Kiba still felt Karui's fingers in his hair, her touch was firm yet soft. There was something oddly calming about her that seemed to unwind all the tension from the battles and let him sleep. It suddenly dawned on Kiba that he had fallen asleep with his head resting in her lap, pulling his head up and opening his eyes led to the fast realization that his position had changed from the top of the mountain. He was being carried on someone's back, and the color and shape of the hood being worn suggested it was Shino.

Turning his head to either side Kiba saw several shinobi marked with the crest of the Hidden Village of Clouds. After a moment, his eyes woke up from his deep sleep and he clearly saw they were each moving with someone bound to their backs. The faces seemed familiar, but the haze of waking did little for Kiba's memory.

Their pace was slow, Kiba figured that was meant to not aggravate the wounded. On his other side he could hear the chattering of conversation. Karui was talking with a dark skinned, white-haired man who was sucking on what appeared to be candy. Tapping Shino's shoulder with his hand he got his team mate's attention.

"How long have we been traveling?"

"Ah, you're awake." Shino's tone was neither impressed nor excited, but that was just the way he was. "We lost you in those clouds a week ago, neither Hinata nor I could find you. After we contacted Team Samui, Hinata and I decided to split up, I would wait for you to make contact while she went ahead with the mission. After another scout group showed up to investigate the earthquake, we tracked it north up to the Pearl Lakes area, and from there I managed to pick up your trail."

"It wasn't hard to find you after that, you and Karui both have a talent for destruction." The unknown female voice from behind Kiba had a level quality, but there was a hint of disappointment to it. Kiba softly chuckled as he rested his head against Shino's back and fell back to sleep.

As sleep set in Kiba found himself in a vast field ringed by trees. Kneeling down Kiba swished his hand through the light mist that covered the ground and smiled as it moved in wisps and whirls. While kneeling several shapes appeared and walked towards him, one he immediately recognized as Akamaru. He scratched his dog's ears and neck before the dog tackled him and they rolled along the ground laughing. Others appeared, and Kiba recognized them as dogs from his family's kennel. Behind them stood his friends and family.

He raised his hand to shield his face when a stiff wind blew and he turned his face towards where the wind blew. In all directions shadows appeared in the distance, Kiba took comfort in the fact that there was no smell of danger. One of the shadows approached him and held out its hand. Rising, Kiba took the hand and stepped out of his unconscious.

The smooth hospital bed sheet felt good against his left hand. It hurt when he flexed his fingers, but the grains of his muscles felt right if a little sore. When he saw all the flowers in his room, the smell was almost too much for Kiba. From a corner of the room Akamaru barked and walked up to the side of the bed.

"How are you feeling today?" Shino said, without looking up from the newspaper he was reading.

"I'm fine." Kiba said with as much strength as he could manage. When he found the intravenous needle in his arm he took it out and sat up in bed. "What's with all the flowers Shino?"

"It's gratitude from the town."

"Gratitude?"

"Ah, it was decided to use the funds from the capture of the missing nin to help rebuild the town and the bridge."

"Wow, I never knew I was that generous."

"It was actually the idea of that girl you were with. Even wounded as she was, she wanted to manage the distribution of the funds herself."

"Any word from Hinata?"

"She finished the mission two days ago and had to return to Konoha to report our findings. She stayed long enough to see you were recovering, I think that girl makes her nervous."

"Karui." Kiba said as he turned his head to look out the window.

"Yeah, that's her name."

The nurse went into a fit when she walked in on the sight of Kiba dressing himself. Ignoring her instructions to sit back, Kiba found his personal clothes that Shino had found washed up on one of the lakes. Thankfully the waterproof bag had kept his jacket dry. His arms were still a little stiff when he put them through the sleeves, but it felt good to have it on.

Despite the doctor's objections, Kiba checked out of the hospital. Any hospital other than the one his sister ran felt strange, and he was glad to be back out in the open air.

"Hey Shino, would you mind waiting for me on the road south. There's something I want to do before I leave."

"Of course."

The city was alive and busy. Despite all the damage everyone had a smile on their face as they were rebuilding. Finding himself by the bridge, Kiba saw several surveyors and architects arguing over whether to rebuild the bridge or redesign it first. No longer in mission mode, Akamaru was wagging his tail and was excited by all the new smells and people. Barking out laughter, Akamaru turned to Kiba before running around a corner.

"Akamaru, wait-" The sound of laughter came from around the corner, Kiba recognized the voice. Akamaru had practically tackled Karui and was licking her face. She had wrapped her hands around the dog's head and was scratching behind his ears. Leaning against the wall, Kiba waited for Karui to realize he was standing there.

Sitting up, Karui patted Akamaru's head as she stood up. After facing Kiba, she leaned back into the wall beside him and looked out on the town.

"Have you heard about what I did with the reward money?"

"Yeah, and I approve Karui. These people didn't ask to be drawn into the fight."

"It's a new world Kiba. Not even ten years ago it would have been unthinkable for villages to be working alongside each other. That was the world Saito was from."

"In a way I feel sorry for him. There were a lot of changes in the wake of the third Shinobi War that many of the old guard couldn't deal with."

"I feel that it's not really so much of a change as a restoration of the old ways. A world where we make our future with our own hands. Like this village, working for a better tomorrow."

"You're pretty deep Karui." Kiba smiled when he saw she blush at that.

"There's something I want you to have Kiba." She stood away from the wall, and Kiba did the same. Pulling out an small envelope from her vest, she handed it to Kiba. "I'm managing the funds from the bounty on the rogue nins. Not all of it went to the village, I wanted you to have your share for helping out with saving Kumo." Opening the envelope Kiba gave a rough count of 80,000 ryo and whistled. She had a look on her face that seemed to say, 'Don't be generous, take the money.'

"Thank you Karui. It was… I mean we had kind of a rough time, didn't we?" For some reason Kiba felt both nervous and sad. "Say Karui-"

Karui handed Kiba a folded sheet of paper and said: "This is my address Kiba, if you have any questions about the reward, or about the rebuilding… you can write me."

Kiba unfolded the paper and fingered the letters. For some reason he remembered something his teacher Kurenai had mentioned in passing about the relationship between swordplay and penmanship when he looked at the elegant calligraphy. It spoke a lot about her character; she was strong and definitely wild, but every action of hers had a deliberate sort of passion to it.

"Would you mind if I write you just as a friend?" Surprising Kiba, she reached her hands up and started scratching his head.

Smiling as she leaned against the wall, she said: "I'd like that." Standing together they looked up at the clouds breaking in the late morning sky. It was going to be a beautiful sunny day.