Chapter two: Deep Breaths
Forgive me for being so late with this update; I was sick and just wanted to lie 'round doing nothin' sorry once again! I will try to take better care of myself next time (Innocent eyes) Anyway I got next to no reviews on my first chapter, I really wasn't shore what you guys liked and what you didn't ect.
ANYWAY; this next chapter contains my fav fem character, Hinata, and her boyfriend the infamous Kiba. I know, I know your reading this for a Boy on Boy pairing but these two are in hear for plot reasons... and it seems un realistic to have EVERY male Naruto boy gay... + I love Kiba x Hinata... it's the only hetro pairing I like in the whole damn show!
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Neji POV:
"Come on Gaara," I whisper, picking up my pace as my home came into view off in the distance, "not far now, try to stay awake!"
The redhead in my arms was slowly dying; I could feel his life slipping away as I rushed him to the giant building that offered a slim chance of surviving the night. Green eyes droop shut; seemingly without the knowledge of their owner, taking longer and longer each time to creep open again. My once grey woollen jacket was now a deep red from the precious life fluid that was leaking from the boy I have every intention of keeping alive.
The cold wasn't helping one bit, it made the path slippery and slowed me down; when a matter of minutes could mean the difference between life and death I could hardly waist time sliding around on the cold, hard ice.
I tried my best to keep the bundle I carried so close to my chest calm, warm and above all awake; a mission that I was slowly failing at as his breathing became more and more shallow and erratic, each breath getting closer and closer to the last he would ever take but even now I refused to believe that he wouldn't make it. After all, Gaara had one thing on his side.
Living in the Hyuga mansion with me was a doctor worthy of any big city, even if I have never said that to her face. Hinata should have inherited the roll of being head in our respected clan; however her father and my uncle thought her useless and sent her off to a military academy. With her gentile, shy and somewhat skittish personality she was doomed to fail in her father's eyes, he was wrong however and she continued on to become an accomplished doctor at such a young age.
At first I thought my uncle was right, that my dark haired cousin was nothing more than a failure, not too long ago I looked down upon her but when she returned and became the one and only doctor in the tiny village consisting mostly of members from my own clan I quickly grew to accept and even respect her talents as a healer.
Before I reached the heavy wooden doors of the house too big for just me and my cousin, I called out in the loudest voice I dared with the redhead still wrapped in my arms for the doctor I knew would be in her room with her boyfriend and his dog, curled up on the matt like three, fat, lazy cats.
Shore enough by the time my feet hit the door mat, two pale blue eyes peered around the hunk of wood, widening in shock when they focused upon the what must have looked like a fresh corpse resting in the arms of one of her own family members.
"N-Neji-kun?" She whispered; voice seemingly soaked up by the darkness.
"Go get your first aid kit and meet me in up in my room as fast as you can." I wasn't about to waste time that the red head clearly didn't have with meaningless conversation, even though it may have seemed like I was ordering her around we both knew better.
The dark haired young woman dashed off into the supplies cupboard as I stepped through the door kicking it shut without turning around before quickly making my way up the ornate wooden staircase and down the hall, turning into my room automatically as have done time and time again in the house I was raised in by an uncle I am ashamed to call human.
Familiar plane, light blue walls and a king sized wooden bed with light blue covers accompanied by matching side tables, greeted me with an unusually welcome warmth I thought was imposable for this house, even if it was only because I have spent what felt like hours hauling my blood soaked package with the ultimate goal of reaching this room.
I quickly but carefully lay Gaara down on top of my neatly made bed, not caring about the blood that soon seeped from his open wounds and into the soft fabric.
"Wake up Gaara," I cooed softly to the young man as I straightened him out, removing my jacket from around his shoulders to save Hinata time.
The boy opened his eyes slowly as if the simple action made him all the more exhausted. Blurry green eyes tried to focus on me, failing he was about to close his eyes once again. I reached up and gently whipped a trail of blood from his forehead, secretly hoping that the human contact would offer a slight bit of relief for the shaking redhead, pulling away just in time to hear my cousin enter my room.
Without the slightest hint of hesitation he rushed to stand beside me, checking his pulse with one hand while looking over his bare chest. She asked him in a soft voice what his name was, not expecting anything when she received a weak reply from Gaara she jumped in surprise, stuttering out a few more questions about where the young man could and couldn't feel pain as she removed the makeshift bandage from his abdomen.
With my eyes fixed upon the pale form that was now sprawled out on top of my bed I almost didn't notice when the tall, dark eyed, young man with scruffy brown hair came barging in, his young dog, Akamaru following in toe.
"Hey Hinata, what's taken' you so lo- HOLY CRAP WHAT HAPPEND TO THAT GUY!" Kiba's entrance was typical of the dog lover, Loud.
"I found him drowning in the river." I said matter-of-factly, both answering his question and peaking his curiosity at the same time. I could see his eyes glisten with the innocents that made him so attractive to my cousin, his triangular facial tattoos where the only thing that masked this trait from those who didn't know the brunet half as well as I have come to in the past two years.
"You saved him?" He muttered before turning to his girlfriend who was now busy stitching up the now unconscious red heads worst wounds and applying layer after layer of bandages and gauze to his slender and near perfect frame "Is he gonna make it Hinata?"
"H-he is very weak." She sheepishly replied, "He has lost a lot of blood. I'm not s-shore..."
"Just do your best, Hinata." The tattooed boy replied with a proud look painted all over his strong features, "You're the best there is!"
A deep blush spread across the face of the shy doctor at the words of her lover. Said boy then flopped down onto the floor, dog jumping on his lap with a single happy bark as Hinata turned to slip a sharp needle into one of the unconscious redheads veins attaching it to a fluid filled bag which she hooked up to the head of my bed.
"Hinata, is there something I can do?" I ask in a calm voice that cloaked my inner worries.
A pair of pale blue eyes met my mine and she played with her fingers in a thoughtful way, I could see the all her thoughts running through her mind as her glittering eyes wandered down to fix on her hands. It was a full minute before she raised them again to look me in the eye.
"D-do you want to..." there was a slight thoughtful pause before she continued, "H-hold Gaara-kuns hand?"
My eyes narrowed at her words. She seemed serious, and I will admit I wanted to be closer to the boy I had pulled out of the river barely alive. There was just something about him that drew me in, something about those helpless yet still strong and defiant emerald orbs that made me want to help him all the more. Even so, I couldn't see what good the action of simply taking his hand in my own would do.
Before I could come up with a response to my cousin's strange suggestion Kiba spoke up from where he had positioned himself on the blue rug that hid the cold hard floor panels, telling me a short story about himself as a kid and the day he had a high fever. I wasn't shore where his story was going until right near the end when he finished by explaining how much better he felt when Hinata, who was just a friend at the time, held his hand until his temperature went down later that night.
"I guess it was nice just to have someone there for me you know?" His eyes looked from me to my now blood covered bed, "being alone when you're sick sucks!"
"Alright," With that I slowly walked around to the other side of my bed, climbing up and sitting cross legged next to my cousin's patient, gently taking his cold, pale hand into my own warmer ones.
The time trawled by with little noise and the only movement coming from Kiba fidgeting with his dog and the rooms only female occupant moving to clean each of the boys remaining cuts, never once stoping for a break. She was just finishing up as Gaara managed to regain his consciousness.
A low and pained moan escaped the young man's lips before he even managed to open his eyes; pain clearly over taking his body as he drew a few deep shaky breaths. I lightly squeezed his hand and he almost immediately looked up into my pale blue eyes, struggling to focus on me for a few seconds before giving my hand a weak embrace of his own and letting a tiny, almost invisible smile spread across his face for a brief second before he scrunched up all his features as another wave of pain hit him.
It's the strangest feeling, comforting someone you only just met but somehow it just felt right. I ran my thumb up and down the back of Gaaras hand; trying my best to sooth away some of the pain as kiba stood up and walked towards us with a grin almost ear to ear.
"You're a tough little bastard aren't ya'?" Gaara slightly tilted his head to look at the sauce of the loud and obnoxious voice; though I am shore he didn't see it that way, "Hinata, can you give him something for the pain?"
I was almost shocked that Kiba, the boy who cared more time with his dog then he did about most people, actually came out with something considerate. I know the dark haired boy would die to protect my cousin in a heartbeat but he can be a little bit antisocial, so hearing something thoughtful come from his mouth always manages to surprise me.
"Y-yes," she stuttered, "I have just given him s-some light pain relief b-but, any more could do more damage to his systems..." the long haired young woman's eyes drifted back down to the ground as she said the last words, seemingly shamed by her inability to relieve the pain her patient was struggling with.
"Damn!" I mutter under my breath.
The taller boy looked at Gaara thoughtfully before turning and heading towards the door, his small white dog following him with a sad whimper, seemingly feeding of the emotions of defeat his master was radiating.
"Hey, Hinata?" he nearly whispered across the room, "Let Neji take care of the new guy and come to bed, you look like Akamaru that time he got into a fight with that bastard Sasuke's Pit-bull!"
Neither I nor my cousin where shocked by what Kiba had said, he can be quite blunt sometimes. Even so, Hinata looked slightly worried about leaving the wounded boys side.
"It's all right; I will stay up with him." I assured the young doctor.
"Oh... Okay." She yawned and lifted herself up from her seat, clearly drained from the events of the day, and who could blame her?
She slowly made her way toward the door turning back just before she got to where her boyfriend stood. Unexpectedly Kiba swooped in and lifted her up bridal style causing her to giggle, smile and blush all at once. The boy knew how to make her happy that's for shore.
As soon as they left I leaned down over Gaara, close enough for his blurry eyes to focus on my face.
"If you need anything just ask."
The boy stared up into my eyes for a second before nodding slowly, laying his head down on my soft pillow and drifting off into a light and broken sleep.