Disclaimer: You will die Orochimaru! Hahahahah! Oh, wait...I forgot that I don't own Naruto.

In the fourth chapter: Naruto and Kakashi were engaged in a fierce battle between Sasha Tsumane, a deadly Sand shinobi with extrordinary power, and both failed to capture her. As Naruto finally awakens, he becomes concerned for his sensei. As it turns out, Kakashi had been damaged even more than he was...

Mysterious Voice - refers to when a mysterious voice speaks to Sasha

Inner Sakura - refers to when Inner Sakura is speaking

Thoughts/Flashbacks - refers to when the character is thinking or having flashbacks


He felt nothing at first, but after a while he began to feel a searing pain all around his body. His hands felt soft cloth and rough edges, and he could hear many voices speaking as well. He was in a bed in the Leaf Village hospital. With a groan, Naruto managed to pull himself into a sitting position and opened his eyes. There, sitting down and reading one of her enormous books, was Sakura Haruno. She looked up from her book to find Naruto awake.

"Naruto! It's about time you've woken up," she said gratefully, "The two ninja that brought you here told me that they found you unconscious in the forest."

Man, it's about time you woke up! I was just thinking about bashing your skull to give you a wakeup call! Inner Sakura pouted at the last thought.

Naruto then remembered something important. He turned towards his teammate with a serious and urgent look on his face.

"Sakura, where's Kakashi-sensei?" he asked her quickly and began to get out of his bed. She moved over and pushed him back onto the bed, forcing him to lie down.

"Calm down already!" She said sternly, "Tsunade-sama said that you really need to rest, especially after that fight with the Sand ninja."

Naruto was surprised. "How did you know about the fight?" Sakura shrugged and said, "Tsunade-sama explained to me what the ninja told her. You were really lucky that the missing-nin didn't kill you when she had the chance."

That put Naruto into deep thought; the Sand shinobi had the chance to kill him, but why didn't she? What had prevented her from killing them? She isn't like the other Sand ninja we've met, the one's from the Chuunin Exam; she's completely different.

He shook off his thoughts and said, "You didn't answer my question. Where is Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura's stern face softened into a look that Naruto didn't like the sight of, a troubled look. He asked her the question again, only this time demanding an answer.

"He's—um, he's in the Critical Care unit on the second…" she began, but he didn't let her finish. Stopping only to pull on his shoes, he raced out the door and up the stairs of the hospital without stopping, startling many doctors, nurses, and patients. He finally came to stop in front of a set of double-doors with a sign above that read "Critital Care". If Kakashi-sensei is in critical condition, Naruto thought uneasily, that Sand shinobi must have really messed him up.

As he barged through the doors two people in animal masks stopped him. The more he struggled to break free, the tighter they held him.

"Hold on a moment," one of them said, "Where do you think you are going? This is where the patients in critical condition are."

"You can't come in here," the other said. Naruto glared at them and shouted, "Let me go! I need to see Kakashi-sensei! I need to!"

The two people in animal masks looked at each other for a moment, and then looked down at Naruto.

"You can't go in to see Kakashi Hatake, at this moment."

"Why not?!" Naruto shouted in anger and frustration. He needed to know if his sensei was all right, after all he passed out from the pain during the fight. "Why can't I go see Kakashi-sensei?!"

"Because," one of the masked people hesitated, "Because he's in a very deep coma. He hasn't woken up for two days." Naruto felt his heart stop. His sensei was in a coma? He put his head down in shame; he had fought hard to protect his sensei from the Sand ninja, and yet still she had managed to critically injure him. He curled his hands into fists and cursed the foreign ninja. No matter what good she did, he would never forgive her. One of the people in the animal masks placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, and then walked out of the hospital without another word.


Is Kakashi out for good? How will Naruto react when he meets Sasha again? Though that chapter won't come for a while, please be patient. Here's a better question: What will Tsunade do when Sasha is brought to her? Read it when it comes (the next chapter I mean)...'One Condition'. People, I will lose my house if I don't get reviews! (JKXD)


Teaser: "You thought you could escape from out village unharmed," Tsunade said as she landed two more punches, "You should have looked deeper into the files of the Hidden Leaf Village. We are one of the five most powerful villages with some of the best shinobi, so you could have never been able to complete your mission and return to the wind country alive."

Shizune watched from behind the desk, feeling sick with disgust. She had never seen Tsunade do this to any shinobi, let alone a mere child...