Dark •Sequel to Bright!•

Barely Any Changes

-Akari, POV-

I was awake way before Akamaru and Kiba, which would be a shock to me normally but past two nights he wasn't sleeping much due to wanting to protect me. So much for my protective guard, he was snoozing away. I decided to take this time to walk away and walk towards the small creek that was not far away from where we set up camp at all. This was the only way I was going to be able to wash the dirt off of me without having to constantly tell Kiba to look the other way.

Being back with Kiba was like old times, but we still felt a bit of tension. Kiba wanted to know what happened to make me separate away and try coming back from the village, but I wasn't ready to talk about it yet. I am not sure if I would ever be able to tell anyone. Other than the interrogation team, and Tsunade. Kiba pried though, he wanted to know why I was suddenly so scared of the boy that I left the village for.

Except I wasn't sure how to tell him that Sasuke wasn't the boy I left the village for anymore.

I pushed the thoughts to the back of my head as I undressed and sat down in the cold water. I pulled my hair out of its pig tails and dipped my head back. My hair had grown out drastically over the past few years, I would be lying if I said I was happy with it. Having long hair was aesthetically pleasing sure, but trying to train with it being this long was a pain in the ass. If I was brave enough I probably would just chop it all off on my own, but the memory of how choppy Sakura's hair was after the chūnin exams incident.

"Holy f- AKARI WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" I felt my entire face go red at the sound of Kiba from behind me. I couldn't bring my self to turn around, knowing that he had already seen my bare back.

"I AM RINSING OFF, GO AWAY YOU PERVERT!" I screamed sinking down as far into the water as I could go.

"Well, I can confirm that you grew into looking like Naruto's sexy jutsu!" Kiba yelled, trying to make the situation better, but all it did was make my face grow more red. I snapped my head around and narrowed my eyes at him, judging by how focused everything became I knew they were red. Kiba threw his hands up in defense and walked away quickly.

Before he turned though I couldn't help but notice the bit of dried blood underneath his nostril.

Stupid pervert.

———

We decided that it would be better if we saved our energy and just walked leisurely back to the village. Kiba knew that the village's interrogation team was going to take me into custody as soon as I stepped foot into the village. So, it was understandable that I wasn't in a rush to get back to my home. It was also understandable that Kiba and I haven't made eye contact since this morning. We were also walking a good ten feet apart. He was in front of me of course, he had seen enough of my back today.

Watching him though, I've noticed that he really has matured a bit. The leather jacket was a bit boxy on him, so it hid his torso, but I could tell by how broad his shoulders have become. He also didn't hide his hair underneath some ridiculous hood anymore, so you could see how wild his hair actually was. Me seeing Kiba's hair was never a rare occurrence in the past, seeing as for awhile it was him and I against everything. Before he and I got close, it was always me and Kiba... Plus Akamaru of course.

In the past year, as I regretted all my choices, I couldn't help but wonder how different my life could have been if I would have felt the same about him as he did me. I definitely would have never left the village, but having feelings for a teammate? Would our missions be compromised? Or would we be one of the top teams?

Kiba and I against the world, the sound of that was almost comforting.

"Akari, can we stop with the distance?" Kiba suddenly stopped and turned around to face me. He was staring at me intently, but at the same time looked as if he was begging me to say yes.

"I- You, you are the one who walked ahead of me?" I stuttered, for some reason being under his eye like this made me nervous. It probably had something to do with the fact that he saw me naked this morning.

"I figured you wouldn't want me right next to, but damnit Akari I haven't been with you for three years, no more distance... Please?" The please left his mouth in an uncharacteristic whisper, accompanied with his new found soft eyes. Before I could even give him an answer he took a few steps towards me.

"Kiba, I want to be close to you too, but can we maybe agree that this morning was too close?" I chuckled and closed the distance between us. We were standing face to face and he was watching me with a small smirk painted across his face.

"Are you sure? I mean, what if we got even closer?" Kiba grinned cheekily and at me and I just shook my head at him, but I couldn't hide the small grin and blush that was on my face.

"We should probably stop and rest for a minute, pervert." I changed the topic and walked over to a log to lean up against. Akamaru walked over to me and laid down next to me, his large head in my lap. Almost instantly I found myself absentmindedly stroking his ears and humming along to a tune I made up in my head.

Kiba sat behind me and began running his hand through one of my pig tails, despite how long it was.

"Hey, Akari, aren't you always the one who told Ino and Sakura that long hair was nothing but a nuisance when you are a ninja?" Kiba teased me, and I just leaned my head back into his lap looking up at him.

"Listen, you can make fun of me all you want, but I have been too scared to cut my own hair because of how bad it will actually look," I sighed, ignoring the feeling that crept into my stomach as I watched him smirk down at me.

"Hand me a kunai, I will do it for you," My eyes widened at Kiba's confident words, I trusted him with my life but trusting him with my hair was a different story.

"No really it's fine, I will ask Ino or something as soon as we are home," I protested but Kiba just rolled his eyes and reached down into my holster that was on my thigh, his fingers lightly grazing the exposed skin because of my shorts. I shivered a little bit at the feeling of his calloused finger tips, but quickly regained my composure.

"Sometimes I have to trim Akamaru's fur, does he look ugly to you?" Kiba motioned to the resting dog, who lifted his head up lazily at his partner.

"If you even so slightly mess it up, I will end you."

Kiba didn't reply, but he just began letting my hair down out of its pigtails. Before I couldn't even tell him where I wanted it to be he grabbed it just below my shoulder blades. A smile spread across my face due to the fact that he already knew where I would want it.

"Still so in sync" I thought inwardly and leaned my head forward slightly, giving him a better chance at not ruining my hair. Kiba took a deep breath before I felt him quickly bring the kunai across my hair.

The feeling of my hair becoming lighter, seemed to almost life all of the metaphorical weight off my shoulders. I felt as though I was no longer the girl that left her village. I was ready to go home, ready to face my friends, and definitely ready to find myself again.

———— change of pov ————

As the blonde and brunet walked back towards the village that they both called home, they were blissfully unaware that a days trip away there was a plan being made.

They had no idea that a certain raven haired teen was planning on taking back what he believed was rightfully his.

They had no idea that they were walking right towards his trap.