"Kiba, hey so, you feeling okay?"

Naruto and I were about the same size so he loaned me some clothes until I could go back to my old house and pick some things up. I nodded to him as I looked for a shirt that I guessed Naruto wouldn't mind getting dirty.

"Yeah, feeling fine."

It wasn't entirely true. Granted, I was feeling much better than I had the days before, I still was in the worse physical condition of my life.

"You uh…look real thin." Naruto commented.

"Do I?"

Naruto just stared at me as I pulled one of his shirts over my head.

"What's up?" he said finally.

"What do you mean?"

"What's with this all of a sudden?"

"What's with what…?"

I knew what he was talking about, but I'd prefer just to leave it as an open-ended question. I had already decided that I was spending way too much time feeling sorry for myself, questioning what I could have done differently and how I could have changed things. No, I was done with that part of my life. It was time that I did something important with my time.

"I'm going to find the man who killed her, and I'm going to kill him." I told Naruto.

He didn't say anything at first, only followed me around the corner towards the front door, and then put his hand on the knob before I could.

"What?" he said. "That's it? You're just going to walk out the door and that's that? Who do you think you are?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You crash here for a week and a half, and I mean literally crash here, and one day you just spring up, take a shower and walk out, declaring that you're off to kill the man who killed your family?"

I stiffened up. Somehow, it didn't sound as insane when it went through my head as when it came out of his mouth.

"Yes. Essentially. You hit the nail on the head."

"What makes you think you'll be able to find this guy?"

"I don't know. But I've made up my mind. This is something I'm going to do no matter what."

I gestured for him to remove his hand from the door, but he didn't budge.

"Look at yourself." He said suddenly. "You've probably lost more than twenty pounds. You've hardly been out of bed for all this time. What makes you think you can just throw yourself into a mission like this? You need to give yourself time to heal first."

"Time to heal?"

I was shocked. This was coming from Naruto?

"Naruto, really. Now who do you think you are?"

"I'm just saying." Naruto let go of the door and grabbed my arm instead. Surprisingly enough, it actually hurt quite a bit. He must have noticed me wince or something because he shook his head in disbelief, and what appeared to be disappointment.

"What are you trying to say?"

"Stay here for a few more days." He requested. "Rest the healthy way, get back your strength and train a little."

"Don't say that." I warned him. "I've heard you. You want me out of here. Don't try to act as though you want to keep me around."

I grabbed the doorknob and tried to open it but Naruto pushed it closed again.

"Kiba, this is what's best, seriously."

"You don't know what's best for me."

"Come on, now this is just getting ridiculous."

I knocked his hand aside, and caught him off guard so I could finally pull the door open. He stumbled backwards a step as I went out onto the front porch, and was initially blinded by the sunlight.

I blocked my eyes, hardly able to keep them open.

Had it really been a week and a half?

"Kiba—"

He put his hand on my shoulder and I wrenched myself away. I faced him and made my way down the stairs backwards, keeping my eyes locked with his, though squinting.

"I appreciate your hospitality." I said. "But this is something I have to do."

"Kiba, Hinata won't want to see you go."

He came out onto the porch and, as my foot reached the bottom stair, I hesitated.

"She's just out for the afternoon." Naruto went on as he descended the stairs as well, coming towards me. "At least stay until she gets back and leave then, just so she has some completion. If you leave when she's not home, she'll never forgive me."

"Sorry, Naruto." I said, turning away. "I can't help you. You'll just have to explain to Hinata what I was saying."

"No, that doesn't work." Naruto said, his voice elevating as he stomped down the steps and once again grasped my arm firmly. "This isn't your decision anymore. When you came to us, you put yourself in our care and you can't just take off now that you think you're all set. We know that you're—"

"Let me go!" I yelled at him as I pulled away, but he held tightly.

I glared at him. He held his ground.