Little problems with updating ._. But here it finally comes, the chapter two! Hope you enjoy, don't forget to fav and review ^^


"Naruto? Naruto, answer to us!" Kakashi shouted, kneeling beside the body that lied on the floor. He heard Sakura to take a breath as she kneeled beside Kakashi, investigating Naruto's still-bleeding wounds. The morning sun shined to the puddles of blood, and Kakashi felt sickness on his stomach. It wasn't the first time that he saw Naruto covered in blood, but usually the situation wasn't that bad.

"His wounds aren't recovering as fast as usually", Sakura stated her voice full of worry. "Because of Kyuubi and Naruto's own strong chakra he normally recovers at a moment, but now…" Sakura didn't need to explain, as Kakashi saw the wounds by his own eyes. Sakura was using his healing jutsu and it was working a little by little, but way too slowly altogether.

"I- I'm sorry," Naruto's old neighbor stuttered as she watched the situation. "As Naruto came to get his keys last night, I thought something was wrong… But when he himself said that everything was alright, I was stupid and believed him," the old lady said on the edge of crying. Kakashi stood up and put his hand on the lady's shoulder.

"It's no one's fault, believe me. Naruto is good at deceiving people to think that he is alright, even though he isn't," Kakashi said and felt his own voice breaking. He was so angry to himself – why hadn't he noticed, even so that he had been Naruto's teacher and comrade for years and fought beside him at the war?

"You know, you opened the door for us with the second key. That already was a huge help", Sakura smiled, even though the worry could be seen from her eyes. Kakashi guessed that poor Sakura blamed herself as much as Kakashi blamed himself.

"We have to take him to the hospital", Sakura said to Kakashi. He simply nodded and lifted the unconsciousness boy to his piggyback. Sakura had added bandages but the blood was still flowing through, staining Kakashi's clothes. But it didn't matter at all right now. So he carried on the boy light as a feather on his back and pink-haired girl beside him. The old lady simply wished luck for all of them and went back to her apartment.
I guess Naruto truly needs that luck, Kakashi thought as they went.


"So, what is his state?" Sakura asked from Miss Tsunade as she came back from the operating room. Apparently Naruto's wounds had opened again so severely that they had had to stitch them again.

"Well, he's stable now", Tsunade said as she took off his plastic gloves and operation mask. "We sewed the opened wounds and changed the bandages. There was a new fracture on his left hand so it's now in a new cast. His body is normal by the outside, but in the inside it's very weak. He's on his room alone now, a respirator helping his weak lungs to breath and pain-killer easing the ache."

Sakura nodded. She had figured that much out of Naruto's stage as she has investigated him, even though she hadn't thought that his state was that serious. She had also asked if she could help in the operating, but Tsunade had rejected her request. Well, Sakura could understand that, since they had just come back from the war yesterday.

Kakashi suddenly cleared his voice, startling Sakura. He had been so quiet that she had almost forgotten about him. "So, can we visit him? He's our comrade, after all", Kakashi asked, watching to Tsunade.

"Yes, it is okay", she said, scrubbing her operation clothes. "But remember, even if he's stable now, you're not allowed causing stress for him. It could be dangerous."

"I figured out that much", Kakashi puffed and led the way after Tsunade said the room number. Sakura watched his sensei's blood-stained back as they went. Naruto wasn't the only person he was worried about – she hadn't saw Kakashi-sensei this worried ever before. Well, it wasn't hard to guess that he was blaming himself. Even though there wasn't any reason to do that - anyone couldn't have notice or known anything.

"Naruto, you awake?" Sakura whispered as they opened the door. The said boy was sleeping on the hospital bed, chest rising and falling calmly. Sakura and Kakashi sat down to the chairs beside the bed, both watching the surrounding machines at the worry. Sakura noted the pain-killer tube going to boy's arm, dripping its containing straight to the vein. The breathing mask was on Naruto's face, steam forming inside it with every breath.
Sakura didn't find anything to say, so they were left to the silence as Kakashi said nothing either. The only voices were Naruto's quiet breathing and heart rate-machine's steady peeping. Sakura watched the bruised and wounded boy until she couldn't take it anymore, turning her eyes to the window.

It was just mid-day so the room bathed on the sunlight, bright rays being reflected by metallic surfaces and Kakashi's forehead protector. So weird that we don't need to fight anymore, Sakura thought sleepily. As we won the war against Madara and others, the lands are now in alliance and the forehead protectors say 'shinobi' instead of a specific village. But why is it so that Naruto gets to pay the largest price? He saved everyone and still gets to the hospital as others continue to live their former lives…

"It's unfair, isn't it?" Kakashi chuckled as reading Sakura's thoughts. "He is the strongest person I've ever known – oh well, maybe Tsunade wins with her physical attacks, ouch – ,he saves everyone and still gets to pay."

Sakura simply nodded. "Yeah… And after all of that he still fights alone, and gets into hospital for not saying his worries out loud."
Silence was here again, as the specific faces popped into Sakura's mind. "You know, I think we should let the others know about this? Sasuke and Sai at least, as they are both part of the group. And oh, Yamato too."

"Yes, you're right," Kakashi said nodding. "Do you want to go to tell them? You're better at words, after all."

"Yea', I can go", Sakura said and got up from her chair. As she went and shut the door, she heard Kakashi's muffled voice: "Naruto, why won't you wake up?"


It took Sakura more time than she had thought to find Sasuke, Sai and Yamato, so when they got back it was already an early evening. Sasuke had been on the village's border, just watching his old home place. Sakura would have considered that as a perfect chance to talk with Sasuke from his returning, but there hadn't been time for that right then. Sai was found from the library, this time reading book named "How to win lady's heart", which got Sasuke to raise his eyebrow abnormally high. Yamato again had just been leaving the hospital himself, due to his long prisoning time.

"So, any change in his state?" Sakura asked as she sat beside Kakashi. Has he had always that much wrinkles on his face?

"Noup, nothing at all", Kakashi stated and brushed his fingers through the grey hair. "He hasn't moved even an inch since you left."

"What's wrong with him?" Sasuke asked glancing at Naruto's blank face. He had sat down on edge of Naruto's hospital bed carefully, Sai sitting right beside him.

"Well, actually the problem is that there's nothing apparently wrong with him," Kakashi stated, deserving confused looks from the others.
"Am I right if I guess that he just overdid it once again?" Yamato asked, standing on front of the window, his head wrapped in bandages. "He really went over his limits during the war, giving his help and power, and even sharing Kyuubi's chakra…"

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, it seems that that is the main reason. And in addition there can be stress, problems in the mental health because of seeing comrades dying – you know what Naruto thinks about that – or anything which can't be seen with the bare eye." The others just nodded, silence surrounding them once again.

"All I hope is that he'll get better soon," Sai said, his face slightly expressing sadness.

"I think we all hope so," Kakashi answered the shadows of the arriving night on his eyes.