"Naruto, please try to be patient the doctor will be here soon okay? You can stop tapping your foot it's giving me a headache."
I can't help it. We've been waiting for twenty minutes.
After my "episode" my dad ended up bringing me to the hospital. Thankfully, my headache wasn't as bad so I managed to get up and actually walk to the hospital after being forced to swallow four pills of Advil. Thankfully those managed to stay in my stomach.
I scan the waiting room. There's a vending machine in the corner and a few of those little kid toys are scattered to the left of it. Some kid is sleeping on his moms lap. A guy that looks drunk passed out in the corner. Interesting. I keep scanning the room until I see this guy with blood red hair and pale skin. His whole face is covered in what seems like burns and he seems to have some weird tattoo on his forehead. His shoulder is all bloody and his clothes seem torn. But if you don't think that's weird get this. He has no eyebrows. That's some fashion statement. Suddenly his head whips towards me and his eyes meet mine. It's like looking at ice. I shiver almost immediately and avert my gaze.
Did he see me looking at him? I should be careful around that guy. He seems pretty scary.
"Naruto Uzumaki?"
As I'm walking towards the nurse I can feel the redhead's gaze follow my every move. I make a mental note to ask the doctor about him later. The nurse leads us to a room and she directs me to go change into a gown. Excuse me?
"I'm not a girl."
My dad face palms in the background.
"Sir, you have to only wear your underwear and then you put the gown over yourself."
What sick joke is this?
"I don't really feel comfortable doing that."
"But sir, it's something that all patients do. Trust me we no one here will judge you for wearing a hospital gown."
"But-"
"I'll make sure he puts it on before the doctor comes in. Thank you."
Thanks dad. You're going to make me dress like a girl.
The nurse quickly rushes out and I turn towards my dad who's holding the blue and white flower patterned gown. I can read it in his face that he's really enjoying this.
"Come on dad you're not actually going to make me wear that?"
"Of course not Naruto."
Phew! I start to relax when suddenly there is a gown over my head and I'm choking on air. My dad slips it on in one swift movement and I stand there feeling totally betrayed. The clothes under the gown make it hard for me to move around and I'm pretty sure I look like an oversized potato.
"DAD!"
He's trying so hard not to laugh his face turns a light shade of red. His lip is twitching and he's trying not to look at me. To make things even more embarrassing the stupid doctor strolls in.
"I'm coming i-"
She stops once she sees me and slowly begins to close the door. I turn beat red and run to the bathroom. Why me?
After sorting out my potato problem, I'm hooked up to an IV wearing a hospital gown. Yikes.
"So why am I dressed up in this? Can't you do the Chemo without this dumb gown?"
Don't tell me that I'm-
"You will be staying here for the week. It is better for you to stay in the gown since it is easier for you to move around in it, and it's easier to change out of since you will be wearing a new one I'm guessing everyday? You don't want to smell bad. Also, in order to decrease the count of cancer cells in your bloodstream we will be giving you chemo 3 times in the course of the week. It is better for you to stay here, in the hospital, because I will be able to monitor how you are doing and make sure that no problems are occurring."
"What?! No you can't do that please. You don't understand I have soccer tryouts this week and I-"
"Soccer tryouts? You were going to tryout for soccer? Are you insane? With your current condition you shouldn't even be taking a walk around your neighborhood."
Is this doctor even trustworthy?
"You make people call you Lady Tsunade. Is it really ok to put my life in your hands Granny?"
That vein pop was bigger than the last one I gave her when we first met…oh no.
"Listen you."
She gets right in my face.
"Your father personally hired me so that I could get your sorry butt cured because I'm the best doctor around. People come to me for help with incurable diseases and somehow I'm always able to fix them up. No patient has ever died on me. Ever."
I gulp. Man she's really scary.
Granny straightens up and fixes her posture. She looks at my father and gives him an apologetic look for scaring his son. My dad just nods.
"Lady Tsunade. Will I able to stay the night with my son? "
I groan. My dad looks at me. When our eyes meet I wish I had never even groaned. He looks so…so scared. A-are those tears in his eyes?
"Unfortunately Minato, visitors are not allowed in these parts of the hospital over the weekend. But, I assure you Naruto is in good hands."
"I understand. Tsunade could you leave us alone just for a bit?"
"Of course. Visting hours end at 9 o'clock. Take your time. And Naruto, your chemo starts in a few hours."
She smiles at both of us and exits the room.
My dad pulls a chair over to my bed.
"Naruto how are the headaches? Do you need any water anything? What about-"
"Dad I'm okay, I promise."
He rubs his temples and sighs.
"Dad, you don't have to worry so much. I'll..I'll be fine. Granny even said it herself. Even if I do die you and mom will be-"
I'm enveloped in a hug and I can't say another word. My dad hugs me so gently that it feels like he's not even touching me. He rests his chin on my head. My dad hasn't hugged me like this in a long time; he only really hugged me like this when I was young, like really young.
"Don't say that Naruto. Please."
I can hear it in his voice. He's crying. Darn it dad now I'm going to cry. I feel tears prickling in my eyes. I force them back. I will not cry in front of my dad, that's just…no. I reach my arms up and hug him back.
"I'm sorry dad. I'll be more careful with what I say."
He chuckles, knowing that I'm never careful. He releases the hug and sits on the bed facing me.
"Hey dad, I have a question."
"What's up kiddo?"
"Why does mom act so weird whenever we bring up my cancer?"
I can see my dad is uneasy about the question. He takes a deep breath, running his hands through his hair.
"Well, your mother just doesn't know how to handle it. Naruto, she's very torn about the fact that you're so sick and she feels useless knowing that she can't do anything to help you. Just give her time. Okay?"
She probably thinks I'm going to die any minute and doesn't want to accept the fact that I'm a time bomb. One wrong move and I'll explode.
"Okay."
My dad wraps his arms around me and we just sit there for a long time. I cry in his shoulder, I cry not because I'm dying, but the fact that there's a chance of leaving them behind.
"Shh, it's okay."
He rubs my back and rocks me back and forth until I calm down. It's so nice having my dad around. I don't know what I'd do without him.
After what seems like hours my dad decides to go home.
"Naruto, I'm going now but if anything happens and you need me or your mom, call us immediately okay?"
"Okay."
He bends down and kisses my forehead.
"I love you Naruto, see you soon."
"Love you too dad."
I pretty much mumbled that in embarrassment. I hear him chuckling in the hallway.
5 pm.
Granny comes in with a sac, a cord, a needle, and the scent of medicine overpowers the room.
"Okay, Naruto your Chemo starts now. This bag contains the drug necessary to kill your cancer. Now hold still while I inject a needle in your arm."
I was never a fan of needles so the part where the needle DUG INTO MY FLESH was a little uncomfortable.
"Now that just sits in your arm for about an hour. Don't move around too much. You can use your phone to preoccupy yourself or switch on the T.V. A nurse is bringing up dinner soon."
"Okay, cool."
Wait a minute. Chemo kills cancer. Chemo can kill me. Chemo makes me bald.
Chemo. Makes. Me. Bald.
"GET THE NEEDLE OUT OF MY ARM! I DON'T WANNA BE BALD! I LOVE MY HAIR IT'S PART OF MY IDENTITY! YOU CAN'T TAKE THAT FROM ME! YO GRANNY IMMA CUT THE CORD IF YOU DON'T!"
Granny runs back into the room.
"Naruto calm down! Don't move, don't be rash, please just calm down!"
She pins my arms down and I stop struggling. I'm panting and freaking out. I can't go bald.
"Naruto, you're not going bald…not yet. But! Before you start yelling at me, there are plenty of wigs out there that can cover up your bald head. We'll find you the perfect one I promise okay?"
This isn't happening.
"Now please, let the Chemo do its job and just don't move."
I nod my head slowly as she exits the room. If I go bald, I'll be the talk of the school and everyone will know I have cancer.
I'm screwed.
1:00 am.
I wake up panting and suddenly the dinner I ate is coming back up. I don't even get a chance to make it to the bathroom before I'm covered in my own vomit. Clutching my stomach I race to the bathroom. My hands are shaking as I clutch the sides of the toilet bowl and vomit up the rest. I keep the position for what seems like forever. It just won't stop. Granny said something like this is normal after Chemo. "Throwing up is expected, but don't worry, it's not that bad." She said. Not that bad huh, how about having your insides peeled out alive, it's almost the same thing.
By the time I finally calm down, the taste of vomit in my mouth becomes so strong I might just puke because of that. It tastes toxic. The puke stings my mouth and the stench reaches my nostrils. It reeks like nuclear waste. My whole body is sticky and on top of the vomit stench, there's also sweat. I flush the toilet and wobble towards the sink. The cold water feels so good against my warm skin. I rinse my mouth with cold, fresh water and stumble towards the bed. I land with a thump on something…mushy?
Oh yeah I threw up all over myself.
I roll off the bed with almost no strength and call for a nurse. Please someone get me out of this mess.
"Naruto?"
The lights click on and the look on the nurse's face is horrifying when she sees me on the floor covered in vomit and soggy bed sheets.
"Oh my! What happened here?"
She puts on gloves and rushes over to take the vomit covered bed sheets off of me. While she's doing the dirty work, I close my eyes and just hope that it'll be over soon. I just want to shower.
"Okay, Naruto are you alright to stand? Come on we have to get you out of that hospital gown and into the shower."
She's gonna wash me?
"You're gonna wa-" I cough furiously and roll my body sideways to throw up again. The stench in the room is unbearable.
She waits until I finish and begins to help me up. I don't even argue whether she's going to clean me or not. The energy to put up a fight is not in me today. Slowly we make our way to the bathroom and she puts me in the shower. I stand there not really knowing what to do.
"You can sit down over there."
She points to a small seat in the shower.
"And I'll be out in your room while you shower up. If you start feeling dizzy or need me just call. I'll be more than happy to help you out."
I nod and watch her leave. Thank goodness she's not going to wash me. That'd be way too much for me. I turn on the shower and sit down. Stripping off my smelly hospital gown and puke covered boxers I begin to scrub my body in laundry detergent smelling soap. Life's a dream eh?
Once I'm out of the shower I stumble into bed wearing a fresh hospital gown and new boxers. Thank goodness I found them in the cabinet above the sink. I notice that the nurse left. So much for her "helping" me. At least the room is all cleaned up and it smells like febreeze. I collapse on the warm bed sheets and fall right asleep.
Monday Morning, 5 am.
I wake up at with an uneasiness in my stomach. But this one's different. It's not pain, its excitement. After Fridays Chemo, I had to do another one Sunday morning. I already puked my brains out later that day, so now I feel fine! I quietly tip-toe into the bathroom and start the shower. I feel great today! If not a little nervous. While I lavish myself in hospital soap, I remind myself of the plan. Today I'm going to school for soccer tryouts. After I dry off, I run out of here and catch the nearest bus. I'll get off and run the rest of the distance to school.
It's fool-proof.
I throw on my clothes from Friday (Which were thankfully washed!), put on my backpack, and slip out the door. The corridor is pitch black. I wait a few minutes for my eyes to adjust to the newfound blackness. Gosh this is creepy. I decide not to use the elevator, it'll be too loud. Instead I find myself opening the door to the stairwell. Once I slip in I take a deep breath. To be honest I really didn't think I'd make it this far! I give myself a pat on the back. "Alrighty! It's all uphill from here." I can't stop from forming a grin. I casually walk down four flights of stairs like I own the place. I got this.
I reach for the door handle when suddenly, the door swings open; pouring light into the dark stairwell. The force of the door knocks me on the head with a loud bang! I stumble backwards. No no no! I couldn't have gotten caught! I was so close! Whose gonna be the nurse to rat me out? I shamefully look up.
Stunned sea foam eyes meet mine.
It. Can't. Freaking. Be.
IT'S THE GUY FROM EARLIER THAT WAS FREAKING STARING ME DOWN AND LOOKING LIKE A PSYCHOPATH MURDERER.
I'm so dead. He's wearing all black and has his hood on.
"What are you doing here." He demands, poison seeping from his words.
"I-I uh I'm….well you see I'm uh-" I can't form a single sentence I'm so scared.
He shoots me a glare and extends his arm.
"Get up."
I look at him wide-eyed. He shakes his arm a little before I grab it.
"Alright you caught me." I say defeated.
"Caught you?"
"Well ya, I was trying to sneak out." My stomach grumbles. Stupid stomach, we can eat later.
"Ahhh I see," he puts a hand in his jacket as his facial expression relaxes "need a ride?" He says jingling his keys.
He instructs me to follow him into an old looking pickup truck, which to my defense looks like a murderer's car. The sun isn't even up yet, but I can hear the birds beginning to chirp. I'm basically sitting on what seems to be dried up blood, and the passenger window is completely shattered. Oh, but the mysterious murderer reassured me that it's just ketchup, so I guess it's okay. No, the situation I'm in is everything but okay. The car reeks of rotting meat and the back seat is full of stained boxes and I think there's a cooler there too. I don't even want to know what's in there. The fact that both of the front seat windows are shattered scares me.
It takes the guy three times to start the engine and by that time I observed that the sunroof is caving in and there are no seat belts. As soon as the car starts I open my window. His car reeks! I feel nauseous and stick my head out of the window.
The murderer drives out of the parking lot and onto the freeway. In the meantime, I think of an escape plan.
"Gaara." He looks at me. "That's my name."
"Uhh…Naruto." I greet him. "Um Konoha highschool, can you drive me there?"
He grunts. "What time should I pick you up?"
Did we sign some ghetto pact or something? Is he my personal driver or does this come at a price? Why is he even giving me the time of day?
We drove the rest of the way to school in silence, and to be honest I'm pretty sure he sped most of the time. I had to cling to what little safety I had in that car.
He dropped me off at 6:20 am at the front doors of the building. Man, I thought this would have taken longer. I still have so much time on my hands before school starts.
"I hate to repeat myself, but what time should I pick you up?"
Goodness grief if my dad catches me driving around with a guy like him I'm dead meat.
"Well school ends at two, but I have soccer tryouts so I'm not sure."
Please let me leave.
"Whatever."
He doesn't say anything more so I get out of the car. And with that he drives away.
What am I supposed to do for another hour? Gosh, he couldn't have driven slower. I walk into school and head to the cafeteria. Ugh, it smells so bad in here. I take a seat in the corner so that no one sees me when they arrive to school.
Since I have so much time on my hands I whip out my phone, which I realize I haven't checked since Friday when I had to call my dad.
30 messages and 10 missed calls.
Oops.
I scroll through all of the messages. Mostly from my dad asking me if I'm ok and then freaking out when I didn't reply. Some are from Kiba asking me whatsup and about soccer tryouts. Oh well I guess they can both deal with it. I put my phone in my pocket and put my head down. This is going to be one long hour.
7:45 am.
Riiiiiiiiiiing
I whip my head up at the sound. I fell asleep, what? Quickly I collect my things and rush to my first class.
When I walk in everyone looks at me. And I mean everyone. Even the teacher whips around to give me a glare. Oh no, what's going on.
"Hey Naruto! What happened to your face?" Sasuke can barely finish the sentence before bursting into laughter. The class then erupts in laughter.
My hand shoots up to feel my face and I rub my cheeks. There's nothing on my face that I can feel?
No.
They did not.
I race out of the room and rush to the bathroom. Once I'm in I look into the mirror and notice why they were laughing. Typical prank to pull on someone that's sleeping; draw embarrassing things on their face in permanent marker prank. Real funny Sasuke.
"Darn it, how is this going to come off?" I whisper to myself.
I splash my face with water and begin to rub pretty hard. I swear if this doesn't come off I'm going to sit in this bathroom all day. I rub harder but it's not coming off.
"No, no, no, no." I slam my fists down on the sink.
I scrub my complexion with a handful of soap, but the outlines of the marks are still there. Anger bubbles up inside of me and threatens to spill. Every freaking chance that jerk gets he does anything to make a fool of me. He will pay.
I miss all of first period washing the marker off my face. When I'm sure I scrubbed every last mark off, I head to second period. I take my regular seat in American Studies and wait until class starts. But of course I can't wait peacefully cause little miss Karin just has to talk to me.
"Dork, don't tell me that you were in the bathroom all of first period." A smirk plays on her lips.
"What do you want?"
"Haha I knew it!" She bellows laughter like a beached land whale, "Oh your face is all red! Don't tell me you were crying? You really are just a big baby after all."
"You know Karin, your being a real-"
"Afternoon Class, turn to page 254 in your textbooks and answer questions 2-47 silently." Mr. Asuma cuts in.
Karin whips around and returns to her seat. I flip open my text book as instructed and focus. I try to do my work, which is a lot harder than one might think.
"All right class your homework is to finish up the pages that were assigned today. Have a nice day!"
Finally, school is over and I can just go to soccer tryouts. I swear it's what I've been thinking about all day. I'm way more nervous than usual. When I mentioned soccer tryouts to Granny that one time she freaked, so hopefully I won't die or something. Fingers crossed right? I race to the locker room and as the door flings open the horrid stench of gym socks and moldy bathrooms hit me. Ah, nothing like a good ol ' boys locker room.
"Yo, Naruto! Over here!"
I walk over to where Kiba is changing and place my stuff down. I start to undress.
"Hey Kiba!"
"Dude where have you been all weekend? I couldn't get in touch with you."
Shoot think fast.
"Well, I got my phone taken away. It's a long story…but don't worry I have it back now."
He gives me a smirk.
"Always getting yourself in trouble huh?"
Now I can't help but smirk.
"Yeah I guess so. I'm pretty much unstoppable."
We both look at each other and laugh knowing that both of us are far from rebels.
Once I get my sportswear on I head out to the field with Kiba. I look into the parking lot really quick to see if my parents are there, thankfully their not.
Once we make it to the field the coach does the usual introduction and tells us to warm up. Five laps around the school. I can do this, I haven't thrown up yet today and my small headache is almost gone. Ok, so far so good. I run next to Kiba for a good two laps and once we hit lap three I start to lose my steady breath and my headaches slowly starts creeping back up. Kiba slows down a little.
"Hey man, you alright?"
Between heavy pants I manage to say,
"Yeah, I'm fine *pant* just a little tired."
He gives me a thumbs up.
"I'm going to run ahead if you don't mind?"
I just nod; talking right now is way too hard.
At the beginning of the fourth lap I'm pretty much relying on sheer motivation to get me going. I have to finish and make the team. I can't let some stupid cancer keep me from living my life. My forehead is beading with sweat and I can't even feel my own legs. All I can hear is the ringing in my ears and I just try to pretend it's not there.
"Oh so I guess Naruto won't be able to finish the fifth lap? Just give up Uzumaki. That varsity spot is all mine."
Sasuke pretty much sings this out of joy as he laps me and finishes his last lap while I'm only entering my fifth. And if his words didn't already hurt, so did my face when he purposely tripped me. I bite my tongue once my head hits the ground and suddenly I feel my lunch coming up.
Not here.
Please, not here.
"Naruto man, are you okay?!"
I feel an arm on my shoulder and grunt.
"Yeah….I'm okay."
I grab hold of Kiba's arm and he helps me up. Oh yeah I'm shaky alright. My legs feel like rubber and the ringing in my ears hasn't stopped. I let go of Kiba and keep running, although I probably look like a drunken old man trying to walk, I don't care. I'm going to finish. When I pass the small chalk drawn line that's supposed to be a finish line, the coach gives me a worried look. My feet won't stop because I won't let them. I manage to finish the last lap and when I do I race to my water. Everyone else has already finished drinking and they all look at me. Sasuke and his friends all have a look of amusement. Probably planning how to ruin my chance of making the team. And my friends, well friend, is looking at me really worriedly. I chug my water as fast as I can hoping to feel better, but only seconds after receiving the water into my body it pushes its way back up. No, I can't throw up here! Most of the team is already lined up ready for instructions, but Kiba and Sasuke are still here drinking ever so slowly. I only hope they drink faster. After a few minutes Kiba and Sasuke go back to join the others, but not before Kiba asks me if I'm okay. I just nod and hold up one finger to tell him to give me a minute. He pats my shoulder and heads towards the others. In the meantime I rush to the nearest bush, but instead I vomit behind some really nice flowers. There goes my lunch along with the water I just chugged for dear life.
The whistle blows and I stagger up before almost falling over. This headache is unbearable and the ringing in my ears isn't stopping anytime soon. How the heck am I supposed to keep going if I can barely take one step? I take a deep breath and walk over to where everyone else is. Once I'm in sight they all look at me. I give everyone a small smile and make my way towards Kiba very slowly.
"Uzumaki! You alright?"
Darn it coach you had to open your mouth.
"Yes, I feel fine."
He lifts and eyebrow and explains that we are now going to perform a few drills and then everyone will split into teams and play a small game.
I try my best not to completely wipe out and kill myself so I take it a little easy. Once we finish drills, which isn't too bad since we just had to kick the ball around to a partner, we split up into teams to play. And guess who I'm paired up with? Sasuke and Deidara. If you didn't know, they hate me and want to ruin my life.
"Okay Team Sasuke plays Team Kiba. We are only going for 5 minutes so get as many goals in and make it snappy! And….GO!"
Gosh Coach Obito sure is peppy. Coach Kakashi just grunts.
Deidara is goalie, I'm defense, and Sasuke is offense. I just hope I don't mess up. I quickly get into position and try to focus. Sasuke goes in with no regrets as he tries to get past Kiba's defense. Shikamaru quickly kicks the ball with full force and I don't even begin to react as it whizzes past me and into the goal. He kicked it into the goal from that far away? Excuse me, is that possible? Deidara grunts and Sasuke looks at me with ice cold eyes. I just stand there and rejoice that it didn't hit me in the head. If it did I would have died.
"What are you smiling at? He got a goal. Focus Uzumaki, we all know you suck, but make yourself useful okay?" Sasuke snaps, venom oozing from his lips.
Well at least he's not spitting at me or hitting me. I could care less about what anyone says to me at the moment. I just want to get this tryout over with.
The whistle blows again and the ball is on the other side of the field. Looks like Sasuke is doing well. He manages to get past Kiba and is heading for Shikamaru again, but then suddenly as if out of thin air, or maybe my lack of attention, the ball is at my feet and I can't move.
"What the heck are you doing kick it moron!" Sasuke is yelling from across the field.
I just look at it. Why can't I get myself to kick it? I try but my leg won't move, it's as if something is restraining it. As if my day couldn't get any worse, the ringing in my ears becomes so loud that I double over. My hands cover my ears and I bite my lips. It just won't stop. I can't hear anything and I don't want to make a scene so I do the first thing that pops into my mind.
"Ah, a bee flew in my ear!"
Please buy it. I dig my finger nail into my pretty much numb ear and hope that it puffs up to look like a bee sting.
I feel hands on my shoulders but can barely make out what anyone is saying. Coach Obito directs me towards the bleachers and grabs an ice pack. I grab it and hold it firmly against my ears. I can see Sasuke laughing with his friends. This is by far the worst day I have ever had. I sit on the bleachers for about half an hour until tryouts are over. Once I see that it's ending I head for the lockers. There goes my chance at making the soccer team.
I rip off my sweaty clothes and splash water all over my face. I don't even bother to shower, I just want to go home. Wait. Wait. Wait. I can't let my dad know I went to school. I have no money, darn maybe I can ask for a free bus ride. I'm the first one out of the locker room and I pass everyone else without saying word. I take my time to head to the parking lot because I have no idea where I'm going. Meanwhile, people begin to walk out of the locker room and I don't want to stand around and wait with everyone. I see Sasuke and quickly make a plan. I'll just head for the trails, get out on the main road and go from there. Yeah, sounds good. I begin to walk towards the other end of the school when I hear heavy metal music blasting throughout the parking lot and an old pickup truck coming into view. The familiar face of a murderer pops into view and immediately all conversations stop and tension becomes so thick you can slice it with a knife.
No.
It can't be.
The car pulls up and there is no need to roll the window down for me to see who it is.
AUTHORS NOTE: Hey guys, thanks so much and especially for reviewing! I'm really glad to see that people enjoy this story! If anyone's wondering when Sakura comes in, I'm actually planning on putting her in later. I just want to transition Naruto from his old life to his "new" life. My guess is that Sakura will come in a few more chapters, so please be patient. Thanks again for the reviews, you guys are so amazing! (: And I'm really sorry if my story isn't on point with the cancer experience...I'm trying the best as I can to write this from an inexperienced point of view. You see, my cousin had cancer, and is a cancer survivor and he's been my main inspiration for this story. If there are any mistakes with the cancer explanation and treatment and such please PM me so that I can fix it right away. Thanks again you guys all seriously made my day. Love you all, adios! 3