Hi there everyone - this is Adamrpg, brought back from the dead. It's been years since I've done anything with writing on here, and it's sad to say, but I haven't had the motivation to finish my stories. I'm sorry to those who expected more; and I'm trying this story as an experiment, hopefully a long one. This is an AU of the Naruto universe. There are a few changes from the main universe, which have led to a very different Naruto storyline.

I'll be updating when I can, but I'm a busy college worker now. I'd also like to say that this story's rating might change to M later on, but for now, it's T.

I hope you like what goes on in my head, guys.

Disclaimer - I do not own any aspect of Naruto. If I did, Nagato wouldn't have been in that darn machine.

Naruto

The eleventh day of my condition, I wasn't able to walk anymore, even if assisted. Even sitting up was hard, and after a while of that, my labored breathing convinced Hinata that I needed to lie against a rock. "You know," I coughed out, that very action hurting, "Being poisoned sucks." Though I said it with an upbeat attitude, neither Hinata nor Sasuke cracked a smile. For being 12 years old, they should really have bigger senses of humor.

"Don't focus on it," Hinata said as she looked me over, always such a caring person. However, she sounded exhausted, and I felt sorry for her, for all of us. The day before, we had been attacked for the second time since I got poisoned by that freak. I had to fight. I wouldn't have forgiven myself otherwise. Yet I had only been a distraction to the enemy ninjas, not a threat. It hurt my pride, but in the long run, it hurt my health too - I felt so much weaker today, and I was feverish again. The pain was a strong ache everywhere, but it wasn't keeping me from talking. No, I had to let them know I was still alright.

"I could really.. go for some ramen right now, guys," I said, and Hinata cracked a slight smile as she dampened a piece of cloth and held it against my head. Sasuke paused for a second as he checked his broken right arm, and though his grimace didn't disappear, I attributed it to the pain in his arm. He wrapped it again slowly, carefully. I glanced back at Hinata, giving her the brightest smile I could. Her cheeks tinted pink for a moment, but it faded as she focused on bringing up a canteen to my lips. "Here," she softly said, and I tilted my head up as she bent the canteen for me to drink.

Hinata and Sasuke had been taking care of me like this the past couple of days, though Sasuke appeared impatient as always when he did so. Still, I knew this was out of character for him. It touched my heart that they cared so much. Almost made me wish I'd gotten poisoned sooner. As soon as I drank a bit, I looked at Hinata. The bags under her eyes told me how little she had been sleeping. She'd been the main one to keep watch, having the longest shift. Not only was she the least injured of us, but she could scan around with her Byakugan every couple minutes. It was taking its toll on her, on all of us, but she was so strong. I always knew she had it in her to be this strong. Pride welled up in me, and I had so much to thank her and Sasuke for, for being one of my few precious people, for being there, for doing what I couldn't do by myself right now. I wanted to thank them for all of it.

But all I got out was a mild "Thank you". Still, her lips quirked up. She then began to put away the canteen. "No," I said, and she glanced back at me. Her eyes widened.

"G-gomen," she sputtered, thinking I wanted more water. She began to lift it to me again.

"No, Hinata-chan," I breathed out, feeling a slight wave of dizziness come over me. "You need to drink, too."

"But I'm fine," she said.

I shook my head. "No, you're not - you're doing mo-more than me and Sasuke can, you need it." I could feel my chest starting to burn as I talked.

"I'm fine, th-" She stopped when my hand softly grabbed hers, the one holding the canteen. I didn't trust my voice anymore. She lightly blushed - I wasn't sure why - and I slowly raised the canteen up to her mouth. Giving in, she took a sip, and my hand fell back down to my lap. I was satisfied, and flashed a smile. She smiled back this time.

As she put back the canteen, I took the time to review her state after yesterday. She had a few bruises, one on her cheek, another couple on her arms, and I couldn't see any more. I could, however, see the slight tears in her clothes and the cuts accompanying them. Some were just from branches in the forest, but a few were distinctly made by weapons. There was even a burn mark on one shoulder, probably from a lightning jutsu in the battle yesterday. Hinata finally noticed me looking.

"I'm okay, Naruto-kun. Worry about getting rest." She reviewed what else we had. It didn't take long since we didn't have much left, and soon she left to find some food. I stared at Sasuke after that, trying to resist the fever and nausea that was creeping up on me.

We were pretty sure Sasuke's arm was going to heal fine, so long as we got back to Konoha soon. Other than a broken right arm, he had a couple small burns, a few cuts, and more bruises than Hinata (that I knew of, a voice reminded me). He also had a gash above his right eye from the day before, pretty bad, and it kept opening whenever we traveled. He was also missing a few locks from a close encounter with a kunai, but he didn't need to know about those - I'd tease him about it later. If there is a later, a grim thought popped into my head. I focused on other things, like wondering why my fast healing hadn't taken care of this poison yet. At this point, I wasn't very afraid yet. The Kyuubi could beat this, right? Still, feeling pain just from moving sucked. Not to mention we were all low on chakra, from the constant running and fighting.

I didn't want to reflect on how bad off we were, but I had run out of other things to think about. Slowly, I fell into an unrestful sleep.

The twelfth day apparently wasn't a good day for me. I didn't wake up once - not lucidly, anyway - and they said I had had delusions. I had tried to punch Sasuke, saying something about how Kumo ninja wouldn't hurt my friends. I'd also started vomiting in my sleep, and began choking on it until they noticed and turned me over. Scary thought, dying that way.

The thirteenth day was full of pain for me, and my fever was skyrocketing, but I didn't hallucinate that day. Instead, I started to feel grateful, because memories from my lonely childhood kept popping up as we traveled, me on Sasuke's back. Every time a memory faded, my heart twinged as I realized - I had friends now, who were doing all they could to keep my safe. I didn't know what I'd do without them, but a growing part of me was afraid that soon, they'd find out what they would do without me. I didn't want to go yet, damnit...

The fourteenth day was better. I couldn't stand or sit up on my own, but I could talk, albeit painfully. "Hey, teme," I croaked out while on Sasuke's back, "Maybe later today… I'll be beating you in- in a spar again…"

"Shut it," Sasuke started, only able to keep one eye open because of the blood blocking his sight in the other, "You have to rest." Thump. Another tree was jumped off of, and I was jerked a little, but Sasuke tried as hard as he could to keep me in place. It was harder because only his left arm was in good condition. Yesterday, when I had woken up, he'd used his chakra to stick me to his back. It was kind of him, but I told him to conserve his chakra. I'd survive a bumpy ride.

Even though he conceded the point, the fact that he would use his limited chakra on me... I was a bit happy at that display. It had been hard to see Sasuke care, but the past few weeks had made him show a side I didn't know existed. After a while, we stopped. The sun was low - it seemed like I had slept for most of that day. I stifled an agonized groan as I was placed down against a tree trunk, but they saw my pained face. Sasuke frowned with unusual concern, and squatted down to inspect me. He lightly pressed two fingers against my hot, flushed neck to check my pulse. I didn't want to see his face inevitably fall at the irregular beat, so I moved my eyes over to see Hinata.

She was by Sasuke's side, and glanced at me with eyes full of mixed emotions. She was the best off, injury-wise, of all of us, which wasn't saying very much. "Naruto-kun," she started with a tired, but concerned, voice, "Just blink if it's a yes." Damn it, was she going to ask? "Do you feel any better?" she questioned, going to more optimistic route. Maybe she hoped I'd blink naturally, but I forced myself to keep them open. Normally I'd assure her everything would be fine, and I did, the first week, but things were just too dire for that. I was too close to actually dying to lie to her.

When she saw my eyes stay open, Hinata stood up and started walking to the other end of the clearing they had stopped at. "I'm going to find some food," she said, but I heard her sniffle afterward. My heartstrings tore as reality started to set in. I'm not going to be Hokage, I thought to myself, and Sasuke looked away as tears started to seep out of me. I'm not going to make all the children in the village feel loved; I'm not going to keep my precious people safe. I'm not going to see Konohamaru graduate, or see the old man retire. I'm not going to be the best, kindest, strongest, smartest Hokage ever. I won't make Iruka-sensei proud, or tell Teuchi how good his ramen is ever again. I won't be anyone anymore. I'll just be... nothing. My tears subsided, but the pain, both physical and emotional that I felt, did not fade.

Sasuke opened the only pack we had left, and checked the contents again. His sigh indicated that things still weren't good. The sound of Sasuke unfolding the map was the last thing I heard before the steadily growing pulsing pain in my head took over my senses, and I knew only pain until I slept.

Later that night, I woke up to the sound of rustling beside me. My ninja instincts shouted at me to open my eyes, to react somehow, but I only twitched, because soon enough this searing pain overtook my heart as I tried to move. I drew in a quick breath through my mouth. A soft hand touched my hot, sweaty forehead, before quickly drawing away. "It's hotter than before…" I heard Hinata sorrowfully mumble, before she sniffled again.

I phased back into what I've been starting to call my waking dreams - hallucinations, delusions, sometimes memories, whatever you want to call them. The pain faded a bit and I could open my eyes, but what I saw wasn't Hinata anymore; it was Ayame and Teuchi, and I pulled off a slight grin. "Your fourth bowl was miso too, right?" they asked me. I nodded, and they told me about how it was strange, everyone at their stand was ordering only miso ramen, and has been for the past two weeks. The lines on Teuchi's face were interesting to watch as he talked, which was strange, since I never really looked at them. I glanced at Ayame, and she had on a sad face this time, I wasn't sure why. Plus, her pupils were gone now - her eyes were completely white. I started to ask her about them, but Teuchi interrupted me.

"Even the Hokage came by today and ordered miso ramen! He was raving about how he needed a replacement soon. It was kind of funny, actually." That reminded me of something I wanted to tell him, and I forgot all about Ayame and her white eyes and sad face.

"Hey old man, you know who's going to be the next face on that monument?" Teuchi looked at me, puzzled. He shook his head. He had to be playing a game or pretending or something, I've told him this for years! Thinking he was just letting me tell him again, I blurted it out: "I am! Uzumaki Naruto, the best, kindest, strongest, smartest Hokage ever!"

Teuchi frowned and shook his head, exhaling slowly. "Naruto, I don't think that's going to happen," he said, and I looked at him with shocked, somewhat hurt eyes. "You're sick, Naruto," he said, pointing down at my left arm. It had a small cut, but the rest seemed to hang lifelessly, and I started to feel pain, first radiating from it, then my head, and then everything hurt.

I turned my head to Ayame, but her hair was melting into black locks, and my vision got hazy, but I could have sworn the surroundings turned into a forest. Ayame got closer, but I don't think it was Ayame anymore, but someone else. I couldn't put my finger on who, even though I felt I should have; my vision was fading slowly.

Lips touched my cheek, cool against my face, which was really hot for some reason. The last thing I heard was someone telling me something. They said it in an important voice, and I caught only parts of it. "... die… just know… love…"

I didn't understand the words. However, when I faded to unconsciousness, I had a good rest for the first time since this whole adventure started. I didn't have dreams, nightmares, delusions, anything. I didn't fear, I didn't feel, I didn't think. It was like I had died.

But I hadn't.

When I awoke, I couldn't open my eyes. It wasn't the dread I felt, but the pain of being alive at that moment. The poison running through my veins had slowly overtaken my very being, and every waking moment was torture. But I had to open them. My senses were working this time; I felt the rough tree trunk behind me, supporting me since I couldn't support myself.

Clang! I heard steel against steel. "Argh," Sasuke grunted somewhere ahead of me, and I heard the thump of a body. It sounded heavier than Sasuke, but the worry inside me flared. Where was -

"Sasuke, we need to get Naruto out of here!" she hoarsely shouted. Hinata was fine, too. Thank goodness. I myself couldn't open my eyes, still, but I tried - the pain shot through my head and I nearly blacked out again. It had been fifteen days, much longer than the three that man had promised I would last. Heh, I thought before blinking out of consciousness, guess he didn't know how stubborn I am… But my stubbornness wasn't strong enough this time to help my friends. I feared for their lives - we barely survived last time, and now we were even weaker. These ninja hunting us were always able to find us...

As the darkness crept up to block out my thoughts, another dream - or delusion - started creeping up on me. This time, though, it was a memory. Memories, actually. They say one sees their life flash before their eyes before they die.

I was not an exception.

AN: After this, we'll be going back in time a bit. By a bit, I mean several years. I'll be sharing some background that'll show how this has changed, how it's different, etc. And I'll be switching to third-person from now on.

Please review if I'm wrong on something in the story! I want to correct it. If it's on purpose, I'll let you know. Also, I'm unused to the publishing thing, so if I've missed italics around thoughts, or italics around onomatopoeia, things like that, please do tell!

I have a question about my writing style: Did I write too fast? Did I gloss over things? Or did I write too slow, not have enough action? Was I too descriptive, not descriptive enough? Was I too vague? Some of my vagueness is on purpose, but other times, it's just me messing up. Let me know about what I can do to improve!

Thanks,

Adamrpg