Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters. All rights belong to Kishimoto.

**This story was originally posted on Wattpad by yours truly!**

Iruka had been visiting Naruto in hospital every night for the past two weeks, with hope that he'd wake up. He walked down the street and sat outside of Ramen Ichiraku bar.

"Haha, I want an extra egg in my ramen this time. Make this one extra big!" Naruto's voice echoed in Iruka's mind.

Iruka quickly looked at the stool next to him, to see a happy Naruto eating his ramen.

sip, sip, sip. Naruto continued to eat his ramen in peace then sensed that Iruka was staring at him. "Hm, what is it Iruka-sensei?" His eyes were full of confusion. "Is there a bug on me?! Get it off me! I hate bugs!" He scrambled around, hopping and jumping, feeling his upper back and hair for any crawlies.

Iruka rubbed his eyes and blinked to see if it was a dream. Naruto was in front of him, jumping around like an idiot. The Naruto he knew.

Naruto eventually stopped jumping and pointed his index finger at Iruka. "Were you messing with me! You know I hate bugs! Hm." He crossed his arms and turned his back to Iruka.

Iruka started laughing. A nostalgic laugh. A laugh he missed so badly, he wanted Naruto to wake up so he could buy him a years supply of Ichiraku's ramen he loved so dearly.

"Thanks for the ramen Teuchi! C-ya Iruka-sensei!" He waved back as he ran forth, he slowly faded away.

"You miss him don't you?" The Ramen shop owner said, noticed Iruka daydreaming. He leaned against the bench by his elbows and looked back at Iruka.

Iruka snapped back into reality after hallucinating a happy Naruto out of hospital. "Hm?" He frowned at the thought, that none of that was real. "Yeah, I do." He sighed. He put his elbows on the bench and put his face in his palms.

A moment of silence went by then Ichiraku spoke. "Naruto was my favorite customer. He'd come here everyday ordering the same thing. Large sized miso ramen, with extra chashu. He was always smiling and would always try out my new recipes and give suggestions. They were always a crowd favorite. He was always happy and laughing whenever he was here." Another short moment went by. He got closer to Iruka and lowered his voice. "So, what exactly happened to the boy?"

Iruka's heart skipped a beat.

*flashback*

Naruto is shown lying against his bed in a pool of his own blood.

Thump, Thump.

"Please wake up Naruto!" Iruka shook Naruto frantically.

Thump, Thump.

"Naruto? NARUTO! Come on!" He continued to shake Naruto, tears gashing from his eyes.

Thump, Thump

"Let me show you the light, just wake up!"

Thump, Thump Thump, Thump Thump, Thump Thump, Thump.

He pulled the boy closer to him and searched everywhere for a pulse. Iruka's heart pounded out of his chest as he continued to try and find it.

No pulse.

Silence. The boy was dead.

The Hokage had put his hand on Iruka's shoulder. "I'm sorry Iruka."

Hokage's voice echoed in his mind. His own voice echoed in his own mind. Every sound around him, echoed in his mind. The world around him spun. He didn't know what was happening. There was too much happening at one time. He didn't want to believe most of it. But sadly at that time, everything was reality. He had cradelled Naruto for 30 minutes, keeping quiet. He finally spoke for the first time."If only he had an indication of who his parents were, and how they died, maybe he would still be alive..." He took a big breath. "...Maybe if we had told him before, he'd be here with us today..."
"...But we can't give up yet, when will Tsunade arrive?"

Naruto... The one word that wouldn't stop echoeing in his mind.

*back to reality*

"I-I'm very sorry, I must be going now. The Hokage would like to see me." After his excuse, he paid for his ramen then quickly fled.

"Tsunade! What did I tell you about gambling?! You already owe 3 men enough money as it is!"

"Yeah yeah, they can get over it" Tsunade took another mouthful of her whiskey.

The two women continue to argue down the street. As they turned the corner, Iruka ran into Tsunade, dropping her whiskey. "'Aye, you gotta buy me a new one now! I need that stuff!" Tsunade shouted at Iruka.

"Sorry Tsunade. Just the people I want to see. Doesn't look like Tsunade is sober right now so... Shizune was it? Have you checked up on Naruto today?"

"Yes, my name is Shizune. We're actually in fact going to head down there now. Would you like to walk with us?"

The group walked together and eventually made it to the hospital.

Shizune checked on Naruto's condition. "Hm, he still seems to be in the same stable state. Let him be for now. We'll check up on him again tomorrow morning." Everyone walked out of the room. It was quiet in Naruto room... Very quiet...Until suddenly. Naruto, still in his comatious state, took a breath. His breathing pattern changed suddenly, it was now in a regular pattern. He was breathing normally now. Was he waking up?

The two women and Iruka go their separate ways, after walking back out of the hospital.

It was now later afternoon, and Iruka was heading home.

"How's he doing?"

Iruka was shocked. He looked up at the tree to see Kakashi standing on a branch leaning against the tree, reading what he struggled to see, 'Make-out Tactics.' "He's still in a coma, but his condition is stable. No one knows when he'll wake up."

"Okay. Well, Hokage assigned Naruto to be apart of my Team 7 with two other students, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno."

"Naruto would never get along with Sasuke. I have to go, Later." With that, Iruka continued heading home.

It was next morning and again, Tsunade, Shizune and also Iruka went to check up on Naruto's condition.

"His breathing pattern has changed, it's now regular. Though apart from that, his condition stays the same." Tsunade inquired. 'Is the boy waking up?' Tsunade thought. Sigh. "Well I'm off to go do some gambl- I mean to go to... the Sauna. Yes... the Sauna."

"Naruto.. will you ever wake up?" Iruka thought to himself sadly.

The two women started to leave first and as Iruka turned to leave also... Naruto groaned and moved his head around.

"N-N-Narut...o? Iruka slowly approached Naruto's bed.

Naruto winced and opened his eyes.

Iruka stepped back and then turned around and bolted out of the room into the hallway to inform the two women. "WAIT! NARUTO... HE'S AWAKE! AWAKE!" The two women turned around, wide eyed. All three of them raced back into Naruto's room and looked at Naruto.

Naruto was sitting up, staring at them.

That is it for this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it.

Bye for now~ :)