Chapter 14: Acceptance and Understanding
Kiba hatred of Sasuke was growing more and more by the second. It was because of him that he and Akamaru had gotten into the mess that they did, it was because of him that his friends were suffering like they were, and most of all it was because of him that Sakura had shed tears or pain! Kiba growled when his mind flashed him back to that morning when Sakura had come to beg Naruto to bring Sasuke back, the pain and sorrow that was in her voice when she said that she couldn't stop him from leaving. It hurt Kiba to see her like that, he loved her with all his heart and to see her to heart broken over another guy had broken his heart as well. That morning he wanted to do so many things, he wanted to cry himself when he saw her tears, yell and scream because she was shedding tears for another man when she promised she wouldn't say "I Love You" until she knew who she loved, but most of all he wanted to take her in his arms and stop her tears from falling.
The cries of Akamaru snapped his mind back, he couldn't be thinking about Sakura at this moment. His mother had even said his thoughts distracted him to much when she was on his mind and he needed to be at full action with this fight. Akamaru was running towards him, fur red from the food pill he had given to him to boost up his power. Kiba had a feeling they would need all they had for this fight.
"Urgh! Dang it," He was sitting in a small river, it barley reached his ankles but somehow it was freezing and Kiba felt so small sitting in it. He had been punched in the face by this guy, he hadn't caught his name, but he thought for sure that he had him with his own attack. So why was the guy still standing? "What's going on here?" He didn't understand, he hit him from behind and at a pressure point in the neck. It should have knocked him out.
"I know I hit him but nothing happened. And where the hell did that attack come from?" He didn't see the guy move any of his arms or legs to hit him.
Kiba had his eyes on the guy, he was just standing and smiling at him, taunting him with the secret that he had but wouldn't tell him what they were. It annoyed him beyond belief but Kiba knew he had to remain calm or else it could coats him his life. "Get ready, Akamaru," He told his best friend and stood up, ready to attack again. "We'll hit him from both sides with Fang Over Fang." Akamaru agreed with him and transformed into Kiba. "Let's do it!" The two charged at Ukon, ready to end this battle and return home.
"Fang Over Fang!" The attack came and went and both Kiba and Akamaru were surprised by the outcomes. The two were stopped by their enemy, one in the front and the other one growing out of his back.
"What's with this guy?" Kiba growled, trying to free his wrist from his opponents grip. His leg came up, ready to kick him in the stomach and send him flying but it was stopped by another foot coming out of the guy's stomach. "What the…?" He was shocked, how could a foot just come out of his stomach like that? It shouldn't be possible.
Laughter could be heard coming from behind the guy's head; it was the other him that was growing out of his back. Whatever it was, it was alive and talking. "Why this is perfect Sakon, there's one of them for each of us."
In a flash one of the two aimed for the two Kiba's and sent him flying into one of the rocks, a puff of smoke appeared and then did Akamaru, a small cry of pain escaping from the dog. Its body in pain as it fell to the floor and collapsed.
"Akamaru!" Kiba cried once he saw what happened to his best friend and companion.
"Aha. So you're the real one, huh?" The body turned and the one who knocked out Akamaru aimed to punch out Kiba. "Multiple Fist Barrage!" The attacked happened to fast for Kiba to dodge or counter it; the attack sent him flying into the rocks like Akamaru had just done. The attack had hurt him, his body screaming in pain once his back collided with the hard stone. However he could not waste anytime trying to recover because the attack had come again. "Once more," only this time Kiba dodged it and moved away. He dodged the attack but he was caught by another arm, this one grabbing him back the neck.
"My brother and I get along really well. Usually Ukon just sleeps inside of me but when the moment calls for it he comes out to play." Kiba gasped for breath as all of this was explained to him. Now he understood where the other body parts were coming from, they came from the other brother that was sleeping inside.
"So this is his ability." Kiba would have growled it he could. He thought he had the advantage with having Akamaru with him but this guy had his own companion, his brother.
"He can poke his arms, legs, and head out of anywhere in my body, to either attack or defend." The one known as Ukon now grew his head out of his brother's own head and a arm growing out of his forehead. "Just like this." The arm reached out and punched Kiba's forehead, making him cry out in pain.
Suddenly Akamaru came running by, he was crying to Kiba to help him and see if he was alright. Before he could reach him, Sakon acted first. "Multiple Legs Barrage!" This attack sent Kiba flying again, this time into Akamaru. "Nothing more painful then a three legged kick," Sakon commented as Kiba and Akamaru most collided with another rock. "Now try this on for size…!" He was stopped by a hand growing out of his next and covering his mouth.
His brother Ukon was speaking now. "Enough Sakon, we don't have any time play around," Suddenly Ukon had transformed himself, he resembled an ogre with red skin, longer hair and a horn growing out of his forehead. "Let's wrap this up. We're going to phase two."
Kiba panted as he watched this transformation take place, he wouldn't admit it but he had a small speak of fear growing in his heart. These ninjas were nothing like he had ever seen before, hell he never even heard of ninjas like this from his family or ninja academy. Something wasn't right about this guy, they didn't fight like ordinary ninjas and there powers were too insane to be normal. Just what the hell was Sasuke doing with these guys? He didn't want to know actually, the guy had left their village on his own and Kiba really didn't want to bring him back. He had left them so why should they even care about the guy? He had brought them nothing but trouble, first with Orochimaru attacking there village, then his friends being ambushed and attacked by these guys, he and Akamaru were getting their butts kicked, and again he made Sakura cry! In Kiba's mind the village would be a lot better without Sasuke.
"I know a lot of people that would agree with me but I can also name a few others that would disagree." His mind flashed him to Team 7, it was the only time that Kiba had actually seen Sasuke enjoying himself and not having the constant frown on his face. He seemed to relax around his team and his own teammates and sensei seemed glad that they were all together. "I may not want him back but Naruto, Kakashi-sensei, and Sakura do. It hurts me to say this but if having Sasuke back makes Sakura happier then I'll bring him back even if I have to drag him back by his feet!" It was decided. He would beat this guy, even if he was in pain still and his body was screaming at him to rest, Kiba would fight and win.
"Oh, alright." Sakon spoke softly and he began his own transformation. Kiba watched him become exactly how his brother was; only the horn was on the opposite side of his forehead. "You're always so impatient brother."
Kiba suddenly had the urge to runaway but blocked the thought from his mind. He would not run, even if his body was in pain he would stay and fight. His breath came out in painful gasp and Akamaru was struggling to get up, the two were in bad shape and the fight had only just begun. Akamaru was whining but he was also talking with Kiba. "I got ya. You're thinking those horns just for display, aren't ya?" Akamaru gave another low whine but Kiba understood what he meant.
"You're right. As soon as that other guy popped out his chakra increased ten fold. Things seemed hopeless before but now we're really screwed." Kiba turned his attention to the two, both head sharing one body and laughing at him. They seemed to understand that Kiba noticed how badly this battle was turning out for him.
"What are you in the mood for, brother?" Sakon asked his twin.
"Ripping 'em apart." Ukon's reply was short but it made Kiba freeze in fear for a moment. This battle was getting worse by the moment.
"Damnit. I think we're finished." Kiba thought it and already hated it. These guys were two strong for him and it seemed no attack he could think of could work on them. They were done.
Arf! Arf! Arf!
Akamaru barked at him, telling him what attacked he wanted to use on the twins. "What are you saying?" Kiba was shocked by what his dog asked of him. He couldn't believe Akamaru wanted to do that. "You're telling me you want to try that?' Akamaru barked his reply but Kiba still didn't like it. That attacked was still to dangerous. "We can't Akamaru. There's nobody here to back us up, it be way too dangerous," He put his focus back on his enemies. He didn't like keeping his eyes off them for two long. "You understand, don't you? If we wipe out that jutsu, we'll use up what little chakra we have left. And when it's over we won't be able to move. If miss, we'll have died for nothing." He hated how it sound but Kiba needed to go with his mind and not his gut. He couldn't have the two of them dying like this.
Akamaru didn't agree with this and went at Kiba, biting his hand until he drew blood from his bite. He growled and held on tight, telling him he wouldn't let go and give up this fight without even trying.
"Akamaru…" Kiba looked down at his dog, he could hear him giving out a soft growl but he knew Akamaru was also crying. He didn't like biting Kiba, the two cared too much about each other to hurt one another, but Akamaru did it for a reason. Suddenly Sakon and Ukon moved and started to come after them, Akamaru let go of Kiba and got in front of him, ready to take on the two twins.
Kiba gave a pained smiled down to his dog, watching him standing in front of him like this. "I must be a lousy master for you to bite me like that." He looked down at the bite mark for a moment then brought his full attention back to the fight. "Ok, Akamaru, it's just like you said. We're all out of options." Kiba forced his body to stand up, despite the pain his was feeling he would stand up and fight. "Wolf Fang Over Fang, it is." Akamaru charged at their enemy, dodging the attacks thrown at him. The attacks got sent at Kiba next, he blocked the first one but the next one he let happen. The fist hit his stomach, causing blood to gush from his mouth as he cried in pain, his hood flying off and his had to dig his feet into the ground to keep from flying with it.
Sakon laughed with glee when it seemed Kiba had become unconscious from their attack but gasped when Kiba grabbed his arm. "Now Akamaru!" He called forth to his best friend, ready to get this attack underway. "Do your thing, Akamaru. Show 'em what all that training was for!" Kiba silently cheered on his dog in his mind as he watched him jump in the air, flying right above them and peed on their enemy.
"Dynamic marking!" Kiba cried out the attack, the dog's urine flying onto the twins.
The two stepped away, rubbing pee out of their eyes. "What kind of cheap trick is that?" Sakon cried out in disgust.
Kiba jumped away, now it was time to perform the jutsu. "Ok, we're good to go!" He jumped up in the air, Akamaru landing on his head as he made the proper hand signs. "Inuzuka Style: Man-Beast Transformation Combo! Two-Headed Wolf!" A giant puff of smoke appeared and out popped a giant white dog that looked like a giant wolf form of Akamaru with two giant heads and both eyes glowing red. Both heads had sharp teeth that looked like they could cut through just about anything and they were both drooling out puddles of drool as the growled down at the two twins. Sharp claws the size of a regular arm so sharp they made a sword look dull.
Sakon laughed once again. "All of that flourish and it's nothing but a big slobbering mongrel."
"What could that mutt possibly do?" Ukon agreed with his brother. He wasn't impressed or scared at this giant double headed wolf.
In a flash Kiba and Akamaru jumped forth and started to spin around just like they do in Fang Over Fang, only this one was much faster and stronger then their normal one. "Take this!" Kiba growled out, aiming their attack at Sakon and Ukon. Even though the two jumped away the mere wind force of their attack was able to cut at Ukon's leg. "The drool!" Sakon noticed too late that they had landed in the giant puddle of drool that was being spilled before and were losing their balance.
"Sakon, you idiot! On your right!" Ukon warned his brother of the upcoming attack.
Sakon turned his head and finally noticed it but it was too late. "Son of a…!" They were hit before he could finish.
"Wolf Fang Over Fang!" Kiba cried out as their attack took down Sakon and Ukon. The spinning force of the two so strong it looked like sparks of lighting were being sent out. They kept going despite all the rocks that were in their way, Sakon and Ukon's body being taken along for the ride like a lifeless dummy. In one moment the two were separated and Kiba and Akamaru stopped their attack to look on at their victory.
"Ha! How'd ya like that?" Kiba's head talked out at the lifeless corpse on the ground. "Wolf Fang Over Fang revolution speed is so intense we can't see anything while we're attacking. But it'll cut you even without direct contact, and if it hits you you'll be ripped to shreds!" He was proud of himself as he explained what the real power of their jutsu was. The battle was finally over.
"Huh?" Or was it?
The two bodies were moving, arms and legs growing out from where the body was cut in half. The new formed arms and legs looked like giant armor with spikes growing out of them, the body parts looked like they were made of some kind of metal. Kiba and Akamaru were in shock at these new events, neither was expecting the two to re-grow parts of their body and make them come out looking like that.
"Careful kid, don't get ahead of yourself." Ukon warned Kiba, not liking how confident he had sounded before when it looked like he had won.
"This is perfect," Sakon sounded so pleased with these new events. "We were just thinking it'd be a good idea to separate."
Kiba's mouth was wide open, words could not form as he watched these events take place take place. He watched the two bodies begin to grow out new arms and legs, like they hadn't even been touched by his attack. By all rights these two should be dead but instead they were alive and each one had their own separate body. "What the hell? They spilt in two?"
"It's true," Ukon stood up next to his brother. "If we had the full grunt of that attack it would have been bad,"
"But now the real battle begins." Sakon finished for his brother, he wanted to fight and play with their opponents more now after seeing that attack.
Kiba stepped back on his giant paw and struggled to stand up. "Damn it!" He growled, his body was shaking and was in a lot more pain then he was before he ever did the jutsu. Akamaru was whining in pain as well but also speaking of their situation. "Yeah, I know Akamaru. Only one more chance for Wolf Fang Over Fang. The next shot will be our last." The two Inuzukas watched the twins for a moment then readied themselves for their attack. "This time they're going down!" They went in for the attack, same as before but they needed to make it count. If they missed then it would be all over for them.
"Wolf Fang Over Fang!"
Sakon and Ukon spilt up, each one hiding behind a boulder as the watched the giant whirlwind of the two Inuzukas spin around.
"There's no use hiding," Kiba warned them both, the whirlwind looking down at the two. "I told you, we're not using our eyes, we marked you earlier on. So now we can track you just by scent!" They went in for another attack.
"Summoning jutsu! Rashōmon!" Instead of hitting their opponents, Kiba and Akamaru were stopped by a giant demonic looking gate. They dented it but fell to the ground right after impact.
"Impressive," Sakon looked on at the giant dog falling at them and the dent that they made. "Rashōmon is our greatest defense for Lord Orochimaru, and for him to dent it like that…"
"But it doesn't matter." Ukon finished for his brother, not caring about the dent and only the battle and what he can now do to their weaken opponent.
The two twins jumped at the giant wolf. "This is the end!"
However before they could attack, Akamaru opened his eyes and did one final attack. He peed in Sakon's eyes, burning them and making him unable to fight. Ukon upset by this, hit Akamaru and sent the puppy flying to the ground.
"Akamaru!" Kiba cried once he saw him get hit. "No! You were trying to protect me." He felt ashamed of himself for letting his dog get hurt like that, he should have been the one to try and protect him not the other way around. It wasn't fair and it wasn't right for him to get hurt like that.
"Ahh! He did it again!" Sakon cried out, hands covering his eyes trying to help with the burning. "My eyes!" He cried again and again as the burning sensation kept getting worse and worse.
"Damn it!" Kiba growled, watching Sakon shake in pain. He was angry and ready to shed blood. How dare someone hurt Akamaru!
"This is worse then the last time! It's…some sort of acid. My eyeballs feel like they're burning!" Sakon cried out once again of the pain he was going through and Kiba couldn't help but feel a sense of pride and happiness. He deserved it after what happened to Akamaru and all the pain he and his brother had put them through.
Kiba didn't let himself concentrate on that for too long, he finally noticed that Ukon was missing. "Where'd the other one go?" He looked around for any signs of the other twin, his eyes and nose searching the entire area.
"Boo." Kiba gasped when he finally noticed where Ukon was. He was on his body, inside his own just like before with his brother. His head was on his right shoulder, looking at him as Kiba froze from fear and shock. "Looking for someone kid?" Ukon taunted him.
Sakon was still crying and Ukon decided to help out his brother. "Go wash your eyes in that river. I'll take care of the rest."
Kiba tried to hit Ukon out of his body but an arm grew out of him and stopped the upcoming punch. "Unique ability, I know…helps with assassination." Ukon taunted him once more; he wanted Kiba to feel fear in his heart. "A sharp sense of smell and a set of claws aren't going to be enough to beat me. Face it, you're in over your over head little dog." Kiba growled, struggling to free his arm and beat this guy. He didn't want him being anywhere on his body, it felt too weird having him so close. The only two he would ever allow to be this close to him would be Akamaru and Sakura. He struggled to break free but Ukon's hold on his arm was to strong, it was slowly choking him. "You know that the net work in our bodies through which chakra passes is deeply interwoven with our organs, do you not?" Ukon began his own explanation of his jutsu and how he was making it work. "It's a maze threaded through the tissues that make up our organs, the cells that make up those tissues. Even within each individual protein, the very building blocks of our cells. Once in stage two I'm able to use chakra to dismantle and reconstruct these cells and proteins at will. Breaking my body down into tiny particles I seek to my own opponent, then I return to my original form inside their body."
Kiba didn't care for any of this, it may have told him what was going on with his body but it didn't help him with how to get Ukon out of him. "Akamaru!" He gazed at his companion, lying down unconscious and unmoving. Had it not been for Kiba's sharp eyes and hearing he would have thought Akamaru was dead but he could tell that he was still alive. He was just passed out from the fight the both had. "I'm…sorry, Akamaru. We've always been a team, together, wherever we went…" Kiba's mind flashed him back to the start of the Chunin exams where they had to cheat on the test. Akamaru sitting on his head looking at all the answers, he had a clear view of Sakura's paper but both dog and master refused to cheat off of her. It didn't feel right to use her to help them cheat. Next was the two of them jumping through the trees as they got their scroll to the second part of the exam.
The Forest of Death wasn't such a scary place, the only real thing that was scary was them having to witness Gaara and having him almost killed them. To this day Kiba still doesn't know how he spotted them, they were at a good distance and they weren't making a lot of noise, how he found them would always remain a mystery to him and his teammates. The only thing that his teammates knew was the real reason why he wanted to take more scrolls from people. It wasn't because he wanted to lessen the competition, both knew Kiba loved to fight, they learned later that he was doing it for Sakura. He was worried about her and her team and how they were doing, he saw that they were fighting before and he didn't want her to get hurt or be disappointed if they didn't make it. Also, he wanted to lessen the competition for her so Sakura wouldn't have to fight any really strong opponents.
He then thought of his fight with Naruto, both he and Akamaru were shocked at how strong the kid had gotten and really underestimated the boy. The wanted a rematch against him and vowed to get one after they became stronger. Finally his mind went to this morning where Shikamaru was gathering everyone for the team to bring back Sasuke, how Akamaru tried to steal one of Chouji's chip and then the two of them had to break out of the giant rocked container they were trapped in. He thought of every time he spent with Akamaru since this whole mess started and wanted to cry at how the outcome was turning out.
"But, I think this time we're sunk old friend." If Kiba could have, he would have dropped his head in defeat but the arm Ukon had was keeping him from not only breathing but from moving as well.
"My cells are moving freely throughout your body," Ukon started up again and Kiba was getting tried of hearing his voice. "I can even generate parts that are solely yours. In other words, we're slowly fusing together. We'll be sharing a body."
Kiba moved his head enough to glare at Ukon. "Sharing…a body?" He growled at the mere thought of sharing his body with the likes of this creature. He'd rather be burned alive then have someone like him share his body.
"That's right," Ukon chuckled. "I'm going to snuff out your life as only I can, by eradicating all the cells in your body inside out."
"I see…" Kiba struggled again to break free but it was no use, his body was frozen. Ukon had him trapped. His eyes fell to the knocked out form of Akamaru and once more he felt like crying. It was his fault that Akamaru had suffered, if he had been stronger then none of this would have happened, but now was not the time to be depressed about his current situation. With the last of his strength, Kiba took in a deep breath to catch of with of Sakura's scent. The one coming from the handkerchief that he had taken from her room not long ago, like always her scent gave him the strength he needed in battle."…in that case," Kiba pulled out a kunai and stabbed the side of his body, body gushing out from his wound, his mouth, and from Ukon's as well. "What if I do this? Then what happens?" He struggled for his words despite the pain and kept the kunai in.
"Suicide?" Ukon struggled his own words out as he gasped at this sudden action. He had expected for Kiba to take this action, most of his opponents would usually be frozen in fear at this point; none had ever tried to make this attempt before. "You're crazy!"
Kiba looked back at the head that was growing out of him and smirked. "Time for you to die."
Kiba struggled to keep the kunai in but it was getting harder and harder as the pain kept increasing. He wanted to pull it out, and it wasn't helping that Ukon was screaming in his ear trying to force his body to remove it, but he would not take it out. Even with his own screams of pain he kept it in, fought back the pain, and would not let go until Ukon was dead.
"Are you mad? What are you doing?" Ukon couldn't believe the desperate action that Kiba had taken. He wasn't use to this, his normal opponents would be too scared or he would have already killed them by now. None had ever tried this mentioned before so he wasn't prepared for this, and he hadn't expected a kid like him to try something to drastic either.
Kiba took the kunai out for a moment; he needed to catch his breath and get another whiff of Sakura's scent. The pain was getting too much and causing him to lose his hold on the kunai but like before once he got her scent he gained back the strength he lost. "If we really share the same body, I guess you feel whatever I feel, don't ya?"
"Damn you." Ukon cursed at him for figuring this out.
Kiba laughed when this time he saw the pain and confusion that was now in Ukon's eyes. "It hurts, doesn't it? Well come on, I know one way to stop the pain." He took another whiff and aimed the kunai for his heart. His body went rigged as the fear of dying over took him, he wanted to live and return him. He had his family and friends all waiting for him, he wanted to get back so Akamaru could be healed up, and he wanted to be back where Sakura was. He truly hated the thought of leaving her, he always wanted to be by her side. Just him, her, Akamaru, and the great family they could have. It was a perfect setting in his mind, he would go off to accept his mission while she stayed home to take care of the kids, on his days off they would go to the park and play with their children and their companions, send them off to the academy to become ninjas like their parents, and when the time came they would die together. It was a perfect setting but it looked like his perfect dream would never come true.
"No, you fool! Stop! Stop!" Ukon cried out in fear but Kiba wouldn't listen to him. "Sorry, too late." Kiba sent the kunai into his body, ready to accept the pain and leave behind the world that he had grownup in.
"No!" However at the last moment, Ukon separated from his body and Kiba missed his heart. He cried out in pain again as the kunai made contact with his flesh, the pain increasing by the second. He could sudden feel the cold hands of death begin to wrap around him.
Ukon sat up and checked out his wound. "That's not enough blood for a fatal wound." Kiba growled in pain as he turned his body to face Ukon and pulled the kunai out of his stomach. With the last of his strength he sent the kunai for his head but Ukon stopped it with his armored hand. Too bad for him that Kiba had a backup plan, two smoke bombs exploded causing Ukon to become temporary blinded, this gave Kiba the chance to run and hide.
"Where is he? The little brat!" Once it did clear Ukon was not please. He searched around for any signs of Kiba but so far he saw none. All he saw was the fallen form of Akamaru and laughed with joy. "So he ran away and left his little doggy behind. A logical decision, but pretty cold-blooded even for me." He made his way towards Akamaru, ready to kill the dog, but a trapped was all that he found. Akamaru's fallen form began to smoke and expand until a barrage of kunai appeared, cutting open Ukon's body.
Kiba panted from his spot, he was hiding behind a boulder a good few feet away from the trap he set up for Ukon. Yet he still didn't feel safe, he knew never to underestimate an opponent and there was no way he would let himself believe that one trap was enough to finish him off. Akamaru was in his lap, still unconscious but at least he was breathing. His hand went through Akamaru's fur, petting him and trying to comfort the dog even with him knocked out. Kiba wanted his dog to know that he was there for him and he wouldn't let anything happen to him. "It's ok, he's still breathing." He told himself, trying to calm his racing heart. It wouldn't do him any good if his body was on edge, his senses wouldn't work then. "What a relief." A sadden smile was on is face as he looked down at Akamaru, eyes fighting to not only stay open but to hold back his tears. He suddenly wanted to cry a lot lately.
He groaned when another wave of pain came at him, more blood leaking out of his wound from this. If he didn't do something fast to close the wound, he would be dead in a matter of minutes from blood loss. He knew that but he kept his focus on his dog.
"Good boy, Akamaru. You really gave it your all. Thanks to you, we were able to stall the enemy and beat him up pretty good too." Kiba continued to pet his dog, it hurt him more to see his best friend in pain like this then the wound he had given himself. "You rest now, you've done enough for one day." Kiba had one more flash back, to the day he had first gotten Akamaru. His mom and Hana were happy that he had gotten Akamaru and so was Kiba, even if the little guy had peed on his face after he picked him up. Even with that Kiba still loved the dog and played with him everyday before and after he graduated from the academy. Of course his mom had hit him because she thought he was goofing around to much and told Kiba that he and Akamaru needed to get stronger together. And they did, every day and every night the trained whenever they had the chance, both wanted to become stronger so that they would never have to worry about being separated from one another.
"And we'll be together for a long time to come boy, I'll see to that." He gave his silent vow to his best friend. "I'll take better care of you from now on."
"First thought we have to get out of here," Kiba whispered out, he was worried that Ukon might be looking for him. Even with his trap of Kunai he knew the guy would still be alive and it wouldn't help if he brought his twin with him, there was no way Kiba could fight either of them. His body was too weak now, from the jutsu and the self inflected wounds, all he wanted to do was curl up into a ball with Akamaru in an opened field, Sakura's handkerchief in one hand while the other was used as a pillow, and they would watch as the clouds go by and listen to what's happening to the world around them. "I'll get us home, I swear it." Kiba tried standing up but his body wouldn't have it. It sent him back down to the ground, he knew he had to get moving before they found him but he also needed to rest and regain enough strength to move.
"Man, this really sucks," Kiba rested his head against the boulder, closing his eyes, and allowing some form of sleep to come to him. "I just need to rest now. It's all I can do at the moment. Once I'm recovered enough energy I'll take Akamaru and get moving far enough that we'll be safe." Too bad the only safe place in Kiba's mind would be the village, him inside of Sakura's room as his nose was filled up with her sweet cherry scent.
"Sakura…" His eyes opened to stare at the river that was in front of him, he had a bitter smile on his face as he imaged her face in the river smiling at him. He missed her smile, her laughter, but most of all he missed her being by his side. "I was a really stupid kid," He commented, thinking back to the day when he found out that Sakura had feelings for Sasuke. "I should have kept being her friend instead of just ignoring her, I must have hurt her pretty badly but I couldn't help myself. I was a spoiled selfish kid who didn't like sharing anything. I know now if I stayed as her friend then there probably would be a good chance that we would have been a lot closer now, maybe she would have even forgotten about Sasuke and returned my feelings instead." Kiba whimpered out, hand running over his eyes. "Listen to me, I sound like an old man on his deathbed, talking about his life's regrets." But that is what he was doing. Kiba could still feel the cold hands of death wrapping around him, the blood loss was beginning to make his mind spin and his body even weaker.
"I need to stop the bleeding," He reached into his pocket and pulled out Sakura's handkerchief, his eyes staring at it for a long time. It was all he had on him at the moment but he didn't want to use it. It was Sakura's and he didn't want to get any blood on it, it was to important to him to ever ruin it, besides he knew he would have to return it to her eventually. "This is the only thing I have and I can't even think about getting blood on it." He let out a soft bitter chuckle at his fate. He had something to help stop the bleeding but his feelings for Sakura were stopping him from using it.
He traced his thumb over the design that was on it. "If ma could see me now she'd probably hit me on the head." He gave another bitter laugh but kept his hand on the handkerchief. He unfolded it to look at the full size of it, although he looked over it the night he had first taken it, Kiba still couldn't figure out where he had seen this piece of fabric before. The fabric was a light tan one with pink and red cherry blossoms that looked like they were dancing all around the piece of fabric. He gave a content smile at it and placed it where his wound was, he could feel his blood begin to spread over the handkerchief but he gave a low grunt of pain and let the piece of cloth do its job.
The blood was stopping now, he could feel that the cloth was doing its job at stopping the blood loss from continuing and smiled. In a way it sort of felt like it was Sakura's own hand that was holding his wound, healing it with all her strength while she whispered sweet words into his ear. His body relaxed in an instant and suddenly Kiba's mind wasn't so clouded over from dizziness, his senses were coming back and he felt like he could move again. "Even when I'm down, all I need is Sakura and I can get back up." He commented before putting the cloth back inside his pocket, it was time to put his focus back on the enemy.
Suddenly the winds began to move and Kiba stiffened up. "I can smell 'em, coming this way. They're close." He looked out behind the boulder and gasped when he saw the drops of blood that were on the ground. "I left a trail of blood leading right to me!" How cold he be so stupid and not notice the trail he had left behind for his enemy to follow. If he could have he would have hit himself but for now he needed to focus on getting away. "Well Akamaru, that trick bought us some time but it looks like I may have gotten a little carried away with it." He chuckled at his own foolishness before groaning in pain. Even if the blood had stopped the pain was still there and no matter how much he imaged Sakura with him, the pain would not leave him.
He gave a low sigh before his body went ridged and his nose picked three different smells. "That scent! Wait a minute!" He gasped and lifted his head up higher so he could get a better smell of what the wind was carrying. He had to be sure that his mind wasn't playing tricks on him. "Why? What the hell would they be doing here?" He thought he was screwed before but now he knew that he really was if those three found him. "I don't know what's going on but one thing's for sure, we gotta best it. Fast!" He tried to stand up and runaway before those three made it anywhere near him but his wound stopped him. The pain was too much, it caused him to collapse back on the ground and bite back down another cry of pain.
"Now way, I'm to dizzy. Lost too much blood, I'm afraid I'm in no better shape then you are boy." Kiba pet Akamaru once again trying to come up with an idea that would save them. So far all he could think of was taking his and Akamaru's own life so they wouldn't have to go through whatever kinds of torture those guys had in store for them. "Sorry, Akamaru."
If Kiba had the strength he would have screamed every word in the book at Sasuke for putting him, Akamaru, and all his friends in this crappy situation. It was his entire damn fault for running away from the village and leaving everyone behind and now they were all suffering for it. He had Akamaru on his lap while he grounded up some herbs that Hana had showed him that helped close and heal wounds. He had escaped by traveling by the river, giving him and Akamaru the remaining food pills that he had to keep from passing out, but they didn't seem to be having to much of an effect.
"Ok, Akamaru, hang in there boy." His hand held a tight grip on the rock he was using to ground up the herb. He needed to hurry before they were found again, he knew he had left another trail from the river but he had lost him when he dried off, but even so he still didn't feel safe. He groaned once the herb was finished and applied it to both his and Akamaru's wounds.
He titled his head back to try and lessen the pain but caught another whiff of the three scents that seemed to be following them. "What is this? Whatever it is, it doesn't look good." He jumped back into the run, a fallen branch in one hand to cover them up so that they only looked like fallen leaves floating down the river. He needed to get away before they found him; there was no way he could take any one of them on. Even if he was at full strength he knew he was no match for them.
"Damn it! Those sand guys are here and coming along fast." Kiba cursed what bad luck he was having and picked up his speed in the river. "That sand guy, Gaara is coming up and his two siblings as well. That guy, he hurt Sakura, almost killed her but I heard Naruto had beaten him. So why are they coming back? Don't tell me they want to finish the job!" Kiba stopped swimming once that thought had reached his mind. What if they had come back to finish the job? What if that Gaara kid came back because he wants to try and kill Sakura again?
"Sakura!" Kiba jumped forth, wanting to head back to the village as soon as possible to warn them of the danger that was heading there way but was stopped by the pain once more. He had to stop from moving before he sunk to the bottom of the river. He hated this! He hated that he was so weak; he couldn't do anything but run away and hide. Right now he was struggling to get back on dry land, hiding behind a tree like the true coward that he was. He hated this; he really hated how this whole mess started.
"That's it, I can't go any further." He was panting, trying to catch his breath. His body was exhausted and felt like it would shut down at any moment. Suddenly he heard the sound of water and someone walking. "Are you kidding me? He's already caught up" How could he have caught up with him so fast? He was sure he had put enough distance between them long enough for Kiba to call for help but that didn't seem likely anymore.
All he could do now was wait and listen as Ukon was getting closer and closer to him, he could hear the footsteps becoming clearer by the second. He was there in the forest that he was hiding in and getting closer and closer to Kiba. Suddenly Ukon stopped and turned in another direction.
"His scent, he's moving away." He gave a long sigh of relief and leaned against the tree. "That was close."
"What was?"
Suddenly the world seemed to freeze, it was like time had stopped and Kiba felt like his heart would stop working at any moment. His body was shaking, breath coming out in short gasps as he turned to see Ukon crouching down by him. Looking pleased that he had found Kiba.
"But how did you…?" He didn't understand. He could smell his scent going in the other direction.
"I knew that it would work," Ukon laughed with joy as his plan had worked and he found his prey.
"My jacket!" Kiba growled and his hatred for this guy grew as well. No wonder why he didn't smell him, he was use to his own scent so he didn't smell it when it was being carried in the wind. His jacket had covered up Ukon's scent, concealing it from him. Kiba growled and thought about the handkerchief that was now in his pants pocket instead of his jackets. He had brought it with him in case he needed to stop the bleeding again and because it was Sakura's he wanted to have a piece of her with him. "Damn it! If I had left it in there then this guy wouldn't have found me!" He cursed his own foolishness once more.
"You're so used to your own smell you didn't even notice it on the wind." He explained what Kiba already knew.
"So you were sulking around in my jacket to cover up your own scent. You seem to know a lot about tracking. No wonder I couldn't smell you," This really did seem to have a lot of knowledge, a lot more than Kiba would have thought. He tried hiding Akamaru away from the guy, trying to keep him safe but things were hopeless now, he was trapped. "Guess I should be surprised, right? Seriously, how in the world am I supposed to keep track of somebody who can spilt in half?" He was screwed but that didn't mean he had to go crying like a big baby. If it was his time to die then he would die like the true Inuzuka warrior that he was. One who was full of pride and life. "Well come on then…"
Kiba waited as Ukon pulled out his Kunai, ready to be used on him to take his life away. "You're staring death in the face, shouldn't you be screaming for mercy or something?" Ukon was taunting him, he wanted to get some sort of rouse out of Kiba. Instead he only laughed and watched at he came at him with the weapon that would kill him and take him from this world.
"You're gonna die kid! Wipe that grin off you face!" Ukon went in for the kill.
However today was not the day Kiba would die.
Suddenly a giant puppet that Kiba had recognized instantly was in front of him, shielding his body from the attack. "What the hell?" Ukon was surprised by this sudden appearance and Kiba was right with him. He knew they were coming, the sand ninjas, but he didn't know they had come to help them.
"Well what do you know," Kiba grinned when he saw this. "Looks like we're on the same side." The battle started up again soon enough only this time it was Kankuro against Ukon and the puppet seemed like it was throwing Ukon off his game. "So you fight with puppets?" It didn't look like he was used to fighting people who used the puppet master jutsu so this fight should be fun to watch. "Hey wait a second, when you showed up weren't you in a group with three people?" Kiba wanted to know where the other two went.
"The other two went on ahead cause you guys couldn't hack it." Kankuro was the one taunting him now but Kiba couldn't really bring himself to be annoyed by the guy.
In fact he was enjoying the new found appliance. It gave him a challenge to look forward to in the future. "Listen moron, these enemies aren't exactly light weights." He sniffed the air and found where Sakon was. "Behind you!"
Sakon had Kankuro in a flash and Kiba couldn't do anything. "It's no use, I can't move!" He wanted to help but his body was in too much pain for him to try and attack. For a second he was worried but where Kankuro was another one of his puppets appeared. Now it really was time for the fight to start.
The battle was over soon enough, Kankuro had both twins killed by his two puppets and had won the fight. It made Kiba feel a little inferior but he would work hard once he was healed enough. They were all taken back to the Leaf Village where everyone was being treated by Lady Tsunade and handed picked doctors. He heard Neji and Chouji had gotten hurt a lot more then he did and the mission was a failure, Hana had told him that Sasuke had tried to kill Naruto but in the end let him live. Kakashi-sensei was the one to bring the unconscious body of Naruto's back to the village.
Right now he was bandaged up in a hospital bed, surrounded by the dog companions of his family and Hana in the room with him, healing up Akamaru's wounds. "Well sis?" He needed to know that Akamaru was going to be okay. He didn't think he could go on without his best friend. "How is he?"
Hana was thoroughly examining Akamaru, cutting over his body for any wounds, poisons, infections, anything that could be life threatening to the dog. "Well, no long walks for him anytime soon, that's for sure." She pet the small dog's head, he was still unconscious but he was alive and well.
Kiba wasn't satisfied with that answer. He wanted his dog to be fully recovered and to know that he would be alright. "Can't you do anything for him? You're a vet!"
"Not a magician," Hana looked at her brother, she cared for both of them and wanted to heal Akamaru up but there was only so much that she could do. "It takes time, but relax his life is not in danger." Kiba gave a quick sigh of relief but then groaned when his body was swallowed over by another wave of pain. It hurt too much to move. "No long walks for you anytime soon either." Hana added when she saw how much pain her brother was in.
"I got it, don't worry." Kiba understood and knew he needed to rest otherwise he would be stuck in the hospital longer then he had to be.
"Kiba…" Hana called his attention so he looked at her but instead his attention was brought onto what she had thrown on top of him. "I think you'll want this."
He looked over what she had thrown over is chest and saw that it was his jacket, the same one that he had worn to the Chunin exams and the one that Sakura herself had worn. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath and was surprised by how strong the smell of Sakura was. "But how…?"
"The day you left Sakura came over the house," Hana explained moving the jacket so that it was next to Kiba's head and not on his body. She didn't need the nurses complaining about it being in the way and she figured he would like it better like this, the smell of it would be closer to his nose. "She was crying pretty hard after she told me what had happened."
Kiba moved his gaze away from the jacket, he remembered Sakura crying that day. It was a horrible thing to see the one you love cry for another man but even now in his bed all broken and bruised he still couldn't bring himself to hate Sakura. "I know she was crying, I watched her break down in front of Naruto, begging him to bring Sasuke back to her." His voice was starting to become lower, it pained him to have to admit that Sakura wanted Sasuke more than him.
"Do you know why she begged Naruto to bring Sasuke back?" Hana ran one hand through her little brother's hair. "And before you start it's not because she loves Sasuke more than you."
"What are you saying sis?" Kiba didn't understand what his sister was talking about. That had to be the only reason why Sakura begged Naruto, because she had chosen Sasuke over him. "She loves Sasuke, not me."
Hana let out a sigh from how her brother was acting. "I swear you hit your head too much on this mission," She flicked his ear and laughed when he groaned in annoyance. "When Sakura came by she told me that she had lost you. She only asked Naruto so desperately because she felt that she had hurt you so much that you hated her."
"Hate her?" The words "Hate" and "Sakura" would always be foreign to Kiba, there would be nothing in this world that could make him hate her. "I could never hate Sakura, she's too important to me! Why would she think…?"
"Because you thought she had chosen Sasuke," Hana stopped him. "When you heard that Sakura had tried to stop Sasuke the night he left you assumed she had chosen him over you and that's what caused her to think like that. She felt like she had lost everything so she asked Naruto to bring back an old dream she once lived in." Hana gave her brother once last smile before heading towards the door.
"A dream?" Kiba didn't understand what she meant by that.
Hana nodded and looked back at her brother. "A dream that she used to live in before she found out who she really loved." With that said Hana Inuzuka left her brother's hospital room and went home.
Kiba listened to the retreating sounds of his sister's footsteps before turning his attention back to his jacket. It was resting right beside his head, the scent of Sakura was so strong on it that it felt like she was lying right next to him. A small cracked its way upon his face as he moved his head enough to take in another deep breath of Sakura's scent. There was mixer of tears and love in this jacket now. Tears that she shed for him because she believed that she had hurt him and love because Kiba now knew that Sakura really did love him.