DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of Naruto. It all belongs to the mangaka. I only own the characters I made
Chapter Two
"Kiba! Akamaru!" Kiba heard his sister shout, rushing to sit next to him. He caught Ayame in his arms as she slammed against him, confused and speechless as he slid down the tree he leaned against to the ground. What kind of kekkei genkai was that?
"Kiba!" Sakura shouted. He looked past his sister, who paused to study the girl before turning to Akamaru, who was dog once again. "What happened? Who is she? Why are there unconscious dogs all around us?"
"Sakura, what are you doing here?" Hinata spoke, being the first to break out of her shock. "Hey, where did she go? The girl who attacked Shiinume-san…" Kiba's head jerked up and smelled the air along with Akamaru.
"Good question. Where did she go? She was here a minute ago." Hana moved onto the unconscious dogs after assuring herself that Akamaru was fine.
"Do not go near the center of the meadow, or you will be transported somewhere. We don't know where. Akamaru dragged us here and we saw a group of five people attacking this girl here, while a sixth sat on the sidelines. Her dog was kidnapped and Kiba stepped in so that she wouldn't do something stupid. We were then forced to enter the chaos. Something happened and the opponent suddenly got a lot of chakra and cat-like eyes and Shiinume-san, that girl next to Kiba, suddenly jumped up and came back down as a dog. I think it was some kind of Transformation Jutsu. But then the girl threatened to attack Kiba and Shiinume-san jumped in the way, taking the full blast of the jutsu."
"Did you just say Shiinume, Shino?" Hana interrupted, pausing in her examination of the dog in front of her.
"What is so special about Ayame-chan's family name?" Kiba blurted out.
"If she is of the Shiinume family, that was her kekkei genkai, not a jutsu. The Shiinume have the ability to transform completely or partially into the canine species. Each person is unique. I heard the youngest daughter of their clan leader is the most powerful yet. I wouldn't mind meeting her. It would practically be an honor!"
"We need to get her to the leaf hospital. Kiba and Akamaru will come with me and you two will stay with Hana-san and her group and help wherever you can. Kiba, carry Shiinume-san," Sakura ordered.
Kiba blinked a few times He knew from watching Naruto that only a few would be stupid enough to argue with Sakura. With Sakura, the bite was definitely worse that the bark. How did she turn into a dog like that? I wonder what caused her to fall out of her jutsu. Was the jutsu that other girl used really that powerful? He picked her up bridal style, and put her on Akamaru, laying her on her stomach and wrapping her arms around Akamaru's neck. After he was positive she wouldn't be able to fall off, they took off, Sakura setting the pace. Kiba ran next to Akamaru, making sure Ayame wouldn't fall off. They reached Konoha by dinnertime, heading to the Leaf Hospital first.
"Hello, Sakura-chan. The room next to Moshe-san is available." The nurse smiled at Kiba, who looked around nervously. I wonder where mom is.
"Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of intensive care."
Kiba watched as Sakura wiggled different rooms out of the nurse on duty, his mind straying to Akamaru and his dinner. Maybe I should ask mom for some money to buy kibble, beef, and eggs. I can offer to make dinner tonight, since everyone else is always busy. Hana can't cook for the life of her to begin with, so it is probably best if she doesn't go near the stove… Kiba came back to reality when Akamaru whined, finding an angry Sakura in front of him. He gulped and backed up a step.
"Sa-Sakura-chan…" he stuttered not liking the anger surrounding her.
"Follow me." Kiba could hear the anger in her voice more so than normal. He glanced at Ayame and felt sorry for her. From what he could make out of the conversation she engaged in with that one girl, she had no one left in her hometown and was thus labeled a missing-nin in her village.
"Sakura, what are you doing here? You are supposed to be…" Tsunade looked past Sakura and to Kiba and Akamaru, who was still acting as a taxi for Ayame. "Who is she?"
"Shiinume Ayame," Kiba answered.
"Do you mean Shiinume Ayame as in the Shiinume clan of the Hidden Animal? What is she doing in the Hidden Leaf?"
"Un…" They all turned to look at Ayame, who looked slightly unstable.
"I was taking her to a room," Sakura said, clearly saying she wished to continue on. Tsunade exchanged a few more words with her and Sakura practically dragged Kiba and Akamaru down the hall to a room, which contained a single bed and a lot of machines Kiba didn't think he wanted to know about.
"Lift her onto the bed then you can go if you want. I have a feeling that it will be a while before she wakes up." Kiba did as Sakura told him and left, a few nurses coming into the room followed by Tsunade, who seemed to be bored and curious at the same time. Kiba climbed down the stairs, Akamaru trailing behind, and decided to find his mom to ask for the money to buy food for dinner.
Ayame groaned silently as she tried to move her body. That jutsu is so much harder to get past than I thought it was. How the hell did she manage to get enough chakra to even jumpstart that jutsu? She blinked a few times, her eye lids heavy. She heard voices and a door open. Where am I? I thought I was in the forest… Everything flooded back to her and she remembered Kiba and Akamaru, and a girl who spoke of chakra disturbances and blacking out. Her eyes fluttered, though no one really paid much attention to her. They knew she recovered from the physical injury. She smelled Kiba almost immediately.
Kiba and Hana entered the room, Hana mostly here to get a peak at the girl Akamaru dragged Kiba to see every day.
"She is pretty," she commented, making everyone look to her. "Shiinume Ayame, I mean. No wonder Akamaru won't listen to Kiba anymore…" Hana chuckled as Kiba looked like he wanted to disappear and fall through the earth. Akamaru practically dragged Kiba here every day just so he could see the girl he carried on his back. Tsunade found Kiba's reluctance quite the joke.
"Give him a break, Hana. He's had quite the week, dealing with Akamaru's forced visits."
Kiba's been here all week? She sniffed and noticed that Kiba and Akamaru's scent was stronger than even the blonde and pink haired females in the room, particularly where the bed was. It smelled distinctly of dog and master. Ayame felt her stomach flip and blushed, deciding to sit up. In doing so, she attracted the attention of Akamaru, and in turn attracting Kiba's. Kiba came over to help her up, everyone seeming to ignore them. Ayame felt her cheeks go warm as Kiba's hand held her waist and back up, reaching around to move the pillows up. She put her head on Kiba's chest. He is so warm…
Kiba looked down at her, pausing as he attempted to fix the pillows. He felt Ayame lay on his chest and his stomach did a flip. Why did Hana have to tease me? The only reason I fought against Akamaru is because he dragged me out of bed at three in the morning… No one likes to be woken up at that time… He went back to fixing them when she was steady, releasing his grip on her waist. Ayame's gaze from the others lessened only briefly as he did. Ayame looked at the woman Kiba came in with. She was pretty, with her brown shoulder length hair tied up in a ponytail. Her cheeks had red fangs marks on them, much like Kiba.
Suddenly, Ayame worried about her hair. Oh gosh! I must have the worst case of bed head ever! Her panic caused her to take her head off of Kiba's chest, said person having just finished trying to fix the pillows with the very real distraction in his arms. Kiba looked at her and noticed that her hair was only a slight mess. I guess some girls are lucky like that. Sis looks terrifying in the morning. So does mom… Kiba tried to push her back on the pillows, but Ayame resisted, patting her head as she tried to stop Kiba from pushing her into a relaxed position.
"She can stay at our place. Since we have her ninja dogs at our house, it would probably be better for her state of mind. Maybe she knows…" Kiba and Ayame froze, while Akamaru barked with joy. Everyone looked over and jumped in shock at what they saw. All except Sakura, who was not all surprised to see Ayame sitting up, though she raised her eyebrows at Kiba, who had frozen with her upper forearms being blocked by his left arm and used his other hand on her shoulder, trying to make her relax against the pillows he pushed up for her. "She can take Kiba's room."
"What?" They both said, making everyone laugh.
"That is my room! Where am I supposed to sleep?" Kiba asked a very logical question in Ayame's opinion. Sleeping outside was not a fun option.
"Why do I have to stay in his room?" Ayame questioned, wondering why it just had to be Kiba's room. Her stomach fluttered at the thought of being surrounded by Kiba's sent all day, as she was sure she would be spending a lot of time in his room. Even to her, the objection sounded half-hearted. Why am I not objecting whole-heartedly? Ayame noticed the pink haired girl – not much older than Kiba – raise an eyebrow, probably hearing the half-hearted objection in her voice. None of the others noticed.
"Besides, mom gets to decide." Kiba seemed dead certain that his mom would help him. Ayame suddenly felt dread come on. What is this? I am supposed to want to not sleep in his room!
"You would end up on the floor," Hana said, and Kiba's jaw dropped. I get the floor? No fair! He looked wearily at Akamaru, who innocently wagged his tail. Akamaru's been known to kick people in the middle of the night, namely Kiba. Kiba groaned almost silently. I am so going to be sore when I wake up…
"Oh! I forgot! I need to get food!" Kiba bolted from the room.
"Mom is on a mission, remember? And I can cook you know!" Kiba poked his head in the room.
"Sorry if I do not want to end up here tonight," he apologized sarcastically, taking off before his sister could register what he said.
"Kiba can cook?" Ayame asked, suddenly curious. It was the first thing that came to mind from that exchange.
"Yep, he can also mend clothes, clean well, and make a good househusband for any willing kunoichi," Hana mused, almost sounding like an auctioneer trying to sell off a product. Ayame blinked a few times. "Oh! Can you possibly identify the dogs in your clan? I don't know where the owners are, but I was hoping you could help me out."
"Yeah, I know all of the dogs. They all want to kill me still, probably, though." Ayame looked away as she received looks of curiosity.
"Hey, sis, do you have any money…" Kiba stopped mid-sentence, noticing the atmosphere in the room and blinked. "What did we miss?"
Akamaru poked his head through the doorway, whining in agreement to Kiba's question. Ayame smirked. She could read the whine clearly. 'Yeah, what did we miss?' That is so funny. Those two are really alike. She began to laugh, hard and even harder and everyone looked at her as if she lost her mind.
"What is so funny?" the pink haired girl asked.
"Nothing," Ayame managed to stutter. She pushed down the laughter, if only barely.
"Then why are you laughing?" Kiba asked. Ayame looked at Akamaru again and mirth came spilling out again, making her stomach ache.
"Stop it!" she practically shouted and Tsunade peered at her and back at Kiba and Akamaru.
"It is one of you two," she stated as Ayame finally calmed down. She refused to look over at the door, knowing she would end up laughing at Akamaru's unknown antic.
"When do you think Shiinume-san will be able to make come to our house?" Hana asked as Kiba groaned. I guess that particular agreement hasn't changed.
"Today, since she can sit up by herself. She will have to relax and not take on too much, though, due to the impact of the injury," Tsunade said, and with that, everyone left, leaving Kiba and Akamaru at the door.
"Did she mean now?" Ayame asked. Sakura poked her head in.
"Yeah, she means now," she said. "You should ask Kiba to show you around the village. You will be here for more time than you might expect to be." She glanced at Kiba and left. Kiba flushed, going over to the bed and helping Ayame up.
"Do you want to show me around the village?" she asked, knowing Kiba would not be able to refuse. He let out a sigh.
"Sure," he mumbled. "Where do you want to go first?" he asked, Akamaru barking happily at the thought of an early walk.
"How about where you two frequent?" she suggested. Akamaru's tail wagged even faster. Kiba looked at the particularly excited dog. Not hard to please him, now is it?
"Are you sure? There are a lot of places we like to go." Kiba smirked as her smile became forced.
"Yeah," she hesitated. "It would be good to know where to find you in case your mom or sister call on you." Or when I decide I want to bug you. She smiled as he turned to led her out of the hospital, forgetting completely about the money for dinner.