Naruto trudged towards Tsunade's office with an uncharacteristically depressed gait, his eyes focused on his moving feet. Currently, he was going to see the hokage to ask her how Kakashi was doing, and what had happened to him, because something didn't feel right.

The Uzumaki hadn't seen him awake since he'd suffered cardiac arrest, and with every visit afterward, he grew more and more worried. It was hard to see him constantly unconscious again, especially after something so frightening had happened.

The hokage had been distant lately, away from the hospital, and avoiding answering any of their questions—that was why Naruto had decided to personally pay her a visit, so that she could finally address all of his concerns.

He stopped by the door to her office, putting his hand around the knob to open it, but pausing when he heard hushed, tense voices talking inside. Peeping through the tiny slit between the two doors, he caught sight of Jiraiya and Tsunade, both of whom were speaking animatedly about something that clearly worried them greatly.

"It's been 3 weeks, Jiraiya…He would've wanted this. And you and I both know there's no point of hanging on now."

"I know, Tsunade, but you know how Gai feels…not to mention Kakashi's students…they don't even know. I just don't get why he made me his proxy…it's too hard."

"Kakashi chose you because he thought you would make an unemotional decision…clearly he wasn't right."

"That's not fair, Tsunade…If you were in my place, are you saying it would be easy for you?"

Naruto let go of the doorknob with wide eyes and furrowed brows, turning away from the door and processing what he'd just heard. His heart palpated uneasily with dread, and he wondered what decision they were talking about.

"...No, of course it wouldn't be easy," he heard Tsunade say after a small pause, her voice muffled behind the door, "But I would pull the plug. I've already ignored one of Kakashi's wishes, and I really don't want to make the same mistake again. I've…caused enough pain already."

Naruto's breath wavered in his throat, as he finally understood, without a doubt, that they were talking about ending his sensei's life. While he had noticed the new, large machines that Kakashi was bound to, and how Gai-sensei seemed even more anxious than before, always staying at his side, Naruto hadn't really realized that Kakashi was on life support.

He hadn't known that there was definitely no hope left.

While Naruto would be mad normally, he was mostly feeling sadness and shock—on top of that, he knew that it was Kakashi's decision, his last wish, so he couldn't exactly direct his anger at Jiraiya or Tsunade. He was furious deep inside though, at the prospect of his sensei dying, and also at how no one was planning on telling him or his teammates until after the fact.

"You should make a decision by tonight, Jiraiya," Naruto heard the hokage say firmly, his brows furrowing apprehensively, "He asked to be unplugged if he was in a comatose state for up to three weeks without any change. It's been four weeks."

"Okay…I'll let you know by today."

Naruto pushed his ear against the door harder, only hearing the silence that came after Jiraiya's foreboding words. He started to make out heavy footsteps approaching him, and straightened his posture with wide eyes, hurrying down the hall and turning the corner.

He didn't have an exact plan yet, but he knew that confronting Jiraiya and Tsunade probably wasn't the smartest move.

At that moment, he was intent on telling his team what was happening, so that all of them could find a way to stop it together.

Kakashi-sensei could not die.

Sakura sat on her bed with her arms wrapped around her knees, her head tilted slightly forward in a way that made her pink hair fall into her eyes. Every time she wasn't at the hospital, her mind was especially fixated on how Kakashi was doing, and she couldn't help but wonder if something horrible had happened in her absence.

"Sakura," she heard her Mom say suddenly, finding that the blonde woman was standing in the door frame of her bedroom, "Your friend Naruto is here."

"…Ok," she replied shortly, wondering if something had happened, because Naruto rarely visited her house.

Sighing, she swung her legs off of the mattress so that her bare feet were touching the wooden floor, and then proceeded to trudge towards the stairs, her chest feeling weary with chronic dread.

At this point, she was frighteningly used to feeling anxious, to the point where she was always exhausted and on edge, constantly fearful of the future. Sometimes, she wished she could turn off her brain, but alas, that wasn't possible.

Sakura padded down the wooden steps, her friend's face quickly becoming visible by the front door. Immediately, she noticed the tunneled, panicked look in his eyes.

"Naruto?" she started confusedly, now standing at the entrance of her house, her brows furrowing in worry, "What's wrong? Is everything okay?"

"No," he responded quickly, grasping her wrist and pulling her outside, "You need to come with me, now."

She pushed against him, yanking her wrist out of his hand, and moving to grab her shoes.

"Wait a second, Naruto, geez," she mumbled under her breath, putting on her sandals, and ignoring how immensely worried he looked. Once she had them on, she stepped outside and closed the front door, wasting no time.

Naruto just stared at her with an intense look, as if he knew something of great importance, and couldn't hold it in. Sakura crossed her arms, returning the eye contact.

"So, are you going to tell me what's going on?" she asked him intently, having no patience for all of the suspense. Sakura was already nervous at how Naruto had randomly showed up, and she just wanted to know exactly what was happening—the young kunoichi could already feel herself spiraling with fear.

Naruto grabbed her wrist and turned around, beginning to walk briskly away from her home. "Sakura, it's bad. We need to get to the hospital, right now."

At this, her eyes widened, and she quickened her pace, her heart palpating as she realized with certainty that this was about their sensei.

"W-what? What's going on, Naruto?" she started anxiously, "Is Kakashi-sensei okay?"

The Uzumaki shook his head quickly, his eyes closed tightly, and his brows scrunched together. His body language showed clear signs of distress.

"No, he's not okay! Kakashi sensei was dying, right under our noses, and we never even noticed it…" he told her quietly, his voice scratchy and gruff, and his hands fisted tightly, "He's on life support, Sakura. He's been on life support. And they're taking him off, maybe even today."

At this, Sakura couldn't help but slow down, her visage blanching as she processed the serious news. Her mind was racing with an overwhelming myriad of questions, but she couldn't bring herself to ask a single one. Perhaps the most prevalent one was regarding how they'd never noticed that he was on life support.

If she had known, she would've never left his side.

"Kakashi-sensei is…dying?" she asked him solemnly, more so just saying her thoughts aloud, "But I thought the surgery worked…"

"Me too, Sakura," Naruto began with a sigh, walking even faster, as he apprehensively felt that Kakashi could be unplugged at any moment, "But you and I both know that the surgery was risky. And look, I know this is what Kakashi-sensei wants, but we can't let this happen."

Naruto wasn't ready to see Kakashi die. He couldn't imagine a life where the legendary copy nin ceased to exist.

"We have to stop them from unplugging him."

Sakura nodded hesitantly, agreeing with him, but not exactly knowing how they would be able to pull that off. If they were to steal him away from the hospital and hide him, then he would die anyway, as he wouldn't have access to the machines that were keeping him alive.

"But how, Naruto?…Also, we need to tell Sasuke. He would want to know."

At this, Naruto stopped momentarily, shifting on his heels and turning his feet towards her. His expression was angry and bewildered, and it was obvious that Sakura had struck a nerve.

"Him?! Sasuke would never agree to stopping sensei from being unplugged! He probably doesn't even care…"

Naruto crossed his arms petulantly and looked to the side, his lips turning downward into a scowl. At this, Sakura narrowed her eyes in distaste, resisting the urge to punch her teammate's head–this was no time for his childish rivalry with Sasuke.

"I'm sure Sasuke does care, he just shows it differently than you do," she started bluntly, not hesitating in the slightest, as she thought Naruto was being completely irrational and biased, "You can't expect everyone to express their concern exactly like you do– that's completely unfair, Naruto. And besides, Sasuke is a part of Team 7, so he deserves to know."

The blonde gazed at her dubiously, his frown fading as her words sank into him, and he realized she was right. He nodded curtly, turning towards the direction that they had come from.

"Okay. Let's get Sasuke," He told her readily, already walking towards his apartment complex. She caught up with him with a small, but sad smile lighting up her eyes, surprised at how willingly he'd agreed with her.

With that, the two of them headed to the Uchiha to deliver the frightening news, praying that they weren't too late.