Huh?
A groan poured from my throat as I felt a horrible stinging in my side. I felt sore and bruised everywhere, but I still managed to open my eyes. I blinked, blinded by the sudden brightness.
"Oh, you're awake." A small voice gasped. I looked over and saw a small woman standing next to my bed. I was confused. She smiled at me, apparently sensing my confusion.
"Don't worry. You're in the hospital." Don't worry? I think I should be worrying if I'm in the hospital.
"You're father just left to get some things from your home. He'll be back soon." She informed me, but before she could walk off, I stopped her.
"Wait. How long have I been here?" I asked. She smiled as she turned around.
"You came in two days ago. Would you like to know all of your injuries?" She asked, and I nodded, but stopped when my head felt it was going to split in two.
"You have a broken wrist, a sprained ankle, severe burns on the left side of your torso and shoulder, a concussion and a deep cut on your right side. Your ankle and wrist were healed, but you'll have to have a splint on both for a few more days. Your burns are healed, but you need to sit still and keep the bandages on so the regrown skin doesn't get infected or torn. The cut is healed but you still have a scar. That's about it. I have to go now, bye." She promptly turned and went out the door.
I blinked at all of this new information. "I really got banged up, didn't I?" I said aloud to myself.
"That is the understatement of the century." Someone chuckled from the door. I looked over and grinned at my dad.
"Dad!" He smiled and walked over, placing a bag on the floor next to my bed.
"Hey munchkin." I pouted.
"I'm not a munchkin." He ruffled my hair and I winced. He snapped his hand back and looked guilty.
"Sorry." He mumbled. I patted his shoulder.
"No worries. So, I'm assuming I lost the match?" I asked, and my smile disappeared. He hesitated, but smiled.
"You actually tied. The guy fell over unconscious right after you, so no one won. But you'll be happy to know Roka won." He told me. I grinned.
"That's awesome! I knew he could do it! What about Kai?" I asked happily. My dad's face grew somber and quiet. "Dad?" I asked with a frown. He sighed and rubbed his face with a hand.
"Kai's opponent was a master with swords sweetie. Kai almost- well he nearly died from the multiple stab wounds." I gasped in horror.
"Oh my god." I whispered. We were silent for a few minutes.
"Your friends have been visiting you. They left you all that stuff." He said out of nowhere, pointing at the cards and few flowers on the table next to me. I smiled as I saw a bag of chips that had been half eaten. I yawned and looked back over at my dad.
"What time is it?" I asked sleepily. How could I be tired? I had just woken up from a two day long sleep. He smiled and patted my hand.
"Time for both of us to get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning." I nodded as he walked out.
Over the course of next few days, I felt more and more depressed about my loss. Naruto had won, and I couldn't? How stupid am I? Whenever my friends tried to visit, I pretended to be asleep so I didn't have to talk to them. I desperately wanted to visit Kaito, but they wouldn't let me leave my room.
A few days after I had woken up, I was sitting in my bed, reading one of my favorite books, when I heard footsteps outside. I hurriedly put the book on my bedside stand, and laid down, pretending to be asleep.
The door slid open, and I heard two pairs of footsteps enter my room. There was a huge sigh, and the chairs next to my bed squeaked when they were sat in.
"How troublesome. She's still asleep." A voice I automatically recognized said.
"We can still sit for a while. She might wake up." I heard the wrinkle of foil as Chouji grabbed the bag of chips he left me.
"Since she's not eating them, we can't let them go to waste." Was Chouji's reasoning as he gobbled the chips up. I twitched in annoyance. I had been planning on eating those later!
They chatted about random things for a bit, before deciding to leave.
"C'mon Shika, we can go get some ramen." Chouji said excitedly.
"You go ahead. I'll be there in a minute." Shikamaru replied. I heard the door slide open, and closed again as Chouji left.
"You can stop faking now." I felt the blood rush to my cheeks as I peeked and saw Shikamaru staring at me. I sighed and sat up, avoiding his gaze.
"How troublesome." Was all he said as he rolled his eyes. "Why are you pretending to sleep every time we visit?" He asked, leaning back in his chair. I shrugged.
"I was embarrassed because it felt like everyone passed but me." I mumbled.
"You did a great job. It's not your fault the guy was so much bigger than you, and capable to take more hits." He told me. I stared at him, and cocked my head to the side.
"You think I did good?" I asked, confused. He shrugged.
"You did more than I did." He admitted. I laughed.
"That's because you're smarter than I am. You don't have to deliver a ton of blows. It only takes, like one for you." I giggled at him. He rolled his eyes again. "You should probably go catch up with Chouji." I reminded him, and he looked up.
"Hm? Oh yeah. Ja ne." He told me, before sauntering out of the room. I rolled my eyes and smiled. I picked up my book and started reading again, wondering when my dad would get back.
The next time I got a visitor was the next day, when Hiroshi and Roka dropped by after lunch. They both looked tired.
"Training for the final exam?" I asked, and they nodded and practically collapsed into the chairs beside my bed. I giggled.
"I'm so proud of you Roka!" I exclaimed, but I couldn't hug him. He grinned at me.
"So, how's Kai?" I asked in a small voice. They both gave me looks that made me flinch.
"He's still in the ICU, but he's more stable now. He hasn't woken up yet though." Hiroshi sighed. He looked like he hadn't been sleeping. He probably felt like he had caused it because he entered us in.
"He'll be fine sensei. You know how stubborn that fool is." I tried to cheer him up, but he just nodded and stood.
"Speaking of stubbornness, let's go train some more!" And he dragged Roka out. My poor teammate gave me an SOS look. I giggled at him, and waved.
The day after that, I was allowed to go home, on a crutch though. I glared down at my bandage wrapped ankle, resenting it for making me look so stupid. My dad was on a mission, so Roka was walking me home from the hospital.
"Oi! Wait up!" I heard someone shout behind us, and I sighed as I stopped, and turned. Kiba stopped in front of me, panting. I was surprised to see he was out of his hoodie, and had on a regular black shirt.
He straightened up, and held something out to me. I was very confused, but held out my good hand, and he dropped a ribbon into it. I stared at it.
"How did you…?" I asked, and he scratched his head in embarrassment.
"You left it on the arena floor. My match was after yours, so I picked it up." I nodded.
"Thank you." I said sincerely. He winced.
"Sorry it's got a few blood stains on it. I'm not sure if the blood's yours or mine." He said, before shaking his head.
"Whatever. Bye." He said, and walked off with his hands in his pockets. I gave Roka a look, and shrugged as we kept walking home.
I had set the ribbon down on my bedside table, and said hello to Jun for the first time in a week. But I couldn't help picking the ribbon up again, and staring at it.
"Why would he bother to return a stupid ribbon? I have at least twenty more." I muttered to myself as I petted Jun.
"Maybe he likes you." Jun suggested. I stared down at him before I started laughing. I doubled over, and a few tears leaked out I was laughing so hard.
"Kiba? Like me? Oh that's rich!" I giggled, and wiped the tears away. He hooted in annoyance.
"I was just trying to help. That dog of his is fun." I giggled and patted him.
"Oh I see, you just want a playmate." I grinned. He screeched in agreement. I shrugged.
"We'll see." Of course I wasn't really going to go up to Kiba and say, "Hey, my owl wants to play with your dog. Is that alright?" No, he would laugh and walk off.
Unfortunately though, Jun wouldn't stop nagging. So when I was finally allowed to take the bandages off my foot, and didn't have to walk with a crutch, I got directions to the annoying boy's house. I raised a fist, and sighed as I knocked. Jun was twitching excitedly. The door opened, and a woman answered. I flushed.
"Hello, is Kiba there?" I asked, fiddling with the edge of my shirt. She smiled, and beckoned me inside.
"Hai! Come in, please." I entered and she closed the door behind me, before turning.
"Kiba! There's a girl here for you!" She shouted.
"Who is it?" I heard him yell back. She turned to me.
"I'm Tsukiko." I answered her unsaid question. She nodded.
"A pretty girl named Tsukiko!" She yelled. There was a loud 'thump' from somewhere to my left and I giggled. He appeared a few seconds later, and gave me a confused look.
"Why're you here?" He asked snottily. The woman smacked him and he clutched his head.
"Don't talk to pretty girls like that! You'll never get a girlfriend if you keep that up!" She said, and placed her hands on her hips. I blushed, and he looked up rubbing his head.
"Um, Jun really wanted to see Akamaru. He won't stop bugging me." I confessed, and Jun hopped down onto my wrist. The woman seemed to not have seen him before, so she smiled and petted him.
"What a cutie!" She giggled. Kiba sighed and whistled. Akamaru bounded into sight and yipped when he saw Jun. Kiba shoved on his shoes, and grabbed my arm while dragging me out side. I flinched as my ankle gave a jolt of pain, but I followed anyway. Jun and Akamaru played and raced while Kiba and I walked and watched.
It was quiet, and I could tell we were both uncomfortable. "Akamaru kept bugging me too. He likes that bird of yours." He said all of a sudden, and I smiled.
"Your dog isn't so bad either." I replied.
"How's your ankle?" He asked, looking down at it. I looked at it too, and shrugged.
"It hurts a bit, but I'm fine." I told him. He nodded. "You didn't have to return the ribbon. I have plenty more like it." I finally said. He cocked an eyebrow at me, and shrugged.
"Fine, see if I ever do anything nice for you again." He said, turning his nose up. I rolled my eyes.
"I didn't mean it like that. I'm grateful, but why do it if you don't like me?" I asked. He shrugged.
"For a minute I had a heart and decided to be nice." He joked, and I laughed. He gave me a curious look.
"Aren't we supposed to be fighting?" He asked, and stopped walking. I was silently grateful, my ankle was killing me. So I put all my weight on my right foot, and shrugged.
"We don't have to fight." I suggested. He watched the two little animals playing and teasing each other.
"Then what do we do?" He asked, confused. I laughed at his expression, and stuck out a hand.
"Truce?" He shrugged and grabbed my hand with his own, and shook it firmly.
"Truce." He agreed, and we kept walking until it was about lunch time.
"I'm starving." He whined. I laughed at him.
"Well then go get something to eat!" I giggled. He rolled his eyes and dragged me to Ichiraku's. He ordered a big bowl of ramen, and pork for Akamaru. I ordered a fish roll for Jun.
"Aren't you gonna get anything?" He asked, as he broke some chopsticks. I flushed.
"Nah, I'm taking Ino's advice. It's about time I got skinny." I admitted, swiveling in the seat a little. He rolled his eyes.
"Ino is wrong. Guys don't always go for skinny girls." He told me, and then proceeded to slurp some noodles.
"Who said I was doing it for a guy?" I retorted, and then flushed. "Sorry." I said, and looked at my lap. He shrugged.
"I thought all girls our age were obsessed with guys." He explained. I shrugged.
"Haven't met a guy worth obsessing over yet." I joked, and he chuckled.
"What about Shika? You two would go well together." I glared.
"We're just friends! And Shika is, well Shika is Shika." I said decisively. He slurped the broth, then slammed the bowl down. "Geez, do you have to be so rough?" I asked with a smile. He made a face.
"Geez, do you have to be so annoying?" He mimicked. I laughed and punched his shoulder lightly. We paid, and headed back. I waved goodbye, and turned down my street.
"Who would've thought we could be able to stop fighting?" I laughed as I opened the front door.
AWW. They stopped fighting! Now how 'bout them votes?
VOTE AND REVIEW!
-Ash