Chapter 3

Naruto woke to pleasant warmth around him. He snuggled further into the blanket, and then his eyes snapped open as the memories of the night before came flooding back to him.

He instantly became aware of the warm weight against his side, and he looked down to see black hair spilling across his shoulder. He frowned as he felt the heat radiating from Sasuke's face where the older shinobi had it pressed against his skin, though the rest of the Uchiha felt like ice.

Naruto wriggled out from under Sasuke, fully expecting to wake him, though he was surprised when all that happened was a small moan of pain escaped Sasuke as his broken arm was jarred.

The blond frowned at that. As a shinobi, Sasuke slept the cat-like sleep of one, and normally you could hardly breathe in his presence and he would wake. Naruto put a hand on the Uchiha's shoulder, shaking it slightly. "Sasuke, wake up."

Dazed black eyes flickered open, and Sasuke swallowed thickly. "N-Naruto…"

Naruto sighed slightly, helping Sasuke to sit up and pulling out his water canister and holding it to Sasuke's dry and chapped lips. The black-haired teen gulped it down, breathing heavily as soon as he was finished. Naruto moved away as soon as he was sure that Sasuke could sit up on his own, beginning to roll up his bedroll. "Come on Sasuke, we need to get moving."

Sasuke said nothing, only started obediently packing up his things, though he did so with shaking limbs and rather slowly. Naruto ended up helping him in the end, and then pulling down the tent on his own.

Not long after that they were moving through the trees once more, Naruto attempting to find his way back towards the village through scent alone. He managed to get to the top of a tall tree and see a basic direction to go, as he could see the Hokage Mountain, but he still wanted to be able to follow something on the ground in case they had to sidetrack a little.

Luckily Sasuke's ankle was no longer swollen, so he deemed it safe to move on it. Naruto still wasn't so sure, but even feverish and with whatever poison that had been still working through his system, Sasuke was still stubborn as hell.

Sasuke kept up with him for a while, remaining completely silent with his broken arm held against his chest with bandages, and then he began to slowly lag behind. Naruto reined in his own pace, not wanting to leave him behind, but as Sasuke stumbled and nearly fell the Kyuubi container was forced to halt the movement.

"Sasuke…" he murmured as he moved back to his friend's side, where Sasuke had fallen to his hand and knees on a branch, panting heavily in an attempt to get his breath back.

Sasuke shook his head slightly, his black hair plastered to his forehead with sweat. Naruto knelt, sneaking a hand beneath the black bangs to put his palm against Sasuke's forehead. His fever had escalated, and by what Naruto could see his ankle was once again swollen.

Naruto sighed, lifting Sasuke into his arms. The Uchiha seemed a little confused by the movement, but he did not fight back, seemingly too tired and sick to care. The blond teen restarted his movement through the trees, cradling Sasuke to his chest as he moved.

Naruto could feel Sasuke relaxing against him as they went through the trees, and he paid it no mind at first. It would do Sasuke some good to sleep; it might help him fight off his fever. He didn't think about how difficult it had been that morning to wake the shinobi, but something in him had recognized what was happening.

"DON'T LET HIM SLEEP!"

Naruto repressed his cry of shock as the Kyuubi spoke up for the first time in nearly two weeks, its voice booming through his mind. Sure, Kyuubi never spoke to him often in the first place, and when it did it was usually never very helpful, but sometimes it actually acted in his best interests.

"Don't let him sleep? Why?"

"I've finally recognized the scent that's been lingering around him since that battle yesterday. That poison, it's something that could kill him if he sleeps."

"But he slept last night and was fine…" Naruto responded, shaking Sasuke slightly to make him open his eyes.

Kyuubi's voice was a growl when it spoke next. "I suspect that because he is a shinobi his immune system managed to hold the poison off a little longer since he didn't get that large of a dose. However, with the state he is in now, plagued by fever and injuries, if he sleeps the poison will overwhelm him."

Naruto felt his heart stop beating. "Are you sure, Kyuubi?"

"I've seen it before."

Naruto didn't bother to ask where, that was unimportant at the moment. He frantically shook Sasuke as the Uchiha began to relax once more, panic flooding through him. "Stay awake Sasuke, whatever you do!"

Sasuke's dulled eyes rose to look at Naruto, and his left hand clenched in the orange jacket. "Why?"

"Just do it! That poison is starting to affect you!" Naruto commanded, pouring on the speed and pushing himself as fast as he could go.

Sasuke sighed slightly, closing his eyes. Naruto shook him, startling him into wakefulness a moment later.

(Present)

"Come on… Come on!"

The blond pushed himself faster, trying to almost fly through the trees as he hurried back to his village, his breath fast and hard. The body against his chest was growing still and he jolted the figure sharply.

"Come on, stay awake, teme!"

Dull black eyes slowly traveled up to look at him, a slow blink covering them after a moment. The pale hand that was entwined in his jacket tightened for a moment, and then began to loosen once more.

Naruto let out a cry. "Damnit Sasuke, stay awake!"

Sasuke's head drooped again, his cheek lying against the orange clothed shoulder. "S'rry…" he murmured, and then his eyelids dropped, his fingers falling from the jacket.

Naruto braked suddenly, stopping on a tree branch. Sasuke's body had fallen limp in his grasp, the dark head falling back on a boneless neck. The blond felt panic flare through him. "Sasuke?"

Nothing.

Naruto shook the other roughly, fearfully. "Don't do this to me Sasuke, open your eyes!"

There was no response. Naruto's heart skipped a few beats, nearly stopping as he looked down at Sasuke's pale, and yet flushed, face. The Uchiha's face was completely relaxed, something that was almost never seen.

"No… No!"

Naruto started moving again, pouring on more and more speed as he leapt through the branches. 'Hold on, Sasuke! Please!'

The village wall came into sight an instant later, and Naruto ran straight for the gate, running through with Sasuke still clutched to his chest.

"Naruto!"

He recognized the voice of Sakura, and he turned to her, panic shining in his blue eyes. "Sakura! Hurry, we need to get him to the hospital!"

The pink-haired kunouchi frowned at that, a little confused, and then she noticed the still bundle cradled in Naruto's grasp. "What the…. Sasuke!"

She ran forward, sweeping the black bangs away from Sasuke's face with a gentle hand. "What happened, Naruto?" She hissed slightly as she felt his skin. "Gods, he's burning up!" She pulled back an eyelid to reveal dark orbs that were dominated by pupils, no iris was visible.

"Well come on! Follow me!" The girl turned and ran towards the hospital, leading the way through Konoha's streets. Naruto followed, soon passing by her in his haste as Sasuke's breathing started to speed up alarmingly.

Naruto felt his heart leap into his throat as Sasuke coughed slightly, blood trickling from the corner of his lips. "Sakura!" he screamed, turning to look at her. "He's coughing up blood!"

The girl swore loudly, earning several looks from the people they were passing by, and then she turned and leapt toward the Hokage tower, obviously heading to get Tsunade. Naruto continued until he reached the front door of the hospital, running inside and startling several medic-nins.

One of them seemed to realize what was going on and ran forward, pulling Naruto towards a gurney and directing him to lay Sasuke's shaking body there. Naruto was pulled away from his friend, fear flooding through him as he watched Sasuke being taken away from him, pulled somewhere deep into the hospital.

'Please… don't let him die…'

Sakura came out of the room some hours later to find Naruto sitting outside it, his head in his hands as he struggled to contain tears of frustration and fear. The blond looked up as soon as he heard the door open, his blue eyes shining with unshed tears. "Sakura?"

The girl sighed, settling down on the floor next to him. "The poison you said he inhaled. It was cyanide. We treated him; he'll be alright from that… The only thing is, with how long it was in his system, his vitals have degraded too far…"

Naruto frowned. "What does that mean?"

"Sasuke's… he's gone into a coma. We don't know if he'll wake up."