Hello. I'm just warning you that this story is AU.

That's all. Oh, and I wasn't supposed to upload this...but, oh well. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto characters, the hospital, Naruto's room/clothes/ramen/etc. But I do own the plot. :D

It was at a time like this that Naruto would suddenly bolt from his bed, surprising everyone, and start laughing at their shocked faces. Sakura was used to it –extremely used to it- as she goes up to Naruto's room each and every day to check on him and to make sure he's not late for their daily meetings. She was livid at first, even to the point of punching the daylights out of him, but then got comfortable and even joined in the whole joke.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Sakura thought as she stared at the sleeping Naruto paralyzed to the bed. Her eyes traced the pale bars at the side of the bed and can't help feeling a light shiver run down her spine. She tried to cross her arms over her chest to suppress the trembling sensation from the extreme low temperature of the room.

"…Naruto…" Sakura barely made a sound. Her eyes squinted while looking at Naruto's bruised face. Sakura wanted to exit the room but her feet were frozen on the ground. The monitors, the continuous beeping sound, the low temperature…they're all driving her to the edge.

The thought of Naruto near-death is driving her to the edge.

She knew it was just morning even if the room they were in doesn't have windows. It was like they were in a cell. They feel like they're in a cell. And the thought of getting out alive triggered excitement in her.

But that wouldn't be for a while.

"Naruto…wake up now…" Sakura whispered, almost as gently as she could, in his ear. She would do this every morning, in a louder, angrier, voice. But her mind is telling her that if she does the normal routine of waking Naruto up, things would get a lot worse than it is.

No sign of life came out from Naruto. Sakura nearly felt water forming in her eyes as her mouth twitched into a slight frown.

Sakura slowly brought her hand up to prevent her hair from falling to her face. As she brought her hand down, she was tempted to touch Naruto but as soon as the tip of her finger made contact with Naruto's icy skin, her hand retreated as fast as it could.

Naruto slightly jerked, and as he did, his eyes slowly opened for Sakura to see his hazy blue eyes which seemed to be as lifeless as his body seemed.

"….Naruto?" Sakura stepped closer and looked down to him. Her hand finally caressed Naruto's rough hair slowly before cupping his cheek. Naruto's mouth was open and a tube connected inside, making him unable to swallow his saliva.

And now, he looked like he's choking. Sakura was tempted to slap him, hard and full, on his face to wake him up from this façade when a jerk from his arm made her halt. Sakura's eyes trailed to Naruto's midsection and gasped when she saw him gripping his bandaged waist in pain.

She could hear him panting and the rise and fall of his chest were rapidly increasing. Panic shot in her eyes as Naruto fell unconscious again.

Sakura ran outside and called for a doctor.

Kiba, who was outside the room and was hanging around in the waiting area, abruptly came to Sakura's side and bit his lip. They both watched silently as the doctor did his job.

"Sakura…what happened?" Kiba asked as he felt the tension in the air arose. That damn Naruto was still unconscious and was still looking stupid with that tube in his mouth. Kiba glanced to the monitor to watch Naruto's heartbeat.

It was not consistent. Not at all.

"I…I don't know…" Sakura shook her head and looked like she was about to faint soon from all the commotion. Kiba glanced back at her and tried fanning her with his hand. "I know it's gonna be okay. This is Naruto we're talking about…any minute now and he'll just burst out laughing." Kiba assured Sakura but still felt nervous about Naruto himself.

Beep.

"I'm sorry Naruto…" Sakura muttered before her head bowed down, tears threatening to fall from her face. Kiba alarmingly whipped his head towards Sakura and tried to calm her, his nervousness increasing. "Sakuraaaaaa…..don't cry, come on. Don't be such a baby about this."

Sakura ignored him. He was expecting a harsh glare but it didn't come, instead, all he got were louder sobs and coughs from the girl. He fisted his hands and shouted the aggravation he was feeling. "Damnit, Naruto, wake the hell up! This isn't funny anymore!"

Beep.

"Naruto, Naruto, Naruto…" Sakura kept saying his name like a mantra while sobbing. She covered her face with her hands and tried to stop the tears from falling. Kiba felt like crying himself. He felt like crying in anger and irritation.

Beep.

"Naruto…what the hell, man…" Kiba muttered underneath his breath, since the doctor said to keep it down and any shouting wouldn't do Naruto anything good. Sakura seemed lost in her world right now. Lost in order to find Naruto. Lost in order to get him back.

Then it hit her.

Beep.

She couldn't believe these words were leaving her mouth. She never thought it would happen. Sakura wasn't prepared for it. It all seemed like a nightmare to her.

Beep.

"Naruto…don't leave me. Don't leave me…like Sasuke-kun did." Sakura made her sentence loud and clear. Kiba, once again, alarmingly whipped his head towards Sakura in surprise. Sakura finally calmed down, dried tears staining her face, her green eyes still looked a bit watery, though.

"Naruto! Listen to Sakura! Stop fooling around already!" Kiba shouted in despair, making the doctor turn and silence him for the second time.

Beep.

Sakura and Kiba felt their hearts stop when Naruto's fingers twitched. Kiba was preparing to shout a victory scream when…

"NARUTO!"

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

Kiba stared in horror at Naruto's unmoving body. He seriously examined Naruto's chest and checked for signs of life…but it all reached a final conclusion. He gave a loud wail.

"…Na…Naruto…" Sakura stared at Naruto on his bed as Kiba wailed and trashed in agony inside the room while the doctor tried to hold him down and calm him. Sakura felt her insides melting, and felt dizzy from all the happenings.

"It would be better if we all go outside." The doctor calmly stated, showing Kiba and Sakura the way out as they gave Naruto one last look. Kiba wasn't calm, he never was calm, so when he snapped, he made sure to get revenge on the doctor for not doing his job well.

"You lousy-, how could you? How could you be calm like that when your patient just died? When our friend just died? HUH!" Kiba unceremoniously pushed the doctor to the wall and held him by his coat's collar. He didn't care whether the people outside were staring at them, he just didn't care. Right now, he cared about Naruto, and that's it. He's giving up his pride for his friend who just departed away.

"…" Sakura was still staring blankly at the room, unable to process the whole thing. She felt rage boil inside her. The doctor looked at her with the look of helplessness and silently asked her for help. Sakura walked to them and the doctor smiled in relief, but Sakura only punched him, letting her anger out.

"You messed with the wrong people." Kiba looked at Sakura's still crying face and sighed when she readied herself for another punch.

"Sakura…stop it, there's nothing we could do…now…" Kiba faltered off, unable to finish his sentence as he cried and started to wail again.

The poor doctor had it rough.

The next day wasn't good. Nobody still knew about what happened in the hospital except for Kiba and Sakura. They couldn't believe it and were still shocked about what happened that they couldn't speak a word to anyone.

It became a normal routine for me to go and wake up Naruto…but what am I supposed to do now? Sakura thought, feeling all down and gloomy as she entered Naruto's room. Her droopy eyes took in the sight of Naruto's messy room. Leftover ramen, dirty clothes on the floor, spilt milk…

She could even smell Naruto.

"It's…just too…difficult for me." Sakura said as she walked to the bed. Her eyes widened a fraction when she saw a body sleeping peacefully like what she sees everyday.

"My eyes still could see Naruto…" She gave a half-hearted laugh as she sat on the bed beside the sleeping figure and leaned down to whisper again in his ear, perhaps, for the last time before she could finally let go.

"Naruto…wake up now." Unusual for her, she used a gentle tone and wore a smile on her face. The sleeping figure stretched, scratched his cheek, and even his buttocks, before grinning at her.

"Goodmorning SA-KU-RA-CHAAAN!" Naruto bounced from the bed and hugged her tight, his fist gripping his other fist on her back. After receiving no reaction from Sakura, he leaned away and looked at her suspiciously.

"Sakura-chan? What's wrong?" Naruto scrunched his face in a completely confused look, and gasped when he saw a tear escape Sakura's eyes.

"Weird…I can still feel Naruto…his voice…everything seems so real." Sakura said between cries. Naruto grinned at her widely before shaking her as hard as he could. "Sakura-chan, what're you talking about? It IS me! Look, healthy as ever!"

"...what?" Sakura finally looked at him carefully and pinched his cheek. Then she pinched HER cheek. Then she let out a loud groan and punched Naruto in frustration. "You idiot! Don't tell me you faked your hospitalization yesterday!"

"Eh…hehe…not really?" Naruto said as he rubbed his bruising cheek. He cowered when he saw Sakura advancing at him with that glare in her eyes. He might end up in the hospital for good. "No, seriously, Sakura-chan, I wasn't faking it!"

He covered himself with his arms and trembled slightly when Sakura sighed.

"Then why? I mean…you were never a good actor…you even made Kiba cry…" Sakura asked, feeling slightly happy about Naruto, yet feeling betrayed at the same time. Naruto looked uneasy.

"Erm…yeah. I was supposed to open my eyes when Kiba started crying, but the electricity I felt was really…really painful and shocking. Then about the…err, heartbeat thingy…well, I don't know about that." Naruto rubbed his head as he said his reason to Sakura whose eyes were widening after words left Naruto's mouth.

"So it was the doctor's fault…eh?" Naruto paled when Sakura cracked her knuckles with the looks of a killer. As soon as he paled, he blushed and looked to the side with a small smile on his face.

"So, Sakura-chan, I believe I could ask you out for a date now…right?"

Oh joy. I don't know if I should feel embarrassed about this or not…

The end.

Okay, that was sad...and happy at the same time. -_-

Please read and review.

Oh wait, that's wrong.

Gah. Nevermind. :))