Hi everyone! Here is my new fanfic, back to the angsty goodness you know me for! This will be multi-chaptered, though i don't know if i will be able to update every week, but i'll try my hardest to update as quickly as i can.
The idea for this one came to me as i was having a rather morbid conversation with my best friend about who would cry if we died and what they would say at our funeral. Come on, you can't say you've never thought about it!

Anyway, I want to say a MASSIVE thank you to Vanilla Frazzled for reading through this for me and to my fabulous new beta reader MadnessinmyMethod, you were both a huge help, i'm really grateful!
So, please enjoy! And if you could take the time to review i would be eternally in love with you :)

Disclaimer: -Insert witty disclaimer about how i don't own Naruto here-


Comatose

It was midnight when the messenger hawk finally came.

When the news she had been waiting for arrived at long last.

Midnight when the tears began to fall from the Hokage's hazel eyes, when the important mission files she held fell to the floor, forgotten.

Midnight when she ran through the pristine halls of the hospital, the stark smell of disinfectant making her choke.

Midnight when she ripped the door from its hinges, breath catching at the awful sight before her.

Midnight.

When Tsunade saw Sakura dying.

- - -Three Days Later- - -

It was finally over.
Everything that could be done had been done.

Collapsing into the nearest chair; briefly running tired hands through now greasy, golden locks; Tsunade sighed in frustration. Fatigue showed clearly on the Hokage's face, her drooping eyes were rimmed with dark circles and her complexion was sickly pale. She had spent the past three days battling to save her students life and the effects of sleep deprivation were beginning to show.
Tsunade knew she should use this moment to get some sleep, but she couldn't bring herself to lose focus for even a second; couldn't bring herself to close her eyes, for she knew what she would see if she did.
Every time unconsciousness beckoned to her, that bloody scene always came back to the forefront of her mind.

Sakura.

She was just...lying there, devoid of motion. Normally animated jade eyes now glazed and dilated, once bright bubblegum pink hair dark and matted with her own blood. It clung to her battered face, where bright gashes marred her once perfect features and mottled purple and black bruises transformed it into the grotesque. Her clothes, or what used to be her clothes, were charred so badly that they had melted into her skin, the tang of burnt flesh permeated the tiny room as monitors beeped and medics frantically tried to bandage the shredded mess that were her arms and legs.

Beep...

Beep...

Beep...

Slamming her hands down onto the chair so violently that the arms began to crack and split, Tsunade forced her eyes open once more.
The hard work was finished now, she had saved her students life, but there was still much to do and people to inform of the situation.
Her husband, her best friend, her parents.

This brought out another sigh from the exhausted woman, how was she going to tell the people Sakura loved the most that she might never wake up again? Never be the person they once knew?
It was all too much.

That was the moment that Tsunade finally let her weakness catch up with her, come crashing down upon her, as the hot, salty tears cascaded down her face.
And there, alone in the darkness, she wept for her only student.


"Shut up you moron."

The low buzz of voices in the small ramen bar was split by a very loud, very boisterous laugh and many of the patrons turned to stare at the noisemaker in a rather annoyed fashion. Not that said noisemaker noticed, or cared; his bright blue eyes twinkling with mischief as he nudged the slouching man next to him.

"Oh come on Shikamaru! There's no need to get so defensive!"

"I'm not." Shikamaru replied, twirling the steaming hot ramen in his bowl around with his chopsticks. "I'm just bored of this conversation."

This comment only seemed to make Naruto's grin wider.

"So why is it that you don't like me talking about her like that?" He asked slyly, his eyes swivelling to the person fast approaching them. "Well, speak of the devil! Here she is now!"

Stifling a loud groan rather unsuccessfully, Shikamaru turned to greet his team mate, but as soon as he saw the crestfallen look on her face he forgot the sarcastic comment that had been about to tumble from his lips. A second later he was on his feet, a comforting hand on her arm.

"What's the matter Ino?"

"I just need to sit down for a bit." The blonde kunoichi replied with a tentative smile "Get me some water would you?"

Perching on the edge of a seat at the bar with practiced ease, she accepted the offered glass from Shikamaru a moment later with another one of those hesitant smiles. Shikamaru had worked with Ino since they were twelve years old, over eleven years ago now, so he had been around her for long enough to know what that sort of smile meant.

And he knew when not to push her to talk; she would tell them when she had prepared herself for it. Whether that be in five minutes or half an hour, she would talk. It was best to just leave it be.

Turning back to his ramen, he prayed that Naruto wouldn't say anything. He didn't want to this to turn into a scene. That would be too troublesome. He hadn't seen Ino this shaken up in a long time, it had to be something pretty serious. He watched as her hand trembled as she sipped the water, sloshing it around in the glass erratically, as he tried to figure out what might be wrong. Flashing Naruto a quick warning glare when he looked like he was about to say something, he turned back to his contemplations, his brow furrowing slightly in thought.

A few moments later, a stifled sob broke the tension as Ino prepared to speak.

"You have to come with me; the Hokage has called an emergency meeting." She said abruptly, her voice quivering with the weight of the tears she wouldn't allow herself to cry. "You too Naruto."

"Huh? What does the old hag want now?" the blonde asked, oblivious as always to the weight of the situation.

"Just come with me" were her only words before she pushed herself off of the stool and hurried out of the restaurant, setting a brisk pace toward the Hokage tower.

Turning her eyes to the sky, Ino felt the presence of her two fellow Jounin following her and watched as two small birds fluttered in the sun, chirping obliviously as they flitted through the cloudless sky. Closing her eyes briefly, she felt the slight breeze in the air and the warmth of the sun on her face, it was a beautiful day. It should have been a perfect day she thought bitterly. She would have spent a day like today with Sakura, training, having a picnic, or even just sitting in the sun and letting her play with her hair as they talked...

"Ino?"

Ino wasn't sure whether or not she should be glad for the interruption of her thoughts. "What?" She replied brusquely.

"So what is this meeting all about?" asked Naruto, inquisitive as ever.

"I can't tell you."

"But I really want to know!" He retorted, his voice taking on a slight demanding tone.

"No."

"Please?"

"No." Ino replied much more forcefully.

"Please?"

"It's Sakura! OK? It's Sakura!" Ino shouted so loudly that she felt the sound start to burn the back of her throat. "It's Sakura" she repeated more softly as she fought the weak feeling in her knees.

Ino's declaration was met with a painful silence, the kind that makes it seem as if everyone is holding their breath. A crunch of a boot on the path eventually broke the stillness as a now stone faced Naruto began to walk, even faster than Ino had been walking, toward their destination.

"Let's go. Now." He called to those behind him.

As they began to follow, Shikamaru fell into step with a shaken Ino and leaned in slightly as he whispered, "What about Sasuke?"

"He has been told, but he'll be there, at the meeting I mean."

"How is he taking it?"

"The way he usually does, by showing no emotion whatsoever. No one can get him to say a thing." She replied with a slight shiver. Sasuke truly scared her sometimes, the fact that he could show nothing but apathy in a situation like this one chilled her to the bone.

"But... how can he possibly do this? He's her husband Ino. He has to be feeling something."

Ino opened her mouth to reply but all she could manage was a slight wheeze of emotion as she tried to force out the words. The fleeting image of a prone and pallid Sakura crossing behind her eyes as she fought the tears back once more.


Clearing her throat, Tsunade swept her eyes across the room to make sure everyone was there; trying her hardest not to look directly at Naruto, the look on his face was heartbreaking. Deciding that all were present, the Hokage stood slowly behind her huge oaken desk and began to address the group.

"I'm sure most of you know why you are here already, so I'm going to cut to the chase. Sakura Haruno recently left with a small team to undertake an important A class mission, she returned three days ago. She was...badly injured. We fought to save her life, but she has been left in a coma."

Tsunade paused to brush a lock of hair from her face as she hesitated to say the next sentence. Tears were running freely down both Ino and Naruto's cheeks, though they did not make a sound.

Blinking her own tears away, Tsunade forced herself to speak.

"We ..."
Still unable to say the words with everyone staring at her, she turned to look out of the window behind her. "We don't know if she will ever wake up."
Letting out a small sigh at the soft gasps that followed, she cradled her face in her hands as she prepared for the next statement.
"You should all say your goodbyes to Sakura in case... she doesn't make it."

The silence that followed said it all. No-one truly able to comprehend what had just happened.
Still and blurry eyed incomprehension.
Everyone stood frozen, waiting for someone to say something, to do something.

Eventually, though whether it was ten seconds or ten minutes no-one could say; the Hokage moved across to sit in her chair, hands still covering her face.

"Someone bring me some sake." She asked weakly.