-runs from angry mob of Naru/Saku fans with torches and pitchforks while trying to type this chapter-

Me: Okay, okay! Naruto's still alive! Please don't kill me!

-mob lowers torches and pitchforks slightly and looks at me suspiciously-

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Tsunade-sama, come quickly!" Sakura cried, bursting into the Hokage's office.

Tsunade's head jerked up off her desk and she rubbed her eyes tiredly, letting out a loud yawn. "What are you doing here so late, Sakura?"

"No time to explain, there's been a death in the village!" Sakura cried frantically.

Tsunade was up in a second. "Who? Where? Take me to them!"

They both rushed out of the door and Sakura led Tsunade to the hospital at top speed, explaining on the way. "Sasuke attacked Naruto while he slept. I tried to stop Sasuke, and Naruto woke up in the process and stabbed him! When I left, Naruto was planning on meeting us at the hospital with the body."

Tsunade took the story in as they reached the front doors to the hospital and ran inside. A nurse jumped to attention in front of them, bowing swiftly. "Lady Hokage. How may I assist you?"

"Has a young blonde boy came in here recently, carrying a dark-haired one?"

The nurse shook her head. "No, we haven't seen anyone like that."

Sakura looked at Tsunade nervously. "Maybe Sasuke was too heavy...we should go to Naruto's house and make sure he's all right."

They quickly left the hospital in the direction of Naruto's home. "Maybe I shouldn't have left him alone so quickly...so many things might have happened. He could have went into shock or something...ugh!" Sakura thought to herself. "I'm a medic-nin, I should have remembered all of this!"

She jumped from roof to roof, Tsunade following behind, until a house with a hole in the roof came into view. She could see two figures through the hole. One was on the ground, and the other was standing up. She frowned. "Why isn't Naruto even trying to pick him up?"

As she got closer, her eyes widened. "NARUTO!" She plunged down through the hole as quickly as she could, kneeling down next to Naruto. She felt his wrist. There was a faint pulse. "We have to get him to the hospital!" she cried to Tsunade, who had just landed next to her.

"Don't you see, my love? Now we can be together!" Sasuke called from a few feet away.

Sakura froze. She had forgotten he was even there. Slowly, she lifted her eyes to look at him. "You."

Sasuke blinked at her, genuinely confused. "What's wrong, Sakura? Don't worry, I'm here. Everything's all right." He took a step towards her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, but in a flash she had knocked it away and Sasuke found himself up against the nearest wall with her hand squeezing his throat.

"Sak...ura..." he choked out.

"I'll kill you," she hissed, tightening her grip on his neck.

Sasuke's face was beginning to turn blue, when Sakura felt a hand on her arm.

"Sakura. We need to get him to the hospital," Tsunade told her, holding a bloody Naruto in her arms.

Sakura's eyes softened as she looked at Naruto's face. She turned back to Sasuke and they hardened again before she quickly flung him across the room by his neck. Sasuke hit the opposite wall with a bang, sliding down until he was sitting on the floor. His hand flew to his stomach, which was beginning to bleed again, and his eyes widened. "This wasn't how it was supposed to be. She was supposed to let me comfort her!" He glared at Sakura and Tsunade's retreating backs. "It must be because Naruto's still alive. I'll just have to finish the job."

They reached the hospital in record time, and Tsunade immediately called for a stretcher and layed Naruto flat out on it. He was rolled into the nearest room, and Sakura watched as Tsunade placed him on a bed and quickly removed Naruto's shirt to examine the wound. The kunai was still inside of him.

Tsunade hissed angrily. "It went all the way through him. We're going to need to remove this," she told the nurse that was helping her. "He appears to be unconscious, but he still has a pulse." She turned to Sakura. "Sakura, get some pain killers out of those cabinets!" She pointed at the cabinets to Sakura's left.

Sakura hurried over in that direction, opening the cabinet and sifting through some medicine bottles before she found pain killers. At Tsunade's order she dropped the pills through Naruto's slightly parted lips, and followed them with a glass of water to wash it down. By reflex, Naruto swallowed.

Tsunade flipped him over onto his chest. "Be ready with the towels, and make sure to apply as much pressure as possible," she said to the nurse. "He could start bleeding even more heavily." Her hands gripped the handle of the kunai tightly.

"Ts-Tsunade-same," Sakura said nervously. "Are you sure we should be pulling it out? He could bleed to death!"

"Don't worry, Sakura, I've been doing this for years. Naruto's very lucky. The kunai missed his heart and his main artery. He shouldn't lose very much blood. The only thing I'm worried about is that he's already lost a lot of blood. It might not matter that Sasuke didn't hit his heart or main artery; just the loss of more blood will kill him."

Sakura nodded in understanding, her eyes glued to Tsunade's hands as they slowly began to move upward. The kunai started to move upward with it, and eventually Sakura couldn't watch any more.

"It's out," Tsunade said after a moment. Sakura looked back to see a gash right in between Naruto's shoulder blades, about an inch in diameter. "Start putting the pressure on."

Both the nurse and Tsunade grabbed towels and started pressing down on the wound, which Sakura noticed had begun to bleed lightly. Her lip trembled as the seriousness of the situation hit her. She tried to imagine a life without Naruto.

"I don't want you living up to those promises, Naruto. I...I'd rather die than live my life without you."

Sakura's lip stopped trembling and she looked up, determined. "Let me help," she said, grabbing another towel and walking over to them without waiting for a response. She pressed the towel down and almost immediately it went red to match Tsunade's and the nurse's. "You're going to live, Naruto. I know you are."

Tsunade watched Sakura carefully. After a moment, she returned her eyes to the wound. Another minute went by. "Hold on a second. I think the bleeding has slowed down." They all removed their towels and stared. Tsunade was right. "Quick, get me some bandages!" Tsunade cried, and the nurse immediately ran back to another cabinet, pulling out a large roll of bandages, much like the ones Rock Lee and Neji wore over their arms. The nurse held Naruto up and Tsunade wrapped the bandages around Naruto's whole upper torso as tightly as she could, taking care to put multiple layers over the wound.

"Will he be able to breathe?" Sakura asked.

"Don't worry, they're not tight enough to cut off his breathing."

Sakura nodded. "Is there anything else we can do to help him?"

"For now, all we can do is wait."

Sasuke stumbled into the hospital, clutching his bleeding stomach. Almost immediately a nurse was helping him into a room. "Are you okay? What happened to you?"

"Stab wound in the stomach," Sasuke forced out, lying down on the bed.

"This looks pretty bad. You might have to stay here for a few days." As the nurse began to tend to his wounds, he looked past her and out of the door. Across the hall and in another room, pink hair could be seen. Sasuke smirked. He was in the room across from Naruto's.