A rumor was spreading. There were supposedly some experiments going on that required dead bodies, and there was now a need for large mammals. Kiba heard through the grape vine that somebody wanted to use some of the dogs from the Inuzuka clan. Kiba couldn't believe what he was hearing, but soon Sakura told him of the night she spent at Kurosuchi's house. With the information on Kurosuchi's experiments plus the rumors about the use of the Inuzuka's dogs, Kiba was sure that it was Kurosuchi who made the request for the dogs. It wasn't long after he heard this that the Inuzuka clan was visited by a group of medical scientists. The medics were asking questions about the well being of the dogs and whether or not any of the dogs were becoming ill. With so many dogs in the kennels, Kiba's mother and sister both checked the records for any illnesses and then checked the kennels themselves to look for any sick dogs. After a thorough search, there were only a few cases of minor sickness, but nothing serious. There were also two cases of broken bones, but both dogs were sure to make full recovery and would be able to return to duty very soon. Throughout the search, Kiba was keeping an eye on the medics and didn't trust them at all. He stayed close to them while they were there, and then made sure they left. It was only because of prior warnings from his mother that Kiba did not run the medics of the property the moment they got there.
Akamaru had stayed home for the day for grooming and the like. Kiba would have happily done all the grooming necessary, but he was supposed to meet his team for training, and even though he didn't have Akamaru, Shino still thought it was necessary to train. Shino said that Kiba should train to fight without Akamaru in case they were ever separated and he was forced to fight alone. Kiba knew what Shino said was true, but he still felt very alone without his furry companion.
After a day of hard training with Shino and Hinata, Kiba was finally going home. He was still sore over the rumors that were spreading about the dogs being killed for medical experiments, and he just heard during the training session that after a look at the deer from the Nara clan, that the medical scientists were still in favor in using the Inuzuka dogs that were ill for their sick and twisted experiments. Kiba felt that he just needed to go home and see Akamaru and that everything would be fine, but that's when he saw Kurosuchi. He had never really talked to Kurosuchi, and the only reason he knew who it was, was because Sakura had pointed him out in a crowd. Kiba didn't know what Kurosuchi was doing out here, but what interested Kiba more than where he was, was where he was going. It seemed that Kurosuchi was headed strait for the Inuzuka clan's kennels. Not thinking strait after hearing all of the rumors going around, Kiba yelled at Kurosuchi to stop. Kurosuchi looked around in just enough time to dodge Kiba's fist flying right at his face. He was unable, however, to dodge the kick that followed after. Just as Kurosuchi was getting up off the ground, he saw Kiba was again running at him to put in a few more hits. Kurosuchi had only enough time to wipe the blood from his now bleeding lip before going on the defense. With Kiba's speed and strength, there was no way that Kurosuchi would ever beat him in a clear-cut fist fight, and because he couldn't get a word in to stop him, Kurosuchi had to 'cheat.' He waited until Kiba knocked him away against a tree so that he had enough time to form the seals needed for his jutsu, then waited for the next attack. Kiba was running blindly at him, and then pinned him against the tree he was thrown into. Once pinned, Kurosuchi grabbed Kiba's upper arms with his now chakra filled hands. The chakra forced vibrations to flow through Kiba's arms all the way to the finger tips, and left both of his arms numb. Kurosuchi dropped to his feet, now that Kiba couldn't hold on to him, then head-butted the dog-nin. With Kiba stunned and confused about his arms, Kurosuchi had enough time to throw a kick or two in of his own. With Kiba now still and far enough away, Kurosuchi formed a few more seals and started a genjutsu. Using the fear inside of Kiba, Kurosuchi formed a scenario that was sure to stop Kiba in his tracks.
Kiba was on the floor, and he couldn't feel either of his arms. It was as if all the blood had just gone from his arms and left them unusable. Then he heard something that lifted his spirits. It was Akamaru! Kiba saw his faithful dog running towards him from the forest, but then he also saw one of the medical scientists behind a bush getting ready to attack him! Kiba tried to yell at Akamaru to stop, but he found that he didn't have a voice. Then he tried to get up and run to him, but then he saw that he was sinking in a pool of mud and couldn't move. He looked up to see Akamaru attacked with needles from the bush, and then getting pinned down by the scientist. Kiba continued to try and reach his friend, but nothing he was doing worked! The scientist was pulling a hypodermic from his medic pouch and Kiba knew it was meant to kill Akamaru. Kiba closed his eyes tightly and screamed once more. This time he actually heard his own voice, but when he opened his eyes, he didn't see Akamaru or the scientist. He looked around and saw that he was on the forest floor and not sinking into a pool of mud. He tried to stand up, but found his feet bound. He also found that his hands were bound, but they were still numb so it didn't seem as important. A voice then came from behind him. "I don't know what you were thinking, but it's over now. What do you want?" Kiba did his best to turn and face Kurosuchi, now sitting on a tree branch above and behind him. Kurosuchi was holding a kunai ready to throw, and Kiba knew he was caught.
"I'm not going to let you take any of the dogs at the Inuzuka kennels. I won't let you use them for your experiments! It's wrong of you to kill animals for your twisted experiments and you won't get our dogs!"
Kiba looked up at Kurosuchi to see how he would react to that, but was surprised to see him almost laughing in the tree. "Well, I don't know where you got your information, but you should get your sources checked." Kurosuchi jumped down from the tree and walked up to Kiba and started to untie him. "The fact is that many of the medical scientists wanted me to continue research as soon as possible. I would agree with them, but they wanted to stop waiting for dead animals to test on and start making our own. They wanted to use the deer and dogs that are raised in Konoha, or to go out and hunt in the forest of death. The Hokage and I, however, concluded that the loss of any animals due to something other than natural causes in both natural and built habitats would be wrong and unnecessary. I was just on my way to deliver the news to you and your family. I think I dropped the forms though, so if you give me a second I'll go get them and you can bring them yourself." Kiba felt like an utter fool. He had just attacked someone who was trying to tell him just what he wanted to hear for the longest time. As he was getting up off the ground, Kiba was starting to get the feeling back into his arms again. He then was about to take the forms from Kurosuchi when he noticed the damage he caused. Kurosuchi had a badly cut lip and a gash on his shoulder from the tree he was pinned to.
'His ribs are probably pretty bruised to' thought Kiba. "Hey, sorry about the attack, it was a big misunderstanding. Maybe you could come with me to my house and we'll treat your wounds, it's the least I can do."
Kurosuchi just shook his head and said, "It sounds like fun but I am a medic and I can take care of a few cuts and bruises."
As Kurosuchi started to turn away, Kiba grabbed his uninjured shoulder and turned him back around and told him, "I won't take no for an answer! And I want to you to meet Akamaru too. He's never met you and still thinks you guys are out to get him, so he'll be pretty happy if you tell him your not." Without being able to get another word in, Kurosuchi was led to Kiba's house by the shoulder.
Once at Kiba's house, Kurosuchi first went to Kiba's mother and delivered the documents showing that the use of Inuzuka dogs would be unnecessary in the medical experiments. Of course once she saw the injuries on Kurosuchi, she immediately started yelling at Kiba. She was saying something about irresponsibility and thick headedness and the like. He was yelling something back at her about accidents and how he apologized. The yelling continued even after Kiba's sister came into the room; in fact, she started yelling as well saying something about too much noise and trying to sleep and such. Kurosuchi just stood in the middle of this Inuzuka family meeting, waiting for a chance to speak. After what seemed like a long time, Kiba's sister sat Kurosuchi in a chair next to the sink and started cleaning out the wound on his shoulder, even while still yelling at her brother. It was an awkward position for Kurosuchi to be in: in the middle of a family fight and getting his wounds cleaned out while trying to leave all at the same time.
Kiba's sister got finished with cleaning and patching up Kurosuchi's wounds and then Kiba lead him to his room where he slammed the door and sighed heavily. "I'm sorry 'bout my mom. She can be kinda' weird sometimes. And I guess we just caught sis at a bad time. She's usually a lot cooler than this." It was then that Kiba turned just in time to see Akamaru crawling out from under the bed. He looked kind of scared and Kurosuchi thought at first it was because of him, but Kiba assured him, "Akamaru really hates getting groomed by mom, don'cha' Akamaru?" The small dog answered by jumping into Kiba's arms and licking his face like he hasn't seen him in years. Kiba fell to the floor laughing with Akamaru in his arms. Again, Kurosuchi felt awkward, just standing there watching Kiba and his best friend playing there on the floor. Kurosuchi never really had a best friend, and never liked looking at what he was deprived of his entire life. Kiba sat up after a while and asked, "Hey, do you want anything to eat or drink or anything?"
Kurosuchi shook his head and said, "I think I should get going, I have…uh…things to do."
As he turned to leave, Kiba stopped him by asking, "Like what?" Kurosuchi couldn't think of anything and hesitated. Kiba just looked at him for a while, and then said, "You can just leave if you want to. You don't need to try and think of a reason to leave."
"No," said Kurosuchi, "it's not that. It's just…I don't know. I'm not very comfortable around people. I'm usually working and researching alone, and I don't get much time to socialize with anybody. Even as a kid, I just didn't talk with anybody without reason, never just got with people just to be with them."
Kiba was kind of confused with this. "Don't you have any family to talk to; any siblings…or your parents?" Kurosuchi had no trouble talking about his past with anyone anymore. He has recalled the story of his family's disappearance too many time to count with his therapist, so why was it hard to say it now? He didn't understand why this was any different.
But he said it anyways. "My parents are gone. I don't know what happened to them, but others think that…that I killed them. The bodies were never found. My brother couldn't support me at his place since he was always on the move being a jonnin, so I was put into an orphanage. He got really sick, my brother, after mom and dad died. I think he blamed himself for what I might have done. But I…I…" It had been a while since Kurosuchi had talked about his brother. It wasn't even a year ago that he died just before the finals of the chunnin exam, and he was someone that Kurosuchi admired above all else. "He died. He was killed by the sand ninja. He was one of the first victims." Kiba didn't know what to do. There was a guy in his room that he had invited in, and now this guy is opening himself up and crying. Kurosuchi was by now sitting against the wall with tears running down his horror stricken face, and Kiba didn't know what to do to make it any better. Kurosuchi tried multiple times to continue, but was unable to do so. The usually calm stone-like expressions of Kurosuchi were now wet with tears and unstable. His voice wouldn't work and even if they did, he did know what to say anymore. He just sat there.
Kiba finally got him to drink something, and after a while, Kurosuchi was back to almost normal. He and Kiba stayed up pretty late talking about different things, mostly Kiba talking and Kurosuchi was listening. Kurosuchi told Kiba about the experiments, but as interesting as they were, Kiba decided not to talk about it because it was work, and it bothered him with the whole experimenting-on-dogs thing. It was almost two in the morning when Kiba was finally in bed with Akamaru, having seen Kurosuchi to the door. He was wondering when he would see the medic scientist again, thinking to himself, 'He wasn't such a bad guy once he opens up a little, but I think he opened up a little too much.' He laughed to himself and turned over to go to sleep, wondering what the next day would bring.