Kiba Inuzuka was dying. He knew he was dying the moment the weapon pierced him through the back and stuck through him in three places. It was some kind of harpoon, he supposed. Some kind with three spearheads, two next to each other and a third lower than the other two, making him think of deformed claws. The two were sticking out of his chest, the third through the top of his abdomen, glistening mockingly with his blood. For a moment he was just frozen, mouth gaped open in a shocked O, glossy crimson trickling from the corner. And then the opponent took his weapon back, savagely ripping it out of Kiba and whirling around to try and impale a snarling Akamaru. The faithful companion of Kiba was enraged and too fast for the man, and the triple-headed spear was dropped as the dog evaded the blow and tackled the man. Kiba was still standing for a few moments, then his legs buckled and he was on his knees. He didn't last in that position long, slumping first over onto his face and then managing to roll onto his back all in under twenty seconds. His hands automatically went to his wounds and finally, a thought surfaced. Oh shit.
"Kiba!"
The yell came from both Shino and Hinata, the two of them racing over when they saw their teammate fall. Ironically, there couldn't have been a better time for Kiba to be immortally wounded because Hinata and Shino had just managed to subdue the enemy they'd both been fighting, the partner to the one Kiba and Akamaru'd fought, a couple of rogue Mist nins. Hinata reached Kiba first, just in time to hear the ripping sound of Akamaru tearing open the throat of the ninja who wounded his master. "Kiba?" she murmured his name in a breathless question, fearing he was already dead, her lavender tinted eyes wide. She knelt beside her teammate and gently pulled his upper torso onto her lap, trying to move him as little as possible. Her hands shook and she tried to steady them, pressing both of teem over the wound in his stomach, trying to stop the bleeding as best she could. Bright crimson trickled through her fair fingers and she swallowed, trying to keep her voice from trembling when she spoke again. "KIba?" Shino had come up beside her by then and kneeled down next to her, eyes shocked behind his glasses. "Yeah, I'm still around." Kiba replied, his voice audibly weakening but still steady.
"Stay around." Shino told him, his voice its usual monotone despite the panic that gripped him. "I sent my bugs for help." The Inuzuka chuckled softly at this. "Why bother? You know I'm done for." "Kiba don't say that!" Hinata cried suddenly, shaking her head, tears already collecting in her lavender tinted eyes and threatening to spill down her cheeks. "You're going to be just fine, so don't talk like that!" The kunoichi's voice rose shrilly. Kiba gave a slight nod. "Okay, I won't. Sorry Hinata." He knew he was dying, but if she asked him not to talk like that, then he wouldn't. He would do anything the beautiful Hyuga asked of him, after all, he did love her. Even if her eyes were on Naruto Uzumaki, Kiba had always loved her. "Did you guys finish off that ninja?" Shino shook his head. "No, he's just stunned."
"Maybe you should go end hi-" Kiba broke off, the realization just hitting him that he hadn't beaten his own opponent and Akamaru was no where in sight. "Akamaru!?" He yelled hoarsely, glancing around. The dog-nin couldn't see too well anymore, the background was all starting to blur together in a swirl of color, but he would know his faithful companion anywhere. "Shh, Kiba he's okay. Akamaru is fine." HInata shushed him gently, bringing one bloodstained hand back to soothingly stroke her dying teammate's spiky brunette hair. She knew trying to stop the bleeding now was pointless. "He killed the ninja you were fighting, and he's still…Um" She struggled to articulate what it was the ninken was doing, which was massacring the body of the foe who'd fatally wounded his beloved master. "He's ripping up that bastard's body." Shino finished for her, his voice betraying his seeming composed appearance and icily venomous at the mention of 'that bastard.'
"Heh" Kiba smirked. "I should've figured. Call him off for me, Shino? The guy isn't gonna get an deader." Shino complied immediately and called for Akamaru. At first it didn't seem the dog would listen, but he did, spitting out a bloody fingerless mass of a hand and trotting over. The large white canine let out a soft whimper when he approached and he laid down next to Kiba, pressing close to his master for the last time. Kiba was acutely aware that he couldn't feel the pain of his injuries anymore, not really. In fact the only thing he could feel now was his female teammate's gentle fingers brushing through his hair and his dog at his side. Slowly his eyes slid closed and that's when something warm and wet splashed his face, followed by the sound of soft sniffling. The Inuzuka forced his eyes open again and looked up into the crying face of Hinata, his heart twisting at the sight. He hated to see her cry.
"Hinata, don't cry, okay? There's no reason to cry. You said it yourself, I'm gonna be fine." Kiba smiled up at her and raised a bloodied hand, pressing it tenderly to her cheek. He supposed it was true in a way. Wherever he did go he was sure to be okay, right? To some heaven or paradise…"Right, of course." She smiled back at him and put her hand over his, squeezing it tightly. Tears continued to flow stream down her cheeks, but why shouldn't they? NInja or not, she was still losing one of her best friends. Kiba then shifted his eyes to Shino and gave his friend a look that's meaning was clear. Take care of her. The bug-nin nodded, biting his lip so hard behind his hood that it was bleeding.
With that, the Inuzuka's eyes shut for the last time and his hand went limp in Hinata's grasp. Akamaru rose to his paws and howled mournfully, loud enough to drown out the sounds of the sobbing Hyuga and Aburame.