We both could share our endless dreams
If you were here
- 24 Hours, Cueshe

The creaking springs of Naruto's hospital bed awoke her, along with the agitated sounds of rustling fabric. Her jade green eyes flashed open and she laid eyes upon the demon container's writhing, pained figure. Instantly, her heart leapt to her throat and she laid a hand upon his exposed arm in an attempt to calm him down. She snatched her hand back almost immediately, the intense heat scalding her.

"Naruto, what's wrong?" she asked him.

Naruto's breaths were coming in short gasps and he managed shakily, "I...I feel like I'm-I'm burning."

She laid her petite hand against his sweaty forehead and when she made to move it away, his calloused fingers kept it in place. His cerulean blue eyes were fogged over but at the same time as intense as sunlight on a clear summer day and held hers.

"No, k-keep your hand there…it's cold," he explained.

She said something in an attempt to comfort him but she couldn't remember what anymore. She had known that her voice shook slightly with worry as she spoke and her smile faltered but neither of them let on that they had noticed. He reluctantly let go of her hand and she sat on the side of his bed, pressing her fingertips against his burning temple. His eyes shut. She began to send a steady wave of cool, healing chakra throughout his body in an attempt to regulate his body temperature.

He gasped and his hand reached out blindly for something, anything, to soothe the fire that seethed inside of him. Her hand seemed to move of its own accord and gripped his much larger hand in her own, pressing it against her cool cheek. She found her vision blurring and felt blind unreasonable fear race through her.

What if he died? He couldn't die, she had just lost Sasuke and she couldn't bear to lose another team mate; especially him. He couldn't, wouldn't, die but he was scaring her so much and what would happen if she couldn't help?

His erratic movements came to a slow but his breathing was still laboured. She wasn't sure if he was improving or not but she was almost terrified to ask him. Her medic instincts had thrown themselves out of the window and onto the pavement some several stories down in her fight to save him.

"Silk," his low voice startled her.

"What?" she asked incredulously. Maybe his fever made him delirious.

"Your chakra…it feels like silk," he explained.

His ocean blue eyes opened with all the endlessness of an underwater crevasse. She let her hand drop from his back onto his temple and began to channel even more chakra throughout his entire body. His hand slipped slightly to her long, graceful neck and he watched her through captivating sapphire orbs.

The seconds ticked away as she sat at his bedside but they felt like hours to her. Her chakra was all but drained out of her from a long day's hard work but Naruto's eyes remained open, staring at her with the unfailing trust of a child or a comrade in arms. She pulled out a thermometer from within the folds of her medic uniform and began to check his temperature. It emitted a small beep after a little while and she took it out, her eyes widening in shock.

The thermometer read 50 degrees Celsius. He should have been dead.

She smashed her hand against the assistance button at his side, cursing herself for her stupidity. She spoke into the intercom urgently, "Have Tsunade-sama come to room 412 to assist Uzumaki Naruto. Immediately."

Five long, difficult minutes later, the sound of high heels clacking against chipping linoleum reached her ears. Tsunade burst through the doors and all but threw Sakura away from Naruto, settling into the same position the pink haired med-nin had been in moments ago. As she tried to soothe Naruto's high fever, she demanded details on Naruto's condition.

"He's been like this for ten minutes. I tried to regulate his body temperature and at the moment his temperature is fifty degrees Celsius," She informed her former shishou and Tsunade's hazel eyes darted to Sakura's for a split second.

"Fifty degrees Celsius?" Tsunade repeated, waiting for Sakura's confirmation. Sakura nodded wordlessly and the blonde haired woman's jaw clenched.

Tsunade began, "Sakura, I want you to go find Jiraiya and Yamato."

Sakura opened her mouth to protest and the Godaime interrupted her before she could manage anything, "Don't ask why, just do it."

Silver haired Hatake Kakashi stood slouched against the dingy wall of an alleyway. A smoking cigarette was held leisurely between two fingers and his navy mask pooled around his pale neck like a scarf. Tendrils of smoke reached out like desperate fingers towards the dark sky and as the sound of slapping stilettos reaching his ears, his eyes darted to the entrance of the alleyway.

A pink haired woman's shoe suddenly gave way and the heel broke with a resounding snap. There were only two pink haired women in Konoha and only one of them was a ninja who wore black gloves, so he realized it was Sakura. He yanked his mask over his face again, the stifling sensation washing over him, before he headed towards her and into the light.

"Where's the fire, Sakura-chan?" Kakashi asked her, the corners of his mouth curving upwards against the fabric and his eyes crinkling out of force of habit.

She glanced upwards at Kakashi before swearing colourfully at her broken stiletto. Her petite hands struggled to remove it and she ignored his previous question, demanding, "Kakashi-sempai, do you know where Jiraiya-san and Yamato-sempai are?"

"They passed the alleyway a couple of times," he supported unhelpfully.

Sakura stood up, her shoes in her hands and her jade green eyes darted to the burning cigarette in his hand. She ignored it for now and put it to the back of her mind for later interrogation.

Her voice took on a more pleading tone, "Kakashi-sempai, please, Tsunade-hime wants them. It's about Naruto."

Suddenly Kakashi's eye narrowed. He stabbed his hardly smoked fag into the wall, marking it black, and let it drop to the floor. He bit into his calloused thumb until it bled crimson and placed his fingertips against the ground, murmuring, "Kuchiyose no jutsu" under his breath. Pakkun appeared with another dog and scratched at his ear lazily before turning to Kakashi with drowsy eyes.

"You called?" he asked with a dopey smile.

Kakashi ordered the two of them, "I need the two of you to find Jiraiya and Yamato and then to bring them to the Godaime as fast as possible."

They disappeared without an answer and Sakura stood by his side nervously. An uncomfortable silence had fallen over the both of them (well, Sakura thought it was uncomfortable) and her gaze travelled to the thumb Kakashi had in his mouth. She beckoned for him to give her his hand and he wiped it first on his baggy trousers. A faint river of chakra leaked into his thumb, sealing it up again.

Suddenly, her legs gave way. Kakashi's advanced reflexes were the only thing that kept him from dropping her to the floor. He steadied her with his hands and she noticed absentmindedly that he smelled faintly like smoke and deodorant, a smell not entirely unpleasant. His cold, gloved hand tilted her chin up to meet his intense gaze.

For a moment, he was completely silent. Then he inquired in a low, husky voice, "Your eyes aren't focussing properly. How much chakra do you have left?"

"I-I don't think I have any," she whispered weakly.

"Can you walk?" he questioned her and Sakura straightened up, testing her legs.

At first, she seemed perfectly fine but her knees collapsed on the fourth step. Kakashi gripped her arms tightly and said to her, "I'll help you home. Where's your house?"

"I need to go back to Naruto," she protested and Kakashi forced her to look at him again.

"No. You can't do anything for him in your condition. You will hurt yourself and Naruto if you try to," he told her harshly.

Her jade eyes flickered to the ground angrily and her jaw clenched because she knew that he was right. She didn't know what was happening to Naruto though and it was making her nervous and desperate to get back to him. But if she was only going to hurt him…

She argued weakly, "I won't help, I just want to be with him. I don't want to…"

The awkward silence that followed finished her sentence off for her. I don't want to lose another team mate.

"Naruto will not die if that's what you're thinking. You, however, might if you go. If you won't show me where your house is, I will drag you to mine," he told her very seriously.

"But Naruto-" she tried again but Kakashi had already picked her up.

Her mind was desperate to get back to Naruto, but her body was too tired to respond. Kakashi had brought her close to his chest and held her tightly to prevent her from slipping away. Although she struggled, it was feeble and she eventually gave up. Her eyes shut and her head very gradually began to sag against Kakashi's chest. The rhythmic thud, thud of his steady heartbeat calmed her down.

"Naruto'll be fine. He's much stronger than you give him credit for," his chest vibrated as he spoke.

She said quietly, "Yeah…because of the Kyuubi."

"Not only that. He's the kind of guy you wouldn't be able to beat down with a spiked metal club," Kakashi's words made Sakura smile slightly.

"Do you think…do you think he'll be okay?" she couldn't help but ask.

Kakashi's mouth tightened subtly underneath his navy mask. He answered, "That kid has Tsunade-hime, Yamato-san and Jiraiya-san with him. It'd be difficult for him to die with those three around."

Naruto flickered in and out of reality like a failing light bulb. One moment, he was staring up into Tsunade's sweaty face and the next he was trapped in a complex network of twisting tunnels.

Then the screaming began and he flinched suddenly as though he had been hit. He fell to his knees and water splattered about the place - had he fallen? He thought he was lying down – and the trickle of cooling chakra felt like ice water sliding down his back. There was someone trying to help him up, a figure dressed entirely in white – wasn't Tsunade just there? – and was replaced with a blonde woman once again.

The sewers registered again in his mind and the real world melted away. He covered his ears to drown out the painful screaming, the screams of a being betrayed, and felt a slender fingered hand on his shoulder.

"Naruto," a harsh woman's voice broke in helpless frustration.

"Naruto," a soft voice murmured.

"Naruto," a white haired man whispered, racing to his bedside.

"Minato!" The screams echoed in the chambers of his mind – mind? Seal – and ricocheted off the walls like a ping pong ball.

"I'm not Minato!" Naruto screamed. His unexpected words made Jiraiya and Tsunade stiffen in shock.

"You're not," The calming voice from before told him in a tone that sounded so familiar. He knelt down in front of him.

It was too dark to make out any of his facial characteristics, but his eyes sparkled like two bright stars. His spiky hair cast an odd shadow on the ground and Naruto could make out the strong, chiselled features of his face.

The man's hand reached out, two fingers pressed together as if to poke him in the forehead. Naruto closed his eyes, awaiting the impact but they flashed open in surprise when instead the man's hand ruffled his hair fondly. He could see the beginnings of a soft smile play across his darkened face.

"I should know."

He was suddenly hurled from his world of sewers and back into one of sterile hospital beds and whitewashed walls. It felt as though he had lost a part of himself and he felt utterly lost and weak. He hated the feeling but as his gaze fell upon Yamato and the wooden stakes around him, he understood. He passed a tired hand over his dull blue eyes.

"Naruto, how do you feel?" Tsunade's voice was unnaturally quiet. Jiraiya was as white as a sheet and avoided his gaze, whereas beads of perspiration trickled down Yamato's flushed face.

The wooden statues rattled in protest before sinking into the ground and disappearing from view. Naruto's restrained chakra returned to him in a faint trickle and Yamato promptly left the room after receiving a commanding look from the white haired sannin.

"I…" He trailed off in a dry voice, his head spinning slightly. An elusive memory flashed in his head for the briefest of moments.

Spiky blonde hair, calming blue eyes that seemed so dead and the rain was falling in silver streaks like a-

"Naruto?" she pressed him.

-a scene from an age old movie and he swore he had seen this scene play out before. A smile, a smile that he had only seen on the faces of parents as they looked upon their children, a smile he so desperately longed for was-

"I feel fine now," Naruto answered. His voice had been sharper and curter than he had intended but mused to himself there was nothing that could be done about what had been said now.

If Naruto thought his voice had been sharp, Jiraiya's could cut through marble without any resistance. "Where did you hear that name, Naruto?"

His golden brow furrowed in confusion and he asked, "What name?"

"Minato. Namikaze Minato," Tsunade reminded him and Jiraiya's dark eyes flashed in warning. The blonde haired Hokage ignored it.

"Minato…?" The name rolled off of Naruto's thick tongue as if he were testing it for the first time.

-was fixed on his strong, soft face and it made him feel strange like he was actually loved-

"You were screaming it just a few moments ago," Jiraiya informed him in a low, contemplative undertone.

The sewers flashed in Naruto's mind and the Kyuubi's tortured screams echoed in his ears. Naruto swallowed painfully and lied, "I don't remember where I heard it…"

Disappointment shimmered in the depths of Jiraiya's eyes and Naruto then ventured, "Who's Minato?"

Tsunade began, "Minato is your-"

-a hand reached out to touch him and the rain fell in silver streaks, casting an age old flicker on the tragic scene-

"Sealer. He's the fourth Hokage that sealed the Kyuubi in you," Jiraiya interrupted before she could finish the end of her sentence.

It was Tsunade's turn to be disappointed and she stared at the impassive white haired sannin with eyes that could make the strongest of men buckle to their knees. However, he avoided her gaze with the ease of a man with something to hide. A tense silence fell over the room and Naruto found the words that had been threatening to spill out of his mouth had fled in the presence of his unexpected answer.

Her jade eyes were simmering with unshed tears but she continued staring up at the dull ceiling as the uncomfortable sofa pressed against her back in protest. Her bare legs were propped up onto a certain copy-nin's lap and his jet black eye scanned the pages of his familiar orange book.

"I didn't know you smoked," she commented quietly.

A wry grin stretched across Kakashi's face underneath his navy mask. He answered her grimly, "Well, now you do."

"When did you start?" she asked, wondering if she would even get an answer from the antisocial copy-nin. He didn't tend to open up about his tragic past and the little Sakura knew about the evasive man was learned through other people.

"Started with Asuma some twenty years back," He replied nonchalantly. The name tainted the air with awkwardness and Sakura was briefly reminded of a possibly dying boy in a hospital.

She let her eyes close. The silence was contemplative and the sounds of a page being turned were the only startling icebreakers.

"It must've been after the Yondaime died. Asuma's mother died in the confusion. It was only really after the Kyuubi was gone that we all had time to mourn," he mused aloud, flipping another page with a gloved finger.

It surprised her Kakashi was being so open today, but he subconsciously knew it was because he would have tried to give her, Naruto and Sai anything they wanted in a heartbeat at the moment. Sasuke's death had affected him much more than it should've and he was becoming gradually more paranoid that his students would be ripped away from him, one by one.

"The Yondaime seemed like an amazing person. He must've struggled a lot when it came to sacrificing himself to save the village," she observed quietly.

Kakashi shut his book. He slipped it into one of the many pockets on his jounin flak jackets and let his eyes rove over the bare back wall of his home. He agreed with a smile that felt utterly fake and hollow, "He was. I couldn't have asked for a better sensei."

"He was your sensei?" Sakura exclaimed in surprise and Kakashi nodded stiffly.

The tense silence that followed contrasted sharply with the brief one just a few moments before. The medic-nin felt she must have brought something painful to the surface and cleared her throat awkwardly.

"You never smoked around us though," she commented and dark humour flitted in the depths of his onyx eye.

He explained, "Yondaime-sama would probably have killed me if he found out I was smoking, let alone smoking in front of children."

"Your lungs are going to go black," she pointed out in disapproval and Kakashi shrugged.

"They probably already are," he reasoned.

His apartment was surprisingly clean for somebody with an infamous reputation for being exceptionally tardy. One thing, she noted in particular, was the rosewood bookshelf tucked into a corner filled with brightly coloured books with a large red warning sign on them. It smelled of smoke (a scent she had begun to associate with Kakashi) and of sweat but she didn't really mind.

"Are you and Naruto okay?" asked Kakashi in an uncharacteristic moment of concern.

Sakura covered her jade eyes with a lithe arm and shifted slightly on the threadbare sofa. She shrugged imperceptibly before answering, "I don't know. Naruto didn't remember anything about the fight and he kept asking for Sasuke so I had to tell him…he didn't take the news well. I thought I was over Sasuke's death but seeing Naruto break down made me realize how wrong I really was."

Kakashi's silence was understanding and he removed his battered forehead protector, placing it on the floor beside the sofa quietly. The cogs of regret in his mind had already been working overdrive and were now pushed to the breaking point.

Sakura cleared her throat and said with a bitter smile, "I just thought that after working so hard, we'd finally get him you know. Maybe it would have been different if I had gone on the mission and not listened to Naruto…"

"Sasuke had already been possessed to the point he no longer had any control over his own body. I had to kill him," he explained in a melancholy undertone.

Tears Sakura thought she had forced down sprung to her jade eyes at the new piece of information. She said in a whisper, "I heard rumours but…I didn't really know if it was you. I always kind of expected Naruto to do it."

"Naruto would never have been able to kill Sasuke," Kakashi murmured.

His hold on his book tightened until his hands were turning white and he left marks in the cover from his blunt fingernails. It didn't escape her notice and she stared at his suffering in amazement and understanding. He suddenly realized what he was doing to it and relaxed his hands, averting his mismatched eyes guiltily. His throat felt thick and heavy and he couldn't bring himself to say anything, settling for a stoic and stony silence.

"Did he suffer?" she asked quietly, her eyes burning.

Kakashi answered her emotionlessly, "No. It was quick."

And then Sakura didn't know what to say. Was she meant to be glad that he had died painlessly? She settled for a quiet, "Ah" that she didn't really mean and Kakashi closed his eyes.

It was all a matter of time before she broke down. He was counting down the seconds in his mind and became marginally glad that he hadn't told her everything. A minute passed and he was silently congratulating her for having held up for so long. At a minute and twenty seconds, she had begun to tremble.

He supposed he should have comforted her but somehow, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Maybe he was being selfish, to want to see someone suffering as he was. His onyx eyes glazed over as a memory took a hold of him.

"Kakashi-sensei, I can't hold him back for much longer," the raven haired Uchiha had managed painfully, his eyes struggling with a sickening contrast between murky amber eyes and crimson Sharingan.

The rain fell like icy needles upon his back, piercing his heart with every traitorous raindrop. His jaw clenched and his hand tightened around his kunai. He supposed that once upon a time it would have made him happy that Sasuke still considered him his sensei, but the honorific only made his heart clench and the pain twenty times greater.

Sasuke's back had arched as he fell to the ground, trying to hold back the corrupted sannin. His fingers clawed at the dirt and he raised his head with so much more effort than it should have taken, his gaze blood red and struggling. He had gasped as yellow began to bleed through the red again and Kakashi had met his eyes.

The rain had fallen like icy needles upon his back and his hand had crackled like burning thunder. With every step he took, he could hear his mind screaming at him to stop and that there was another way. As his hand plunged through the body of the boy who had always been – and would always be - his favourite, the wheels of a once proud clan turned for the last time and came to a reluctant halt.

Next Chapter Preview: Edo Tensei

"I've wanted to see you for a long time, you know. It must have been difficult for you to grow up alone but there were so many times I wanted to come back and make things right."

"If we had meant nothing to Orochimaru, we wouldn't be alive. He had so many chances to kill us but never took them."

"I don't want to go back to the hospital anymore, Sakura. It reminds me too much of..."

"Naruto, promise me."

A/N:
Well, second chapter down. Things will get much more interesting in the next chapter and I think that the whole moping over Sasuke thing is mainly over. Naruto and Sakura will still get their romance but it'll progress pretty fast since this is a short story. It might even be unrealistic in places. Oh! And you find out who the mysterious man in Naruto's head is in the next chapter. I think it's pretty obvious who it is but maybe that's cause I'm writing it. -.-;;

Selandora (the sickeningly emotional undeniably sexy one you all must fear.)