*****

Naruto laid his head down to sleep, and drifted back into the darkness. He opened his eyes to find himself in a familiar place. It was the middle of nowhere again. The desert. This time, though, it was much faster. He was stabbed in the back, and went through the same ritual as last time, but this time, it would end differently.

"Naruto!" Sakura called out.

"Sakura, stay out of this, it isn't your fight!" Naruto shouted once more. He was stabbed in the arm, wincing in pain. But this time, the dream didn't end. Naruto grabbed the sword and ripped it out of his arm, throwing it towards Sasuke. They continued their battle, fist hitting bone. Sasuke dived for his katana, while Naruto rushed at him with his kunai.

He threw it at Sasuke, hitting him dead center into the heart, but he hurled his katana at him the last second, using the last of his chakra to lock him into paralysis. The blade flew right at him, and time slowed down. He heard nothing but the terrible laughter of a maniac. All he saw was was a flash of white, red, and pink. He tried to scream, but his voice had deserted him. The last thing he saw was a stream of blood flying in the air.

*****

Naruto awoke tears streaming down his face, the pain from the wounds was fading.... Or was it? Naruto checked his arm. He saw a massive gash, about the size of a typical stab from a katana. What the heck, how'd I get that? He looked to check the time. 7:00 AM, he woke up around the same time as usual. But what was that on the nightstand? Oh God... It was a kunai, and it was soaked with blood. He felt his back. No blood, just sweat, and a lot of it. What just happened? Had he just cut himself in his sleep? Why, he hadn't last time. He also didn't sweat nearly as much. Sakura..... Naruto walked up to the mirror, looking into it. He saw his eyes, red veins popping out. He was still crying this whole time.

"What on earth is happening to me?" He rubbed his head and jumped into the shower. He needed to clear his head and cleanse the wound. It was already starting to heal, thanks to the Kyuubi. He cleared his mind of the dream. Nothing was going to happen, not like that. Sasuke wasn't against him, not yet. Sakura wasn't going to take the blade for him. If anything, it would be him for her. That's how it was supposed to work, right? He continued to think, his mind couldn't shake the thoughts off. He managed to suppress them, though.

What happened in that game he had played last night? Oh, right, the hero took out that massive space ship because he was some kind of weapon. Cool cinematic, too. What did he say again? Oh, right 'What the hell am I?'. He wouldn't have put it that way, but that's a lot like how he felt right now...

He turned off the shower, dried off and got dressed. What was his mission going to be? Were they even going on it still? Of course they were, Sakura called him up last night to tell him about that. Speaking of which, he wondered how her night had gone. Must have been interesting, probably paranoid because of that attack last night. He would be too if someone jumped in and tried to kidnap him. Well, maybe not kidnap him, more like rob him. That'd suck, he'd lose his collection of games, movies and books. Jiraiyah gave him almost every single one of them, he really was like a father...

There was a knock at the door. I wonder who that could be... He checked his arm, it was scabbed up, but that wouldn't look good. He put on his cloak, if it was who he thought it was, he'd be headed right out of there. He opened the door, and sure enough, it was Sakura. "Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I just came by to check on you, make sure you were okay."

Naruto nodded, scratching his head like he always did. "Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?"

"Don't play that with me, I know you weren't feeling so good last night. You get enough sleep?"

"Yeah," he said looking down, rubbing his arm, "Just enough. And you?"

"Pretty well, although I had a little trouble getting to bed, I thought way too much about the guy getting into the room." She laughed, then noticed that Naruto was still rubbing his arm. "Hold on," she said grabbing his arm, "What do we have here..." She pushed up his sleeve, much to his objection.

Sakura gasped in shock, "Naruto, last I checked, you didn't get any cuts on your arms yesterday... When did you get this?"

"Oh, just last night, I think I might have scraped it on the table."

"Table my foot. Naruto, don't lie to me like that! I know a kunai cut when I see one, what is going on here?"

Naruto avoided eye contact with her, keeping his eyes on something else. "Nothing, nothing at all." he replied.

She pulled on his arm, he looked her in the eyes, and she asked him in as calm of a tone as she could muster, she was starting to well up. "Naruto, have you been cutting?"

Shocked, Naruto quickly said "No! Of course not! Why would I?"

"You know good and well why, does this have to do with the dreams?"

"Yeah..."

"What happened?"

"I woke up this morning and I was bleeding. In the dream, I was stabbed by a katana, and that's what it felt like."

"You cut yourself in your sleep?"

"I guess, I really don't know..."

"But why? What else happened, there has to be a reason. I know you, physical pain isn't going to do anything to you."

Naruto sighed. It was time to let the cat out of the bag... "Sakura, I need to ask you something."

"Yes?"

"I know that you kinda already know this, but I just want to make this clear. Whatever I'm about to say, don't hold me to it. You've been a good friend, someone I can be open with, and I don't want to lose that... Could you promise me that you won't look down on me?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I?"

"Okay then... Sakura, I dreamed that we were in the desert, fighting against Sasuke, I had managed to seal his fate, kill him, but then he paralyzed me, threw his katana at me... And then.... I saw you, taking the blow for me, bleeding, you were hit in the heart....." Naruto was weeping, and weeping hard. "You were going to die.... Because of me!" Sakura could barley recognize him, this wasn't the confident Naruto she was used to. This was the one that had been living repressed inside of him his whole life. This was the broken young man that he'd hidden from so many people.

He grasped her right hand gently with both of his. "I couldn't stand it, I caused you harm, it hurt so much to see that. I... I can't lose you, Sakura, because I love you. I know I've tried to say it so many times, and shown it differently before, but I swear before God that when I say it this time, I mean it with all my heart. I love you, and there's no way I could ever live with myself if I hurt you ever again..."

Sakura began to cry. He means it, every word, and I can't think of what to say... Naruto...

"You're scared of me, aren't you?" He asked.

"No, not of you... Scared for you... Because I love you too."

"Sakura... Do you mean that?"

"Yes Naruto, every word. I care about what happens to you, physically and mentally...Not because of this," She said, pointing to his robe, "but because of this." she touched where his heart was. "I love you, Naruto Uzumaki, imperfections and issues aside. That's why I pointed out the scar, because this is serious."

"I know..." Naruto responded. Sakura.......

"Was it because you failed me?"

"I don't know, I think it was partially that, the fact that I lost you, and then killing Sasuke in cold blood. I killed him when he didn't try to kill me."

"You know there are better ways to cope than that."

"I know, but like I said, I was asleep, how was I supposed to know?"

"Good point..." They both tried to regain their composure, then Sakura remembered part of why she was even there in the first place

"Naruto, what time is it?"

"7:45, why?"

"Oh crap, grab your scroll, we gotta go. Shoot, Lady Tsunade is gonna kill us!"

Naruto grabbed the scroll and they ran for the house at the top of the village. They sprinted as fast and hard as they could. Thankfully, Naruto's compound wasn't too far from the palace, but it was still going to be cutting it close. They decided to take the stairs again, the elevator was notorious for causing people to be late by a few minutes. They got to the ninth floor, caught their breath and fixed their stances, then entered the oh so familiar office.

"You're late." Tsunade said, pointing to the clock. 8:02 AM. "But, I'll let it slide, you have a lot on your minds, I'm sure."

"Sorry, my fault," Naruto said, "I got a little... Sidetracked.," He glanced as Sakura, "It isn't Sakura's fault. Anyway, so, what's our mission?"

"Well, we've got a little something for you two." A voice called out, "Forgive me, lady fifth, I had a little... unexpected delay."

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly, "You're back!" Kakashi nodded. He had just returned from a mission last night, but he assumed that he'd be sleeping in. Evidently not.

"Yo. Anyway, we need you two to go to the Sand village." Naruto's face suddenly went blank. "You're going to get the medical library backups they have for us. You'll get a cart when you get there, but until then, you'll have to go on foot."

"That's why I needed you two to rest up."Tsunade said, "I hope yesterday's excitements hasn't thrown you two off."

"Umm, Kakashi-sensei, could I have a word with you.. Um, in private?"

"Okay... I guess." Something was wrong with Naruto, it wasn't like him to do this...

"See you in a little bit, Sakura, I'll be right out."

Tsunade got up from her desk, "I'll go with her to the front, make it quick Naruto, or you'll be late."

Tsunade and Sakura left the room. Sakura looked back at Naruto one last time, then left. What's he up to? Is it because of the desert? Maybe... Well, we'll see.

The door shut, then Kakashi turned around. "Okay, Naruto, what's going on?"

"I need to ask you about something. I need to learn a jutsu, and fast. I have a bad feeling about this."

"Depends, what are you wanting to know?"

"I need to learn the sacrificial jutsu."

Kakashi was shocked, "The one that jumpstarts the body? No, I can't teach you that, it's forbidden."

"Why?"

"Simple, because of the way it works. You see, Naruto, when a person is killed, their mind isn't completely inoperable. You can revive the person, but in order to do that you need to repair the damage to all the vital organs as well as producing enough blood to replace that which has been lost. The reason that this jutsu is forbidden is because once you start, there's no going back. It already takes a vast amount of chakra to heal all the vital parts correctly, but then there is the fact that it takes massive amounts of chakra to reactivate the organs. And that's before you factor in the blood and starting up the mind itself! It takes more than even you have with the fox."

Naruto looked down at the floor. He needed to learn that jutsu! Sakura's life was potentially in danger, and he wasn't going to rick it. "I see... I need to learn it anyway, just in case."

"Why the sudden urge to learn this technique?"

"Can you keep a secret?"

"For you, Naruto, I can keep two."

"Good. Look, don't tell Grandma, that's the last thing I need. Anyway, I've been having these dreams lately, they haven't been too good. The only person I've told anything about them to is Sakura. But basically, to put it bluntly, I think I'm going to need to use it on her."

"You're sure this isn't just stress?"

Naruto slammed his fist on the desk, then screamed, "Damn it, why does everyone say that!?! This isn't stress, I, ugh! Look, does this come from stress?" He showed Kakashi his arm.

"Actually... Yes, it does." He raised his visible eyebrow, "You've been cutting?"

Naruto sighed, then growled, "No, it was in my sleep. Why the hell does everyone think I'm going insane!???"

"Naruto, calm down, I'm not saying you're going insane."

"But that's kind of what you just said, isn't it? You think I'm taking this too seriously, right? Well guess what, you didn't have the dream, and it felt as real as this does." Naruto was venting, and it wasn't pretty. He took a few deep breaths...

Kakashi looked at Naruto. Something is definitely going on here, I don't remember him acting like this. Even when he was younger, he didn't act or speak like that... I don't know what Tsunade is thinking, sending him like this, but it may do him some good to get out.

"Kakashi-sensei, forgive me, that was completely uncalled for..."

"No, Naruto, it's okay." I knew he had strong feelings for that girl, but I didn't know they were this strong... "Look, I'll show you what to do, but you need to swear this. Don't use it unless you are absolutely sure that it's all you can do. It's not something to be taken lightly, this is your head on the line, and this affects the entire village."

"I realize that, I just need to know it.... You know, just in case..."

"Okay then, I'll show you. Now, first you......."

*****

Naruto ran towards the front gate, how long did he take, 15 minutes? Well, it was worth it, his mind was finally at peace. He'd have to thank Kakashi for that, it was comforting to know that he had an ace up his sleeve, just in case.

"Naruto, just in time," Tsunade said, "I assume everything is okay now?"

"Yeah, I'm good, just had a question for him, that's all."

"Okay, good luck."Tsunade walked back to the palace. Naruto's looking much better, I wonder what Kakashi told him...

Naruto looked at Sakura, "You ready?"

She nodded, then they left the village towards the desert. "So, what were you talking to Kakashi about?"

"Oh nothing important, just needed his thoughts on something." There was no way he was going to tell her about what he just learned, no one needed to know. It's not that he didn't trust her, he just felt like it was something personal, something to keep to himself.

"Ah, I see." She could tell he was hiding something, but he wasn't so glum, maybe it was better that she didn't know. "Hey, how's your arm feeling?"

"Better, it's all scabbed up, should be healed completely by tomorrow."

"Okay. Hey, if you get any other injuries like that, tell me, I'll take care of them for you."

Naruto nodded. "So.. How far is the sand village, exactly?"

"About three days. Don't you remember?"

"Well, it's been a while... This is going to be a long walk..."

*****