Chapter 9- "Watch The Stars"
Naruto sat at the door as he watched the others train. It was getting to the point now where he was really sick, he stopped training two weeks ago. It was so painful for him to stop but his body was too weak to handle all the stress of training, and he just sat in the doorway watching the others train and get ready for the upcoming exams that would be in about two months. Hinata said she would delay her training to spend the last few times with Naruto, he didn't have long and it was hard to know when he would be gone.
Kakashi sat with Naruto as he looked at him. "...You're watching them train aren't you, Naruto? I feel so bad for removing you from doing it but you collasped the last time..."
"It worried Tsunade, so she said that in a week or so that I have to go on bedrest..."
"Oh, Naruto..." Kakashi sighed, it broke his heart to see his student this way. "Well, use this week wisely...Make sure you get around to going places..."
"So who's going to take me everywhere this week?"
Kakashi paused. "Well, the Sensei's and I thought that if you wanted to...We could take this week off to spend time with you..."
"Really?!?! I'd like that!" Naruto began to get excited as he almost jumped up. "So, when do we start? Let's do it now!"
Kakashi laughed. "Well, they're training. So give them a half an hour and we'll see what we can do."
Naruto waited patiently as he watched the others train. Rock Lee had finished training and went over to see Naruto, he had wanted to see him before he got to busy to do so. He sat next to him as Naruto smiled, he liked having a lot of company with what he was going through.
Rock Lee looked at him. "Hi, Naruto. I decided that...um, if you needed an extra person to take care of you...That Neji and I would be happy to do that..."
"That's fine, I don't mind having several people doing this for me...It's great that you guys want to help..."
Rock Lee smiled but at the same time he could see that Naruto was sick. It pained his heart. "Naruto, I am sorry about what happened...I did not know you would collapse.."
"Bushy Brows, it wasn't your fault...This disease is unpredictable, I could be fine for a few days and really sick the next few days...Don't blame yourself, if it had to happen then it had to.."
Rock Lee smiled but than frowned. "Just to see you collapse like that...I had no idea that your chakra was very weak, at least you are ok..."
Naruto smiled as he watched the others train. "You know Bushy Brows, since you're the only person that knows the mountains well...I want you to take me there..."
Rock Lee agreed to take Naruto to the mountains one day out of the week. Naruto would enjoy the mountains, Lee said that there was all kinds of things that you couldn't find anywhere else but there. It made Naruto even more excited to go, he couldn't wait until he did. He wondered if there was any rare types of fruit or if the rumors about a berry that was so sour that you couldn't taste anything for three days. He couldn't wait to go.
Rock Lee was ready to work hard and serve Naruto, Naruto showed him into his aparment and showed him what most of the things did for him. Lee had to give him mecidine two times a day, cook his food, and made sure he had the right amount of Morphine. Lee was a little frightened about handling needles as Naruto reassured him that he wouldn't make a mistake.
"Bushy Brows, you'll be fine...It's really easy, just inject it into the bag..." Naruto smiled. "That's it, cooking should be easy and you know what my favorite thing in the world is..."
"I know that, cooking ramen is easy..." Lee smiled. "What about Neji, what do you want him to do?"
"I'm not sure yet, I'll have to think of somethin' for him to do...Anythin' that's leftover"
"Well, if you think of something then let me know..." Rock Lee looked back. "The ramen should be done in no time, I will make sure that it is cooked right..."
Rock Lee grinned and ran downstairs to fix the ramen, he heard the rumbling of pots as he waited for Lee to come back. He heard footsteps coming up the stairs as Hinata jumped into bed with him. Hinata had done this at least every five days out of every week to spend time with Naruto, this showed how much Hinata cared by sacrficing her own time to spend what time he had left with her. He noticed a large wrapping paper in her hands.
"That must be the book in it's final edition, I heard that you wrote it so well..." Naruto paused. "That it seemed more real than a shrine...That's what Iruka-Sensei said..."
"It has...about three-hundred and fifty pages plus thirty more from all of us..." Naruto smiled, that book was about his struggles and his achievements. "I'm writing the ending now.."
"Oh, that must be hard to write..." Naruto sighed. "I'm sure whatever you put in there, it'll make sense...just let me see it as soon as it's finshed."
Hinata nodded her head. She began putting fuschias around Naruto's bed post as the vines fell to the floor, Naruto looked at all the bright colors as he touched the flowers. They were so pretty that Naruto asked Hinata to press them along with different kind of roses and sakura blossoms. She nodded, she knew she was going to have a fun time pressing this masterpiece for him.
Neji had just come upstairs as he went by Naruto's bedside, he looked at Naruto and watched Hinata who smiled at him. Naruto felt that the two were getting along better than before, the tension seemed to dissappear and everything seemed closer.
Neji broke the silence. "Here's some tea, Naruto. I made before I left the house..."
"Thanks Neji, I hope it's green tea...I've been drinkin' different kinds of that stuff lately..."
Naruto drank slowly as Neji continued talking. "So, did Lee tell you that you are going to mountains tommorow? He wanted me to tell you that..."
"That's great, I can't wait to see it!" Naruto began imagining what it would look like and looked at Neji. "Um, Neji...I want you to respect Hinata more carefully, okay?"
Neji grinned, he seemed a little more happy. "You have my word, Naruto. We've been trying to make things work for a few months..."
Lee came upstairs with Naruto ramen as he began to eat and take his medicine, he was enjoying everything as best as could like Kakashi had mentioned. He was going to fo some of his favorite things in the weeks follow and he would be happy with everyone surrounding him.
X X X
A few weeks later, Naruto's health declined further after Lee and Neji had been taking care of him. He began to spit up blood as Tsunade rushed in to give him medicine for his sickness, Kakashi knew what was happening. Naruto was about to reach his final stages as Tsunade cleaned him up and put the covers back on him, he seemed dazed.
Lee and Neji stood by Tsunade as they waited on the prognosis of Naruto's health, she took his pulse and watched him. She shook her head, Neji had fear Naruto had entered the faze of being on deathbed and she couldn't seem to tell if Naruto was slowing down or not.
"Naruto, can you still hear everything?" she looked at him as he looked back. "He's fine but I can't tell if I should put him on his deathbed now..."
Naruto looked at Kakashi and nodded. "Tsunade, he's says that he wants to go on his deathbed now...I'll be right back Naruto, I'm going to warn everyone..."
Lee and Neji ran over to Naruto as he looked at them. "Don't worry about me you guys, it was bound to get worse...you guys didn't do anything..."
Lee looked at him as he fixed his laturn. "Is this better, Naruto? It is so dark in here, I just want you to have a light on so you can see."
Neji looked at him. 'Look at him, he's so sick that it just pains anyones heart for him to be this way. Hinata has to come now, this is it.'
More footsteps came up the stairs as Hinata ran to his side and collasped on Naruto as he patted her gently, she began to cry loudly as more people comforted her. she grasped Naruto like she could never let go of him, she never wanted to let go him but she knew now that it was going to happen. Her tears hit the bed as she laid on her side and looked at Naruto, who coughed a little bit.
"N-Naruto...Is this..." she stoppped. "It can't be..."
"Hinata, the doctors were shocked that I was able to live almost three months past a disease like this..." Naruto was happy he had more time than normal. "It just shows you how strong I am..."
"Naruto, you don't deserve this...You had dreams, you had me, and you had a future..." Hinata wiped her tears away. "This isn't..."
Naruto hushed her. "I know, I had all that..." He whispered. "I know Hinata...I work so hard and this happens, it is unfair..."
He coughed again as he looked at everyone. More people arrived as he looked around and watched them come visit him, these were the people that cared about him the most. His aparment was so full as everyone waited around, he smiled as he the last few footsteps come up with Tsunade bringing up a Hokage hat and placing it on Naruto's head. He smiled and wondered who had it before him.
"This was the fourth's..." Tsunade explained. "I know it would mean a lot to him if you wore it..."
"T-The fourth?" Naruto eyes glowed as he admired the hat. "...It's too bad his legacy didn't last long...I wanted to meet him..."
In the backround, Iruka began to cry as it set off all the others to do the same thing. Naruto patted Iruka as he remembered the times he had with him, Iruka was going to miss his mischievous ways with when he used his "Sexy tecnique" to annoy the Sensei's including him, and for training him in the beginning. He didn't act so quickly to shove him away.
Naruto looked into his eyes. "Iruka, don't cry...Think...Just think about what you've done for me..."
Iruka stopped for awhile and the tears reformed in his eyes, it was too hard for him. Sakura ran over and hugged him as tightly as she could before she let go. It was so painful to the heart to see this happen slowly. The rose was wilting slowly as the next petal dropped.
Two petals remained on the rose, it would bare as soon as the petals lost their will to live on the stem and fall to the ground.
Hinata watched Naruto carefully as she went out to the balcony to look at the stars, she wondered if she would find Naruto up in the stars at night. The night sky was full of stars along with the full moon cuddling the clouds that surrounded it. It made the night peaceful even though everyone was mourning already.
Naruto turned to see Hinata outside looking at the stars. "I hope you see a shooting star, Hinata...Maybe you can get a wish..."
She smiled. "I think I'll watch for one..."
Hinata looked around in the sky and to her surprise, a star had shoot across the sky as it faded away. She quickly made a wish and went back in the room with Naruto, he knew where she would be staying. In his bed, she promised that she would be there for when the transition happened. He looked at everyone else who walked around and looked at him.
"Everyone can go home, I don't want to keep everyone up because of this..." Naruto was handed papers, this was his half-done will. "...Is anyone going?"
Kakashi smiled. "Naruto, it's fine...We all want to be here, it doesn't matter if we miss anything. This is more important..."
Naruto smiled as Hinata kissed him on the cheek, her kisses were always warm and tender to him. As soon as he reached the end of his two paged will, he went to sleep as Hinata cuddled next to him and began sleeping. They were inseparable, nothing was going to rip them apart.
The rose was still intact with two petals left. The petal began to wilt slowly as it stayed on the stem, it was going to fall. Tomorrow, the last petal would fall to the ground ending it's life as a rose. Hinata wished the night would never end, she knew tomorrow would bring a new feeling into her life and she would wish and beg to have Naruto back.
Tomorrow, she would have to learn and endure the loss of a lover.
That's Chapter 9, please R&R.