Chapter 10: Think Of You Later

A/N: I am soooo sorry I took so long to come out with this chapter. But do not fret! I have a couple of ideas for some new chapters, so writers block is no longer the case, so therefore I will have no excuse to stop writing. Please, don't give up on me just yet!

Nightfall came fast and Ino awoke in a corner of the tent. She groaned as she lifted her body from a rock that the tent was on.

I must've fallen asleep…She thought as she heard the sound of crickets filling the area. She rubbed her eyes and stood, exiting the tent. She looked around to see Kiba nowhere in sight.

I wonder where he might have gone… She thought as she sat on the stump near the fire and slumped over, resting her elbow on her knee, and her chin in her hand lazily.

Suddenly, Kiba burst through the trees, holding his side and wincing in pain. He stumbled toward Ino, who stood quickly, gasping and covering her mouth with her hand as he coughed. He groaned and fell to his knees, nearly toppling over to his side.

"Kiba!" She cried and was instantly at his side, kneeling and holding him up. "What happened?" She asked, worry evident in her eyes.

"Ino… Go to Konoha." He said and grunted in pain as he stood with a little help from Ino, "Tell Hokage-sama that the reports were right, and there is a threat wandering these woods. They wo-…" He stopped to take a deep breath, panting heavily as he gripped his side. "They wore all black, and didn't have a village symbol on any part of them. From what I saw could tell, they were independent rogue ninja who depended on combat alone. No techniques that required any chakra, just simple combat."

"Then how the hell did you end up like this?" Ino tilted her head questioningly.

"There were like fifteen of them." He growled, "All incredibly trained in that one asect. I was so busy trying to fight them all off that I didn't have time to do any hand signs. They just came one after the other and then they were just…gone." He huffed, coughing as blood spat out from his mouth and to the floor. "You have to report to Tsunade-sama." He pulled himself away from Ino, trying to stand on his own, but felt a dizzy sensation in his head, nearly fainting and falling over when Ino caught him again.

"I'll get to that as soon as we deal with your injuries." Ino tilted her head and grabbed one of his arms, putting it around her shoulders to help keep him up as he helped him to the tent. She glanced over to him. He had scratches all over his face, and drops of blood trickled down his forehead. She kneeled down inside the tent as he let go and lay on the sleeping bag. "Now just…sit still." She said as she put her hands over his side. Chakra formed around her hands as she began to heal the wound. She closed her eyes, concentrating on that spot, "Your ribs are definitely broken…" When she was finished, he felt the pain begin to falter. "Sorry. I'm not the best medic ninja yet… Your ribs are still fractured, but not shattered." She stood, dusting herself off as Kiba nodded. "Look at all those bruises. We have to get you back to Konoha, and to the hospital." She commanded, but Kiba shook his head, "No. I want to stay here. I'll be fine. I can move around like this. I'll just wrap my side up, and it'll be like it's not even there. Besides, it's not even that bad." He shrugged.

Ino sighed. She knew that she wasn't going to be able to convince him to go anywhere, and she sure as hell wasn't going to carry him all the way to the hidden leaf village.

" Fine. Now, while I'm gone, I want you to stay in here and don't do anything stupid." She said and put one foot out of the tent before Kiba laughed, coughing in between chuckles. "Me?" He spoke weakly but still smirked arrogantly, "Stupid? Hah." He joked.

Ino rolled her eyes, "I mean it, dog boy, no dumb stunts. I'll be back as soon as possible." With that, exited the tent. Akamaru sat next to the entrance and whined with worry. "Aw, it's alright, Akamaru. Kiba's gonna be just fine…" She whispered to the dog as she ruffled his fur. She noticed his white fur was stained with blood on his leg. "Let's get that healed, shall we?" She mused aloud and chakra formed around her hand once again as she closed the dog's cut. "There we go. Good as new." She smiled and scratched Akamaru behind the ear before she was on her way.

Tsunade was in her office, whining to Shizune about all the paperwork that she was giving her when the door burst open. "Hokage-sama." Ino said, "Kiba was attacked in the forest."

Tsunade's face held a more serious expression then just moments ago, "When?"

"Just today. He said that there were about fifteen rogue ninja, who didn't use chakra related techniques. They relied on simple combat only. It was near our site."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. She didn't know of any rogue ninja of that type. "Thank you, Ino. We'll be right on it. We'll have ANBU out there as soon as possible to rid us of this threat. You're dismissed." She nodded.

"If you don't mind, Hokage-sama. I'd like to return to the site as soon as possible."

"Very well. Leave as soon as you'd like."

"Hai, arigatou." Ino bowed slightly and exited the Hokage's office.

As she was leaving the building, she spotted Shikamaru, who was walking in, "Oi, Ino. Hey. You back?" He said, "Hey, Shika-kun!" She said, giving him a tight hug, "Not just yet. Just reporting to Tsunade-sama. Kiba was attacked…" Her face fell slightly, "But he's alright." She nodded when she saw a bit of worry cross Shikamaru's expression.

"Ino… Can we talk?"

"All right…since we didn't have a chance before. I'm sorry I had to leave in such a hurry, Shika-kun." Ino said, grabbing Shikamaru's hand gently.

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "You're making this hard, Ino…" He mumbled and Ino raised her eyebrow.

"Making what hard, Shika?"

"Ino…When I was on my mission, in Suna… I… I developed feelings… for someone else." He averted his gaze, and Ino's heart dropped. She let go of his hand and felt that she couldn't breath. "It's…" She began, tears stinging her eyes and threatening to fall as she choked the words out, "It's Temari… isn't it?" She sniffed, trying to hold the tears back.

Shikamaru shook his head, sighed and looked into her eyes. "Her name is Takeshi Risa." Ino's heart dropped as he said the name. Risa…Was it not the second time she'd lost a love to that very woman? She wanted to hate Shikamaru so much in that moment. She wanted to hate Risa for stealing away the only two men she'd ever romantically had in her life. But she just couldn't… "Ino, I never meant for it to happen. It just…happened. She makes me feel better than anyone else ever has." He grabbed her hand again comfortingly, and lifted it to his chest. "We were only ever best friends, Ino. You know that…" He shook his head as a tear fell down her cheek, "Oi, Ino… Don't cry."

Ino yanked her hand away, "I-I'm fine. No, it-it's fine." She shook her head, willing herself not to let the tears fall anymore. "It's good, because, you know. I feel the same way." She backed away from him through the doorway. "I knew we were never meant to be, Shika…" She whispered, managing a smile for him. "Friends?" She sniffed. "Best friends." Shikamaru nodded and smiled softly.

Ino stared at her feet, "I'd better go, then…" She said quietly. Shikamaru took a step toward her and grabbed her hand, pulling her into him and embracing her tightly. "Ino, I know that one day, you'll find someone who will treat you like a princess, and will make you feel better than anyone. And not just in a friendly way. You deserve only the best."

"Thank you, Shikamaru…" She choked, returning his hug, and soon pulling away. "Goodbye." She waved, and was on her way. She felt the tears sting her eyes, and now that no one was looking, let the salty liquid fall down her face as she made her way back to Konoha's main gate.

Kiba awoke from a sleep when he heard Akamaru barking outside of the tent. He groaned and peaked out of the tent, seeing about four rogue ninja rummaging through the site. He gripped a kunai from his side and sent it flying toward one of them, where it went straight into his back, killing him instantly. The other three became alert and one of them jumped away, disappearing into the trees. The other two ran toward Kiba, who was now out of the tent. As they ran to him, Kiba did a couple of hand signs, "Shikyaku no Jutsu" He called and his fangs and claws grew.

He growled, a feral combination of characteristics growing inside of him. He quickly jumped behind one of the men and slashed at his back with his claws, causing the man to cry out in pain, but he turned and crouched, spinning and kicking Kiba in the ankles, knocking him over. Akamaru was attacking the other man when Kiba called from the floor, "Akamaru, Jūjin Bunshin!" He did a few hand signs as Akamaru jumped onto his back and transformed into a perfect clone of Kiba. As Akamaru jumped from him and fought the other ninja, slashing at him ferociously, Kiba jumped up from the ground, kicking the other in the face. Suddenly, kunai from three different directions came flying toward both Kiba and Akamaru. It missed the cloned dog, but stabbed Kiba right in his side, where his broken ribs were. He cried out and fell to his knees momentarily.

The ninja clad in black took the opportunity to take his long sword and stab Kiba in the shoulder. He groaned loudly and growled, taking a shuriken and throwing it straight into the ninja's chest. Throwing it at such a close proximity, the shuriken went deep into the man's flesh and he fell over, coughing up blood before he fell silent and still.

((A/N: Sorry. I've never been very good at writing anything combat-related. Thus, I skipped writing his last fight…))

"Akamaru!" He called, and the clone looked over, nodding as he ran to Kiba and jumped onto his back. The two of them jumped into the air, "Gatsuuga!" They both yelled as they flew like a drill, and tore into the trees, right where the other ninja was hiding. It knocked him out of sight. Kiba's chakra was running low and he panted. Akamaru turned back into his normal appearance and he, too, was tired. Kiba stood and looked over at his companion, who barked as a warning just before Kiba felt someone grab his arm, twisting it painfully as he heard a bone snap followed by a cold metal piercing into his back. He fell forward, right on his face as he felt a dizziness take over, the world turning dark, until all he could see was black. The last thing he saw was the large Akamaru jumping on the man, growling and attacking him aggressively.

Ino sat at a hospital bedside, staring at Inuzuka Kiba as he lay unconscious, severely wounded and bandaged in dozens of places.

She thought of how she'd found him, nearly dead, lying near the campsite…

Flashback

As Ino had been running through the forest outside of Konoha, and back to camp, she finished with her tears, and grew bitter toward herself in only moments.

"What is so wrong with me that I can't keep a guy from falling for another girl? And the same girl, for that matter!" She thought, narrowing her eyes as she neared the sight. She felt hollow and worthless. It was the second time it had happened to her in her teenaged years, and she hoped it would be the last in her life. Was she so hopeless that no guy could be satisfied with her?

As she mused and rummaged through her thoughts, she arrived at the camp and her pitiful thinking stopped abruptly as she took in the sight of two dead bodies lying in the middle of the clearing, where blood was splattered all over. "What happened here?" She thought, with wide eyes and slowly walked through and passed the bodies to an area with many torn apart and destroyed trees. In the destructed area, she saw another dead man who looked like a rogue ninja, along with the others. His neck was bitten and bloody.

She felt her heart nearly stop when she saw Kiba, lying in a pool of blood. Akamaru whined as he lay by his friend, as though he hadn't left his side for hours. A gasp escaped from her lips as she ran to him, kneeled beside him and rolled him over so that he lay on his back, "Kiba!" She cried, hopelessly lifting him up so that his head rested on her knees. She grabbed his face and slapped it lightly. "Wake up." She choked, feeling tears sting her eyes. She felt his wrist for a pulse.

Thump. Thump.

He was alive!

"Oh, thank God, he has a heartbeat!" She whispered with great relief and lifted him up. "Akamaru! Take Kiba to the Konoha Hospital as quick as you can, boy." She propped the unconscious male onto the bear-sized dog. Akamaru barked in acknowledgement and took off.

End Flashback

All Ino could think of was how harsh she'd been to him that day. Now being three days since the attack, it was the first time she visited the comatose Inuzuka since they got his vitals stabilized.

Tsunade said that he just barely survived. He'd been bleeding for a few hours before she found him, and shouldn't have been alive, according to the Fifth.

She was afraid: Afraid of losing the only person in the world who ever made her feel like she was worth something. And she was afraid of losing the one person who was ever able to take it away.

She hated him so much for it.

And yet, she found herself sitting at his side, not knowing what she would have done if she had lost him for good.

Worry crossed her expression as she rid herself of all thought and stared at Kiba. Oh, how she'd hoped with all of her heart that he would be OK.

She jerked her head toward the doorway when she heard footsteps enter the room.

"Konnichi wa, Sakura, Hinata." She nodded to the two and smiled. Two others entered the room and she could have sworn her heart skipped a beat. It was Shikamaru. And she would recognize the face of the woman who'd taken both Kiba and Shikamaru from her any day. She caught herself staring at the couple as they walked in, hand in hand. What nerve! And right after they broke up, too! Ino admitted to her self though; Risa was a beautiful woman. She understood exactly why she was able to capture the hearts of men. It was in that moment that Ino felt worthless and undeserving of any man compared to the woman standing before her.

Why go for a simpleton like Ino when you can have women like Takeshi Risa?

"Konnichi wa, Ino." Sakura spoke, bowing politely before focusing her gaze to Kiba. Her expression turned to that of a sad one and she took a step closer to the bed. "Did Hokage-sama say anything about his condition?" She asked and Ino nodded, "Hai, she did. She said he was going to be just fine. But there's no telling when he'll wake from his coma." Her voice cracked as she replied. "You should've seen him, Sakura." A single tear fell down her ivory colored cheek and she sniffed, "It was awful. When I found him, I thought he was dead. And if I had been there sooner, maybe he wouldn't be like this."

Every eye in the room was focused on Ino as she spoke. She felt like a fool. But her emotions were like a roller coaster. Her boyfriend just broke up with her, had the nerve to bring his new love interest along and rub it in her face, Kiba was comatose and in critical condition, and Ino was feeling more and more each day as though she couldn't trust any man!

More tears rolled down her cheeks and Hinata rushed over to her and wrapped her arms around the blonde. "He's going to be OK, Ino." She whispered to her in a comforting tone, "He's going to be OK…" she repeated, and felt as though she was going to cry as well.

Shikamaru and Risa stood there in silence. They wanted to see how Kiba was doing, seeing how he and Risa had been good friends growing up. Shikamaru was incredibly uncomfortable to discover that Ino was there as well. If he had known she was at the hospital, then he wouldn't have brought Risa there. "Let's go…" He whispered to the dark haired girl and she nodded, taking his hand as they both exited the room.

After Ino had cried all of the tears from her eyes, - which, was about an hour later of her venting and sobbing to them – Hinata and Sakura soon said their goodbyes and left.

A couple of hours later, Ino stood by the window of Kiba's hospital room and stared up at the night sky.

It's so pretty tonight... Ino thought as she gazed at the white, glowing rays that emitted from the moon.

Every time she was on a mission with Kiba, he got hurt, or was at some type of disadvantage once they completed one. But either way, she always seemed to be the one at fault. If she hadn't stopped to talk to Shikamaru for so long, and been distracted from getting back as quickly as possible, then Kiba might be awake right now.

She groaned and sat on a chair near the window. When had life gotten so miserable? It was hard to feel anything, these days. Hell, it was even hard to not feel anything.

But the realization struck her: She was not allowing herself to be happy. She stayed with Shikamaru, knowing that they never really had true feelings for each other, knowing that she only stuck with the relationship for a sense of security. She let everything that came out of Kiba's mouth bother her. And here she was, moping around this room with no purpose because Shikamaru never loved her, and left her for a more deserving woman.

Well that would not be the case any longer.

Yamanaka Ino was going to create her own happiness, and her own accomplishments. She would no longer let her world revolve around a man. Besides, being single for a little while would definitely do her some good. Perhaps she would go on the occasional date, but nothing as serious as she'd let herself get with her two other previous romantic interests.

She turned to look at Kiba one last time as she stood from her chair. He looked so peaceful as he slept. The moonlight enhanced his charming features.

"Goodbye, Kiba." She whispered and walked quietly out of the door.

"Ino! Ino!" She heard a loud knock on her bedroom door and she groaned when someone walked in.

"Ino, wake up!" The person shouted purposefully, right into her ear. Blinded by her subconscious rage, Ino growled and grabbed her pillow, slamming it right over the perpetrator's head.

"Ow! Dammit, Ino!"

Ino opened her eyes to see Sakura sitting on the floor. She had apparently fallen from the blow. She sat up in her bed and stared at her with tired eyes. "Gomen, Sakura." the blonde muttered, "But what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to tell you that Kiba woke up! Just a few hours ago." She grunted as she pushed herself up and stood, straightening her clothes and smiling.

Ino smiled widely, immediately getting out of bed and heading straight to her dresser to get dressed. It had been a month since the night she visited Kiba.

In a coma for a whole month... How awful.

She stopped grabbing her clothes from the drawers, turning to Sakura.

"You know what...? It's probably not a good idea for me to be there right now, actually." Her expression was one of slight regret.

"Why?" The pink-haired woman questioned with a raised eyebrow, clearly confused at Ino's statement.

"I just don't want to get attached again, Sakura. I made that mistake twice already, and twice is too many times to be hurt and keep rushing blindly into things." She referred to her relationships with Kiba and Shikamaru.

"But Kiba is your friend." Sakura said softly.

"I know. So will you say hello to him for me?" Ino's eyes pleaded with Sakura. She had to guard herself from getting hurt, which meant that she needed to stop spending so much time with Inuzuka Kiba.

Sakura only smiled softly in understanding and nodded, as if she knew what her friend was thinking, before she silently left the room.

Ino slumped and allowed herself to fall backward onto her bed. She was doing the right thing. Right?

A week and a half after Kiba woke from his coma, he was released from the hospital. Everyone came to visit him when he woke up. Including, to his surprise, the fairly new couple that contained Takeshi Risa and Nara Shikamaru. When did that happen? Ino never mentioned a break up, so it was probably while he was in his coma state, he mused.

Kiba wasn't going to lie to himself, he was rather disappointed when Ino never came to visit him while he was conscious. But he figured she had better things to do. After all, they weren't as close as they used to be.

And now he walked through Konoha (on crutches, of course. He acquired a shattered rib, broken leg and fractured arm, along with other things from the fight) on his way to the Ichiraku Ramen shop to meet up with Naruto.

He stopped in his tracks when he saw blonde hair in the corner of his eye. It was Ino. She was talking with Shikamaru and Risa with a huge grin on her face. Was she laughing? Shouldn't she be furious with Shikamaru? After all, he had left her for the very woman that kissed him when they were just fifteen. Risa was the reason both of Ino's relationships ended. So why did she look so happy?

Hope you liked this chapter! Once again, I sincerely apologize for the awfully long delay! I guaruntee you that I will be posting a new chapter up very soon!