Orange, Spirals and Everything Nice

Eighteen: Confused Knucklehead

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters or the setting of the story. They all exclusively belong to Mr. Masashi Kishimoto in all its rights.

Team 8 eventually arrived at the village hospital where Naruto's group was currently taking a tour as per Amaru's request.

"Someone... please... Shino-kun..." Hinata sobbed as her soft voice pleaded. She was truly worried about Shino at the moment but she also can't afford to lose what they were supposed to do in the first place. Her watering pale eyes were directed at Sakura and Amaru among the other group as half of Shino's weight hung on her shoulders for support.
Kiba was quietly impressed with Hinata's performance from the other side of his injured teammate.

"What happened?" the medics chorused and rushed to their team.

"It's all my fault," Kiba said with all the guilt he currently felt. "I wasn't being careful during training and Shino had to receive the attack because Hinata couldn't dodge in time." he narrated perfectly just as Shino had taught him on the way to the hospital.

"Anyways, Shino needs immediate medical attention," Sakura said seriously after giving the bug user a brief examination. "Amaru, can you help me with him?"

Amaru nodded. "Gladly."
And with that, the group rushed the injured boy to a room to be cured.

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Naruto kept glancing at Hinata and Kiba who worriedly watched as the unconscious Shino was being treated by Sakura and Amaru inside that hospital room. Thankfully, the bug user was easily put out of critical condition because he was treated in time and with precision by the two medics.

But Shino wasn't what was bothering the hero at the moment.

It was Kiba's comforting arm around Hinata's small shoulders that made him rather annoyed for reasons he absolutely didn't know. The hero even forgot about the rest of the tour he had promised Shion a while ago because Team 8 had totally caught his attention now.

"This is so much fun, Hinata." Kiba whispered mischievously beside the Hyuuga as they watched Shino being treated inside that room. It took all of the brunette's will not to burst into a fit of laughter and end up ruining Shino's sacrifice.

But the annoyed look on Naruto's face right now was truly priceless!
How the brunette wished he had done this kind of stunts much earlier and tease the blonde to his heart's content.

"A-Are you sure it's working, Kiba-kun?" Hinata doubted as she clenched her hands together in her chest, never taking her pale eyes away from Shino. She was afraid that if she glanced at Naruto now, she'd lose her composure and ruin her teammate's plan.

The brunette nodded and moved his hand to gently brush his fingers through her hair. He almost jumped up victoriously when he saw how Naruto gritted his teeth at the gesture from behind them.

The Inuzuka was absolutely enjoying this part of the plan.

After a while, Sakura and Amaru finally finished healing Shino as the green light coming out of their palms faded out. The bug user slowly shifted on the bed, making his teammates rush to him worriedly.

"He's gonna be fine." Sakura reassured Team 8 and wiped her forehead with her arm before glancing at Amaru with a smile.

"Thank you so much for your help." Hinata's pale eyes glistened with tears of relief once more as she bowed to the medics before reaching for Shino's hand on his side.