Kiba's eyes widened. Had he heard him correctly? Did he misunderstand him? This wouldn't be the first time that happened. He once misunderstood Naruto in the courtyard at school. Kiba gulped. He started to sweat.

'Why am I sweating? I'm not nervous. Am I uncomfortable...?' one side of his mind said.

'Why does it matter?! Naruto's gay! What the hell is wrong?' the other replied.

'Well, he's obviously upset about it. I mean, his parents are probably beating him for it. Now is not the time to try and get into his pants!'

'He's susceptible now. He's confused...'

'Shut up! I don't want to have sex with him just because I can, or out of pure physical lust. I want to have sex with him because I love him.'

'Well, la-dee-da!'

'The hell is that supposed to mean?'

As the two metaphorical halves of his mind put up their metaphorical "dukes," Kiba sat on the bed staring at Naruto. He was completely ignoring the two voices in his head who were, by now, using swords and maces to beat the other to death. The blonde stared back at him, with a shimmer of regret in his eye. Kiba knew that he hadn't moved for a few minutes. He must be coming off as un-accepting.

He had to do something. Naruto's face looked more sad and worried every second.

So, he smiled...

The two warring halves of Kiba's brain looked up and, in unison, said "What in the hell was that?"

He was afraid that he had done something wrong. But, he noticed that the sadness in Naruto's eyes slowly dissipated.

The two had a silent conversation in a second. A thousand pages of dialog passed through each others eyes in the span of that single second. That single... minuscule... insignificantly small amount of time, was all that they needed to have a conversation that would take other people five lifetimes to even start. Kiba was able to completely enter Naruto's mind through his eyes. It was as if his own mind, his own consciousness had traveled to Naruto's body. He explored every crevice of the blonde's mind. He could feel Naruto doing the same in his mind. They were the same entity, the same consciousness... for that one second.

Kiba felt the pain that Naruto had endured, from his parents, from his teachers, and even from his friends. The blonde began to relax, sure that he hadn't made a mistake in telling Kiba his secret.

"Thanks..." Naruto said as a small smile began to form on his face.

Still unsure what to say, Kiba just nodded, put his hand on Naruto's shoulder, and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"So... was it obvious," Naruto asked.

"No, no, not at all," Kiba responded. While it was somewhat pleasant news, it was also confusing. All the events that had occurred over the past few days just didn't add up. "So, why were you really at the beach?"

He looked a little shocked, but quickly recovered and responded. "Exactly what I said I was doing. It's my personal place."

As selfish as it seemed, Kiba wanted answers, so he pursued the question. "Well, why weren't you at school that day then?"

The blonde sighed and replied, "My dad came home drunk the previous night. He started to yell and I knew that if I stuck around then I would end up getting a shiner." He let out a nervous chuckle.

Kiba gulped. "And, those bruises aren't from tripping, are they?"

Naruto paused and said quietly, "no."

"You need to get out of that house, Naruto."

"What?!"

"You're father is abusing you, you can't stay there. It's not safe."

"He's a good man," he started to cry.

"A good man doesn't hit his son!"

"He's a good man," Tears started to stream down his face, "He doesn't mean it, Kiba. He's always drunk when he does it." Through the gasps for breath he cried, "He doesn't... he doesn't mean... he doesn't..." His words became incoherent as his sobs melded with the words his mouth tried to form.

Kiba sat on the bed and gathered the blonde's body in his arms and let him cry on his shoulder.

After 10 minutes or so, Naruto had stopped crying, but Kiba continued to hold him. He found it impossible to let go of the boy that he had been pining after for so long. It was a long time before he realized that Naruto had fallen asleep in his arms. Now, it was his turn to cry...

-The next Morning-

Kiba woke up while the sun was still rising. It was early, that much was obvious. But, without a clock, it was impossible to tell the exact time. He took a few seconds to remember where he was. He had fallen asleep with his torso next to Naruto's sleeping body, and half his body in the chair next to the bed. Needless to say, his back was killing him. He stood up to stretch when he noticed that there was a tray of food on the other side of Naruto's bed. That wasn't what interested him, though. What interested him was the fact that there were two trays, even though there was only one patient in the room.

'Must've been the nurse from last night,' he concluded.

Despite what he had been told about, Kiba found that the hospital's pancakes tasted pretty good. The orange juice, however, was half frozen. Having an orange slushie at dawn seemed a little... odd. He remembered the conversation he had had with his mother on the phone the previous night, and how she had told him to come home for a change of clothes. That was definitely not a bad idea.

'Naruto isn't going to wake up anytime soon,' he thought as the boy turned onto his side in his sleep. So, Kiba made the trek back to his house. He rarely came to this part of the city, so he had to guess the roads to take, but he didn't mind the time that would be added to his walk. He needed time to collect his thoughts. He put his hands behind his head and walked down the street leading to Little Italy. Some of the older people were already wide awake and outside. There was a woman beating her carpets with a tennis racket. Next door to her was an old man reading the newspaper. The next apartment had a swing on the porch, and in it there was an elderly man and woman, apparently his wife. The two just sat and watched the clouds, the birds, the sun, and whatever else nature's theater had. As he continued walking, he found that he envied that couple. They had found each other and got to spend the rest of their lives with each other. Besides that, they weren't seen as 'odd' or 'homo' or 'queer' like he and Naruto were. Not to say that he was admitting to being gay or anything.

He got to his house about an hour after leaving the hospital. His parents had both gone and his sister was nowhere to be found. He hurried upstairs and took a shower. When he got out, however, he was greeted with the familiar feeling of Akamaru jumping on his chest.

"Oh, hey buddy." He sat down on the floor and let Akamaru lay on his lap. It was at this point that he became aware of the fact that he had no clothes on. He normally would've gotten up and put some pants, or at least a towel, on. But, he had been neglecting Akamaru for the past couple of days, so he felt like he owed him some time. The little dog rested his head on Kiba's thigh and curled up in his lap. He made a soft whining noise. It was times like these that made Kiba wish that life was simple. No chasing around a guy who turned out to be gay and probably abused. No trying to determine whether or not he himself was gay. Just sitting and spending time with his oldest, and most loyal, friend in the world. After forty-five minutes, he gently lifted Akamaru off of his lap and put him down on the rug in the bathroom. He got up to go get dressed, but when he came to the doorway of the bathroom, he stopped. He turned around and gave Akamaru a kiss on the head. He felt really bad for not paying more attention to him, but unfortunately, life wasn't as simple as it should be. He made a silent promise to spend more time with his friend when he had the time. But that, however, was not now. Now, he had to get back to the hospital...