Ok! Here the next chapter! Thank you for the nice reviews :)

Thanks go out to inoxshikamaruxtemari (she truly rawks!) and xXKawaii Chibi-ChanXx for helping me out with this chapter!

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto I wouldn't be writing FANFiction now would I O.o

Treading The Unknown

Chapter 2

Sakura slowly and almost mechanically lifted her head, forcing herself to look at her friend. The tears welled up again and the strong antiseptic smell of the hospital room caught in her throat, almost making her physically sick. Of course the horrendous sight of Naruto didn't help her nausea.

He laid deathly still, the slightly erratic movement of his chest the only indicator he was still alive. His whole body was covered in deep gashes; he looked like he had been slashed to pieces, his usually glossy blonde hair matted together with blood in thick clumps. There were substantial burn marks in the few places there were not deep cuts and his eye sockets were severely bruised. Naruto's clothing and sheets (although newly changed) were already starting to show splotches of red.

Sakura shakily stood up and stifled a scream. She timidly walked over to Naruto's bedside, the continual bleeping of the numerous machines resounding in her head.

"Naruto…what in the world happened to you…"

She wiped the tears from her now bloodshot eyes and clenched her fist in frustration before collapsing into the nearest chair.

Hours passed and Sakura just sat and looked at Naruto, trying to sort out the thoughts running rampant in her mind. Time seemed to have no meaning and all that existed was the room, Sakura and Naruto. Memories flashed through her mind forever reminding her of him.

"Sakura-chan! Let's go and get some ramen!"

"It's the promise of a lifetime"

"Don't worry about Sasuke-teme, I'll protect you"

"…I'll protect you…"

She hardly even noticed when Tsunade came in to check on Naruto and was surprised to find a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright Sakura? You should get some sleep you know; perhaps you should go home for a while and let us handle this"

"I'm not leaving" Sakura snapped. She actually surprised herself with how much malice her voice was filled with and that she had spoken so abruptly to her Sensei.

"Sakura, please... you're clearly tired, you've been training all day, get some rest. Shizune and I will-"

"NO, Sensei! I'm sorry b-but..." Sakura then burst into tears, sobs racking her delicate frame.

Tsunade embraced her favourite student, understanding the pain she was going through.

"Don't worry Sakura, you can stay the night here, it'll be our secret okay? I'll get you a blanket"

She came back a few minutes later, handed the blanket to Sakura with a wink and left, shutting the door softly. Before she knew it Sakura had already fallen deep into the realms of sleep.

--- The Next Morning ---

Sakura stirred as she heard mumbling voices outside the door, she opened her jade orbs and winced slightly as the bright sunlight streaming through the window hit her face. Running a hand through her cerise hair she realised what a state she must have looked. She hurriedly raked her fingers through her hair in a futile attempt to improve her appearance, although she knew it would make no difference.

She was quite astonished, however, when she saw Shikamaru, Ino (were they holding hands?), Hinata and Kiba amble through the door.

Shikamaru's dark eyes were filled with sadness, a misleading stoic expression planted on his face and Ino had the beginnings of dark circles under her eyes, as if she had not had much sleep. Kiba was having a hard time containing his sorrow, the moisture in his eyes betraying him and Hinata had turned an even more pasty shade than usual, her dishevelled hair tumbling across her face as she trembled.

Shikamaru was the first to notice Sakura; he gave her a knowing look before hastily letting go of Ino's hand and sitting next to the pink haired kunoichi.

"Sakura…Have you been here all night?" he whispered

Before she could make some sort of response however she found herself covered in her feisty blond rival/friend's comforting (and admittedly also sort of smothering) hug. She wasn't sure whether it was meant to comfort her or Ino but she accepted it none the less.

Ino finally broke off the embrace, her eyes flickering to the injured Naruto.

"Ha, W...Well Sakura don't you think you overdid it this time!" she joked shakily.

Ino, always the loudmouth, never really did know when she should be quiet. Her bad attempt at a joke prompted a venomous glare from Sakura.

Hinata, who couldn't seem to take any more, suddenly fainted. Thankfully Kiba was there to catch his team-mate. He carefully carried her over the other side of the room, laid her in a chair and sat next to her.

'Everyone seems so worried about Naruto' Sakura contemplated 'He's worked his way into everyone's hearts...who would of thought it'

The group stayed in Naruto's room until late afternoon, talking about Naruto and remembering good times. It was a unanimous decision that Naruto would get better no matter what (whether they truly believed it or whether they were trying to convince themselves of it they weren't sure). They finally left, leaving farewells with Sakura and good-lucks and get-wells with Naruto.

Sakura of course was planning to stay another night and it was almost 10pm when she almost jumped out of her skin as a crackly, stuttered voice called out to her.

"S-S-Sakura…chan?"

"Naruto!"

Sakura almost flung herself at her team-mate, suppressing the urge to squeeze him as hard as she could. Instead of doing the latter she sat on the edge of his bed, looking down at him with half-concern half-smile.

"Naruto you're awake! ...What the hell happened to you? Baka we were so worried about you!"

Naruto grinned widely but winced in pain as soon as he did so. It did not go unnoticed by the green eyed kunoichi but Naruto being Naruto he tried to cover it up anyway.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan! I'm fine! You shouldn't worry about me, I'll be Hokage one day I can't have everyone worrying about me all the time can I?

…

Sakura-chan you look tired…you should sleep! Why don't you go home?"

"But Naruto I-"

"Don't worry! I'll be fine by tomorrow! Go home and I'll see you tomorrow Sakura-chan" Naruto interrupted with a smile.

Sakura seriously doubted he'd be fine by the next day but she also could not deny that she needed her own bed…and a shower. She sighed and headed toward the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow Naruto"

As she shut the door she whispered and afterthought to herself.

"Take care"

--- At Sakura's House ---

Sakura got out her keys to unlock the door to her home, but was startled to find she had left it open.

"For almost two days…I hope nothing has happened" She thought to herself with a sigh.

She stepped inside and was about to turn on the light when a cold hand clamped itself over her mouth and a kunai was pressed against her throat. Her eyes bulged and she desperately tried to scream out but it was stifled by the intruders vice grip on her jaw.

An icy, menacing voice rasped into her ear

"Ah, I've been waiting for you Sakura-chan"

Hurrah! This was longer than the last chapter :) I hope you liked it! Please review and any constructive criticism is welcomed (although as I warned before flames will be used to fuel my crackpot idea's machine!)