The Fourth

Part 6

By Mieren

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Kiba had been rather incensed about cleaning the blood from his bedroom floor. His temper only settled when he noticed that Akamaru had finally crept up to the fallen blond and licked his cheek a few times in worry. The prone boy lifted one arm to gently pat the dog on his back. It did not escape Kiba's notice that his hand sported claws and his forearms seemed to be roughed up for no apparent reason. The ill chunin suddenly curled in on himself.

Naruto's scream shook the walls of the house. Akamaru leapt away and promptly vanished under the bed. Kiba's mother's and aunt's dogs appeared out of nowhere, snarling viciously but not daring to approach. Naruto issued a roar that nearly deafened his friend and his pup, causing both trained nin-dogs to retreat at top speed with their tails tucked beneath them. The blond huffed at their cowardliness.

"Naruto?" Kiba asked carefully. The blonde's legs were twisted in horrible directions, hints of red coloring tinting his skin, smooth as silk. His back did little more than seep blood occasionally. The strange bones poking through the gruesome slits in his friend's back had lengthened considerably, nearly reaching his ankles. There was some shading and coloration to the skeletal structure, gold, amber and red.

"This is too soon," Kiba's aunt said, eyes locked on the prone blond.

"He's too young," his mother agreed. "If he remembers now…"

"Quiet!" Kiba's aunt snarled, eyes flicking towards her baffled nephew. The dog-nin tensed, expecting to be caught before he could save his friend. "Remember what we discussed last night?"

"Yes."

"We have no choice," Kiba's aunt said as she left the room with his mother, muttering almost inaudibly. "S."

Kiba froze for a moment. S? They were going to kill his friend! Mindless of why, he snatched two duffel bags and a shoulder pack, stuffing the two duffels with clothes, a tent and blankets.

"Akamaru!" he called, receiving a whimper for his orders. "Take this." In his palm, he held out a soldier pill that the pup swallowed obediently. "Raid the fridge. Bring back enough to fill this." He waved the shoulder bag. The tiny dog made a tiny sound but disappeared instantly to follow his master's orders.

Kiba was too busy to watch as his canine returned time and again to fill the large bag. The dog-nin had only sent his pup since the little thing was less likely to be watched. He was busy attaching harnesses to his muscular frame to be fitted with every weapon he owned. By the time he was done, he was twice his weight in weapons. The hefty armory bothered him little, nor did the fact that he would probably have to carry Naruto out of the area.

Taking out a piece of parchment, he started to scribble out a simple mission, matching his handwriting to a mission he had received the previous week. Crunching up the paper, he tried again, sure to get the handwriting and format correct this time. Satisfied, he tucked the parchment into his vest and looked to his friend.

Thinking of the blond, he found a third duffle bag and started to maneuver the smaller malformed ninja into it while Akamaru finished filling his shoulder bag. He was grateful that neither his mother nor aunt had noticed his pup completing his task.

"In with Naruto," Kiba commanded Akamaru. "Tell me if he's getting worse." The white pup whined in response but did as commanded and climbed into the bag, resting gently against the blonde's side, careful not to hurt the bony projections from his back. The dog-nin zipped up all of the bags and slung them across his shoulders, grunting under the weight.

It wasn't even close to dark, but Kiba knew that there was no use. S. If he wanted to save his friend's life, he had to move quickly. He moved evenly down the stairs, hoping not to draw attention to himself. His luck seemed to be absent when his mother called out to him as he neared the front door.

"Where are you headed with all that?" she called.

"Called on a C class quite a ways from here," he responded in what he prayed was a normal tone.

"Where's Akamaru?"

Crap.

"He's in my shirt again," Kiba lied. "I'll be back in about two weeks. Don't worry. It's only C class, but it's just a ways away from here."

"Where are you going?"

Well, shit. She was not going to make this easy.

"I was just going to follow the map they gave me. Don't worry. I am a chuunin," he laughed, sauntering out the front door before she could say more. "It will take more than a C to phase me." He departed quickly before she could respond.

Fully armed and carrying three duffels and a shoulder bag, Kiba expected to be stopped at any moment by either a jounin or an ANBU. He wasn't disappointed. Almost to the front gates, a masked ANBU dropped in front of him.

"What is your reason for departing?" the man demanded softly. Trying to keep from panicking, Kiba fished out his forged note and handed it over to the stronger ninja. The ANBU saved him unknowingly, merely glancing down at the orders without reading them other than noting a C class rating before returning the leaf of paper. "Rank?"

"Chuunin," Kiba answered. The last thing he wanted was to tick off an ANBU.

"Why C?"

"It's a long mission and the Hokage didn't want someone less experienced to run into possible trouble," the dog-nin explained, trying to sound bored. The ANBU grunted and stepped aside to allow the younger ninja to depart.

Kiba walked calmly out the gates, desperately trying to maintain some sense of calm as he walked away until he was far out of sight. The moment he was out of vision, he bolted, and struggling under the weight he was carrying. His own weight in weapons, a shoulder bag of food, two duffels of supplies and one duffel carrying Naruto and Akamaru. Carrying five times his weight, he had to strain his chakra to get away. His close friend was under orders for an S assassination. He was dieing. Even his own family was trying to kill him, even knowing that it was their own relative's closest friend.

Kiba ran at full strength until nightfall. By then, he was exhausted and more than willing to stop to rest for the night.

First thing first. Kiba set down his luggage and unloaded his duffel containing an unconscious Naruto and whimpering Akamaru. The dog-nin set up a small fire and prepared a few of the goods Akamaru had gathered for them. He set up a skewer to roast a few previsions while he set up the small tent he had packed.

Akamaru was exalted to eat anything offered to him. For a little while, Kiba tried to feed Naruto, but every effort resulted in the blond choking on every bite. Sighing, the dog-nin opened a canteen and let a few drops of water into his friend's mouth. The drips slid down the blonde's throat encouraging Kiba to continue until he had at least a pint down the teen's throat. If he couldn't eat, he had to at least drink.

Settling the blond back to the ground, Kiba was astonished when one of the bony projections lying flat along Naruto's back lashed out violently, throwing him back forcefully. Dark eyes widened when he saw that the bones were covered in gold and amber fluff. He landed roughly on his back and skidded a little ways before hitting a tree.

Blue eyes cracked open, taking hold of the situation.

"Kiba?" he asked raggedly.

"Naruto? You're awake?"

"Now I can stop dreaming of being Hokage," Naruto managed, completely off tangent.

"Why?" Kiba asked carefully, going along to evade further injury.

"Because I already was."

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To Be Continued…

This is only going to get worse for Naruto. Please R&R if you want further story. --