"Please tell me we're done..." groaned Kiba as he walked down the seemingly unending hallway. He'd just returned from an unusually annoying mission to Suna. It's bad enough that he'd been forced to leave Akamaru behind, but then getting stuck escorting a stuck up noble kid around was stepping into the territory of cruel and unusual punishment. A massive migraine was all the thanks he got in return for suffering through the entire week.
"What's with you today?"
"I really want to go home, that's all."
"Right..." Shikamaru sighed, "Like I said, I really would have rather brought Choji instead of you, but Lady Tsunade forced me too."
"I know...And I don't really care. Can I go home now?"
"Sure, do whatever you want..." yawned the lazy Chunnin as he wondered of to who knows where.
"Thank you and good night..." mumbled Kiba as he exited the building and back into the blindingly bright noonday sun. "Ugh...where's some clouds when you need um..." He essentially tuned out the outside world as he made his way all the way across town.
He'd gotten about three blocks from the admin building when he was stopped by Ino, "Hey Kiba!"
"Kami, shoot me now," he growled internally. "Hi Ino," flatly.
"When'd you get back?"
"Just now."
"Oh," she smiled brightly. "Well then, want to go grab a bite to eat or something? You must be hungry from the trip."
"Uh, no thanks. I'm not feeling all that well right now."
"Oh...okay then. Another time."
"Yeah, okay." He waved weakly and wondered off, cursing his innate ability to attract any and all annoyances he met. "I don't even know why she tries..." he sighed, rubbing his temples. "I've told her a hundred times to leave me alone..." He sighed and continued on his way home.
"Kiba!"
"Kill me! Please!" He turned and saw Lee running up. "Hey Lee, what's going on?"
"I am glad that I ran into you. Several of us are going to grab some lunch at Ichiraku's. Would you care to join us?"
"Depends. Who's gunna be there?"
"Myself, Neji, and Naruto."
"I think I'll pass. I'm not sure I can take Naruto's cheerfulness right now."
"What is wrong? Are you feeling ill?"
"Sorta. It's nothing to worry about. I just need some rest."
"Oh, alright. Well then, I hope you feel better!"
"Thanks..." He turned and resumed his agonizing trek homeward. He walked for nearly a mile before someone else stopped him.
"Yo Kiba!"
"Great, now the Jounin are here..." He turned and faced Kakashi, "Yeah?"
"Where you off too in such a hurry?"
"What's it matter to you?" He blinked tiredly and replied, "Home. Why?"
"Well, I just got assigned a new mission and I could use a nose like yours..."
"Sorry...," he said, cutting of Kakashi midsentence. "...but I just finished a mission. I'm off for the next twenty-four hours."
"Oh," He looked disappointed. "Well then, I'll just go look for Neji then."
"He's at Ichiraku's with a bunch of the guys."
"Thanks Kiba!" He dissapeared in a puff of smoke.
"Nutter..." He sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Please God, let me get home before I go insane and kill someone." And of course, today was one of those days when prayers went not only unanswered, but were likely to backfire on you. See, there were two ways for Kiba to get home: a short way and a long way. Normally, he'd take the short way when he needed to get home fast or wasn't feeling well. Well, today was one of those days when getting home quick just wasn't going to happened any way he went about it. What he'd forgotten, and what was about to make his day truly a living hell, was that the short way home took him right in front of Ichiraku's bar. Normally, thats not a problem. But, in the short time since he'd been stopped by Kakashi, he'd already forgotten that all his friends were there. And they wanted him there too. He'd taken two steps past Ichiraku's when he heard the last thing he wanted too hear at that moment.
"Kiba!" came the chorus of shouts.
He tried to ignore them. Yeah, fat chance of ignoring these guys.
Naruto ran out and jumped in front of him. "Yo dog-boy! What took you so long to get here?"
"Back off Naruto," his voice the temperature of dry ice. "I am so not in the mood for you right now."
"Awww come on! Don't be a wet blanket! Sit! Eat! Enjoy yourself! You just got back from a mission! It's time to celebrate!"
"Seriously Naruto. Not today. I'm really not in the mood."
"What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing. I just want to go home."
Naruto studied him closely, trying to see if he could figure out what was wrong. "You sure your okay?"
"Yes. I just need to get home."
He wasn't convinced, but he let him go anyway. "Thank you," sighed Kiba as he darted away.
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Naruto went back inside the bar, "What's wrong with him?"
"I do not know," said Lee, who'd been watching them. "He told me that he was not feeling very well."
"He is not ill," stated Neji matter-of-factly.
"How do you know?"
"He is not acting like one who is sick. He seems more depressed then sick. Although depression is technically a form of sickness," he added.
"I guess...?" He shrugged and returned to his ramen. "I'll prolly go and check up on him later. Ya know, see if he's feeling better."
"That is a good idea, Naruto."
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"Finally!" came the sigh of relief when Kiba turned onto his street. He practically ran the last half a block to his front door. He shoved his door open and slammed it behind him. "Blessed peace at last..." He collapsed on the couch without a second thought.
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He woke up a few hours later. The sun was setting and, and his empty stomach and dry throat were screaming for relief. The still groggy and achy boy got up and went to the fridge to get some water. Just as he was about to open the door, he finally noticed the note on the fridge,
Kiba,
Since you couldn't take Akamaru with you, I'm gunna barrow him for a mission.
See you in about a week.
It was dated the previous day. "Awwww, and i was looking forward to seeing Akamaru again. Ahh well, at least I don't have to deal with his half hour bark fest welcome home ritual. I'm not sure my head can take it right now." He pulled out a half empty bottle of water. Sipping the cool liquid, he retreated to his couch. He channel surfed on mute for awhile. "Hmmmm nada." He rubbed the back of his head. "Damn...Why won't you stop aching..." He sighed stood up, intent on getting some aspirin He popped the lid off the bottle and sighed. He was out of aspirin, again. "Great...There's no way in hell I'm going all the way back across town just to get more...Can this day get any worse?"
Knock
Knock
Knock
"Obviously it can..." he grumbled as he went to answer the door. "What?"
"Hello to you to grouchy."
"Naruto, I am sooooooooo not in the mood."
"What's wrong with you today?"
"I told you. I don't feel good."
"Yeah, and I think there's more to it than that." He slipped in past Kiba. "How sick do you feel?"
"You are not Sakura. Don't start acting like her." He sighed," I have a pounding headache. That's all."
"Uh-huh. And you're acting all downer and depressed because...?"
"I have a goddamn migraine idiot."
"Kiba," he said, totally unconvinced, "What's really wrong?"
"Oh for the love of... How many time do I have to say that I just have a headache?"
"I don't believe you."
"Obviously..." he sighed. "Here's a thought... how about you run down to the store and get me some aspirin... preferably the PM variety."
"Why PM?"
"Cause my freaking head is killing me and I want to sleep it off! What the hell do you think moron!?"
"Whoa there," said Naruto, raising his hands defensively. "Ya don't have ta yell at me."
"Well, you don't seem to listen to me when I do anything else, so what choice do I have?"
"Well, I'd be more inclined to believe you if you weren't all depressed looking."
"Sorry if I'm not the image of happiness you want me to be, but I just don't feel happy right now."
"Okay... Is there any reason behind the massive headache?"
"You try escorting a noble brat around for a week with Shikamaru. Then try having to listen to Temari act distant and remote from Shikamaru when he's around, then have her bombard you with questions about him when he's not. On top of that, Kankurou's just broken up with his latest girlfriend, and decided that I made the perfect drinking buddy so he dragged me out every night the entire week. And then you have mister "I'm-too-quiet-to-actually-say-anything-but-I-honestly-don't-know-whether-I-like-you-or-not," giving me a mild "I-will-kill-you-slowly-and-painfully-if-you-screw-up," look every twenty minutes or so because he thinks I have a thing for his brother, which i don't, but refuses to listen to reason. And then having to escort the same brat of a nobles kid back here, all the while listening to both him and Shikamaru moan about how pointless the whole trip was."
"Ewwwww... I'd have a nasty headache after a week like that too." He sighed, "Well, at least now I'm sure that you're just not going emo on us."
"Oh god, I refuse to pull a Sasuke."
"Much to everyone's appreciation. One was bad enough."
"Got that right." He flinched as a particularity nasty wave of pain hit. "Ugh...so how about getting me some aspirin?"
"Dude, from the look of that grimace, you prolly need something stronger than OTC aspirin"
"Well, unless you have something stronger and are willing to share, I don't think I'm getting anything else."
"Yeah right. I don't even take pain-killers, remember?"
"You don't!? For real!? How the hell can you manage without them?"
"Easy, I don't think about it. And I find someplace to sleep it off as fast as possible."
"Tried that yesterday and it didn't work. Woke up hurting worse."
"That sucks."
"Royally."
"My suggestion to you, buy some Benadryl and take about four. You'll be out untill Sunday."
"Yeah, I doubt very much they'd give me three days off."
"I could pull some strings for you."
"No thanks. I'm not the kind of person that can sleep for that long anyway."
"Neither am I."
Another nasty wave of pain. This time it went beyond the back of his head and radiated down his neck. "Ugh...I have to sit down. I can barely see straight."
"That's not good." He helped Kiba get back to the couch. "You're starting to look pale. I think you need to see a doctor."
"I'll be okay. I just need sleep."
"I don't know..."
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I just need to take some aspirin and sleep." He smiled weakly, trying to alive some of Naruto's worry. Too bad it looked more like a grimace than a smile. That only succeeded in worrying the boy more.
"Kiba, you're about two shades away from qualifying for the "palest ghost of the year" award. And you've taken on a distinctly green tinge too. You really need to see a doctor."
Kiba tried not to wince as another, stronger wave hit. It was getting so bad that his stomache was becoming unsettled. "I said don't worry about me..." was all he got out before his gut felt like it had slammed into his throat. Hard. He managed to hold back the bile that was pooling in the back of his mouth long enough to make it to the sink. He heaved up what little was left in his stomach. Naruto was up and running for the phone. Kiba finished heaving and slumped over the sink. He felt like all his strength was gone. Naruto slipped a supporting arm around Kiba's shoulders as he called for help. "It's okay Kiba," he said as he supported him. "Helps on the way." Kiba nodded weakly. "Shoulda listened to you..." he muttered after he rinsed out his mouth. Naruto smiled and help him back to the couch. Kiba was unconscious before his head hit the cushion.
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