The Wanderers
Chapter 38 – Kiba – Frozen Glacier
A/N: In case it may have slipped through the cracks, this is just a friendly reminder that Kiba was unconscious when Shouri separated them.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, the talking between Kiba and Akamaru would be funnier.
***Previously-On***
After escaping the Hidden Village of Sound, the group was accosted by a warrior covered in white armour, bearing a frightening resemblance to the warrior from Kakashi's memories. After a short monologue, in which he confessed to compliance in the destruction of Konoha, the warrior dispersed the Konoha shinobi under orders from a mysterious leader, causing all of them to be sent to different parts of the world. Now, separated from their friends and comrades, each of the surviving Konoha shinobi are struggling to find each other again before they are found again by the group that had caused them so much grief.
Having made a full recovery from her illness, Hinata made sure that Naruto was able to recover from his own fatigue as they continued to reside in the strange country. Having ensured her safety, Naruto dove into his mindscape and confronted the growing Kyuubi on its actions. However before he could fully realise his anger, he was stopped by his father, who had left enough chakra to stop Naruto from being consumed by anger and hatred. Naruto then discovered that it wasn't the bloodstone that cured Hinata's illness, but the Kyuubi itself, out of an understanding of the things Naruto had to do to save her. Reaching a tenuous accord with the demon fox, Naruto left his mindscape and came back to the real world, telling Hinata everything he had kept from her. As they went to relax they discovered the castle walls were once again under attack, though it wasn't an army attacking this time. They confronted the single warrior, Shouri, who was the same warrior that had separated them a month earlier. After a prolonged battle in which they discovered an inherent weakness in his chakra-cancelling abilities, Shouri fled and left the two of them to recover from their injuries. Having made up his mind a long time ago, Naruto proposed to Hinata, who accepted graciously.
***End Summary***
***One Hour after Separation***
Having surrounded himself with furry creatures, and even having grown his own tail unintentionally, Kiba had a high tolerance for the cold, as did Akamaru with his white fur.
However as he aroused himself from sleep, the Inuzuka heir could almost feel his eyebrows frozen on his face. Even without opening his eyes, Kiba could feel his white companion nuzzled up alongside him.
"Akamaru? Are…where are we?" he asked, feeling like his whole body was on fire from fatigue.
His eyes slowly opened as he heard a soft set of barks next to his ear. At first he was concerned that he couldn't see Akamaru anywhere, but he quickly realised that it was because the entire background around him was white.
"Oh god…don't tell me…"
Using what little strength he had, Kiba groaned as he pushed himself up from the ground, rubbing Akamaru's fur affectionately. He looked up at the dark night sky, feeling a massive wind slam into his face, almost blowing him back onto the white ground.
Even through his shoes he felt like his feet were frozen in place, the snow having already piled on up to his knees with the storm.
Placing his hands on his hips and securing his tail in his jacket, Kiba let out a loud sigh.
"A freakin' mountain. Akamaru, why do we always get the short end of the stick?"
Standing up on his own, the large white dog barked at him twice before moving behind his legs so that he was protected from the harsh wind.
Kiba rolled his eyes and tightened his jacket around his shoulders. "No, I don't have a stick. You are so singled-minded sometimes, Akamaru."
Behind him the dog barked again, but Kiba ignored what he said and attempted to look around properly at his surroundings. He sniffed at the air, confirming the suspicion he had felt the moment he had woken up. "No-one else is here. We're on this bloody mountain all by ourselves."
Akamaru nuzzled at his leg a bit before indicating to an obscured area a short distance away from the two of them.
"Is that a cave? Nice find, Akamaru!" Kiba patted him on the head and tried to move his feet through the dense snow. It was hard going to even take one step, particularly since Kiba had very little chakra to keep himself upright.
Bounding across the snow easily, Akamaru barked loudly through the storm at the cave entrance, a short distance from Kiba. The Inuzuka heir snarled as he struggled to move towards his companion.
"Oh sure, it's easy for you. I'm not that light. Go see if there is anything inside!"
Through the wind Akamaru tilted his head slightly with his ears perked up, sitting down on the snow beside the entrance and scratching his face with his leg.
"Damn dog…" swore Kiba, stamping his feet as the only way of traversing the snow. "Couldn't have been a nice bathhouse…or a restaurant…had to be a freezing mountain top with nothing but snow…"
It took him ten minutes to traverse the few dozen metres to Akamaru's position, giving the dog a quick glare before trudging into the cave. His white companion bounded in after him and let out a short bark while sniffing the air.
Kiba let out a long sigh and placed a hand on the edge of the cave wall, feeling like walking through the snowstorm was like a terrible beating. "I…need to sit down, Akamaru. I feel like my legs are going to fall off…"
Akamaru looked up at him with a confused look, which took particular skill considering he was a dog, barking at him loudly.
"No…I didn't mean…why are you being so picky? Can't I just rest for a little bit?"
The white dog cocked his head at his companion before moving deeper into the cave, barking loudly for him to follow. Kiba groaned, but saw the wisdom in moving further away from the entrance. He still had no idea how they got there, or where all their companions had disappeared to.
Something must have gone terribly wrong after we…wait…
As he moved through the cave slowly, Kiba reached up into his head, brushing the snow off his dark hair before feeling down the sides of his head. He let out a sigh as he felt the grey fur between his spiky hair, next to where his forehead protector used to be.
For the love of…they really are there. I don't mind gaining new abilities…but if I end up turning into an animal completely…and they seem more wolf-like than dog…what would sister think?
When he found Akamaru again he saw that the ninja dog had collected a small collection of twigs and sticks that he had no idea where he could have gotten them from, putting them in a small circle.
Kiba frowned as he dropped to the ground and leaned his back on the wall, with the sticks just beyond his feet. "What is that for?"
His companion glared at him before settling himself down just beside his legs.
Rolling his eyes, Kiba placed up a hand facing the pile of sticks. "Good idea. I don't know how long I can keep it up for though; you think you're depleted of chakra…"
A short set of barks was all the response he got as a small trail of fire trickled from his hand onto the pile of sticks, creating a small fire that warmed up the cave slightly.
Kiba settled into the back of his jacket, pulling his tail over his hips and placing his hands underneath the dense fur.
"I suppose these changes are good for something…"
He heard a soft mumble from Akamaru, causing him to let out a short bark of a laugh in response. "Not if I can help it, Akamaru. I'm pretty sure I don't need that part of an animal."
***Seven Hours after Separation***
As a light sleeper, Kiba had trained himself to wake up to any noise that seemed out of place in his environment. However since he had been so fatigued earlier, it took Akamaru a while before he could wake up his companion, ending in the white dog having to bite him on the leg, causing him to wake up with a loud howl.
"Gah! Akamaru, what the hell?!"
He glared down at his companion angrily, while clutching his leg. Akamaru barked at him three times before barking towards the entrance. Using his enhanced ears, Kiba could hear the reason why he had been woken up.
All around the entrance to the cave, he could hear the distinctive howling of a pack of wolves.
Swearing as he picked himself up, Kiba went to prepare himself for defence when he sniffed at the air. The snowstorm outside had lessened considerably, but it was still fairly chaotic outside for what he could see. Even though the snowstorm, Kiba's nose was able to detect any unusual scents in the area, and after only a tiny amount of chakra he could tell that something about their situation was very off.
Squatting down beside Akamaru, Kiba nodded to the dog slowly. "I can't smell any wolves out there. This has to be something else" he whispered quietly, wary of the fact that they might be under observation.
Akamaru barked at him and indicated to the entrance with his head.
"Yeah, that's what I smell too" responded Kiba.
He looked around for his pack, then realised he hadn't brought it with him.
Fantastic. Stuck on a mountain, with no supplies.
Reaching into his jacket, he felt at the inside pocket his sister had sown into it, doing a mental count of the remaining items. He went to pull out one of them, but reconsidered when he took an account of how much chakra he had recuperated.
Turning to Akamaru, Kiba let out a short bark, a skill he had learnt since he had begun working with the white dog. Akamaru nodded in acknowledgement and moved to one side of the entrance, while Kiba's nails extended out into long claws.
"Shikyaku no Jutsu (Four Legs Technique)" he muttered softly, feeling his chakra expand outwards as he adopted his more bestial qualities.
Pushing on his back legs, Kiba exploded out of the cave, letting out a loud howl in echo of those around the cave, his eyes scanning through the snowfall rapidly.
As he had predicated, the cave was surrounded by dozens of pure white wolves that had no scent, telling Kiba that there were part of a ninjutsu. With his reaction sped up to extreme levels, Kiba understood the situation immediately and aimed himself at the middle of the pack.
With an explosion of chakra, Kiba spun rapidly into the wolves. "Tsuuga!"
His whirlwind technique slammed into the first wolf, shredding it to pieces as he moved quickly onto the next wolf. The chakra-based creatures attempted to strike at his whirlwind form, but due to the nature of Kiba's taijutsu they were in turn destroyed. In short order the army of wolves were destroyed, Kiba resuming his defence position at the cave's entrance on all fours with his fangs bared against any other potential attacker.
That was easy enough…
It became quickly apart that Kiba had celebrated too soon, as the pack of wolves rapidly reassembled and stood against him with fangs bared. The Inuzuka heir snarled as he looked at his battlefield.
Damnit, I need to find a way…maybe I should eat one of my…
A figure appeared from among the wolves, Kiba immediately seeing that it was the strange scent he had smelled in the cave.
A scent of blood and death.
Standing with his arms crossed arrogantly was a tall man with long purple hair and teal pupil-less eyes, wearing a simple long-sleeved shinobi outfit with a forehead protector Kiba didn't recognise.
He looked down at the crouching Konoha shinobi with an emotionless expression. "What is a shinobi such as you doing in our territory?"
Kiba bared his teeth at the shinobi, figuring he must be part of some kind of local shinobi village, though he couldn't see why a group of shinobi would want to reside on a death mountain like this. "It isn't intentional, believe me. I don't know how I got here."
"And you expect me to believe that?"
"Not particularly. It's the truth though."
The shinobi's teal eyes stared at him for a few seconds before he placed a hand upon the nearest chakra wolf. "Nevertheless, this mountain is our territory. You will become just another victim to this wilderness."
Doing a calculation of how much chakra he had left, Kiba didn't respond to the shinobi's threat, working out a strategy of attack. His strategy worked on a lot of assumptions, but Kiba didn't see much choice in his current situation.
He placed his clawed hands together and grinned wildly. Despite his situation, these were the moments Kiba enjoyed the most.
The shinobi stood back slightly as he saw a large shield of fire surrounding the young shinobi.
Sensing weakness, Kiba spun towards the nearest wolf, using the flames generated by his chakra to create a spinning whirlwind of fire-made blades.
As before he shot straight through the snow-based wolves, but unlike before the flames melted them into the snowy ground.
Kiba's whirlwind made short work of the wolf pack, and as he had guessed they were unable to reform when he attacked them with fire-based attacks. He landed back in the cave's entrance, and saw the changed expression on the shinobi's face. He had also guessed that his action would have goaded the shinobi into charging him, but to his disappointment he was already running through a long set of handseals.
Come on…any time now…
As it appeared the shinobi was about to finish his technique, a large whirlwind slammed into the shinobi's back, causing to him to grimace and fall towards Kiba's position.
Kiba grinned and brought back a claw, pushing himself forward and slamming it into the shinobi's chest with his immense speed, using his fire nature to activate a technique he had just thought of on the fly.
"Kasai Juuji!" (Fire Cross)
The shinobi's eyes widened as two long fire lines appeared across his chest. After a two second delay the lines of fire shredded through his clothes and sliced straight through him, shredding him into four pieces in front of the young Konoha shinobi.
Kiba cancelled his Beast Imitation Technique and looked down at the quartered body as Akamaru slowly walked up towards him, giving him an odd look with a cocked head.
"Wow…I never expected it to do that…"
Akamaru barked at him as the two of them saw his body was already starting to become covered in snow.
He looked up at his white companion, "You took your time getting into position. If you hadn't distracted him when you did…"
The white dog barked twice loudly, causing Kiba to wave off the dog's comment. "Yes, yes, I'm very impressed that you got there undetected. Now what should we do with this body?"
Akamaru gave him a look that he recognised immediately, the dog didn't have to tell him what he was talking about.
"I'm not going to…I'm not an animal completely, Akamaru. We haven't reached that point yet. Let's just…find out if he had anything on him."
Rifling through a body that had been cut up into quarters was a gruelling task, and one Kiba certainly didn't enjoy. He was thankful that the cold was keeping the body from smelling bad, and that his use of fire techniques had given him a momentary platform of rocky undergrowth to do his work.
To his surprise the shinobi didn't have any proper supplies on his body, though there were a selection of kunai and shuriken that he placed within his projectiles pocket gladly.
Having found nothing else of interest, Kiba stood back from the body and looked over at his companion. "What should we do with him?"
Akamaru barked and ran back into the cave.
He nodded and placed his hands together in a handseal. "Yeah, that's a good point."
As the body burnt he ran back to the cave, the snowstorm was gradually getting worse and he didn't want to go through something like he had the previous day. Inside the cave Akamaru had already settled into a corner beside their burnt out fire, mumbling to Kiba as he sat down beside him.
"What are we doing, Akamaru? Fighting on this mountain…unable to find our friends…"
His white companion picked up his head and looked over at Kiba. The Inuzuka heir rolled his eyes and moved his tail to a more comfortable position, running his hand through it in a failed attempt to brush it.
"I guess we are on our own. Just like old times, huh?"
He didn't need to look at Akamaru to tell what his life-long companion was thinking. Brushing his tail with a sigh, Kiba looked over at the entrance.
"Maybe not…"
***One Day after Separation***
Trudging through the snow, Kiba found it difficult going moving across the mountain ridges. There were no markings to indicate where he was, and Kiba couldn't think of any mountains that he had heard of to tell him where he had landed. He didn't recognise the four marks on the shinobi's forehead protector, which meant he wasn't part of any of the main shinobi villages.
During their Chuunin Exams in Suna he had come across a number of Genin from the other shinobi villages, and while his impressions hadn't been particularly good; he had come to respect some of their abilities, particularly Suna's shinobi.
A few metres ahead of him Akamaru sniffed along the snow-covered ground. They had been travelling for several hours, and they hadn't even reached a part of the mountain where they could see the bottom. Any time they came to an edge and looked down precariously, all they saw was a dense white fog beneath them.
Feeling like his legs were freezing within his pants, Kiba let out a long breath, seeing a mist emerge from his mouth. It had taken him some time to get used to his elongated canines, but he had discovered that opening his mouth while on the mountain hurt both his gums and tongue.
"Can you see anything?" he asked, rubbing his hands together while trying not to shake uncontrollably.
Akamaru stared at him for a few seconds before walking around in a circle and lifting a leg.
Kiba rolled his eyes and looked away, taking a moment to stare up at the mountain peak. They hadn't travelled up or down yet, and from the sheer scope of the mountain Kiba estimated it would take months just to go from one side to the other.
"I think we should start going down, Akamaru."
The white dog bounded up beside him, barking happily as he shook his rear in the snow.
"Oh sure, it's easy enough for you. What do you think?"
Akamaru barked twice and scratched at his head with his front paw.
"That's…bold." They walked up to the edge of the cliff and peered over the edge. "Akamaru, I could hurl a boulder down there, and I don't think we would ever hear it hit the bottom."
A quick sharp bark was the response he had.
Kiba growled back and placed his hands in his jacket pockets. "I am not. You know I love crazy plans as much as the next guy, but that's just stupid."
Akamaru looked up at him for a few seconds before turning around and walking back a few metres. The Inuzuka heir looked at his companion with confusion, until he recognised what he was doing. "Wh...hold up a sec…"
He watched in horror as his white friend took a running start and leapt off the edge of the cliff.
Kiba ran up to the edge of cliff and looked over the edge. "Akamaru!"
All he could see was white fog.
Looking back at the snowy ground, Kiba let out a groan and took several steps back.
"I'm gonna kill that bloody dog…"
Seeing no other option, Kiba gathered his courage and leapt.
Kiba was tough. He had trained hard during his tenure as a shinobi for Konoha; he had survived his battle with the S-ranked Akatsuki shinobi and had been instrumental in defeating an extremely dangerous shinobi in the Hidden Sound.
But when he fell through the white fog, Kiba screamed like a little girl.
Once he remembered what he was doing, the Konoha shinobi struggled to open his eyes as the wind slammed into his face.
He couldn't see anything beneath him; the fog he had followed Akamaru through seemed to go on forever. Kiba hated the sense of falling, but had the sense to spread his arms and legs out in a vain attempt to slow his descent.
His tail flailed behind him. Kiba felt like it was going to fly off his rear, which was a sensation he never thought he would experience.
After nearly a full minute of free fall, the fog beneath him broke apart and Kiba could see where he was falling towards. It was something he would never have expected to see within a mountain range.
He was falling towards a lake that was covered in a thick layer of ice.
If I hit that full on, I'm gone.
With no time to think of another alterative, Kiba summoned up every piece of chakra he had and surrounded himself with it, feeling the instinctive need to add his fire element to the bubble.
Turning himself into a falling meteor, Kiba curled up into a ball and prepared himself for a fairly quick and painless end.
Fortunately for Kiba his chakra nature worked to his advantage. Even before he hit the lake, the fire surrounding him had begun to melt away the ice beneath him, though the impact was still powerful enough to dislocate his shoulders and break several of his ribs.
Kiba let out a cough of blood as he was submerged in freezing cold water. Grimacing as he realised he hadn't held his breath, a large amount of water slammed through his mouth and into his throat, freezing his insides rapidly.
He looked around underneath the water, trying and failing to ignore the pain rampant throughout his body. A large section of the ice above him had been melted away, but when he tried to swim upwards he found his arms unresponsive.
Shit…I'm not gonna…Akamaru…hel…
Feeling himself unable to breath due to the copious amounts of water in his throat, Kiba blinked rapidly, wondering what his tomb was going to look like. He could have sworn he saw some kind of glint near the bottom, but the pain in his ribs caused him to turn around and look straight up.
To his surprise, and unbelieving cynicism, Kiba saw himself swimming towards him, reaching out a hand to grab him.
I guess…this is it…now I'm hallucinating…
The other Kiba swam quickly towards him and grabbed one of his arms, pulling him up with a long stretch. Kiba didn't have the strength, or the air, to cry out in pain.
He could only let the other Kiba pull him out of the lake, from one freezing environment to the on top of the freezing ice. He slid across the ice and clutched at his sides, vomiting up large amounts of water onto his stomach.
His eyes were barely able to stay open, but he was able to see as the Kiba who had saved him walking up to him and leaning down beside him.
The other Kiba placed one of his clawed hands on his shoulder, causing Kiba's eyes to widen while he still felt the urge to vomit up more water.
"You're not going to…"
He didn't get to finish as the Kiba pushed down on his shoulder and popped it back in its socket. Kiba roared out in pain, but before he could do anything about it his saviour reached over and popped his other shoulder back in as well.
Rolling over in agony, Kiba clutched his hands into fists. "Stop it!"
The other Kiba stood back from him and bowed his head slightly.
Trying to ignore the pain, Kiba sat up on top of the ice and stared at his doppelganger. "Since when can you transform on your own?"
His saviour grinned and cancelled his transformation, turning back into the large white dog he was quite familiar with. Akamaru barked at him happily and ran up to him, sniffing at his chest.
Kiba grinned and fell back to the ice, groaning as he did so. "That was the stupidest thing we've ever done. How the hell did you make it down without injury?"
His companion looked at him curiously and barked three times.
"Why didn't I think of that? No, it was rhetorical Akamaru, you don't need to answer."
Moving his head along the ice, he looked over at his 'impact' site. "Going down the side…it's a wonder you didn't create an avalanche."
He shivered uncontrollably, reminding him of where he was. His jacket was partially destroyed by the impact, and his shirt and pants stuck to his skin since they were drenched.
"We've got to…find shelter so I can dry my clothes" he said with a groan, attempting to push himself up from the ice.
Akamaru barked in agreement and went to look around for a cave, but Kiba called him back.
Feeling at his chest, Kiba could tell that his ribs weren't actually broken, they were likely only bruised, which was remarkable in of itself. He had a reasonable range of motion with his arms, though he never thought he would experience that kind of pain before.
He indicated to the hole he fell through with a sore arm, "I just want to check something out first."
Akamaru barked at him questioningly.
"Well, my clothes are drenched already. I think I saw something down there, but I'm not sure."
Kiba walked over to the ice hole and rotated his arms painfully. He was very low on chakra, but had always been a strong swimmer, so he wasn't so concerned about drowning.
He didn't need to tell Akamaru to wait up for him; they had worked together so long they knew each other better than anyone else. Kiba took a long breath and dived into the freezing cold water.
After nearly a minute, Kiba's head popped up from the water and breathed out dramatically. He looked over to see Akamaru cleaning himself at the edge of the hole. Upon seeing him emerge, Akamaru barked him a quick query.
A grin came across the Inuzuka's face. "You're not going to believe this."
It hadn't taken them long to find a reasonable-sized cave for them to stay in. Unlike the previous one, Kiba and Akamaru found the remains of another group that seemed to have stayed there many years ago. Using what little chakra he had left, Kiba lit a fire and placed the majority of his clothes beside it to dry them.
Kiba's attention however was focused on the object they had retrieved from the bottom of the lake. It had taken some effort, but the two of them working together had been able to drag it into the cave.
"Have you ever seen anything like this before?"
Sitting against the wall in their cave was a massive block of ice. Inside this block of ice was a curled up person, who Kiba couldn't quite make out through the ice.
Akamaru sniffed cautiously at the block, taking a moment before barking at it and moving back to the warm fire.
Kiba nodded in agreement and leaned against the cave wall, staring at the strange block of ice. "This seems like such a cliché. I wonder who is in there."
He shivered again, having been forced to sit with only his underwear on until his clothes were dry, he had resolved to using his tail as a makeshift blanket. "Damn, this cold is annoying. The moment we get out of here, I'm taking a warm bath."
Akamaru barked in response, causing Kiba to roll his eyes and lean forward to see if his clothes were dry.
"Maybe. I can't do anything without some rest though. I could use a soldier pill, but something tells me I should be saving them."
The white dog nodded in agreement and nuzzled up beside his leg, trying to help him get warmer. Kiba grinned and rubbed the dog's fur affectionately. "Don't think this changes what happened before. That was a reckless thing for you to do."
Akamaru mumbled a bark beneath one of his legs.
"No, I'm not angry. Just…tired."
oOoOoOo
Once he had recovered sufficiently, and his clothes had been dried, Kiba stood up and stretched his arms sorely.
"Well, shall we see if we can't crack open this thing?"
Akamaru looked at him with suspicion, but Kiba stopped him before he could bark at him.
"I meant it figuratively, Akamaru. I don't have anything to smash it apart with anyway."
He walked up to the block of ice and attempted look at the person inside. It was strange that simple ice was so dark that he couldn't make out anything except the shape of a curled up person inside.
Kiba ran through a quick set of handseals and let out a slow breath. He wasn't very good at precise chakra control; his combat style required him to be sporadic with his chakra.
Placing his hands on the ice block, he ignored the chilling sensation on his hands and activated the technique. His chakra flowed slowly through his hands, and onto the block.
Initially nothing happened. It took him a few moments to realise he wasn't using enough chakra to manipulate his nature element. Surging more chakra through his hands, Kiba smiled as he heard a slight fizzle coming from his contact with the block.
It was one of his more inspired plans, though Kiba was a little concerned at how long it would take as the outer layer of the block near him melted away around his hands.
"Well how about that, it's working…"
As the ice melted beneath his fire-based chakra, Kiba began to get a better picture of who was inside the block. He still wasn't sure whether it was a good idea or not to free them, but considering his circumstance he saw little else to do.
The block began to melt away completely under his touch, and as the person was revealed his eyes widened in amazement. He turned to Akamaru as he nearly completed the process, indicating for him to transform and get prepared to receive the occupant.
He turned into a clone of Kiba as the block of ice melted entirely, the Inuzuka heir jumped forward to grab the curled up figure.
Sitting in his arms, unconscious, was a young girl that looked barely older than him. She had short spiky dark hair, and a long fur cloak with regular shinobi clothing, but they weren't the things he was so surprised about.
The young girl had a Konoha forehead protector across her forehead and a set of fang-like marks on her face.
She was quite light in his hands, though Kiba still shared the burden with Akamaru's transformed state so as to not cause her any discomfort.
"Akamaru…I think she is an Inuzuka. But how is that possible?"
The clone of Kiba growled under his breath as they brought her towards the fire. They could tell she was still breathing by the way her chest rose and fell through her black shirt, and while Kiba wasn't a trained medic he recognised that she was in a precarious state.
They lay her down on a soft part of the ground and stood back slightly. Kiba looked at his companion with a raised eyebrow. "Akamaru…look at her markings."
The clone of Kiba nodded before transforming back into his large white canine form. He reached up and nuzzled at Kiba's jacket.
The Inuzuka heir glared at him for a second before understanding what the dog meant. Using as much care as possible, he reached down and removed her cloak, placing his jacket around her shoulders and covered her up. He wasn't sure how long she had been imprisoned within the block of ice, but her clothes were drenched, though not as badly as his had been.
Kiba took a step back and looked down at her sleeping form. "She's got the black mark on her clan markings. That means…but I don't recognise her." He turned to Akamaru, "Do you?"
The white dog shook his head and sniffed at the young girl. He turned back to Kiba, barking several times before moving back towards the fire.
"Fair enough. What are we going to do with her?"
He didn't get a response from the white dog, which told him what Akamaru was thinking regardless.
"I wasn't going to…you have gotten really judgemental since Suna, you know that?"
Settling down beside his companion, Kiba looked over at the sleeping Inuzuka as he performed a slight transformation to hide his tail and ears.
"She's kind of cute, when you think about it. No, don't say anything. I don't want your opinion."
He heard a short grunt as Akamaru tried to fall asleep beside the fire created by Kiba's chakra.
The Inuzuka heir rolled his eyes again and placed his hands behind his head. "Charming."
***Two Days after Separation***
It was difficult to rest completely while in such a precarious place, but Kiba felt like he was getting used to the cold. He placed with the fire with a bored expression, feeling a tightening sensation in his stomach.
I can't remember the last time I ate anything. I doubt there is anything on this mountain that is…
He heard a shuffling sound inside the cave, but having not smelt any usual scents he turned without preparing himself for battle. To his surprise he saw the girl crouching in a corner of the cave, her hands extended into long claws as her tanned skin began to turn into black fur. Kiba was surprised by the look in her eyes.
She appeared to be both angry and confused, but her animalistic eyes were the same ones his clansman used to have.
He stood up quickly from his seated position, but placed up his hands to show he meant her no harm. "Easy now…I'm not here to hurt you."
The girl snarled and sniffed at the air, looking around the cave with darting eyes.
Kiba indicated to the fang marks on his face. "Are you an Inuzuka?"
She glared at him, but the black fur across her body receded quickly. He could tell she was weak on her feet, but there was still fight in her eyes.
"I…"
Her voice failed as she dropped to one knee, her claws receding back to short nails and she began breathing rapidly.
Kiba took a cautious step towards her. "I'm not going to hurt you…but you need to let me help you."
She looked up at him with confusion, but he sensed she was either taking a leap of faith with him or was desperate, as she relented and began to fall towards the solid ground.
He leapt forward and held her lightly by the shoulders, stopping her from falling completely. He gave her a more traditional Inuzuka greeting that his mother had taught him as he laid her back on the ground.
"When you get your voice back, we'll chat. For now, you need to rest a bit more."
The girl stared up at him, clearly unable to convey the thousand questions in her head. Her eyes began to droop and she fell asleep in his arms.
A sound distracted him from her as he turned to the cave entrance. He watched as Akamaru walked into the cave, a trio of hares caught in his mouth.
The white canine dropped the hares onto the ground and stared at the odd pair of shinobi.
Kiba placed the girl carefully back on the ground and stood up awkwardly, patting down his pants while he walked over to the entrance.
He picked up the hares and patted the dog on the head, turning back to look at the girl's strangely peaceful sleeping face.
"Good work, Akamaru. Something tells me things are about to get a bit more interesting around here."
Grabbing a stick from the ground, Kiba extended a claw and began preparing the hares to be cooked.
oOoOoOo
An hour later the girl woke up again, though this time she was far calmer than the first time. Kiba didn't notice her waking up; he was consumed in attempting to cook the hares Akamaru had brought over the fire, though with little success.
His white companion noticed her struggling to sit up, bounding over to her and sniffing her in an open manner. Unlike most people who first encountered the dog, she didn't shirk away from him, rather grimaced and looked over at the fire.
Akamaru barked to get Kiba's attention, which only served to distract the Inuzuka long enough for him to drop one of the hares into the fire. Kiba snarled angrily at the fire, but saw that it was completely ruined, so he wiped his hands on his shirt and walked around to see what the fuss was about.
His expression softened slightly when he saw there guest was awake, though he could tell she was quite confused.
"What's your name?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck sorely. It had been stiff since his fall, and had been bugging him all day.
The girl looked up at him and opened her mouth slightly. At first her voice didn't work at all, but after a few moments she regained the ability to talk.
"Na…Nagisa. I'm Nagisa."
Kiba grinned in his characteristic fashion. "I'm Kiba. That there is Akamaru."
Akamaru barked happily to accentuate the introduction. He offered his head to Nagisa, and while she appeared apprehensive she still patted him lightly on the head.
"It's…where am I?"
The Inuzuka heir indicated to the walls around them with a large gesture. "A cave, somewhere in the middle of a giant-ass mountain. We fished you out of a lake."
"A lake? That doesn't…argh…" She clutched at her head, feeling a sharp pain as her body attempted to readjust to not being frozen.
Kiba squatted down in front of her, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible. "What's the last thing you remember?"
The dark haired girl closed her eyes in an attempt to remember what happened to her.
"I…was falling. It was…there was so much wind…I was spinning…and then there…so much water…"
Her shoulders seemed to shake uncontrollably, as if recalling the memory was enough to cause her to relive the experience. Kiba wasn't game enough to try and comfort her, but Akamaru had no problem nuzzling his head against her leg, barking softly in concern.
She put down her hands from her shoulders and looked at the white dog sadly. "That's nice of you to say."
Kiba raised an eyebrow at her immediately. "You can understand Akamaru? You are an Inuzuka, right?"
The girl nodded slowly. "I am. Though, I don't recognise your face."
"I was just about to say the same to you. I thought I knew everyone in the clan, before what happened."
"What…what happened?" she asked quietly. Her soft voice was nothing Kiba would have expected from an Inuzuka, although the look in her eyes was softer than most of his former clansmen's.
She doesn't know about Konoha. I should be careful about what I say to her.
He grinned and stood up, indicating to the fire where the last two hares were burning away. "We should sort out our food problem first, Nagisa. I'm sure we can work something out."
Looking at his happy expression, Nagisa could feel the confidence flowing from him. She wasn't sure who this boy was, why he had the Inuzuka markings, and an Inuzuka hound, but the instinctive part of her trusted him.
Whether she could trust his cooking, was still up for debate.
oOoOoOo
The hares tasted awful, but after days without eating, Kiba wasn't in a position to complain. Nagisa hadn't touched her food; she claimed to not have an appetite though Kiba knew she was just being polite.
Akamaru had taken one sniff at the food and fled the cave quickly, Kiba figuring he was going to find his own food.
"So, I guess you've got a lot of questions, huh?"
Nagisa nodded slowly, bringing his jacket around her shoulders tightly. Her fur cloak had been destroyed when she had been frozen, and when she had offered to give it back Kiba had told her she was being ridiculous.
"You aren't wearing a forehead protector" she observed quietly.
Kiba looked up at his forehead before nodding quickly, picking at his teeth with a claw. "That was out of necessity. Our group didn't want anyone to know we came from Konoha."
"Missing-nin?"
"Ah, not really. It's…a long story, I guess."
She sniffed slightly at the air, turning to him with a frown. "You are deceiving me."
Can she smell the transformation? Mother said it was possible to smell chakra, but I've never seen it before. Akamaru can smell chakra levels, but never when an actually technique is used.
He nodded apologetically and stood up from his seat. "Sorry, I'll cancel it. I just didn't want to frighten you."
A small cloud of smoke covered his body as he returned to his 'original' state. His ears pocked out through his spiky hair while his grey tail appeared behind him.
Kiba felt a strange blush coming across his face, though he fought it back with some effort. "I just thought…"
She stood up from her seat slowly, taking a step towards him to examine his animal-like ears. Kiba felt tiny under her gaze, despite being taller than her, but he could see she wasn't apprehensive about his appearance, merely curious.
"You underwent a partial transformation."
Kiba nodded as his tail flicked about behind him with a mind of its own. "Akamaru and I performed a technique we…weren't ready for. This is the result."
She went up to touch the corner of his ears, but stopped herself and stood back with her hands at her sides. "And you don't know how to reverse it?"
Kiba grinned and ran a hand through his tail. "I dunno, it's kind of useful. The ears can hear particularly well and…yeah."
Looking into his eyes for a few seconds, her face broke out into a tiny smile for a second before turning back to her usual sad appearance. "You are…strange, Kiba."
The Inuzuka heir shrugged and sat back down beside the fire. "I do what I can. I suppose we should…talk about Konoha, huh?"
"That would be good. I'm guessing I wasn't in that ice for just a few days."
"Before we do, how did you survive that? I meant you hear tales of that kind of thing, but I can't think of anyway anyone could survive."
Nagisa looked down at her hands, still feeling a slight chill from her long incubation. "When I…fell, I covered my body in chakra. It was a…desperate attempt, but I thought…"
Kiba's eyes widened, "That's impressive. I suppose you knew that was the only way to survive."
"What happened with the War? Did we win?"
"The War? Wait, do you mean the Third Shinobi War?" Kiba's eyes unfocused as he tried to remember what he had been told about that time. "We didn't win. There was a…truce, I think. But that was a long time ago, why do you ask?"
Nagisa's expression darkened immediately as she stared at the rocky ground beneath her boots. "When I fell, we were still fighting it. How many years has it been since then?"
Kiba thought about it for a few seconds, history had never been his strong suit. "Fourte…fifteen years? Maybe longer, I can't say. It was before I was born though."
"Fifteen years…" Nagisa brought up her legs to her chest and held them close. For a shinobi, fifteen years was a very long time, in a profession that had a high casualty rate. "What about the rest of my team? Mikoto…Jito…Kakashi…"
"You knew Kakashi-sensei? I guess you must have worked with him during the war then."
Upon hearing that her eyes lit up immediately as she stared at him intently. "Kakashi is alive? Then…he survived the mission. Thank god…"
Though fifteen years…he's probably forgotten all about me…
Kiba noticed her change in expression but chose not to comment on it, rather choosing a different topic altogether. "You said your name was Nagisa right? I remember everyone in the clan from up to a certain point, and I don't think your name was ever mentioned."
She shook her head and leaned back, placing an arm over one leg while staring at the fire. "It wouldn't have been. I was an…outcast."
"Because of your markings? I know they are the marks of grieving."
Nagisa reached up and touched her cheeks lightly, still feeling the dull ache of the markings she had done just before their mission. "It was before…but I lost my companions during the war. I…"
"Sorry, I didn't mean to…"
"No, it's fine. You speak your mind." She looked away from him for a second. "A true Inuzuka" she said under her breath.
His ears heard what she said, and he could hear the pain in her voice. The clan had done something to this girl, and for some reason that angered Kiba greatly. Before Konoha had been destroyed he had only started to learn how the Inuzuka clan worked, but there had been some things he hadn't agreed with even then.
"I'm sorry I brought it up. I'm sure this has been difficult for you."
It feels weird talking like this. I'm never this polite…
"I'm fine. They are old grievances." She let out a slow breath and looked over at him, seeing his tail flick around with a mind of its own. "Tell me about you, Kiba. And why you have a tattoo of the Leaf as opposed to a forehead protector."
"You know about the tattoo? Ah, you can smell the ink, right. I tell you, when I got it, it drove Akamaru absolutely insane."
She didn't say anything in response, simply looking at him silently.
"I guess I should tell you. Hmm…where to begin. Ah! I suppose you should know what happened when our group left Suna after the Chuunin Exams…"
oOoOoOo
"And then I woke up on this bloody mountain, and yeah, that's about it."
Kiba had watched her face as he had told her about Konoha, and how she looked like she had been expecting it, but was still shocked in response.
"So the village…the clan…"
"Yeah. It…hasn't been easy." Kiba could feel those horrible feelings he had felt when he'd first learnt about his mother and sister's deaths, but after a year he had learnt to push them down into the back of his mind. They still lingered, but it was easier to deal with this way.
Nagisa felt at his jacket around her shoulders, rubbing the fur between her fingers. "So…how many of us are left?"
"Hmm, let me think. Me, Akamaru, Shino, Hinata…just under twenty. Though some of us decided to retire, as I told you."
"Twenty…out of a village of thousands…"
Kiba nodded sadly, "Yeah. We weren't sure what to do after that…and to be honest I have no idea what I'm doing here either."
For a few minutes they sat in silence, neither of them sure what to say next. Luckily they didn't have to as they both sensed Akamaru returning to the cave.
The white dog trotted up to the cave, barking happily to Kiba before looking at Nagisa questioningly.
"That's nice, Akamaru. Did you find a way out?" asked the Inuzuka heir.
Akamaru barked at Kiba a few times before settling down beside Nagisa, mumbling as she ran a hand across his back.
Kiba rolled his eyes and crossed his arms at the scene. "Nice to know where your priorities are, Akamaru."
The white dog barked at him before nuzzling into Nagisa's leg. The young girl smiled at their interaction and continued to pat the dog's fur.
These guys are…very strange. But there's something…comforting about this…
Kiba stood up from his seat and stretched his arms. He wasn't used to sitting in one place for such a long time, and all he wanted to do was run around for a little bit, thought that could be because he could feel his brain freezing in place.
Looking out at the entrance, Kiba flexed his hands slowly. "I'm gonna go have a look around. If there is a way out, then it might be around here."
Akamaru looked up under Nagisa's hand, but before he could get up Kiba put up a hand to stop him. "No, Akamaru. You stay here and keep her safe. I just want to take a look around."
Nagisa felt a bit embarrassed, but seeing the look on Kiba's face she saw that he was also embarrassed by what he had just said. "Are you sure? I could…"
"Don't be silly." He indicated to the fire with a hand, "Someone's gotta keep the fire going. Besides, I hate being cooped up for long periods of time."
"O…okay then." She saw him walk towards the entrance, and a thought came to her. "Wait, Kiba."
The Inuzuka heir turned around with a confused look, "What is it?"
She didn't get up from her position, but moving her arms around she shouldered off his jacket and offered it up to him.
Kiba put up his hands, "No, no. You should…"
"Take the jacket, Kiba. You need it more than I do."
He stared at her, but upon seeing the look in her eyes he relented and took the jacket from her hands. "I'll be back soon" he said, throwing the jacket across his shoulders before leaving the cave.
Nagisa smiled at his stubborn nature and turned back to Akamaru, who was sleeping beside her legs. Looking at the fire, she wondered what she was going to do next.
"I guess…this isn't so bad" she said to herself, scratching Akamaru's head affectionately.
***Four Days after Separation***
Kiba looked up at the clouds with a long sigh. "Does the sun even exist in these parts?"
Akamaru barked and dug at the snow underneath their feet, while Nagisa looked up as well. They had been travelling downwards from the frozen lake for two days since Kiba had discovered that they were still on the mountain itself.
"The Land of Snow only sees sunlight every few months."
"So this is the Land of Snow. Do you know how high this mountain actually goes?"
She shrugged and continued walking through the dense snow. "My team went from the other side, which had a path."
"So we are forced to do this the hard way. Fantastic."
Kiba walked after her, as Akamaru walked by her side. If it had been anyone else, he would have been concerned at how quickly his white companion had taken a liking to her, but as an Inuzuka it was only natural for her to be like that.
Looking around on the ground, Kiba grinned slowly and scooped up a small ball of snow. With little effort the snowball slammed into Akamaru's back, causing the white dog to turn around with a growl.
Kiba whistled inconspicuously, making no small effort to hide his grin. Akamaru trotted up to him and stood in front of him, staring into his eyes.
Nagisa turned to watch, curious as to why Kiba had thrown a snowball in the first place.
Quicker than Kiba could react, Akamaru ran up a long line of urine over his pants. Kiba jumped back immediately with a yell, kicking up snow at the dog in defence while holding his pants like they were on fire.
"Aw, it's seeping through and everything…"
Akamaru barked loudly and moved back to stand beside Nagisa, barking again before sitting down.
Kiba looked up at the two of them with a depressed face, "Don't tell me you are in on this too, Nagisa."
Unsure how to respond, Nagisa simply shrugged again and adopted a slow smile on her face.
Throwing his hands up in disgust, Kiba tried to use snow to cover up the stain, as the other two kept walking towards the path they had determined was the way down.
After another hour of walking they came to a small alcove near the edge of the cliff facing. Both Nagisa and Kiba had recovered sufficiently, but moving through the mountain was slow going since the snowstorms were so frequent.
Just before they went to settle down for a rest, Kiba's ears perked up and he looked around the area quickly.
"What is it?" asked Nagisa, unable to smell anything to cause such a reaction.
Kiba sniffed at the air as well, but using his advanced hearing he was able to determine the area he was hearing the odd sound from. He indicated to the two of them to follow him as he jumped high onto a ridge above them and began moving along the side carefully.
Nagisa looked up at him with confusion, but upon seeing Akamaru scale the distance easily she joined them as well, feeling like she was following an animal that had just found something shiny.
After a minute she caught up to the two of them, her eyes widened at what she saw.
In a small area protected from the storm was a pack of dead arctic wolves in a circle, covered in shuriken and kunai. Both the Inuzuka's felt their anger spiking at the scene; they both hated the idea of an animal dying, particularly at the hands of a shinobi.
"What happened here?" asked Nagisa, clenching her fists angrily.
Kiba walked up to the scene, looking carefully at the bodies. It was a safe bet to assume the wolves were killed by shinobi from the local area, but that wasn't what had drawn him there.
It didn't take long for him to notice that one of the smaller wolves that looked only a few years old had no injuries at all. It was also a complete dark shade of grey compared to the white and light blue of the other wolves.
Kiba indicated to it with a finger, "This one's still alive."
The wolf didn't make a move, though Kiba could smell the fear surrounding it.
Nagisa joined him quickly and knelt down next to the wolf. "Is it hurt? Why isn't it moving?"
Their canine companion kept to the edge, not wanting to antagonise the likely traumatised animal.
"I'm not sure. It…"
Kiba was cut off as the grey wolf cub perked up immediately and glared at the two of them through dark yellow eyes. It snarled for a moment before sniffing cautiously, seemingly relaxing slightly when it recognised a more animalistic smell to the two of them.
"What should we do?" asked Kiba, seeing that while the wolf wasn't injured, it was clearly under stress.
Feeling unsure of what else to do, Nagisa leaned forward and offered a hand to the grey wolf. She knew what it was like for people to die around you, and felt an odd sense of companionship.
The wolf stood a slight step forward, sniffing at her hand cautiously. It appeared apprehensive at first, but after a few moments it began licking her hand with a tired expression.
Nagisa smiled warmly as the wolf showed its affection, while the other Inuzuka grinned and stood up slowly. "It appears to have taken a liking to you, Nagisa."
"Yeah…"
She moved her hand up and rubbed the wolf's head, smiling as she remembered the first time she had met her previous companions. As she saw the two hounds in her mind her expression immediately darkened, the memory of them being killed by Sasori's puppets was something she had been seeing constantly since coming to the mountain all those years ago.
As if sensing the change in her disposition, the wolf reached up and bit her on the hand, drawing blood. She grimaced in pain, but wasn't angry at the action.
It had woken her up from her memories.
Beside her, Kiba barked out a short laugh. "Haha, it must really like you."
The grey wolf released her hand and looked over at him for a second before walking forward and letting out a short burst of growls before placing its head beside Nagisa's leg.
Nagisa smiled warmly in response and rubbed its head affectionately. "Yes, I agree. But he's not all bad."
Kiba frowned and looked over at Akamaru for a second before turning back to the odd pair. "Did you understand what it said?"
Nagisa nodded slowly and turned to him, "The clan used to teach us many different languages. I'm surprised you don't understand her either."
"Her?" Kiba sighed and indicated to the area around them. "We should go back down. This place is depressing the hell out of me."
Nagisa nodded in agreement and reached out, clutching the wolf around its sides. The wolf seemed to be okay with her picking it up, though it gave Kiba a dirty look before closing its eyes and nuzzling itself into her chest.
The Inuzuka girl stood up slowly and smiled again, feeling happier than she had felt in a while.
"You gonna be alright?" asked Kiba, unsure what to make of the quickly developed bond.
"Yeah…" Nagisa turned to the wolf in her hands and breathed out slowly. "Her name is Yuki."
oOoOoOo
***Five Days after Separation***
It had been odd at first, but as they walked through the snow Kiba had to admit they were a reasonable looking group. While the grey wolf was still cautious around Kiba, it seemed to have connected easily with Nagisa, to the point that it reminded him of the way he used to act with Akamaru, before he started to become as big as a horse. He hadn't noticed it until Naruto had pointed it out, though he couldn't stop noticing it now.
Yuki had taken to Akamaru cautiously at first, but the two animals seemed to communicate well as they walked in front of the two Inuzuka.
Nagisa frowned and tapped Kiba on the shoulder as they continued to walk through the snow.
Kiba nodded and turned to her at a whisper. "I know. They've been following us for an hour."
"Should we escape?" she asked quietly.
The Inuzuka heir frowned and looked at the two animals trotting away in front of them. Yuki wasn't full sized, but she was bigger than Akamaru was during the Chuunin Exams in Suna.
He shook his head and motioned for her to keep walking. "We are outnumbered, outmatched, and it's favourable terrain for them."
"Agreed" said Nagisa.
After a few minutes the two animals stopped walking and turned back to their companions, with the two Inuzuka nodded in response and stopping as well. Neither of them had weapons to speak of, since Kiba had lost his weapons pouch in his fall, but for their clan that wasn't a factor.
"Do we fight?"
Kiba watched as dozens of shinobi appeared in the area around them, with a variety of weapons pointed at the four of them. They all wore the four dotted forehead protector he had seen before, and from the reaction of Akamaru they could tell that every shinobi was at least ANBU level.
A large man pointed a gauntlet at Kiba with a snarl. "You are surrounded. Drop any weapons you have, or we will destroy you."
Nagisa shared a look with Kiba for a second before nodding and turning to the man who had made the declaration.
"We have no weapons. We are just travellers in this area."
The shinobi scoffed and pointed to the dark haired girl, "And we are just meant to believe that? Just because Konoha has been destroyed, doesn't mean you Konoha shinobi have the right to prance around in our territory."
Kiba snarled loudly and extended his claws threatening. "Just try us, fat man! I'll tear you to shreds!"
He went to leap at them, but Nagisa put up a hand to stop him. She turned to him with a quiet whisper. "Calm yourself. We wouldn't survive. There are other battles to be fought."
He looked at her with fury in his eyes, but found himself agreeing with her. Kiba retracted his claws and swore under his breath, sensing Akamaru and Yuki coming up between the two of them. He relaxed his posture and motioned to the apparent leader.
"We surrender."
Author's Note:
Hands up anyone who thought Nagisa was really dead.
Yeah, that's what I thought. It wasn't very subtle, since I came to enjoy writing her character. It's difficult to write a quiet character, but she seems to be quite simple. This wasn't my attempt at an Obito either; she was always going to be back.
It's pretty strange writing conversation between a person and a dog that can only bark in response.
Next week will also be Kiba's.
Please review and tell me what you think. I try to reply to each review, and believe me I read them all. Tell me what can be improved, what you liked, what you didn't, everything. I'm a writer so I'm always open to criticism.