"Yuri?" I edged closer.

"No, you stupid boy! When will you learn?! Ugh, never mind. So, it appears we're alive after all."

"Was that you distracting and confusing the healers?"

"Yeah, I wasn't sure if that guy had captured us yet or not."

"Are you ok?"

"What does it look like, boy? No, I'm not ok and neither is the girl. I can't blame for what she did, it was necessary. At least we helped the other Jinchuuriki, I guess. I suppose I should report on what it was like to fight that guy, at least from I could see. He's bi-polar and he eats bodies. He has long and short ranged attacks, she couldn't get close enough to use Juuken. Though she tried. Normal weapons didn't work. Sharingan didn't work, courtesy of Itachi. Fire jutsus were doing well, but we ran out of chakra. We never got to try anything with Akari, but that's probably a good thing. I saw what the boy tried to do to that Hyuuga guy; it would've been nice if your friend had let you finish what you started. But, at least he got it anyway. It was the Dragon who did it wasn't it? That's good. Hokage's should punch people more often. It was one of the better things I'll remember. That and Yuri hitting. That never gets old. Pity she won't be able to do anymore, oh well."

"Wait, you sound like you're going to die."

"I am you stupid boy. You should be grateful she's still alive now to…"

The Griffin broke off as it spazed, then began to cough. It was a wheezing, racking cough. I was horrified to notice that it was coughing up blood. Finally the Griffin, with the help of some medical jutsu, managed to stop coughing. It lay there for a bit, then began to speak again.

"As I was saying, you should be grateful she's still alive now to say goodbye."

"Isn't there anything you or the medical nins can do?"

The Griffin looked at each one of the people in the room in turn.

"You can certainly try. I won't stop you; I can even try to help you. You're the first people to place value on her life, as a human and not as a tool. Go head, try and save her. I wish you well. Just don't do anything that will cause permanent damage to anyone; that's the girl's request by the way, not mine. Just don't expect anything. It'll take a miracle to save us."

Then the Griffin's eyes slowly closed.

"Yuri?!"

"Don't worry; she's still alive, for now." Tsunade said. "I want everyone out. I mean everyone, except for the healers of course."

So we all filed out and sat down on the benches outside.

"Team 10, why don't we go get food for everyone? We can't have anyone here starving." Gai said.

"Right."

"Sure.

"Yes, Gai-sensei!"

Team 10 trooped off to go in search of food. The rest of us settled down to wait. It was almost half an hour till we saw Tsunade again. Team 10 hadn't returned from their quest for food yet.

"Well?"

We all watched Tsunade. She sighed.

"Well, she's still alive. We finished our examination. She's still in critical condition. She's lost about half her blood. I think the Griffin and its healing powers is the only thing keeping her alive. She has several broken and fractured bones. She also has a lot of wounds. The Griffin is working the smaller ones and some of the bigger ones. There's a fifty percent chance she won't make it through the night, but we'll do every thing we can. All you can do is hope and pray."

With that she turned around headed back into the emergency room. We were all just sort of gazing off into the distance in a daze when Team 10 came back ten minutes later. They looked like they had brought a restaurant with them. They all carried copious amounts of ramen. I smiled slightly; Yuri would've been thrilled.

"Well, here you go. Enough ramen to drown somebody in. I hope it's enough. We got as much as we could carry with out dropping it. We made it into a youthful contest. Dig in!"

They distributed the ramen among us while keeping some for themselves. Neji, Lee, and Ten-Ten came and sat down next to us.

"Any news?" Neji asked.

"Yes, Lady Tsunade said that Yuri was still alive, but in critical condition. The Griffin may be the only thing keeping her alive. She has several broken and fractured bones. She also has a lot of wounds. The Griffin is working the smaller ones and some of the bigger ones. But there's a fifty percent chance she won't make it through the night." Hinata explained through a mouthful of ramen.

"I see."

"She told us to hope and to pray." Hinata continued.

"Does uncle know how bad it is?"

"I don't know. I don't think he cares. You know that."

"Yeah, I know. But I still keep hoping he'll change. Then again, I doubt he ever will."

"Yeah, I wish he would too, but that's not going to happen."

We waited for hours. It was about eight o'clock when Mariah finally said "Ok, you all should go home to bed and come back tomorrow."

"I'm not leaving." I said

"I'm not either." Hinata said.

"Nor I." Shino added.

"We aren't either." Ten-Ten said

"I'm staying with my team." Kurenai-sensei said.

"I too will stay with my team. I can consider it as training!" Gai-sensei said.

"Whatever, do what you want." She said.

The she, Itachi, Akamaru, and Akari vanished. I leapt to my feet.

"What the..?!"

"Chill, Kiba. They'll be back." Kurenai-sensei assured me. "They probably need them for something."

"What… How did they… How do you know?"

"I just do. Now sit down and finish your ramen."

Twenty minutes later they reappeared. They were all laden with sleeping bags and pads. Even Akari and Akamaru were.

"We also took the liberty of informing your parents or guardians of the situation and where you all are."

They started throwing sleeping bags and pads at us. I caught one of each and laid them out on the floor. Mariah turned to Kurenai-sensei.

"Please tell me you are not really to stay the night here."

"Of course I am. Why shouldn't?"

"I think that is obvious. Please go home and rest. We'll keep you posted."

"Yes sensei, we'll tell immediately if something changes. Please, Yuri wouldn't want you to force yourself to do this." Hinata said.

Kurenai-sensei sighed.

"Very well, I'll go home. Just keep me posted."

She turned to go when Kuromaru came loping down the hall with a basket in his mouth.

"Kuromaru what are you doing here?" I asked, taking the basket from him.

"Your mother made me come. Apparently she doesn't trust Akari and Akamaru. That's breakfast by the way." He said as I peered into the basket.

"So, I'm supposed to report any changes to her. So, I get to sleep her with you lot. Joy."

"Kuromaru?" Kurenai-sensei asked.

"Yeah?"

"Will you keep me posted too?"

He sighed.

"Why don't I keep the whole village posted while I'm at it? Fine, I'll keep you posted."

"Thanks."

Then Kurenai-sensei and Mariah vanished. Five minutes later Mariah was back. Then we all settled down to sleep. Since it was a little early we all told stories till about eleven. Then we finally all fell asleep.