A/N: Thanks everyone for your reviews, I really appreciate it and it also gives my the ability to get my chapters up sooner Also a little note, I'm going to try and get a new chapter up each day, so keep your eyes open for 'TKTC' Thanks again, so much!

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Naruto, surprised, looked about. Everyone was staring at him in utter horror. At first he couldn't understand what was going on, and then he caught his reflection in a mirror and gasped at the person looking back at him. His clothes were in tatters, plus a bloodstain covered the entire front of his shirt from where he held Sakura. One of his eyes was bruised and slightly swollen, along with his lip, plus numerous other cuts, scrapes, and gouges all over his body. His usually blonde hair was a dark red color and caked with blood and his hands were also coated in a thin layer of dried blood. How had he not noticed before?

"Kyuubi..." Naruto growled as people rushed around him, all but tackling him to the floor.

"What? I was using what energy I could to keep you alive, obviously you aren't going to die from the injuries and I can't exactly heal you on the spot now that everyone's seen you."

Naruto sighed as paramedics rushed in, grabbing him gently, and put him on a stretcher. As they wheeled him out to the ambulance where a crowd had formed, Naruto scanned through them, almost hoping for a familiar face. He told himself that he was being foolish and was about to throw that hope away when a flash of pink hair wove through the crowd and away.

"Sakura!" Naruto gasped and attempted to sit up when the gentle hand of a paramedic pushed him back down.

"Whoa there," He smiled. "I know you don't feel too hurt, but we have to make sure that you're all right before we let you go back home."

Home. That word struck a cord and put Naruto into silence. For a while, at least. Once they put him in the ambulance and started to drive back to the hospital, signs of pain and exhaustion had begun to make themselves known. Every bump sent his body into jolts of pain and he winced. To keep his mind from it, Naruto looked about the ambulance, and then his gaze fell on the two paramedics. He stared intently, almost to the point of awkwardness and suddenly, realization hit him like a blow to the stomach.

"Izumo?" He looked at the familiar face, right eye hidden beneath his hair as always, but a cap on instead of his headband.

"Yes?" He looked slightly perplexed at the boy. He didn't have a nametag on, so how did this stranger know his name? "Do you need something?"

Naruto shook his head and looked at the other. "Kotetsu?" Izumo's comrade turned and Naruto almost smiled. He still had the same dark, spiked hair, but a single bandage across his nose.

"What?" He almost cringed away from the excited blue eyes that stared at him expectantly, almost like a puppy.

"Nothing," Naruto said, lying back down. "I just knew I recognized you from somewhere."

Kotetsu and Izumo looked at each other, and then shrugged as the ambulance suddenly jerked, throwing Naruto slightly and causing him to cry out in pain. That cry sent the two paramedics into a frenzy, searching for painkillers. Izumo found the bottle first but Kotetsu pulled out a small vial and syringe.

"This is a mild sedative, it'll help you sleep." He then pulled out a tourniquet, strapped it to Naruto's arm, quickly found the vein and inserted the needle. Naruto's eyes became heavy as it went to work and he drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep, but also feeling proud for at least two friendly faces and the flash of pink hair from earlier gave him hope that Sakura was out there still. If Izumo and Kotetsu were, why not her?