Another Chance

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Inuyasha, sadly.

"Naru-chan?" A black-haired girl slipped her head through the hospital door to look into the room. "Are you awake?" There was no reply, but she could see that his cerulean eyes were open. They were open, but seemed to be dead.

She walked in to the room and quietly shut the door behind her. She walked over the bed and sat on the edge. "Hey, don't look so upset." Naruto's eyes turned to her slightly and she could barely see the whisker marks on his face through the bandages that covered him. His eyes were still dead.

She reached out a hand and traced his cheek, trying to provide some measure of comfort to him. She understood how he was feeling and knew that if he spent too much time wallowing in his self-pity, he would end up like she had before he had come into her life. Now, it was her turn to return the favor.

"You have to understand, Naru-chan, that there was nothing you could have done." She pushed a few strands from his bangs out of his face and looked back into the lifeless orbs. "He chose to leave; you don't have control over him, even if it would be better if you did."

"I promised to bring him back…" Naruto's voice was soft and broken, making Kagome reach over to him and wrap her arms around him comfortingly. They were talking of course of their recent friend turned traitor, Uchiha Sasuke. Kagome looked at both him and Naruto as her little brothers because of how they acted. Naruto reminded her very much of her adoptive son, Shippo, and Sasuke reminded her of her old lover, Sesshomaru. Due to this, she would always take care of them, but it seemed that Sasuke had grown tired of her care, breaking her heart once more.

Though she was broken in her mind, she would not Naruto to blame himself for it. "There will be other chances to bring him back; don't beat yourself up so much over just one attempt." She stroked his head and looked out the window at the rain. "He is just confused; he doesn't know how you changed so much and he fears that. He fears not being in control and you getting stronger is beyond his control, and the curse seal alters his mind."

"So… it's still my fault… my fault that he's insecure…"

"NO!" Kagome pulled back to look him in the eye. "You are not at fault here; if anyone is to blame, it's Itachi for causing the fear to start in the first place." Naruto tried to look away from her piercing electric blue eyes, but she pushed his head back to face her. "This isn't your fault, Otouto… never believe otherwise."

Naruto's eyes widened and a small spark of life filled them as she called him little brother. Her eyes softened and she pulled his head back to rest on her chest as she had done with Shippo whenever he was upset. "It's okay, Naru-chan, it's okay… There's always another chance… We'll bring him back, you have my word."

"B-but… I promised Sakura-chan…"

Kagome stroked his hair again and laid her head on top of his. "Sh… You don't have to do it alone: I'll always be here to help you." Naruto slowly brought an arm up to wrap around her waist as he let a small smile cross his features. Kagome laid a soft kiss on his head. "I'll always be here for you and Sasuke… we just have to make him face his fear in the right way."

Naruto nodded into her chest. "We'll bring him back together if not next time, the time after that, believe it." Kagome chuckled at his catch phrase and nodded.

"Aa, there will always be another chance."

AN: Drabble! XD I enjoyed writing this one, though it was a little hard. Thank you all for reading, and please leave me a review!