Author's Note: I do not own Naruto or any characters in Naruto.

This fan fiction is set much later into the series when Kankuro is about 23 and Kiba is 21 and is set in Kiba's point of view.

Struggle through the Sand and Leaves

I opened my eyes and instead of seeing my room's ceiling or the usual hospitals, there was a ceiling fan spinning to the slow hum of its motor. The air was dry and my mouth was parched. My lips tore apart from having no moisture. The blinds were drawn and the room was partially in the dark. I tried to sit up but my back protested. A horrible pain shot down my left side and I quickly start to panic. The sweat from my forehead slowly trickled down in an agonizing slow race. I swiped it away and was relieved to see I could move my arms. As I lay there in this room, I backtracked to the last thing I remembered. It was foggy and I wasn't sure where to start. I must have laid there for hours trying to remember to only came back to nothing.

After several clicks, the door to the room opened and I see a black hooded figure enter. The figure walked in to the next room and I try to call out. My throat is so dry and all that comes out were raspy moans. All gets quiet in the next room and the figure takes a moment before looking through the doorway at me.

"Ah, so you've finally woke up," the faucet was running, "You've been out for 4 days."

The figure helped me sit up against the back board of the bed. My left side was stinging and felt like I had been gutted previously. The glass of water was cold and it dripped down my chin as I chugged it down. Refreshing to every last drop and I wanted more. I handed him the glass and he retrieved another. As he was in the kitchen, I looked down at my wrapped torso and stomach. My left side had started bleeding a little through the gauze. What the hell happened to me? With a broader view of the room, I looked for Akamaru. His dingy white fur of body mass was nowhere to be seen.

"Kankuro, where am I? Why are you here? Where is Akamaru?"

"Oh, yeah, that's right; you probably don't remember'"

"Huh? Where is he?"

"Calm down. We don't have veterinarians here so your sister and her three ninken came to take him back to Konoha. He was injured pretty badly. He actually brought you here"

"He did? I don't remember anything" Kankuro handed me the glass and again, I chugged it down.

"Hm, like I said, you've been asleep for 4 days. We were hoping you could tell us what happened. He apparently dragged you here and collapsed from his injuries. We were surprised to see a Leaf Shinobi outside of our gates in the condition you were in. You kept mumbling about a jerk and random things. Gaara contacted your Hokage. Your sister was scared to move you so she asked if we could take you in until you recovered," He sat down on the edge of the bed, his arm supporting him across my legs. It had been a long time since I had seen him. In fact, it had been years. He was taller, his shoulders more broad. The tan jounin vest fitted him well enough to see he wasn't a pudgy teen any more. He was a man. The purple paint had a different design. Seeing Kankuro before me, I realized I never took a moment to notice my friends, my comrades, weren't the same old kids from the Academy anymore. We were all adults now and full-fledged Shinobi. I suppose I had changed too. Ino had commented how much taller I was compared to Shino. Hinata, cut her hair real short like when we were chunins and she is definitely more confident in her abilities after the war (Although still modest in every way), Choji was a younger version of his father, his appetite only growing. Rock is Guy's twin. If Kankuro was all grown up, I wonder how Gaara faired. Despite my missions, I saw Temari from time to time as she stopped by to see Shikamaru. He refused to say whether or not they were an item but Shino swore he seen them kissing under an awning. I don't know why he would deny it. She was very pretty and could hold her own. Now that was a woman. Perhaps he was still shy about it. I always hear people remark how Akamaru grown. But like I always said, I never noticed. I couldn't carry him anymore and he now carried me on his back.

"I.. I don't remember any of it. I can't even remember leaving Konoha. I tried but man, my head is so foggy"

"You could be suffering from amnesia. In any case, we dispatched trackers, hoping perhaps we'd find the body of who you had been fighting but they came up with nothing. They only found your blood and the location of your fight. It seemed whoever was there before, cleaned up pretty well to not leave a trace of themselves. Hana and Gaara agreed you'd be safer here until we could get you back to Konoha safely."

"This doesn't look like a hospital room"

"No, it doesn't because it's not. You're in my home."

The hell-? "What? Why?"

Kankuro closed his eyes as he spoke in a matter of fact tone, "Our hospital is under quarantine. Sunagakure being a village of the sand, in the middle of no-where, we get drifters seeking medical attention and they bring all sorts of illness and diseases in. We can't just deny them since we have the only hospital in a hundred miles each way; makes for a bad reputation. Anyway, a nurse has been coming every day and changes the IV and all that stuff so don't worry. "

He pulled the covers down and the blood from my wounds was darker and spread throughout the gauze like a sponge. Kankuro stood and offered his hand, "Do you think you can you stand up?"

I grabbed his hand and scooted my legs across to the edge. The pain was agonizing. My side felt like a piece of plastic being pulled apart, thinning out right before splitting. Growling at the pain, I stood on shaky legs. Kankuro threw my arm around his shoulders and gently placed his hand on my left hip. My legs felt like they would give out any minute but one step in front of the other, we made slow progression to the bathroom. His place was tidy except for passing a doorway that led to another room. Crow was completely disassembled, hanging from the ceiling in parts. His work bench and tool boxes laid out as Sasori or rather "Scorpion" sat on a chair against the wall with Black Ant. Sheesh. Creepy.

Entering the bathroom, I sat down on the toilet cover as Kankuro started the shower. To be honest, a shower sounded great. I felt as nasty as I smelled. Using small scissors, Kankuro cut the wrap off, revealing 100 or so stitches and dried blood.
"It's healed only a little. It was deep enough to penetrate through so this ointment will help keep the water out, ok?" Kankuro shook a little jar in his hand. He used a glove to apply it to the stitches. Each stroke to the stitches felt weird, felt like they will pull through the skin they held together.

"There's a clean towel on the rack.."

"Thanks.." I stood and leaned against the sink, running my hand through my greasy hair.