Lost, And All That Implies

"Grrrrarf! Arf! Arf!"

"Nn..."

Kiba very slowly opened his eyes and tried to move his throbbing head. He knew the pressure and weight that was sitting on his chest was Akumaru, but he felt compelled to look at him. A blurry tan blob met his tired eyes.

"W... What is it Akumaru...?" he said, his voice husky.

Good God, he really wish he hadn't gone to that party last night. The party hadn't been bad, it was the blasted drinking contest he gotten into with Naruto that mad it seem bad. Who could have so many shots of this and that and so on... Now he was paying for his stupidity through the hangover from hell. Although he didn't regret it that much; it was worth seeing Naruto fall over and not be able to get up for a while.

A whine from Akumaru told him what was wrong, and he had to drag himself out of the mangled bed covers to open the door for the puppy. As he opened the back door (or what he hoped was the back door) he mumbled, "Try not to wander away..."

He left the door open by just a crack so he could get back in, and then looked at the clock. It read 5 am. He managed to look back at the door a bit incredulously then walked over to the refridgerator and took out a bottle of water. He took it back to his room, and, after taking a swig, flopped down on his bed again. Light snores were then the only signs of life from the boy.

Outside, Akumaru, given the chance, began to do what puppies do when they're let outside. He finished what he had to then started to run around the yard, finding what he could to entertain himself. A breeze blew by as he chewed on a ball, and he stopped to sniff the air. Something...was in it... He just couldn't figure out what.

He sniffed a bit more then decided to follow the new scent. He knew Kiba had told him not to wander off, but something bothered him about this scent and he intended to find out what it was.

About an hour later and two miles away from the village, a girl with ragged dark blonde hair in a messy pony tail and bright brown eyes stood looking very confused at a map in her hands. A green, curved triangle lying on it's side with two dots above the curve was under her right eye. She was standing at where the road split into three others, one continuing straight, the other two going in varying directions of right. She looked from the map to the roads, then back again.

"I can't believe this!" she finally shouted, venting her frustration. "He said to take the road on the right, but there are two roads on the right! Even then, he hadn't been back to the village in over eighteen years! Didn't he think that they might of changed the roads or something!"

She looked back at the map.

"And this map doesn't tell me anything!" She took a moment to inspect it more. "How old is this thing anyway?"

She looked at each corner and then found the date. It read 5/18/90. Oh my God, this thing's older then I am, she thought. She balled the map up and stuffed it in her pocket. She then sat down on the road, facing the two right roads.

After a few minutes of thought, she got the map out again, found the road she was on and began to study it. Even if it was useless, she might get a clue as to where this Leaf Village was. Leaves... That had to mean forest, right? She followed the road that she was on on the map with her finger and watched as it curved around a wide breach of forest.

She then took a look at another road that did the same thing but on the opposite side of the forest. The two roads seemed to form a kind of oval around that particular area of forest. So, if her guess was right, that was probably where the village was. Unless one of the two roads she was facing went directly through that area of forest. She sighed. It was a nice thought; too bad she had to murder her own reason. She looked back at the map, hoping to find more clues. The girl let out a small shriek and jumped a few inches away from the tan creature that had suddenly appeared next to her. She looked at the puppy in shock.

"Well," she said to both herself and it. "Where did you come from?"

The puppy came closer and sniffed her hand, and she took the moment to look at him more closely. He was obviously domesticated or else he wouldn't be so close to her or smelling her so fervently. She put a hand on it's head and scratched it behind the ears. Oh yeah, it was domesticated alright; it proved it was by rolling over onto it's back and whining for her to rub it's small tummy. She giggled as she obliged.

It was a really cute puppy. The girl wondered who it belonged to.

"So," she asked, half jokingly. "Do you know where the Leaf Village is?"

The puppy rolled back over onto it's feet and barked. She was a bit surprised at the answer. She knew a bit of animal language, both by sound and body movement.

"Really? Do you think you can show me the way? I have directions and a map, but none of them are helping. Can you help me?"

The puppy growled then proceeded to scamper down the road that went straight. It went a little ways down the path then turned around to look back at her. A sharp bark told her to follow. The girl got up from where she was sitting and walked over to the puppy.

"So, this is the road to the Leaf Village?" she asked, just to make sure.

"Arf!"

"Okay. What did you say your name was?"

"Grrrarf!"

"Akumaru, huh? That's a nice name."

The girl looked down the road, measuring the distance for what she could see. She looked down at the small puppy that stood next to her.

"Do you want me to carry you? It would be kinda hard for you to walk at my pace."

Akumaru barked a reply, and she picked him up, prepared to carry him in her arms. But as soon as she did, he scrambled up onto her shoulder and then on top of her head. She hesitated before she started walking.

"Are you sure you want to travel like that?"

"Ruff!"

The girl shrugged as she readied her chakra and then sent it down to her feet and calves. Akumaru yipped in surprise as he found them floating and then quickly moving forward down the road to the Leaf Village.

Kiba found himself being drug from sleep again by Shino's voice calling outside along with Hinata's.

"Hey! Kiba! Wake up already!"

He practically fell out of bed then stumbled to the open window.

"What?!" he called hoarsely to them, looking at the two in the street. Why in the world were they here?

"You weren't at the training sight so we decided that we should come get you!" Hinata said in explanation. "Did you just wake up?"

Kiba nodded, his head pounding along with his movement.

"Give me a sec! I'll be right down!" he told them.

He tripped over to his discarded clothing, and quickly threw them on. He grabbed his water before heading downstairs. He opened the door, squinting in the bright light of morning.

"What time is it?" he asked, his voice still slightly rough from sleep.

"It's eight-thirty," said Shino. Kiba didn't have to try and look past the sunglasses to see that he wasn't pleased to be here.

Hinata looked at him, worry tracing her features.

"Are you okay? You don't look so good." she said.

"Uh..."

"You have a hangover from last night, don't you?" Shino said shrewdly.

He gently nodded his head. Hinata looked at Shino in question.

"Hangover?" She then looked at Kiba.

"How bad is it?"

"Uh... Pretty...bad. I feel like hell."

"Do you think you can train?" Shino asked. Kiba turned from the front door to the inside of the house, holding a hand up in casualness.

"Yeah," he said. "I just need to get Akumaru."

He walked over to the back and opened the door. He looked the yard over, searching for the puppy. He didn't see him anywhere.

"Akumaru?" he called as he walked down the two steps.

He started looking around the yard; under bushes, behind the fence, in the wood pile. Kiba bit his lip. I told him not to go anywhere! he thought anxiously. He sniffed the air to see if he was close by. Nothing, not even a hint of the puppy. He nervously tapped his foot tryng not to panic. Akumaru had never wandered so far that he couldn't pick up his scent.

"Kiba? Is everything alright?" Hinata called.

"Uh... We'll see!" he called back, his voice unsure.

He could do one final thing to try and locate the puppy. He gathered some of his chakra and then sent a pulse out, searching for Akumaru. His small search chakra had a radius of half a mile. He didn't feel a thing coming back that felt like Akumaru. Kiba's panic then found an outlet in his voice.

"GAAAH!!"

He flew to the front of the house, flipping out completely.

"He's gone!!" he cried. "I can't find him anywhere! I'm going to have to look for him right now!"

"Do you want us to tell Kurenai-sensei what happened?" Shino asked as Kiba shoved his shoes on.

"Yeah! But tell her I'll be there. I promise!" he said as he stood up.

He then took off down the road, leaving Hinata and Shino standing at his open door. As he ran, he decided to stay relatively close to the forest; if anything that was probably where the puppy headed. Probably smelled something and decided to go after it, he thought both anxious and angry. He told him not wander off! Where in the world could he be now?!