CHAPTER SIXTEEN: "THIS IS PRETTY FUCKED UP"

KIBA'S POV

It was quiet, unusually quiet for a Saturday, or, not anymore. The fact that I was starting to adjust to the way things were now, was kind of frightening. The constant silence, behaving more like a zombie than a person, and lets not forget the disturbing nightmares. It was becoming my everyday routine.

I felt relieved when I heard the dog snore, just the comforting thought of not being alone; it made me so much more calm. It wasn't only me here, Akamaru was here too.

After crawling out of bed and starting to make new coffee, I noticed that the kitchen was a mess. At this point, in my opinion, it was on the stage of no return. It really needed a cleanup. I agreed with the idea of cleaning, not that I would go through with it. Why bother? I continued to drag myself to the bathroom in the hope of a relaxing shower.

The shower didn't help at all; I had lost track of time and ended up using all the hot water, which resulted with cold-water feeling like hail on my shoulders. I stepped out of the shower and dried off.

I groaned as I managed to cut myself while shaving; it was the last little thing to push me over the edge. I took a deep breath and put the razor down at the sink; I splashed some water in my face and left the room, in search for some decent, non-dirty clothes to wear.

The Xbox controller flew across the room and smashed into the wall, ending in many small pieces on the floor. "FUCK." My temper had a ridiculously short fuse; it didn't take a lot before something was getting smashed. A string of curses followed as I tried to calm down and resist the urge to cry. I could hear Akamaru whimper from behind the flipped over couch, it made me realize the amount of stress I put the dog through. The guilt started to blossom in my chest again, and I had to resist the urge to cry again, because of the frustration that was tearing my sanity apart.

"Hey, big boy." I tried to call out to him in a soft voice. "C'mon, let's snuggle." I got a bark in response, along with a head popped up from the couch. I couldn't help but smile at him. He was one charming fellow. I patted my thighs from across the room and whistled. He didn't have to be asked twice, he knocked me over and started to lick my face like crazy.

A couple of hours and several cigarettes later, I was still sitting on the floor scratching a certain fellow's belly.

I blew out a long stream of smoke as I considered the pros and cons about making up with Shikamaru. The so-called conversation we had had earlier this week hadn't turned out the way I wanted, and had resulted with a couple of bruises for me, and a black eye for Shika. I felt terrible; I felt so guilty about actually punching my best friend.

The dialing sound had never been this nerve-wracking in my whole life. I was starting to think that he wouldn't pick up; I could understand that he was mad. I just hoped he wasn't. He picked up and answered with a short "hello". I swore that my heart stopped for a second. I couldn't determine if it was sadness or happiness that I felt, my feelings were equally torn as my mind.

"Hey." It was merely a whisper. I didn't trust my voice to speak louder. He didn't say anything, but his breathing confirmed his presence. "I understand that you're mad, and you have the right to be. But I just want you to know that I feel awful about the situation we're in. It wasn't right of me to blame you for what's happening now. I-I just want you to know that I'm terrible sorry, and I really hope that you can forgive me. Because I really need you, you're the only person that knows how to fix me. So, please, I need my best friend. I need you Shika. " He sighed, I could picture it, he was most likely pinching the bridge of his nose and muttering curses under his breath. He surprised me with answering; I thought he would hang up while I talked. "Okay, we need to talk about what happened. I'm spending the night, order pizza." He didn't let me answer. He had already hung up.

"I guess my suspicions were right, the apartment really is-" The sentence was cut short by me attacking him with a hug. I held onto him in a firm grip and rested my head on his shoulder, just by inhaling the familiar scent of my best friend, which makes my heart want to leap out of my ribcage because of the bond we share. "I didn't think you would show up." My voice came out quiet and shaky. I was on the verge of tears. "H-hey" I could feel his hands on my back, he was stroking my back, as if I was a five year old that had just scratched his knee. "Well, it's not often I see you in a state such as this." I couldn't help but chuckle at the playfulness in his voice. He put a little distance between us with his hands and gave me a sad smile. "For Christ sake Kiba." He wiped away the tears that had escaped my eyes with his thumb. "I hope you remembered to order the pizza." I couldn't help but let out a small laugh. Man, this guy was the best.

I collapsed on the couch, being extremely tired and ridiculously full. This was the first time in weeks that you could actually see the floor, and you didn't trip on three day old takeout, while trying to get to the kitchen. "Oh god that pizza must've been sent from heaven or something." Shika plopped down beside me and gave me a 'humpfh' through the pillow he had buried his face in. He got up into a sitting position and started to crack his neck absent minded. "I know that you aren't the tidiest person around, but fuck man, the things in your fridge was about to grow legs and run away." I managed to swallow smoke as I chuckled.

After a couple of minutes with comfortable silence he turned to look at me. "We have to talk about it, you know." I blew out a long stream of smoke as I felt my mood drop. "Yeah." He folded his legs and leaned back into the couch. "I think I've figured out the main issue about these 'tantrums' that you're throwing." I almost snorted; it was so like him to do that. Thinking things through, analyzing, figuring out the problem. "Where is Naruto? I haven't seen him in school for weeks, and he doesn't have any friends in particular, so I haven't figured out why he isn't coming to school." I didn't look at him when I answered, I didn't want to see his reaction when I answered him. "He's in the hospital." I could see out of the corner of my eye, that Shikamaru was surprised at me. It wasn't often that happened. "Why-" I answered before he could finish the question. "He's been in a coma for three weeks." He went silent for a minute, he most likely thought about what to say. "Why is he in a coma?" I reached for another cigarette; I blew a couple of rings before turned to look at him. I rubbed my neck as I started to speak. "He overdosed on his meds. And, it's my fault." And now I felt like crying again.

"How is it your fault?" His brows were furrowed and it looked like he was deep in thought. "I was supposed to 'babysit' him that weekend, his parents were out of town." I could hear him muttering things to himself. "I remember it, now that you mention it." He paused before he started to speak again. "I can't seem to grasp the situation quite. Could you start from the beginning from what you know?"

"Well, as I said. I was supposed to 'babysit' him for the weekend, because for some reason he couldn't be home alone, so he was sleeping over at my place." He had his full attention at me, looking rather serious. "The last thing I remembered from Gaara's place before I blacked out, was having some lip action with Naruto. The next thing I remember was waking up home, naked, and you were sleeping beside me in the bed, and Naruto was nowhere to be seen." I lit another cigarette and continued. "Then, my phone called. Naruto was hysterical, screaming and crying." I paused, trying to stay calm. It was hard; I could still hear his voice as if he was next to me. "It was horrible." I could hear my voice starting to crack up. "The first thing I did after he hung up, was break the speed limit on the way to his house." I didn't say anything after that, it was hard thinking back to what had happened.

Shikamaru was the first to break the silence. "That's pretty fucked up." I smiled at him, he was completely right. It was so fucked up. He put the smoke out in the ashtray and leaned back in the couch. "Have you seen him after the accident?" I only shook my head as a response; I hadn't had the courage to see him. "Then it's decided. You're going to call Kushina in the morning, and you're going to ask her if you can visit him. It's Sunday tomorrow, and you never have anything to on Sundays, so you don't have any excuse not to go." I could feel my shoulders tense by the thought of it. He looked at me with dead serious eyes as he spoke. "You need to stop thinking as if he's dead Kiba, you didn't kill him. And you need to see him. Even if he's comatose. You really need it, because I know that you care about him."

A/N: Hey guys! I'm terribly sorry for going on a hiatus without telling you. A lot has happened the last couple of months. And Shuiro is really being a champ for putting up with me!

And no, I'm not rage-quitting this story, I love these two. I hope you liked the chapter, you precious human beings that are reading this!

Stay tuned!

~ baka bab