The hospital was incredibly cold.

Sakura doubted the temperature was the only reason as to why she was shivering.

She was not sure of exactly how much time had passed since they had managed to dig Kiba and Fū out of their hiding place. She just knew that she and Chouji, along with Akamaru, Alpha, and his enforcers were now sitting in the barren and desolate waiting room of Konoha's Children's Hospital.

Alpha had managed to weasel his way between the legs of the chair she was sitting on and now lay on the tiles below her. She had pulled her legs up beneath her in a feeble attempt to warm herself somewhat, even in the extreme cold she was inside. Akamaru and Chouji were seated to her left, with Akamaru curled up on his lap. And Alpha's enforcers were on either side of them, silent protectors of their group.

If not for the fact that she was shivering in fear at the savage skills of the monsters that had attacked Kiba, she would be comforted to know that the strays cared so much about them that they refused to leave them alone after something this horrible had happened.

The waiting room was an unfeeling place. There was always a hummed chatter from the hospital's staff, but it felt almost inhuman how emotionless even that sounded. Aside from them, there was no one in the waiting room anymore. Some time ago, a civilian and her infant son had been in here- she had looked exhausted and the child had been unable to go more than five heartbeats without coughing violently. But they had been tended to and disappeared. There was also a receptionist towards the left corner of the broad room, but she was clacking away at her typewriter and could only be bothered by a new patient's arrival.

Towards the right end of the room, there was the entrance to this area. Eventually, the doors opened once again, allowing a small wave of hot air to infiltrate the frigid waiting area before they closed again. Sakura didn't pay any attention to this, though. It was probably another distraught mother at her wits end with her only child.

Kiba could have died. Fū could have died.

Tonight they could have lost two members of their pack... and they didn't even know why.

From what had happened tonight, it was clear to see that her pack members had been targeted by their attacker... well, she didn't even know for sure if the evidence pointed towards one or more attackers. She barely knew any details of what had happened. All that she knew was that two people of her pack had been attacked and their attackers had been savages.

She was sure that if the Old Man were here, he would be scolding them over their subpar reactions to what had happened. They were supposed to be training to become ninja, after all. And they couldn't just shut down whenever someone from their pack was attacked. They were supposed to be preparing themselves mentally and physically for the worst the world could throw at them.

A minute, barely perceptible, voice in the back of her head whispered insidious thoughts... it tried to convince her of her parents having a reason to want to pull her out of the ninja academy... but Sakura refused to listen to it.

Her pack needed her. She couldn't be a coward if she wanted to protect those closest to her.

"Damn. How old are they again?"

Sakura blinked her eyes as her consciousness forced her to once again ground herself in reality. And when she finally focused her mind on the image her eyes were transmitting, she found two male shinobi standing over her and Chouji.

Alpha's growling was low and rather subdued, but it was enough to let these men know that they were not welcome.

"How should I know, Shiranui?"

The one on the left had sandy brown hair that was covered by a blue bandana- his hitai-ite was sewn into the front of said garment. His face was angular, his skin average, and his eyes... they were a warm brown that only spoke of home. This man seemed kind. The one on the right had silver hair that defied gravity, the bottom half of his pale face was covered up by a blue mask, and his only visible eye... this eye, so gray it could be mistake for black, felt cold.

Even though they were dressed in identical shinobi uniform, there was no doubt in Sakura's mind that the man on the right was one that didn't actually care about her and her pack.

"Can't be old enough to be genin." the kind looking man nodded to himself after a few seconds of silence, then crouched so he was perched on the fronts of his feet so he was able to look at Sakura directly in her eyes. "I brought a blanket for you both. You're so into your own minds you didn't even notice when I threw them on. Is there anything you'd like to talk about?"

She blinked once again- mind working to process what her ears had heard. Then she slowly moved her head to the right, catching sight of a thick gray blanket strewn over her shoulder.

"Oh... Thank you." her whisper felt numb, even to her own ears.

Dumbly she brought her hands up to grab onto the ends of the blanket, then pulled it tighter against her body. When she looked back at the kind eyed man, it was to find him smiling.

"My name's Genma Shiranui and this is Kakashi Hatake." he pointed over at the man with the cold eyes then motioned in the direction that Kiba had been taken in so he could be treated. "We're here to help. Your dog doesn't have to keep growling at us to stay away."

Alpha's growling had not stopped. Soft as it may have been, he had kept it up the whole time. And when Sakura glanced down at the floor, she found his two enforcers sat up and alert.

"Kiba almost died." she managed to make out past the lump in her throat. "We're scared."

To her left, she heard Chouji sniffle.

She didn't have any tears left to cry anymore. Not after all she had sobbed in the night. But maybe Chouji still had some left in his system.

Akamaru whined softly and she felt his paw on her shoulder. When she glanced over at him, he found that he was looking at her intently... and then she looked at both human males and finished up nodding.

She could infer that he was trying to tell her that these humans could be trusted.

Sakura nodded at the puppy and then looked back at the kind eyed man.

The one eyed man... he still made her feel off.

"How are you going to help us?"


Chouza Akimichi was caught in an incredibly uncomfortable position.

"That child is Takigakure's missing Jinchūriki. Kiba was attacked because he was protecting her from someone trying to catch her."

He remained quiet even as Ibiki Morino and Inoichi contemplated the situation regarding the little girl currently sat in the middle of the interrogation room. From their spot outside of the room, the only way they could see her was through the one-way mirror into the room. And what Chouza could see made his heart twist because of his overactive empathy.

She had pulled her knees up to her chest and grabbed on tightly to the gray blanket she had been given. Even though she had been allowed to wash up before being placed within this room, her cheeks were still stained with the tears she had cried well after she had been left alone.

This was a child that was alone and confused- she had all the right in the world to be scared.

All he wanted to do was go into the room and offer her some sort of reassurance. He wanted to tell her that she had done nothing wrong- Kiba may have gotten hurt, but they were facing enemies so much stronger than them; she had survived and that was the most important part.

But he could not and would not do that. While a strict protocol to deal with this specific situation had never even been contemplated, there were still guidelines to adhere to. And Fū of Takigakure was one of the most dangerous children from outside the village to even have within their walls.

Before they could even begin to think about what to do with the girl and her attackers, they first needed to figure out how in the world she had even managed to runaway from her actual home and then enter Konohagakure without anyone noticing.

"These children... there are more questions than answers when it pertains to them." Inoichi breathed out as he crossed his arms over his chest. "What is their connection with this Jinchūriki?"

Ibiki grunted, just as lost as the rest of them were.

Chouza breathed out softly and felt the weight of his age settle on his shoulders.

He loved his son. He loved his son's friend. He would give the world to them if he could.

But he wasn't able to stop them from getting hurt tonight.

"It has to be one of strong friendship." he murmured, "Kiba's tough. But I don't think he would have put up a fight like this for someone he didn't care for."

He didn't want to say it; still needlessly self-conscious over the social stigma that many Inuzuka traditions were met with. But he knew that there was only one way to describe the kind of friendship that would have pushed Kiba to fight so hard for this girl: Pack.

"She hasn't said a word since Lord Chouza found her and Kiba. I don't think we're going to be receiving any answers from her." Ibiki sighed regretfully.

Inoichi smiled in a reassuring manner that always managed to soothe a little bit of Chouza's worries. This was the smile he would wear whenever a situation was dire, but he wanted to keep others calm. This was a smile Chouza appreciated with all of his heart.

"Genma's good with kids."


Genma Shiranui had been one of his father's old students. Chouji didn't really know him all that well- they hadn't even had a reason to talk to each other before. But if his father ever mentioned him in conversation, it was usually always with kind regards.

Having him here after everything that had happened... well, it let Chouji know that his father's judgement on the man weren't misguided.

"We're here to figure out who attacked your friends and why." he smiled as he sat down on the floor in front of them. "Kakashi's a tracker- one of the best Konoha has. We've got a lead to follow through scent because of Bull."

"Bull?" Sakura parroted and Chouji noticed the large dog to his left shift.

"He likes running around with this gang of strays."

These were Kakashi Hatake's first words to them.

Admittedly... they threw Chouji for a loop.

The black bulldog barked once, turning to look behind him so he could talk to Akamaru. The pup, in turn, jumped out of Chouji's lap and onto the larger dog's head, beginning to bite at his ear.

Genma chuckled.

Chouji could only stare in stupefaction.

"So... you've... been spying on us?"

His throat scratched him as he spoke and his words sounded not quite right. But he soon cleared his throat in an attempt to not sound as sad as he was. He was curious, after all. And maybe urging Genma Shiranui to explain himself would give him something to distract himself with.

"Not at all. Kakashi didn't even know that the strays he hung out with were your strays until tonight." the man explained as he crossed his legs beneath him.

Upon hearing this, Akamaru's onslaught on the bulldog's ear slowed. He keened in a curious intonation and Kakashi Hatake breathed out in utter boredom.

"He insisted he was sworn to secrecy. I like giving my pack their independence." as the man said this, he crossed his arms over his chest. "The dog you call Gaki- he managed to snag pieces of cloth that belong to the clothes of two of the attackers."

Chouji felt himself slowly lose some of the heaviness that came over him. It wasn't by much. But he now felt somewhat... relieved.

They had a lead!

Bull barked at Akamaru once. And the pup growled back down at him, bit his ear one final time, and finally he settled himself on top of Bull's head. Chouji wasn't sure, but he believed both of them had shared their own conversation while the humans had been speaking. And from Akamaru's actions, it seemed that he had decided to forgive Bull. Possibly. He wasn't very sure.

"Wait, if you've got a lead, why aren't you chasing after them right now?" Sakura's voice had taken on a much more urgent tone now- it seemed that this news had also brought a sense of relief into her.

They hadn't been able to help Kiba when he had needed them. But now someone had the chance to find the jerks that had hurt him!

Sakura's words stirred something within him that made him blurt out, "You've got to catch them!"

Kakashi's glare froze any passion that tried to stir within him in a matter of seconds.

Genma Shiranui chuckled softly and shook his head. "His pack's started on it, don't worry. We'll catch those ba-monsters."

Chouji stared at the man... and decided that he truly was kind.

"But we have to be very careful. You kids..." he hissed out, wincing ever so slightly in what looked to be genuine regret. "well, this situation is incredibly complicated. And it's not just because of those that attacked you."

That... didn't sound good.

"Why?" he prodded quickly, "why is this complicated?"

Genma frowned softly, "That girl that was attacked along with Kiba- she's not from this Village. And we have reason to believe that they were attacked because of her."

His eyes widened and his breath caught within his throat.

He heard Sakura gasp to his right.

"Genma, stop beating around the bush." Kakashi growled in a sudden fit of clear impatience, "We need answers and the longer you coddle these brats, the harder it'll be to deal with this damn situation."

The coldness of his voice... it made Chouji recoil.

This man... while Genma Shiranui was nothing but kind... Kakashi Hatake... well, Chouji didn't know how he would describe him.

Wait, no, he did.

He was a lot like the Old Man!

Chouji blinked at this realization.

He was clearly not in the mood for wasting time- Kuzu barely ever was. He was driven to complete a single goal and wasn't eager to stray from it. Kuzu only accomplished his goals.

But unlike Kuzu, Chouji didn't feel any kind of comfort radiating from this man. There was no reluctant warmth he was trying to cover up. There wasn't a clear indicator of care within his eyes.

It was jarring... and... it made Chouji wish for Kuzu's fast return.

The Old Man would know what to do. And he would hunt down Kiba's and Fū's attackers and make them pay. And then everything would be fine because everything the Old Man did, he did right.

He closed his eyes when the tears threatened to return.


They only knew her name from the files they had on Takigakure. She hadn't even told them that much.

Ibiki could not truly fault the girl for not being particularly chatty. Not only had she been attacked by two unknown assailants, but one of her friends had been wounded in action- undoubtedly, the Inuzuka that had gotten injured had been trying to protect her from any harm.

They needed answers, though. And they needed them soon.

Having her in Konoha was a matter of absolute danger for their Village. Even though Takigakure's warring ways had subsided with the passage of time, an affront like having their resident Jinchūriki suddenly appear within Konohagakure would be an offense they would not take lightly. It did not matter that Konoha had been innocent for once, Takigakure would have to retaliate.

Keeping her was dangerous.

But it wasn't as if they could allow the girl to leave now. Not after she had been attacked on Konoha soil... by Konoha assailants. That would just stir up another controversy in the world... Konoha couldn't even control their own shinobi?

No... now they were caught between a rock and a hard place because of this child.

The only thing they could do for now was bide their team and collect as much information as they could from her and the other children connected to her; all the while they searched for whoever had attacked her.

Ibiki's heart wrenched when he saw her shoulders begin to shake noticeably. It didn't take an expert in human behavior to know that the little girl was crying once again.

"This is brutal." Inoichi murmured beside him. "She's so young."

Ino's age- no doubt about it. Inoichi was undoubtedly seeing a reflection of his own daughter in this girl; he was empathetic to a fault at times.

He sighed softly as he uncrossed his arms.

Inoichi, much like Lord Chouza, was here because they could be trusted- not because they could make any decisions in this situation. The Yamanaka was no longer the Head of T&I and his being here was mostly to have him around for his expertise. He wasn't to act. The Hokage had made it very clear that he wanted neither Chouza or Inoichi dealing with the little girl.

As the standing Head of T&I, though, Ibiki could make decisions. And he decided that he wasn't about to leave this girl isolated any longer.

When he stepped into the interrogation room, her sniffling halted. But she didn't look up at him.

The large man sighed and slowly made his way towards the table. Then he audibly pulled the chair out, groaning loudly as he sat down in front of the girl.

After a few seconds of waiting in silence, he saw two bright eyes peek over the top of knees that were pressed tightly together. The girl didn't say anything, just stared at him with distrust and wariness more than clear in her wide eyes.

He didn't smile; he'd lived through enough bad moments in which people mistook his smile for a sneer to know that a girl in this state wouldn't take the expression well. But he looked back at the girl, waiting patiently for her to begin the conversation. He wanted her to understand that she had full control of this situation, after all.

Eventually, curiosity won over wariness and the girl asked him his name. He told her his full name, then let her know his job in Konoha. Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly at this, and then she asked, "What do you want from me?"

Ibiki shrugged, "What do you want to tell me?"

She moved her head now, lifting it enough to allow Ibiki to see her full face. And now he could see her lips pursed. "How's Kiba?"

Ah... that was sweet. And worrying.

Inoichi was correct. These kids were more than just friends. Possibly, this girl was even part of the Inuzuka's pack.


His arm was numb. Whatever chemical they had pushed into him certainly did its job well.

Now that he was awake, Kiba was reminded as to how much he hated hospitals. Not just because of how cold and uncaring they were; but also because, for the longest time, they had taken all of his father's time.

Even though he now understood exactly why it was that his father was always stuck in a hospital... Kiba still couldn't shake off the feeling of spite that surged within him whenever he was made to think of this horrible place.

Honestly, the only redeeming quality about the hospital was that their job was to cure people.

In this blindingly white hospital room, all Kiba could think about was everything and anything under the sun he could regret.

First of all, being in this horrible place was only serving to remind him about how horrible of a son he had been to his father. When his father had still been alive, Kiba had resented him a lot. He had resented his family. They were always too busy to deal with him. Not just his parents, but Hana too. None of them ever seemed to make time for him... and Kiba had allowed this reality to blind him to the fact that his father had tried to do things for him. He had been blind to everything his father tried to do to get close to him when he had still been alive... and he had not tried to grow close to his own father because of this.

He had been a horrible son. And he knew that even though he wasn't as wild as he had once been, his mother still did not have an easy time taking care of him... when she wanted to try, that was. After his father's death, his mother and sister had both become colder towards him. But... well, he had his pack now. He didn't mind their absence as much anymore.

Second of all... he regretted how he had acted when he was younger. Not just towards his father. But also towards the people he was now close to. Even though he was aware that one of the main reasons why his life now was what it was lay in the fact that he had ever refused to take no as an answer when he was younger... he knew that he had much to regret.

If Sakura and Chouji had been less patient with him... he never would have found his pack. He would still be alone.

If he were alone... he would have nothing in his life.

The Old Man had warned them on many occasions- the more people you cared about, the stronger you had to become to be able to protect them. And he had always insisted that Kiba didn't take his training seriously- he saw life as a game and didn't understand just how high the stakes would become when he got older.

Last, yet worst of all... Kiba regretted not having taken the Old Man's words at face value for what they were- a highly accurate prediction.

If he had been stronger, he would have been able to stand up to their attackers. He would have been able to help Fū to fight, rather than flee as they had done. If only he had taken the Old Man seriously...

Kuzu had been a jerk this whole time, but he had been a jerk with a reason.

Just like with his father's attempts, Kiba had been blind to Kuzu's intentions.

He was so dense... and now he was starting to learn how dangerous that could be.

Tears began to sting at his eyes as frustration built up within him- if only he had been better!

A quick series of knocks on his door broke him out of his thoughts; but not his mood.

"Who is it?" he called, wincing slightly when his voice cracked because of the tears currently trying to fall down his cheeks.

He wasn't about to cry, though. He refused to. He hadn't earned the right.

"It's Hatake." the muffled reply came, and Kiba sighed.

Of course it was him.

Ever since his father died, the last Hatake had been hanging around his mother more often. If not for the fact that he was yet another person that didn't really understand him, Kiba would admit that it was nice his mother at least had a friend in her life she could never run off by being overbearing and controlling. The only person outside of the Inuzuka that understood their clan was the only living Hatake.

"C'min." he grunted, crossing his arms over his chest.

The door opened and a slew of scents flew inside of his room. And he immediately perked up when he smelled his pack's scents, sitting up on the bed so he could get a good look at his best friends.

Hatake stepped in first, followed by Chouji, Akamaru, and Sakura and a tokubetsu jounin Kiba had seen around the village a few times. His friends were swaddled in thick looking blankets, but he didn't pay much attention to that fact. What he cared most about was the haunted looks currently on his friend's faces... and how he wanted to do everything in his power to make those looks disappear.

"Kiba. Shiranui and I are here to ask a couple of questions about what happened tonight and your Takigakure friend." Hatake spoke in a business monotone that almost had Kiba growling.

This was just another job to the fucker!

Kiba sneered, but stopped himself from growling at the Hatake.

He needed to learn to control his own stupid emotions if he wanted the Old Man to believe he had changed. And he needed to control his emotions with everyone.

The sandy haired man with the bandanna covering his head stepped forward with a soft smile on his lips. "We need to understand what, exactly, the girl from Taki was doing with you. It might explain why you two were attacked. And understanding motive will be a good place to begin tracking your attackers."

Hatake didn't care about this mission and Shiranui was treating them like children.

Kuzu was right. Konoha was hopeless.

But Kiba frowned.

What they were asking for...

He looked towards his pack and narrowed his eyes, "Give me five minutes to talk with my pack. We need to make a decision before we tell you anything."

Hatake sighed insufferably, Shiranui pursed his lips, and both of his friends looked at him in disbelief.

He didn't understand why those two were so taken aback; they had made a promise, after all. And if there was one thing an Inuzuka didn't do, it was break a promise. Loyalty and honor were tenants of his clan; he wasn't about to forsake those tenants just because it would make an investigation easier.

"Five minutes?"

It didn't surprise Kiba that the adults would give in to his wishes. He was surprised, though, to find that it was Hatake to decide this rather than Shiranui.

"Kakashi, are you sure?"

"Yeah. I know the Inuzuka well enough to know that when they want to discuss something with their pack, it's impossible to talk them out." he sighed, then turned one lazy glare onto Kiba. "Five minutes."

Kiba nodded.

It wasn't a lot of time to discuss everything they needed to discuss... but it was enough time to come to a decision about what they needed to do.


He had left while the Konoha fucktard's investigated the area where the attack had taken place.

Aside from not being a complete monster, he also wasn't a complete idiot. Kakuzu maybe wouldn't believe it. But he certainly was aware of the danger he could run into if he was caught snooping around this area while Konoha natives worked on figuring out a mystery.

So he had decided that he would run his own small investigation of at least the destroyed tree house after Konoha had finished up. In the meantime, he busied himself by going into the Village and buying a hotel room for himself. With a simple henge and a quick change of clothes, he was able to look like a regular, brown haired and dark eyed, civilian. And he had absolutely no issue in talking his way into the mostly booked hotel with a quick sob story about having lost most of his belongings to a bandit attack outside of the Village's Gates.

As dawn began to rise, Hidan made his way back into the Forest of Death and towards the remains of the shattered treehouse. At this time, there were no ninja left in the area and he could take all the time in the world he wanted to make a full sweep himself.

He wouldn't take a long time, though, just in case someone decided to come back for some missed information.

There were quite a few questions swimming around in his head at the moment. But the most important one at the moment was one he knew he would get the answer to by speaking directly with the children that had built this treehouse: how the fuck in this Jashin-damned world did you end up even meeting that fucking monster brat?

From the way the rubble of what was once a treehouse still seemed mostly messed up, it seemed that the Konoha ninja had not been able to go over the remains with a fine-tooth comb. That undoubtedly meant they would be coming back sooner rather than later. And that meant Hidan needed to get a move on and find whatever he could before he ran the risk of getting caught snooping in this area.

He made his way towards the rubble, kicking up wooden planks every now and again to see if there might be anything interesting he might find underneath. But when he found only more rubble, he moved on and repeated the motion. Honestly, he didn't know if he would even find anything more interesting than ordinary children's toys.

But if he was going to return to the organization- eventually, in a few months, maybe, if his curiosity about this situation was sated by then-, he would need to report about his own actions. And if he didn't at least half ass looking at the treehouse remains, he would have to hear that infidel's screeches of disdain over not having done a proper job of tracking the Jinchūriki's movements.

For the next few minutes, the Jashinist went about overturning wood, finding random little toys and trinkets from the children that had used this place every now and then. Nothing worthwhile, honestly. He was about to call it quits after a few minutes of sifting through the wreckage, sure that what he had done was enough to convince the heretic of a job done well enough.

It was as he was going to step away from the outer edges of the rubble that a stray, dull ray of rising sunshine glinted off of something that reflected it. This immediately caught his eye and he turned to look at what had reflected... there seemed to be a wooden picture frame embedded in the ground, a small bit of glass clear enough from the dirt around to catch the barely perceptible sunlight.

So he made his way towards the object, brushed at the glass, and then pulled the frame out. It was a picture frame. There were two brats in the forefront of the image, and a small white dog was perched on top of the pink haired girl's head. The fat kid was smiling at both of them. There was a small tan smudge at the upper right part of the picture- probably some idiot's finger.

The two children were smiling broadly, shoulder to shoulder, at the edge of a river. They were covered in dirt, scratches, and the girl seemed to have a healed cut on her upper right arm. From the drenched look of their clothes but lack of water on their skin, it seemed they had dried off barely before taking the picture. In all, it was a standard picture from some outing in a river. Civilians would call this cute. Hidan would call it ordinary.

He was about to drop it back onto the ground when he noticed a dark shadow in the background of the picture- so dark that it was jarring in the bright and happy atmosphere the picture had been taken.

His eyes narrowed as he tried to look at the form.

The kids' big heads were in the way... but if he strained his eyesight enough, he could see the roots of a tree on the ground near the shadow. It seemed to be leaning against a tree that wasn't in the picture.

Hmm... The shadows cast by the trees over this person were almost enough to obscure them completely.

Almost.

A frenzied smile slowly began to form on his lips- his eyes widening as they were able to catch one beautifully damning detail on the cloak the darkened form was wearing.

"Well, well... my mission just got more exciting."

A traitor? Within the Akatsuki?

Pure gold.


Kiba wasted no time in talking after the two adults were gone.

What he said left a sour taste in Sakura's mouth.

"We're going to have to tell them about Kuzu." he sighed heavily as he closed his eyes, all the while Akamaru jumped onto his bed and began to make his way towards him. "We can't realistically explain Fū without him. And we can't come up with a lie good enough to fool the Hatake's nose."

Chouji shifted beside her, "Are you sure, Kiba? Kuzu's... well, he's our biggest secret."

Sakura frowned.

Were they seriously thinking about this? Were they actually contemplating telling those men about their Old Man?

Her eyes narrowed at the ground as her chest tightened.

Of course they were considering this. Kiba and Fū had gotten attacked and they still didn't know why. They were attacked within their treehouse, inside of the Forest of Death! Someone was out to get either Kiba or Fū and they didn't even know how to begin understand why.

Kiba growled within his throat, but breathed in. Then he exhaled heavily, before saying, "I have no idea why we were attacked. And... even though I wanna say we can figure this mystery out by ourselves... I know we'd be in way over our heads. Our attackers..." his voice faltered and he stopped talking.

He didn't have to say anymore. Sakura understood more than well enough what he couldn't bring himself to speak.

Their attackers had been monsters. And trying to find them might mean certain death for them. This was a job would not be able to handle right now. And they couldn't wait to get stronger so they could handle the job. They might risk someone getting attacked again.

They needed an adult's help.

But Sakura didn't think that the Konoha adults were the right people to ask.


Sakura was quiet. Kiba was choking on his sadness. All Chouji wanted was to fix this. But he couldn't fix this. Not now.

"Then we'll just tell them as little as possible. We don't have to explain everything about Kuzu to get them to understand our connection to Fū." he finally spoke after the silence became too much for him to bear. "And we don't have to-"

"Chouji." Kiba interrupted him and he immediately stopped talking to hear his best friend. "Even if we don't tell them now, we'll have to tell them eventually. They'll want to know."

Kiba scooped Akamaru up into the arm he could move and brought him close to his chest. Then he just hugged the pup, all the while Akamaru cuddled up to his partner.

Chouji was left absolutely awestruck. There was no fire in Kiba's words. There was only grudging resignation. And... did he dare say? There sounded to be an undertone of fear.

"The gig's up, guys. It was fun while it lasted, but we're stepping into territory too dangerous for just us. If we want to find out who attacked us, we're going to need help."

The Akimichi felt his chest tighten when he noticed how absolutely small Kiba looked in this hospital bed. Covered up in blankets and bandages, his best friend didn't look like the fearless leader he had always been. He looked like a puppy that had been kicked out into the cold and unforgiving rain.

Two of his pack had been attacked by absolute monsters.

Chouji had not been able to be of any use.

"Then we'll get the Old Man to help us!"

Sakura's first words since their conversation began... they weren't what Chouji thought he would hear.


Kiba frowned when he opened his eyes to find Sakura glaring defiantly at him.

And then, to worsen the situation, Chouji wound up agreeing with the pink haired civilian. "Kuzu could definitely help us with what happened. He's great, Kiba. You know that."

Now Kiba stared at the Akimichi... he had always known the guy was easily swayed and was more of a follower than a leader... but right now, Kiba didn't need Chouji being so easily convinced. It was childish to think that the Old Man would be able to handle those two. But it was stupid to think Kuzu would be returning in enough time to help them.

"He's gone." he reminded them through gritted teeth, "And he won't be back for a while."

Sakura frowned, "Kiba, we made a promise. We can't break that."

Now he bared his teeth at her, "You think I don't know that? Breaking that promise is the last thing I want to do, Sakura! But-

He stopped himself.

He was close to yelling.

No, he couldn't lose his cool. Not anymore. He was the leader of their pack. They needed him to be better. He needed to be the best to make sure no one could hurt his pack.

Akamaru asked him why he had stopped talking. Kiba didn't bother to answer him.

"Listen, guys... we've been backed into a corner." he started again, trying to remain levelheaded. Which, for the likes of him, was easier said than done. "And lying about the truth is only going to hurt us in the long run. We should just tell them everything right now. That's our best course of action if we don't want any more attacks!"

He sounded off, even to himself.

He was scared.

His body felt a few seconds away from beginning to shake like a leaf.

He was not the leader these two deserved.

Sakura wasn't happy. But she didn't seem defiant anymore... just... sad.

"He's our secret." she reiterated. "He's the reason we became a pack in the first place."

She was right, he knew. And he felt despicable by just telling them that they needed to come clean about the Old Man.

But he was resolved to become the leader they deserved. And that meant that he couldn't allow himself to allow his emotions and wants to cloud him any longer. He needed to think rationally. And he knew that if their attackers weren't caught immediately, all of their lives were in danger.

An attack like that wasn't random. An attack like that had a reason.

Chouji spoke up then, allowing Kiba a moment of reprieve to breathe and think. "We have more secrets than just the Old Man, Sakura. Besides, he's not the only reason we're a pack. He helped, sure, but, well... we're pack because we're pack."

Even with all of the turbulent feelings churning up within him, Kiba was allowed a small moment to smile at his friend.

"Spoken like a real Inuzuka."

Sakura closed her eyes but soon sighed. "I don't like it... but... okay."

They came to a decision. The silence that feel over them was thick. It felt as if they were doomed.


Tsume had been sent off on a mission to track some nuisance or another so the Hokage could keep her from finding out about what had happened to her son. The higher ups were thinking of a possible mission to send Hana on to keep the charade up.

If the Inuzuka were told about what had happened to the clan head's second son, a bloodthirsty mob would form.

Genma rubbed his hands together then checked the watch at the end of the hallway. The five minutes were up.

Kakashi moved mechanically towards the door. He didn't even bother with letting Genma know he was going to move into the room.

Honestly, he couldn't fault the guy. With the weight that was now resting on his shoulders, it was safe to say that the Hatake had all the right in the world to work as seriously as he could. Not only was the Inuzuka clan liable to rise up in protest over what had happened to Kiba, there was also the threat of Takigakure finding the location of their wayward Jinchūriki to worry about.

These kids had unknowingly entered all of Konoha into an incredibly dangerous political era. Dangerous enough that it could mean the beginning of the first war they had been in since the last Great Shinobi War.

When he stepped into Kiba Inuzuka's hospital room, it was to find the three kids holding hands. Sakura and Chouji had moved to sit on either side of Kiba's bed. The small white pup was laying on the kid's lap.

Poor kids.

"Well?" Kakashi questioned as Genma shut the door behind them. "Ready to talk."

The three kids shared a look, seeming to have a small conversation with just their eyes, and soon Kiba nodded. "Sit down. This... this might take a while."

~..~..~

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