Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Naruto world.
AN: This one touches close to home. It's rushed because it's just my feelings poured onto paper.
A man lay on the bed, not moving. The lights were off thus the room was dark. Deep, labored breathing was the only sound throughout the room. The depth of the in and exhalation was emphasized by the sucking of oxygen through the tube from the tank. His chest, heaved up and sank down in quick succession, obviously struggling for each breath. His hand…. had an involuntary spasm from time to time.
The door opened, light trickled in and hit the man's face. He gave no sign that he was aware of it. Shadows could be seen from the light, figures, people.
Five tall ones, one small.
One of the figures, moved towards the iv drips, and clamped the tube. She took the empty bag off the stand and put a new one, then released the clamp for the liquid to flow freely once more.
She looked down, and stared at the man. She saw the sharp gasps for air he was making, and bowed her head. She knew what this was, she saw it all the time.
She swallowed, and her lips tightened in a mix of a smile and a grimace. She leaned forward, and put her hand on his head and stroked his dull blond hair softly.
She looked to the other figures, and saw their gaze, fixed on the man. Their eyes showed the same feelings that were swirling around in her heart. All of them, except the smallest, for he knew not what was happening.
She looked back to the man, whose head she had not stopped stroking. She swallowed again.
She leaned forward a bit more, putting her face close to the man's.
"Naruto?" she coaxed gently.
The man did not reply.
She leant closer to his ear.
"Naruto?" she whispered again……gently……..lovingly.
His head turned towards her, but his eyes remained closed.
"Naruto, wake up…" she coaxed.
The man groaned a little bit and put his head back into the pillow. He then twisted it a bit, and faced his right.
His eyelashes fluttered a bit, but his eyes didn't open at first.
He tried again, and again, and each time they opened a little more, until finally he could look at the woman with drooped eyes.
"Everyone's here," she whispered nodded her head slowly in the direction of the other figures.
Naruto, blinked slowly, before trying to turn his head to the left.
It moved about an inch. He tried looking from the corner of his eyes, but he still couldn't see them.
The woman, who was stroking his hair, gently place one hand behind his head and the other on his left cheek.
She gently, turned his head for him, so he could face the others.
He slowly blinked, and opened his eyes as much as he could, which was half lidded.
His chest, still rose and fell sharply, as he looked at the visitors.
"He-," he croaked.
One of the remaining four tall figures that he was facing, approached the table on the side of the bed. He poured a glass of water and put it to Naruto's mouth while gently holding his head up for him to drink.
Naruto sipped a bit, before he moaned a bit, indicating he was done.
The man placed the glass back on the table before gently letting Naruto's head rest against the pillow once again.
He stepped back until he was with the other three adults on the left side and the child, while the woman stayed on the right.
Naruto licked his lips a bit, still being dry even after the water.
"How…… are you guys?" he wheezed.
The man, who gave him the water, smiled.
"We're good."
Naruto moved his eyes to look at the other people, and saw their faces looking sad, and distraught.
He looked at the man once again. "You don't look good."
Sure enough, there was a smile on the man's face, but Naruto could see how forced it was. After all, he was forcing those smiles for all of his childhood.
The man sighed, and let his head drop as well as the happy façade.
"How do you expect us to be?"
This time, it wasn't the man. It was one of the other adults. A woman in her early twenties, a few years younger than the man. And next to her, was another woman who looked exactly like her, but with different colored hair.
Naruto looked at the woman who spoke. The tears were running down her face, and she looked at him angrily. She was mad at him.
He swallowed and blinked slowly. He then smiled as much as he could and looked at her.
"Always blunt and to the point aren't you?"
The woman looked away angrily while wiping her tears away.
Naruto turned his attention from her, to the last adult in the room.
She was standing next to the man, holding his hand.
He smiled at her, and she smiled back through the tears.
"Jiji?"
All eyes turned to the shortest person in the room. A boy, no older than nine.
"Why is everyone crying jiji?" (Jiji Grandpa/old man)
Naruto looked at the boy with a smile. Said boy, was holding the man's left hand as his right hand was holding the woman's hand that was next to him.
"They're sad…wheeze…."
The boy's face turned into a pout and he looked away. "I know that," he said with closed eyes.
He then looked back to Naruto, where blue met blue. "I just don't know why…."
Naruto's smile turned to a sad one as he looked understandingly to the young child.
He gazed at the face, reminding him of his youth that was long gone.
"They're sad because……"
He swallowed, and wheezed again.
"My time is coming near…………..gasp………"
The boy became confused, and everyone knew he didn't understand.
"Time for what?" he asked obliviously.
He felt his hand squeeze a bit and looked up to the man holding his hand. His blue eyes met the man's green ones as the two blondes stared at each other.
The man gave him a sad look.
"Your Sofu is dying……..Minato……." (Sofu Grandfather)
Minato's eyes shot wide open and stared at the man on the bed. Naruto wore a smile as he looked at him.
"Jiji?" he asked.
But everyone could tell there was more question involved in that one word.
He stared at his grandfather, the strongest man he had ever know. No way Naruto could die.
"You can't die……..You're the strongest nin ever to live!" he screamed.
At that, the woman who was alone on the right side of the bed let out a sob.
Minato looked around and saw the adults on his side crying even more as well.
His head spun back to Naruto. Eyes wide and pleading, mouth contorted in panic.
"You're not dying………..right Jiji?... They're wrong right??" he more pleaded than asked.
The young boy's voice was full with desperation and disbelief.
Naruto looked at him and closed his eyes slowly.
"I am………"
Minato recoiled in shock. He looked to the man who was holding his hand, as well as the woman who was holding his other hand.
"Tousan?? Kaasan?!" the boy screamed to his mother and father.
His mother put a hand over her eyes and his father looked down.
He looked to the two women on his left, the twins.
"Oba-chan?" (Auntie)
The two looked away while clenching their fists.
Minato was at a loss. He looked straight across the bed, at the woman who was standing there. She had never let him down in his life, surely she wouldn't disappoint.
"Baa-chan?" (Granny)
He was desperate.
But when he saw the woman sniffle, then put her face in her hands before her body started shaking, he lost it.
"NO!! You're the best medic nin in the WORLD! YOU CAN'T LET HIM DIE!!"
"That's enough Minato!"
Minato startled back from the thundering voice of his father.
He looked behind him and looked at his father's fierce eyes.
"Don't you see how much this is hurting your grandmother?" he scolded him.
The younger blond stared at his shaking grandmother, and knew that he must have hurt her with that comment.
They all looked at the pink haired woman, before she shook her head and walked towards the door and out of the room.
"Kaasan!" yelled the twins as they rushed after their mother. First the blond one, then the pink haired one.
Minato looked back to his father. His eyes had tears in them. He was sorry for what he just did to his grandmother, but he was in pain about his grandfather.
His father just gave him a look, and placed his hand on Minato's head.
"Don't worry about it."
Minato spun his head back to the source. His grandfather.
"Sakura-chan would….wheeze…. have acted….like that anyway……"
Minato stared at him, and realized how dull his eyes looked.
He used his hand to brush off his father's and walked towards the bed.
He raised both arms and grabbed his grandfather's forearm.
"Don't go Jiji……"
He sounded like a boy whose puppy just died.
His tears started to run down his face and his face was twisting up.
"Please don't go……..?"
Naruto kept smiling.
"I have to……"
Minato's lower lip trembled at a furious pace.
His eyes closed as tears raced from them, and he shook his head wildly.
"NO!"
Sob
"No! No! Nooooo!!" he cried.
He buried his face in Naruto's chest and bawled.
He squeezed his Naruto's forearms and cried while thinking of the times his grandfather played hide and seek with him, carried him for ramen, taught him the bushin jutsu.
"You can't go Jiji!! Sob…..You can't go!"
His body shook violently from the sobs as he cried his lungs out.
He continued this, until he felt a hand on his head.
He looked up, and saw that it was Naruto's hand.
Naruto smiled at him and barely moved his thumb to show he was caressing Minato's hair.
"We all go sometime……………….at least we had a lot of fun before it was time……..right?"
Minato sniffled and his tears started again.
Naruto's son and his wife hugged each other and cried after seeing Naruto raise his hand and put it on Minato's head. They knew it was a great feat for him to do but he would not have let his grandson think he wasn't there.
The door opened slightly, and everyone was brought out of their moods for a second.
Sakura stood in the doorway, and her daughters behind her. She wiped her eyes a bit before she walked to Naruto's side once again.
Minato, still sniffling, looked into her eyes.
"Sorry Baa-chan….."
Sakura smiled and sniffled.
"It wasn't because of you. Don't worry my dear."
Minato sniffled before he heard a chuckle/choking sound from Naruto.
"Told ya," he whispered while giving everyone his infamous fox grin.
Naruto used all his might, but managed to turn his head enough by himself to see Sakura.
"I'm tired…….." he whispered.
Sakura nodded, and swallowed before sniffling.
"There's some people…….sniff………that want to be here before you go to sleep……sniff."
Naruto once again turned his head to look at the door.
His daughters entered the room and he could see, although barely, familiar faces as they poured in the room.
Naruto smiled.
"All of you…..wheeze….here for the show?"
There were six newcomers.
Neji and his wife Tenten. Hinata. Ino. Shikamaru.
They were the last of the Konoha twelve…….minus one. Everyone else had passed in battle or otherwise.
The sixth, was his former teammate Sai.
Naruto stared at him.
"What? …wheeze……..No reference ……..to the size of my dick?"
"Tousan!" yelled his daughter in-law, pointing to Minato to show that it was improper language in front of a child.
But Naruto didn't look in her direction. Instead, he looked at the tear streaked face of Sai, someone who barely knew what emotion was, was crying over him.
Naruto felt his eyes water.
"I'm glad…………you guys are here………….wheeze…….. for me………at the end……."
"Of course we'd be here."
Everyone looked to the doorway, and there, was the missing survivor of the Konoha twelve.
Naruto stared, and started to blink furiously, trying to keep the tears in.
"Teme….."
The man walked up to the side of the bed and Minato got up and walked back to his father sniffling.
The man held Naruto's hand tightly while Sakura held the other.
Naruto looked around the room…..
"Thank you……" he whispered to everyone while swallowing.
The man holding his hand looked him in the eye, a tear dropping out and sliding down his cheek while he struggled to keep a straight face.
"Thank you……." He sniffed. Another tear out of the other eye.
Naruto squeezed Sasuke's hand as much as he could and nodded while looking in his eye.
He swallowed, and a tear slid down his cheek. He looked to his right, his breathing quickened.
He looked to his wife….and his eyes were as wide as possible, trying to keep them open.
"…I love you……" he croaked…. His eyes… red..and dripping tears.
She cried, and squeezed his hand before dipping quickly and kissing his lips one last time.
"I love you," she replied.
They kept their gaze while everyone watched them as Naruto's breathing quickened again.
Inhale exhale inhale exhale inhale exhale inha-………..inh………in………………………………………….
AN: Dedicated to my Grandfather who died today. May he rest in peace. Also. Oba-chan is auntie. ObAAchan is granny. In case people mistake it.