Disclaimer
I don't own Naruto or any characters
"Where...Where am I"
"Naruto? Did you just say something, Naruto?"
"Huh…Sakura-chan?" After slowly opening his eyes, Naruto finally found out just where he was. "How did I get in the hospital?"
"Kakashi-sensei brought you here. He went looking for you when he heard that you were the only one that was chasing Sasuke. He found you lying on the ground in the Valley of the End and brought you back to Konoha as fast as he could."
Oh...that's right. I went after Sasuke when he left Kohona to go to Orochimaru. I promised Sakura-chan that I would bring him back. But…that bastard...he…he was just too strong. I couldn't do anything to convince him to come back. Even using the chakra of the Kyuubi wasn't enough…
"I am so glad you are okay, Naruto. I was so afraid…afraid that you weren't going to make it." Naruto looked at her and saw that she was crying, "It took Kakashi-sensei 3 days to find you and I've been worried the whole time."
I was out for 3 days? I can't believe I needed to use some much energy of the Kyuubi to defend myself against Sasuke when he entered his curse seal level 2. The last thing I remember is my rasengan and his chidori colliding. But, apparently, it wasn't enough. I hoped that the scratch on his forehead protector would make him see that there are more ways to gain power then to go with Orochimaru. I…I have failed.
"I…I'm sorry, Sakura-chan..."
Sakura's eyes widened as she hears those words. "Why are you apologising" she said with a forced smile on her face.
"I am so sorry" Naruto winced
Sakura walked over to him and looked him straight in the eyes. "It wasn't your fault, you really don't need to apologise. Sasuke-kun is the one to blame, not you. So please stop apologising."
Naruto looked up after hearing those words and saw that her eyes were watery too. "Sakura-chan…I will definitely keep my promise to you, my promise to bring him back. Because…because I told you it was the promise of a lifetime."
"It is alright, Naruto." She opened the curtains of his window. "The weather is really nice today, so I opened the curtains for you. It's not good lay in the dark for so long."
"I have always told you: I won't go back on my word. That's my way of the ninja!"
Sakura was shocked by his words and looked at him. She saw that his entire body was covered in bandages. She didn't see a sad boy though; he was smiling with the grin he always showed everyone. It was his typical grin.
Sakura couldn't help but to feel a little relieved and let out a small smile. Thank you, Naruto.
"Alright Naruto, but I will make a promise to you now too. Next time, we'll do it together. Next time I won't just stand here doing nothing. I will be ready to help you save him, Naruto. I promise." She had a gentle smile on her face.
Naruto looked up surprised, but that surprise quickly turned into happiness. "Deal" he said grinning.
"Well. I have to go now. I have some thing to take care of. So you just rest and recover. Don't try to sneak out too fast, it might hurt you. I'll come back tomorrow, okay."
"Yeah, I'll stay, don't really have a choice', he said smiling, 'My body can't move at the moment, it hurts like hell. See you tomorrow then, Sakura-chan."
She closed the door behind her and was walking to the exit, when she stumbled upon Shizune, the apprentice of the new hokage, Tsunade. "Hello, my name is Haruno Sakura and I am a friend of Naruto. I would like to know how he is. He seems to be doing fine, but I can't make for sure. He tends to hide his pain."
The black haired woman frowned and told Sakura to go with her. Once they were in a room at the hokage tower, the black haired women started to speak: "That boy is really something else. He is not supposed to be alive anymore"
Sakura snapped. "What did you say? Why, were his injuries that bad? He seemed to be just fine right now."
"He is a pretty fast healer, but he is in pain right now. We just came out of surgery and that might just have saved him. He still needs to take a few days off to heal though. I'll get his chart." she walked over to a table and picked up a chart. "Are you really ready to hear this? It is not going to be pretty."
"I'm ready" Sakura answered, while doubt was definitely there in her voice.
"Okay. He had a big concussion, a broken nose, almost all of his ribs were broken, one of his shoulders was dislocated, he couldn't use his legs and one of his lungs was pierced, probably by a chidori. These were only the major injuries. He has a lot of bruises and small wounds too."
"I had no idea he was hurt so bad." Sakura winced. "He doesn't look like he's in pain like that. Why would he go so far? Why is he able to risk his life for a lousy promise he made to me." She started crying.
Shizune asked if she was alright. "Yeah I am alright, thank you. I need to go home now. I have some things to do." she started running put of the hospital.