Naruto's P.O.V.

Blackness. That's all I could see. Dark, yet peaceful, void. I felt alot of pain though...

"Well, Kit, looks like you won the bet...you managed to go entire training session without me healing you at all." said the deep voice of the demon fox that resided in me.

"Heh, told you I could! So, where am I?" I asked.

"You'll know soon enough. Just to forwarn you, be ready for more pain." Kyuubi finished.

"Whatever." I replied. I opened my eyes, and a glaring light flooded my vision; I was in the hospital.

"Naruto...? Oh good, you're finally awake. Sakura, he's coming around!" said the voice of Shizune.

I saw a flash of pink hair from the side of my vision, and meet two teary green eyes, "N-Naruto, are you okay?"

"Well, despite the pain in my stomach, yeah, I'm just-"

SMACK!

"You idiot! How could you just go waltzing around with such an injury! Do you even know what happened!"

"Yeah, one of my clones hit me in the gut with a weakened Rasengan...or two...I think...why?" I replied, rubbing my now red and painful cheek.

"Your intestinal tract, left and right kidney, as well as your stomach, were all severely bruised, and bleeding seemed likely to happen! You could have died!" she took a deep breath, "Don't you ever do that to me again!"

"I'm sorry Sakura, I didn't mean to upset you." I replied with guilt.

Sakura sighed, and her expression softened, "I know...just, if it hurts, come and get some treatment, okay?"

Shizune opened the door to leave, "I'm going to do Naruto's paperwork on the treatment and other stuff, okay? Sakura, can you stay here and keep an eye on Naruto until either me or Tsunade comes back?"

Sakura nodded, and Shizune left the room, but not before giving Sakura a wink while tilting her head to me. I gave Sakura a confused look, she only smiled and shook her head.

"So, why didn't Kyuubi heal you?" Sakura asked after checking my vitals. It had been an hour or so, and dinner time was soon.

"I made a bet with Kyubbi that I could go a whole session of training without him healing me. I apparantly won." I answered. Sakura only groaned, and shook her head.

"I swear, you couldn't be more reckless. So...you hungry at all?" she asked me, getting up from her chair.

"Some miso flavored ramen would be-"

"Not ramen.That stuff's hardly worth the effort in making. How about some real food?" she asked me, walking over to a small fridge.

"Fine, suprise me..." I grumbled with dissapointment.

Sakura made me a light salad, claiming my digestive tract had not fully recovered yet.

The clock read about eleven thirty. Sakura had been informed by Shizune that she was to watch over tonight in case anything happened. Sakura and I talked about this and that, nothing in particular. That is, until we reached a topic I had little knowledge in: girls, and dating them.

I swear, not even Jiraiya could prepare me for this question Sakura gave me, "Okay Naruto, if you had to choose between Ino and Anko, who would it be?"

"What? Ino or Anko! Hmm...well, both kind of scare me. Anko I suppose. There's just something about a women using snakes that's sexy...er...what's wrong Sakura?"

SMACK!

"You pervert!" she scolded.

"You asked, I answered...besides, in reality, the chances of me going out with any girl in this village are slim to none." I replied, feeling depressed all of the sudden.

Sakura's P.O.V.

After hearing Naruto's words, I felt horrible. He truly believed that?

"Naruto...you know that's not true..."

"Come on Sakura, yes it is. Sure, I mean, I have friends of the opposite gender, but I'll never have anything more than that." Naruto responded, laughing sadly.

"I'm sure there's someone who cares about you." I said, pulling my chair closer to his bed.

"Okay then, prove it." Naruto challenged, almost smirking at the harsh topic on hand.

"Naruto, stop being so stubborn. There's got to be someone who-"

"Sakura, you know not a single really cares for me." Naruto said, crossing his arms with a grumpy look.

"Yes there is!" I said, raising my voice.

"Who then?"

"I...well..."

"Name one person!" he yelled.

"Me! I care about you Naruto! You've got me!" I yelled back, in danger of shedding tears.

Naruto sat on his bed, never blinking. He opened his mouth to say something, but remained silent. He then smiled at me, and I saw some tears in his eyes.

"You don't need to lie to me Sakura. I know you still care about...Sasuke...that's why I promised to bring him back." he said, laughing a little.

"I'm over Sasuke though, he left us for selfish reasons. You, however, tried numerous times to get him back. All because of a promise you made...to me." I replied, grabbing his hand.

He pulled away," I also plan on keeping that promise. You really cared about him, and something could've...'sparked' or whatever, between you two. So, until he's back, don't go saying things just to cheer me up." he said with frown.

"It is tru though Naruto! Don't you see?" I yelled, pulling him in so I could hug him. He patted my back, and then kissed my forehead.

"Sakura, if you only knew how happy this would make me if things were normal again." he smiled.

"Naruto, please stop this hunt for him...if I ever lost you...I...I..." I began to cry into his shoulder, gripping his shirt tightly.

Naruto lifted my chin so I was facing him. He then gave me his trademark grin and said, "You won't lose me, I promise..." then he got out of his bed.

"Naruto, you need to get back your bed, you haven't been cleared yet." I said, going back to my medic-nin persona.

Naruto only laughed, then said with a thumbs up, "Next time you see me, I'll have Sasuke with me, even if it means breaking both his arms and legs."

"Wait, Naruto! S-stop, please don't go!" I yelled, tears streaming down my face. He made a hand seal, and in a puff of smoke, vanished.

"Naruto!"

end of chap. 3- To all the Sakura fans, sorry for putting her through this drama. She's a main character in this story though, so what do you expect?I'll be updating soon!