A/N: Thank you all for your kind reviews! Here's Chapter One; I hope you all enjoy it! And I'll have you know that I'm about halfway done typing Chapter Two, so I might post that tomorrow or Wednesday depending on the number of reviews I get for this and the previous chapter. I'm not asking for a set number, but the more I get, the faster I'll update!

Warnings for this chapter: Some language, but that's about it. See the Author's Note at the end of the chapter for details on names.

Split
Chapter One

Sasuke stormed into Konoha University Medical Center, walking up to a pretty blonde receptionist who sat at an information desk directly across from the sliding doors that Sasuke had just stepped through. The blonde looked up at Sasuke, finding that she was momentarily unable to breathe as she caught a glimpse of obsidian eyes.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Sasuke practically growled, his bangs falling to shade the upper half of his face.

"One moment, please," the blonde practically purred, giving the raveonet a once-over. Sasuke rolled his eyes. 'Why is it that girls can't seem to understand that I'm gay?' he asked himself wearily. 'I thought women were supposed to have some sort of sixth sense about stuff like that.'

The blonde receptionist finally returned her gaze to her computer, but a frown soon appeared on her face. "I'm sorry sir, but Uzumaki-san is in the Intensive Care Unit. No one is allowed in to see him at the moment, but once he has been released to the Recovery Ward, immediate family will be allowed to see him on an individual basis."

Sasuke felt the blood drain from his face--not that anyone could tell, with his skin being so pale. "Can you tell me about his injuries?"

"I'm sorry, sir, that is confidential information. You'll have to speak with the supervising physician." She looked up at Sasuke. "What is your relation to Uzumaki-san?"

"I'm..." 'I'm his bully. I'm his warden, his torturer, his executioner. I'm in love with him.' "...a friend."

"I see. Do you happen to know a number where we can reach any of his relatives? No one has answered at the phone number on his identification."

"Naruto is an orphan; he's a student at Konoha University, his roommate's name is Inuzuka Kiba. He has no immediate family or next-of-kin."

"Inuzuka-san is already aware of the situation, so that takes care of that problem." The receptionist's honey-brown eyes glinted dangerously. "Would you care to take a seat and wait for the supervising physician to return?" She indicated a row of seats placed very close to her desk; if he sat there, chances were good that he would be forced into a conversation with the receptionist.

"How long will it take?" Sasuke asked. It was only six in the morning, and he was in desperate need of coffee. At about two in the morning, just when he was about to leave the party, he'd suddenly felt a sickening, plummeting sensation in his gut, and his thoughts had immediately turned to the blond, whisker-faced boy that he'd seen only hours before. He asked around until he found someone who had the cell phone number of Naruto's roommate, Inuzuka Kiba; once he'd gotten it from a somewhat reliable, passably sober source, he'd immediately called. Unfortunately, he got the voice mail—but Sasuke wasn't an Uchiha for nothing. He called back every five minutes, religiously, until a groggy voice answered the phone at a quarter past five.

From what he could weasel out of the obviously hung-over Kiba, he and his roommate had been in some kind of accident and were at the Medical Center on campus. Kiba assured Sasuke that he was fine, but didn't have any information on Naruto other than that he'd looked a lot worse off than Kiba had been.

Sasuke knew that Kiba wasn't trying to upset him; he knew that the dog-lover had no idea how the news was going to affect the Uchiha. Sasuke felt his whole world stop dead in its tracks as Kiba continued to explain, in excruciating detail, the accident (or what he could remember of it) and the trip to the hospital soon afterward. Before Kiba was finished with the tale, Sasuke had already gotten into his car and started to drive from his off-campus apartment to the Medical Center, which was about fifteen minutes away, on the far side of Konoha's campus.

Sasuke directed his attention back to the receptionist, who had apparently decided to fill the lull in conversation with mindless chatter. "Do you know where I might be able to get some coffee?" he asked when she paused for a breath.

"Oh! Of course; there is a cafeteria right down the main hallway and to the right. They're serving breakfast at the moment, if you're hungry."

Somehow, the idea of food didn't sit to well with Sasuke; the churning in his stomach over his worry for Naruto almost guaranteed that anything solid would not remain inside for long. "Thank you," Sasuke replied, taking his leave to head toward the cafeteria.

Sasuke was thankful to see that the lines were short and the coffee fresh when he arrived in the cafeteria. Unlike the on-campus cafeteria that was frequented by the students, the hospital's included several different chain restaurants—Pizza Hut, Burger King, and Taco Bell were all contained in the large room—as well as the usual buffet-style fare. The cafeteria also held a Starbuck's, for which Sasuke was immensely thankful. At his turn, Sasuke ordered and paid for a venti black coffee, which was delivered to him a few minutes later.

Coffee in hand, Sasuke slowly walked back to the main waiting room, taking a seat as far away from the reception desk as he could manage. He settled into his seat and took a long sip of the bitter black drink in his hand, sighing mentally as he felt the hot liquid roll down his throat. He knew that he would begin to feel the caffeine's effect in a matter of minutes. At this early hour of the morning, the waiting room wasn't too terribly busy, and Sasuke felt almost relaxed for the first time in hours…

"What are you doing here, Uchiha?" a familiar, half-asleep voice startled Sasuke into consciousness—when had he dozed off? Sasuke looked up to see Nara Shikamaru and his girlfriend, Sabaku Temari. Before he could think of a plausible excuse, the words rolled off his tongue.

"I heard that the dobe was in the hospital, and I wanted to see if there was any way that I could make the doctors keep him here permanently."

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed dangerously, but his girlfriend's hand on his arm stopped him from acting completely out of character and delivering a punch to the Uchiha's smirking face. Temari stepped forward, pulling a fan from her purse and snapping it open. Sasuke didn't understand exactly why she did it; apparently, it was just one of her habits. She suddenly fluttered the fan in Sasuke's face, causing him to reflexively take a step back. He locked eyes with the blonde, and she stared into his dark orbs for a long moment before smirking triumphantly. "Thought so," she said cryptically.

"The hell was that for?" Sasuke demanded.

"I couldn't see your eyes properly with your hair hanging in your face, and I didn't think you'd take too kindly to me touching your perfect Uchiha skin."

"And why, pray tell, did you want to look in my eyes?" Sasuke asked through gritted teeth.

"I needed to see the truth."

"What truth?" Shikamaru asked.

"Can't tell you; it's his secret to divulge." Temari closed her fan and used it to gesture to Sasuke before placing it back in her bag.

"I don't have any secrets," Sasuke spat.

Temari smirked. "Is that so? Then how come it seems that I'm now the only other person in the world who knows that you're gay?"

Sasuke's face flushed at her words, and Temari crowed in accomplishment. "I knew it."

Shikamaru blinked in surprise, turning to Sasuke. "You're gay? But…women throw themselves at you."

"I know. But seriously, you're supposed to be a genius, Nara. How is it that even you couldn't figure out why I turned all those girls down?"

Shikamaru scowled at Sasuke's jab, muttering "Troublesome…" under his breath.

"Excuse me…are you three here for Uzumaki Naruto?" Sasuke, Shikamaru and Temari all turned around to look at a woman, probably in her late twenties, with short black hair and wearing scrubs in a dark blue with the Konoha leaf embroidered in white on the shirt pocket. Her name tag read 'Shizune'. "I am the assistant of the hospital's supervisor, Dr. Kyushu Tsunade. Uzumaki-san has just been released to the Intensive Care Recovery Ward, and Dr. Kyushu would like to speak with you."

The three teens nodded mutely, following Shizune from the main waiting room through a maze of hallways and elevators until they reached the supervisor's office on the sixth floor of the building. Shizune knocked on the door sharply with her knuckles. "Come in," called a voice on the other side. Shizune opened the door and walked in first, allowing the three to enter the room before she closed the door. The doctor sitting at the desk motioned for the teenagers to take seats. Her long, light blonde hair was pulled back into two loose pigtails, while her bangs framed her face. Under her doctor's coat, she wore a low-cut kimono style shirt that showed off her ample bust. A stethoscope was laid over her neck.

"So, you are all friends of Uzumaki Naruto and Inuzuka Kiba, correct?" she asked, getting right down to business.

"Not exactly," Shikamaru muttered under his breath, but Temari kicked him in the shin as punishment. "Yes, ma'am, Dr. Kyushu, we are," the blonde replied.

"Please, I would prefer it if you would call me Tsunade. I don't like people to be so formal with me unless it is necessary."

"Understood, Tsunade-sama." Sasuke spoke up for the first time since they had left the waiting room.

"May I please have your names? I'm sure that Inuzuka-san and Uzumaki-san would be happy to know who came to visit them," Tsunade asked.

"Certainly," Temari replied. "My name is Sabaku Temari."

"Nara Shikamaru."

"And I am Uchiha Sasuke."

Tsunade's eyes widened slightly. "So, you're an Uchiha, eh? I suppose I should be thanking you."

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. "Why is that?"

"The Uchiha family has long been a supporter of Konoha University. When the family was killed—barring the two sons—millions of dollars of the family's money was donated not only to the university, but also to the hospital. We've been able to renovate our facilities and get more state-of-the-art equipment to make the hospital better at handling the tough cases. Such as the case of Uzumaki Naruto-san."

"What's wrong with him?" Temari asked worriedly—Tsunade's tone didn't bode well.

Though he would never admit it aloud, Sasuke was worried as well. The churning in his gut was back and stronger than before, particularly after Tsunade's little speech about his family. She had carefully avoided the subject of what had caused his family's death, and for that he was grateful, but it didn't do anything to assuage his nausea.

"Let me begin with the details of the accident itself. From what the first responders could tell, a businessman had fallen asleep at the wheel while driving home. His car crossed the median and crashed into Naruto's. Fortunately, both Uzumaki-san and Inuzuka-san were wearing their seatbelts; unfortunately, the impact was mainly on the driver's side of the front of the car, meaning that Uzumaki-san suffered the brunt of the injuries, while Inuzuka-san's were light in comparison. Uzumaki was unconscious, but breathing, when the EMTs arrived. On the way here, he did briefly stop breathing, but the EMTs were able to get his airway open again before any permanent brain damage could set in.

"Now that he has arrived, it appears that your friend is doing well—many of his injuries looked worse than they truly were, and he is actually healing quite rapidly. However, he still has a few cracked ribs and a broken wrist, as well as a dislocated shoulder. The worst part is that he seems to have suffered some major head trauma, and has gone into a coma. He is stable and breathing on his own, but he will not respond to any sort of outside stimulus.

For the second time within twelve hours, Sasuke felt his world screech to a halt. Tentatively—almost concernedly—he asked, "Tsunade-sama, when will he wake up?"

Tsunade sighed, rubbing at her eyebrows with her thumb and middle finger. "The fact that he is breathing on his own is a good sign; it means that he has not lost all mental functions. As of right now, it is hard to say; but the longer he stays unconscious, the harder it will be for him to wake up, and the more likely it is for him to fall into a completely vegetative state, where he will need machines to keep his heart beating and his lungs pumping. At that point, since he has no next-of-kin and no living will to speak of, we will have to contact his last guardian for a decision on"—

"You can stop there, Tsunade-sama. I understand."

"I would say to give him a week; if he has not awakened by then, it would be a good time to start praying, if you're religious." After a moment, she added, "And do not be surprised if he has slight amnesia or other mental problems; his brains, I'm sure, are completely addled by the accident."

"That cannot be good; he doesn't have much in the way of brains to begin with," Sasuke replied, the snide comment slipping out before he could control himself. Damn, I hate that. I can be sarcastic so easily, but I can't for the life of me be sincere.

Rather than getting upset with him for putting down a defenseless person, though, Tsunade just let out a hearty laugh. "Ahh, I see. You two must be rivals, more than friends, am I right?"

"I suppose you could say that," Sasuke replied, allowing his face to slip into the familiar mask of the Uchiha smirk.

"More like torturer," Shikamaru muttered. Temari kicked him again. "What? Why are you being so troublesome?"

"Because you're getting me angry with your childishness," Temari responded.

"All right, all right, that's enough!" Tsunade barked, breaking up Temari and Shikamaru's argument. "Now, Inuzuka-san should be getting released soon, and after that I'll allow you all to go in and visit individually with Uzumaki-san for fifteen minutes each. Deal?"

"Deal," the three teens said simultaneously.

"Good."

A/N: And that's the end of Chapter One! I'm not going to go into the details of these particular visits with Naruto, because the next chapter will be his big awakening. Yay!!! Reviews and constructive criticism are always nice.

As for names, I got Tsunade's family name from the story of "The Gallant Jiraiya", that was the name of the village that the Jiraiya in the story was from.

I'll also take this opportunity to list all of the couples that will be in this story for sure; more may pop up, but this is what I have planned:

SasuNaru (upcoming)
ShikaTema (established)
KibaHina (upcoming/established)
JiraTsuna (established)
LeeSaku (implied/upcoming)
ChouIno (upcoming)

Established means that I've talked about it already; upcoming means that there will be more on it in the future; implied means that I've already hinted at it, but haven't done anything specific with it yet. The JiraTsuna is in the "established" category because Kyushu is actually Jiraiya's family name in this story.