learned where things were placed in this supermarket? An annoyed sigh escaped his lips.

"Kyaa, you're so cold, Kiba. So handsome!" Naruto batted his lashes, which made Kiba want to puke.

"Take your love somewhere else," he said. Naruto laughed.

"Well, joking aside, why are you walking in here like a lost puppy?" Naruto asked.

"Where's the milk?" Kiba rudely asked, ignoring—though kind of answering—Naruto's question.

"Pfft, not here," Naruto said. "You still don't know your way around here? My, you're just a helpless little child without me. Follow me!" Kiba reluctantly did as he said. His pride said to go the other way, but he really wanted that milk.

"Where's the cereal?" Kiba asked with a carton of milk in his hand. The blond's eyes looked suspiciously at him.

"Please tell me that you have other food at home." The look on Kiba's face told Naruto he didn't.

"Are your plans to live on milk and cereal? What is it, a new diet?"

"I don't want to hear that from you, ramen freak," Kiba spat, a little more annoyed than he intended. Man, he was like a girl on PMS.

"You're acting like a girl on PMS," Naruto commented.

"Am not," he stubbornly refused.

"Yes, your annoying way of talking, the bitchiness… You're PMSing, dude."

"That's mean!" Kiba slightly yelled out. Naruto's look didn't seem to believe him.

"Fine, you win."

Naruto grinned. They continued walking to find cereal. Suddenly a flash of pink walked on the other side of the shelf. Kiba quickly bent down and dragged Naruto with him.

"Kiba, what—?" Kiba shushed him and looked at him with panicked eyes.

"She's here," he said.

"Who?" Naruto asked, confusion evident in his voice.

"Kiba?" a female voice asked. Kiba slowly turned his head. His smile was restrained.

"Sakura, what's up?"

"Uh, I'm currently witnessing two guys sitting on the floor at a supermarket." Kiba abruptly got up, which startled both the obnoxious blond and the gorgeous pinkette.

"How come you're in this part of town?"

"I'm going to visit Ino. I have to shove it in her face that it's me that's going on a date with Sasuke tomorrow." Sakura smiled a cunning smile, which scared Kiba and made Naruto want to pee in his pants.

"She lives nearby?" he asked.

She nodded. "I should probably take off. But thanks a lot."

"Uh, my pleasure…I guess?"

"I mean, thank you for setting me up on the date and for spending time with me this week. At first I wanted to crush your balls, but now I actually think you're really nice."

"…Thanks." As Sakura left, all the two boys could do were to stare, both a bit astonished at what she had just said.

"I've never heard a girl say they've wanted to crush someone's balls," Naruto said.

"She's not just any girl," Kiba said dreamily.

"Kiba, you're really turning into a girl. It's freaking me out." Kiba brushed him off and walked towards the register, hoping to get a last look at her.

"The cereal. It's Sasuke, isn't it?"

"Sasuke is cereal?"

"No!" Naruto grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. "The reason why you come to the supermarket shabby-looking and only have the intent to buy milk and cereal is because you're depressed over Sakura's date with Sasuke."

"Since when did you become an analyst?" Kiba snarkly remarked.

"I've watched a lot of The Mentalist," Naruto shrugged.

"You're hopeless." Kiba turned his back to him and continued to walk.

"At least I'm not hopelessly in love," Naruto mumbled, too low for Kiba to hear.

He poured the milk over the cereal as the six friends from New York were on the TV.

...Oh, sorry. Did I get ya?…

…No, you didn't get me! It's an electric drill! You get me; you kill me!…

"I've come to the realisation Naruto is just like Joey." Kiba snickered. "Except all the women." It then hit him.

"Ok, that's just sad. I'm worse." His thoughts got full of pictures of a certain pinkette. He rested his forehead on his palm and sighed. This was getting crazy. It had been one week. Feelings didn't stir after such a short time period. He took a large breath, but fell out of his stool when his cell phone called. As unfortunate as he was, his plate of cereal fell down with him, soaking his jeans with milk.

"Shit," he murmured. "Shit, this is just perfect." He looked at the caller. Before it managed to ring again, he urgently pressed the green button.

"H-hey." He got up on his feet; his lap still drenched from milk.

"It's me," Sakura said on the other end.

"Yeah, w-what's up?"

"Are you ok? You sound kind of weird."

"I spilled cereal all over myself." Sakura's gentle laugh sounded like an angel to Kiba. There was an awkward silence between them. Sakura coughed.

"I'm actually pretty nervous about tomorrow," she confessed.

"Really? Why?" he asked.

"Because it's Sasuke! Going on a date with him is a dream come true."

Kiba's heart sank. "Yeah…"

"Is everything ok?" she asked, unsure why he was so quiet.

"Everything's great," he tried to convince.

"Why did you call again?" Kiba asked.

"Because I'm nervous…and somehow you calm me down."

His heart rate increased. They continued talking for a bit. Sakura talked about how jealous Ino were, what she was going to wear at the date, that she hoped for a second date, and like that she went on and on.

"Thanks again, Kibs. I'll call you and tell you how the date went. Oh, the food's ready. Talk to you later. Bye!"

"Umm, that nickname isn't really—" She hung up. He stared at his phone. His forehead met with the counter. It wasn't fair of him to feel this way. He had made a promise to set her up on a date with Sasuke and so he had. It was his cowardliness that had put him in this situation in the first place. If only he hadn't been so desperate to escape from Yuki and the 'cute' daughter of his mother's colleague.

Who was he kidding? If he hadn't spoken her name that day, he wouldn't have gotten to know her at all. If he hadn't been such a loser, maybe she would've been attracted to him, too.

"She called me Kibs," he muttered. Well, if it was Sakura, he guessed it didn't really matter.

To be continued.