Speech" 'Thoughts'

Chapter 2: Kiba's Afternoon

Kiba noticed Naruto get up from where he sat at the table. He knew the routine between him and Sasuke within three days of sitting next to the blond at lunch earlier in the year. Usually Naruto, Choji, and Shikamaru were the last to get up from the table but that changed at the beginning of the year. He knew Naruto's cell had vibrated meaning that he'd received a new message to inform him of where they would meet. Naruto just finishes his food, leaves, and reads the text message as soon as he's out of sight.

Kiba sighed every time this happened. Nobody else noticed the routine, why would they? 'I'm the only one who cares,' he though bitterly. After discovering the two in the locker room a month after school began, he came to realize that he could've been in Sasuke's place but was too late. He could have saved the teen from the pain Kiba was now seeing the blonde's eyes, but at the expense of causing some pain in the beginning.

The burnet noticed the blonde's behavior today; it was sad and regretful. Usually he's smiling and looking forward to the meeting. Kiba could tell something was wrong; the blond couldn't even look at the burnet when he'd asked if he was okay. Kiba knew it must have been what he'd almost seen before fourth period. He'd almost found them in the restroom together alone, again.

After finishing his lunch, Kiba decided to go to his locker. He was quite bored with the conversations while his thoughts decided to focus on Naruto and his recent show of pain. Trashing everything on his way out, he'd exited the cafeteria four minutes after Naruto left to meet Sasuke. Kiba, not even taking two steps towards the "H" hallway, nearly fell when someone collided into his back. The burnet turned around to find Naruto's red face uttering low apologies to him.

"Sorry, Kiba," the blond mumbled it so low that Kiba barely even heard the apology.

"Hey, it's fine… Hey are you okay?" Naruto's body looked like it could be pushed over by a slight breeze. The blonde's red face made the six scars more prominent. The three scars on each side gave him the appearance of having the whiskers of an animal, to Kiba the appearance of a fox.

"Yeah, I'm fine," but everything else told the truth. His voice shook, almost cracking, his body was shaking, and his face was covered in sweat while it turned a deeper red. It didn't help when Kiba brought his hand to Naruto's head and was met with a scolding temperature. Naruto's face turned an even deeper red, if it was even possible.

Kiba knew Naruto blushed as he brought his hand to the teen's forehead, but it wouldn't have caused this much heat. He was beyond burning up. Kiba barked an order for Naruto to take off his sweatshirt. When the blond tried to argue, the burnet gave him the choice to take it off to take it off or Kiba would do it for him. This caused some thoughts and prospects to enter the burnet's mind, but he shoved them to the back of his mind.

Obeying Kiba, Naruto sluggishly removed the hoodie from his upper body. Kiba had to stop himself as he saw the white tee slide up revealing the blonde's slim stomach. Thankfully, the blond couldn't see him for the sweatshirt covered his face. As soon as the orange and black piece of clothing was removed, Kiba noticed the red mark that stuck out from the collar of the white t-shirt. He instantly knew that was probably one factor of the fever, he could only guess at the remaining causes.

Ignoring the red mark, Kiba guided Naruto through the school to the nurse's office adjacent to the main office. He hung the sweatshirt over his left shoulder and had Naruto place his arm behind the burnet's head. He could feel Naruto's racing pulse with the hand he wrapped around the blonde's back and placed it on the other side of the teen's body for support. Naruto needed it. Students just gawked and asked if he was okay. A teacher coming out of the teachers' lounge directly across the opening of the hall saw them, and then ran for the nurse.

As soon as the nurse saw him she paged for the principal. She briefly touched his forehead before exclaiming some very 'school appropriate' words and grabbed a thermometer and stuck it in his mouth. As soon as the principal walked in, he and the nurse stepped into the hall behind the small office that linked the main office to all the other smaller offices. They began discussing about the situation.

Kiba sat next to Naruto holding an ice pack to the brow of the blond boy lying in front of him. The temperature was slowly declining, but that wasn't his only concern now. Naruto had no parents or family. He stayed with someone his parents knew, but he had no photos, nothing, not even a memory. He was told they'd died in a house fire when he was about three years old. The suffering blond moved out into an apartment about two summers ago. Ever since, he's basically been on his own. Kiba could only wonder how he survived his entire life. The blond almost didn't make to see the end of the seventh grade. 'Whoever came up with the concept of suicide needs to be brought back to life so I can kill them myself. Naruto made a miraculous recovery thankfully.'

Kiba heard some of the conversation behind him. They were discussing how to get him help and what would happen to him afterwards. They were thinking the same thing as Kiba; he needs immediate help but the part about no family was holding them back.

The blond started to shiver from the ice pack as a small leak appeared to dampen the boy's forehead more than it should have. Kiba removed the pack and replaced it with cold paper towel. Naruto kept shivering, but not as bad. Kiba knew that Naruto had fallen asleep almost immediately after lying down. His temperature was still high but only half as bad as when Kiba first touched the teen's head. He'd stored that thought for later, much later. The burnet knew not to try something on a weakened person, it would be one of the most shameless things he could do.

The principal walked in, thanked Kiba, and told him how they were going to treat the situation. They didn't want to disturb the students or cause a huge event. An announcement was made to have the teachers to read their mail. They sent out an email to each teacher stating the problem and how to react. Teachers were asked to restrain students to their classrooms. An ambulance would come and was asked to not come in the parking lot with the sirens. Naruto would then be taken to the hospital for the proper care.

Naruto didn't need the extra attention about the ambulance, it would only cause more pain when he would be asked by his friends later. After sitting next to his suffering crush, he asked the principal of a favor. Kiba made an argument and kept pushing until he got the answer, but there was a catch. He needed his mom's approval. After talking for five minutes on speaker phone with the principal, Kiba had convinced his mother to give him the approval.

Kiba knew how Naruto would be like when he woke up, alone in an unfamiliar place. He needed someone after what has happened so far today. The blond would probably cause some amount of trouble. Kiba's argument was based on Naruto's feelings and personality, also that Naruto needed a friend more than ever today. When the principal asked him to illiterate on that, the burnet just replied that it was Naruto's personal business. Unfortunately, Kiba would have to drive himself there.

The burnet heard that the ambulance was arriving to pick up Naruto. After coming in, the two paramedics said he needed to be at the hospital for emergency care. It was rare for a temperature to go this high in a short amount of time, and when it does, there ends up being complications without the proper care. They placed him on the stretcher and ran into no students. Everything was perfectly done, but once that they had him in the ambulance; they turned on the lights and sirens before driving towards the hospital across town.

As soon as they had Naruto in the back of the ambulance, Kiba took off from the window he'd watch from to his locker. After grabbing what he needed, he slammed the door of his red locker shut, ran down the "Math" hallway, and out into the open parking lot. He unlocked his red and white Nissan truck and started towards the hospital across Konoha.

--

As soon as Kiba walked into the hospital he was met with a hushed wall of air. Not much happened this time of the year, but that not much was Naruto. The burnet asked a receptionist about the blond teen he was looking for. She paged a doctor to come and great the teen. He said that his fever was down, but he now had a mild one. Naruto was still unconscious but stable.

The doctor led him to a small area where they could talk without interruptions. Sitting at a table in a small lounge, Kiba was asked several questions about the young blond. Kiba knew a great deal about Naruto, but not the specifics the doctor needed. Any answer that Kiba gave was jotted down into a manila folder.

After the doctor asked the questions about Naruto's health, he started asking questions about their relationship. Kiba, knowing to keep a straight face, answered any questions he was asked. The questions were simple and didn't pry into how he felt about the suffering boy, but he did ask about Naruto's sexual life. Kiba knew that Naruto didn't know he knew, and didn't want to expose it to this doctor. If it would be mentioned, Naruto would say it himself.

After the doctor got everything he needed and explained that Kiba could join Naruto in the room, but there were rules. The doctor got into the rules and conditions of them. Kiba was eager to be in the room with the blond, but he knew to pay attention. The burnet agreed to the terms and was led to the room containing the unconscious teen. Everything about the hospital was clean and sterile, but it was full of sickness and any other thing that described the opposite.

Kiba and the doctor entered the room on the second floor. The doctor walked across the room and took some notes based on the equipment on the other side of the bed. After making his quick observations, the doctor walked by Kiba while giving him a comforting smile. The doctor shut the door leaving Kiba rooted to the spot as he absorbed in every detail. Not every detail was important. Naruto's comfort and pain was all that mattered to the burnet. The blond was in an uncomfortable paper gown, but he knew that his friend couldn't even tell what he was wearing, let alone where he was. The white bed was probably not the best, but it was all they could offer him.

Taking one of the wooden chairs from the small table in the corner, Kiba sat next to the foot of the bed. He couldn't believe the day he and Naruto were having. The burnet kept watch over the shivering blond. He couldn't understand what happened between the teen and Sasuke that could have done to affect Naruto this bad. Kiba noticed Naruto's hand laying next to his side. The brunet reached over and clasped in his, affectionately rubbing the back of it with his hand.

The beeping sound of Naruto's heart rate washed over the burnet. He'd just realized that it had been going on since he'd walked in. The machine exclaimed Naruto's every beat to the silent room. It had become hypnotic.

Kiba finally gave into the veil of sleep covering the room and the hypnotic pulse of his crush. He fell asleep with his head on his crossed arms that rested on the foot of the white bed that the blond slept peacefully in.

--

A nurse came in thirty minutes after the burnet fell asleep at the foot of the bed, and knew not to disturb him. She checked everything and was almost to the door when she heard a peculiar sound that didn't fit. She turned around at the sound and thought she'd heard it right, but had no evidence. The thought was that the machine proclaiming the boy's pulse was wrong but she heard the regular sound continue as if nothing happened. She stood there for several long seconds, waiting. Giving up, she opened the door and glanced back into the room at the two sleeping teens, she closed the door thinking about how her long day finally catching up to her.

The peculiar sound that she heard was coming from the machine that continued to beep. She didn't realize that the sound was the blonde's broken heart making two ghostly rhythms, one growing stronger with every minute. One was beating the sorrow over the raven haired teen's betrayal, while the other was caused when the sleeping burnet's arm brushed the blonde's hand. It was that exact moment the nurse heard the teens' hearts synchronizing.