Thanks for continuing with this read. Nothing much will happen in this chapter. There will be some important events though that will later be important in the story. Thanks!

Chapter 10:

Tsunade watched as Sakura headed back for her hospital room. Kakashi and the others were also in the hospital dealing with the minor injuries they had. She took a deep breath and made her way into the blonde's hospital room. Doctors were surrounding him taking blood samples and placing them on scrolls. Shizune was trying different antidotes on them with no luck.

"We shouldn't be going to that resort yet." Tsunade said, "We still need to find what exactly is causing this. Get me a couple microscopes. I'm going to take another look. We need to find what exactly this thing is."

A nurse nodded and ran off to find a microscope. Tsunade turned back around and looked at the blond. He was sleeping still but it looked like he was in a lot of pain. She turned to face Shizune who was looking a bit nervous. It was officially day five still and would end tomorrow. The nurse came back in with a couple microscopes.

"Now get me that medical fluid I'm going to try and remove the toxins from his body." Tsunade said, "Now when I begin I want you to hold him down. This should help."

They nodded and the nurse ran off once again to get what Tsunade requested. Tsunade was a bit nervous though. This may or may not work. If she didn't remove all of it then he would still be infected. They would be back at square one.

Naruto

Sakura walked down the hallway very slowly. She was still a bit shocked but knew that her master could save Naruto. As she walked down the hallway she bumped into her sensei who still hadn't put his mask on.

"Kakashi-sensei", Sakura mumbled, "are you ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine Sakura; I just need a new mask that's all." Kakashi replied realizing she didn't make a comment or anything about the absence of his mask

"Ok Kakashi-sensei."

"Sakura what is the matter?"

Sakura just looked at him for about five minutes without saying anything.

"What is the matter Sakura? I'm your sensei so you can trust me."

"Let me just say Naruto was poisoned on our mission. If Tsunade-sama doesn't find a cure he'll die."

Kakashi widened his eyes for a little. He hadn't suspected that.

"Don't worry Sakura he'll be fine." Kakashi said staying calm

"I hope you're right Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi nodded and began to walk off. Sakura smiled hoping that he was right. Naruto would be fine and back to himself in no time. Then everything would be fine and the two of them could be together.

Naruto

Tsunade placed her hands in the liquid. The doctors each placed a hand on Naruto's limbs to keep him down. He was still sleeping but they knew he would wake up in a second. Tsunade removed her hands from the liquid. She was holding a large portion of the liquid in her hands. She placed it into his stomach. Naruto's eyes shot open and he began to struggle. He tried to break free from the doctors' grasps.

"Hold him down." Shizune commanded

"I have something." Tsunade said pulled out the liquid

The entire room seemed to just gasp as the liquid came into sight. The entire inside had red liquid. The only thing inside the liquid was blood. Tsunade quickly placed it into another bowl. There must be some form of internal bleeding. She would heal that with her chakra.

"It didn't work did it?" Shizune asked

"I'm not sure." Tsunade mumbled

Naruto began to cough. A nurse grabbed a bucket and Naruto coughed out pure blood. A dark red color meaning it was fresh. Tsunade cringed as she looked at it. Though she mostly got over her fear of blood it was still there. She turned away and watched Naruto slowly put his head back on the pillow.

"What the hell happened?" asked one of the doctors

"I don't know." Tsunade admitted, "Take the blood I extracted and look at it under a microscope."

The doctor nodded and took a sample of the blood. Tsunade walked back over to Naruto and placed her hand on his stomach. Emerald chakra covered her hand and began to heal any hurt areas of his body. She made sure that it was at her strongest to heal any internal bleeding. She also wanted him to feel better.

"It hurts baa-chan." he mumbled

"Don't worry Naruto we'll make everything better ok." she reassured hoping she was right as she strengthened he medical ninjutsu

His eyes closed and he seemed to fall back into a restless sleep. Tsunade turned to the doctors who seemed a bit shaken. She looked at them strangely and they motioned her to take a look under the microscope. Tsunade took a look at the blood she had just extracted. She was confused at what she saw. The blood cells seemed to be discolored by something green.

"What is this?" she asked

"It appears that the poison has somehow mixed in with his blood cells." a doctor said, "It may explain why the Kyubi can't heal him. If it tried then it would be forced to attack his own cells causing further damage. The poison or whatever this is seems to have attached themselves to his blood cells. That means…"

"I know what it means!" Tsunade yelled at the doctor who was now a bit afraid, "We can't extract the poison as easily as we thought. The only way to keep him alive is to find the cure! We need to start immediately looking for the similarity in the different particles in the poison. If we can't, he's as good as dead."

They nodded instantly fearing Tsunade would kill them if they didn't start working harder. Tsunade put her hands to her face. This poison was much more advanced then any other poison she had seen. It had too many backups and acted almost more like a virus than a poison.

"Can I trust you people to try and develop some form of cure for this right now?" Tsunade asked, "I need to do something."

"You can trust us Tsunade-sama." a doctor said, "We'll begin taking blood samples and checking more data."

Tsunade nodded and left the room. The doctors including Shizune turned and faced each other.

"I'm not sure that we can cure him." a doctor mumbled, "This poison is just amazing. It had put up so many stops and blocks disabling us to find a cure."

"We can't let Lady Tsunade hear this." Shizune mumbled, "I know the odds against us are extremely high but maybe we can find a cure."

They nodded and immediately got to work.

Naruto

Sakura was lying in her bed just thinking. She knew this wasn't happening. It was a nightmare nothing more nothing less. She would wake up and be sitting in her home getting ready to go get ramen with Naruto.

"I'm so damn weak aren't I?" she mumbled to herself, "I should've dodged. I should've jumped out of the way."

There was the sound of her doorknob turning and she looked to see Tsunade. What did she want? Sakura was starting to get annoyed with the constant visiting.

"Tsunade-sama what is it now?" Sakura asked

"I'm sorry I keep visiting you." Tsunade mumbled, "I just keep bringing bad news don't I? Well get ready for this one. The chances are getting a bit lower. That doesn't mean we can't sure him, but it may be a bit harder than expected."

Sakura just looked at her a bit confused, "What do you mean?"

"This poison doesn't act like a normal poison. It seems to have combined with Naruto's blood cells making it harder to extract." Tsunade mumbled, "I just wish we had the original creator of this poison. That person should be able to tell us how to cure it."

Sakura suddenly began to think of that Akatsuki member. The kunai, the different poison's he used, when he said something about a cave in the sound. All different things about him and how he said things flooded her mind. He was the creator and probably knew the cure.

"Sakura are you ok?" Tsunade asked

"I know what I have to do." Sakura replied

Tsunade looked at her a bit worried but shook it off.

"I want you to rest ok. You can visit Naruto in an hour. We will be leaving the room for a break at that time. Try and get some rest ok." Tsunade said putting a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder

Sakura nodded and watched as Tsunade left the room.

'I'm going to save Naruto I promise.' she thought to herself getting up

She ran towards the door and opened it. She looked around for Tsunade and crept out. She walked down the hallway very slow. She was still in her hospital gown but didn't care. She formed a hand sign. Tsunade had taught her this jutsu a long time ago for an escape. It only worked for a matter of minutes, but that was enough. She became invisible, and she quickly walked out the front of the hospital. Once out of the hospital she undid her jutsu and ran towards her house.

'I better get ready.' she thought running

She knew that what she was planning was crazy but she needed to do it. If she didn't she could loose her best friend. She was pretty much the only one on the street. It was dark and by the time she reached her house the lights were off.

"Why does mom always have to go to bed so early?" she mumbled putting her finger to the doorbell because she left her keys inside

Sakura waited for about ten minutes before the door finally opened. Her mom was wearing a long bathrobe and was rubbing her eyes. She must have been sleeping for a long time.

"Is that you Sakura?" she asked smiling and pulling her daughter into a hug, "I thought it was some jerk who was trying to sell me stuff again. That is why I took so long. Aren't you supposed to be in the hospital? Oh god I should have visited, but Hokage-sama told me you needed rest."

"Mom its ok, I'm fine." Sakura replied slightly smiling, "I need to get some things then I'm going back to the hospital."

"You had me so worried you know that?" her mother said, "Now please take it easy and get back to the hospital soon. I don't want you to get in trouble with our Hokage ok."

"Ok mom, don't worry. I need to go to my room now"

Her mother nodded and allowed her daughter to run into her room. Sakura quickly looked around and grabbed her ninja gear. She changed out of her hospital gown and into her normal ninja attire. She put a couple scrolls in a bag and grabbed her weapon holder. She ran back downstairs and gave her mother a kiss goodbye before running out the door. She knew that by the time she got back she could visit Naruto alone.

Naruto

Tsunade allowed the others doctor to leave the room where Naruto was. They had done some more research but it wasn't helping. It would take much more than five days to undo this poison. Tsunade walked up to Naruto and stroked his hair. She wasn't going to let another one that she loved more than anything die.

"Baa-chan is everything ok?" he asked surprising the Hokage

"Naruto don't worry ok. I'm sure you'll be fine. We have our best team of medics working on a cure." Tsunade said looking him in the eyes, "You'll be fine."

Tsunade hated telling him lies. She could only hope he would be fine. Naruto seemed to pick up on this and looked at her as if saying he doubted her.

"Good night Naruto." she said leaving the room and turning the lights off

Naruto just nodded and was resting. His body felt like it was on fire and his headache had gotten slightly worse. If he had to cough up blood he just had to sit up and turn his head slightly. They had placed the buckets closer to him. There were also nurses in the halls. Suddenly he heard the doorknob begin to turn. The door opened and Sakura walked in.

"Sakura-chan", he said smiling, "I was starting to miss you"

"Same here Naruto." she replied sitting down on a chair next to him, "Here give me your hand."

He lifted his hand and she held it in her lap. She slowly started rubbing it trying to massage it. Naruto smiled slightly obviously enjoying it. Sakura looked at him and noticed what had happened to him. Even in the moonlight she could tell he was like a dead version of himself. He had already lost his tan and was very pale and he was cold. His hand was so cold it was weird. Whatever this poison was it was slowly but surely killing him.

"Naruto this is going to pinch." Sakura said suddenly taking a blood sample

Naruto nodded and watched as she took five blood samples. He was about to ask what she needed them for but decided against it.

"Sakura-chan I'm actually afraid." he said as calmly as he could, "I didn't want to tell baa-chan but I'm afraid."

"You can be Naruto." Sakura replied, "It is perfectly ok."

"I should be stronger", he said, "I really wish I could leave this damn hospital room. I really want so ramen right now. I hate being here. I've never liked hospitals."

"Naruto", she mumbled with tears in her eyes, 'you'll be fine, ok?"

"You really think baa-chan can find a cure?"

"Naruto I don't know, but I will find a cure." Sakura said confidently, "You really don't know how much you really mean to me Naruto. I'm not going to let you die."

"Sakura-chan what do you mean you will find a cure? I know you're really good with medical ninjutsu but even baa-chan is having trouble."

"I'm going by myself to find that Akatsuki member who poisoned you. I'm going to get a cure from him no matter what I have to do", Sakura replied, "I know you don't believe me Naruto but I really do love you. Without you I'd be nothing. You were always the one who comforted me whenever I was feeling really bad. You helped me so much through my life that I'd gladly give mine to help you."

"Sakura-chan stop this. I don't know what you are planning on doing, but it sounds too dangerous. Baa-chan will find a cure and then everything will be fine. Don't risk your life ok. If I make it through and you got hurt or killed I couldn't live with myself. Please don't do this Sakura-chan whatever you are thinking about."

"You already fulfilled your promise to me. You saved me from that poison by sacrificing yourself. Though you may not think so Naruto, I love you now as much as I once did Sasuke, even more actually much more. I want to prove to you that I do love you like I say I love you. I don't want you to think that I'm just lying, I'm telling the truth"

"You being here is enough proof, Sakura-chan!" Naruto replied, "Please just stay here. I really don't want you to go."

"Naruto I'm leaving tonight for the sound village. I need to get that cure for you no matter what. I want to prove to you how much I care about you. That was my promise to you Naruto and I'm going to fulfill it." Sakura said giving him a comforting smile

"I won't let you Sakura-chan. What if the man who poisoned me isn't there! If you go I will personally stop you. I'll get baa-chan, Kakashi-sensei anybody to stop you." Naruto warned, "I can't let you."

"I want you to trust me Naruto." she said, 'I promise you I will be back and I will save you. You have to promise me though that you will take me out somewhere, anywhere. You have to tell me that you trust me."

"I promise Sakura-chan, and I trust you." he said defeated, "Be careful Sakura-chan, please be careful." Naruto said

"Don't worry Naruto-kun. I'll get you back to your normal self very soon." Sakura said smiling

Naruto was shocked she had called him 'Naruto-kun'. The thing that surprised him the most was when she bent down and gave him a kiss directly on the lips. He was too shocked to even really kiss back. That inability stopped soon though and he returned the kiss. At least a minute past, before Sakura forced herself to pull away. He looked back up at her and smiled. He couldn't really say anything.

"I'll see you real soon Naruto-kun." she said blushing slightly

Naruto was blushing as well. He only nodded and smiled at her. He still couldn't say anything. He could only let go of her hand and watch her leave the room.

"I love you Sakura-chan." he mumbled, "I hope you stay safe."

Sakura had begun to run through the village. She had to get to the sound and fast. It would take her a day to get to the sound. That was why she had to pick up the pace.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for waiting, but I hope to update quicker. Thank you once again!