Box after box was placed in front of the nurse's station; each with Naruto's name on the delivery slips. A crowd had started to gather around the scene and Naruto couldn't help but be curious himself. Usually hospital supplies ordered would be sorted somewhere else in the hospital and then distributed neatly to reduce clutter and potential harm. Naruto was also pretty sure he hadn't ordered anything recently so the vast amount of boxes pilling up in front of him was a complete mystery. When the first box arrived Naruto had inquired where it came from but the delivery man had no clue. Once the boxes stopped flowing Naruto grabbed a box cutter and grabbed the nearest and smallest one to him.

Inside the box was numerous children's book all aimed at children three years and younger. Naruto was even more confused now, no one had mentioned a donation to him recently. He moved to the next box and found that it had similar contents, but this time aimed at an older age minority. Naruto assumed that the boxes that were the same size as the first two all held books so he moved them out of the way to reach the more heavier looking ones. This time it was a collection of brand new toys. Just like the books they were separated into various age groups. But it wasn't until the medium sized boxes that Naruto really became shocked.

Inside them were unopened, still sealed containers of electronic tablets. Never had Naruto come across such generosity and he began to suspect who the donator was. Naruto searched through each box quickly, looking for anything that could confirm is suspicions. Eventually he found a note, written neatly in cursive. Naruto would know Sasuke's writing anywhere. After all the notes he had thrown at him during school it would be hard not to.

Naruto couldn't accept the donation. It was far too expensive and he felt if he did it would lead Sasuke on. Before he contacted Sasuke though he would need to explain the situation to Tsunade. He was pretty sure the woman would want Naruto to keep the items because it was a rare occurrence for so many new things to be donated. Naruto called over an attending and quickly ask her to keep an eye on it all. It would be pretty easy for someone to come along a help themselves considering how much stuff there was.

Naruto began his trip up to Tsunade's office and let his mind wander to his childhood rival. He couldn't quite figure the man out. For years Sasuke had made a point of letting Naruto know that he felt he was below him; so why the sudden turn around. Was his family putting him up to it? What was it that Sasuke got out of such an extravagant gesture? It was obvious he was trying to get his attention but Naruto didn't understand why. After Sasuke had left that day Naruto had put the incident in the back of his mind. He convinced himself that it was just Sasuke trying to find another way of getting under his skin.

The elevator pinged and Naruto stepped out into Shizune's office which was connected to Tsunade's. Shizune gave him a small wave. She looked stressed to Naruto but he didn't blame her. Tsunade was a handful, especially since she had taken on running the hospital. There was a loud crash from inside Tsunade's office and a part of Naruto wanted to flee.

"You can go in and see her Naruto" Shizune smiled politely. Naruto knew better, she was just trying to divert Tsunade's bad mood onto him so she didn't bear the brunt of it. He made his way to the door and cautiously poked his head inside, cringing when a vase barely missed his head.

"What do you want brat!" The busty, blonde woman barked at him. Naruto closed the door behind him as her brown eyes bore into him impatiently.

"I had a delivery today and I need your permission to send it back" Tsunade sat down behind her desk roughly and leant forward. Her hands clasped together and brows furrowed.

"Why would I care about a personal delivery to you brat, that's not my concern" Naruto rocked back and forth on his heels. He was hoping that if he stayed on her good side she would agree and he could send Sasuke packing. Giving him the message that he wasn't interested in his fancy gifts.

"Well…it was more of a donation" Tsunade slammed her fist down on the table. Naruto swore he could feel the anger radiating off her and shrunk back. Usually he wouldn't back down to the woman but today she seemed more aggravated than usual.

"If it's a donation Naruto then it's hospital policy to accept it. I have more important things to do with my time then sort out such trivial matters!" Naruto sighed and made his way to the seat in front of her desk. Slumping down in the seat. "Hurry up and get out of my office brat"

"It's thousands of dollars' worth Granny Tsunade" that got her attention "Books, toys…brand new tablets"

"So what is the problem? We could never get anything close to that with the budget we have been given. Accept the damn things already" Naruto shook his head. It was a matter of principle to him.

"But it's from Sasuke Uchiha!" Tsunade groaned. She leant back in her chair, her arms falling to the side of it and head backwards.

"Naruto, I don't care who it is from. You know we can't turn away donations, especially one as big as you say" he went to protest but Tsunade held up her hand "Look at it this way, it will be like Christmas to the kids and it's about time you two put whatever differences you had aside and grow up"

"But Granny Tsunade!" there was a loud crash and Shizune ran into the room. He face was lacking colour and she was shaking. Tsunade sat up immediately as she took in her secretaries' appearance.

"What's going on Shizune!" the woman was clearly shaken as she couldn't seem to form words. "Shizune!"

"It's the nine tail fox! Kurama Namikaze!" The blood drained out of Naruto's face and the room seemed to stand still. He watched Shizune talk hurriedly but all he could hear was static. He tried to force himself to focus, to push past the white noise.

"What's happened? What's happened to my brother?" Naruto looked wildly between each women. His heart rate increasing and he could feel his heart begin to work overtime in his chest.

"Naruto…remain calm, it'll be alright" Naruto stood up and reared on Tsunade.

"Don't you dare tell me it's going to be okay? Just tell me what's going on!" Tsunade motioned for him to sit down and she looked at him with a serious expression.

"Your brother's on the way here. He has a gunshot wound to his lower abdomen and another close to his heart. From what Shizune has said he seems to be in an unstable condition and has serious blood loss" Naruto felt himself stop breathing. His eye's blurring with tears. He began to regret every negative thing he had ever said to Kurama. Wishing that he could take it all back.

"You'll operate on him won't you?" Tsunade shook her head. "Why not! You're the best there is!"

"Gaara's prepping to operate already. He's more prepared for this kind of surgery than me" Naruto was overcome with fear. Not only for his brother but also for Gaara. He sprinted out of the room quickly, ignoring the two women behind him shouting at him to stop. He didn't care, he needed to get to Gaara and quickly.

Naruto bowled his way through crowds of people, yelling sorry at them as he continued forward. He didn't have time to stop. He eventually made his way to the operating floor, busting his way into every room until he spotted a familiar head of red hair. "Gaara!"

"Naruto?" he wrapped his arms around him, tears flowing freely down his face. He had to convince him to give the surgery to someone else.

"Don't do it Gaara, let someone else take this one" Gaara pushed him away from him. He looked angry at what Naruto was asking of him.

"I can't just pass off my surgery to someone else Naruto. It's my responsibility and I'm the only one here equipped to handle this situation" Naruto let out a sob. He loved his brother and wanted him to live but Gaara didn't understand.

"They will kill you Gaara! If Kurama dies they will blame you and you won't leave that room alive!" Gaara's demeanour softened and he pulled Naruto into a hug. Clinging to him as if no one else in the world mattered to him. "Please Gaara. Don't go in that room"

"Naruto, do you trust me?" his fisted his hands into the green eyed man's scrubs. A small sob escaping his lips as he nodded yes. "Then trust me when I say I will not let your brother die"

"You don't know that Gaara! Anything could happen in there! What if the bullet hit his heart? You could be going into a no hope surgery!" Gaara kissed the top of Naruto's head and pulled away from him. He grabbed the side of Naruto's face and forced him to look into his eyes to show Naruto his conviction.

"Naruto. I will not let him die" each word was spoken with a brief pause between them to emphasise his point. Naruto bit his lip and hung his head. He could see there was no arguing with Gaara, the man was too determined. "Temari and Kankuro are with me to back me up. They are the two people in this world I would trust my life to so your brother is in safe hands and I swear to you, no matter what happens I will not leave you here alone…got it?"

"Promise me" Gaara smiled, placing a soft yet passionate kiss on Naruto's lips. Naruto didn't need to hear the words. Gaara had just said them without saying anything.

"Go wait in the observation room, your family is waiting up there for you" Naruto felt uneasy again. Of course his family wouldn't be normal and wait in the normal areas provided to them. They would want to make sure they could see everything so if something went wrong they knew exactly what went wrong and who was to blame.

"I'll be waiting for you when you get out" This time it was Naruto who initiated the kiss which left them both breathless. Naruto left the scrub room with his fingers crossed and praying to a god that he never really believed in before.