And so, he was surprised when his daydreaming was interrupted not by a whine, but by and irritated voice calling out to him, "You don't honestly plan on staying there, do you?"
His gaze turned from the ceiling, slowly traveling down his walls, before resting upon the concerned face of his sister, flanked by Akamaru. He studied her for several minutes, daring her to speak again. When she didn't, he slowly gathered himself, sitting at the edge of the bed.
His habitual routine interrupted, Kiba stood and sauntered passed the both of them. The only one who followed him was his beloved companion, Akamaru.
Kiba walked passed all those who offered him a greeting, his mind set on a different location than usual.
Once he arrived there, he was not surprised to see Rock Lee crouched there, his fingers brushing against the cool stone. No one was with him, but that was to be expected. It was well passed the time for grieving, and although every ninja Sakura came in contact would remember her, most have moved on.
His usually silent footsteps became louder and louder as he approached the other boy, trying to break him from his daze. It was only when Kiba was besides the spandex-wearing male, and practically stomping, that Lee turned away from the stone to address his old friend, "Kiba-kun."
Kiba grunted his response and lowered himself to Lee's level. Despite the fact that the two usually paid their respects together when there at the same time, Lee stood and took his leave, shouldering passed Akamaru as he did so.
Kiba collapsed when the boy was out of sight, sitting instead of kneeling. His voice was hoarse with disuse, lacking the confidence it had once held, "Sakura-chan."
His fingers traced her name over and over again. Albeit he had not cried yet today, his tears did not flow beyond his glassy eyes. His voice was strained as he continued, "Sakura-chan. I never thought of how much I would miss you. But now you're gone, and now I must think of it every day. It has been so long since you walked among the world of Shinobi. What has it been, seven months?" Kiba paused for a second, as if waiting for an answer. When he did not receive one, he slowly nodded and tried to speak again, but no words came from his throat.
This was the first time he had ever spoken to the Memorial Stone without it having been a prayer, Kiba acknowledged. Ridding himself of these thoughts, he concluded that the person he was speaking to was special, and deserved to be treated as such.
His affections had been trained on Hinata for the longest time, but he was ignoring what was in front of him. Haruno Sakura, the girl who would comfort him on a whim if need be. Hinata Hyuuga would do the same, but not to the extent Sakura would.
He had never thought about it before she was promoted to ANBU Captain, but Kiba Inuzuka was harboring heavy feelings for the pink-haired girl. Now, he would have had no problem admitting he was in love with her, had she still graced him with her presence by being alive.
Kiba sighed heavily, still searching to find the words for his late friend. When he could not, he decided to speak his thoughts, "I wish you were here. I know a lot of people wish you were, and I will not say that I wish it the most," He glanced in the direction Lee had left. "But I miss you. A lot.
It's weird. You never quite grasp your feelings for a person until they're leaving, or already gone. Unfortunately, in my case, it's the latter. If you were still here, I would cherish you, Sakura-chan. If you didn't want to be with me, as I know before you left you were opposed to the idea of relationships, I would be fine with that. I would just want you to be happy. Alive, happy, and here."
Kiba's head dropped. He couldn't say anymore, his voice strangled by the lumps in his throat. He stopped staring at her name when he realized he could no longer read it, his tears blurring his vision.
He thought back to how he was before all this had happened. He had been so different, so at ease with life. His feelings were different, now, having his heart crushed so badly, he couldn't cut himself on the pieces if he tried, because they were pummeled to dust.
Sensing others around him, he slowly rose to his feet. The group around him was not there for Sakura, not there for him. He had heard that yet another mission led to the death of someone well known. He hadn't heard the name of the Shinobi, but he couldn't figure that he cared.
Walking away from the Memorial Stone, Akamaru by his side, Kiba wondered how he had let himself fall so far as to not only loose himself, but also to no longer feel aching when a comrade falls.