Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Man's Best Friend ❯ Man's Best Friend ( Chapter 1 )

[ A - All Readers ]

The sun filtered through the room, lighting it up instantly,signaling a new day. The light shined on the floors, reflecting onto the white walls of the room. Making the occupant of the room squeeze his eyes shut tightly, as he scrunched up his nose in distaste.
Carefully he opened his eyes , canine sharp eyes glanced around the room quickly, trying to remember why he was here instead of in his own room.
The sharp pain in his side reminded him quickly, making him frown. He took in a deep breath cringing once more as the scent of death and sickness overwhelmed his over sensitive nose.
The door to his room opened, the person behind it was obviously trying to be quiet. But the occupant of the room had heard it anyways, as he was awake in the first place, along with his advanced hearing he could hear what was going on down the hall. He sat up quickly, trying not to aggravate any of his injuries as he rose to greet his visitor.
Said visitor saw him getting up and gasped, “Oh Kiba! You shouldn't get up yet, the medics need to come and look at your injury once more.”
Kiba grunted but rested his back carefully on the wall behind him, he looked towards his guest. He looked her over slowly, and took in her appearance-searching for any visible injuries on her body “I'm fine Hinata, are you okay?” he questioned, obvious concern for his friend and team mate showing in his voice.
The girl nodded, her long hair shaking as her head moved, her eyes glanced over his injured form as she approached the bed. “I'm fine Kiba, as is Shino” she was glad that she had gotten over her trouble with words, it made it much easier to talk to people she cared about.
Kiba sighed and nodded, “When can I leave?” he asked, his voice sounded more raspy then usual.
Hinata smiled, and went to the sink in the room. She took one of the plastic cups and filled it with cold water before bringing it to him. Once he took a big gulp of water, and thanked her, she answered. “Soon Kiba, the medics want to do one more check on you, then you can go.”
He nodded, and they both stayed quiet for a few moments. Kiba cleared his throat, as he looked at his friend . “Where is Akamaru, how is he doing?” he questioned.
Hinata turned her eyesight downcast, as she frowned slightly. “I-I don't know Kiba. Your sister took him when we arrived, I haven't been able to check on him yet.” she stated, her voice low.
Kiba had no chance to answer as the door opened, a medic nin in the standard uniform entered. The woman smiled kindly at both of them, Hinata squeezed his arm, gaining his attention. “Do you want me to stay, or walk you home?” she questioned.
Kiba frowned slightly, and shook his head. “I'll be fine, thanks for visiting.” giving her a soft smile, he waved goodbye.
Hinata nodded, bidding him goodbye. She did the same with the medic nin before leaving the room. When she was gone the medic nin approached him, as she got closer he pulled down the sheets so she could check his body better, it didn't matter to him really, as he had the standard hospital robe on.
The medic nin nodded in thanks, before her hands lite up in a light green color before she let her hands hover above his body. Slowly she went down his body, stopping where he previously felt the sharp pain for a few moments, before going on with the examination.
A few moments later, the color faded from her hands, and she offered him a smile. “Your good to go, no training or any strenuous activity for the next week. But you can leave, you clothing is over there” she stated, while pointing to a folded pile of clothing he had previously missed.
He nodded in thanks, and she quickly left the room after taking off any wires that had been attached to him.
Kiba sighed, before bringing his legs off the bed, as he sat on the edge of it. He let his feet get used to being on the solid ground. Once he felt secure enough to stand, he slowly approached the table his clothing was on. Grabbing them he made his way towards the bathroom to take a quick shower, and changed into his clothing.
He felt very refreshed after getting into a change of clothing, as he was showering he saw the extent of his wounds, He had a large gash on his side which he was sure was probably worse when he got here, then as it was now. He was surprised that he and this team has survived the battle they had been in, after Kurenai-Sensei had stopped being their team leader, Shino had taken up the spot, as he was more equipped for the job.
The three of them had been doing B to A ranked missions for this past year. This last mission however, they had made the mistake of whom they were helping. It turned from helping an ally to fighting an enemy. The attack had caught even Shino's bugs by surprise.
Kiba huffed as he slowly made his way out of the room, and towards the exit to the hospital. He was glad that his room, had been on the first floor. With the wounds he had obtained, going down stairs would have opened them or just been plain frustrating.
After stopping by the nurses office to check out, he headed outside. Once outside the doors, he took a deep breath of the fresh air, glad to be out of the stuffy building. He frowned slightly, at the miss of his companion at his side. Sighing, he slowly made his way down the streets of the town, towards his sisters office, hoping to see his best friend again.
The closer he got to his sister's clinic, his heart began to feel heavy, and panic began to overwhelm his body. He took a deep breath in hopes of calming down, all the while he quickened his pace. Ignoring the warning from the doctor, and the pain at his side he jogged towards his sister's clinic.
He opened the door to the clinic quickly, before stepping inside. His nose scrunching up in distaste as it was once again overwhelmed with the scent of medical supplies, and illness. Thankfully though, as this was an animal hospital the smell wasn't as strong as it had been at the hospital.
He went deeper into the clinic, when he noticed his sister wasn't up front at the counter. Which wasn't strange, since today was probably a slow day she was more then likely hanging out with the injured animals.
Kiba felt himself get anxious as he walked down the hallway, to the kennel. He wasn't use to being separated from his partner, given most of the time he had been knocked out, but still the miss of his friend's aura always seemed to send him into a panic. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he opened one of the two doors that lead to the Kennel room. He was expecting to see his sister there, he wasn't however- expecting to see her jump as he entered, usually his sister was more alert then that.
Kiba looked his sister over carefully, her eyes were blood shot, along with slightly dark around them, A sign she hadn't gotten that much sleep lately. He frowned, as he took in his sisters appearance. Sure, his sister wasn't girlie like Sakura and Ino, but she still took care of her appearance. The thing that really caught him off guard though, was her eyes...they looked hallow. His frown deepened, "You look like shit" he told her, as he waved in greeting.
Hana gave him a small smile, another thing that sent him on edge. As his sister didn't even give a sarcastic comeback, to his earlier taunt. "Hello Kiba, I'm glad your finally out of the hospital. When did you get out?" she questioned.
Kiba leaned against the wall, near the door he had just entered, glancing around the room he replied. "Just now, Although I'm pratically healed, the doctors said I can't train for awhile" he chuckled lightly, "Akamaru isn't going to like that." Walking towards the Kennels he looked through each of them. Noting that most of them were full with recovering animals, he frowned as he noticed his partner wasn't in any of them. "Hey hana, where is Akamaru, Hinata told me you took him after the battle"
He didn't get a response for a few moments after his question, curious he was about to turn around when he felt his sisters hand on his shoulder. "Kiba" her voice sounded broken, something again he wasn't use to hearing from his tough as nails sister. "Come with me" she instructed.
Kiba frowned, curiosity and something else overwhelming his being, he quickly followed after his sister. Into the deeper part of the small clinic. His sister had been quiet the entire time, not speaking much. Kiba's frown deepened at his sister's body language. As they got closer to their destination he felt his throat tighten as his mind realized where, exactly they had been traveling too.
"What are we doing down here" he asked, as dread began to fill his entire being. His sister didn't reply, instead she opened the door to the room they had been coming to in the first place. What Kiba saw inside made him freeze, rooted to his spot at the door way he stared inside with wide eyes.
His partner, who once stood as tall as a grown tiger, probably weighed the same too. Was laying on the table, a tube down his partner's throat to help in breathing. Among his body were slightly healed gashes. The tail that use to always wag, hung limply off the table not even a twitch. The only thing aside from the heart beat, on the medical equipment that assured Kiba that his friend was still living. Was that those eyes were looking up at him, as his head tried to move off the table. Akamaru gave his master and friend, a whine in greeting.
Kiba swallowed, his throat feeling as though it was closing in on itself. He came from his frozen stupor and quickly he approached the table. Getting an even closer look at his partner, he ran his hands through the thick fur. Avoiding any of the injuries, he rubbed behind his friend's ear. "W-what happened, why is he this bad? He wasn't this hurt before I passed out, what happened?!" his voice was dry sounding, croaking with each word as he looked down at his broken friend.
His sister put a hand on his shoulder, meant to be comforting. "After you got hurt to the point of passing out, Akamaru shielded you and your team from the rest of the oncoming attacks, he didn't move until back up came to assist you all."
Kiba looked at her from the corner of his eye, taking deep breaths to try and calm the erratic beating of his heart. "Why can't he move?" he questioned, he knew getting hurt was part of the job. But nin dogs usually healed faster then the average dog, surely the attacks couldn't have been that bad.
Hana sighed from behind him, as took in both her brother and Akamaru's appearance. "When he was protecting you and your team. One of the enemies attacks cut into his neck muscle. Usually I could heal this, But-" she paused in her explanation as she noticed her brother leaned down so he was now at head level with Akamaru. "But, it had a rare poision in it. That entered his blood line, it has pretty much ruined all of his muscles below the neck"
Kiba clenched his jaw, as he pet Akamaru's head. "So, that's it right. That means he just won't be able to fight anymore right?"
Hana sighed once more, "Kiba. That can't be, he is a dog Kiba. One that enjoys running around, chasing cats, going into battle or just walking beside you through out town. What life would it be for him, to just lay around all day?" her tone was soft, as she tried to hint what would be the best thing for him.
Kiba stopped petting Akamaru and quickly stood, turning towards his sister he glared at her, with clenched fists as his side. "So what am I suppose to do?! Just let him go, I'll give him anything of mine he needs, just please please try and save him. I don't care if I have to quit being a ninja!" he yelled, letting his emotions get the best of him. He turned his eyesight towards the floor, he continued speaking in a lower voice. "Just please don't take him away from me"
Hana sighed, as she stared at the broken image of her brother. She didn't put Akamaru down, because she wanted her brother to see him one last time. Well that and from what her companions had told her, Akamaru didn't want to leave without seeing his master once more.
A whimper brought both of the humans attention to the table, where the broken dog was trying to get a message to his master. Kiba swallowed once, trying to rid the heavy feeling in his throat as his looked at his friend. The whimpers told him all he needed to know, Akamaru knew what was going on, and he knew what the result would be.
Hana turned her brother to look at her, cringing as she noticed that his eyes had begun to mist with un-shed tears. "Kiba, Akamaru knows- he knew, this may happen one day. He wanted to see you just once" hearing the doorbell at the front of the store go off, she sighed and tightened her hold on his shoulders. "Just think about it. I'll be back in a little" she stated, before disappearing to the front.
Once she was gone, Kiba turned his attention back to his friend. He grabbed a chair, that he hadn't seen before and pulled it to the table that Akamaru was laying on. Sitting down on the chair, he looked into his partners eyes as he ran his hands through the thick fur on his ears, and head. The eyes were pained, it was so obvious. "Why did you do it, you didn't have to protect us.. you" he didn't finish that sentence.
As he continued looking into the brown eyes of his best friend, hoping they held some answers. They say a person's eye is the window to their soul, he understood Akamaru to an extent. But since Akamaru wasn't actually a dog that was from his family, Akamaru didn't have the ability to talk as his mother and sister's dogs did. So he had no clue what Akamaru really wanted on this matter, who wanted to die? He had no clue.
His questions were all answered, as he looked at his friend. Within those deep brown eyes was one emotion, Kiba has passed earlier. Understanding, Akamaru understood what was to come. He was pulled from his thoughts, as the wet nose of Akamaru brushed against the back of his hand. Kiba bit his lip, and closed his eyes and he leaned down, resting his forehead on Akamaru's.
Half an hour later, his sister returned to the room to see them in that same position. "Kiba" she stated quietly, as it looked her brother had fallen asleep.
Kiba opened his eyes, and looked towards his sister. She gasped mentally at how broken he looked, his voice next however made her want to cry. "Do it, just do it please. I don't want him in pain anymore." he stated, before returning to the position he had been in previously.
Hana nodded numbly, even though he brother didn't see nor care for her response. She went over to medical cabinet, and grabbed the correct bottle before getting the other needed stuff. Once everything was collected she quietly moves over to her brother and Akamaru. She works around them quietly, before she starts to enter to substance into Akamaru she speaks. "He won't feel anything Kiba, he will just go into a deep sleep, and then just leave..." she stated.
Kiba nodded, and sat back into the chair. Not looking at his sister or anything he looked into his friend's eyes again. He said nothing, just running his hands through the fur on Akamaru's head. He watched quietly as the once bright light of life dimmed slowly, in his friends eyes. Until finally, Akamaru gave on last look at Kiba, a smile in those brown eyes before he shut them. Looking as though he had just gone to sleep.
But when the heartbeat slowed, until it stopped completely. Kiba knew, this would be one sleep that his friend would never wake up from.