All I could feel was pain. White hot pain. I writhed against the hands holing me down. I could hear someone whispering in my ear but it just sounded like noise. I felt my throat burn as another scream tore through it. A green light filled my vision before my world went black.

"Right now he's sedated" a voice stated from my left. "But he's still in a lot of pain and will most likely feel it once he wakes up. We can keep him comatose but we will have to get the permission of his next of kin and unfortunately Iruka-san is away on a long term mission in Suna. He cannot be reached at the moment and the crisis is in need of a decision so it falls to you to make the decision as his Captain." I tore my eyes away from the prone blond on the bed, that just moments ago had been writhing and screaming in agony. My vision blurred, for a moment I thought time had caught up with me and I had lost my good eyesight before I realised it was tears that were blurring my vision and causing the colours of the room to melt together. They spilled down my face in hot streams, carving a path through the grime and mud caking my face.

"I'll let you think it over" said the voice pity lacing every word. I heard the door shut, the soft bang of wood colliding with wood penetrated the air. Naruto. I thought as my eyes once again returned to the body on the bed. I picked up the bloody hand that was resting at the Jinchuuriki's side and clutched it in my own two hands. But it wasn't right, his hand was too limp, too lifeless. I sat there for a few minutes, just waiting for him to open his eyes and make a stupid joke about how much of a baby I was being. I don't know how long I sat there but before long loud sobs were pouring from my mouth. I sat for some time openly weeping. I leant forward and placed my mouth next to his ear. "Naruto, please don't leave me here please just be ok" I whispered to him before, without thinking, planting a kiss on his blood coated cheek and leaning back still clasping his hand. The door swung open from a particularly hard push and a pink haired woman rushed into the room panic written on her face before stopping and taking in the scene. I saw her eyes travel to the hand still resting in mine and up to my tear streaked face. I placed the hand back onto the hospital bed and attempted to wipe the evidence of my break down from my face despite knowing all I was doing was smearing the blood and dirt layered on my face.

"Hello Sakuraa-san" I said, my voice void of emotion. "I suppose you've heard about Naruto" Her eyes pulled away from the mess of blood, mud and tears smeared cheeks and to the bed where the blonde lay scarily still. "Is he...?" Sakura breathed out, her voice swimming with fear. "No." I answered "He's just sedated...I've been told to make the decision to place him into a coma or not and we both know that he may not wake up if he is placed in one" Sakura nodded "Yeah..."

"What should I do?" I hated that my voice sounded so pitiful. Sakura seemed to evaluate me for a moment and then say "Put him in a coma. Naruto's a fighter and we both know that he is one of the hardest people to kill, I don't think a coma could keep him down for long".

"But what if he doesn't wake up? It would be my fault and I don't think I could live with that. They cant put that kind of pressure on me they're demanding me to choose one of my most precious people's fate. How can they really expect me to do that? HOW? TELL ME? HOW?" I was yelling by the end of my rant. I could feel the stinging tears to well at the corner of my eyes. "Look, Asuma-san, look at Naruto." I turned my head to face the broken figure on the white sheets of the bed. I could feel the tears threatening to spill over. "What do you see?" Sakura asked. I looked over the body and winced "Pain caused by me" I replied. "No. What's lying there is a friend, a warrior and most of all a survivor. He has lived through so much through his life and he has survived. I think he can survive anything. This? this isn't even in the top twenty things our knuckle-head has gone through. He survived Jiraiya's attempts to convert him to perverseness. I'm sure getting through this is nothing more than walk in the park to him."

I had never really had extended contact with Sakura before now. Of course I had seen her around as Ino's best friend and Kakashi's student but I had never really spoken to her. I could now see why Naruto had idolised her for quite a while. She was grounded. It was hard to find a ninja that was like that. They were always stuck in the past or dreaming of the future. But Sakura seemed to be able to pull me, practically a complete stranger that was having a breakdown back down to earth.

I nodded and smiled gratefully at her. I rubbed my grubby hands on my cheeks, attempting to remove the fresh tear tracks that had been made during Sakura's pep-talk. "That's just making it worst...here use this" the medic chided in a firm tone as she pulled out a towel from the cupboard next to the bed. I took the towel from her hands muttering a "thank you" under my breath. She nodded and said "Do you want me to tell them that you want to induce the coma" I nodded, the uncertainty of my decision rising in my throat again. I felt sick. It probably showed on my face because Sakura laid a hand on my shoulder before saying "Don't worry he'll be fine"

This chapter isn't as long as the others. but it's mainly to set the foundations for Asuma/Sakura friendship. Sakura might be a tad OOC but this is how I have made her to be so deal with it.

I know I didn't continue from the cliff hanger last chapter and next chapter will be all about what happened so stay tuned.

Lastly I'm not sure who to pair these characters with or even if they have a relationship at all. so please tell me who you think they should be with and any other pairings you want to see.

Who should be paired with:

Uta

Kiba

Kakashi

Lee

Iruka

Neji

Konohahmaru

So, yeah review.

I love you all. Byes