Author's note: Poor Kiba... good thing he's got some buds to lean on. I really like writing Shikamaru, and Kiba's pretty fun, too, actually, despite the circumstances. Be warned, Kiba's got a potty mouth.

The Naruto series and its characters are not my creations, but this story is.

Chapter 2: Help

"Hinata?"

Ino knelt beside the distraught girl on the ground. "What's going on here? Are you okay?"

"N-n-no…" Hinata squeaked, rubbing her eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"It's K-Kiba…"

"What happened?"

"He…" Hinata's body fought against letting the words out, as if saying them would make the situation real. "He's… he's gone." She broke into fresh tears.

"Oh, sweetie…" Ino pulled her to her feet. The two had never really known each other that well, but she was no stranger to heartbreak, and she knew Hinata needed someone. It was her moral obligation as a fellow woman to reach out.

Hinata was surprised at the kunoichi's sudden warmth toward her, but was grateful. She told Ino about the argument that she'd had with Kiba and that when she got home, she knew she'd enter a half-empty apartment. "Everywhere I look, there's going to be a void… I don't know how I'm going to handle staying there without him."

"So don't stay there tonight. Come with me. I know just what you need… a hot bath, a bowl of ice cream, and a soft bed. How about it?"

"Well… okay." Hinata managed to force a small smile for her rescuer.

"Mornin', babydoll..."

Kiba nuzzled the back of Hinata's neck and grinned lasciviously. "You want this puppy to make your kitty purr?" No response. "Oh, playin' it quiet, are we? Want Kiba-kun to do all the work? Okay, then..."

"Ew."

His eyes snapped open to discover a pillow, not Hinata, in his arms, and Shikamaru standing over him.

"Wake up." The shadow nin jabbed his groggy friend in the back with a spoon. "I said you could crash here, but I did not agree to listen to your wet dreams."

"Fuck," Kiba lamented as he remembered where he was and what had happened. This was going to be the crappiest day EVER.

"I'll give you a minute to, uh... pull yourself together." Shikamaru turned toward the kitchen. "There's coffee if you want it."

Akamaru made a sad sound as he got up to drink from the water bowl in the corner.

"Yeah, I know it sucks, pal, but we had to leave. Apparently she prefers foxes over us now… or toads… or fox-toads…. whatever the hell that bastard is." Kiba kicked off his blankets, rose from the couch, and took a seat at the kitchen table.

"Are you feeling okay?" inquired the usually unconcerned shinobi, sliding a steaming cup across to him.

"What the shit do you think? My fiancée just ripped my heart out through my ass."

"Well..." That was a harsh reaction, even for Kiba. "That's women for you. Troublesome."

"…says the guy who has the coolest girlfriend in the universe..." Kiba scowled.

"I am pretty damn lucky, huh?" Shikamaru looked up at the ceiling with a hint of a smile at the mention of Temari.

"Dude, you're not helping." Kiba sighed and lowered his head to his hands.

"My bad..." The host offered a newspaper as a peace offering. "Wanna try some sudoku?"

"Nah. You know I don't do that brainiac stuff."

"Comics?"

"No."

Shikamaru coughed, trying to think of something appropriate to say.

"It… will get better, you know."

"Huh?" Kiba broke from his haze of self-pity.

"This business with Hinata." The sound of her name was like a shuriken to Kiba's heart. "It'll eventually get better. You saw what I went through with Ino. It was a nightmare, but now it's like nothing ever happened. We can even have a civil conversation now."

"Who cares what's gonna happen eventually? Right now, I'm friggin' miserable."

"Look, man, I know you can't just shut it off. I won't lie - it'll hurt for a while, and it's cool if you wallow a little. It's human. But try not to let it consume you. It'll drive you crazy."

"Thank you, Dr. Love," Kiba snarled sarcastically.

"All I'm saying is that I've been there," Shikamaru replied simply, "and I understand everything you're going through right now."

"You and Ino weren't getting married, and she didn't run off and risk her life to tell some other guy she loved him instead of you."

"If Sasuke'd come back, she would've." The unenthusiastic genius rolled his eyes. "But you know what I mean."

The two men sat for a few minutes in silence, one sipping his coffee over the paper and the other looking down at the floor.

"…Thanks, Shikamaru."

"Don't mention it."