When Naruto woke up for the second time, the pain was just as bad. The blonde had been screaming for nearly an hour and Sasuke was getting more worried. He knew the hokage could do nothing for his pain, but it was getting ridiculous. Naruto bit his lip hard, hoping to distract himself from the other pain, but it was useless. He felt like he was burning inside. "Make it s-stop…please s-Sasuke…" he whimpered.

"I'm sorry dobe." He whispered, holding his hand gently as Naruto screamed out again. 'Kakashi, you better get your ass back here fast…' the painful grip Naruto had on Sasuke's hand was released suddenly and Naruto went quiet again. 'He's passed out again?' Before Sasuke could go through the many ways he could torture kabuto in his head he noticed something was missing. Naruto's raspy breaths had suddenly gone quiet, which could only mean two things; he was breathing properly, or he wasn't breathing at all.

Sasuke grabbed Naruto's wrist and checked for a pulse and found his heart wasn't beating. Panicking, he pressed the small red button that was near the bed. Seconds later nurses rushed into the room, followed by the hokage. "What's wrong?" she asked quickly as she made her way to Naruto.

"I don't know! I he's just stopped breathing." The hokage gasped as she checked Naruto. "He's gone into cardiac arrest! I thought I told you to keep him calm?!" she accused as she began to try and resuscitate Naruto. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as she pressed her lips against Naruto's in an attempt to get him breathing. If it wasn't such a serious situation he would have shoved her off and done it himself. Naruto coughed loudly and Tsunade moved away from him.

"Thank god…" she muttered. The hokage then turned back to Sasuke. "Didn't it occur to you to perform CPR on him?" she said angrily. "What the hell are they teaching you kids at the academy these days?"

"I do know how!" Sasuke replied, glaring at her.

"So you just thought you'd waste time by standing there?"

"I panicked alright, it's not a crime is it? Besides, I had no-"

"D-don't blame s-Sasuke…" the argument was suddenly cut short by Naruto. They both turned around quickly. 'Oh no…oh no no no…'

'What is it kyu?' Naruto thought back weakly.

'T-trust me, I don't think now is the time to tell you. Just concentrate on getting better.'

'Better? I'm getting worse…Kyuubi…I can't take the pain anymore, I just w-want it to end.'

'Hey, don't even start thinking like that!'

'Your healing me. The hokage and Sasuke think the thing kabuto gave me isn't as bad as it actually is but the reason I'm alive is because you keep healing me.'

'I told you I would help you fight it, and I am.'

'Just stop it.' the Kyuubi was surprised at what Naruto said. 'Stop healing me with your chakra.'

'B-but if I do that, you would-'

'I know but at least then I wouldn't be in constant pain! I have no idea when or if Kakashi is getting back and I don't even think my body can hold out much longer.'

'Oh yes it can. It might surprise you but this happens to be the only body available for me right now and I'm not letting it die!' kyuubi's sarcasm wasn't helping to diffuse the situation. "Just stop it, alright!" Naruto shouted angrily. Sasuke and the hokage looked at each other guiltily; now wasn't really the right time to be arguing. Naruto sensed their guilt. "It's…okay I w-wasn't talking to y-y…oh right."

'Ah, you finally got your brain in gear then huh?'

'Damnit! I can't concentrate…god it hurts…' Naruto cried out again and Sasuke jumped to his side. "Its okay dobe, Kakashi will be back soon." He said gently. Tears streaked down his face as he clutched to Sasuke. "Naruto, listen to me, you have to try and stay as calm as you can." Tsunade said gently. Sasuke threw her a dirty look.

"You think he can really stay calm when he's in this much pain?" he shouted.

"Pissing me off is not helping, Sasuke!" she snapped back. Sakura and Ino came to see how Naruto was doing, but Sasuke refused to let them through the door. "Just hurry up and go, I need to be with him." Sasuke said quickly. Sakura frowned.

"Sasuke, we are his friends too you know! We want to see how he is." She said.

"He said he doesn't want you to see him the way he is now." Sasuke said quietly.

"Sasuke, I have been training with Tsunade for a while now so I think I should at least be able to- oh my god!" Sakura and Ino exchanged horrified looks as they heard a loud scream come from the room they were standing outside. "I though these walls were supposed to be sound-proof?" Ino said. Sakura stared at the door sadly, wondering what was happening to Naruto to make him scream so loud. "They are…" she whispered sadly.

"Please Sasuke, at least let me see him. He is my team-mate after all." She said seriously. Sasuke sighed and gave in to Sakura. He didn't let Ino in however and forced her to wait outside. When Sakura walked in, she immediately saw Naruto curled up on the bed crying in agony. "Naruto!"

"S-Sakura-chan…" was all he managed to pant out. Naruto cast an angry look at Sasuke. "I'm sorry dobe, but she wouldn't take no for an answer." Naruto knew his screams were probably giving Sasuke a headache by now, so he buried his face in his pillow in attempt to muffle his noises.

The blonde simply sobbed louder into the pillow, hoping Sakura wouldn't think he was being childish for crying. "I think you better go now." Sasuke said quietly.

"But, if only just got here!" she protested.

"Sakura. You can come back when he's feeling better, so if you wouldn't mind." Sakura took the hint and told Naruto she would come back another time. Naruto simply gave her a nod. "Nnh…s-Sasuke…" the raven went back to his bedside.

"Its okay Naruto, I'm here." Naruto pulled his face out the pillow and grabbed onto Sasuke. The blonde had been screaming so much all he could do now is give pained whimpers as he clutched onto Sasuke. It wasn't long before he pulled away and curled up on the bed again holding his stomach. "-Suke…burning…want it to s-stop…" he whimpered. Sasuke looked at his blonde. "I know dobe, me too."