Chapter 2

A Perilous Diagnosis

Shikamaru landed on the rooftop across from Ichiraku. He surveyed the two customers sitting down inside the ramen shop. While their head and shoulders were hidden by tapestries hanging in the front, he could clearly see what they were wearing. The person on the left appeared to be a civilian. From his blue overalls and dusty shirt, it appears he is a construction worker on break. The other customer is wearing an orange and black suit, which is unmistakably Naruto's. No one else in the village has such a unique fashion sense.

Rather than move in quickly, Shikamaru sat down and collected his thoughts. After all, he had no idea what was happening to Naruto. He has seen the kid fight several times in the past and the blond kid was a monster on the battlefield. Taking down Neji during the chunin exams, defeating several members of the Akatsuki, and other strong foes. But he actually appeared weaker in the battle a week ago then he was that time he fought Kiba in the chunin preliminaries. Naruto was acting more like a 90 year old man, instead of a 19 year old teenager.

Shikamaru was so lost in thought he almost didn't see Naruto get up and begin his walk home. Moving rapidly, he stood up and jumped to the next rooftop, trying to stay with him. But Naruto suddenly took an unexpected turn into an alley which would not lead to his apartment. Shikamaru decided to just go down and tell Naruto about going to the hospital. Even if he ended up having to drag as Tsunade suggested, Naruto didn't seem to be in any state fit for putting up a fight.

"Yo, Naruto." Shikamaru had caught up to Naruto on the other side of the alley.

"No time to chat, I got to get up bright and early tomorrow for that checkup." Naruto continued walking.

"Uh...about that...Tsunade-sama sent me to bring you in right now. I am even supposed to drag you if necessary. Please don't make me have to do that, it would be such a drag." Shikamaru didn't know what to expect from the number one most unpredictable ninja.

"Ok no problem." Naruto turned around and began walking in the other direction towards the hospital. "Lets get a move on so I can get this over with."

As they walked to the hospital, Shikamaru tried to get some more answers. "So are you going to tell me what this is all about?"

"I don't know what your talking about, I'm fine." Naruto tried to act as normal as possible. "That old hag is just overprotective of me. She treats me like a kid. I'm a furture Hokage! I can handle anything."

Arriving at the hospital reception desk, Shikamaru spoke to the lady sitting down of Tsunade's orders.

"Ah yes, The Hokage sent us a message expecting you. Sakura-san will be down for the patient at any moment."

"N...n-not Sakura-chan. I'm outta here!" Naruto tried to flee but something was holding the back of his jacket preventing escape.

"Nice to see you too Naruto." A familiar feminine voice called out from behind. "I see you were finally ordered in for the checkup. It was inevitable considering how long you've been putting it off."

Naruto turned himself half around, and raised his hand to wave. "O-Oh hi Sakura-chan, it is so great to see you again. Boy it has been..."

"Can it Naruto! Lets get this over with." Sakura grabbed his back next to where Shikamaru had and literally dragged him down the hall.

"Well my mission is over. I'm heading home, see you two later." Shikamaru didn't know if they could hear him but it didn't matter. He headed out the door.

"I could be going home right now but noooooooooooooo, I have to stay extra late and give you an examination." She fumed as they walked into one of the many rooms. It was a standard medical room with a table in the center. Walls on either side were lined with cabinets containing all kinds of medical equipment. The back wall was largely bare. "Sit down on the table." She closed the door behind them.

"Ok!" Naruto was terrified and excited all at the same moment. Spending time alone with Sakura was what he lived for. But she was also the one about to discover what nearly got him killed on the last mission. Sakura grabbed a few instruments out of one cabinet and walked over Naruto. She moved quickly checking his eyes, ears, mouth, reflexes, and breathing. Standard procedure for any health checkup.

"You seem normal enough. That is if you could be called normal. Now mold some chakra and perform a jutsu. Any of them will do." Sakura put down her stethoscope.

"B-But that isn't part of a physical. The old hag only wanted a physical." Naruto grew more nervous by the second. He gulped.

"You're right it isn't part of a standard physical, but the report said you didn't perform any Ninjutsu on your last mission. Tsunade-sama wanted me to check on your chakra control." Sakura was curious as to why he was hesitant showing off for her. Here was a prime opportunity to try and impress the girl he liked but the future hokage would have nothing of it.

Naruto frantically tried to come up with a way out of this situation. He began to sweat visibly and shake nervously. "I...I...I don't feel like it right now. Wouldn't it be better to check my strength. Let me hit something!" That was a poor choice of words in present company.

"Fine. If you don't want to do the chakra test right now lets test how well you respond to pain." Before he could respond an angry fist landed in his face. To her surprise a puff of white smoke appeared immediately and Naruto disappeared. "A clone?"

Moments later the door opened and in walked Shikamaru dragging what appeared to be the real Naruto. "I don't want to go, you can't make me! Let me go! Give me a break Shikamaru." His protests were ignored.

"I was supposed to deliver this to you. He thought he was a clever one, ducking into the alley and switching himself with a clone. My mission is now complete. Good night." He tossed Naruto towards Sakura's feet and left through the door, closing it behind him. Before Naruto could get up on his own, Sakura grabbed and flung him onto the table. She quickly tied him into the restraint system used to prevent patients from hurting themselves.

"Now you won't be going anywhere. I hope you are enjoying yourself Naruto because I'm not. This childishness is keeping me from my dinner date." Sakura remembering some plans for the evening she had made but it looks like those were out the window. She glanced at the clock on the wall, it was 5 past 7. Too bad, she had met a really nice boy at the park and wanted to get to know him better. "He will probably assume I stood him up. You are going to pay for this."

"O-Oh Sakura you don't have to worry about me. Go meet your date, we can do this another time. Such as tomorrow. Or tomorrow afternoon if you have a breakfast date. Or we can just put this off all week if you're too busy." He flailed against the restraints trying to break free but it was no use. In his weakened state he could do nothing. "How about we take these things off and...and I will take both you and your friend out to dinner. My treat!"

"If you don't mold some chakra this instant you're going to wish you never came back from that mission alive." Sakura was very concerned at this point but did nothing to show it. She had to get to the bottom of what was causing Naruto to act in such a strange manner. He was doing his best to avoid using any chakra and would not tell her why. Not only that, but he couldn't even break out of standard patient restraints. Though he appeared to be trying his hardest. There appeared to be only one way to handle this situation. "For every 10 seconds you make me wait I am going to do something very unpleasant to you." She began counting, "1, 2, 3, 4..."

"Sakura-chan I can't mold any chakra lying restrained like this, if you could just release me then I could..." THOMP, her fist landed in his face. She only used a tiny fraction of her chakra to enhance the blow, not enough to do any serious damage but enough to make her point.

"Any trained ninja can mold chakra no matter what their position. Stop making lame excuses. 3, 4, 5..."

"A-Aren't you supposed to start from one? That is a little unfair because I need to listen to you and..." POW, another blow to the face. This time a bit stronger than the last. She obviously meant business. If it took a literal beating to get it out of him then it had to be done. He groaned a little this time in obvious pain. Such a blow was powerful, yes. But it shouldn't have been enough to cause Naruto to make that kind of noise. She has hit him with much worse before.

"I can keep this up all night. You are going to tell me what is wrong and soon or else you will have to visit the reconstructive surgery ward before leaving this building." Sakura was getting ready for the next punch. This time it would be twice as strong as the last. Still not enough to cause any serious injury. She began hating herself for doing this. While beating up Naruto was a common occurrence in their relationship, she has never done it with him unable to defend himself. "...5, 6, 7..."

"I-I-I..." he couldn't think of anything to say at this point. Seconds later, a dull THUNK was heard as Sakura punched him for the third time. She decided at the last moment to make it only as strong as the second one. She couldn't do it anymore, it was making her feel like a monster. As the fist was lifted off his face, Naruto's eyes remained closed. He couldn't be unconscious, she thought. But he just laid there not moving a muscle.

"Naruto? Naruto! Whats the matter? Wake up!" She shook him several times. He was knocked out. How could this happen? He has fallen off cliffs and gone face first into countless trees. A couple blows like that should be nothing to him. His skin was like iron. Well, at least his head was.

As she was frantically thinking of what to do his eyes began to open. She felt a wave of relief rush over her but it rapidly receded. His eyes were not the dark blue that they always were, now they showed a crimson red. She remembered seeing them a few times before in battle and knew what those eyes represented. In a flash they focused on her and at almost the same moment she began choking. Naruto's right right hand had broken free without her realizing and shot up to grab her.

Plink, plink, plink went the remaining restraints. Naruto sat up still holding Sakura by her neck. In fact she was now slightly off the ground. Sakura was frantically latching on to his arm, trying to pull it off. Naruto began to speak. "Lets see how you do against someone who is not a tied up weakling." With a growl he tossed Sakura over his head and towards the wall behind him. Although shocked by what has just happened her agile ninja body moved instinctively. She landed with her feet against the wall, bending the knees slightly. Naruto quickly followed with a jumping punch, but Sakura leapt from the wall to the other side of the room, landing in front of the door they initially entered through.

"Naruto! What is the matter with you!" She yelled as he reached the wall. It was difficult to hear as a thunderous crack was heard when his fist he connected with the wall tiles. A section of the wall crumbled before him, revealing a startled nurse standing in the hallway. The nurse paused for a moment. Her eyes widened and she began running away in horror. Naruto spun around and launched another jumping attack at Sakura.

"Whats the matter with you, do you only beat up puny kids?" With that they connected, grabbing each other's hands and interlocking the fingers. But Sakura was no matched for Naruto's raw power and got pushed straight threw the door behind her. Glass and splinters of wood flew in all directions. They slid right across the hall and into the wall. Salura gasped and coughed up blood on Naruto while becoming embedded into the wall. People in the hallway quickly looked up, stunned at what they were witnessing.

Naruto released his grip and was readying his next punch. Sakura was too busy recovering from the last attack to defend herself. Suddenly a faint but distinct "no" could be heard from his lips. Naruto's fist lowered and he stumbled backwards. Unable to keep his balance, he slipped on the broken glass and landed on the ground facing up. There was no further movement from him. A few moments later Sakura managed to pry herself free from the wall and rushed to his side.

Tears were now streaming down Sakura's cheeks. "W-What have I done!"