I never thought I would wright fluffy stuff but as I kept writing this chapter a short dialogue between Kiba and Hige kept popping into my head, begging me to write it down. I hope it did not end up being too out of character for them but I always liked their friendship-bond in the anime, so this is my take on what would happen if Kiba 'had a moment.' Everybody is allowed a bad day right? Oh, and this is the chapter with the swap of events…

Kiba might not be the biggest and bulkiest of guys, but carrying a full-grown man for hours and hours at a time on your back while running will eventually take it out of you and around lunchtime Tsume had to admit he was starting to get tired. His muscles burned from the strain and beads of perspiration covered his forehead, so when he felt a movement on his back signalling that his burden was waking up from his deep unconsciousness, he quickly decided it was his cue to take a break. "Let's take five, guys," he told the others while slowing down to a full stop and carefully put Kiba down on the ground before sitting down himself.

The younger wolves followed his lead and stopped to catch their breaths. When Hige's breath had slowed down to normal, he walked over to Kiba to see how he was feeling. The white wolf had opened his eyes again and was scanning the area in confusion, he was trying to get a grasp of the situation even though his vision was still blurry and he still felt a bit groggy from sleeping for so long.

"Look who's finally awake, geez; you really like your sleep don't you Kiba?" Hige teased as he gave Kiba a hand to sit up.

"How long was I out?"

"Well, I'd say it's about lunchtime now and you've slept since last night…"

"Where are we?"

"On our way to Jagara of course, but firstly the next town up ahead. But really, how are you feeling now? Can you walk?"

"I… I don't know," Kiba answered hesitantly. He shifted into his human form and struggled to stand up. Hige lent him a hand once again to help him get up and placed himself on Kiba's left side so he did not have to put any support on his injured leg. Hige could feel the heat radiating from his friend even through the clothes; the fever still had him in a tight grip. Putting his right arm around his friend's back and placing Kiba's left arm around his own shoulders, he tried to provide as much aid as he could. It didn't help much though, even with his friend's help, the effort was too great for Kiba, and after only a few steps he was unable to keep going. In fact, if Hige hadn't been there, then he would have collapsed completely. As it was now Hige slowly and carefully helped him down into a sitting position on the cold ground again. Kiba's breath came out in short, painful gasps for air, and it was pretty obvious to all of them that the white wolf was not moving anywhere by his own machine in a foreseeable future. Dark circles framed glossy eyes and his face was completely white except for the two red spots on his cheeks from the fever.

Tsume saw something crack in Kiba's normally so expressionless face, and to spare his friend the humiliation he called on Toboe. "Hey runt, I saw some weird plants over there, can you help me identify them. They're not medical herbs, are they?"

Toboe followed and Kiba was left with only Hige at his side. He sat quiet for a long time, long enough for Hige to get bored. Assuming Kiba did not want his company right now he stood up with the intention to join Tsume and Toboe, but before he could take that first step, Kiba's low voice stopped him.

"I'm useless, at this rate we will not be able to save Cheeza in time, you guys should just leave me here. Cheeza needs you more than I do," he muttered with a voice full of pain, guilt, and frustration. The last couple of days had not been easy for the strong and independent wolf, who was used to take care of himself and always look after his friends. He was the one that saved Tsume from the war machine that had him at aim. He was the one that liberated Hige from the cage when the wolves on the island handed him over to the humans. He was the one that took care of little Toboe's sore foot before they realised that Cheeza had healing powers. He was the one that protected Cheeza at all costs; he even took a bullet for her without any hesitation. He was not the one that had to depend on others to get by. At least not until now…

"Uh, what kind of stupid talk is that? After everything we've been through together?"

"But I…I am-"

"Just not used to being sick right? Hey Kiba, look at me, we are a pack remember? We look after each other; that's what a pack does. We're going to paradise and we're going there together, all of us. So I don't want to hear any more of this sulking, alright?"

After a moment a quiet, "thank you," was whispered out between two almost closed lips. Kiba looked up at Hige with the corner of his mouth pulled up into a faint smile. "You're a good friend Hige."

"Damn right I am, especially since it is my turn to carry your sorry ass. I was hoping I could avoid it but it does not seem very likely right now," Hige grinned widely before turning towards the others. "OH HOY, OVER THERE! If you two are finished looking at flowers, we would like to get going now!"

While the other two walked back to join them, Hige helped Kiba on his feet again. However, even though he said he would, he did not lift him up to carry him but simply stood next to Kiba, providing him with something to lean on.

"Kiba is this really wise? We could help you more," Toboe started, but was cut off short by the glare Kiba gave him and Hige's discrete headshake.

So they started walking, slowly this time. Letting Kiba set the speed. He breathed heavy and every single movement sent sharp jolts of pain through his ragged body. However, the white wolf was determined not to let that stop him. Nothing was more important than finding Cheeza; he couldn't care less about his own health.

They didn't get very far though, they had only been walking a few hundred meters when Hige felt Kiba starting to lean more and more on him, and it only took a few more steps before he could feel Kiba starting to go down on his knees again. He slowly put his now unconscious friend down on the ground with help from Toboe.

Tsume just stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, looking down on the rest and growling in annoyance.

"God, that guy is stupid. He'd rather kill himself than admit he needs help."

"Give him a break Tsume, you are pretty headstrong too, and he has had a rough few days," Hige defended.

"That does not make what I said less true. He'd rather run himself down even though he can barely stand than let us carry him. He'll kill himself if he keeps this up."

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Will you help us or not?" Hige replied dryly.

In the meantime Toboe, the smallest wolf with the best hearing picked up a weak sound coming towards them.

"Guys, shut up! I can hear something!" he was quiet for another moment before shining up, "It's a car! Someone is coming; we can ask them for help!"

"You're kidding right? Why would humans help us?" Tsume snorted condescendingly.

The car was getting closer and both Hige and Tsume tried to see it in the distance, preparing themselves for a fight if necessary but that proved to be a waste of energy. When the car pulled up next to the four wolves an excited Blue jumped out before the car had even come to a full stop. Hige's face lit up and he rushed to meet her.

"Blue?! O MY GOD! How? When? What happened to you?" He asked, stumbling on the words in his excitement and hugged her hard, as if to ensure himself that she was actually there.

"I have missed you guys, Cheeza and I was captured and transported away but somehow we crashed, I don't know why but I think it was a battle between Jagara's and Darcia's forces. Cher and Hubb found and freed us but Jagara ended up taking Hub and Cheeza so we have been traveling to Jagara's keep to find them again."

During Blues speech, Cher parked the car and got out; obviously a lot more uncertain in how she should greet the boys/wolves than her travel companion she hovered next to the car door and observed the wolves with vigilant eyes.

Toboe noticed this and greeted the blond woman with a warm smile. "Thank you for bringing Blue back to us, we are heading towards Jagara's Keep too. Let's go together!"

When Blue finally took her eyes of Hige, she found Kiba lying unconscious on the ground and Tsume hovering over him protectively.

"Kiba? What has happened? What's wrong with him?" She asked as she walked closer.

"We were attacked and Kiba got hurt, his wound's infected and he hurt his head too," Toboe explained. "We… are very worried; there is nothing we can do to help him so I wanted to take him to the humans. Because they usually know what to do when someone is ill," the young wolf continued with a worried look in his eyes.

Cher walked past him, ignoring Tsume's glare, and bent down next to the young man with messy dark hair. She leaned the back on her hand on his sweaty forehead to check his temperature and when she took the hand away she had a worried look on her face. She continued to examine the back of his head and then moved on to inspect the infected, deep wound on his left thigh and her beautiful features creased slightly in distaste as she faced the nasty wound. Pus oozed out of it when she pressed lightly and a sickening sweet smell spread around the improvised camp. Kiba whimpered quietly and twitched in his sleep, instinctively trying to pull his leg away from the examination when she put pressure on the wound but showed no other sign of consciousness.

"He is burning up, how long has it been since the attack?" She enquired upon finishing the inspection.

"Um… around two days," Toboe answered.

"He might be dehydrated. Has he been sick? When was the last time he had something to drink?"

"Yeah, he has been throwing up a few times, um… maybe a day or so? He has been unconscious most of the time so it's a bit hard to tell," Tsume offered, surprising the rest of the group. He quickly continued in a more Tsume like way though: "What's it to you? He's no friend of yours."

"Tsume!" Toboe called out, shocked.

"Be nice," Hige filled in, annoyed.

"I don't know what he is to you, but all I see is a badly hurt young boy who is in desperate need of medical attention. I have a limited knowledge of how to deal with this, but I do have a car which can take him to people that specialise in these sorts of things, and more importantly, some money that will buy him the care he needs. If you don't want my help though… well, the only one who will suffer is your friend," Cher explained without breaking eye contact with the grey wolf.

Tsumes only response was a low growl, both warning and daring her to keep pushing his buttons, but before the situation could go completely out of hand, Toboe and Blue stepped in between them.

"Yes Cher, we would really appreciate it if you could help us out," Blue said in an attempt to smooth over Tsume's rudeness at the same time as Toboe tried his best to calm Tsume down by saying that she was only trying to help Kiba…

After some organising, such as lowering the passenger seat so Kiba could at least half lie down and wrapping a blanket from the back of the car around him, they got going again. The group agreed that Cher would drive him to the nearest town and the others would meet them there when they caught up with them. Tsume however, refused to accept this plan, leaving his injured friend in the hands of a human? No way! So it was decided that Toboe would come with them, simply because he was the only one small enough to fit in the small trunk of the vehicle. Cher was driving with Kiba in the passenger seat and Toboe placed himself on the back of the pick-up designed car. The next town up ahead was still at least another half a day's drive away, so they were aiming to get there just after sunset.