Sasuke walked closer and closer to Sakura, a strange look in his eyes, as Naruto watched them from behind a bush. Sakura stared back at him, waiting with baited breath. They were both standing in a clearing, and from their point of view, they were alone.

Sasuke finally reached her. "Sakura," he whispered, caressing her cheek.

"Sasuke..." Sakura whispered back, frozen to the spot. "What are you d...?"

Thirteen-year-old Naruto gasped from his hiding place as Sasuke leaned forward and pressed his lips to Sakura's. He felt the first tear fall as Sakura deepened the kiss, and then Naruto turned and fled before he could see anything more. He ran through the woods in the direction of his house, reaching it and running inside. He should never have decided to follow her.

Naruto was walking to Team 7's meeting place for the day, which was in the middle of a road that had fences on both sides. Just as he was about to turn a corner, he heard Sasuke's voice, and he threw himself back so the two shinobi around the corner couldn't see him. He knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but this was Sasuke, how bad could it be?

"Hey, Sakura?"

"Yeah, Sasuke?!" Naruto could hear the excitement in Sakura's voice.

"Would you be willing to meet me in the clearing near our training area tonight?"

"Sure, Sasuke! But why?"

"You'll see. Just...don't tell Naruto, okay?"

"Whatever you say!"

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows. What could Sasuke possibly want? Well, he was gonna find out.

That night, Naruto waited at Sakura's house until she came out. Silently, he followed her, all the way to the clearing Sasuke had mentioned. Sasuke was already there when Sakura arrived. She walked towards him, and Naruto ducked behind a bush so they couldn't see him. He peeked over to see Sakura and Sasuke standing face to face, about ten feet apart.

"So Sasuke, why did you want me to come here? If you want to train, that's fine, but we can't be out too late or my mom'll freak."

Sasuke shook his head no.

"Then..."

Sakura fell silent as Sasuke started to walk towards her.

Naruto ran inside his house, slamming the door behind him and letting the tears flow freely. "I thought..." he said aloud, his voice cracking. He thought back to the day when their team had first met Kakashi. Sakura had said she loved Sasuke, and hated Naruto.

"I thought she was just joking..." Naruto whispered, standing alone in his kitchen. "I thought...maybe it could be the other way around some day...I guess I was wrong..." He looked up, one of the kitchen knives lying on the counter glinting in the moonlight, catching his eye. "Maybe if I just..." he thought, taking a step towards it. He stopped and shook his head. "No, that would be stupid..." The image of Sakura and Sasuke kissing shot through Naruto's mind. "But..." He advanced slowly, reaching the counter and looking at the knife. "Should I...maybe she'd regret kissing Sasuke...maybe she'd realize how much I mattered to her..."

"Or maybe she'd be glad I was gone..." Naruto thought. "What if this is what she wants? She hates me after all." Naruto sighed. "This is stupid, I'm thirteen! I shouldn't be worried, all they did was kiss..."

Naruto knew full well he was lying to himself. Sasuke had kissed Sakura, and there was no way Sakura would ever change her mind about him. Naruto tilted his head and the knife glinted again. He picked it up. "Should I?" He weighed his options. "If I do it, Sakura will probably be happy. The village will be happy. The Kyubbi will be destroyed. The only one who loses...is me." He grit his teeth and turned the knife around so it was facing himself, poking his chest with it delicately. "This will probably hurt..." he thought. He poked himself a little harder, and felt his shirt dampen. He looked down and saw it was also turning red. Naruto looked down at himself sadly.

"Goodbye Konoha...goodbye Sakura..." Naruto whispered aloud, wiping away his tears and extending his arms in front of him, the knife's tip facing him. "Will you miss me?" He brought the knife down on himself.

Fifteen-year-old Naruto sat up swiftly, feeling his warm face. He could almost feel the searing pain in his chest. His heart rate slowly descended until he was breathing calmly. "It was only a dream," he whispered. "Just a dream. It wasn't real." He got up out of bed and grabbed his head, tripping over his own feet and falling to the floor. Everything was spinning. He got up and stumbled over to his bathroom, reaching inside the medicine cabinet. It was empty.

"Damn..." he thought. He looked in the mirror. His whole face was so red, it looked like it was on fire. "Ugh...I need to get to a hospital." He slowly made his way out of the bathroom and to the front door, not even bothering to put a shirt on or pants on over his boxers. He left his house half-naked, and got an immediate wake-up call. It must have been five or six in the morning, and the wind was blowing hard. Naruto shivered in the cold and heard his own teeth begin to chatter almost immediately. But being the persistent ninja he was, he refused to turn back and go inside, instead choosing to head towards the hospital in cold weather with a high fever.

Naruto guessed he was about halfway there when suddenly he heard a sleepy voice call out, "Naruto?"

He squinted at a shape farther down the road, vaguely registering pink hair. "Sakura?"

"Naruto, what on Earth are you doing out here!?" Sakura called out, running towards him. When she got close enough Naruto realized she was wearing a heavy coat and looked like she had been up all night.

"Sakura...you look tired..." Naruto said, yawning himself. Suddenly he looked at the ground beside her. "Ah, Akamaru, that new head you've grown looks absolutely beautiful."

Sakura looked beside her. Nothing was there. "Naruto, you're delirious. You need to get to a hospital. She took off her coat and wrapped it around Naruto's shoulders, leading him in the direction from where she came. "Tsunade's been busy. I was up all night helping her there," Sakura told him, gesturing towards the hospital as it came into view. Naruto giggled for no reason.

Sakura led him through the front doors and gave a nod to the desk clerk, who let her through. She immediately headed to the emergency area and led Naruto through and into a room, setting him down on the bed inside. She called for a nurse, and one showed up a few seconds later. "What is it, ma'am?"

"This boy's got a high fever," Sakura told her. "Symptoms are as bad as hallucinations. Get me something to bring the fever down, and a glass of water."

"Right away," the nurse replied. Naruto stayed still on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. "Hey Sakura-chan, that one looks like a dragon!" he called out after a moment, pointing up at the ceiling. Sakura looked. All she saw were regular, square ceiling tiles. She sighed and looked at Naruto. His face was still extremely red, and he was sweating heavily. Sakura felt his forehead. It was definitely warmer than normal. The nurse came back with a pill and a glass of water, as well as a thermometer.

"Thanks," Sakura told her. The nurse nodded and left. Sakura looked at Naruto, who was still staring at the ceiling. "Okay Naruto, are you hungry?" she asked. Naruto looked at her and nodded. "Well...how about some ramen!" Naruto smiled and nodded some more. Suddenly he stopped and gripped his head. Sakura looked around and saw a washcloth lying on the counter across the room, next to a sink. She wet it and placed it on Naruto's forehead, and he let go of his head. Sakura smiled at him. He smiled back lazily, his eyes half-closed. "Alright Naruto, I'm going to put this in your mouth. It'll take a second, but afterwards I'll get you some ramen. Okay?" Sakura showed him the thermometer.

Naruto nodded, opening his mouth. Sakura put the thermometer under his tongue, and held it there until it started beeping. She pulled it out and looked at it. "106.8..." She looked at him. "Good job. Now, I'm sure you're thirsty, right?" Naruto looked at her with the same expression as before and nodded again. Sakura lifted the glass of water and showed it to him, along with the pill. "This pill will help you get better." He opened his mouth and she dropped the pill in. Sakura held the glass of water to his lips, and he gulped it all down, along with the pill. Sakura smiled and patted his hand, standing up to leave. "Spend the rest of the night here, okay?" She turned to walk away and felt a hand grip hers tightly. She turned back around.

Naruto smiled at her. "What about my ramen?" he asked. From his tone of voice Sakura could tell he was still slightly delirious, but he seemed to be getting a little better.

"I'll get you ramen tomorrow, okay?" Sakura told him, smiling back at him.

Naruto giggled. "Like a date?"

Sakura's smile disappeared, a glare replacing it. "NO, NOT LIKE A DATE, YOU BAKA!" She raised a fist and Naruto cringed. Sakura's glare slid right off her face, and she immediately looked at him, worried. "I'm so sorry, I almost hit a patient!" she cried. Naruto relaxed and looked at her. Sakura looked down and noticed that he was still holding her left hand. She blushed and looked up at him.

"Uh...Naruto, can you let g-"

"Stay with me?" Naruto cut her off. Sakura raised her eyebrows and sighed, sitting down next to him.

A while later, Sakura looked at the nearest clock. It had been almost an hour since she had last taken his temperature.

"Let me take your temperature again," she told him. Naruto nodded and opened his mouth. Sakura stuck the thermometer in again, and when she took it out a minute later, it read: 103.6. "Well, that medicine really seems to be working," Sakura told him. "You don't need me here." She moved to leave, but Naruto didn't release her hand, and she didn't have the heart to jerk it away while he was sick.

"I want you here," he told her. Sakura blushed again.

"What is with me all of a sudden?" Sakura thought. "I'm used to Naruto's flirting..." She sighed and sat down in a chair next to him. "Fine. But if you make me sick, you're dead." Naruto didn't reply. "Naruto?" Sakura asked. She looked over at him and saw he was asleep. She sighed again and propped her chin up on her hand. After a minute, Sakura's eyes also closed, and she fell asleep, still gripping Naruto's hand with hers.

When she awoke the clock read noon. Sakura jumped up, and Naruto's hand slid out of hers and banged against the side of the bed. He sat up. "Ow!" he cried out, shaking his hand. He looked up at her. "Sakura, what are you doing in my room? And were you holding my hand?" He gave her a sly grin. Sakura rolled her eyes, and Naruto looked around them. "Why am I in the hospital?"

"You don't remember? You had a high fever, and you were hallucinating."

"Really?" Naruto asked. "What did I hallucinate?"

"Well, first you complimented Akamaru on his second head, and then you said one of the ceiling tiles was shaped like a dragon."

Naruto looked up. "Those are squares."

"Yeah, I know."

They stared at each other, and suddenly Naruto burst out laughing. Sakura smiled at him. "I need to take your temperature, by the way."

Naruto nodded and opened his mouth, and they repeated the process. "99 on the dot," Sakura told him. "You're almost back to normal, and definitely safe to leave."

Naruto jumped out of bed and looked down at himself. "Why am I in my boxers, and more importantly, why do I have your jacket on?"

"You tried to walk here in the freezing cold with just your boxers on," Sakura explained.

"Wow...that's pretty stupid."

"Like I said, you were delirious." Sakura led Naruto out of the hospital.

As they walked through the front doors, Naruto looked at her. "Why do I get the feeling you owe me some ramen?"