Chapter 2 is up…thank god. I think I'm digging myself into a hole. I've got a lot (well maybe not a lot a lot, but they're gonna be pretty long…) of stories that are published on this site and none of them are even close to being finished. I guess I'm better at plot stories cuz that's all I write. Can't really get the urge (or inspiration) to write a one-shot, but I do enjoy reading them. Please read & review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. *sigh* It would be awesome if I did though. I'd have bragging rights for the rest of my life.

Chapter 2: The Inevitable

Present time

"Kakashi, we have the results of Uzumaki Naruto's examination," the medical ninja said, motioning for Kakashi to enter the patient ward.

Kakashi looked at the medical ninja and then at his other two pupils before saying, "These two are his teammates. They have a right to know what happened to him."

"Please, Kakashi. I'm just following orders. Come inside."

The gray-haired ninja closed his book with a sigh before following the medical ninja inside the patient ward, tapping on the door lightly with his finger before shutting it. The action was against his better judgment, but he figured they would try to do it anyway so he thought it would be better to give them a free pass this time.

The two genin clearly got his message and moved as close to the door as they could possibly get, hoping to hear the results.

"The puncture wound on his abdomen should heal cleanly. The claw missed his vital organs thankfully and there should be no lasting damage," the medical ninja said faintly.

"What about the cuts on his head?" Kakashi asked just as faintly.

"Given time, they should heal as well. It's the injury to his skull we're concerned about."

"What about it?"

"His skull was broken in several places. We managed to fix the cracks, but we could do nothing about the damage it did to his brain," the medical ninja said solemnly.

"Sakura," Sasuke whispered.

Sakura turned to Sasuke and asked, "What is it, Sasuke-kun?"

"I don't think you should listen anymore," Sasuke whispered back.

"But Sasuke-kun--"

"Shhh! You're being too loud."

Lowering her voice slightly, Sakura continued, "But Sasuke-kun, you heard what Kakashi-sensei said. We have the right to know."

"Yeah, but I doubt you'll be able to contain yourself if you hear bad news," Sasuke retorted.

Sasuke pretty much knew about Sakura's emotional patterns now though he really could have lived without knowing, but he really did not want to have to deal with a crying Sakura if it really came down to it.

"You're acting as if I shouldn't know at all."

"Well, maybe you shouldn't."

Sakura gasped and looked at Sasuke, astonished at what he just said to her. It wasn't the first time Sasuke had hurt her feelings with the way he said things, but the words he said this time cut her deeper than ever before.

"Sasuke-kun…I may get annoyed with Naruto every now and then, but that doesn't mean I don't care. Regardless of what you say, I have to know what happened to him," Sakura said sternly.

Sasuke agitatedly sighed at the pink-haired girl's inability to listen and was about to say something back, but he heard footsteps approach the door and he made a gesture that told Sakura to back away.

"We appreciate all that you've done," Kakashi said, shutting the door behind him as he walked out.

"How bad is it, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, practically on the edge of the bench in anticipation.

"I thought you two heard everything," Kakashi said.

"We missed the last part," Sasuke responded, his arms crossed over his chest in annoyance.

He hated it when people argued with him needlessly and despite what his other squad members thought, he was slightly curious about what was wrong with Naruto. He just had a problem expressing himself properly and now that he was thinking about it, he really didn't want to if it wasn't necessary.

"Perhaps that was for the better," Kakashi said more to himself than to the two genin.

Kakashi assumed that Sakura and Sasuke and the rest of village for that matter would find out eventually, but for some reason, he just couldn't bring himself to be the bearer of bad news this time.

"What did you say?" Sakura asked.

"Nothing. Listen, the medic said you guys can see him when he wakes up."

Sakura gasped excitedly and asked, "Really?"

A low laugh came from Sasuke.

"You're easily distracted, Sakura," he said quietly.

"Anyway," Kakashi continued, "I can't stay here any longer. I have to go file the report to the Hokage."

And with that, Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving the two genin alone in the waiting room.

"Well, he was quick to leave us here," Sasuke commented.

"Yeah…why didn't he tell us about Naruto?" Sakura asked sadly.

Meanwhile in Naruto's mind

Pipes along the walls and on the ceiling above him dripped water. The place he found himself currently was foreign to him but familiar at the same time.

"Where the heck am I?" Naruto asked aloud, his voice echoing along the walls and hallways.

"Well, it seems you've gotten both of us into a pretty bad predicament," an evil sounding voice boomed out from somewhere.

"Who said that?" Naruto asked loudly, running towards the voice.

"I am Kyuubi."

That stopped Naruto dead in his tracks.

"Yes, you heard me right. Now, why don't you hurry up and get over here? We've got a lot to talk about and I'd rather do it while you're still asleep."

Naruto did as the voice said and continued running. The hallways weren't in any condition for running though and Naruto found himself falling into the water sometimes. He ran down hallway after hallway before finally finding a cage-like structure. Large eyes and an equally large mouth were all he could see behind the bars and that was all Naruto was willing to see at the moment.

"About time you got here."

"Oh shut up. I got here as fast as I could. Now what do you want?"

The creature was quite for a bit, his silence slightly unnerving to Naruto.

"We're both on the edge of dying," the beast's mouth finally said.

His words threw Naruto for a loop. Naruto knew he got injured, but he didn't think it was enough to kill him. Especially with the Nine-Tailed Fox demon inside his body to heal him whenever he happened to get injured.

"What?! What the hell are you talking about?!" Naruto yelled at the demon.

"You heard me, child. We could possibly die and I can't do a thing about it," the demon answered, a little exasperated at Naruto's inability to accept it.

"But I don't understand! You're the freaking Nine-Tailed Fox for crying out loud!"

"That doesn't mean I can heal this type of damage."

"What type of damage?" the blonde asked with confusion on his face.

"Damage to the brain. My powers don't work on that area of the body and it will end up killing you which will in turn kill me as well."

Naruto was uncharacteristically quiet for one of the few times in his life. He didn't understand how he could be possibly anywhere near death, but the thought that overpowered him the most was that he didn't want to even think about dying just yet.

"If you don't believe me," the demon started, "why don't you ask the medic who just told the same thing to your sensei?"

Just as the demon said that, the walls around Naruto began to fade as his consciousness was returning to him.

On the outside

"Sir, he's finally waking up," a female medical ninja said to her superior.

"Good. Why don't you tell that to his teammates outside? I'll let you know when you can let them in," the man replied.

The female medic nodded and went out the door to the waiting room.

"Naruto, it would best for you not to talk right now. You will need all the strength you can get," the medical ninja said, seeing the blonde opening his mouth.

Naruto nodded and closed his mouth, holding back his questions for now.

"There's something we need to talk about before your friends can see you," the man continued, a sad look in his eyes.

It was a policy to tell the patient what was wrong with them no matter how bad they would take it.

The medical ninja explained what had happened to his body during the attack and the inevitable was revealed.

According to the medic, the damage that was done to his brain from his head hitting the boulder was pretty severe and irreversible and the only thing that would keep Naruto alive for now was special medication and, of course, willpower. They predicted that Naruto would eventually slip into a coma from the brain trauma and die. After the medic made this clear to Naruto, he went to the door to let the boy's teammates in, but Naruto wasn't sure if he wanted to see anybody at the moment.

Uzumaki Naruto was going to die.

Author's Note: Well, at least I got this put up alongside chapter 1, but….PLEASE DON'T KILL ME YET!! I'm still not really sure about Naruto dying yet, but *babbles sadly before crying* ……This isn't easy for me either, you know! I love Naruto to death!! He's just so friggin' cute!! Anyway, read and review and I'll see you guys later in chapter 3.