The door slammed open, knocking a few pictures to the ground in the process; not that anybody in that particular apartment cared, of course. No, the owner of that tiny two room flat was hardly in any shape to be complaining about the mistreatment of a few photos.

"Naruto!"

The frail figure lying on the floor stirred a little and turned towards the voice, his action illuminated by the pale light of dawn streaming in through the open window. It was almost painful to watch. The once gorgeously sun-kissed skin was now pale and sallow. Smooth legs that used to be thick and muscular now looked bony and had sharp edges jutting out of it at what were the knees and ankles. Sasuke couldn't see the rest of his body because he was wearing a shorts and a sweater but he could guess that if he could see his body, it would be as sharp and angular as his legs.

Sasuke's knees gave out beneath him as he stared at the skeleton-like figure laying in front of him. He crawled over to Naruto slowly, his arms and legs trembling all the while. He cradled the jinchuriki's head in his arms and shifted his tiny body into his lap.

"I'm so sorry," Sasuke sobbed, hunching over Naruto's body,"I didn't realize it sooner."

"Hey, Teme," the Naruto's mouth twitched weakly as if he were trying to smile but couldn't," guess I went too far this time huh?"

Tears dropped onto the young man's face and wide blue eyes opened and stared into jet-black ones. Sasuke's eyes widened slightly. The glassy, dead look in those eyes that were once so full of life was disconcerting to say the least.

"You know, I think it started when she said I looked too fat…"

Sasuke nearly shrieked in anger and disbelief.

"Of course it did, usuratonkachi!"

"I couldn't stop, you know."

"Shh, save your energy, kay? I'll bring you to Tsunade and she can help you get better."

"What's the point, Sasuke? I got dumped. I'm in this state. What do I have left to live for?" Naruto sighed softly, blue eyes closing in acceptance of his fate.

"You've got me, Naruto. I'll be with you every step of the way, I promise." Sasuke leaned forward and touched foreheads with him.

Sasuke quickly summoned a snake summons and instructed it to fetch Tsunade immediately, trying to keep his voice from shaking the entire time. It apparently wasn't slightly to show weakness to your summons.

Seeing Naruto hooked up to all those machines in the ambulance may have been the most traumatic experience in Sasuke's entire life. And that was coming from an assassin and someone who apprenticed under Orochimaru.

The twenty minute journey to the hospital gave Sasuke much too much time to look at Naruto's relaxed features and reflect on his mistake. He focused on Naruto's cheekbones, trying and failing to envision the smiling face he had seen just days before. That light that Naruto always seemed to radiate seemed to have totally left him, leaving this shell of a body behind. No, Sasuke silently berated himself, Naruto would live, it wouldn't do for him to have survived the bullying in his childhood and worked to become a highly-skilled ninja only to give up his entire life because of a disease. Yes, it's just a disease, Sasuke tried to convince himself. He'll pull through and the entire village is going to celebrate and Naruto can continue to strive towards being Hokage.

Sasuke wanted to slap himself hard right across the face for not seeing the signs sooner. In hindsight, it should have been obvious to someone who spent so much time with Naruto. He had looked so downcast two weeks ago. Even when he was asked about his girlfriend, he didn't seem to cheer up much. Then three days later, he suddenly became his usual cheerful self and Sasuke had felt so relieved. But that's the thing about mental illnesses. The people who don't have it won't understand.

Sasuke reflected on that last day before Naruto disappeared inside his house for three days. He had looked so happy. How much of that had been real? The question kept running through Sasuke's head even as the ambulance pulled into the accident and emergency bay.

The avenger watched Naruto through a thick glass window. Some liquid dripped down into the bag of fluid every once in a while. Out of Tsunade's long tirade that she had unleashed while pacing up and down the corridor, only one word got through to him. Anorexia.

"…. That little brat had better wake up so I can beat the crap out of him for letting this happen!..."

Anorexia. Not exactly a word ninjas would hear often.

"… the situation wouldn't be as bad if he'd had just decided to go on extreme diets instead of starving for three days straight!... What was he thinking…."

Inside the intimidating looking room, Naruto breathed softly, chest shuddering when he took too big breaths. His finger twitched once in agreement with Tsunade's lecture. Sasuke wanted nothing more than to run in and gather up that tiny body in his arms and never let go.

"… no obvious signs at all! Nothing! That stupid ninja who wears his feelings on his sleeve finally decided to keep something to himself and it just had to be this!"

Sasuke's forehead thudded against the window and he closed his eyes.

"Naruto, please live."

Ok, small author's note. Anorexia may start from one root cause like someone repeatedly telling you to lose weight or eat less or you look fatter today or something along those lines but slowly, it starts to not become about that root cause anymore and it starts to become more like you look at yourself in the mirror and just immediately zero in on the bulkier parts of your body and instantly feel hate and distaste for those parts. So… yeah… there's an analogy for it: you know when you stare at a word for so long it slowly doesn't even look like a word anymore? I think that's what happens to people with eating disorders and their bodies.