Disclaimer: Naruto goes to its rightful owners.

To be honest, sitting here for hours on end was getting boring. And if I did leave the room, I would have no idea what to do, other than to come back here. Hell, I did not even know where I was staying. I guess Okami was supposed to tell me, but obviously that was not going to happen any time soon.

All I could do was sit here and wait.

My hearing came back to me first. I heard breathing. Two dogs and human. Kiba must be here…otherwise why would there be two dogs? I had no desire to open my eyes to see. Something was gripping my hand. Tightly, I might add. I assumed it would be one of the nurses. I mean, why would Kiba be holding my hand? But, I felt no other presence in the room. So, it would have to be his.

Finally I decided to open my eyes a little.

I heard Okami's breath steady and could feel her squeeze my hand back. I felt reassured, knowing that she was awake. Why? No clue.

"Okami?" I breathed.

"What?" she said flatly. She sat up. Looking at me, she asked "What happened?"

"Well, you were on the rocks behind the Tsuchikage's tower and fell off."

"I realize that much, I mean, after that."

"Well, I took you here." Just then, a nurse walked in.

"I am here to examine your scrapes." Was all she said.

"Now?" Okami asked.

"Yes, now. Considering he wouldn't let us until he knew you were alright. " Okami looked from me to the nurse.

"Could you give us a minute?" She said, turning a little red.

"Um, sure." The nurse left the room. Okami turned to me.

"Is that true?"

"Is what true?" I wasn't listening.

"That you did not let them examine me until you knew that I was alright?" I could feel my face go red.

"Uh…I-well…yeah." She was staring at me.

"And you were the one holding my hand when I woke up?"

"Yes."

"One last question."

"Shoot."

"Did I ever hit the ground?" I was silent for a moment.

"You mean when you fell?" I asked dumbly.

"No. When I was growing potatoes. Yes when I fell!" She said sarcastically.

"I caught you, so no; you never did hit the ground." Next thing I knew, her arms were around me in an embrace. I felt my face go even redder.

"Thank you. Very much." She whispered into my shoulder. Even though I wanted to, I couldn't get myself to return the hug. After a moment, I felt my shoulder get slightly wet.

She stayed there for awhile, non-moving, when she said,

"Did gramps tell you how my brother died?"

"No."

"He fell. Trying to catch me from falling of those rocks. He got cut and scraped and he lost so much blood, they were not able to save him." She was sobbing now. "I-if I would not have brought him up there…th-then he would not have…" I could tell how hard it was for her to relive that event. I wrapped my arms around her. I could not think of what to say other than,

"How long ago was that?" This was probably a bad idea. She sniffed a couple times before she removed her arms from around me and said

"I-it was three years ago. Right after I became a chunin. The day after actually." She was silent for a while.

"I'm sorry." I said

"Do not be. It was not your fault. It was mine." I could see tears run down her face. She turned to Nami.

"I suppose that she did not try to save me?"

"No she didn't. Onoki said you might tell me why." She was silent. Minutes passed until she finally said,

"This is going to sound selfish. And if you ever tell anybody about this, it will be your head. Understood?" I nodded.

"When I first got Nami, I made a deal with her that if I was ever in danger, to the point where she would have to give her life to save mine, she would do nothing. If I were to die, she would do what she would want to do, but continue living."

"That's…"

"I think it is selfish. But I do not want to be the cause of anyone's death…again."

There was a long awkward silence between us. When the nurse walked in.

"Can we examine you now?" she asked.

"No." Okami said.

"But-"

"I do not care. I will be leaving now." With that she stood up and left the room with Nami next to her. The nurse looked to me.

"Just…let her go." I stood up and left.

There you go. I probably will not update for awhile since my laptop is going to be looked at and the PC is dead. And I will be laptopless for a little over a week. Then, how ever long it takes me to write the next chapter…maybe by the end of the month or into October. But defiantly by Halloween. So look for it!

Olivier