Kiba turned around, expecting to see Naruto asking the question, but when he looked, all he saw was a sleeping blond. He walked over to his bedside; he had been asleep the entire time. Kiba convinced himself that he imagined the voice. For the third time in four days, he found himself staring at the unconscious blond boy. I have explained how Kiba feels when he stares at Naruto, especially when he is unconscious, so I will spare you the unnecessary text.

He sat down on the side of the bed. Kiba wished that he could tell him about how he felt, how he was tearing himself apart inside, how Naruto had ruined his life! No, he hadn't ruined his life. He just put a spin on it. But, if he could go back in time and choose whether or not to have this experience again, these feelings for the boy in front of him, or if he had the chance to alleviate himself of the events of the past few days, what would he do? That was a question to ponder at another time, for now all he wanted to do was get all of this off of his chest. He wanted to tell Naruto everything. However, that wasn't possible, as the blond was unconscious, or was that better? Kiba could say all the things he wanted to say, but without having to deal with the possible reactions.

"Uh... hey, Naruto." He was extremely shy at first, it seemed weird to talk to a sleeping body as if they were fully awake and attentive. "I've uh... I've been wanting to talk to you for a while now." This was stupid, he looked like an idiot. But, as time went on, it felt better, so he continued.

"I've had a crush on you for a month now. Not to say that I'm gay, but, then again, that's not to say that I'm not. Look, I just wanted to tell you so that I could finally get to sleep at night, you know? I mean, I stay up every night thinking about you. I can't stop feeling," Kiba searched for the right word, "attracted... to you. It's not even that you're, well gorgeous..." 'That was stupid.' He scolded himself. "It's that, for some reason I want to be with you, and it doesn't make any sense."

Kiba got off the bed and started pacing around the room, completely oblivious to the fact that he was simply talking to himself.

"I don't know how much more of this I can take, Naruto. I wake up, and all I can think about is you. I watch TV, but all I think about is you. Jesus Christ! I can't do anything without thinking about you, and how much I love you, and how much I want you." Kiba started talking louder and louder. "And, that's not even the worst part. When I think about how much I love you, I immediately become so damn happy. That is, until, I realize that I can never have you. It comes hurtling at me like a fucking cinder-block! I mean, you try waking up everyday and thinking 'God, I love Kiba Inuzuka, but I can never have him.' It's not easy, I'm surprised that I haven't done something really stupid yet."

Naruto started squirming under the blankets. 'Oh, God, did he hear me?' Kiba thought.

"Naruto... are you awake?" He continued to move under the covers, but he didn't say anything. "Hello?"

The boy shot straight up out of his bed and ran to the bathroom. Kiba almost had a what is it now, third? heart attack. When he recovered, he headed over to the bathroom where the blond had put his head under the faucet and let the cold water pour down his face.

Kiba stared as the boy panted, his face was completely red. "Naruto?" He spun around completely, almost hitting his head on the faucet, when he heard Kiba.

"Kiba? What are you doing here?"

"I was with you when you collapsed, remember? Way back in chapter 5"

Naruto just stared at him blankly. Apparently he didn't remember much before he passed out. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I collapsed? Wait a second." He looked around the room, then down at the hospital gown he was wearing. "Where am I?"

"You're at a hospital."

"What?! Why?!"

"You collapsed earlier today due to massive internal bleeding. I was with you when you passed out, and I called an ambulance. You were in the OR for over two hours, they said that you lost a quarter of your blood, and that if I had called just a few minutes later, it may have been too late."

"Oh, God." Naruto grabbed his head. Was he remembering? The blond squatted next to the toilet and threw up.

'I really wish I hadn't seen that."

Kiba ran over and sat down next to him. He put his hand on his back. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. I just woke up with a fever."

Kiba felt Naruto's forehead. He was burning up, must have been at least 103 degrees. "That's a pretty big fever, I'll go get a nurse."

Naruto nodded, and Kiba ran out of the room, and down the hallway to the nurse's station. There was a black woman sitting at a desk, reading a magazine. "Ma'am, I need some help." She looked up from her magazine, and immediately went around the desk and down the hall to Naruto's room. She was halfway to the room before his brain even registered that she had gotten up. Kiba followed her back to room 312. She was in the bathroom, with the blond. She felt his forehead too.

"That's a bad one, sweety. Come on, let's get you back in bed." She guided a still nauseous Naruto back to his bed, all the while he held his stomach, his face had turned from a deep red, to a ghostly pale color.

'That can't be healthy.'

The nurse went to a cabinet next to the bed and pulled out a thermometer. She told Naruto to put it under his tongue while she went into the bathroom to pull out some ice packs. When she got back, she took the thermometer from Naruto and read it. It must have been bad judging by the look on her face.

"Is he going to be alright?" Kiba asked, more nervously than he had intended.

"He's got a fever of 104. He needs to stay in bed, keep this pack on his head for a while, and make sure he eata a lot of ice chips." She was answering Kiba's question, but she stared straight at Naruto.

"So, he'll be ok?"

"Yes, dear, he should be fine. It won't be the most pleasant night the poor thing's had, but he should be feeling better in the morning."

"Alright, I'll be sure to take care of him."

The woman looked at Kiba for the first time since he asked for her help. "Are you related to him?"

Kiba was desperately trying to find an answer when Naruto chimed in and said, "He's ok. He's ok. He's my friend, he was the one who called the ambulance for me." He winced in pain. It obviously hurt for him to talk

"Alright," she said hesitantly. As she walked out of the room she said, "let me know if you need any help, honey." She closed the door behind her.

Kiba was still staring at the door when Naruto started to talk to him. "Kiba," he said in a hoarse voice, "how long have you been here?"

"Since this afternoon."

"Has anyone called my parents?" He coughed.

"Yeah, they came by a little while ago." He didn't want to tell him that his parents barely cared that their son was in the hospital, so he lied in order to protect the boy's feelings. "They stayed here for a few hours, your mom seemed pretty upset, and I think your dad was too, although he didn't really show it. He just sat there, staring at the floor."

It appeared that he had seen through Kiba's lie. He laughed and said, "You don't have to lie for them, Kiba. My parents couldn't care less about me. I'm used to it."

Kiba became infuriated. How can you be ok with your parents not loving you? That was just... just plain unacceptable. "Why don't they love you then?"

"Heh, you wouldn't want to hear it." Naruto chuckled. Though, it seemed odd to laugh in a situation such as this.

"What are you talking about? Of course I want to hear it."

Naruto furrowed his brow as he pondered whether or not to tell Kiba the reason for his parents' lack of love.

"I'm telling you, Naruto, I honestly want to hear it."

Naruto sighed, and said, "alright." "You know how my dad's a pastor and stuff?"

"Yeah."

"Well, you see, lately I've been, well, I've been unsure."

"Unsure of what?"

"Well, for about a year now, I've uh, well I've had to consider the possibility that I may be... well," he paused.

"What?"

"Well, that I may be gay."