Hello! Lauren speaking, just to let you know this is the same story I previously started years ago but never actually finished…haha…So I've deleted the old story and am currently in the process of improving the chapters I've completed and coming up for ideas for the new ones. I am determined to finish it this time and if you would review my story and leave comments and constructive criticism I'm sure they'd be a lot of help. I can't improve if someone doesn't tell me what to improve upon, so please, I'm open to suggestions. And if you encouraged me I'd probably get chapters out sooner ;) Haha, but really, I've been a stranger to fanfiction for so long and I'm just trying to get my writing style back so I hope you enjoy reading this! And by the way, this is set in the Shippuden time period a.k.a after the time skip.

Chapter 1: The Beginning

Blood dripped down his chest, soaking his orange jacket in the sticky warm substance. He was surprised he was still conscious and was even able to make it to her house with all of the injuries he's sustained. Looking up from the porch where he had collapsed he saw a plain white door, belonging to a very important someone's house. He gathered up his strength and raised his hand only to have it drop down on the floor again. He was losing strength and suddenly realized that he could really die this time. Gasping for breath, he chuckled at the irony and closed his eyes finally giving in to unconsciousness. Almost as though she was hearing his silent pleas for help the person inside the house, who was currently looking at an old photo album, got up and walked to the door with a strange feeling compressing her chest. Each step she took seemed like a step closer to hell, the feeling of dread and panic rising and taking over. Her breath started to come in rasps as she put her hand on the door knob and opened the door. She gasped and automatically took a step forward; what she saw made her life go into a deadly spiral; there Naruto laid, blood-drenched and wounded in front of her, slowly clinging on to the precious moments of life that were so valuable to him. Sakura bent down close to Naruto's face to check to see if he was still breathing. Once she heard the small sound of air being sucked in and out of his nose she let out a sigh of relief, but instead of easing her worry she only started to panic more.

"Naruto! Naruto what happened, are you alright? What's going on?"

The only response she got back was the silent rise and fall of his chest, drenched in blood. Was he unconscious? Using her strength she lifted him off of the ground and brought him to the hospital, sprinting full out in fear of her teammate's imminent death. Bursting into the main doors she slid to a stop at the counter holding her friend on her shoulders, gasping for breath and trying to tell the receptionist what happened, but the lady at the counter, after seeing the blood drip on the floor from the badly wounded boy, ran off in the opposite direction. What happened next was just a blur of colors for Sakura as Tsunade, the honorable fifth hokage, came running down the halls, took Naruto as quickly as possible from Sakura and rushed down to the emergency hall.

Sakura fell to the ground and clutched at her heart. Nurses were running about shouting for doctors or lashing out instructions while Sakura just sat there her breath ragged and uncontrolled. The image of Naruto covered in blood and barely alive kept flashing across her closed eye-lids. Her hands balled into fists and she staggered upward, putting one foot in front of the other.

What happened to him?

She stumbled down the hallway, occasionally running into a wall or a random nurse. The shouts and screams just passed right through; shock had consumed her and she could hear nothing. Only one thought was racing through her mind right now.

What happened?

More doctors ran past the Sakura as she made her way down the hall, patients randomly popped their heads out of their wards to check what all the commotion was about. Suddenly she started running, she didn't know where she was going but running was the only thing she could do. As she was running down the white hallway she ran into a nurse, almost knocking her down and falling to the ground herself.

"Watch where you're going!" The nurse harshly shouted and scuttled back toward the entrance to once again return to her duties. Sakura just sat there, mind totally blank. Nothing was connecting; her body felt heavy…what should she do? Suddenly a yell could be heard, echoing off the plain clean walls of the hospital.

"I don't give a damn if he has the Kyuubi in him, if you won't treat him then leave this room and never come back!"

That was Tsunade!

A swarm of doctors ran out from the hall to her right and fled out the hospital doors. Sakura steadied herself and ran quickly down the hall. She ran past the door and only just caught herself on the frame, banging her knees on the ground in the process. Not caring enough to get out of her uncomfortable position, she poked her head in the room. Doctors were panicking, grabbing random instruments only to set them down again; nurses were scribbling things down onto their clipboards and Tsunade was furious, her hands lit up with green chakra.

Everywhere and everything was in complete and utter chaos. Doctors moved out of the way, letting Sakura get a glimpse of the still figure on the bed. She gasped and turned all the way around, the panic coming back full force. Naruto was lying on the blood-stained sheets with a gaping hole in his side. Sakura could even see two of his ribs; she cringed at the thought of it. Who could have caused so much damage to him? Then it occurred to her. Sasuke. She heard more shouts from the room. She twisted her head back so fast she cracked it. Tsunade was yelling at the doctors, everything was so loud but she could still make out the words.

"His pulse is gone, someone get the defibrillator, hurry!"

Sakura's heart went still. His…his pulse…gone? Everything started moving in slow motion. Tsunade reached for the defibrillator and banged it down on his chest.

"Clear!"

She did it a second time, and a third. When all hope seemed lost Naruto re-awakened on the fourth try, coming back from the dead in violent coughs. Tsunade looked like she was about to break down but continued working, injecting a fluid by needle so he would sleep again. That was close…too close! Sakura turned back around and stared at the blank walls in front of her. What am I doing? I'm a medic-nin I can help!

She suddenly stood and came crashing into the room jumping beside Tsunade and gathering her chakra up. Tsunade wasn't surprised, she just looked at Sakura and said, "Took 'ya long enough." Sakura's hands lit with green chakra and she started moving them over Naruto's head, trying to calm the fever that he had acquired.

"What's the status report My Lady?" Sakura asked.

"Well…so far we've diagnosed that he has a 103 degree fever, five broken ribs, 2 fractures, one in his wrist, and one on his femur, a concussion, Pneumonia, from being out in the cold rain for so long, and well…yeah the gaping hole in his side." Tsunade replied her voice cracking and her eyes full of concern for the blonde laying in front of her. Sakura almost fainted; it would be a miracle if he was to recover from all of this. She looked around; one doctor was working on his fractures, another on his ribs, another one injecting medicine, Tsunade trying to stop the bleeding in his side, and she was containing his raging fever.

Hours went by, and yet everyone in the room was working just as hard as they had been hours ago. She looked at the heart monitor, his heart was beating at a fast pace, certainly not healthy. She placed a thermometer in his mouth with her hand while the other one stayed on his head, healing him. His temperature was 98.3. She sighed, and reported it to the Hokage. Tsunade smiled, and looked down at her work. His side was covered in flesh again, thanks to the foxes amazing healing powers, and his bleeding had stopped a long time ago. She took her hands off his side and looked at the other doctors expecting status reports.

"I've cured his fractures Lord Hokage"

"His pneumonia is under control Lord Hokage; I've done the best I could"

"3 out of the 5 ribs have been healed Lord Hokage"

Tsunade stood tall, her hands on her hips, and a defiant look in her eyes.

"Naruto Uzumaki is in stable condition…we've done good guys, take a break"

The doctors left the room, leaving Sakura and Tsunade behind, staring down at Naruto with a worried expression on their faces. They both looked down at Naruto's pained face and sighed.

Naruto…what happened?