1As the two medics prepared a needle, two more walked in the door.
"What's going on here?" a man asked, looking at the first pair of medics working at Naruto's beside.
"May I ask what you're doing here?," Gaara replied, tensing himself and readying his sand, hidden away as it was.
"We came here to perform Master Uzumaki's daily checkup," the other replied, a woman.
Gaara looked at her warily. Woman in the sand country didn't lie, at least, not usually, especially about something as serious and important as this. Taking care to make sure the second pair didn't see, he slowly unclenched his fists, letting the sand that was hidden under the floorboard relax into piles.
"There must've been a mistake," he said, speaking softly, "the hospital must've accidently sent two squads instead of the usual one."
"There's no mistake," said the man again, scrutinizing the other two medics carefully, "the hospital is very precise when it comes to home cases, especially ones that take place in your house, and speaking of the hospital, I don't recognize either of you from the staff and why aren't you wearing the standard sand country medical badge?–"
As Gaara looked confusedly from one pair to the other, the first medic threw two kunais, killing both of the other medics without once looking away from his work. At the same time the other had turned and had begun to attack Gaara. It was an assassination attempt!
As Gaara easily fended off the pitiful blows with fist and kunai from the second medic, he looked around for the first, the twin of his attacker. The first was just flicking the needle, making sure no air bubbles were present. When he turned around and saw Gaara looking at him, he flashed an evil smile.
"Well, Kazekage-sama, it seems that this one won't be waking up for a long time. I'll just give him some poison to try and help it along. Don't worry, nobody will miss him. It'll be just like putting a mangy stray dog to sleep!" And with a laugh, he bent over Naruto and swabbed his arm.
For one moment, one moment, Gaara was distracted. The death that hovered over his beloved's was almost too much to bear. But as Gaara cocooned the medic in sand and crushed him along with the poisoned needle, the second got through his protection and sliced neatly across Gaara's jugular.
Blood spurted from the gaping wound as Gaara collapsed back into a chair, trying to staunch the flow. His attacker backed off, snarling, holding a kunai out in front of him to ward off any possible attacks. Gaara just stared at him with his cold jade eyes.
"Who're you working for?"
The words came out with a bubbling rasp to it. The fake medic also might've partly severed his trachea. He was proud of himself.
"Well, seeing as how you're probably going to die from blood loss in about 5 minutes or suffocation, whichever comes first," he sneered, pacing up to the end of Naruto's bed. "We're working for an organization that has its eyes set on every ninja village in existence. Even now, as you die, other villages are being infiltrated and soon, other kages will be dying, same as you."
He left Naruto's bed, pacing forward until he stood directly in front of the Gaara, leaning over and leering at him. "It's too bad that you can't send any messages in time," he laughed.
"It's too bad that you're going to hell," said another. As Gaara watched, five fingers with claws wreathed with fire-red chakra pierced through the fake medic's neck, blood spurting as he fell to the ground, dead. As he fell, Gaara had eyes for only one thing, and that was the person standing before him.
Naruto stood panting next to the crumpled body, his hand covered in blood. His nails shrank back and the chakra aura faded. He slumped and almost collapsed, but when Gaara made a move to help him, he laughed and feebly straightened up again.
"Oh, don't worry," Naruto jibed, limping around the body and to come to Gaara, "I'm just really tired from lying in that bed for who know's how long. You, on the other hand, are about to die because he cut your carotid and you're worried about me?" Gaara smiled, however weakly, and as Naruto carefully began to tear long strips from the kazekage robe, his eyes rolled up into his head and he went unconscious.