Chapter 7: Deep Thought

Hinata's eyes slowly opened, finding an almost painfully white ceiling above her. She heard a commotion going on around her, but couldn't make out any distinct words. She looked from side to side, noticing many medical ninja running around, frantically carting supplies or patients from one place to another. She couldn't really tell where because this was all through the room's door that she was seeing all this through. She turned her attention to the ceiling once more, trying to think of how she ended up in the hospital.

The bandit brought his sword down in a large arc, catching Hinata on the arm and knocking her off her feet. He raised the sword over his head, getting ready for a killing blow, when a figure appeared right in between them, blocking her from harm. "Try it, asshole!" Kiba screamed.

"You're dead, boy!" The bandit attacked, and got his neck snapped by Kiba. Hinata started to throw a kunai at another approaching bandit, but they were simply bouncing off his armor. By the time Kiba had turned to face him, the bandit's old and damaged sword had found its way into Kiba's lower chest.

Hinata's eyes flew open. She jumped out of bed, a sharp pain coursing through her arm as she landed. She ignored it and ran out of her room. Her injury was minor, but Kiba was dying. She ran to the intensive care facility in the south wing of the hospital, only to be stopped by two medical ninja. "Hold on, there are a number of surgeries going on back here. We can't let you in." one of them stated.

"Inuzuka Kiba," Hinata started, trying to catch her breath and holding her arm, still throbbing. "Do you know his condition?"

"Inuzuka is currently in critical condition" The other medic reported. "He isn't expected to survive the surgery."

"Did you want to know about the other patients?" the first one asked.

Hinata's head dropped. She weakly shook her head. "Do you know what room he'll be in when he's out of surgery?"

The medics looked to each other, and the first one nodded. "Yeah. He'll be in room S-107" the second medic said. "If he survives, he should be there in about an hour."

Hinata started to walk away, toward that room. She made sure to carefully stay close to the wall so she wouldn't bump into anyone or get in anyone's way on her way. It didn't take her long to find the room, so she quietly entered, shut the door behind her, and sat in the chair to wait for Kiba to get in. True to the medics' word, Kiba was carried into the room by stretcher almost exactly an hour later. Hinata hadn't moved an inch, and the medics carrying Kiba almost hadn't noticed her when they transferred him to his bed. One turned to her when she spoke to them. "How is he? Tell me the truth."

The medic shook his head. "Ruptured spleen, ruptured liver, damaged small intestine, and collapsed left lung. It wouldn't have been so bad if the sword had been taken care of, but the jagged edge left splinters of steel in his body. We've done all the repair we can, but it'll be a miracle if he makes it through the night."

Hinata simply nodded and the medics left the room. Kiba lay there, in his bed, his upper body covered in bandages, with a hideous grimace on his face. The pain was enough to affect him even in unconsciousness. Hinata scooted her chair over right next to his bedside, simply staring at him. Suddenly, Kurenai burst into the room. "Kiba?"

"Sensei." Hinata greeted.

"Hinata! What are you doing in here? Shouldn't you be in your room, recovering?"

"My… my arm's fine. I just had to know how he was. He saved my life."

Kurenai nodded. "How is he?"

Hinata shook her head. "They don't think he'll make it through the night. He has a lot of internal damage."

The sensei grabbed a chair from the opposite side of the room and brought it over next to Hinata. She sat down next to her. "I'm sure he will. Kiba's strong. Or at least he should be after all those push ups." Hinata continued to look at Kiba, showing no notice of Kurenai's joke. "Well, I know he told you how he feels about you. Is that why you came here?"

Hinata shook her head. "No. I've always considered Kiba a friend, and he protected me when I needed it. I just need to see him through this. I can't loose him, he's always treated me like family."

Kurenai smiled a little. "But you're not sure how you feel about him."

"No. I certainly love him, as I love Neji and Hanabi. And maybe a dream or something has come to me about him in more that a friendly way, but I've always been so caught up in Naruto that I've never even considered anyone else. Not even Kiba."

"Are you sure? How many dreams have you had about Naruto?"

Hinata looked up to her sensei. "Um, I'm not sure. I can't really remember."

"And how many dreams have you had about Kiba?" Kurenai turned to look at Hinata.

Hinata finally took her eyes off of Kiba and looked at Kurenai, but didn't meet her eyes. A blush formed on her cheeks. "I don't know."

"Do you know you talk in your sleep?" Kurenai asked. Hinata's eyes went wide. "I'd say the dreams you've had in the recent months have been more about Kiba than anything else. And you know it." Hinata's blush turned from a soft pink to a deep crimson. "And if the 'Please Kiba, more' you always mutter in your sleep isn't enough of a clue…"

Hinata's entire face went red. Her hands came up to her chest and her fingers touched. "S… sensei…"

"So I'm not entirely convinced that you love Kiba the same way you love Neji and Hanabi, unless your home life is even more twisted than you tell us it is…" A tear rolled down Hinata's cheek. Kurenai lost her smile almost instantly. "Um, I didn't really mean to upset you, Hinata…"

Hinata jumped out of her chair and held Kurenai around the waist. "I… I don't know what I'll do if I… if I lose him, sensei…" The tears were pouring down Hinata's face as she sobbed into Kurenai's clothes. "He's always been there for me…"

"I know. I've been watching you two for a while. You two always did compliment each other really well." Kurenai put her arm around Hinata's shoulders. "You'd be surprised of the number of times Kiba's thanked the powers that be that you're on his team."

Hinata looked up to Kurenai, eyes wide and tears still streaming down her face. "He has?"

"You know you're the reason he kept on trying to become stronger, right?" Hinata shook her head. "I think his exact words were 'I have to get stronger. Hinata's getting so powerful, I have to keep up. I'll always be there for her, so I have to be at least as strong as her.' He's loved you for a while now. He never did anything because of Naruto."

Hinata let go of Kurenai and turned back to Kiba. "He… he said all that?"

"I guarantee it." Kurenai stood up and brushed her hair back with her hand. "Well, I just wanted to check up on the two of you. I'm sure Shino'll be in later on today to check on the two of you too." She turned around and started to walk out the door. "Take care of yourself, and take care of him Hinata."

Hinata didn't turn around to see her teacher depart, she simply nodded. "Yes sensei." Hearing her teacher leave, Hinata leaned forward and rested her chin on Kiba's bed. "Please be all right, Kiba." With Kiba in front of her, alive and breathing, she relaxed a bit and allowed sleep to overcome her, the whole ordeal of the day exhausting her.

The Inuzuka family grave wasn't all that large or impressive, but it certainly crated the right atmosphere. Kiba's body lay in his coffin, right above his burial spot, placed next to his uncle. Kiba's sister, his parents, Shino, Kurenai, and Hinata were the only people present. Of all of them, Hinata was the only one in tears, though Kiba's mother and sister, as well as Kurenai, looked close. Shino and Kiba's father simply sat in reverential silence. The sun shown down on the group, the wind blew gently, and the birds chirped happily in the sky. After a moment, Shino broke the silence. "Kiba would have liked this."

Kiba's sister nodded. "Yeah. It's a beautiful day."

Kurenai stood up, walked over to Kiba, and lay flowers on his chest. That's when the tears cam out. Kurenai simply collapse on the ground. "I'm sorry, Kiba. I should have been a better teacher for you."

Hinata simply looked to the ground. "Kiba, I'm sorry." Her voice was no more than a whisper. "I should have given up on Naruto from the beginning." She got up, and walked over to Kiba's grave. Leaning over, she gave him a quick kiss, a tear falling on his cheek. "I love you, Kiba."

"As long as you know." Shino said softly. He had walked up next to Hinata. "Now all we have to do is wait."

Hinata tried to look up to Shino, but found her body not wanting to move. Everything started to fade out, until all that was left was black.

"You should really stop talking in your sleep, Hinata." Shino put his arm on Hinata's shoulder as she started to open her eyes. "You certainly have interesting dreams."

Hinata's eyes flew open and her head jolted up. Kiba was sleeping soundly in the bed, still breathing, and seeming to be in less pain than before. "Thank god."

"What happened in the dream?"

Hinata's eyes dimmed, and her head lowered back down. "Kiba died."

"And so you know how you feel about him now?"

She shook her head. "I do love him, I just don't know how I love him. I… I can't base my future on a dream…"

Shino took a seat in the chair that Kurenai had left behind. "Well, that's a relief. I was afraid I was gonna have to convince you of that." He let lose one of his rare smiles. "Well, Kiba won't be fully healed for a while. You have time to consider your feelings."

"Um, the doctors said he might not last through the night…" Hinata's voice grew very quiet at the end of her sentence.

"He'll make it. He has you here with him." Shino stood back up. "He'll hang on, he has something to live for."

"I wish I could be sure." Hinata's head hung down. "I know it seems like I don't have any confidence in him, but his injuries are bad. He really is in pain."

Shino shook his head. "He'll pull through. He was injured worse from his fight with those sound ninja who kidnapped Sasuke so long ago. He was injured worse in that seek-and-capture mission we did against the Hidden Village of Rock. Both times, he told me that it was you who pulled him through."

Hinata's eyes came up and met Shino's. "Wha…"

Shino gave out another smile. "Oh, even if you didn't know, the mere thought of seeing you again kept him going. He's been like that for a few years now."

She looked back to Kiba. "Why didn't he ever say anything?"

"He couldn't. You were still obsessed with Naruto."

Hinata looked back to the ground. "I'm still not sure what's going on inside me. It feels like I know where I should be, but I'm not there. I feel lost."

"As are we all." Shino put his hand on Hinata's back. "Don't worry, you have a bit of time to figure this all out. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere I need to be."

"Another date?" Hinata asked.

"Well, being as I know that Kiba'll pull through, I don't feel any need to worry."

"Still seeing that Sakuya girl?"

"No, I'm going out with Ayame from that ramen place Naruto likes so much tonight."

Hinata let a small smile show through. "I envy you. You're always so confident of yourself."

"No I'm not. I just believe that if I'm going to do something, I should do it instead of hesitating. As you say, 'that's my way of the ninja.'"

Hinata looked up just in time to see Shino shutting the door behind him. "I wish I were like that." She looked back to Kiba's prone form. "I can't just rely on my feelings to show me the way, I have to make a decision. And I want to love Kiba as much as I can." Hinata swallowed the lump growing in her throat, sat up straight, and opened her eyes wide. "From this day forward, I'm Kiba's girlfriend. I'll wait for him to wake up, but until then, I'll take care of him as best I can."