Fic : Tousai x Kiba : Hospital

Pit pat, pit pat.

The sound of shoes hitting the ground was all she could hear as she ran towards the hospital. There were few things that could tear her away from training with Iko and Kitana, but the minute Tousai had heard Shikamaru's squad was back, she rushed to find Sakura. She knew the pink haired Kunoichi would know if they had brought Sasuke back.

She stopped at the entrance and bent over, her hands on her knees. Sweat beads rolled down her face as she tried to catch her breath. She was just as conerned as Sakura had been over whether they could manage bringing Sasuke back after he decided to go rouge. Once she caught her breath and looked up at the doors to the hospital, her heart skipped. What about Kiba? Despite her feelings for Sasuke, and claiming to understand him, though she never could relate to him, ever since the night he left, when Kiba approached her, she had been torn between two paths.

"Ah, Tousai!" Sakura walked up behind her and tilted her head. "You're here."

"Y-yes..." Tousai replied, clutching her hand at her chest. "Sasuke... did they??"

Sakura frowned and looked down at the ground. She shook her head. Tousai bit her bottom lip and trembled slightly. Before Sakura could look up, Tousai grabbed her hand. "H-how's Naruto holding up?" Her mind shifted from Kiba for the moment, not knowing the severity of his injuries.

Sakura jumped from surprise when Tousai grabbed her hand. She let a small, sad smile lift the corner of her lips. "Oh, you know... he's Naruto."

Tousai couldn't help but chuckle, feeling a light sting in her eyes. "I think he really wanted to bring Sasuke back more than anyone..."

"I think you're right..." Sakura agreed.

Tousai sighed and turned her head, letting go of Sakura's hand. She spaced out for a moment then Sakura's voice brought her back to reality.

"Oh, but... Neji, Kiba, Choji...." Sakura clutched her chest. "All of them..." She didn't want to say it, because she didn't want to admit that all of them, including Naruto, had gotten hurt so badly trying to get back Sasuke, they almost died.

"Kiba!" Tousai spun around and grabbed Sakura by the shoulders. "What about Kiba?"

Sakura winced at the other Kunoichi's panicked grip. "I think he's critical, but stable..." Tousai let go of Sakura and ran into the building. Sakura followed her. "Wait! Tousai!"

Tousai ran up to the front desk, colliding ungracefully into the counter. "Kiba Inuzuka?!" She asked the reception nurse.

"I'm sorry, he isn't allowed visitors at the moment." She replied.

Tousai slumped over. She felt a tightness in her chest. There was so much she needed to tell him. There was so much need inside of her that she had to see him. Sakura placed a hand on her back and frowned. "Come on, we'll go see Naruto."

It took her a minute, but eventually Tousai nodded and started to follow Sakura. Sakura looked back at Tousai as they were walking down the hall. It looked like she had a lot on her mind. Sakura grabbed her hand and tugged her down another hallway. She smiled at the other girl. "Come on, it's this way!"

Tousai didn't really pay attention to where they were going. She just blindly followed Sakura and occasionally appologizing when she stumbled a few steps when her shoes caught from dragging on the floor.

"Lady Tsunade." Sakura said softly.

Tousai looked up to see the new hokage standing in front of the intensive care unit. She swallowed and looked around. Naruto was injured that badly, too? From how Sakura responded earlier, she didn't imagine it was that bad. "Lady Hokage." Tousai bowed slightly. "how is Nar-"

Sakura shoved Tousai lightly to interrupt her. "Lady Tsunade. I have a favor to ask." She said politely.

Tsunade looked down at the two and smirked slightly, and very curious about what Sakura was going to ask of her now. "Yes? Make it quick, I'm very busy." She said firmly.

"Can Tousai see Kiba? Just for a few minutes?" Sakura pleaded.

Tousai's eyes grew wide as she glanced at Sakura. Sakura had to be doing this, knowing that if Kiba stole her attention from Sasuke, she'd have less competition. At this point, Tousai didn't even think it mattered. Regardless of if there were ulterior motives, the gesture seemed sincere. Tousai looked up at Lady Tsunade, just in time to see the older woman's face crinkle.

"He needs to rest, they all do." She replied. "I can't have you disturbing them." Tsunade placed her hand on her hip. "You are more than welcome to visit with Lee or Naruto, but..."

"Please, lady Hokage." Tousai bowed slightly again, this time to hide the hurt in her eyes. "Just... five minutes. I promise not to be a bother."

Tsunade squinted down at the brunette with red bangs, and after a moment of nothing but silence, she sighed. "Five minutes, but when Shizune tells you to leave, you leave."

"Yes ma'am." Tousai replied gratefully. She looked up and met the older woman's gaze.

Tsunade shook her head and patted the young kunoichi on the shoulder. "Come on, Sakura. I need to check on that brat, Uzumaki before I head back to the office."

"Yes, Lady Tsunade." Sakura smiled at Tousai and followed behind the older woman. Tsunade stopped a few feet away and told Shizune to watch the time. Shizune nodded and walked over to Tousai.

"I'll show you."

"Thank you." Tousai replied as she followed.

Shizune showed Tousai where Kiba's room was. The area was built with a deck in the center and six private care units surrounding it. Unlike the recovery rooms, there was only one bed per room with one attending nurse per two patients instead of one for every eight to twelve. "Um, if you would, please wash your hands." Shizune smiled at Tousai and pointed to the sink between Kiba's room and another room.

Tousai nodded. She rubbed the sweat from her face and washed her hands in the sink. When she was done, she pressed a damp paper towel on her face, then proceeded to enter the room. Akamaru cooed at the sound of her footsteps, which made her jump slightly. She felt so incredibly nervous and when she looked at the bed, she saw Kiba lying there like he was half dead.

Akamaru was on a small makeshift bed next to him, feet wrapped and shaking slightly from discomfort. His nose twitched as he sniffed the air and picked up Tousai's scent. Senseing no alarm, he didn't bother lifting his head or making much noise. He just let out a soft wimper.

Tousai looked at the small puppy and felt sad. he looked in bad shape, and she couldn't even begin to let herself imagine that Kiba was in similar shape.  Kiba hadn't noticed her yet, being that he was medicated with pain killers and fast asleep. She approached the side of the bed and gently stroked Akamaru's ear. Her thumb rubbed up and down the middle of his forehead. He nuzzled into her palm.

She didn't really like dogs much, but Akamaru was growing on her. "You did good, little guy." She looked up at Kiba and stood up. The tightness in her chest came back when she saw his face.

Shizune came to the door and frowned. "Time's up." She said.

Tousai turned to look at Shizune. "But..."

"No buts, Lady Tsunade specifically said five minutes." She replied sternly.

Tousai touched the side of Kiba's bed and turned around, pausing for a second to brush the tips of her fingers against Akamaru's head. Halfway to the door, she heard something.

"Wait..."

Shizune looked over at Kiba and Tousai stopped. She looked at Shizune, and the older kunoichi sighed. "Fine, five more minutes. I have to get back to Lady Tsunade."

Tousai nodded in agreement and turned around to see Kiba's hand fall down beside the bed. He gently stroked Akamaru's head as she walked over to him. He tried to smile, but he couldn't kind the pain and exhaustion in his eyes.

"Kiba...." Tousai whispered.

"That's me." Kiba chuckled, then winced from the pain of his abdominal muscles contracting.

Tousai shook her head. She clenched her fists and took a step back.

"Aw, c'mon, don't be like that." His fingers still idly stroked Akamaru's head, the action was actually comforting to him, but the look on Tousai's face made him feel a different kind of pain. "Don't stand so far away, stupid."

Tousai slowly stepped forward, walking up to the bed. Her hands shook as she tried not to let herself cry in front of him. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "I told you... I told you to be careful." She said.

Kiba waited for her to get closer, letting his eyes rest for a moment. His nose picked up a stronger scent when she was closer, so he opened them again. "I'm here, aren't I?"

"But you could've died." She said. "You almost did die!"

"Don't worry, I didn't." Kiba reassured her by nudgeing the back of his hand against her fist. "Help a guy out? It's a bit hard to lift my arm right now."

Tousai looked down, and felt heat rush to her cheeks. "Dummy." She said softly with a frown. Grasping his elbow with one hand, and his hand in the other, she placed his arm back on the bed. She went to let go of his hand, but his fingers tightened around her hand. "W-what are you doing?"

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry we couldn't get him back, Tousai." Kiba looked away from her.

The young kunoichi relaxed, her cheeks still flushed, and her heart beating quicker than usual from the touch of his hand. "I.... um..." She looked down at the ground.

Shizune had been standing in the door again, ready to tell the two their time was up, but the moment was so delicate that she didn't want to interrupt. Instead, she told the nurse to allow Tousai to stay until Hana returned to check on her brother in half an hour.

Kiba stayed silent and closed his eyes as a wave of drowsiness flowed through him. He smiled softly when he noticed Shizune's scent was gone again. Even he was feeling a warmth in his cheeks from holding Tousai's hand, and he was glad that moment wasn't over just yet.

"Kiba?" Tousai asked, thinking the young ninja had fallen asleep again.

"Mmhm." Kiba hummed in acknowledgment. "You, what?"

Tousai rubbed at her face with her other hand and squeezed the hand she was holding. She stared down at him as he looked up at her with half closed eyes. Despite being sleepy, he gave her his full attention. "I'm glad you're back." She said softly.

For the first time since she entered the room, Kiba saw her smile. He never noticed it before. Actually, if he thought about it, he knew he had said a lot of things that made her do the opposite. It just didn't seem cool to be nice to girls, but ever since they became genin, he'd started to figure out that life wasn't about doing what was cool.

"Makes it all worth it..." He said out loud, a big grin on his face.

Tousai covered her face when she noticed the way he looked at her. "Don't say such weird things."

"You smiled." Kiba said. "I haven't seen you smile like that before."

Tousai yanked her hand away from Kiba and covered her mouth, her face turning the brightest shade of red possible. Kiba inhaled deeply to hold back a chuckle. Akamaru barked softly, a happy little bark at Kiba's reactions. He draped his arm over his stomach and closed his eyes. "You're... cute..." He said as his voice drifted off.

Tousai stood there silently, still trying to process the whole thing. He was saying such silly things, and it made her feel so weird. She just watched him for a moment, waiting for something else, maybe for him to snap back to consciousness, but he didn't. Now, the look on his face was a little more peaceful, and a lot less pained. She watched his breathing and looked down at Akamaru. No one had come to tell her to leave, so she took advantage of it.

"Why does he have to say these things, Akamaru?" She asked the pup quietly.

Akamaru let out a very quiet bark. "Aruu." He licked her hand as she kissed him on the head.

Tousai took a deep breath to calm her nerves. It didn't help much because when she looked back at Kiba, seeing him sleeping so soundly all of a sudden, all she could think of was how much she wanted him to recover as soon as possible. Then he'd get back to the way things were, teasing her endlessly until she got annoyed. But she also thought of something more, like if she really gave him a chance, and let go of her silly crush on Sasuke, what would happen then?

Tousai brushed back Kiba's bangs and leaned forward. Her heart thumped so hard in her chest, that she hoped he couldn't hear it. She placed a kiss on his forehead, over the bandages. She felt him stir, and his smile grew slightly. She slowly drew back , but felt Kiba's fingers catch her bangs and push them back as his hand curved around the back of her head. She froze, letting him tilt her head down.

She expected him to try to steal a real kiss from her, but he surprised her by gently bumping their foreheads together. "Thanks."

"For what?" Tousai closed her eyes, feeling a little less nervous now.

"For checking on me." Kiba replied. "I feel.... a bit better right now. Probably the medicine, but... you know..."

Tousai grabbed his hand and lifted her head. She looked down at him and held his hands with both of hers. "I know." She nodded. "I should let you rest..."

"Mmm... just stay for a little longer." Kiba hadn't even opened his eyes.

Tousai looked around the room before deciding to sit on the edge of the bed. She held his hand on her thigh and concentrated on it. She really didn't know any medical ninjutsu, but maybe even channeling some positive energy to him would help him get better more quickly.

"Well, well, what have we here?" The voice of an older woman broke Tousai's concentration and the silence.

Tousai clumsily slid off the edge of the bed and dropped Kiba's hand.

"Relax, kid." It was another Inuzuka, a woman whom Tousai remembered seeing at the veterenary clinic. "You're fine."

"Thanks a lot, sis." Kiba mumbled, half asleep.

"I... I'm sorry." Tousai looked around for a quick escape, but Hana was standing in the door way.

"Don't be. I'm Hana. Hana Inuzuka." She walked over and ruffled Tousai's hair.

"A-ah." She breathed in surprise at the gesture. "I'm Tousai Chasuei, nice to meet you?"

"Don't be so formal! She's definitely a cutie. Not bad taste at all, lil bro." Hana knelt down next to Akamaru and handed him a pill, which he instantly ingested. He made a slight sound of disgust, but gradually stopped shaking from pain.

"Haannaaa." Kiba groaned. "Don't be so embarrassing."

In the midst of blushing furiously, Tousai laughed at Kiba's reaction.

"That's my job, Kiba." Hana grinned at Tousai.

"Ugh." Kiba huffed, his cheeks redder than Tousai's now.

Hana nodded at Tousai. "You should get going for now. Thanks for watching this lil runt while I was gone."

"Oh... sure." Tousai smiled and looked at Kiba.

"I'm not a runt." Kiba replied, annoyance in his voice. He tilted his head when he head Tousai chuckle.

"You're cute, too." Tousai said quickly before quickly escaping the room. She didn't want to see his or Hana's reaction to the statement.

Kiba covered his face with his arms. "Nnnnn."

"Such a cutie." Hana cooed, poking her little brother's cheek.

"I hate you, sis." Kiba mumbled, but he didn't mean it. He felt sickeningly warm and fuzzy right now, and if he was honest, he didn't completely hate it.