Chapter 23: Guilt
There was an air of relief that filled the room, the walls that once echoed with the cries of despair and the voices filled with worry didn't any more. The room was now saturated with cries of comfort, with the clutter of voices of relieved parents reunited with their missing children. Iruka watched from his place sitting on top of the front desk, a satisfied feeling settling over him as he watched the people happily reunite. He couldn't help but feel happy too, maybe it was a sense of empathy but when he saw them he felt like he was the one reuniting with a lost child he'd been worried sick about.
And then he saw her and that feeling faded just as quickly as it had come, this woman who was all alone, one of the single parents. His heart sank as he watched this woman with long brunet hair push her way through the crowds of contrastingly happy people to get to him, he knew as soon as he saw that sad, hopeful look on her face that something was wrong. "Excuse me." She said, taking quick glances around to be sure of her self. "Have you seen my son? He's 4 years old, brown hair and eyes, about this tall." She lowered her hand about to knee level indicatingly.
"No..." Iruka looked around just in case he saw something, another child in the crowd that wasn't with anyone, and he didn't. He smiled at her and spoke calmly and reassuringly. "But uh...I'm sure he's around here somewhere." Iruka stood up and turned towards the door, hoping that she'd find solace in his words and smile and didn't detect the sharp pang of uncertainty that followed him as he left the room and closed the door behind him. "No, it couldn't just end well." He mumbled bitterly to himself as he leaned against the door for the second time that night. What was he suppose to do now?
Luckily for him Kakashi came out of the bathroom then, having just cleaned himself as best he could on short notice and saw Iruka standing there. When ever Iruka did that he knew something was wrong. "Iruka? What is it?"
"We're missing one." He sighed. "4 year old boy with brown hair and eyes, ring any bells?"
Kakashi stood half dressed and soaked with water from the shower he'd just taken, looking up thoughtfully at the ceiling. "Well..." Did he see someone fitting that description? ...He did didn't he! "Yeah, I left Kiba behind with a boy like that."
"Where is he?"
"He should be back by now... He never came back?"
Iruka rubbed his head anxiously, if this was anything like what the boy's mother was feeling... "..." With out a word he turned and headed down the hall with quick steps, just short of running. A worried Kakashi followed behind, wondering where he was going. Iruka stopped at the supply room and walked inside the dark, closet like structure. It was the largest room on the level, stacked wall to wall with shelves formed in neat rows, holding everything from files to weapons. At the end of the room was a door, made of steel unlike the other doors in the building, the back door. It was a little heavier and took a little more effort to unlock and open.
'...' Iruka had no idea it was this bad out here, he stepped into a torrent of rain and wind shrouded by darkness he couldn't see past three feet in, the only light he had was the light cast through the door frame from the supply room. The area behind the building was wide open plains that stretched for miles with few trees, so it was muddy, the ground couldn't absorb the water fast enough. 'He's gotta be close.' From what Kakashi had told him he most definitely was near by. "Kiba!"
Kakashi ignored the cold and rain that assaulted the bare skin of his torso and looked around in the darkness, he couldn't see a thing. "Kiba!"
Lighting flashed and gave a quick photo of the area, revealing it's bareness. Kakashi moved forward towards the plains while Iruka radiated towards the side of the building. "Ki-" Iruka heard it before he ever laid eyes on Kiba, the heavy panting and conspicuous foot steps, lightening flashed across the skies and Iruka saw the werewolf standing in front of him with a small body in his arms, wincing from the loud noise that hurt his ears. "Kiba." Kiba wasn't surprised to see him transformed, he just guessed it must have been a full moon tonight or something.
"Kakashi, I found him." Iruka took the boy from Kiba and quickly ran into the light and warmth of the building. Just as soon as entered the door he stopped and dropped down to one knee, cradling the boy with his arm as he looked him over. Kakashi was behind him with his usual quickness, and Kiba sat down beside him and watched Iruka with his head hung low.
'This is him I guess...' Iruka lent down and held his ear close to the boy's mouth and nose, then pressed it against his soaked chest. "He's breathing... barely though, it sounds like something is blocking his air way." Iruka pressed his fingers against the boy's neck and his expression grew even more discouraging. "His pulse is weak, getting worse too. I don't think he'd make it all the way to the hospital in Konoha."
Kakashi wiped the water out of his eyes,"What's wrong with him?"
"I don't know...Neji, is he awake?"
"He should be..."
Iruka immediately stood up and ran towards the door, Kiba following on all fours at his heals. Neji would be able to help him better then Iruka could.
! - ! - !
Konohamaru stared up at the ceiling, looking through the dim light of the torches surrounding his room as he laid on his bed. His head pounded from the Sharingan attack that had been used on him and his sight was still uneven, he saw everything double. His body still throbbed with pain from not even getting close to winning in a fight and being thrown out of third story window.
Naruto walked down the stairs with slow, reluctant steps, walking through the shadows of the room and stopping at Konohamaru's bed. "Konohamaru?" He called out slowly, holding his hands behind his back as he looked and then shifted his eyes away.
Konohamaru didn't say anything, he just looked over at Naruto acknowledgingly.
"How's Sasuke doing?"
Sasuke was up stairs in his own room, he hadn't woken up yet. "He'll be alright, Iruka just said he needs to sleep it off." Konohamaru said, and this is why he was down here instead of upstairs with Sasuke. Since he really needed to rest too. But he wasn't getting to much of it, his mind was thinking to much to relax enough to fall asleep.
"That's good..." Naruto knew it was for a different reason, since when did Sasuke being injured keep Konohamaru from staying with him? "Well...Are you alright?"
Konohamaru nodded and looked back up at the ceiling. "Yeah."
There was a silence that followed, and Naruto just stood there, shifting around uneasily, neither of them said anything, and even though there was no reason to stay he refused to leave. Naruto kept his eyes fixed on the wall as he finally walked closer and sat down on the ground, resting his back against the side of the bed and his head back on the mattress beside Konohamaru's leg. He didn't say anything, neither of them ever said anything, Naruto just sat there.
Konohamaru was obviously feeling depressed or something that just wasn't right with him. He never said anything about it, not this time or anytime he was feeling this way before it, he simply put on a normal face and repressed whatever he was feeling. Konohamaru always repressed, putting on that same face, just like Naruto had... So Naruto stayed with him, refusing to let him slip into himself like he had done.
He tried to say something, but everything he tried to voice came out as an incoherent, stuttering rambling because of nervousness and embarrassment, the same went for Konohamaru. The whole process was unbearably awkward and uneasy for the both of them, enough to make them wish it was over as soon as it started. What was more awkward then the actual attempts to communicate were the silences, all of it was embarrassing for the both of them. And Konohamaru was more grateful for it then he could hope to describe.
'Thanks... Nii-chan.'
! - ! - !
Neji rubbed his pounding head as he leaned over the boy, the small brunet was laying on his cleared desk in the back of the library, Iruka and Kakashi watching from behind him out of his way. Kiba was loyally at the boy's side, sitting on the ground with his head resting on the table, watching hopefully. '...' Neji blinked a few time in an attempt to refocus his blurry vision, a side effect of the Sharingan attack used on him that he was still waiting to clear up. It didn't matter right now, he didn't need his vision that much.
Kiba's tail swept weakly across the ground and his eyes held a definite sadness to them, a small wine came from the werewolf, holding that same demeanor as if he was a dog who'd just lost his master. Usually Neji would have chastised him for dripping mud and water into the library, it was odd how that thought came to his mind, nothing was said to him today. And that made everything seem that much sadder to him.
"No one knows anything about what happened him?" Neji asked, checking his breathing and pulse as Iruka had done.
"Only Kiba." Kakashi told him disappointedly.
"Bakyugan!" The veins around his eyes protruded and his sight increased as it always did. Neji did a series of quick hand seals and clasp his hands together with both index fingers extended. Then he watched, looking over the boy's body on different layers. "He doesn't look too good, there's hardly any chakra in him at all. Not just in the main arteries, even the Chakra in the organs and muscles is depleted."
A faint aura resonated off of the boy's body from the jutsu being enacted, healing jutsu. But almost immediately the small body began to tremble, and the expression of silent pain grew worse.
Kiba rose on to his heels and barked, something was wrong, he could smell it.
"What the hell..." Neji grunted and tried harder, increasing the power of his jutsu. The boy's mouth fell open, and his breathing became heavy, audible pants that trembled with the convulsions.
'!' Kiba suddenly stumbled backwards with out warning, falling on to his side with his own trembling. A few weak wines escaped from him and he clinched his chest in a pained manner. No one took too much notice of it, they knew what was happening, they'd seen it too many times to be worried about it. His fur retracted into his body, his claws and fangs shrunk to normal size along with his muscles that created his larger body size. A human half breed was left behind, laying sweating and panting on the ground, dusted in blood and dirt and the open wounds across his torso still bleeding. Without hesitation he climbed to his knees and stood to his feet, usually he fell asleep after he transformed back. "W-what's...what's wrong with him?"
Neji looked over at Kiba' questioningly, since transforming back was so energy consuming he'd never seen Kiba conscious through it. "I don't know..." What ever the reason why, he was glad Kiba was conscious. "What happened?" Neji peered over the boy with his bloodline enacted, intensifying the jutsu, and congruently brightening the white aura around the boy.
"I don't know, This demon took him and I went after him." Kiba stared at the boy, backing away a distance far enough as not to inhibit Neji. "He was in the middle of some kinda sign painted in the ground, I don't know what it was."
"A what?" Neji clasp his hands together and began another series of hand seals, then he thrust his hands roughly on to the boy's chest and held him down. His own Chakra became visible in a white aura that moved over his body like slow fire and rolled off like mist. "Sign...Sign, what did it look like?"
"It was a circle with a bunch of lines that connected into some kinda design or something."
"Sign...Seal! It was a Seal!" Neji held himself steady as the white misting Chakra rolled down his eyes and washed over the small form like a morning fog. As soon as the first strand of smoke like constructive healing Chakra from the jutsu touched his body, the small boy began to shake violently. 'Oh man...' The heavy breaths became loud cries and the boy's eyes shot open, staring upward unfocused and in a daze that didn't match up to his body's pained movements.
"I don't know.." Kiba felt a rush of anxiety course through him, making his voice more frantic. "I remember there was a mud slide, it was right in the middle of it and it didn't even didn't get wet. It was glowing too."
"Damnit, he must have been sacrificed!" Neji could barely hold the boy down, attempting to keep pouring out the mist on to the boy but something was blocking it from taken effect.
"What?" Kiba's ear twitched and he winced at the sound of the boy crying in pain, he looked away, he couldn't watched this. "What do you mean sacrificed?" Kiba's voice began to shy away also, he didn't want to watch this little kid suffer, but he really couldn't keep looking away.
Neji pushed the boy down even harder, struggling to keep him on the table and keep up the Jutsu at the same time. This should have been working, as hard as the boy was breathing he should have been inhaling the mist in large amounts, and as much as he was sweating and the open wounds, it should have been absorbing in his skin. "No... " An unexpected reaction came, the boy's screaming cut off as a black substance began poring out of his mouth and nose, seeping out of his ears, and bleeding out of his pours. "No, no..."
Neji sighed and pulled his hands back, now covered with the thick black liquid that the boy was crying out from his eyes. The small boy choked, a horrible sound that was hard to listen too, it took a few more seconds, but the trembling stopped, and it was finally over. "..."
"T-That's it?" Kiba just stared at the boy, what was all that black stuff? "It's over?"
"You saved him before he could be completely sacrificed but he was just too far gone." Neji said, his Bakyugan and Chakra faded and his hands fell tiredly to his side, dripping with the black liquid.
"So... I was too late." Kiba sighed decidedly.
Neji shook his head and attempted to discourage that line of thinking. "He was already dead." His heart hadn't really been beating, that black substances just pushed the blood through the veins because of inconsistencies in the pressure. He was breathing but no air was getting to his blood, and subsequently the rest of his body. Not to mention every organ of his body was being flooded and shut down. "That black liquid was created in the sacrificing process." Produced by the loss of chakra and the absence of a soul.
Iruka sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "I guess I'll go tell his mother."
"No." Kiba objected, he looked away from the boy and walked towards the door with his eyes narrowed and his fist clinched. "I'll do it."
"Kiba." Neji reached out a hand to stop him, but then he remembered what was covering it. "You don't have to do that."
Kiba didn't listen, he simply walked through the door and slammed it behind him.
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
"Ow...Damnit." Kiba winced as the stream of warm water struck the open lacerations on his back and sides, sending out a steady stream of blood mixing into the water, running down his leg and pooling at the drain. The dirt and mud that had found itself on to his body rinsed away cleanly. Finally it hurt too much to continue and he shut the water off quickly before he screamed at the pain. '...'
Kiba climbed out of the shower and shut the door behind him as if the water would chase him. Letting out a tense breath he'd been hold and leaned back against the glass door, with out looking he reached out and pulled a towel off a nearby rack. Drying as much as himself as he cold before even that became to painful to press the white fabric against the wounds and he just wrapped the towel around his waist.
He just stood there, staring at the wall in silence. '...' The memory replayed in his mind, the boy, the mother, the demon, the seal, until he couldn't stand seeing it anymore. He shook his head and quickly stormed out of the bathroom, crossing the contrastingly cooler air of the main hall to Iruka's room only a few doors down from the bath room. He kept the same quite demeanor as he reluctantly opened the door and walked in, his tail hanging down between his legs and his ears flat against his low hanging head.
Iruka was waiting for him, surprisingly Gaara was there too. Gaara had a bowl in his hands with a thick liquid that looked like dough and nearly as thick, Iruka was searching through a cabinet beside his bed for other medical supplies. "Kiba?" Iruka looked over his shoulder with a quick glance and then turned back to his task. "Just sit down on the bed, I'll be right there." Iruka found what he was looking for and came back to the bed with all off it in his arms.
"So..." Iruka opened up a bottle and began pouring the contents on a small cloth. "Are you alright?" Iruka sat down behind Kiba and pulled himself a little closer.
Kiba was getting really sick of people asking him that question. "I'm fine."
"Hn...This is going to sting."
"Sting? Wha-" '!' Kiba's eyes widened and his body cringed when an intense burning pain came rushing on to his back. "Ahhaaa!What the hell!"
"Sorry." Iruka had to clean Kiba's wounds, since his spars shower could only do so much. Kiba healed quickly, being a werewolf, all of the deep lacerations would be gone by the end of the weak, which was why Iruka had to clean them now, since if anything stayed in them it would cause painful complications and infections. "I'll try to be quick..." Iruka quickly began pouring and dabbing the antiseptic liquid into the gashes on Kiba's back, and since he was already screaming, Iruka did the ones on his torso to.
"Couldn't have given me a better warning then that?" Kiba growled in a voice that sounded oddly close to a hurt child, hugging his chest protectively.
"It's best to get it over with quickly." Iruka told him sympathetically, he picked up the half bloody towel and the antiseptic and stood up, going to put them away. "Alright Gaara."
Gaara sat down behind Kiba before Kiba even noticed him, Gaara always had a tendency to surprise people, since he never said anything, or rarely made noise. "Gaara? What are you doing here?"
"What do you mean?" Gaara's half monotone voice quirked with the light hint of inquisitional.
"I never imagined you doing something like this." Kiba folded his arms and waited patiently, everything sill hurt, throbbing with a ache. But it wasn't as bad as it was before Iruka put on the antiseptic, the cold air didn't sting him as much, his still damp state didn't agitate the exposed flesh.
Gaara unraveled a section of the bandages from the roll and ripped it cleanly off, then he dipped it in the thick liquid just as Iruka had taught him. As soon as it was soaked, Gaara pressed the strip against Kiba's back and pressed it on over the wounds so they stuck, they felt like plaster. Kiba didn't even feel it, what ever it was on those bandages numbed his pain even more, not to say the wounds themselves didn't still hurt. "Why not?" Gaara asked in that same voice that made it hard to tell if he was even asking a question. He didn't seem that interested in an answer.
"You don't seem like the type of person that would want to deal with other people." Kiba said. "Or do something like fix me up. Why are you doing this?"
"I just needed to learn it." Gaara said simply, maybe it was because he'd seen Naruto get hurt too many time and he lacked the ability to do something about it. When going on missions they often split up and Naruto and Gaara were a usual team. Or maybe it was because he grew an attached worry for all of his teammates, medical skills were ones that were for helping people. Maybe he just wanted to help, maybe he needed to help.
"Yeah." Kiba shifted around a bit to allow Gaara access to his chest and stomach. "I guess , but to be fair I never figured you be the type to listen to music either."
"Hn."
"Does it help?" Kiba asked.
"What?"
"The music." Kiba laid back on the bed and propped himself up on to his elbows to allow Gaara to better reach his stomach. "You gotta be listening to it for a reason."
"I like it." Gaara said plainly.
"Obviously, but you had to have started listening to it for a reason." Kiba looked back at him curiously. "Why did you start anyway?"
Gaara ripped off more of the bandages and dipped it into the off white mixture. "Because I promised my self I would."
Kiba just nodded, he wouldn't ask how he ended up promising something like that. "So does it help?"
"What do you mean?"
"You must have started when you did for a reason." Kiba reasoned. "So why?"
"I... don't remember. " Gaara may or may have not have been focused on why he didn't remember something like this, it was hard to tell.
"I guess it can't be helped."
"Hn." Gaara laid the last strip across Kiba's chest and stepped back to check his work.
"I'm sure it's good." Kiba shifted his eyes back down to the ground with that same feeling of oppressive sadness that had been hanging over him all night. He hadn't even noticed it when he was talking with Gaara, he was so confused to see him doing medical work that he forgot all about it.
"Yes, it's perfect." Iruka returned to Kiba's side with another roll of dry bandages, he knelt down in front of the half werewolf and began wrapping them over the wet ones. "It's getting pretty late." By late he meant one in the morning. "You should go to bed."
"Yeah, I guess."
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
"So this is where you've been." Neji softly closed the door behind him as he entered. It was ironic that the last place he'd expected to find Kiba was in Kiba's room, since he was never here. Kiba always liked Neji's study in the library better, it had a completely different air to it. Kiba's clothes were even mixed in his. "Hiding."
Kiba sat on the side of the bed towards the wall, his eyes fixed on the ground, and his back was turned from the door. His ears perked at the sound and he lifted his head. "I'm not hiding." Actually he had been hiding, he really felt like being alone right now.
Neji sat down beside him and examined his face carefully. "What's with you? Are you alright?"
He was getting really sick of hearing people ask him that. "I'm fine." He said, his voice showing every bit of his annoyment.
It didn't take Neji very long to figure out he wasn't. "No your not."
"Yes, I am." Kiba muttered. "Just leave me alone."
"What's wrong with you?" Neji asked expectantly, Kiba rarely hid anything he was feeling, he was always outspokenly blunt, so why start now?
"What's wrong with me?" Kiba growled, what little patience he had finally fading. He looked at Neji with a hard glare, not betraying one bit of his anger. He was unusually quick to anger... "What's wrong with me is people who keep asking me am I alright! I'm fine goddammit! Lay off me!"
"Your not fine." Neji said, not changing his tone at all despite the sudden yelling. Kiba's quick irritation was his first sign that something was really bothering him.
Kiba growled in frustration, this was so aggravating! "Stop telling me what I am! You keep making a bigger deal out of this then it is!"
"I know you Kiba." Neji folded his arms. "If you were fine then you wouldn't be yelling."
Kiba stared at him with narrowed eyes, he abruptly stood to his feet, looking down at Neji with every bit of his anger burring in his voice and expression. "I'm yelling because you guys keep bothering me about this crap! Leave me the hell alone!"
"I'm not going to leave you alone until you stop being so stubborn and talk to me." Neji looked down at the ground, it hard but he was trying his best not to raise his voice and stay calm about it, him yelling wouldn't help. Kiba wasn't making that easy for him though, he was starting to get frustrated himself.
Not nearly as frustrated as Kiba was, his hands clinched into tight fist at his sides and his expression took on a fierceness, his fangs baring with each word he shouted out. "Then stop being stupid and listen to me! There is nothing to talk about!"
Neji just snorted and turned his head away. "You can't just ignore it, the problem wont go away, and neither will I."
"Leave me alone!" Kiba growled animalisticaly, nearly roaring.
Neji persistently shook his head. "No."
Kiba narrowed his eyes violently, he would have said something but he felt like there was no point, he didn't want to have this conversation. It was 3 in the morning, Hell, he didn't need to have this conversation, he didn't even need to be here! He only turned away and walked with angry steps toward the door.
Neji didn't move, he just sat there on the edge of the bed, his back turned away from the door, and his eyes facing the walls. His voice didn't change at all, still keeping that calm, understanding to it. If Kiba was going to just walk out then he wouldn't try and make him stay, but still... "It wasn't your fault."
Kiba only got his hand on the door knob when those words made him freeze, those words made him stop when nothing else Neji said would. They echoed in his head, over and over in taunting ring, growing louder and louder until Kiba cringed inwardly and he couldn't stand it. This was making him crazy!
"Not my fault?"
Kiba's voice wasn't loud when he said this, something in his throat made him choke up and his words weak for an uncountably long number of seconds before it passed and his normal range of volume returned.
He let go of the door and turned towards Neji, his shoulders trembling with rage. His steps were slow but steady as he made his way back over to where Neji was sitting and looked him in the eye with a hard look. "Not my fault!"
"It wasn't your fault." Neji repeated.
"It was! Don't patronize me! Don't tell me it wasn't my fault!" Kiba shouted.
The rain out side slowed to a light drizzle, lighting flashed just as close as ever, painting the two figure's showy imprints on the wall for a split second. The thunder was distant when it crashed in the sky now, not nearly as loud as it had been before. Neji looked up at him fully now, staring him in the eyes with a trembling gaze, he was holding back. "It wasn't."
"Don't tell me that!" Kiba growled, lifting his fist and taking a step forward with the same fury. "You weren't there! You don't know that!"
"I do know that." Neji shot back, more emotion came in to his voice this time, seeping slowly into the monotone calmness he was trying to hold up. "There was no way this could have been-."
"Goddamnit Neji! Stop telling me that! You didn't see what happened! You can't tell me that!" He growled. "You don't get to tell me that! The only person that can tell me that is that kid, and he can't now!"
Neji grunted in his own frustration, he wasn't even listening to him! He wasn't even trying to listen! Maybe it was because they all had a long day and he didn't feel like having a one sided argument at 3 in the morning, but his patience faded quicker then normal. Neji pushed himself off the bed stood up, giving Kiba a look harsh enough to rival the look he was getting. "Damnit It wasn't your fault! Stop blaming this on your self!"
"You don't get it! It was me!" Kiba yelled. "I could have-"
"No! You couldn't have!" Neji shouted just as loudly and angrily.
"Yes I could have!" Kiba retorted, "I could have gotten there sooner! I could have saved that kid!"
Neji rolled his eyes. "Stop being so stubborn! Your just taking the easy way out because you feel guilty! "
Lighting flashed beyond the window and thunder rolled across the sky, Kiba's frustration doubled, those words still echoing in his head, haunting him. "You think I'm just saying this? I'm not fucking imagining this!"
"You are!"
"I'm not! Goddamnit I could have got to that kid!"
"Stop staying that!" Neji yelled, before he realized he and Kiba were standing so close that their noses almost made contact, he hadn't realized ether one of them were moving forward. "You keep saying that! Stop taking the easy way out! You keep blaming yourself because you don't want to think about it! This is stupid! Just shut up think about it!"
Think about it? That's all he he'd been doing! He didn't even want to, he wasn't even trying! It showed in his mind, every single move Kiba had move, every single one of the demons he fought he could account for, and that boy...How he died, how such a small body had that ubiquitous expression of terror and pain on his face. The look on his mother's face when he told her, when he showed her. It just played over and over and over!
Until he couldn't take it anymore, he wasn't listening! He didn't understand! And he just repeated it wasn't your fault, adding to that torment echo. He couldn't take it! Kiba clinched his head and roared in a swell of fury, in one blind movement he reached out and grabbed Neji by the shoulders and slammed him against the wall hard enough to send a sharp fracture along the harden surface and create an imprint.
Neji looked up at him in complete surprise, every bit of it showed on his face and in his eyes as he stare up into Kiba's brown one's, trembling with the same rage just as strong as ever. A small impact was formed at Neji's back, Kiba's claws dug into his shoulder hard enough to draw blood, and his hands and arms shook Silence followed, neither of them said anything for only a few seconds, but it seemed infinitely longer to Neji...
Then... Kiba's grip loosened and then the half werewolf sunk to his knees in a sloppy motion and cried. His arms needly hugged Neji's waist, his face buried into the other boy's stomach and miserable sobs forced their way out of his mouth. "I...I..."
Neji's initial surprised faded when he realized Kiba had just broke down in front of him, though his back hurt a little bit and he had been angry, he didn't care. "Kiba, it wasn't your fault, just let it go." Neji rested his hand on Kiba's head and made soothing motions.
"I-I could have saved him! B-But...I was scared." Kiba forced himself to admit. The sound of rain pounding against the window was accented by a sudden roll of thunder causing Kiba's ears to perk, but they were pushed down right after from Neji's petting. "I hesitated! I couldn't see anything, and it was so loud that it hurt, and they were everywhere but I couldn't smell them. I didn't know where I was going and I didn't know what was out there and I hesitated, a lot!"
"Kiba..."
"I'm sorry, I so, so sorry..." Kiba pleaded, he hugged tighter. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to."
Neji reached down and pulled Kiba up, despite his reluctance to let go of his waist, and settled him on to his feet. Kiba looked away reluctantly, his eyes fixed on the ground and the blood tented claws hanging at his side. He couldn't look him in the eye anymore. "It's alright." Neji reassured him.
Kiba looked away even farther receding from Neji's gaze, trying to hide almost. "I saw him...when that demon took that kid I hesitated, and I got hit...It was my fault..."
"No..." Neji shook his head, his eyes fixed on Kiba. "Did you try your absolute hardiest to save him?"
"... Yeah, I tried."
"Then that's all you could do." Neji comforted. "You saved all of those other kids."
"Yeah...maybe." He half joked, Kiba leaned forward, tears still falling down his face. He felt so, so horrible, no matter what Neji had said he still felt the guilt. Neji wrapped his arms around Kiba and pulled him into a hug, and he couldn't explain it but it helped. It suppressed the feeling unsettled deep in his stomach and it pushed the repeating images away. "I'm sorry..."
Neji rested his hand under Kiba's chin and lifted his head, noting how Kiba couldn't seem to look him in the eyes anymore, slowly he kissed away the tears on his cheek and pressed his lips to Kiba's. It gave all the answer Kiba needed, it comforted him farther, it pushed away the feelings of anger and guilt even more. He needed this right now, he wanted more of it, maybe then he could get the images out of his head... maybe then he could forget about it.
Kiba pushed deeper in to the kiss, his tongue becoming almost combative with hunger and need. Neji suddenly placed his hands on Kiba's waist and switched their positions with a swift turn and pull, pressing Kiba against the wall in his place instead. An interesting smirk came on to his face as he pulled away from the kiss, showing every bit of his intentions.
"Heh. "Kiba gave a wolfish grin, tilting his head back as Neji slid his tongue along his jawline, sliding the slick warmth down to Kiba's neck with soft, wet kisses. Kiba's tail shifted against the wall and his ears twitched with his anticipation, unfortunately for him his anxiety to move was quelled when Neji took hold of his hands and pinned them against the wall.
Neji's soft kiss moved down Kiba's throat until his lips met the boy's shoulder. He pulled on the collar of Kiba's shirt, tugging it down until his tongue could reach Kiba's collar bone, also reveling the bandages surrounding Kiba's torso. He didn't go farther, he couldn't. '...' Neji just nodded to himself and gave Kiba a small, chastising kiss, pulling back just as Kiba began to even start.
He dropped down to one knee and wrapped one arm around Kiba's waist while the other began unbuttoning Kiba's shorts. He slipped his fingers into Kiba's boxers and pulled them down along with his pants, letting them fall down around his ankles and reveling Kiba's already hardened erection. "Kiba, your so hormonal."
"I can't help it." Kiba smirked. "You do it to me."
Neji leaned forward and wrapped his mouth around Kiba's member, immediately drawing a deep sigh from Kiba. His tongue ran over the warm flesh, sliding the warm appendage along the bottom of his cock. "Uh..." Kiba tensed enough to make his injured muscles hurt, he lifted his head off he wall and clinched his eyes shut tightly, moaning lightly as the throbbing pain in his torso began ebbing away, replaced by an intensifying pleasure.
The tip of Neji's tongue gave small, teasing licks to the head of Kiba's cock while mouth sucked the whole length. Kiba was filled with a growing energy that caused him to squirm under the administrations, "Neji..." He tried to thrust upward into Neji's mouth, heavy, canine like paints emitted from his slightly parted mouth. But Neji's arm wrapped around Kiba's waist kept him from moving. "Uhhh... "
Neji began sucking harder, he pulled Kiba's waist forward and drew all of his member into his mouth. "N-Neji!" Kiba's head fell back against the wall and he bit down on his lip to keep from crying out as he was pushed to his limit. His cum streamed from his flushed cock, spilling into Neji's awaiting mouth and leaving him panting for his breath. "Neji..."
Neji stood to his feet, reclaiming Kiba's mouth in a full kiss, their tongues meeting between parted lips with all of the pint up energy Kiba had burning in him. His tail wagged frantically, inhabited by the wall it was pinned against, showing every bit of his excitement. He wrapped his arms around Neji's back, pulling him closer, deeper, his tongue moving with more energetic motions. Neji's returned the embrace, closing his arms around Kiba, careful of the wounds on his back as his hands slid downward and took a hold of the back of Neji's legs. "Are you alright?" Neji asked, indicating the lacerations across his torso.
"Fine." Kiba barely gave an answer before pushing himself hungrily back into the kiss. Neji indulged his haste and wrapped both arms fully under Kiba's legs, then lifted him off ground, pinning his back firmly against the wall for leverage. Kiba wrapped his arms around Neji's neck and his legs around Neji's waist congruently, tilting his head back again as Neji pulled away and began kissing along Kiba's cheek.
Neji held Kiba up momentarily with one arm as he began unbuttoning his own pants. "Ready?"
Kiba tightened his arm hold around Neji's neck and nodded as Neji finally freed his erection and pressed it against Kiba's entrance. Neji ran his hand over Kiba's softening member and scoped some of his cum, giving his own cock a few quick strokes before slipping his free arm under Kiba's other leg. Then with a rough motion he thrust upward in to Kiba's entrance.
"Uh..." Kiba bit down on his bottom lip almost hard enough to draw blood, clinching his eyes shut. Neji began pounding into Kiba's body, the full length driving his cock into the heat of the tight muscles that seem to grow tighter the farther he went. He strived to go deeper into the warmth, thrusting upward harder with each movement. "Ahaa." A moan made it's past Kiba's clinched jaw, he panted, gasping to reclaim air that was elusively forced out of his lungs with each movement Neji made inside of him.
It hurt, it was rough and hard. And Kiba loved every moment of it, the pain, though a good measure of it, only made the pleasure it came in hand with that much better. "N-Neji!" Kiba's arms dropped loosely to his side and his claws bore in to the wall he was pinned against. Neji leaned forward and pushed himself into a kiss, his tongue gently licking at at Kiba's lips, asking for entrance. Kiba opened his mouth and willingly sunk into it, letting out a soft groan as he felt his rehardened erection rubbing against Neji's chest.
Neji began moving faster, harder, he pulled Kiba down to meet his growingly intense thrust. After attempting to ignore it, His legs finally gave way and dropped down to his knees then fell into a sitting position, pulling Kiba down with him and on his knees in his lap. Neji's full length was forced into Kiba's body, drawing in interesting reaction. Kiba wrapped his arms around Neji's neck needly and laid his head on the other boy's shoulder, a distinct whine weakly sounding from him. Neji couldn't help but smirk inwardly when he heard that as he did when ever he heard the weak sound...
Kiba's wines grew louder when he felt his cock pressed between the two of them, being rubbed inbetween their conflicting torsos. Neji pushed harder, he was close... "Kiba...Uhaaa!" Neji cringed and clinched his jaw, silently giving a few last jabbing thrust and pushed himself in to completion. His cock spilled his seed deep into Kiba and quickly filled him, it streamed down his erection and overflowed, falling on to Neji's pelvis.
Kiba's small wines turned into a loud outcry, his body trembling softly as he came soon after. Neji quickly pulled him to a kiss, muffling the loud sound as a spurt of the creamy liquid spilled over the both of them, equally coating their torsos. Neji unexpectedly lost his balance from some manner of fatigue soon after and fell on to his back, with Kiba landing on his chest more tired then when he first started.
Gasping to reclaim his lost breath, Kiba's head fell on to Neji's shoulder again, his arms keeping a lose hold around Neji's back. Almost ritualistically Kiba began licking Neji's shoulder, running his tongue over the bloody spot where he'd sunk his claws in before, something he always did out of some manner of instinct. Neji just laid silently, allowing Kiba to do so how ever long he felt the need too.
The sound of rain lessened against the window, the flash of lighting had dimmed slightly from the distance the storm had gotten, and the thunder was almost non-exsistant. Neji didn't know how long they stayed like that, but when he noticed the storm outside had past that he realized it was longer then he thought.
"Feel better?" Neji asked.
Kiba's tail still sagged lifelessly when it usually would have been wagging excitedly after sex, that unbearable feeling of guilt and depression that swelled up from his stomach was starting to return. "Not really..." At least for a while he had, and he was grateful for the reprieve.
"It wasn't your fault." Neji reasused him, wrapping his arms around him in a soft embrace.
"Yeah..." Kiba shrugged. "But then why do I feel like it was?"
Neji just rubbed his back soothingly, he really couldn't answer that. But that was one thing he liked about Kiba.
! - ! - !
