"NARUTOOO!

"Please, don't die! Don't you dare die on me!" Sakura screamed, running over to an unconscious Naruto.

The pink haired kunoichi was drenched in blood, it was smeared on her face and stained her clothes. The blonde she gripped was only faintly breathing, gashes were strewn across his body and a kunai lodged in his side.

"Please, Naruto, breathe…" Sakura whispered, tears rolled down her cheeks and splashed onto Naruto.

Hands shaking, she hovered them over his chest and attempted to heal Naruto. Minor injuries faded away, but her power was too weak against the deeper wounds.

Sakura's eyes widened, "What? No, oh god," she froze, her hands shook uncontrollably as she stared at the blonde in shock. "Naruto, you can't die, you have too much to live for," Sakura sobbed, "Come on, Kyuubi! Heal yourself! I know you can!"

In Naruto's hand was a headband with the Konoha symbol slashed through the middle. Sakura didn't see it; she was too preoccupied with the dying blonde propped against her knees.

"Don't die," Sakura pleaded, leaning over to start chest compressions, "Please…I-GAAAH"

Suddenly a large shuriken flew through the air, stabbing her in the back. Sakura crumpled on top of Naruto, blood pooling beneath them.

A voice cried out from the darkness. "Sakura! Where are you?"

"Over here, I see her!"

"Sakura?"

"Naruto..."

"Oh my god."

And with that last word, she fell unconscious.

"What?" Tsunade screamed, "How did this happen?"

Konoha's Hokage sat behind the desk in her office, staring in disbelief at Team 7's former leader. He stood in the middle of the room, hands behind his back in a show of respect, something that came unnaturally to the masked man.

"I'm afraid we don't kn-we have pieces." Kakashi stuttered under Tsunade's glare. "Sai and I found them 3 miles out of Konoha. Off the road, middle of the woods. Both unconscious."

"And just where is Sai?" Tsunade interjected.

"He followed them back to the hospital, and I came to you."

Her left hand touched her temple, the other held a pen. "Their conditions?"

"Sakura was found with a shuriken in her back. But it's been removed." Kakashi paused.

"And? Naruto?" Tsunade inquired, the silence was unnerving. She lowered her hand and put the pen down.

Kakashi sighed, turning away from Tsunade, speaking as he walked over to the window in her office. "Naruto has multiple lacerations, several broken bones. Whoever or whatever he was fighting didn't hold back."

Tsunade rose to meet him by the window.

Kakashi spoke again, "It looks as though Sakura attempted healing him, but only minor injuries were healed. As of yet, we can't garner if she stopped or if she was simply too weak at the time for deeper wounds."

He rested his hands on the window sill, looking out the window at nothing in particular, "Nurses were able to remove the kunai from his side, and he is stable. But only just. He's being heavily monitored," he finished.

"What the hell were they up to out there? Alone in the forest?" The Hokage fumed, "A shuriken in her back? A kunai in his chest?" Pushing herself away from the window she paced over to her desk, but turned back, "They almost died today! Where were you? Why were you not keeping better tabs on them?!"

"You know as well as I do I am not in charge of them." Kakashi looked back at Tsunade, his hands dropped from the sill, "You're angry, and I get that. But what we need right now is not wild accusations, but concrete fact. Anbu is assembling teams and are heading out soon."

"I don't understand how this happened…" Tsunade pondered out loud. Shaking the thought from her mind she asked, "are they awake?" Her volume lowered, but her worry was still obvious.

"No." Kakashi stated bluntly. "With the condition they're in the doctors aren't sure when they'll wake up. You will, of course, be notified immediately when they do."

"Forget you, I'm going over there right now to heal them!" Tsunade announced, "Shizune!"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama?" Shizune burst into the room, holding Ton-Ton in her arms. Her worried expression indicated she had been listening through the door; even Ton-Ton seemed upset.

"Cancel all my meetings for today; I'm going to the hospital to see Naruto and Sakura."

"Of course, Tsunade-sama." Shizune bowed and retreated from the room.

Tsunade turned back to Kakashi, "What room are they in?"

[hr][/hr]

Tsunade and Kakashi entered room 450 just in time to see the nurse wrap a bandage around Sakura's stomach. Naruto lied in the bed next to her. Both were still unconscious, and both were covered in bandages. Some bloodier than others.

"Oh, good morning, Hokage-sama. I'm almost done here and then you may take over." The nurse spoke quietly. She quickly finished wrapping Sakura, bowed to the visitors and left.

"Well, Kakashi, you weren't kidding..." Tsunade said, slowly looking over the two patients, "I'd better get started."

Tsunade put her hands over Naruto's wounds and started to heal him, but it healed only the few bruises and scratches that were left after Sakura had tried.

"What? It's not working!" Tsunade said confused.

"No, really?" Kakashi said sarcastically.

"This is no time for jokes, Kakashi! Why isn't it working?" Tsunade yelled.

"Maybe whoever cut him, sliced so deep that even you trying to heal him won't work," Kakashi tried.

The Hokage scoffed.

"Just a thought. Obviously this person really wanted Naruto dead," Kakashi spoke grimly, "But who would hate Naruto enough to really want to kill him?"

"I can think of a cou-"

"Tsu-Tsunade-sama…is th-that…you?" A voice spoke softly behind them, cutting off Tsunade's sentence.

"Sakura, you've woken up!" Tsunade grinned. Finally something was turning in her favor.

"Ka-Kakashi-sensei, you're there too?" Sakura gasped and fell back over onto her side.

"Sakura, are you alright?" Tsunade questioned, and in a flash Kakashi was there right next to her helping her into a more comfortable position.

"Sakura, do you remember what brought you here?" Kakashi asked. "We found you and Naruto in the forest. Do you remember that?"

Sakura tried to sit up but Kakashi wouldn't allow it.

"You're still very weak, Sakura." She finally remembered the terrifying events that just passed.

"Naruto…he was," Sakura couldn't finish, "He was attacked by…"

"Who, Sakura? Who was he attacked by?" Tsunade urged, trying to get her to speak.

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura breathed, and with that final breath she fell back to unconsciousness.