-Three days later-

"I used the Dokumeki no Jutsu to extract the poison that the blade sent into Sasuke, and healed as much as I could on our way back to the village, but there's a limit to what I know..." Sakura whispered, seated on the top of the memorial stone, staring up at the sky. She looked over at the Hidden Leaf Village's Hokage, Tsunade. "Tsunade-sensei, I know that I know so much about medical ninjitsu, but I felt so helpless there..."

"It's rare that I get outside," the woman said, kneeling next to the memorial stone, touching the name of the previous Fourth Hokage. "I know what you mean, Sakura, but... you know so much, but the type of injury he got... even I barely knew anything about it, or how to fix it. For you to be able to remove all that poison from his entire body must have taken so much from you..." The blond woman frowned, standing up. "You put Naruto-kun in charge of watching over Uchiha Sasuke, correct?"

"I wanted to, but Kakashi-sensei made Naruto do it and said I wasn't allowed in, or him to come out, until Sasuke-kun wakes up..." She frowned, sliding off the stone, staring down at the stone bearing the names of heros of the Fire village that died in battle with valor.

"Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke are rivals, but they are also friends. I'm sure that Uchiha Sasuke will not die so easily, when he wants so hard to always make sure that Naruto-kun doesn't surpass him in power."

"Why do they fight so constantly?" Sakura asked, being lead back to her house by the Hokage.

Tsunade shrugged, frowning. "Naruto wants to make Sasuke acknowledge him, that's all he strives for, because even though so many people do, Sasuke is so strong and always collected, but that's why Naruto wants to surpass him. Because of this, he advances fast, and this gives Sasuke a feeling that his power is threatened by Naruto's speed in advancement. I suppose they just want to make sure neither is stronger... so they fight."

Sakura nodded, stopping at her house. "Alright, thanks, Tsunade-sensei. I'll see you later. I'm worried, but I know I haven't slept, so I'll try... Goodnight,"

"Goodnight, Sakura." Tsunade waved, starting to walk off, back towards where she stayed as the Fifth Hokage. She stared up at the dark sky, the stars ahead twinkling beautifully. "Those two are such idiots..."

Naruto glared down at the sleeping form of Sasuke, his rival, and Sasuke, his friend. He closed his eyes, frowning, not able to bear seeing the legendary Uchiha ninja in such a state; no shirt covered his body, showing all the cuts and scrapes that were minor, most already healed up, and the main problem--the large quantity of bandages wrapped around his chest and left shoulder, barely exposing his naval and hips, then the blanket took over to cover the rest of his body. Under the blankets, all that the boy had were white boxers. His left leg had bandages around it, mostly the calf to his toes, save for his heel, and his upper thigh, exposing his bruised knee. He figured, Sasuke would despise Naruto like no other time before, not wanting to be seen all weak and all.

"I'd hate you seeing me in my weakest moment," he whispered, not looking at Sasuke, but away towards a single window in the one-window, small room. "So I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want me to see you like this, in your weakest moment..."

Naruto sighed, frowning, looking around the room. There was a large table against one wall in the room. There were many flower arrangements, a large bouquet from Sakura and Ino--Naruto guessed they tried to outdo each other's bouquet, since they both looked hand-done--smaller bouquets, two of them, from the other two teams as a collective small gift, a few gifts from some, and a card, which almost all of the nine had signed, a get-well-soon card. Almost all, save for--of course--Sasuke, who it was for, and Naruto. He walked over to the card, picking it up, frowning. He felt bad for not having signed it. Making sure Sasuke was still awake, he found a pen in a drawer under the table and signed his name on the top, in big, bold red letters--so it would have to be noticed--and made a little comment under his name in neat hand-writing. He hid the pen and put the card back down, taking his seat again next to the bed Sasuke was seated next to.

A monitor, showing Sasuke's heartbeat, was making annoying noises, occasionally matching the little sounds a clear pouch made when it poured more water into Sasuke's veins. Another bottle, connected to the same tube at the bottom where they mixed, held a light-green liquid, which was a special type of medicine. Some blood had penetrated through the bandages, making a few deep-red marks on the front.

Naruto turned, hearing a gentle tapping on the door, then stood and started for it. Along the doorknob were parchment seals, preventing the door from being opened from the outside. He opened it slightly, to see a woman in red and white holding out two things. Naruto took them, smiling, then closed the door as she left. Two pairs of chopsticks and two delicious-smelling dishes, though only one was ramen. As he sat down, starting to devour the ramen, he looked over at Sasuke who was slowly opening his eyes.

"Oh, so you're awake, about time." he said between slurps of his favorite flavor of cup ramen. He grinned. "You had me worried there for awhile, actually."

Sasuke stared at him, not sitting up, then just looked away. Naruto grumbled.

"Well, fine, then I guess you don't want this. I'll help myself," he threatened, picking up the other dish, staring at it. Tomatoes and rice balls were piled on the plate; Naruto recognized the dish as Sasuke's favorite, though he hated tomatoes himself, so it was an empty threat. He sighed. "Can't move, can you?"

Sasuke turned his head at the smell of his favorite foot, and at the question. "Not really..." he muttered, obviously reluctant to answer.

Naruto peeled apart the chopsticks, picking up a rice ball with tomato bits stuffed inside and held it over Sasuke's mouth. "Gah... Here, eat."

Giving Naruto a suspicious stare, Sasuke slowly bit down, chewing it and swallowing after a second. Feeling a bit awkward, but definitely hungry, he allowed Naruto to feed him. He didn't take long to get fed it all, Naruto taking an occasional few seconds to eat his ramen. After about ten minutes, both were done. Naruto leaned back a bit in the chair, staring at the heartbeat recorder. He could have sworn that the first time he'd put the chopsticks near Sasuke's mouth, the pace had increased a bit... Oh well, probably not, he decided inwardly.

"Thanks..." murmured Sasuke slowly, staring towards the window.

Grinning, Naruto shrugged. "Yeah, whatever. I told you I'd been worried, and I'll be damned if I'd let you starve." He watched the Uchiha curiously, crossing his arms after setting the foam cup and foam plate on the table. He stared over at the table with the large assortment of stuff. "You got a lot of stuff there, you know."

Sasuke's eyes moved over to see the table, then just went back to the window, only able to move his head. "So?"

"Everyone likes you."

"Jealous?" Sasuke asked, smirking a bit.

"Ha! Hardly!" Naruto stood up, walking over to the door, staring at the seals. "Once I take them off, I'm sure everyone's going to barge in and see you... But if I'll be stuck in here if I don't..." He sighed.

"Leave them there for now... I don't need the headache of a bunch of people..."

Sitting back down, the hyperactive, blond-haired shinobi stared at the usually-quiet one. "Yeah, alright."

A knock at the door after a couple moments of silence brought both the two back to their senses. Outside the window, it was extremely dark out, but some light was starting to shine though, the crack of dawn.

"Naruto, you're still in there, right?"

"Kakashi-sensei, hey! Yeah, I'm here." He walked over to the door, opening it slightly, letting in their sensei. "What are you here for?"

Kakashi looked at Sasuke, noticing his bad state and the two empty dishes. He picked them up in one hand, then went back to the door. "Actually, you have another mission that only Squad Seven can do. And before you say anything, it's a B-class mission. Not as dangerous as your previous A-class mission, but it's still going to involve shinobi on shinobi battles."

"Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke can barely even move his head, and you expect him to be able to go on a B-class mission?"

"Meet me near the memorial stone in ten minutes." He disappeared without another word. Sasuke remained silent, but Naruto started cussing to himself.

"I can't believe it..." He shut the door, crossing his arms. "You're so badly hurt, you can't do such a mission, I know that! He's expecting too much from us!"

Sasuke turned his head to stare at Naruto, who seemed genuinely concerned. "Stop fussing..."

"You can't even walk, Sasuke-kun!" he argued, frowning deeply. "I'll just have to carry you then..." He stared at the monitor, then shut it off before pulling off a little wire attached to Sasuke's chest and throwing it aside. "That medicine needs to all go in you, so we can't take that out... But I doubt you want it seen. You should probably hide it." He walked over to the table, picking up a large, loose black jacket and setting it on the end of the bead. Sasuke kept quiet, just watching Naruto go about and do whatever. When he felt his body sitting up, he noticed Naruto taking down the water and medicine pouches that were small and thin from a metal rod, he just closed his eyes. Naruto put the jacket around Sasuke, hiding the two pouches on an inside pocket, sliding them in in such a manner that they would empty on their own when they needed to without having to be high up. He grabbed a pair of loose pants and slid Sasuke into them without much problem.

"You don't have to do this..."

"You want to go out there nearly naked?"

"... Point taken..." Sasuke sighed, letting Naruto pull him onto his back, then slide open the window and jump out. Within a couple moments--taking longer only because Naruto didn't want to drop Sasuke or make him uncomfortable--they were standing in front of the memorial stone. Naruto gently set down Sasuke, leaning the other boy against the side of the stone. Sasuke managed to be able to move his arms and shoulders a bit, so he was a bit more comfortable, but he wasn't fully able to even control his body, so he remained in the acceptable position Naruto had put him in.

"Naruto-kun, hey!" Sakura yelled, running up to them, then smiled brightly. "Sasuke-kun, you're alright!" She bent down to try to hug him, but Naruto jumped up, pulling her back.

"Sakura-chan, don't do that, his body's still mostly paralyzed from the sword mission... That would hurt a lot on his part..."

"Oh, right... Sorry..." She sat down, frowning apologetically to Sasuke. "Sorry..."

"Whatever," he muttered, watching Naruto. He felt a little tug in his chest, watching the boy, but quickly looked away; he tried to tell himself it was just his injuries, but he didn't know who he was trying to convince.

Kakashi appeared in front of them, hands in his pockets, staring at them. "At the crack of dawn... Familiar, isn't it?"

"Yeah, you had us get those bells the first time..."

"And none of you got even one." Kakashi teased, staring at Naruto who was glaring. "Naruto is right, none of you got one... So, here you are getting another chance before your mission."

"What? Kakashi-sensei, you're kidding!"

"No, and there will be no more conversation. Because I did not have you bring any equipment, I can assume that, as chunin anbu, you have figured out what this is for. You have until the sun is fully up." He took a few steps back, watching the dumbfounded group. He held up two bells. "The same rules apply as before. One of you will not have lunch. And, this time, if you fail you will not get lunch, which I've brought with me, but I've hidden it. Go."

Naruto growled, then frowned, looking at Sasuke, knowing the Uchiha wouldn't be able to do this in his current state. He jumped up, starting after Kakashi, landing next to him and doing a side-kick. It was caught, and he was pushed back.

"Naruto-kun, you can't win like that!" Sakura stood up, looking sadly down at Sasuke. "Don't worry, Sasuke."

"I'm not."

She ran after Naruto, staring at Kakashi as the boy slowly stood up. Naruto took a step back, forming hand seals. Sakura, seeing this, brought chakra to her fists, punching a huge hole in the ground. Kakashi obviously twitched, jumping back to avoid the large attack, while Naruto cast his KageBunshin no Jutsu. Three Narutos ran at Kakashi, attempting to kick at him, but the two clones were destroyed, sending Naruto back and landing feet-first against a tree. For a second, he kept this state, then jumped back down next to Sakura. "We don't have a lot of time... Diversion," he whispered into her ear, jumping back.

Sakura, again gathering her chakra into her fist, jumped at Kakashi, who quickly jumped back, slamming her fist into the ground, causing more damage. Behind her, Naruto gathered a tremendous amount of energy into his palm and then hand, creating a large orb in his hand spiraling energy in a perfect sphere. "Rasengan!" he yelled, running towards where Sakura had, by now, exposed Kakashi to be, hidden within the ground. He punched into the earth, grabbing at his sensei's belt. He snagged the two bells, jumping behind Sakura, closer to Sasuke. "Yeah!" He grinned, jumping up and down happily.

Sakura turned, grinning. "Good job."

Naruto threw one of the two bells over to Sakura, who caught it, then stared sadly over at Sasuke. "But..."

"Don't worry," he said to the pink-haired girl, then knelt next to the Uchiha, taking his hand and placing the bell in it, closing the other's slender fingers around it. "See? Sasuke got a bell, no sweat!" He stood up, grinning still.

Sasuke stared at him for a second, sure his heartbeat had gotten faster at Naruto's touch, then he stared down at the bell and shook his head slightly. "You know I didn't earn this, nor do I need it."

"Eh, too bad." Naruto smiled down at him.

Kakashi walked over to them, surprised to see Sasuke holding a bell, then grinned. "Well, then I see that Sakura and Sasuke have passed. Naruto..." He looked at the ninja who had given the two bells to his friends. He saw the blond starting to walk off. "And you're going... where?"

"Home. I'm tired, and I haven't slept in awhile."

Sasuke and Sakura both stared after him, then were surprised when he stopped, turning around.

"Why are we really here Kakashi-sensei? You knew what was going to happen, so why did you bother us?" He glared at the gray-haired man, crossing his arms.

"You got your hands on both of the bells, Naruto. However, you then gave both of these bells to your teammates, one who was incapable of even getting one himself in his injured condition. The rules were to get a bell..." He stared emotionlessly at the boy.

"Kakashi-sensei, you said once, that in the world of the shinobi those who disobey the rules are called scum... But that those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum!"

"So you remember that from six years ago, then?" Kakashi watched the boy nod. "Well, that's good. You're all dismissed. And I lied about the lunches, there's nothing here."

"What about the mission?" Sasuke suddenly asked, still gripping the bell.

"Oh, that was a lie, too." He turned, disappearing.

Sasuke sighed, closing his eyes. Naruto looked over at Sakura, who dropped the bell and angrily started off. Grinning, he looked down at Sasuke. "Come on, we should probably get going back to the hospital. If they find out you're not there, they'll kill me..." He shivered, then knelt down, picking up the Uchiha on his back. Sakura was already gone, at home, sleeping. Sasuke would have put up some protest, but it wasn't like he could get around any other way... He could only move the upper half of his body, and barely his waist. He made his grip tight, but not so tight as to choke the other, around Naruto's neck.

"So you can move your arms, eh?"

"Yeah..." Sasuke rested his chin on the other's shoulder as Naruto lead them back to the hospital.

"That's good. When we get back, you have to open your gifts!" He grinned, not letting Sasuke have the time to reply. "OK, we're here." He jumped into the open window, sitting Sasuke on the bed. He took off the jacket, revealing the other's arms, the lower half of his too-thin stomach and naval, and his bandaged chest. Carefully taking out the water and medicine pouch, he put them back on the metal rod next to the bed, turning on the heart-rate machine as he put the small circular cord-end on the left side of Sasuke's chest under the bandage.

"I still can't believe Kakashi-sensei did that to us... That wasn't right." Naruto mumbled as he pulled the pants from Sasuke, putting the clothes, folded, on the end of the futon and pulling the blanket over Sasuke's waist. He had him leaned against the headboard. He grabbed a couple of the gifts, then handed Sasuke one. "This one's from..." He checked a tag on it. "Ino-chan and Sakura-chan."

Sasuke sighed. Naruto was going to force him to open these, he knew it... And inside would be proud declarations of love and affection... He thought, how agitating.