I moaned. I was still in pain. I tried to open my eyes and they opened. I immediately closed them because of the light. I slowly opened them again and they stayed open. I looked around the room. I saw Yoshi asleep in Jiraiya's arms, who was also asleep. No one else was in the room. I looked down at my body. I had an IV in my hand. My chest was heavily bandaged because of the stab wound from Sasuke. I didn't know what they did about the black flames. I was about to look at the clock when I fell asleep again.

XxXxXx

Voices. They can be good or bad. No one likes bad voices. I heard several voices at once. I thought I heard Sasuke's. My eyes shot open and I sat straight up. Looking around, I saw no Sasuke. Instead, I saw Tsunade, Jiraiya and Yoshi. They all looked at me shocked.

Yoshi, who had been on the ground playing, was now in my arms. "Daddy!" He cried. Yoshi hugged me sobbing. "Don't ever leave again." I ran my hands through his hair.

"Naruto? What's wrong?" Tsunade said walking over.

"I thought I heard Sasuke's voice," I admitted. I then remembered everyone else. "What happened to Kiba, Shikamaru, and Kakashi?"

"They are all fine. Kakashi hasn't been out of the hospital since you all got back. Kiba and Shikamaru are both out of the hospital."

I remembered the black flames. I wasn't don fire anymore. What happened to them? "What about the flames?"

"Those were hard to put out. You almost died from them alone. With the sword wound, your chances of living where very slim."

"How did you live kid?" Jiraiya asked me curious.

"That is coming from the man who was almost killed by Pain?" I said grinning. "I'm not sure...I was talking to Hinata and Sakura...I was in this place...My dad said it was between life and death. It was like la-la land kinda." I said confused. "I was talking to them when someone was calling my name. Dad said it wasn't my time. I woke up to someone giving me CPR." I looked over at Tsunade. "Was that you?"

Tsunade shook her head. "No, I don't know who it would have been. You talked to four dead people?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it was weird." I remembered about the book. "Hey Jiraiya? Guess what my parents told me about you."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"First, I was named after a character in your book, Tales of a Gusty Shinobi. Second, you're my Godfather." I said pulling Yoshi into my lap.

Jiraiya sighed, "I am. I didn't do a very good job."

I shook my head back and forth. "I think you did an excellent job." Jiraiya smiled back at me.

"Thanks kid."

"Hehe, no problem." I said rubbing the back of my head.

"Naruto, lets talk about you now. Once you came here, you were in surgery for several hours. The chest wound was fatal. I almost lost you a couple of times. Kakashi helped you again. He put out all of the flames he could. That act almost killed him. You've been out for a week. Your body was badly damaged. Neji said you were in the fifth tail form." Tsunade explained to me.

"When can I leave?" I asked not caring about everything else she just said.

"Soon but Kakashi wants to talk to you before he leaves. He is actually leaving tomorrow. So he will probably be in tomorrow." I nodded. Tsunade left and Jiraiya followed her. Yoshi said in my lap.

"Daddy, I thought you died like Momma," Yoshi whispered.

I hugged him not wanting to let go. "Yoshi-kun, I would never leave you. I'm very, very sorry about your birthday."

"It's okay Daddy. Tsunade took me to get dinner. It was fun," Yoshi said with his blue eyes sparkling with joy up at me.

"What did you do when Tsunade left?"

"I didn't know until the morning. Jiraiya took me to the hospital." Yoshi explained. In many ways, he wasn't like the little boy whom I had left behind over a week ago.

"Did you really think I was going to die?"

Yoshi nodded. "I really did Daddy." He knelt on the bed and gave me a hug. "I love you Otou-san."

I hugged him back trying not to cry. "I love you too Yoshi-kun."

XxXxXx

The next day, Kakashi came in. He smiled at me then chuckled. "What?" I asked confused.

"Just thinking of the first time you fought Sasuke and lost," Kakashi said smiling.

I glared at him. "I don't appreciate that."

Kakashi looked around. "Where's Yoshi?"

"With Jiraiya. I forced him to go home and sleep," I said. "He stayed at my side the whole time."

"Naruto I want to talk to you," Kakashi said being serious. "You almost died because of Sasuke."

"I'm aware," I said gesturing to my body. "You're not the one who he battered and sent flames on."

"Naruto, give up the chase." Kakashi said ignoring my comment. "I know he abandoned the village, almost killed you, killed Hinata, killed Sakura, tried to kill Yoshi, and almost killed you...again..." Kakashi looked at for the first time like...family almost. "Naruto, you're like family now. I know Yoshi wouldn't be the same. Tsunade would be devastated and want to punch someone; I practically don't want her going around punching people. Jiraiya would be the same. Naruto, you have a son to think about."

I stared at Kakashi. He was never emotional. "Don't you think I know that? I've thought of nothing but Yoshi. If Sasuke doesn't die, then he could kill Yoshi. I'm not going to let that happen." I said angry. I was attached to a heart monitor and I could hear it beat faster.

"Naruto, calm down," Kakashi said holding his hands, palm up, in front of him. I tried to calm down but I couldn't. Kakashi made me furious and I was getting madder. Thinking about it made me madder. The beats started to speed up and I could feel my heart racing. "Naruto, calm down," Kakashi said again. Again, I tried. I thought of everything that had happened since I met Sasuke. How much I had lost because of Sasuke. I had almost lost my life several times, lost two wives, and could have lost my son. I was furious again. The heartbeats were faster then before. I realized I wouldn't see. It was as if someone had turned off the lights and I was submerged into darkness. I could hear perfectly. Kakashi had pressed the nurse button and he was talking to one of the nurses. I could hear Tsunade in the background.

I heard the door open and heard a happy Yoshi begin to say Dad. He stopped in the middle of Dad and was silent. Jiraiya was in the background telling him everything was all right. The door shut.

I was submerged into an even deeper darkness. The final thing I heard was a "NO!" as the darkness swallowed me up never to let me go again.