Hinata weakly stumbled out of the bed, holding Kiba's shoulder tightly as she tried to steady herself. "Take your time." he muttered cautiously, an arm gently wrapped around her waist as guidance. She meekly nodded. It had been three days since her brutal lost in the Chuunin exams and she was already showing great progress. She had awoken from her coma like state the day before and could now breathe more freely.

She marveled at how her friends continued supporting her, despite her ultimate beat down in the arena. When she had first regained consciousness, she found that her dog lover teammate had given her one of his clan's charm necklaces. It was such a delicate little thing and so beautiful. She didn't have the slightest clue as to how she would ever repay him. Shino had bought her a grey cricket, the little critter chirping constantly in its cage. He claimed the insect to be just as lucky as the Inuzuka's necklace. Her sensei, Kurenai, brought her some more daffodils and lisianthus to accompany the dull room, the yellow representing friendship and the green symbolizing health.

Most recently, the trio was trying to get Hinata back to walking, taking tiny baby steps. She had managed to stand for a brief moment before she collapsed on the bed once again, emitting out a small yelp when her rear made contact with the hospital bed's hard springs. Kiba glared at the furniture, murmuring "piece of shit" under his breath. He'd see if his parents would allow him to borrow the air mattress for the next few nights. Perhaps then Hinata could sleep on something actually befitting for a sick person.

The three teenagers looked up when a knock sounded from the door. The Hyuuga's face lit up when she saw who it was and an immediate blush began to creep on her cheeks. It was N-Naruto Kun! The blonde glanced across the room until his blue eyes locked on the Hyuuga's, a warm smile stretching on his face. "Hi, Hinata! Are you feeling any better from your fight? Man, your cousin was such a douche!" he said, stepping into the room.

Kiba smirked. "Hi, loser. Come back for my rematch?" The Inuzuka mockingly placed his fists in the air, standing in a defensive stance. Naruto rolled his eyes. "As if you could beat me anyway."

Kiba dropped his arms, a stern look on his features. "I'm not the same kid as I was before, dunce." Naruto ignored him, heading towards the shy girl sitting on the hospital bed. Hinata hesitantly looked up at him, becoming lost in his oceanic eyes. After staring at him awkwardly for a few minutes, she quickly retreated her gaze, hearing him clear his throat which showed her that she was making him uneasy.

She started fidgeting with her fingers to calm her nerves. It was suddenly so hot in the room...had it always been like that? She could hear her heart pulsing faster against her chest. She recalled his question from earlier and nodded her head. "I-I am doing quite fine now, Naruto. I-I'm not hurting as much anymore."

Kiba silently smiled to himself. Her feelings for the Uzumaki were so obvious. How could the idiot not notice? Oh, wait. That's right. Because he's an idiot. Kiba exhaled in pity for the Hyuuga, gesturing for Shino to follow him outside. He'd give the two some privacy.

Hinata's white orbs widened when she saw Kiba and Shino leaving, her facial expressions doing nothing to hide her astonishment. It was now just him and her. Alone.

Her grip loosened on the edge of the bed, her lip quivering. 'C-calm down Hinata.' she began to plead with herself. She didn't want to appear as a fool in front of her long time crush! "N-Naruto..." she peeped out. Her fingers began a dance around each other, never ceasing to stop their circular pattern. Naruto arched an eyebrow. "What is it Hinata?"

The Hyuuga was about to answer back when she jumped, a loud crash coming from the other side of the hospital door. A ninja with ivory hair burst into the room, slamming the door open. "You two!" he said, pointing at them. "Come out here!" The bewildered friends did as they were instructed, disappearing from the room.

A group of kids surrounded a stretcher further down the hallway and Hinata gasped when she saw a limp arm hanging from one side. "I wonder who it is." Naruto whispered lowly from his shoulder. A genin next to them answered him. "Some chick with fiery red hair and glasses. The medics say she's lost a lot of blood. No one knows what happened to her yet."

Hinata looked warily at the female, a disturbing feeling rising within her. Something about the girl caused her to be uncomfortable... almost as if someone from up above was trying to warn her of something. But of what? The ninja from before interrupted her train of thought, coming up to them and questioning her and Naruto about the identity of the currently unknown kunoichi and where they had been the past few hours. After seemingly receiving no entail on the situation from the two teenagers, the jonin let them be.


*Two days prior*

Karin stared miserably at the earth below, the blood continuing to flow down her chin. She abruptly coughed again, more blood spewing out. She glumly looked up at the sociopath near her, the boy facing away from her. Her crimson bodily fluid, mixed in with some other unfortunate soul's, dripped down his hands. The boy paid no mind to the wretched stench of death that hovered through the air, only eyeing the full moon in the night sky. He hesitantly began to drag his tongue against his decorated skin, savoring the salty sweet taste over taking his taste buds.

"P-please... don't... kill me." she begged, her voice not reaching above a whisper. He tuned her out, his mind elsewhere. She had revealed everything to him, going from when she got the potion up to stalking him through the streets of Konoha. How could he have been so careless? He should've sensed her chakra back in the cafeteria! He sighed. If he hadn't been so precarious, he wouldn't even be in this mess.

He flexed his fingers, popping every single bone. Now he was stuck with being in "love" with a girl that he hardly knew anything about. He briefly clenched his jaw, attempting to extinguish his anger. People always seemed to want to try him these days. Each year, it was getting tougher for him to tolerate people's ignorant and foolish ways. He shook his head.

Grabbing the kunai from his back pants pocket, he slowly stepped towards the cowering girl, the red head whimpering. 'Let the games begin.' he evilly thought, snickering.

A/N: Told dotchi13 I'd update for her today so I made what I could in the small amount of time I had this whole entire day. I'll see if I can make longer chapter next time. Reviews are welcomed and sorry for any errors. God bless!^_^