I'm not sure about the type of medical technology that the Narutoverse has. I'm taking artistic license. Bare with me, please! Enjoy!

Chapter 4

Bip…bip…bip…

Naruto sighed faintly, shifting in his chair next to Sasuke's hospital bed. The steady sound of the monitor in the background had turned into an almost whine in his ears, he hardly noticed it anymore.

Three weeks of the same sound could do that, he guessed.

He really didn't know what to do with himself. Tsunade had come by often, attempting to draw Sasuke out of the deep coma he had fallen into, but there had been no luck. All Naruto wanted was for Sasuke to open his eyes, but that hadn't happened since the Uchiha had been brought here.

The blond pushed himself to his feet, walking past the bed and heading for the window, staring out into the dreary day. Clouds had rolled in not long after he had arrived here, and now it was looking like it was going to rain. It seemed appropriate, that it would do that. Some part of Naruto felt that it should have been raining every day; the world shouldn't be cheerful when something this bad was happening.

Sakura visited every day, as often as she could, but her work as a medic-nin kept her away more often than not. She was sent out on missions periodically, and while Tsunade had wanted to send Naruto out, the blond had managed to convince her to let him stay with his friend.

Sasuke needed him; Naruto was convinced of that fact.

Naruto turned away from the dark day, looking back to the still form lying on the bed. Sasuke had not moved since that day three weeks ago, he only lay on the bed, silent, still, and pale. The tall ninja moved forward to stand beside the bed, reaching out and sweeping the black bangs away from Sasuke's forehead.

Luck had been with him that day; he had gotten Sasuke to the hospital just in time. According to Tsunade, only a few minutes later and Sasuke would have no doubt gone into cardiac arrest, and things may have been much worse. Personally Naruto couldn't see how it could get any worse. Sasuke was in a coma and might never wake up, there didn't seem to be a worse situation.

The blond went to sit in his chair again, folding his arms over his chest and leaning back while he watched Sasuke dutifully. It still amazed him how small the Uchiha seemed, surrounded by all the monitors and wires, a breathing mask fixed firmly over his mouth and nose. He had never thought Sasuke to be so tiny.

Naruto was pulled out of his thoughts as the door slid open behind him. He turned his head, his blue eyes meeting Tsunade's honey colored ones. The woman spared a small smile for the young man, moving into the room and shutting the door behind her.

"Hello Naruto. How are you today?" she questioned, opening up the file that she carried as she walked towards the bed.

Naruto didn't answer for a moment, and when he did his voice was soft. "Okay, I guess…"

Their relationship had changed over the past three weeks. Tsunade teased Naruto ever now and then, but when the blond would not respond, she had lost heart in it. Naruto just didn't have the cheerfulness that he had had before the accident, and the blond Hokage had a feeling that it would not return until his friend had woken up. The two young men had a bond that ran deep, and with one injured, the other would be different from normal.

It was strange, to see Naruto so down and quiet. It was nothing like his normal self, and frankly it was disconcerting. Tsunade made a mental note to try and avoid Naruto the next time he was like this.

The Hokage gathered chakra around her hand, holding it over Sasuke's chest as she examined the comatose Uchiha. There was no change in his systems, his brain waves and chakra were still in the comatose state, and he would not wake up any time soon. His heartbeat was a little shallow for her liking, but steady nonetheless.

His breathing, however, was too slow. She frowned, moving to the side of the room and adjusting some of the medicines that were being siphoned into Sasuke's system through IVs. Hopefully that would help him a little…

"Well?"

Naruto's soft inquiry popped her out of her thoughts, and Tsunade turned to look at the boy that she had come to think of as family. "He's… alright, Naruto. He's not any worse than he was yesterday, but there's no improvement either. The only thing I'm worried about now is his nutrition."

Naruto frowned at that. "What's wrong?"

Tsunade sighed, running a hand through her bangs. "He's too thin, Naruto. And he's losing more weight every day. There's only so much we can do without him being awake enough to ingest real food. We haven't gotten anything solid into him since you brought him to us." She glanced back at the small form on the bed. "I don't know how much longer we can continue giving him nutrients like this."

Naruto nibbled on his lower lip, his own eyes moving to Sasuke. "There's nothing else that you can do?"

Tsunade shook her head. "We've tried to feed him, but it just comes back up. The most we can get in him orally is thin broth or soup, and sometimes even that doesn't stay down. We've had him on IVs since he got here, but that can only do so much in the place of food. He needs more than that."

The jounin felt worry flood through his system as he looked at his friend. "And there's nothing that says he's gonna wake up?"

"Not any time soon. His brain patterns are still in the comatose state, until those readings come up, there's no indication that he's going to come out of this." She shook her head slightly. "I think we're going to have to put him on a feeding tube as well as the IV. He's much too thin to be fighting like this."

She turned, starting to leave the room. Naruto remained still, staring at Sasuke with worry and fear in his sapphire eyes. Just before Tsunade closed the door she turned back to the ninja. "I'm sorry, Naruto. I had hoped for better news. Just… don't give up hope."

Naruto nodded slightly, but said nothing. The soft click of the door sliding shut reached him and he lowered his head, a single tear falling from his eye.

'Please Sasuke… I don't want you to die… You're my best friend…'

"Sasuke…"

"Wake up, Sasuke…"

"Please…"

Sasuke opened his eyes. He felt… serene. At peace. Totally and completely calm for the first time in… well, a long time. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this… complete.

He let his eyes drift close again. He felt so tired… Perhaps it was a good idea to rest…

Sleep…

Naruto was jolted out of his sleep by the feeling that something was horribly wrong. He sat bolt upright, looking around the dark room with wide blue eyes. 'I guess I fell asleep…'

He scrubbed a hand across his face, waking himself up fully as he tried to figure out what he was feeling. Sasuke seemed okay, he was motionless on the bed. The only difference was that his heartbeat seemed a little slow. Naruto didn't pay this much mind; Sasuke's heartbeat had been fluctuating in the 8 weeks he had been in a coma.

He stood, moving through the room to look out the window. He frowned as he did, the feeling growing worse as he pulled back the curtain.

There was nothing outside, the dark of the night swallowing up all but a few remaining lights inside Konoha. Naruto let the curtain fall back in place, turning to look at Sasuke once more.

Bip… bip… bip………bip…………bip………

Naruto felt his heart leap into his throat. That was not normal…

Bip…………bip……………beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-

"SASUKE!"

Yes. Yes I am an evil bitch. Review!