Caged

Chapter 15

Kai's Point of View
It had been a few days since Kiba and Akamaru's birthday. I felt terrible for the way I reacted, but I still didn't know how I felt. My heart would race sometimes around him, and his smile warmed my heart when I least expected it. Hinata and I sat at a table in Yakiniku Q. On the way there, we had passed by Sakura and Ino, our former classmates, and Hinata had invited them out of politeness. I didn't expect them to accept the offer, but both of them did. We sat at the same table, Hinata and I in between Ino and Sakura. It was normal at first, Sakura and Ino arguing over which one of them Sasuke loved, then Shikamaru, Choji and Kiba walked in. My eyes widened and I looked down, hoping he didn't see me. My cheeks involuntarily reddened, and looking up cautiously, I saw that Kiba hadn't seen me, making me sigh in relief. Both Ino and Sakura were looking at me weirdly. Hinata explained for me, stuttering occasionally and looking uncomfortable. The girls immediately grew interested, and I just wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. "How do you feel about him?" Sakura asked, her green eyes staring at me, waiting for an answer.

I sighed,"I...I don't know. Kiba's nice, and I care for him, but I don't know if I like him in that way... He probably hates me anyway, for ruining his and Akamaru's birthday." I explained, my voice soft as my cheeks return to their normal color.

"Well if he really cares for you, I'm sure he'll understand. You should talk to him." Ino suggested. I wasn't sure why they were giving me advice. We'd never really talked before, as I distanced myself from everyone, only really talking to Hinata. Maybe I should talk to him...

Time Skip

Kurenai-Sensei had called us to our usual training grounds to discuss something with us, and the tension between us was terrible. Hinata and Shino stood in between Kiba and I, while both of us tried not to make eye contact. "I'm recommending you all for the Chunin Exams." Kurenai-Sensei told us proudly. All of us looked up at her with our eyes wide, except for Shino who only displayed a bit of shock, but quickly regained his composure. Hinata and I glanced at each other. We both knew that Neji was taking the Chunin Exams this year too, and we were both nervous. Neji was called the Hyuga genius. His skills with the Byakugan were amazing, while Hinata and I both needed improvement. Hinata was gentle and kind,  traits that shouldn't be frowned upon, yet her gentle ways often made her seem weak. I was average. My skills weren't amazing like Neji's, but they weren't terrible. My problem was that even though my skills were decent, my resolve and determination weren't. I constantly ran from my problems to avoid confrontation. I was truly weak.

I bit my lip and shook my head slightly to clear it of the negative thoughts. "Here are the forms." Kurenai-Sensei said as she handed out a piece of paper and gave each of us one. "I do hope you all agree. That's all, you can go now." She smiled warmly at all of us.

"H-Hinata, you can start heading home without me. I'll catch up soon." I told my quiet cousin. She nodded hesitantly and began walking, heading at our usual calm pace. Shino was long gone, and Kurenai-Sensei was walking in the distance. Gathering my confidence, I ran in the direction I had seen Kiba walk off. As I ran faster, I saw him, his back turned to me as he walked calmly with Akamaru resting on his head. "K-Kiba!" I shouted out to gain his attention. He turned and stopped, slight nervousness showing in his eyes. Catching up to him, I was panting slightly, but I was so nervous I didn't feel tired. My heart was racing and my stomach churned.

Kiba stared at me, a mixture of confusion and worry in his eyes. When my breathing returned to normal, I got ready to speak, my cheeks flushing as I realized how ridiculous I must have looked. "Kiba," I started, looking at him nervously, "I-I'm sorry...for being so rude on you and Akamaru's birthday and running away and basically ignoring you. I really am sorry, I was just so confused. I-I don't really think you'll forgive me, and honestly, I don't think you should. I was so rude..." I  looked down slightly, frowning and feeling guilty. "I've thought about it, and I think I feel the same way...  I'm still so confused about my feelings." Looking back up at him, I smiled, "We're young, we have plenty of time to work out our feelings. So, the point of my rambling is that I...return your feelings." I blushed a bright red, and looked at him, waiting for a response.

"You really return my feelings?" Kiba asked, shocked. I nodded, my blush not fading as Kiba smiled and pulled me into a hug. I felt my cheeks get redder and I hoped that I wouldn't faint like Hinata did occasionally. Returning his embrace, I lightly kissed his cheek, my stomach fluttering with nervousness and my heart racing. We stayed like that for a while, embracing each other. And I loved it.

Author's Note:

I know this isn't the best chapter, but I had a little bit of writers block while writing this. I know it's not that long, but I hope it's good. Thanks for reading!