Chapter 36
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Sakura grabs her head as she wakes from her unconscious state. Sasuke and Naruto are each on one side of her bed as she hangs her head down. "I'm sorry I let you down guys. I'm a failure."
Naruto places his hand on her right shoulder, patting her back. "You did fine, even Kakashi-sensei said so."
Sasuke nods his head. "You took on Orochimaru. You beat a whole genin squad that were actually chuunin level with almost no chakra and then you took on another team of genin with us, and finally a one on one match with a dear friend. You did great Sakura."
Sakura smiles. "Really? Do you mean that Sasuke-kun?"
Sasuke nodded his head. "Hn,"
Naruto chuckles. "It seems you can only get one complement at a time from Sasuke-teme. But hey, you did amazing. You want to go see Juno, Naka and Sepro?"
Sakura nods her head. "Hai, how are they?"
Naruto scratches his head. "Err, I don't really know. I mean, I haven't seen them or gotten a report. Gramps said that Kiba's mom, the vet, found them in the forest after Gamakichi told her."
Sakura frowned. "What's going to happen to them? Ninja foxes are hated in Konoha, are our secrets out?"
Naruto shakes his head. "The Inuzuka clan has agreed to cover us by taking them in as their new units and the whole family has been sworn to complete secrecy."
Sakura frown turns into a smile. "Really?"
Naruto nods. "Hai, I guess them working with animals and being the village veterinarians has made them more friendly to animals, even foxes."
Sakura hops out of the bed. "Right, let's go."
"You sure you don't want to rest? I mean we could be randomly ambushed into another fight" Naruto asked calmly, smirking at the joke of their bad luck.
Sakura shook her head. "I really want to see Juno. She looked really upset when Naka was impaled."
Naruto sighed and nodded his head. "Hai, I want to see Naka too, and I'm sure Sasuke wants to see Sepro. Right?"
Sasuke nodded his head "Well let's go then."
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Kiba lets out a yawn as he waits outside the veterinary operating room, his heart lingering on a thread for Akamaru. "That bastard, how could he do that to Akamaru? He has no right to act like he understood me."
"But he has every right Kiba-kun." Said the soft, almost sweet, voice of a purple haired woman as she walked out of the operating room. "Akamaru will be fine. He had quite a few severe fractures, but because he was taken here before they got worse, he will make a full recovery."
Kiba face scowls. "How can you say he knows? He did that to Akamaru and you can't even blame him." Suddenly His mother smacked him across the face.
"Just because your opponent isn't fighting with a dog doesn't mean he doesn't have one." She said harshly, when she heard a knock. "Go get the door. I'm going to put Akamaru in the ICU, If you lose your temper again, I'm going to take Akamaru away from you." She said harshly, only to have Kiba nod his head.
"Hai, I'm sorry mom." He bowed to his mom who only sighed in response.
"I don't mean to be harsh on you Kiba-kun, but charging at him while he was only trying to help Akamaru was the stupidest thing you could have ever done. What would you have done if your Gatsuga had connected with the clone? How would you feel if you paralyzed Akamaru? Instead of blaming him you should thank him."
Kiba nods his head as he hears a harder knock on the door. "Now get the door Kiba-kun."
Kiba'a mom disappeared as he walked to the front door. "Hold your dogs, I'm coming." He said while reaching to open the door, only to be greeted by Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke when he had opened it.
"Kiba-san, is your mom home?" Naruto asked politely.
Kiba raises an eyebrow. "What's it too you dobe, she's busy with Akamaru."
Naruto hung his head. "Oh, well can you tell us about the status of three foxes that came in two days ago."
Kiba scowled. "No, now leave." Just about ready to slam the door in their face.
"KIBA!" Yelled his mother from behind him as she smacked him across the back of his head. "I'm sorry about my son Naruto-san, He's still upset over Akamaru, by the way Akamaru is recovering fine."
Naruto gave a bright smile. "I'm glad to here it, I honestly didn't mean to hit him so bad. I was just trying to escape his Gatsuga."
His mom nods. "I know Kurenai conjured up a genjutsu of the fight for me so I saw the whole thing."
"Inuzuka-san do you happen to know about Juno or Naka or even Sepro." Sakura asked, her fear driving her impatience.
Kiba's mom blinks for a moment. "…oh! The foxes, hai, The orange one is still in the ICU. His status isn't too good. The sword pierced his lung and the posion damaged his vital organs as well as broke his spine, The white one is suffering from a very severe case of negative chakra, but she is improving."
"Thank god." Sakura said with a sigh of relief.
"What about Sepro, the black one?" Sasuke requested in an urgent tone.
"His ribs are still recovering, his legs were badly damaged, but he will pull through just fine."
"Can I see Naka, he's the orange one? Please?" Naruto asked in a sad voice as he thought about all his time with Naka. To think that he still teetered on the edge of death left him feeling horrible.
Kiba's mom sighs. "Hai, I need to rest after pulling off the surgery on Akamaru. Kiba you better be on your best behavior and take them to their friends."
Kiba nodded his head. "Follow me." He said apathetically, still not sure what to truly think on the matter. He started feeling guilty, but he still felt angry. His mom was right, but it didn't change the fact that Naruto hurt Akamaru.
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Naruto scratched behind the unconscious Naka's ear. "You'll pull through in no time boy, just keep hanging in there."
Kiba raised an eyebrow as he looked at the three strongly. "What are these foxes to you guys? I thought they were wild."
Sakura strokes Juno's sleek fur. "They're our partners. Naka and Sepro got into a nasty fight with someone we can't talk about inside the forest of death. We truly thought they where going to die. I'm guessing Juno's the reason Naka is even alive." Juno snuggled against Sakura's hand, showing she was awake yet enjoying the petting.
Kiba looks down at Akamaru that was just a few kennels down. "Naruto...I'm sorry about earlier."
Naruto shrugs. "Eh, don't worry about it. I would have flipped out the same way if I was in your shoes."
Kiba as he walks up to Naruto. "Can we at least be friends."
Naruto nodded. "I'd like that."
Kiba sits down. "So tell me about your foxes. I'd like to hear about them."
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(AN: As a special for tonight and since this chapter is short I will post up another later tonight.
I'm still looking for someone willing to beta the first 30 chapters to lighten the load for my beta reader.
Um what to say... Read and Review, I've been reading every review submitted I enjoy reading them thanks everyone for responding.)