Disclaimer: I no own Naruto. If I did, Sakura wouldn't be such an oblivious or selfish character.

It is unfortunate news that Eccentric cannot continue to beta this story. The good news is that Fortuna16 has joined the group for the wonders that this story shall face in the future!

Please give a loud round of applause to Fortuna16 and Cheerful Regression!

Chapter 10: My heart

Naruto stumbled home, already his body felt hot and his tongue thick with parchedness. He was going to his apartment and straight to bed. He had a feeling that tonight was going to be really bad. Naruto put his hand to his head, trying to cool off his hot forehead, it didn't work. Naruto let out a small groan as he ascended the last set of stairs and turned onto his hallway.

He halted in his tracks. A man of rather large bulk stood in front of his door. One of the bodyguards for Satoshi, he was in the middle of the hall knocking on his door. Naruto let out another groan. That could only mean one thing. At the sound the man turned, greasy long blonde hair falling into his face with the motion, and frowned. The small amount of whiskers and flabby cheeks on the twenty-five year old seemed to migrate several inches south with the frown and light green eyes narrowed accordingly. His name, as Naruto learned the first night of work, was Griswald. He'd laughed hard at that… right before getting a black eye. Naruto unconsciously forced himself to walk straighter without relying on the handrail like he'd been doing moments before. He took deep even breaths and stuffed his hands into his jacket in an attempt to hide how weak he felt at the moment.

"Naruto, several of the waiters didn't show up tonight. No notice. Not at home. Nothing. I know you're sick, but Satoshi needs you tonight – offered double pay even," Griswald said in a surprisingly light voice.

Naruto nodded grimly. "Just give me a minute," Naruto said quietly.

While getting ready Naruto made sure to hide a pair of kunai on each leg. He could use kunai like an extension of himself with little to no effort after all the practice he'd been doing the last few months. If he was in a tight spot tonight and couldn't rely on his body, then he'd be able to defend with his kunai at least.

Ibiki and Anko, the head of Torture and Interrogation and his eccentric second in command, went to the bar, the same bar, every Monday night. The 'Sober's Tomb' Bar was in one of the darker areas of Konoha, but they served the strongest alcoholic beverages around. The two walked in, their presence immediately garnering the looks of many, eyes wearily following them to their table. The eyes of the purple haired snake woman immediately fell upon something that took up her interest. She grinned and nodded her head in the direction of a certain individual. Ibiki humored her and peered behind him, a slight twitch of the lips was the only sign of reaction when the man spotted the boy.

The small boy, around 11 maybe 12, walked around the bar taking orders and bringing drinks. He hid his hair under a black bandana and hid his face with black bandages. Draped all in black, his most distinguishing feature was a pair of icy blue eyes that seemed to see right through you. Anko would kill to see what the rest of his face looked like. It was rare that they saw the boy as a waiter, he normally hid in the back, fulfilling other duties. But despite the rarity of it, the boy was their favorite server. His sweet nature yet sarcastic attitude left both special jounins with smiles on their faces by the end of the night.

The boy seemed to be moving slower today though as he migrated to their direction, taking orders and requests all the while. When he finally got around to their table, Anko gave the boy a shit-eating smile. "Still working this crap shoot of a job?" Anko asked.

The boy snorted. "Still showing as much as possible within the legal limits?" The boy asked hoarsely, pointing his pen at Anko's mesh shirt, the usual greeting.

Anko frowned. "You sound like shit kid," Anko commented.

The boy shrugged. "A lot of workers didn't come in tonight so I had no choice," the boy replied hoarsely. "So what can I get you?"

Anko and Ibiki shared a glance. "I'll have a Mudslide, with cream no milk, over ice not blended" Anko said happily.

The boy nodded, jotting it down and looking expectantly at Ibiki. "Cinnamon Vodka, no ice," the man answered.

The boy moved slowly toward the bar, movements stiff. They both watched silently. "Too many damn orphans in this village and nowhere to go," Anko commented idly. Ibiki agreed.

They'd been there for nearly an hour, downing their drinks and making conversation with each other and their server, when a fight broke out in the middle of the bar. Anko leaned to the side to see better, eagerly anticipating some good blood being spilt, until she saw the boy. The young server was unfortunately near enough to get shoved into a table, the three glasses on his platter crashing to the floor and breaking. The young server swayed a bit before steadying himself and walked over to the two men quite calmly.

One of the men swung at him, but the boy simply sidestepped him, and chopped him in the back of the neck, knocking him out instantly. Two of the bar's bodyguards came rushing out even as the boy moved to the second man, who was angrily screaming at the unconscious one. The drunken man tried to grab a hold of the boy when he came near, but the boy easily ducked and gave a strong right hook into the soft belly of the man. The man vomited as he fell to the floor, hands reaching out for anything to slow his descent. His hands found only the back of a black shirt and a small black piece of bandage to grip before losing consciousness and slamming onto the cold tiled floor. The boy managed to rip his shirt from the man before he was brought done with him, but his black bandages came slightly undone. Not enough to show anything but loose enough that they could easily come completely off at any time.

A few of the more exuberant drunks clapped and laughed as the bodyguards collected the two men and tossed them out onto the streets, hollering and billowing their amusement. Anko normally would have joined in except her eyes were worriedly watching the boy who stood to the side, leaning heavily against a booth, and holding his forehead in shaking hands. "I had a feeling the kid had shinobi skills," Ibiki said softly, taking a shot of vodka.

"Yeah, I'm gonna check and see if he's alright. He looks like he's about to puke himself," Anko said as she stood up.

Ibiki watched her, a small smirk on his lips. Tough, Anko may be, but for certain people who managed to get under her skin they'd find quite the softy.

As she got closer to the boy she noticed that his black bandages were much looser than she'd ever seen them. When she stood in front of him and the boy still didn't seem aware of her presence, Anko gently touched his shoulders. The boy's head shot up, pulled away from her quickly, but the motion obviously didn't agree with him since he nearly fell to the ground. Anko reached out and steadied him before that could happen though, eyes meeting with a pair of slightly glazed over ones.

"I think you should sit down for a few minutes," Anko said, her usual boisterous voice tempered for the moment.

The boy slowly nodded in agreement, recognizing the voice of the snake women. Anko guided the boy to the nearest booth and sat him down, looking around for a glass of something not alcoholic. "Here," a familiar voice said.

Anko looked behind her to find Ibiki offering her his water canister. She smiled and tugged the water out of his scarred hands.

"Hey kid, can you swallow this?" Anko asked gently.

The boy looked wearily at her and the canister, shaking like a leaf from fatigue, but nodded and pulled down a bandage enough to pour some water through cracked, pale lips. He harshly coughed a few times, but the shaking wasn't as bad. Anko smiled in relief.

"Thanks," the boy croaked out.

The bandages were quite loose now, enough to see a black line across a cheek. Anko lifted her hand up to the small area of forehead not covered by the bandana and hissed in shock when her fingers met burning skin. "Kid, you've got a high fever," Anko said.

The boy nodded, trying to smile, but failed miserably when a look of intense pain flittered across his eyes. "Gotta finish my shift," the boy said with a shrug.

Anko frowned, peering behind her back at Ibiki who had a similar expression on his face. The young server leaned forward, placing his head on his knees, and breathing unsteadily.

"That doesn't look like it's going to be happening tonight young man," Ibiki said quietly. The boy took several long deep breaths before pushing himself to his feet. He almost stumbled for a moment, but seemed to pull himself together in mid air, standing tall and steady. "Thank you, but I can handle myself. I'll clean up the mess and then bring you refills on your drinks," the young server said hoarsely.

Anko looked as if she was going to push the issue but Ibiki pulled her along toward their table gently. "It's his decision. We shouldn't disrespect it," Ibiki said sternly.

Anko nodded hesitantly, returning to her seat. Neither of them knew anything about the boy's home life or even his name for that matter. If the boy felt he needed to finish his work they would not be foolish enough to question that judgment. Conversation died as they watched the boy struggle to clean up the broken glasses and vomit from the floor. Anko fingered her empty glass, cheeks slightly tinted pink by the liquor. "I heard you got a hold of a couple people yesterday," Anko said, trying to start the conversation back up, "some people lady Hokage was angry at."

Ibiki nodded. "Seems that our lady's more protective over Uzumaki than even the Third Hokage. She was furious to find some men dumped trash on the Jinchuuriki when he was passing through after a meeting with her. Can't say that I blame her, but she'll not be happy to find out what the people of Konoha have gotten away with doing to that kid," Ibiki said solemnly, taking a shot of Vodka.

"That's for damn sure. Hope all those bastards get what they deserve. I've heard some nasty shit from people about that kid," Anko said, rather depressed at the thought of it, "Kid's got one hell of a strong will that's for sure, to be smiling like an idiot, despite everything he's been through."

Ibiki chuckled. "In that respect he sort of reminds me of you," the man said.

Anko snorted. "You know that most of that crap I pull is for show. Most of the time it's just to get through the day. It's easier for me if they hate the 'crazy snake women' instead of me, I can pretend it's somebody else they hate. If they don't know me, then they can't hate me, right?" Anko asked tiredly.

Ibiki nodded in agreement. "Exactly, I personally believe that Uzumaki is as human as the rest of us. Even those who think he's not a demon look at him as if there isn't even the slightest possibility that he could be feeling sad or depressed. It's disturbing more than anything else that no one even thinks to doubt that the smiling idiot could be anything but what he shows," Ibiki said, leaning back in his seat, "For a village filled with shinobi of supposed great intelligence, there really isn't that many that the kid hasn't fooled."

Anko sat there stunned. She had not thought about it that way before. The young server came back, cleaned off of all the 'stuff' he'd inadvertently gotten on himself while picking up, with refills in hand. "I'm sorry it took so long, but we're short-handed tonight." The boy said mechanically as he set down the drinks, voice even hoarser than before and apparently unaware that he'd already mentioned the fact the first time around. Anko smiled indulgently at the fever ridden kid. "That's fine," Anko said.

"Is there anything else I can get you?" the boy asked.

Anko shook her head but to her surprise Ibiki cleared his throat. "Actually I'd like to order a meal. The steak dinner?" Ibiki said politely.

The boy stared at him a moment, slowly pulling out his pad of paper and messily wrote the order down, barely comprehensible due to the kids shaking hands. Anko stared at him questioningly, they never ate dinner at the bar because… well… the food tasted like crap. When the boy left Anko voiced her question out loud and Ibiki just shrugged. "Call it guilt if you will, but I'd like to make sure the kid gets back to his place safely and the boy's got another hour before he gets off."

Anko grinned with a glint in her dark brown eyes. "You're going soft, Sir," the young women declared.

"Just in certain areas," the man replied.

The night only got rougher for their young server. The fever seemed to worsen and the boy made a lot of mistakes through the night earning himself some vile threats from the drunk and a dark glare from his boss behind the bar. When the boss came out from behind the bar around eleven and told the boy that he could go home, the utter relief on the boy's face spoke volumes. Anko and Ibiki, having already paid for their meal, made toward the exit, and waited outside for the boy.

When the boy pulled himself through the doorway and started to walk down the street Anko called out to him. The boy spun, startled, and almost collapsed from the movement. Barely keeping his footing, his left hand immediately flew to his head, as if trying to hold it in place while his right hand lowered further toward his leg. Anko walked up to him, the boy caught sight of her and jumped away, flipping in the air and landing on a high stack of crates. Right hand immediately reaching for something attached to his inner calf of his leg. Anko raised a brow at him, impressed despite herself. She wasn't so sure she could flip like that when she was that nauseous.

"Relax kid. It's Anko remember? We just want to make sure you get home safely," Anko called out.

The boy looked at her, obviously dizzy from his little escape jump as he wavered from side to side. "Forgive me if I don't trust the customers," the boy said unsteadily.

Anko nodded. "On any other day I'd say that's completely true, but you can barely walk kid," Anko pointed out.

The boy would have protested but at that moment his dizziness won out and he found himself tumbling to the ground below. Anko moved in fast, catching the boy in her arms and supporting him as she helped him stand. The boy leaned heavily against her, covering his mouth with his hand.

"Thanks… Don't have a choice, do I?" the boy asked hoarsely.

Anko shook her head. "Not much of one kid," Anko replied teasingly.

Ibiki felt his lips twitch, but only a twitch. As they walked down the streets Anko noticed that the further they got the more heavily the boy fell on her support. Perhaps it would be better to take him to the hospital instead at this point. The boy pointed them in the correct direction, his words getting more strained and slurred for each step taken.

"Urgh –" Anko turned to the boy at the sound and was surprised to find herself being pushed away. The boy fell awkwardly on his knees, ripped down his bandages and proceeded to vomit across the road. Ibiki moved quickly beside the boy, gently holding his shoulders in case he collapsed further.

"Thanks for not puking on me kid, I appreciate it," Anko said as she moved toward him.

The boy started to chuckle a bit until more vomit filled his throat and he was puking once more. Once everything was out of his system the boy wiped his mouth and shakily got to his feet with Ibiki's help. In his fevered state the boy forgot something though, to retighten the bandages.

"You," Anko breathed in shock.

The boy panicked, ripping himself away from a startled Ibiki. He tried to run, but his aching body was attacked by an immense pain. He fell to the ground holding his chest and barely repressing a scream. Anko moved to his side, gently pulling him up and supporting him with her strength. Ibiki caught up and saw the boy's face as well. Whisker marks spread across the red, fever ridden cheeks of the young server, telling all far and wide that the person who bore them was a Jinchuuriki.

"It's okay Naruto, we're not gonna hurt ya kid," Anko told him quietly.

Anko met Ibiki's eyes, giving the man a silent signal. The man nodded and disappeared to get a medic.

Shizune felt an immense headache coming on. She gently massaged her temple with soft, slightly delicate fingers as the doctor across from her argued with an ANBU beside her, who refused to get the necessary shot. The tall masked figure was not pleased at all, his once bloody leg bandaged up and healed. A nin-dog of an enemy shinobi from the Village Hidden in the Rocks had bitten him during a battle and as was the custom treatment for such an injury, the man needed a rabies shot that just happened to require being taken in the ass. The ANBU was most definitely not pleased.

Shizune looked up when a large man entered the room and motioned for her to come over quickly. Shizune silently thanked whoever was watching over her and excused herself to speak with Ibiki. "I need your help with a sick genin, Shizune-san," Ibiki said seriously.

Shizune nodded and immediately followed the man as he hurriedly made his way out of the hospital. "Why didn't you bring him directly to hospital and why choose me? There are many qualified medical Nin for some sick genin," Shizune asked as they leaped onto the roofs.

"Anko and I considered it, but when we found out who it was, we knew we couldn't do that," Ibiki answered simply.

Shizune raised her brow in question. When they found out who he was? They hadn't known before hand? Who could it be that couldn't just have any medic? "What do you mean by that?" Shizune asked.

Ibiki sighed as he dodged a pole and leaped over a rather large roof wall. "The genin is Naruto Uzumaki," Ibiki answered.

Shizune stared at him for a moment, startled. "Naruto's sick?" Shizune whispered, unconsciously picking up her pace.

"Very sick," Ibiki answered once more.

Shizune bit her lip, thinking about the argument Naruto had with Tsunade and the searching the two of them had been doing. It appeared they had their just cause for wanting to take him to the hospital… Her mind stopped on her and rewound a bit. Ibiki had said something that still seemed off.

"Even if the person is Naruto why didn't you bring him to the hospital?" Shizune asked.

Ibiki stayed silent and for a moment Shizune thought he was going to ignore her. "The Third brought a Konoha doctor to my interrogation room once," the scarred man said slowly, "for purposely 'forgetting' to give a child numbing medicine before an operation of a damaged heart."

Shizune couldn't help it. She leaped to the ground and puked on the side of the road. Ibiki gracefully landed beside her, pulling her hair back and out of her face as she continued to empty her stomach. Shizune shook uncontrollably in horror. "Oh god. Oh my god," she whispered as she took a cloth out of her pocket and wiped her mouth.

"The gas used to knock a patient out during an operation was replaced with a temporary paralysis gas so that the child couldn't move or scream," Ibiki continued.

Shizune bent over again and the last of her dinner paid her a visit. "The damaged heart developed due to a combination of malnutrition and… abuse of the child. All the abusers were taken care of personally by the Third. The damage was extensive enough that even the boy's healing abilities could not fully fix it. If I remember correctly he was about seven, maybe eight, when he had the operation done. Naruto has recovered enough from the incident to go inside a hospital to visit a friend, but not enough to be admitted to one under any circumstance," Ibiki finished quietly.

"Oh god," was all Shizune could say.

"We need to hurry, I don't know how serious Naruto's illness is," Ibiki reminded her, though not unkindly.

Shizune nodded and soon both rose to the roof times and across the village. When the two landed in front of the apartment complex of Naruto's building they took the stairs two at a time. Ibiki had left them in the streets but knew Naruto was coherent enough to have directed Anko to his home. One more reason for Ibiki choosing the women besides the obvious was that she knew where Naruto lived.

The first thing they heard when opening the door was the sound of an agonized scream. Shizune rushed through the living room/kitchen and pushed aside the curtain-makeshift-door to see Anko holding Naruto's hand. The bandana, bandages, and shirt had been stripped away and a cold, wet cloth placed on his forehead. His entire body dripped with feverish sweat and his face was contorted in pain as he squeezed Anko's hand. Shizune could also clearly see that the blonde was having difficulty breathing as his chest rose and sank fast but with obvious strain. Naruto's eyes were tightly closed, his left hand clenching the bed sheets underneath him. Much to Shizune's growing horror she could count Naruto's ribs and see the gentle bumps where she knew organs lay under muscle.

She and Lady Tsunade had believed that Naruto had been sick for a few weeks from what Hana Inuzuka had reported from Guruko. After talking to Naruto himself and finding that it had been going on long enough for the third Hokage to know, they'd assumed that it was an illness that came up every once in a while but that wasn't dangerous. So while they had been keen to find out what it was and how they could help, they took a leisurely attitude towards it and not pushed Naruto too hard for answers. Now with what Ibiki had just told her and what she saw before herself, she had another theory. The Third did know about the problem as Naruto claimed, but she'd be willing to bet anything that Naruto hid the side effects of that problem from Sarutobi at all costs.

She understood now why Naruto would hide it from Tsunade. She'd spent a lot of time with Naruto these last couple months. She had been delighted in his interests of making medicine from herbs, entertained by his surprisingly intelligent conversations and humorous stories, enraged by the treatment she saw him receive when people believed he was by himself, surprised by his eagerness to learn, confused by the relationship he held with his team because at times they seemed close and during others it seemed as if they didn't know each other at all, and humbled in how far Naruto would go to make the people around him happy.

Sure Naruto could be loud, sometimes he could make stupid comments and maybe he needed a little extra time to understand things but… she didn't understand how the people around him could condemn him so easily for such small things. How they could hit him for it or insult him or act like they were ten times better than him when they, themselves, held far more detrimental faults. They claimed he was annoying, but Shizune could hardly see how. Most of Naruto's wayward comments were in fact very true. When he comes into the office and speaks with Tsunade, it isn't as Hokage and genin, but as older sister and younger brother. He shouldn't be hit for calling her "Baa-chan" or commenting on her drinking or calling Tsunade on her own rude remarks. To be absolutely honest, it annoyed her to no end to see Sakura hit the boy or Sasuke insult him. His own sensei joined in sometimes, telling the blonde that he was in the wrong in something or another.

If Jiraiya didn't already hold the claim of having him as an apprentice, she would have asked for him weeks ago. While Naruto could not learn any type of medical ninjutsu due to being a Jinchuuriki, the boy showed great skill in being able to make medicine and evaluate the status of a patient. Naruto was even good at treating small wounds that didn't need to be treated with chakra. She could further those skills and teach him a few of her own nonmedical jutsu. When Shizune heard that Sakura, the boy's teammate of all people, was to be Tsunade's apprentice she'd broken the pencil in her hand. If only Naruto hadn't made her promise not to tell anyone.

Teams in Konoha were kept balanced for the best results. If one team member chose genjutsu as their main specialty the other two were 'highly encouraged' to specialize in something else. Team Gai for example: Neji focused on chakra control and inner damage to the body, Lee focused on strength and outer damage to the body, Tenten focused on weaponry for long distance to cover her two teammates' greatest weakness. They balanced out to create the perfect combat specialists squad. Only a medical squad sent to assist an injured team needed more than one medic. She would bet every last dime she had that Naruto said nothing about the fact that he was already certified. If Sakura wanted to be a medic he would pretend that his certification didn't exist, and as long as Shizune didn't say anything about it, no one would be the wiser.

Shizune's hands glowed green as she moved to the side of the bed, kneeling down and placing her cold hands on Naruto's chest as he let out another agonized scream. Shizune's eyes widened. Naruto's own chakra was unwillingly attacking his insides. The chakra was leaking out of Naruto's chakra coils and dangerously rapping itself around the thirteen-year-old's organs. The chakra wasn't moving inside the organs or rapping around enough to squeeze them, but there mere presence outside the coils and around the organs was burning them slightly while simultaneously straining the rest of Naruto's body. It wasn't lethal in and of itself, but it caused the fever, vomiting and a horrifying amount of pain. Shizune searched but… no matter how long she sat there she couldn't find the source of what was causing it.

There was one other problem though. Naruto screamed in agony again, gripping the place over his heart tightly, tears of pain sliding through closed eyelids. If she hadn't been looking for it she never would have found it. Within one of the chambers of Naruto's heart she found damage. The damage in his heart was reacting harshly to the strain on Naruto's body, causing an already painful illness to be nearly tripled in pain. Shizune felt tears slide down her face. How long had Naruto been in this condition? Slowly, with her years of experience, Shizune coaxed Naruto's chakra back into the coils. Then she softly moved her healing chakra around the organs, repairing any small intense burns she found. It was a temporary fix at best since she didn't know the cause for the condition and thus couldn't stop the chakra from leaving again. Naruto's heart was another matter. He would need an open surgery in order to get a combination of medical jutsu and seal healing to take effect that far into his chest. She didn't even want to think about how she was going to get Naruto to go along with it after what Ibiki told her. Shizune allowed her chakra to fade.

Beneath her hands she could feel Naruto shaking. Naruto already seemed to be doing better, his breathing had finally evened out, and while still suffering from a fever, it was slowly ebbing. Shizune guessed it would be another hour before it lowered to something safe. The best part was that Naruto was no longer screaming in pain, which meant his heart had also reacted to fixing the chakra problem.

"Is he gonna be alright?" Shizune jumped as she remembered for the first time since entering the room that there were two others beside herself.

Shizune brushed back a wet blonde lock from Naruto's sleeping face and gave the boy a tender smile. "I think he'll be okay but… there are still too many unanswered questions to be certain," Shizune told Anko, who had been the one to ask.

The snake women still held onto Naruto's hand as she nodded in understanding. "I'm going to stay with him through the night and tomorrow I'll talk to Tsunade about what we should do about this," Shizune told the others.

Ibiki nodded in understanding while Anko looked hesitant to leave. Shizune gave her a tired but genuine smile. "I promise, nothing with happen to him while I'm watching," Shizune assured.

The other woman nodded before standing up and leaving with her partner.

Some time after Ibiki and Anko left, early in the morning of the next day Shizune sat next to the bed nursing a cup of tea in her hands. Naruto lay unmoving on the bed, the only sign of life was the steady rise and fall of his chest. Shizune's mind tumbled with thoughts. She reached out a hand and brushed away straw colored strands of hair to feel his forehead. It was a little warm, a very low fever, much better than the burning high fever of last night. Naruto's eyes scrunched up and the boy turned his head in reaction to the touch, but his form stayed asleep.

Naruto would never willingly enter a hospital for himself. It was understandable given what happened… Shizune shuddered as Ibiki's words came back to her. "The Third brought a Konoha doctor to my interrogation room once, for purposely 'forgetting' to give a child numbing medicine before an operation of a damaged heart. The gas used to knock a patient out during an operation was replaced with a temporary paralysis gas so that the child couldn't move or scream." She couldn't even begin to imagine the pain and terror that experience brought, and Naruto had only been seven years old for god's sake. It surprised her immensely, now that she knew, that Naruto had been able to visit his team mate in the hospital with such calmness. It surprised her even more that Naruto had an interest and talent for making medicine. Life truly could not be so accidentally ironic, there had to be someone up there laughing there asses off at them all.

It made her think though… Did that mean that the problem with Naruto's heart had been left unattended to for the past six years? Had Naruto not gone to the hospital for anything since the incident? Naruto coughed and moaned in his sleep, turning on his side and unconsciously dragging the blanket further over himself. Shizune took another sip of her swiftly cooling tea and noted with growing irritability the coldness of the room. The apartment was not in any way a good place for someone who was sick. It wouldn't be a good idea to put Naruto in the hospital if the problem was with his heart though. The heart would react badly to any stress put on it and now that Shizune knew about the incident she would make sure that she and Lady Tsunade were able to take care of him without placing him in a hospital. She couldn't bear the thought of forcing Naruto to stay in a place that was a nightmare for him.

The heart… "Oh," Shizune said and thought in surprise.

The heart was a major conductor of Chakra and by extension the center of chakra control. If the heart was damaged in any way then Chakra control would be thrown completely out of whack. Jinchuuriki always held a great deal of difficulty when it came to chakra control due to the sheer amount of chakra they possess, but Shizune had always thought that Naruto's control was much worse than it should be. She knew the boy practiced an insane amount of hours on it without getting any results, hell, practically everyone knew. Many of the rookies' found great pleasure in teasing the Jinchuuriki about how lousy his control was and frequently blamed it on Naruto's supposed stupidity.

Naruto turned over again and his eyes cracked open just enough to see a slimmer of blue. Dull eyes laced with illness stared at her for a long moment, trying desperately to recognize who sat in front of him, body tense. Shizune set her tea cup down and took the wash cloth from the water filled bowl she'd prepared and stroked Naruto's face with it. "How are you feeling Naruto-kun?" Shizune asked sweetly.

Naruto's body visibly relaxed at the sound of the women's voice. "Shizune?" Naruto asked hoarsely, voice cracking painfully at the end.

"Shhh. You shouldn't talk Naruto-kun, you've been very sick. I'll be right back," Shizune said sternly, standing up.

Shizune went and got some tea, grumbling to herself at the terrifying lack of food in the house. Some honey would have greatly helped the genin's throat right about now. When she entered through the curtain/door it was to see Naruto struggling to sit up in the bed. Shizune frowned, setting the teacup down on the bedside dresser and hurriedly went to help him. Her hands went to his back, wincing as she felt the protruding spine, and carefully pulled him into a sitting position. From the last time she saw him lying on the hotel bed he'd lost at least ten pounds and on an already small frame like Naruto's it was extremely dangerous. Why hadn't anyone noticed how sick Naruto was before this? Surely his team mates saw something?

Naruto nodded his thanks to her, his hand holding the now warm, wet cloth to his forehead. "You should have waited for me to help you," Shizune said sternly as she reached for the tea. "Drink." Shizune commanded, placing the cup near the blonde's lips. Naruto grimaced, but tiredly nodded and let the cloth in his hand fall to the bed. His hands shakily went up to the cup and half held it with Shizune's steady hand while he sipped at it. When half the cup was done and Naruto couldn't stomach any more Shizune set it down again.

"I really wish you would have told me Naruto-kun," Shizune said gently.

Naruto slowly shook his head, pulling his body back till it touched the backboard of his bed. His body sagging against it and welcoming the solid support. "'M fine. Is nothen'," Naruto mumbled hoarsely.

Shizune felt hurt by that. Even now, when there was no way he could hide it, Naruto still tried to lie. "I've been here all night Naruto. I did a diagnosis ninjutsu on you to determine what was wrong," Shizune said quietly.

Naruto's eyes flew wide open, blue eyes staring at her in petrified horror. His entire body tensed in terror. Shizune flinched. She hadn't anticipated his reaction being this bad. "I know about the problem with your heart," Shizune continued.

Something strange happened then. Naruto's body remained tense but there was a marginal relaxation to it, as if he'd been expected her to say something else.

"My… heart?" Naruto asked quietly, hand touching the surface over the organ. "Jiji said it was fixed despite… what someone did," Naruto whispered hoarsely, not meeting her eyes.

Shizune flinched. If Naruto believed that the problem wasn't his heart then it was possible the third Hokage had not been aware of the problem either. She and Lady Tsunade were the most skilled of medics in Konoha so it was very possible for the mediocre medics at the hospital to have missed the damage. That led to another thought though. The fact that Naruto's chakra was attacking him and causing him to be ill. The way Naruto reacted… Naruto must know what was causing it. To not tell anyone about it like that… Naruto must really not want to be placed in a hospital.

"I found damage in one of the four chambers of your heart as well as the fact that something is causing your chakra to make you sick. Do you know what's causing your chakra to act like that?" Shizune asked.

Naruto still wouldn't look at her. He shook his head bringing his legs up to his chest and rapping his arms around his knees. Shizune sat all the way on the bed, so that she was directly across from him. He knew. She had this painful gut feeling that he knew what it was. "I think you know exactly what's causing you to be sick. I know about what that doctor did to you Naruto, but I need you to trust me and to tell me what's wrong. There's a place in the Hokage tower, created for emergencies, that I can take you to. You don't have to go the hospital, I promise," Shizune said pleadingly.

Naruto looked up at her wearily, distrust clear in his still dull blue eyes. "You're not gonna take me to the hospital?" Naruto asked hoarsely.

Shizune had to lean in to hear him but when she did she smiled encouragingly and nodded. "The emergency room is fully equipped to handle anything," Shizune stated matter-of-factly.

Naruto buried his head into his knees clearly trying to think through the situation. Shizune allowed him to do so, going into the kitchen to refill her cup of tea.

The more of the apartment she saw the more irritated she became. Besides the plants it was incredibly bare; the refrigerator was broken, the shower only supplied cold water, for some unknown reason the bedroom door was missing and the heater appeared to be in disrepair. If she had anything to say about it Naruto would be out of this place as soon as possible.

When Shizune finished pouring the tea she reentered the tiny bedroom to find Naruto fast asleep on his side, back against the blackboard and legs tucked in close. His entire form screamed exhaustion. Shizune's eyes softened when they saw him, hardly deterred that she hadn't gotten an answer from him. Shizune peered at the clock. It was just passed four in the morning. After last night Naruto would probably sleep most of the day.