Key
"Normal Talking"
Thoughts
'Kyuubi Talking'
'Naruto talking to Kyuubi'
00000000 (Scene Change)
.: Where it is at the scene change :.

Disclaimer: Not own Naruto I must. Fight the dark side I must.

Recap, Chapter 11

"What did the Kyuubi say?"

"He said the Kyuubi had grown hatred against Naruto and wanted to make his life miserable, as Naruto had done to him."

"How would he have done that?"

"By attacking anyone precious to Naruto."

Tsunade gasped.

"You, me, Sasuke, and anyone else that Naruto cares about will be in danger if he ever transforms into that again."

A silence filled the room.

After a few minutes of silence, Naruto open his mouth and muttered, "Sakura…"

00000000

It was Sunday.

It was an hour past sunrise and people were already out in the Konoha, going about their everyday needs. Sunday was finally here. In Konoha, Sunday meant clear skies, no work, and a perfect day to spend with family and friends. Sundays in Konoha were definitely days to be happy on.

It was Sunday.

Naruto awoke slowly in a hospital bed again, as he had done so many times. Bright rays of sunlight flowed through the window and into his room and Naruto could hear birds chirping, calling him to consciousness. In the past, Naruto would have thrown off the covers of his bed and gone out through the window to go enjoy this beautiful Sunday morning.

But, it was Sunday and Naruto had more urgent matters on his mind.

As Naruto began to climb out of bed, he began to wonder why he was in the hospital in the first place. What had happened the night before?

Suddenly, he realized that he was completely naked under the covers. Feeling a little embarrassed, even though he was the only one in the room, Naruto felt like he had to use Henge to transform himself with clothes on.

Naruto spotted his clothes on the other side if the room folded neatly on a chair. Deciding to go ahead with the Henge, Naruto brought up his hands into the hand seal for the jutsu as he stepped out of bed. But something was wrong. As Naruto started the jutsu, he felt his whole body go limp and collapsed onto the floor, unconscious.

Forty-eight hours passed and Naruto woke, back in bed again. However, this time, Naruto could feel a hospital gown covering him along with the bed's covers. Naruto opened his eyes and realized that he was in a different room. This room was big and was typically used for multiple patients.

Naruto sat up in his bed to survey the room. To his right, there was a rather portly man was asleep with both his legs hanging by slings. To his left, Naruto saw a bed with a woman in it who looked like she hadn't eaten in a month.

There was also a bed across from Naruto, but he couldn't see the patient. Naruto read the clipboard:

S. Hanuro

Unknown cardiac infection/defection.

Medical State: CRITICAL

Naruto's eyes widened. He leapt out of his bed and stumbled over to Sakura's bed. Naruto knelt down and touched her cheek. Her cheeks weren't as rosy and charming as he was so used to seeing, but instead, they were pale and fading. He smoothed his hand through her vibrantly pink hair and stared at her face, which shifted toward him a bit.

"This is my fault…" he muttered, "I should have stopped him when I had the chance…"

Naruto continued to stare at Sakura's face. He could not tell what made him so attracted to her. Her personality was attracting. Her hair was attracting. Her nose, her cheeks, her green eyes were attracting. Her lips were attracting.

Naruto started getting closer and closer to her face. He closed his eyes.

Naruto heard a door open and he quickly jerked back.

"Ahh, so you're awake," said the Godaime as she closed the door behind her.

"Aaaaugh… you surprised me Tsunade," Naruto sighed.

"Why? What were you doing?" she asked, with a smirk.

"Oh, nothing."

A silence filled the room.

"Ok…" Tsunade said, "Aren't you ask about Sakura?"

'Uh," Naruto stuttered, "Mm, yeah."

"Well," she said, as she moved over to Sakura's bed, "Sakura's condition is stable-for the moment."

"For the moment?"

"Yes."

She took Sakura's arm and performed a jutsu on the underside of her wrist with a burning sound. Naruto saw Sakura wince from the pain.

"Whatever that guy did to her, it seems that she continues to internally bleed from some unknown source." Tsunade clapped her hands together in a seal, and started to siphon a string of, what was undoubtedly, blood into a cup she had taken out of her pocket. "All I can do right now is extract the bad blood twice a day and analyze it. So far, all I've come up with is how long she has to live if this keeps up."

"Which is?"

"Three weeks."

"Three weeks!" Naruto yelled.

"Naruto! This is a hospital!" the Godaime hissed back.

"Sorry…"

The man with his legs in slings stirred.

Tsunade took out a lid and capped the cup. After she placed the cup on the bedside table, she took a few seconds to heal Sakura's wrist. As the burn hissed back into normal skin, small sigh escaped Sakura's lips.

"So what's your plan?" Naruto asked tentatively.

"Idiot! That's what I should be asking you." Tsunade replied.

"Me?" Naruto was puzzled.

"We've been taking your word for it so far, fool. You said you knew someone that could heal her."

"Oh… oh yeah!"

"You better not screw up, Naruto. I'm trusting the life of my apprentice in your hands."

Looking back at Sakura, Naruto finally caught a full grasp on what was happening. Sakura was really hurt. She needed help, if not, she was going to die. What Naruto needed to do was to find him. He could help.

Turning from Tsunade, Naruto went back to his bed and found his clothes under it. Not caring that Tsunade would see, Naruto proceeded to change into his clothes. Tsunade wheeled around, embarrassed.

"Where do you think you're going?" Tsunade asked, after seeing Naruto pass her, fully-dressed.

"To find a cure for Sakura." Naruto continued to walk.

"You're not even fully recovered yet. As your doctor, I'm not letting you leave."

"What are you talking about? How long have I been out?"

"Three days."

Naruto halted, and then turned around to face Tsunade.

"Well, if I'm really not fully recovered, I shouldn't be able to do this-" He brought his hands up into a seal to create a clone.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

With a slight explosion of smoke, an exact replica of Naruto appeared, smirking.

"Ok, release," said the clone.

With another explosion of smoke, the clone disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

"Oh, that's right. You can heal after only a day of rest," Tsunade concluded, although still not completely convinced, "I guess you'll be fine."

Showing a face of renewed confidence, Naruto went back to his bed and pretended to rummage through the sheets to see if he had missed anything.

It took more than a day for me to recover! And why couldn't I perform that jutsu yesterday! This is strange.

Naruto took a quick glance at Tsunade, who was looking at Sakura's charts on a clipboard.

This has only happened once before… when the Kyuubi-

Then it hit him.

It happened again. I'm not letting him get away with it this time.

Naruto crouched at the foot of his bed, motionless, for a moment. He took a deep breath and then left the room. He returned with a piece of paper and a pen in his hands. Sitting on his bed again, Naruto began to write on the piece of paper.

Curious, the Godaime tried to take a peek at what Naruto was writing. Scowling at Tsunade, Naruto covered the paper with his hands. Giggling, she went back to Sakura's bed.

After a few minutes of scribbling on the paper, Naruto folded it in half and placed it on the bed side counter of Sakura's bed. On the upper side, Naruto wrote: 'Sakura-chan'.

He then turned to Tsunade and said, "If you are going to read it, please wait until Sakura-chan has read it first."

"Of course," she replied.

The door opened again, and Sasuke walked in with a vase full of flowers. He saw Tsunade and bowed.

"Good morning, Tsunade-sama."

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun." Naruto detected a drop of bitterness in her voice. She hadn't quite warmed up to Sasuke yet.

"Sasuke-"

"I heard you were awake," Sasuke said to Naruto, "-and I needed to deliver these flowers."

Sasuke placed the flowers Sakura's bedside counter and noticed the note on the table. He raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Anyways, Sasuke, we need to leave right away. I'll see you back at my apartment."

Naruto quickly disappeared out a near window.

Taken by surprise, Sasuke stumbled over to the window, and with a fumbled bow, he said, "It was nice seeing you, Tsunade-sama." With that, Sasuke proceeded to follow Naruto's suit and disappeared through the window.

"Those boys…" Tsunade mumbled. She walked over to Sakura's bed and grinned. "Were you awake the whole time?"

Slowly, Sakura opened her eyes. Sighing, she mumbled, "Yes…"

Tsunade giggled.

"Are you going to read that note now?" Tsunade seemed to be very interested in that letter.

"I guess."

With mixed emotions, Sakura couldn't help but smile. It had almost happened.

She picked up the note and opened it slowly and began to read.

00000000

"AAAUUUGGGHHH!" Naruto screamed, "WHAT HAPPENED TO MY HOUSE!"

"Apartment-" corrected Sasuke.

"Shut up, Sasuke," said Naruto, "And tell me what happened to my house!"

Naruto was staring at the massive whole in his wall that Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Kakashi had made, apart from all the singe marks, ripped furniture, destroyed cabinets, and general chaotic messes.

Sasuke sighed and explained what happened the day before.

He really doesn't remember, does he?

"Well, this is the least of our worries right now," Naruto finally said after he had surveyed the whole apartment. Amazingly, the bedroom had been left unharmed. "Our main goal is to find him and bring him back to heal Sakura-chan."

"True, but what about the hole in the wall? The mess we can clean, but someone might rob you through that hole."

"Uhh…I'll hire someone before we leave to fix it…-so let's get packing! Sakura-chan only has three weeks!"

Silence ensued, as they packed their backpacks with food, supplies, weapons, and extra clothes. Getting fed up, Sasuke finally asked, "What was with the attitude earlier in the hospital, anyways Naruto?"

Naruto stopped packing and looked at Sasuke.

"I guess I should tell you. It has to do with the Kyuubi and what it did last night."

00000000

Sakura-chan,

I have no idea when you will wake up and read this, but I probably will have left Konoha by that time. I am off searching for a man I met on my journeys apart that can heal any wound, affliction, or disease. I am hopeful-no I will bring him back to help you.

You may or may not know this, but the day after your fight, Orochimaru found Sasuke and me in my apartment. We fought him, but I went under a transformation that the Kyuubi-fox forced upon me. My power grew and I was able to thwart off Orochimaru until Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Kakashi arrived. The last time I transformed like that was when Ita-no, I should let Sasuke tell you this. I'm afraid that the Kyuubi will take over my body if I ever transform like that again. The only thing stopping me from letting the Kyuubi take over me is Jiraiya, and he won't always be there with me.

To fight off the Kyuubi, I have decided to take desperate measures. On my travels, I met another man who belonged to a temple for the nine-tailed demon. He said he could help me control and tame the Kyuubi, but I didn't believe. I told him that I didn't have the time to do that since the procedure would take at least three years.

I regret to inform you that I will be taking up his offer, and I will be leaving again, for possibly years, after I return with a cure for your body. The time I return, when you are healed, might be the last time we see each other for a few years. I will probably leave as soon as possible-alone.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not stepping in earlier during your fight. I'm sorry for all the annoyance I tempered you with when we were younger. I'm sorry for not bringing back Sasuke when I promised to. I'm sorry for all the pain that caused you. I'm sorry for all the pain I caused you. I'm sorry.

Love, Naruto

By the time Sakura had finished the letter, she was in tears.

-Chapter End-

Author's Corner:

A few new records for this chapter! This is probably the most emotional chapter I've ever written. I had lots of trouble writing that letter. I had to try to find a way to express Naruto's mixed feelings and his want to stay with Sakura. I hope I achieved it :). Also, I've been trying this new mode of writing (do you like it?), and I'm satisfied with the results. The big record here is that this is probably the WORST cliffhanger I've given YET. Puhahaha, I'm evil. Lots of unanswered questions! Will Naruto find a cure for Sakura in time? How will Sakura react to Naruto's letter? What happened the last time Naruto transformed and why he's letting Sasuke explain it? Will Naruto and Sakura ever get a chance to be together? Anyways, I'm rambling… Yondy out.