Author's note: YA!!! Naruto's alive!!! How much do you luv me? Well…..that's all I have to say until the story. Go read nao!
Disclaimer: All I own is the plot!! Dat's it!
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Shikamaru ran through the forest at top speed. He had to find the others and quick. He just didn't know that they had wandered so far! But then he heard something to his left. It was a voice. A very familiar voice.
"Hey I found some over here!" it was Kiba.
He followed the voice. He came to an opening and found Kiba leaning over some herns and Hinata running over.
"Guys!" Shikamaru called
"What is it?" Hinata asked
"Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto are back. Naruto's seriously hurt and they really need those herbs!" Shikamaru said
"Okay, but first we need to find Chouji and Shino." Kiba said getting up
"Why do you need me and Sino?" Chouji said coming out of the bushes with Shino.
"The others are back and Naruto is really hurt." Kiba told him.
"Then why are we standing here?" Hinata asked "MOVE IT!" everyone present being scared by the new Hinata ran for it. But that wasn't the only thing that made them go so fast. It was the fact that a comrade and old school mate was hurt.
They were running for about 10 seconds when they ran into Ino,
"Oh! Good you found them." She said
"Ya, he told us about what happened." Chouji said
"Trust me, he hasn't even seen the worst of it."
Everyone looked at each other, and then continued running. They got to the camp site about 2 minutes later. They didn't see anyone, so they figured that Sasuke and Sakura were in the tent. Sasuke came out.
"Good you're back. Sakura really needs those." He said letting Hinata and Ino in the tent to help.
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It was now around midnight and everyone was asleep. Well, almost everyone. Everyone agreed that it would be best if they rested for the night and got Naruto to the Sand village as soon as possible in the morning. Ino, Hinata and Sakura took turns watching him so that they could all get some sleep. But that didn't help Sakura. It was now Hinata's turn and Ino was sleeping soundly and so was everyone else. Except Sakura. She couldn't sleep. And so she sat in the tree above the campsite. Just sat there starring at the full moon, and thinking.
'I can't believe this is happening. And why hasn't that poison come into effect? Why did that man try to kill him? Naruto……Why? What if he doesn't make it once the poison starts to work' She shook her head violently. 'No. I can't think like that. I have to be strong. The life of my best friend is lying on my shoulders. I never thought it could be so heavy…'
She was torn from her thoughts when she heard something, or someone in the leaves beside her. She slowly reached for her kunai, not knowing if it was another attempt to kill Naruto. She was surprised when Sasuke came out.
"What do you plan on doing with that?" he asked pointing to the kunai in her hands.
"Don't scare me like that." She said putting a fake smile in her face
"Mind if I join you?" he asked
She moved over to make room for him. He sat down next to her. It was silent for a few moments until Sasuke spoke up.
"So what are you doing up hear anyway?" he asked
Sakura sighed "Couldn't sleep." Her eyes started to water the tiniest bit. She was praying that Sasuke didn't notice, but he did.
"What's wrong?" he asked
She quickly rubbed her eyes. "Oh, nothing."
"Sakura I've known you for a long time and I know that there is something." He smiled
She couldn't take it any more, she couldn't hold it back. She let her tears out. Sasuke wrapped an arm around her.
"Okay, spill." He said trying to lighten the moment.
"I have no idea what is going on. Usually I'd think it was just some poison and I can handle that easily, but this is different…." she paused. "It's the sealing mark. It's glowing red and when he gained consciousness that one time he didn't clutch the wound on his chest, it was the sealing mark. This is beyond what medical justsu can handle. That 'poison' is doing something to his soul." She said through her tears.
Sasuke patted her back. "But remember what the man said. 'there's only a 95 chance he'll die'. He would have died a long while ago. But you helped him and you're doing great."
"But I don't know how much longer this will last." She cried
"Everything will be okay…" he looked into her eyes. "I promise."
Sakura hugged him tightly and much to her surprise he returned. They sat in the tree, starring at the sky, nestled in each other's arms for a few more moments until they heard a cry from below. It was Naruto. This was followed by a terrified scream, Hinata.