Ways to Blame Yourself – Chapter One
Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto franchise.
My Note: This Fanfiction is based off a story I had written in the form of a script and I decided to rework it into a Naruto based fanfiction. It has been revised and rewritten with slight changes as I am once again continuing writing.
Thank you to the amazing Magneat-o for being my Beta reader.
Saturday, 17th November, 2012 – 10:05 am – Konoha Hospital, Room 110
Kiba had always hated hospitals. The overall cleanliness of the buildings caused his nose to twitch in discomfort and the brightness of the white walls hurt his eyes. Nevertheless, here he stood, side by side with Sakura in a small, clean hospital room. The life support machine beeped slowly by the bedside; each beat reminding the pair of the events that had transpired just one day earlier.
He stared at his feet, dirty black sneakers a stark contrast against the white, tiled floor. Kiba didn't dare look up at the bed. He was afraid, to say the least; so scared because he knew who he would see lying in the bed before him. Sakura on the other hand couldn't stop staring at her unconscious friend who lay before them. Her eyes were filled with sadness but not a single tear could be seen.
Ever since they started high school Sakura had become stronger and more independent. She was always ready to put her friends in their place if they started to irritate or annoy her. Kiba found it hard to believe that this girl standing beside him used to be a huge cry baby when she was a kid. However when they all had become friends with Ino, Sakura seemed to change for the better. Though while these things had changed greatly, some other things had not and Kiba didn't care to find out whether Sakura still had any crying left in her.
"Kiba?" Sakura murmured, as if she was only making sure that he was still there standing next to her.
Exhaling slowly, Kiba didn't say anything at first. He was too afraid that if he opened his mouth to speak his voice would falter or break or that he would end up vomiting all over the hospital's clean white floors. After a long moment, Kiba finally found his voice, calm and strong, so that he could finally manage to answer.
"Sakura," he replied.
"They… all of our friends… everyone…" Sakura started slowly, pausing as she attempted to word her sentence correctly. "They all think it was your fault he fell."
"I know that," Kiba stated, the small scrap of confidence he had leaving his body.
"He was acting so calm," Sakura muttered with a small hint of pride, biting her bottom lip in frustration as a tear finally formed in her eye. "Damn Sasuke."
"…Sasuke?" Kiba asked in confusion as he looked up at Sakura, stopping in sudden surprise.
Just now, without any intention, Kiba had looked past the bed and glimpsed his friend who lay in it. He inhaled sharply and, slowly turned until he faced the bed once again.
Slowly, Kiba turned to the bed and cringed at the sight. He could see tight white sheets crumpling underneath his friend's limp arms. Skin had already become sickly pale and the usual shock of spikey hair had become weak, limp strands of blonde covering the bandages around his head. The bandages were painfully white as they managed to only heighten the paleness of his skin.
Kiba watched tears forming in Sakura's eyes but the Inuzuka would be damned if he was going to let her shed any today. If one of them broke down, then both would break down and Kiba didn't want to leave.
"Just forget about it, Kiba… Forget I mentioned Sasuke. The question is: is he going to be okay?" Sakura asked Kiba, gesturing to their injured friend.
"I hope so," Kiba sighed, weakening as he watched the unconscious student.
"Naruto…" Sakura almost whimpered as she leant back against the wall.
"Why did she have to go and… I mean, why did Ino… she shouldn't have said anything to me. She shouldn't have gone and asked me-" Kiba started to rant, growing louder and angrier.
"I know," Sakura cut him off, shooting the brunet a harsh look. "Don't think I don't know."
As Kiba calmed down, he slowly lowered himself to his knees with his head pressing against the edge of the bed. Soon enough, he felt the comforting hand from Sakura on his shoulder as he closed his eyes and gave in. He silently sobbed into the sheets as he felt Sakura crouch next to him and raise her hand to his hair. At first he thought that she was going to join him in his misery and he honestly wasn't sure if that made him glad or sad for the company. However, when he heard nothing from the girl he became even more conflicted.
"You need to stop this, Kiba. You need to pull yourself together," Sakura ordered sternly.
Kiba's eyes widened at Sakura's suddenly harsh tone. He hadn't expected her to suddenly become so… direct with him. If it was any other girl, Kiba expected their roles would be reversed and have him comforting someone like Hinata… or Ino… probably not Temari. But Sakura's inner strength has a habit of bringing out the little truths in people, especially in Kiba and more so in… Naruto.
"If Hinata gets here and sees you like this…" Sakura reasoned as she began to help the burly student to his feet. "Well, I hardly think she would be able to handle seeing both you and Naruto in your conditions. What about Kankuro? You have to be strong, for your sake, Naruto's and everybody else's."
"No pressure. But yeah… I'll be strong just like you, Sakura," Kiba replied to the girl with a wolf-like grin. He turned back to face the bed and his smile slowly vanished, his tone becoming sad once again as he whispered to Naruto. "I'm so sorry."
Kiba began to raise his hand to the blonde's face but was interrupted by the door sliding open behind him. He thought it was just some nurse but the way Sakura inhaled with so much… disgust… made the brunette think otherwise.
"You!" Sakura said the word like a curse as she looked at the intruder.
Sakura glared at the newcomer and Kiba turned quickly, growling aggressively in recognition.
My other note: I hope you've enjoyed this first chapter and it would be great if you could Review it. Also feel free to drop a message in my inbox with any concerns. Also as a last little note you can find a poll on my profile that allows you to choose what fiction I will write after completely this one, fiction titles are the choices with details in story on my profile page.