Chapter 18: New problems = new promises.

As Tsunade snapped out of her own heart break she noticed how much blood was still pouring out of Naruto. The demon blood was helping him to survive but it wasn't healing him. Two thoughts rang in her head. She clenched her fist and ran to Kakashi who was now covered in Naruto's blood. Tsunade put Naruto's face towards her.

"Was this Itachi's doing? Did he use a poison on you?" Tsunade bit her lips fearing the answer. Naruto couldn't move and blood was streaming out of his mouth when he tried to talk. "Blink once for yes, twice for no." Naruto closed his eyes slowly and opened them. Tsunade placed her hands over her face and Kakashi could easily tell what was going on.

"You can't help him can you?" Tsunade shook her head no.

"This isn't just a human poison. It's special demon venom that prevents the wound from closing causing the demon to bleed out. The strain on the body from having to constantly put new blood into the system will cause a demon to be weakened and if the demon isn't given the anti-venom, to die." Tsunade took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. She looked over to Hinata.

"Are you sure Tsunade-sama?" Kakashi asked looked down at Naruto.

"There is nothing else to explain why his demon body isn't healing itself." Tsunade was overcome with grief. All she could do was make Naruto comfortable to die. Tsunade couldn't believe she was going to loose another person close to her and there was nothing she do… again.

"What about human blood? It only infects demon blood right?" Hinata said standing up trying not the throw up again, her eyes now filling up with tears.

"It doesn't matter what treatment we give him, his demonic blood will be effected by…"

"Not his demon blood, his human blood. An entire blood transfusion, spill out his demonic blood and put back in his human blood." Tsunade shook her head.

"Even if I could get that much blood to do the procedure, there is no way that every single cell of his body can be replaced after he transformed." Tsunade's eyes lowered in defeat. After a few gagging sounds coming from Naruto. Tsunade told Kakashi to take him to the hospital to attempt to close the wounds to try and give them more time. She then turned to Hinata and sighed. "Go with him. Hold his hand and tell him you love him. I don't know how much time he has.." Hinata tries as hard as she could to pull herself together. Hinata ran out the door to the hospital thinking of everything that she did and at least wanted to set things right. As she arrived she noticed all the ANBU around the hospital that were guarding it. She saw the blood trail leading into the hospital. As she opened the door she saw Naruto up and wrestling with the doctors to get away. The doctors gave him a sedative and pulled him into a room. Hinata followed them into the room where they started to place bandages over his wounds. A doctor recognized her from the earlier times she was with him and didn't ask her to leave.

"After we are done here, you can come back in ok?" The doctor said sitting Naruto up to bandage his chest and back. Hinata nodded and waited outside the door. She leaned her back against the wall and placed her hands over her eyes but wept silently. After ten minutes the doctors came out of the room and she walked back in. The one doctor that had told her to wait outside was still there. He turned around and smiled at her. "The sedative we gave him will wear off soon with his body the way it is. The bandages help to stop the bleeding giving him alot more time then he had. Unfortunately we know Naruto all too well so we had to use restraints on his arms and legs. Please don't remove them." He said walking out of the room. Hinata just stood and stared at the unconscious Naruto. Soon after, her trance was broken by Tsunade walking in and holding some flowers and a card. Tsunade's eyes were covered by her hair so her tears were harder to see but Hinata knew they where there. Tsunade closed the door behind her and placed them down on the table. Hinata then walked over to Tsunade who hadn't really noticed her because of her mood.

"Is he going to be ok?" Hinata asked hoping Tsunade has good news for her.

"I really don't know. There is nothing I can do for him. It's all up to Naruto now. We've stopped blood from exiting his body with those medical bandages but nothing in his body is being repaired. It's as if he has lost the will to live." Tsunade said knowing if that last part is true she's kill him herself for making her go through this again. Naruto stirred which caught both of their attention. Hinata ran over to see Naruto was awake but he kept trying to get the restraints off but this time was different. He seemed desperate to get the restraints off, as if his life depended on it.

"Naruto-kun, Naruto-kun!" Hinata yelled into his face. She placed her hand over his back to try and calm him down but then Naruto's back arched and Naruto made a sickening scream that sounded like 'no.' Hinata never heard him scream like that before. He sounded as if he was being tortured.

"Please stop! Please no!" Naruto screamed as he tried pulling the restraints again and again. Hinata was scared to touch him again after what happened that time she did it. Tsunade was too, she had never seen Naruto like this before. "Please no more, I swear I'll never do it again!" Naruto screamed that made both Tsunade's and Hinata's heart sink. What the hell was going on with him? Tsunade couldn't take much more of this anymore and slapped Naruto over the face.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Tsunade asked trying to figure out what's going on. Naruto's body stiffened; his eyes filled up with tears. Naruto started crying.

"I don't know. I swear I don't know! I'm not a demon! Stop torturing me!" Naruto screamed. Tsunade knew now exactly what was wrong with him.

"God damn it…" Tsunade said slamming her fist through the wall. Hinata was confused as to what was going on.

"What is going on!" Hinata demanded. She wanted to know what the hell was happening to Naruto. It broke her heart to see him like this and not do anything.

"Did Naruto-kun ever tell you anything about when he was little?" Tsunade said trying to keep her cool.

"He told me everything."

"Not everything." Tsunade said. Hinata was really confused now. "He was really tortured badly by everyone such to the point that mind sealing ninja had to be brought in to seal most of his memories and feelings." Hinata couldn't believe what she was hearing. "He probably told you about the kids at the play grounds some days that would throw rocks or dirt at him. He may have told you about the parents taking their children away from him. The things they really did to him afterword are the most heinous acts to ever happen in this village."

"What does any of this have to do with Naruto-kun's current condition?" Hinata asked really wondering what the relevance was.

"We sealed his memories to keep him from committing suicide a few times and those are failing. He is reliving those memories again thinking that we are doing to him the stuff that he was put through as a child. It makes so much sense now… him leaving, his body's lack to live. Everything he has been doing in the past day has happened because he is slowly regaining his memories and is losing trust in people. We have to calm him down." Tsunade said running over to the other side of the bed. "Help me untie him."

"Please no more!!!" Naruto screamed in pain. Hinata was afraid of doing anything to him not knowing if it would completely sever his bond with her. She was afraid of losing him.

"Hurry!" Tsunade said finishing untying him from the one side. She quickly snapped out of her thoughts and closed her eyes as she whispered to him.

"Please forgive me." She whispered continuously as she was untying his leg and arm. Naruto curled up into a ball and threw a sheet over himself before Tsunade could get his other hand untied. It was breaking her heart to see how much pain he was going through. Tsunade couldn't put more memory seals on him at this point. She would have to wait until all of his memories are released and he was calmer. Naruto continued to scream in pain as he felt the beatings and the torture his body was put through as a child.

"Do you know why Naruto-kun was never able to truly master any of the moves he learned in the academy?" Hinata wasn't sure she wanted to know. She knew he wasn't liked but she wasn't ready for what happened next. Tsunade's suspicions were confirmed as she removed the sheet exposing Naruto. Hinata grabbed her mouth and backed up into the wall in shock. Naruto's bandages have peeled off because of the thrashing he was doing. This left Naruto's body exposed to the gruesome sight Hinata and Tsunade were seeing. Naruto's body head to toe was covered in scars. If that wasn't bad enough they where re-opening and he started bleeding all over the bed. What the hell could he have endured that would do this to him? Another question is who would do this to Naruto? She had known him when she was a little girl, she could have sworn he wasn't a bad kid. In fact, as long as she could remember he always had a smile on his face and very friendly. He never threw a punch to someone who was beating him and always took a beating for other people. So who would do this to him? What kind of sick basterds would torment such a sweet boy? "This is how the villagers treated Naruto-kun when he was a kid and some still try to treat him this way now." Tsunade said trying not to get upset. It wasn't working very well. She soon found Naruto calming down and his tears stop falling. She picked him up and cradled him in her arms. "I'm so sorry Naruto-kun. I'm so sorry I couldn't be there for you. I'm sorry that you had to endure this pain. If I hadn't been so selfish… I would have stayed and I could have protected you." Naruto's scars closed up once again as he opened his eyes and looked up at Tsunade.

"Baa-chan." Naruto whispered as he closed his eyes once again. Tsunade's tears fell on Naruto's body. This was her fault. If she had just staid she could have prevented all of this. It was too late to protect him from the pain he went through. Tsunade's thoughts turned to killing herself and Naruto to prevent herself from going through his death painfully. Her thoughts quickly faded as she saw a smile creep across Naruto's face and caused Tsunade so stare in amazement. After everything he felt, he still had the ability to smile. "I will always love Baa-chan and Hinata-mi." Naruto weakly spoke as small amounts of blood drooled from the sides of his smile. "Don't worry about me. I'll survive. I always do." He said unable to move the rest of his body. He tilted his head to the side to look at Hinata who had been standing there, her emotions fighting between happiness that he's alive or sad that he might die. Her battle was won when she saw him smile at her. While the blood out of his mouth wasn't attractive but she was really happy to see him happy again. "Please kiss me." Naruto asked boldly which caught her by surprise. Tsunade was also surprised that he'd just out and say that in front of her. On the other hand their love wasn't exactly a secret; their still seeing each other was but not their love.

"Of course." Hinata said walking over to Naruto and placing her hands on his face. She wiped away some of the blood and planted her lips on his, her feelings grew quickly as her eyes filled with tears. Hinata broke the kiss and watched as his smile became even bigger. Tsunade knew he wasn't going to leave them anytime soon. "Promise me you won't die on me." Naruto looked at her knowing exactly what she wanted him to say. "Don't forget you always keep your promises." She said reminding him. Naruto closed his eyes and with every ounce of strength left in his battered body, he gave her the fist up and winked at her.

"It's a promise." He softly spoke as he couldn't hold his hand up and it fell down to the side. Tsunade pulled herself together and layed him down back into his bed to rest for awhile. In the morning they would check up on him but for now it was clear he was fine, even though Tsunade herself wasn't sure why. She figured that the reason had to be with Naruto's improved mood. Hinata and Tsunade were walking out of the room when Hinata turned around and spoke to him.

"Remember, you promised me." Hinata said smiling and walking out of the room.

"Yeh I know." Naruto said closing his eyes. He dreamed that night for the first time in awhile. Even after all that happened, it was a happy dream. Hinata had one more promise to make.

"And I promise Naruto-kun that I will do everything I can to get us together." Hinata said puting her fist out like Naruto. "I promise."

"And I promise too." Tsunade said grinning like Hinata. Hinata was a little shocked to see her like this but it was nice to know Tsunade would do anything to help out Naruto as much as possible.

A/N: Next chapter, Naruto's dream. With lyrics from a song I was listening to the other day. Anyways enjoy this chapter. Next chapter is two or three days. meaning 10/10/09 or 10/11/09 (MM/DD/YEAR) at midnight eastern U.S. Time. Review please.