You're My Cure

Sorry, if this is short, but we’re still getting into it! Enjoy!

“Speaking”

‘thoughts’

‘flashbacks’

Empty Promise

Six Anbu stood in a row in front of the Fifth’s Hokage’s .They were all bowed with their heads, and still wore their masks. She turned to a shinobi and demanded that Naruto’s team arrive at her office in ten minutes. He nodded and disappeared from the room.

“Report!” Tsunade barked as she turned her head. These Anbu were the ones that rescued Naruto from the enemy. One Anbu stood up, most likely he was the captain of one of the two teams that was sent.

“When we infiltrated the enemy grounds, we took down twenty-six. Alarm did not go off till the seventeenth one, near the center of the lair. We followed the scent of blood, as it got stronger as we got closer to the center. When we broke into a room that appeared to be used for torturing people, Uzumaki was hung by his hands on a chain. There was blood everywhere; therefore, we did some jutsu’s and confirmed it to be Uzumaki’s. We thought he would be dead for sure, but was surprised with a weak pulse, so we broke the chains and got him out of there. The other team rescues the other captured shinobi and she is doing well. She did not get as much damage as Uzumaki received.” One of the Anbu replied. Tsunade closed her eyes. She could hear the bitterness in the Anbu’s voice. There was bitterness coming out of all of them. She could feel the tension, even see it. They all had wished Naruto had died in the main enemy household. None of them had wanted to do the mission, but could not disobey the Hokage. Naruto, The bane of Konoha. She wanted to kill them all right there, but that would be inappropriate. She needed them to get out of her sight. Now.

Tsunade nodded and waved her hand in dismissal. The Anbu were gone from her sights, which was a relief. She sighed and turned to look over the village. A few moments had passed as she watched her people walk about with not a care in the world. She hated them all. She felt them as soon as they were in the room.

“You called for us, Hokage?”

She turned to find that Team Kakashi had arrived in five minutes. They knew why they were called here. See could see the emotions swirling in the eyes. That showed they cared for Naruto. Tsunade felt better, but of course not completely with Naruto in his current state. The three had worry in their eyes and waited for Tsunade to update them in the current occurrence. Tsunade did not want to. It broke her heart to even think about Naruto.

“Yes, I did call for you. Like usual, you come earlier than asked to,” Tsunade tried to joke, but it felt empty. She went on, “The Anbu managed to save Naruto,” Tsunade said. Sakura clapped her hands together and let out a sigh of relief. Kakashi nodded. Sasuke glared at her. He could sense her distress. The situation was not better.

“But?” Sasuke asked. Tsunade tightened her lips. Leave it to Sasuke to realize something was not right. The other two looked at her with slight confusion. Team Kakashi stared at her waiting for an answer. Silence filled the room as no voices spoke, feared to speak.

“He was found almost dead. He lost so much blood, that’s he’s very fragile. The enemy injected him with unknown drugs; I can’t pinpoint an exact cure. I did everything could. There’s no guarantee that he will make it. I’m sorry...” Tsunade faded off. He eyes were filled with tears of frustration and sadness. What kind of medical healer was she? She couldn’t save someone who was dear to her once more... She clenched her fists.

The other three in the room didn’t know how to react. They were shocked. Their most energetic teammate was going to...die. If Tsunade couldn’t find a cure, then who could save Naruto? Kakashi closed his eyes and started to mourn for Naruto already. He was an excellent teammate to have. Sakura’s eyes were in tears; not able to speak from the shock of the news. She may have yelled at him to die sometimes because he was being annoying, but she never realized that he could die truly. She wished she was nicer to Naruto. Sasuke was shocked for a second, but recovered quickly. He spoke out.

“He cannot die; it’s not his way to go out like this. He’s strong. Fighting against odds is his specialty. He will make it!” Sasuke said. Everyone else stared at him. They never realized how much Sasuke respected Naruto. They thought about what he said and smiled. It’s true. Naruto didn’t go out without a fight. But Tsunade still feared. The jutsu she had done never lied to her before, but Naruto had always tried to prove her wrong with everything she said. She hoped she was wrong this time. No, she needed to be wrong this time.

“Naruto’s going to have to fight like hell this time,” Tsunade said. She looked out the window, over the village and sighed once more. Many will want him to die since he is a monster in the village’s eyes. The village will not make his recovery an easy one if he wakes up from the coma.

“Will he wake up?” Kakashi asked. Tsunade thought for a few moments. She needed to choose her words carefully. Most died from similar symptoms when she was treating them.

“It’s hard to say, really. Some have woken up and though most died in a coma. We can only wait to see what Naruto does.” Tsunade answered. Team Kakashi nodded. They were willing to wait for their teammate.

“Then we wait,” Sasuke announced with determination. He left to go see the dobe. Sakura and Kakashi followed. Tsunade smiled a little. Naruto had great friends.

“Wake up soon, you idiot,” Tsunade said to no one. Hope was all she could do now.

One week later

Throughout the week, Team Kakashi rotated to watch over Naruto. They knew the how people treated him, so they needed to make sure Naruto stayed alive. The nurses only treated him on Hokage’s orders; otherwise, they would never go near the monster.

It was Sasuke’s turn to watch Naruto. He usually brought a book with him to keep himself occupied. Once in awhile, he talked to Naruto to amuse himself. He didn’t think Naruto could hear him anyway, but he spoke of random topics. Sasuke even challenged Naruto to wake up, hoping Naruto would at that moment and get mad at Sasuke.

There was no response. Naruto remained still. Sasuke hated that. It was not like Naruto to be still, he was a person who needed to move. So seeing the kitsune boy like this pissed off Sasuke.

“You better wake up soon, dobe, so I can beat the crap out of you for making me worry like this,” Sasuke growled out. He hated showing emotions, it made him feel weak. He couldn’t be weak.

“That’s not a way to speak to an injured person. I find it rude, especially someone who is unconscious and not aware of insults being made at them.”

“Shut up Kakashi, I don’t need your advice. I’m only letting him know I care,” Sasuke sarcastically said. Kakashi smiled. He knew Sasuke well enough to know that he cared for Naruto, but would only show it in a weird way.

“Of course, my apologies to you for forgetting how you show emotions. I’m only here to let you know that I will gladly take over your shift,” Kakashi said. He pulled out his Make-up tactics book and started to read. Sasuke snorted at Kakashi’s action. He was about to lecture Kakashi about his porno reading in public when both were surprised.

“Am I not able to rest, even when injured?” A weak voice spoke out. Sasuke and Kakashi turned around to see Naruto’s eyes slightly open. Both shinobi’s smiled for a second then put on a serious face again.

“I will inform Tsunade of the situation,” Kakashi said and disappeared from the room. Sasuke stared at the injured boy and said nothing. He didn’t know what to say to Naruto now, even though he spoke to the kyuubi boy about nothing earlier. But that was different. The patient was unconscious and was not able to listen.

“I would appreciate if you didn’t stare at me. It makes me feel uncomfortable,” Naruto breathed out. Pain was all he felt. Both physically and mentally. Maybe spiritually too.
Sasuke shifted his eyes, “Sorry. I was surprised at how long it took for you to wake up. I was starting to get worried,” Sasuke replied. He would never insult an injured patient. It wasn’t a right thing to do.

“Why would you worry? It was my fault for getting caught. I’m weak. I have no right to call myself a shinobi of the leaf village,” Naruto bitterly said. He closed his eyes and looked away from Sasuke. Sasuke was very confused. Naruto would never say something like that. Something was wrong.

“What are you talking about, dobe?! Even I wouldn’t be able to escape, having that much drugs injected into me! If you talk like that again, I will never respect you again!” Sasuke growled out. He hated self pity. Once again, it showed weakness. A shinobi could not be strong when he had no faith in himself.

“Sasuke, if you talk to Naruto like that again, I will have to throw you out at this instant!” Tsunade yelled. Sasuke stood up and walked towards the door. He hit the wall with his hand. Silence was the reply.

“It’s okay Tsunade, Sasuke was only trying to cheer me up by saying he’s weaker than he truly is,” Naruto smiled at Tsunade. Sasuke turned around and glared. This was not the Naruto he knew nor was it a Naruto he wanted to know. He hoped Naruto would go back to normal or he would end up killing this new person he did not know!
Tsunade’s eyebrows furrowed. Naruto’s chakra was not flowing normally. It was difficult to notice, but if someone was looking for it, it was there. Naruto was not alright. This worried her. She had seen this before with a young child. The turn out was not good.

“I need to do a check up on Naruto, can both of you leave this room at once? I’ll call you when I get an update.” Tsunade ordered. Sasuke was glad to leave. He wanted to beat Naruto up for not being himself! Kakashi nodded. He didn’t quite get what was happening, but he knew he would find out sooner or later. Both shinobi’s disappeared from the room.

“When am I going to die, Tsunade? I don’t want to feel this pain anymore,” Naruto smiled. Tsunade’s lips tightened and stepped over to Naruto’s bedside.

“Not yet, you idiot. I’m going to find out what is wrong with you. You will get better, Naruto. I promise,” Tsunade said. Naruto frowned at what she said. He didn’t believe her. Why should he?

“Those are words of an empty promise.”

TBC…

Thank you for reading! Remember, we are still getting into it. I will update soon.