"Any news?" Kakashi asked as he walked inside the hospital waiting room, looking Shikamaru straight in the eye.

Shikamaru took a deep breath and sighed, "Not yet. Lady Tsunade is doing the operation herself, so I can only guess its pretty serious."

"So I was told. I hope she can handle it," Kakashi said.

"Why do you say that?" Shikamaru asked.

"She's extremely hemophobic. If she sees blood at all she's gonna pass out at the very least," Kakashi answered.

"I see," Shikamaru said.

Looking around, there were many people there, waiting to hear any news about Naruto. Kurenai stood in front of Anko, as they all engaged in what looked to be a serious conversation. Kurenai had not been partnered with her group for their mission. The man that ran the ramen stall sat alone in a corner, completely silent. Konohamaru sat, clinging to Iruka's arm, with his head buried in his jacket. The young teacher ruffled the boy's hair before looking up at Kakashi. The gray-haired Jounin had just started walking toward Iruka when the doors to the hospital sudden burst open again. Jiraya emerged with a very grave expression on his face. Marching straight up to a hospital staff member, he started to converse about Naruto's condition.

It seemed that the only people who were absent from the hospital were Sakura, Yamato, Gai's group, and Hinata's group. The irony of it all, was that the only people who weren't there, Kakashi mused, were the people who probably cared about Naruto the most. Well…with a few exceptions.

Stopping in front of Iruka, Kakashi looked down at Naruto's former teacher calmly, "You're reaction is a lot like mine."

"Naruto's gotten himself into trouble on countless occasions, but nothing like this," Iruka said. The sadness in his face made him look older than he was.

"Yeah, I know. It gave me quite a nice shock too," Kakashi said.

"What gets me," Iruka continued, "is that he was finally getting his life on track and starting to really be a great kid. He was on his way to becoming an incredible man, and this happens. Why?"

"Don't count him out just yet, Iruka," Kakashi said. "Naruto can't be beaten so easily. But yes…it is a shame that such an awful thing has happened just after he had become such a fine young man."

It was then that Tsunade emerged. People rose from their seats in anticipation and everyone turned to look at her. A tense silence fell over the room.

"He's stable," she said.

Relief seemed to sweep through the room.

"The antidote is being administered as I speak. He has sustained quite a bit of internal damage, though, so visits need to be short with only a few people at a time. Exciting him may cause him further damage. Currently, however, he is resting, so try not to wake him."

She walked over to Jiraya and signaled for Kakashi and Iruka to join them. When the three of them were within speaking range, Tsunade started talking.

"Jiraya. Kakashi. Iruka. The three of you may go in any time you like and stay as long as you need to. The same goes for Sakura when she gets around to it. The four of you have been through much more with him than anyone else has. All I ask is that you take turns spending time with him," Tsunade said. Not waiting for them to answer her, she gave them a courteous nod, and walked out of the hospital with Shizune following close behind.

"You two can go in first. I saw him when he arrived," Kakashi said to Jiraya and Iruka.

Jiraya and Iruka exchanged looks before walking towards Naruto's indicated room. When they entered, the blonde-haired boy was asleep. His face was quite pallid, and it still held a bit of sweat from a fever that had just been broken.

"He's gotten so much older than I remember," Iruka said quietly. "If you would have told me when he was younger that he would become this handsome a boy in his teens, I would have said that you were crazy."

"He has grown up a lot hasn't he?" Jiraya said, smiling.

"You've done a good job with him," Iruka said, looking at Jiraya.

"Nah," Jiraya grunted, "I just set down some general rules to guide him. He was the one that decided to change so much."

"I bet that if he met himself from a few years ago, now, he wouldn't recognize himself at all," Iruka said. Somehow his fatherly nature tended to show much more when it came to Naruto. Perhaps it was because he regarded Naruto as more of son than a former student.

"Well," Jiraya said, "time to let someone else have a look at him."

Iruka frowned, "Already?"

"You can stay, but I think I'll come back later when he's awake," Jiraya said.

Iruka nodded, "I think I'm going to stay." He sat down next to Naruto's bed and grabbed Naruto's hand in a fatherly way.

"See you later, Iruka," Jiraya said. walking out of the room, he closed the door behind him. "Next?"

Kakashi shrugged as Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru stood up and walked in his room.

"Aren't you going to go in there?" Jiraya asked, reaching him.

Kakashi shook his head, "Not now. I will when everyone else has had a moment with him. It would mean more to me when he's awake anyway."

"I understand. Well, I have to have a talk with Tsunade. I'll be back soon. Take care, Kakashi," Jiraya said.

Kakashi nodded and turned in time to See Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru exit the Naruto's room while Anko, Kurenai, Konohamaru, and the man from the ramen shop walked in the room. Kakashi sighed. Had this happened to Naruto when he was still in the academy, no one would have shown up accept Iruka and the Third Hokage. Even he, one of the people who relied on him presently, didn't know or care about him back then. On some level, that bothered him. But to the rest of the world, Naruto had become quite a hero recently, so it made him popular.

No more than ten minutes later, Gai walked in the hospital waiting room with Lee and Tenten. Just before the door was about to close, Neji walked in as well. Gai immediately walked up to Kakashi.

"What's the news on Naruto?" Gai asked.

"He's stable, but resting. If you want to see him, make it short," Kakashi answered.

It was about that time that Anko, Konohamaru, Kurenai, and the man from the ramen shop all came out of Naruto's room.

"Go ahead," Kakashi said, gesturing to the door.

Gai nodded at his group and the four of them walked inside. When they were beside his bed, they saw that Iruka was already sitting there silently. Naruto looked so frail, but also peaceful to them. Tenten leaned in towards Neji and he put an arm around her in response.

"It looks like she got him here just in the nick of time," Gai said. "Good job, guys."

"Thank you, Gai-sensei," said Lee.

No one else said anything. When they left, only a few others came in the room to visit Naruto. Night had fallen once again before Iruka finally came out of Naruto's room. Kakashi took that as his signal to go in. No words were exchanged between Iruka and Kakashi as they passed each other. Only a kind of silent understanding between the two seemed to exist. As Kakashi walked in and took a seat at Naruto's bedside, he saw how pale the boy really was. Kakashi watching him silently, letting his mind wander until he dozed off.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ok…so, getting down to the very end here…not quite there, but almost… See you next chapter!