Disclaimer: I own nothing, damn it all. I don't own Naruto, belongs to Kishimoto-sensei.

It's a cold world,
When you keep it all to yourself.
I said you can't hide on the inside
All the pain you've ever felt.
So baby take my hand, it'll be alright.
Surrender all your dreams to me tonight.
They'll come true in the end.

-Pat Benatar: Shadows of the Night

Chapter 26

Naruto could be a patient person when it came to dealing with kids, genin's, or anyone younger than him. But that didn't mean he was patient when it came to waiting for anything, especially when what he was waiting on was for the doctor that had given Sasuke a check up to return with the results. You would think that since Sasuke was just at the hospital they wouldn't need to run any more tests, but that obviously wasn't the case.

When Naruto had arrived Hinata was waiting for them with a doctor Naruto was familiar with, Shouji. He was the one to take over Sakura's shift at the hospital and was also one of her students during the war. He'd spent most of his time working in the make shift infirmary they'd had at the camp. Naruto got along with him pretty well and liked him as a person. He was patient, kind, and he showed a great deal of respect to him, Sakura, and their friends, including Sasuke. But at the moment he detested the man for making him wait.

Sasuke had been given a room upon Hinata's request and after she'd explained what she knew of his condition. Sasuke had been drifting between being half awake and falling asleep the entire time so it wasn't much use to ask him what was going on. Naruto was sitting in a chair next to Sasuke's bed holding his hand in his own while Sasuke slept with an I.V. in his right arm, his hand had been cleaned and rebandaged shortly after Shouji had seen him and a heart monitor was hooked up to his as well.

Naruto watched the heart monitor without seeing it, the quicker than usual heart rate made him feel uneasy and even more impatient. He was absently tapping his foot on the floor and looked up when the door opened. He turned in the chair to face Shouji as he walked into the room with a clipboard and a serious expression on his face.

"So, what's going on with him?"

Shouji sighed, "Naruto-san, we had to run further tests because we wanted to make sure the virus wasn't worsening. Unfortunately it was a good thing that we did so because the virus has become three times as active as it showed to be in the initial test."

Naruto tensed and felt a painful knot in his stomach. He looked at Sasuke's pale form lying in the bed. He squeezed his hand and looked back at Shouji, "Isn't there anything that can be done to help him or at least make him feel a little bit better?"

Shouji nodded, "There is, but from what I saw in the results I think it wouldn't really do much good at all."

"How did the virus become even more active in less than twenty-four hours?"

"That is what we are trying to find out right now. I've notified Tsunade-sama of the change in Uchiha-san's condition."

Naruto looked back at Sasuke when he mumbled, "Don't call me that . . ."

Naruto smirked and looked back at Shouji, "Is the virus the cause of Sasuke feeling so exhausted and unable to concentrate on what's going on around him?"

"It could be, we're not certain."

Naruto sighed, he was getting irritated with the lack of answers he was receiving. He took a deep breath to shove down his frustration, "Then how about telling me what you are certain of."

"Hai Naruto-san. We do know that Uch . . . umm . . . Sasuke-san's chakra level is dangerously low, his heart rate is quicker than it should be, his temperature is lower than recommended, and his blood pressure is low. The chakra level and blood pressure being so low would make would make anyone feel exhausted. However, it wouldn't explain why he has been falling asleep or feeling so severely tired that his concentration and awareness of his surroundings are as effected as you said. You said that he wasn't able to remember making lunch and therefore did so twice. The short term memory loss could point towards more than low chakra levels and low blood pressure."

Naruto nodded, he knew that short term memory loss only made the possibilities of what was wrong with Sasuke widen. He sighed again, "So that only makes this even more complicated. He's hypertensive and has been having mood swings. He's always been moody as hell, but it's like he's not sure how he is feeling most the time."

"How so?"

"Well he's pissed all the time, but I guess that's normal."

"Considering how he must be feeling, it isn't unusual."

Naruto nodded, "I figured, just had to make sure."

Shouji looked at the chart in his hand then back at Naruto, "Naruto-san, there was something Tsunade-sama wished for me to ask before she got here."

"What is it?"

"Tsunade-sama wished to know whether Sasuke-san was having any phantom pains recently."

Naruto looked at Sasuke for a moment, Sasuke nodded. Naruto looked back at Shouji, "Yes."

"On how great a scale, a five, a ten?"

Sasuke mumbled, "Twelve."

Naruto closed his eyes at the wave of guilt he felt for having not noticed. Sasuke squeezed his hand, his eyes remained closed but he was obviously aware of what was going on in the room. He mumbled groggily, "Dobe, I'm a good liar."

Naruto smirked and looked back to Shouji, "He said it was a twelve on a scale from one to ten."

Shouji nodded, "Arigato Naruto-san."

"How long did the old woman say it would take for her to get here?"

Shouji smirked at his chosen words for Tsunade, "I believe Tsunade-sama said that she would be here nearly five minutes from now."

Naruto nodded, "Thanks, thanks Shouji-kun."

"Hai Naruto-san," he bowed his head respectively and left the room. Sure enough Tsunade was walking through the door within the next few minutes. She closed the door behind her and walked over to the chair on the other side of Sasuke's bed and sat down across from Naruto on Sasuke's right. She looked over the I.V. and heart monitor before she quickly checked his blood pressure and then placed her hand over his chest for a few seconds. She wrote something down on the clipboard Naruto didn't remember seeing her grab from the end of the bed and then looked up at him.

"Gaki, what happened?"

Naruto shrugged, "I don't know that's why I'm here."

"No gaki, I mean, do you remember doing anything that would merit this change? Did either of you use any jutsu recently, have you been pushing yourselves too hard?"

Naruto hung his head, "Hai. We paid a visit to the Uchiha district last night. I went their alone, I had no intention of taking Sasuke with me, but he showed up anyway."

"Did you use any jutsu?"

"We used a unsealing scroll, but I tried to focus my chakra through him to keep him from using his own."

Tsunade closed her eyes and inhaled then she glared at him and said angrily, "Baka, what did I tell you two yesterday? I told you not to train, not to use any jutsu was the main point in that. The virus eats away at your chakra, so whatever chakra you use can't be replenished. What else have you two been doing, have you been over-exerting yourselves as well?"

Naruto shook his head, "No, we haven't done anything since then, just cleaning Iruka-san's house and walking through the village. But most of the time Sasuke stayed at the house because he was tired."

Tsunade sighed, "Gaki, is that it, you haven't done anything that would put any strain on your bodies?"

"Does sex count?"

Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head, after a few moments she sighed and nodded, "Yes that counts. Maybe I should have given you a written list of things you shouldn't do."

"That may have helped."

She glared at him, "Most likely not seeing as how you did things I strictly told you not to do. How in the hell am I supposed to help either one of you regain your health back when I give you restrictions to help you do that and you don't follow them?"

They both stood up suddenly when the heart monitor went haywire, Naruto looked at Sasuke when his hand holding Sasuke's was suddenly squeezed so tightly he was sure Sasuke would crush the bones in his hand. He squeezed his hand back firmly to let him know he was still there while Tsunade held her hand on his forehead. The door to the room was thrown open suddenly and two nurses and Shouji came into the room.

Tsunade looked up at them, "Go and get a sedative for him and some chakra pills." The nurses nodded and ran from the room. Shouji stood at the foot of the bed, "What's going on Tsunade-sama, how can I help?"

Tsunade was forced to hold Sasuke's head down with her hand on his forehead when his body started to thrash on the bed. Naruto bent over him and held his arms to the bed and Shouji immediately grabbed hold of his ankles to help hold him down. The nurses came back into the room and Tsunade used the hand she didn't have on Sasuke's forehead to take one of the chakra pills from the nurse and worked Sasuke's jaw muscles between her thumb and index finger until he opened his mouth. She had to cup her hand over his mouth to keep him from spitting it up and he was forced to swallow the pill.

Naruto gritted his teeth against the inner torment this was causing him and how helpless he felt. The other nurse had injected the sedative into the i.v. while Tsunade had made Sasuke take the chakra pill. After a few minutes he finally stopped thrashing and fighting them and lay still on the bed. His heart rate took a few more minutes to calm down and Naruto was relieved at hearing and seeing that it was finally at a normal pace. Tsunade stepped away from the bed with a heavy sigh.

Naruto leaned back and released Sasuke's arms and sat back in the chair heavily, his hand moving shakingly back to interlace his and Sasuke's hand once more. Shouji let go of Sasuke's ankles and straightened and the two nurses breathed sighs of relief as well. Tsunade looked at Naruto and felt the urge to go to him and embrace him at seeing him so pale, shaken, and scared. It didn't help how much her stomach had twisted at hearing that Naruto had brought Sasuke back to the hospital with Hinata saying that his condition had worsened.

She had come up with a plan to give them more time to find a cure for the virus, but she wasn't sure Naruto would like the idea or go along with it. She expected him to refuse to go through with the treatment himself, she was sure he would try to convince her to and Sasuke to go through with it since it did give them a better chance of saving him. At times it drove her insane at how little Naruto seemed to think of himself, but she couldn't help but admire his selflessness. She'd noticed Sasuke was much the same way, but his way of being selfless was different and harder to even see as an act of selflessness.

She looked at Shouji and the nurses, "You may go now, I wish to speak to Naruto-kun alone."

Shouji nodded and bowed his head to her before backing away and turning to leave the room behind the nurses who had done the same. Tsunade took a deep breath, "Naruto-kun."

She flinched when he tensed at hearing her call him by his name. His eyes locked with hers, and she winced from the guarded look in his eyes and blank expression. It made him look so much older than his twenty years. She had to clear her throat to regain her composure and her voice once again, "We have managed to come up with a way to slow down the rate of which the virus progresses."

A glint of hope shown in his eyes and she wanted to knock her own teeth out as she spoke the next words, "However, there is a very high risk."

Naruto took a deep breath, "What is it, the risk and how you can slow down the virus?"

Tsunade nodded, she knew her eyes showed some of her reluctance to answer him when he tensed and squeezed Sasuke's hand in his own. "Naruto-kun, it would be dangerous and there's no guarantee of recovery. But at this rate I don't think we are left with much choice. Given the current state Sasuke-kun is in, this is the only thing I can think of to give us more time."

Naruto looked at Sasuke and his shoulders sagged as he closed his eyes and nodded, his voice void of emotion other than a strong sense of surety; "He will be able to recover, what is it that has to be done?"

"We would have to place him in a coma to slow down the process, it would be a deep coma much like the one you were in. But it would be drug induced and therefore even harder to come out of once it is set in motion. I wanted to continue researching and see if there was another way to go about it. But we have run into dead end after dead end on finding a possible cure. The only thing I could think of for now was placing both of you in a coma to slow down the progress of the virus. It won't slow it down enough to completely neutralize the virus."

Naruto closed his eyes for a moment, he remembered many of the things Sakura had told him, what she'd taught him. He didn't know everything about viruses, but he knew that even while in a coma the virus could spread just as fast, with this virus, that effected the chakra system, it was even more risky. But unlike with blood, it could be slowed down. The problem though, was who could actually give either of them a chakra transfusion?

Tsunade seemed to be thinking the same thing, "Naruto . . . there are plenty of shinobi that are willing, it wouldn't take long to find someone and then with only a few hours your chakra would become used to theirs."

"So," Naruto cleared his throat and looked up at her, "it could be done, but what about their chakra, wouldn't they become exposed to the virus?"

Tsunade sighed, "There is the risk of that, but with Sasuke-kun, he doesn't have enough chakra for that to actually be a risk."

Naruto nodded, "But with me it is, so this really is a last resort thing?"

Tsunade nodded, "Yes."

Naruto sighed, "But without it, he won't last very long." He wished he didn't have the virus, he had more chakra than anyone, he would have naturally been the best canditate for a chakra transfusion, especially when it came to Sasuke. But he did have the virus, it was because of his enormous amount of chakra that he was the most likely to spread the virus. It didn't help that the virus was spreading fast through his chakra system, but thanks to Kyuubi's chakra he could fight it off somewhat. He had more time than Sasuke, but Sasuke was close to death right now.

"Naruto-kun, what do you want to do?"

Naruto looked at Sasuke, his eyes taking in the curve of his jaw, the severe paleness to his skin, the dark, raven hair, he was still so weakened and you could see the sharpness of his bones from how skinny he was. Naruto nodded, "It's the only choice, I refuse to lose him now, not after everything . . . "

Tsunade knew Naruto would say that, she got to her feet with a nod and walked over to the door. Before she left the room she looked over her shoulder at Naruto, "Gaki, I will send whoever is chosen as the best candiate to see you first. Once that is settled we go ahead with placing him in the coma."

Naruto nodded but he didn't look at her or say anything, she walked out of the room closing the door behind her. She walked a few paces down the hall before she stopped and leaned heavily against the wall. She placed her hand over her eyes and let out a tired sigh. Why do those two have to keep facing hardships, they've been through so much in their young lives?

"Tsunade-sama!" Tsunade looked up, her hand falling to her side. Shouji was running down the hall towards her. He stopped and bent over to catch his breath before he looked up at her and stood up straight again. Tsunade raised an eyebrow in question, "What is it Shouji-kun?"

Shouji let out a breath, "Tsunade-sama, it's Sakura-san, she fainted while she was coming here. They order me to come and get you."

Tsunade nodded and followed Shouji down the hallway towards the O.R. She shoved down the painful knot in her gut and walked into the O.R. to find Shizune and few nameless doctors and nurses. Tsunade tensed from the frantic sounds of the machines they already had hooked up to her. She was hypotensive and her pulse was weak, but erratic. Shizune looked up from where she had hooked up an IV and said, "Tsunade-sama, luckily she didn't land on her stomach when she fainted. But she hit her head when she fell . . ."

Tsunade tuned her out, she walked over to Sakura's right and Shizune moved out of her way. She took in the blood mixed into Sakura's hair and the paleness of her skin and glanced at the heart monitor once more before she walked quickly to the sink in the right hand corner of the O.R. She quickly washed her hands and put on scrubs. Then she turned and was back at Sakura's side, the injury was on the right side of her head in the back.

"We need to turn her on her side so that I can fully access the damage."

With the help of the nurses and doctors they managed to carefully turn Sakura over on her left side. Tsunade brushed her hair out of her way and noticed the bloodiest spot on her head, the injury was on the bottom right part of her head. Tsunade took a deep breath and placed her hand over the injury to use her chakra to determine if there was any brain damage so that she could heal the wound. Luckily Sakura only had a minor concussion and even though she was bleeding rather badly it didn't seem as though there would be any permanent damage at all.

Once Tsunade healed the wound however nothing changed, her blood pressure remained low, her heart rate weak and erratic. She was very pale and when Tsunade brushed her hand across Sakura's shoulder her skin felt cold and clammy. She ordered everyone to turn Sakura back onto her back and paled when Sakura's breathing became rapid and shallow. The machines went haywire and Tsunade shouted to everyone, "She's going into shock."

Hinata had rushed over to the hospital as soon as she'd heard about Sakura, Ino and Chouji accompanied her there. She had left the hospital to make sure Sakura got home alright. Though Iruka had not made it home by the time she had gotten back to his home, Sakura had said she wasn't feeling well. They had separated so that Hinata could go and speak with Iruka and Kakashi at the restaurant she saw them while they were heading back to the Hyuga Estate.

At the moment they were waiting in the waiting room and Hinata remained utterly silent, she felt guilty due to the fact that Sakura had been complaining about not feeling well for a few days now. She had thought it was just a common cold or something, but considering what was going on it was definitely more than that. She couldn't believe she had left Sakura alone, she should have been there, she have just waited until after she had made sure Sakura made it home before she went and told Iruka what was going on with Sasuke and Naruto.

Ino sat in the chair next to Hinata holding Chouji's arm tightly as she leaned against him. Hinata looked up suddenly upon hearing someone call out her name. It was Naruto, he was walking over towards them with a questioning look in his eyes. Hinata stood up and as Naruto came to stand in front of her she noticed that there was a darkness hovering over him, making it so that the smile he was giving her in greeting didn't reach his eyes.

"Naruto-kun . . . how is Sasuke-kun doing?"

Naruto's smile faded immediately and he looked down at the ground, "Well, Baa-chan has a possible way to help him, but . . . I don't know . . ." He sighed and looked back up at her, "But what are you doing here?"

"Sakura-chan . . . "

Naruto tensed and paled, "Sakura-chan is here, why, what happened?"

Before Hinata could answer Shizune's voice carried over to them and Naruto turned around at her words as Hinata looked over to her; "She's alright now, thanks to Tsunade-sama."

Hinata let out a sigh of relief and Ino started crying into Chouji's shoulder as he held her close. Naruto caught her mumbling, "Thank heavens," in between her sobs repetitively.

"What happened?" Shizune sighed, "Well, she had a fainting spell and hit her head. But she's going to be fine now, as will the baby."

Naruto nodded, "Okay, well that's good. What caused her to faint?"

Hinata looked at Shizune once more, Shizune nodded, "Well, she was dehydrated and from what Tsunade-sama said, she had a case of pneumonia. She went into shock, but thankfully everything turned out alright. We have her on some strong antibiotics and iron supplements and she will need to stay in the hospital for a few days. But she will be alright."

Hinata sighed in relief, "Thank you Shizune-san."

Shizune nodded, "Of course, you may go and see her now, she's in room three hundred and twenty-four. Try to make sure she gets some rest."

Hinata nodded and glanced at Naruto who nodded and offered a weak smile. Ino and Chouji got up and followed Hinata out of the waiting room. Shizune stopped Naruto before he left by placing a hand on his shoulder as he walked past her. He refused to meet her eyes or turn his head but he tensed under her hand.

"Naruto-kun, I heard about what is going on with Sasuke-kun . . . "

Naruto shrugged her hand from his shoulder, "Hai, arigato Shizune-san," he walked out of the waiting room and Shizune sighed. She left after a few minutes to see Tsunade walking into one of the hospital rooms.

Naruto had just sat down at Sasuke's bedside when Tsunade walked into the room once more. Naruto looked over at her, "What happened with Sakura-chan?"

Tsunade ran her hand through her hair as she sighed and walked across the room to take a seat in the chair across from him. She glanced at the monitors for a moment before she looked at Naruto and answered, "She fainted because she was dehydrated and had what she thought was a common cold. Apparently she knew she was only getting worse and so headed here to get a check up. She suffered a minor concussion and cracked her skull, but I was able to heal it. She went into shock, but we were able to prevent any serious problems. She will be fine in a couple of days."

Naruto nodded, "So, have you had time to . . ."

She nodded, "Yes, that's what I was just finishing up. I've sent to have them come here. Sasuke-kun will have to be monitored closely."

Naruto nodded, "Okay, who is it?"

"A high level shinobi."

"Which one?"

"My first choice was going to be someone else, but considering his status I had to chose the only other person with a high enough chakra level. I was surprised that he volunteered to do this."

"Baa-chan, who is it, and who was your first choice?"

"My first choice was going to be Kakashi-san, but seeing as he is still currently Hokage, I had to look into others that were pretty close to his level of skill, experience, and thus chakra."

Naruto was growing impatient, "Just tell me already, I'm going to find out anyway."

She sighed, "Hiashi Hyuga-san."

Naruto was startled, he wondered if he heard her right. Hyuga-sama, but why would he volunteer to do this, for me or for Sasuke?

"As I said, I was surprised he volunteered. Apparently he doesn't like the idea of the Uchiha clan ending and he said something along the lines of it being an honor to serve the Hokage."

Naruto remained silent for a few minutes, he couldn't really think of anything to say. He was glad Sakura was alright and stressed about Sasuke. He didn't know how much time had passed while they sat there in silence. He flinched involuntarily when there was a sharp knock on the door, Tsunade raised her hand when he made to get up and stood instead going to answer the door.

Naruto heard her greet the person, "Hyuga-san, thank you for coming by."

"Good evening Tsunade-sama."

She stepped aside and Naruto heard their footsteps behind him once the door was closed. He stood up and faced them bowing his head to Hiashi, his hand was still holding Sasuke's even as he stood.

Hiashi bowed his head in greeting, "Uzumaki-kun."

"Arigato Hyuga-sama, for doing this."

Hiashi nodded, "Hai," Hiashi faced Tsunade, "So shall we begin?"

Tsunade nodded and motioned towards the chair she had just been sitting in. Hiashi took a seat and Tsunade remained standing behind Naruto.

"Naruto-kun, you will have to come with me during the procedure," before Naruto could ask why or reply she looked at Hiashi.

"I assume you were told by Shizune-san how to do a chakra transfusion?"

He nodded, "Hai Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade nodded, "Alright, please wait until I send a nurse in here to administer the procedure. This is going to take some time."

"Hai, I was previously aware of that."

Tsunade nodded, "Very well." She grabbed Naruto's arm and pulled him away from Sasuke's bed. Naruto was reluctant to leave Sasuke's side and angry that he had to, but he shoved that down. He planted his feet firmly on the ground long enough to lean down and kiss Sasuke's forehead and then his hand before he let go and allowed Tsunade to pull him out of the room.

He walked over to the waiting room in silence with her and once they were there he turned on her with a glare, "Why the hell did I have to leave?"

"Gaki, if you would have stayed there was a chance your chakra would have seeped through. When the nurse gets to the room to begin it will open up the chakra flows in both of them to make the transfusion easier."

Naruto sighed, "Fine . . ." It was all confusing, why was it that Sasuke needed to be in a coma if they could just do the transfusion so easily? But then he remembered, Sasuke had to get used to Hiashi's chakra to make sure it wasn't rejected or became poisonous to his own chakra. If he really thought about it, it was a smart decision to have Hiashi offering his chakra to Sasuke, they were distantly related after all so maybe Sasuke's body would except the chakra better from him than from someone else.

Naruto walked over to to one of the chairs and sat down heavily, he put his face in his hands and rested his elbows on his knees as he hunched over. Tsunade smiled sadly at him and turned to leave, she had to get started. She planned to stay outside Sasuke's room the entire time in case anything went wrong. She hadn't been able to stomach telling Naruto how truly dangerous this was, if only there was another choice. A chakra transfusion wasn't done often or very heard of, it was also dangerous to both parties. With a shinobi, if their chakra level ever reached zero they would die, and Sasuke's chakra had a virus and that meant all of his chakra would have to be cleansed and replaced.

With a chakra transfusion it was different than with a blood transfusion. The types didn't have to be the same to work, but if either one of the parties rejected the others' chakra then it could kill both of them. If it was a success then they could move on to the next step, curing the virus. Regardless of the chakra transfusion the virus would still exist, it was already seeping into Sasuke's blood stream and because it was activated when he obtained the Mangekyo Sharingan it would only start up all over again. His bodies immune system had slowly begun to decline and weaken because of the virus.

She suggested a coma in hopes it would slow down the process, but also because a blood or chakra transfusion was dangerous and a slow process. She had tested Sasuke and Naruto's blood countless times, the reason it effected Sasuke as strongly as it did was because of the long period of time he had the virus and because it was so strong in him due to his lineage. The length of time he had the virus had made it possible for the virus to enter his blood stream and eat away at his white blood cells.

Telling Naruto all of this was not an option, not until Sasuke pulled through this and they found a way to ensure he would be one hundred percent better. The blood transfusion, however, would have to wait until after the chakra transfusion as Sasuke's body wouldn't be able to handle the procedure without a normal chakra supply. Tsunade had ordered the nurse to the room to begin the procedure and she now sat in a chair against the wall to the left of Sasuke's hospital room door.

At the moment, all she could do was wait and hope things turned out the way she hoped. If this transfusion was successful and then the blood transfusion as well, she could do the same for Naruto to make sure they were given that extra amount of time they needed to figure this out. She would have to wait until Kakashi came by to talk to him about finding and translating those scrolls so they could find a cure.