Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Shattered ❯ Walls ( Chapter 2 )

Author's Note: Naruto and all related characters/trademarks belong to Masashi Kishimoto - however, this story is my own work, and continues from the latest Naruto manga developments (up to 224).

Speech in bold and italic is Kyuubi's voice.

Naruto's eyes slowly blinked open. He could feel a coldness and wetness on his left side. As his eyes opened, the dark surroundings slowly swam into focus. He was lying on a damp, cold, hard concrete floor. The walls were also made of concrete, and the air smelt damp. It felt so familiar. Groaning slightly, Naruto used the little strength he had to push himself up to a sitting position. He squinted at his surroundings once more.

Where am I? What happened? That was all Naruto could think. His head was swimming, everything felt so disjointed and confused. This feels so familiar...

Naruto slowly became aware of a gusting wind pushing and pulling at him. The wind pushed, then pulled. Pushed, then pulled. Like it was breathing. Naruto slowly turned his head to look behind him. A blast of wind forced him to squint his eyes. As soon as the wind changed direction, Naruto widened his eyes. He could see the bars of a cage, with a paper seal. He was back in front of the Kyuubi Kitsune (Nine-Tails Fox).

However, instead of its fearsome face growling at Naruto, the fox's gigantic head was flat on the ground, its eyes shut. It looked drained of its power. Naruto knew something was wrong.

"Hey, fox. What's wrong?" the boy spoke quietly. It was so strange to see Kyuubi looking so quiet, nothing like its fearsome self.

Kyuubi slowly half-opened a gigantic red eye, which spun to look at Naruto. "We were almost killed," its voice growled, "and we were saved once again." "Almost killed..?" Naruto's eyes widened in shock. Then he remembered. Sasuke. His hand slowly moved up to and felt his chest, searching for where he had been stabbed by the Chidori. He could feel nothing but smooth skin.

Of course, Naruto thought, This isn't real - this is inside my mind.

"It appears that I am indeed now mortal." The fox grunted, exposing its massive razor-sharp teeth in a tired, lop-sided grin. "Now I realise it is completely true. If you die, I die. I had dared not think this would be the case."

Naruto wasn't completely paying attention to what Kyuubi had said. His shoulders drooped, and he hung his head. "How am I going to face Sakura-chan? I failed to bring Sasuke back." His voice was quiet, hushed. Kyuubi narrowed its eye and listened in silence. Naruto's mouth opened and shut, struggling to get the words out. "I-I don't know what to do. If Sakura-chan hears what happened, it'll tear her apart. She loved Sasuke so much." His tone was now quavering, and his teeth gritted. "Damn you, Sasuke... How could you do that to Sakura-chan and your Leaf comrades?" His hand weakly splashed down into the wet ground. He felt so tired.

"I'm so sleepy, fox." Naruto moaned. "So tired."

"Then sleep. We are alive once more, so we must now gather our strength." Kyuubi snarled, closing its eye.

Naruto said nothing at first. Then he spoke. "Yeah... I want to see Sakura-chan again. But what if everyone hates me for failing? Especially Sakura-chan... I couldn't live if she hated me."

Kyuubi snorted irritably. "Idiot. If they hated you, they would have let you die. As my power drained back there, I could sense them trying to help you. They want you to live."

A faint smile played on Naruto's lips. Then he gave in and let himself sleep, everything around him blacking out.

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Sakura sat in the waiting room of Konoha's hospital. Her head was between her knees, her tumbling pink hair covering her face. She felt like she was going to vomit violently if she ever raised her head. Her hands covered her eyes, which were puffy and red with crying. Lee sat next to her, his hand stroking her back. He felt so useless, yet he felt he had to be with her. Ino had stayed behind to comfort Shikamaru and say her final goodbyes to Chouji. Lee had offered to take Sakura back to her house, so she could have time to take everything in. But Sakura had demanded to go to the hospital, to see Naruto.

::::Flashback::::

Lee slowly helped Sakura to her feet. He had never seen her go to pieces like that. She had already retched onto the ground twice, unable to cope with the shock. Lee felt sympathy for her, and offered her a towel from his equipment pouch. As she mumbled a thanks and wiped her face with the towel, Lee understood her pain. She had been in love with Sasuke ever since their academy days and she had doted on him ever since they teamed up with Naruto to form Kakashi's famed Team 7. Now Sakura had to deal with the news Sasuke had betrayed the Leaf. Not only that, he almost killed Naruto. The boy whom Sakura trusted to bring Sasuke back. And he was now clinging onto life in a hospital bed. Sakura had picked up his forehead protector - Shizune had taken his jacket away to see if she could get it fixed. Sakura gazed at her distorted reflection in Naruto's forehead protector, lost in thought.

"I will take you home, Sakura-san. Perhaps taking time to take everything in will help." Lee offered. Deep down, though, he knew it would take more than time to help Sakura. He then walked on, his arm around her shoulders.

He found his arm being held back. Sakura wasn't moving with him. Lee's eyes widened, and he mouthed, not knowing what to say. Slowly, Sakura lifted her face and her eyes met Lee's. "I don't want to go home, Lee-san." She spoke with a hushed, but determined tone. "I want to see Naruto. I want to be with him."

"I... don't want him to be alone. He's always been by my side, and I want to be by his side. I need to be there." Sakura still felt sick, but her eyes showed she was determined to be there. "There is so much I want to tell Naruto."

Lee smiled sadly, and nodded. "I understand, Sakura-chan. I will also go with you."

::::End of Flashback::::

"Are you two waiting to see Naruto-kun?"

The pleasant voice startled Lee and Sakura. A female nurse stood before then, the very same one who had escorted Sakura and Ino to see Sasuke and Lee when they had been injured in the Chuunin exams. "Lee-kun," the nurse smiled at Lee "I am glad to see you are back to full health." Lee bowed his head. "Thank you... but... may we see Naruto-kun? Will he be all right?" Sakura raised her head slightly, her eyes looking up as far as they could towards the nurse. The nurse sighed. "Naruto-kun is now out of the emergency room, and is in a private room - under critical condition." Sakura flinched, and Lee frowned. "You can see him, Sakura-chan and Lee-kun, but he may not come around for a long while." Sakura nodded, and slowly pushed herself onto her feet. Lee stood up by her side, keeping a worried eye on the pink haired girl. The nurse nodded sympathetically. "Okay, please follow me." she said.

They eventually reached the door to Naruto's room, and the nurse opened the door for them. Sakura looked into the room and gasped. Standing over Naruto's bed was a dark eyed Sand ninja with a gourd on his back. His unpleasant green eyes flitted up to look at Sakura and Lee.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura demanded to know, her sickness temporarily forgotten. Her right hand automatically moved to her shuriken holster. Then she felt someone seize her right hand. Sakura spun quickly to face Lee. "Lee-san..? What are you doing!? That's Gaara!" "It's okay, Sakura-chan," Lee reassured her, "Gaara saved my life. And if it was not for him, Naruto would have died back at the waterfall. He means no harm."

"W-what!?" Sakura shot a look back at Gaara, not believing what she had just heard. Gaara was the one who had tried to kill Lee, and he had also tried to kill her during the attack on Konoha. Gaara bowed his head and looked down onto the ground. "I am sorry for what I did." said Gaara. "I know I was bloodthirsty back then, and knew only hate. I realise I will never be able to undo what I did to you and Lee-san."

Sakura was taken aback by Gaara's confession. Was he actually apologising?

"I owe Uzumaki Naruto a large debt." Gaara declared. "He and I share a common pain." What did he mean by that..? Sakura wondered. Gaara continued "He saved me from being consumed by my own madness and darkness." Gaara walked slowly past Sakura and Lee towards the door. "I will leave you in peace now. Protect him just as he protected you." Gaara said, just before he disappeared into the hall, closing the door behind him. Sakura stood in silence, not sure what to think. A cold-blooded killer had just said he owed Naruto a large debt.

"What happened in that fight between Naruto and Gaara..?" Sakura murmured. Lee shook his head, meaning that he did not know. Sakura sighed, and slumped onto a chair by the bed. She forced herself to look at Naruto. She almost wished she had not. Naruto was comatose, with oxygen and fluid pipes taped to his mouth. A thin tube snaked up his nose, delivering nutrition to his stomach. Drip feeds pumped drugs and blood to help Naruto's blood pressure and dull his pain. A monitor overheard quietly beeped, recording his heart rate and rhythm, blood pressure, oxygen saturation and his brain waves.

Sakura felt as if she was tearing up. She held Naruto's hand and slipped his precious forehead protector into his palm. Closing his hand around it, Sakura held onto his hand, not wanting to let go. She was so afraid that if she let go, Naruto would slip away from her life, never to return. She wept quietly.

"Naruto-kun... I'm so sorry." Sakura said in a trembling tone. Her hand tightened around his hand, her smooth palm feeling his rough calloused knuckles, her fingers wrapping around to feel his palm and the cloth of his forehead protector. Lee sat down next to Sakura in silence, not wishing to disturb her. His doll-like eyes took on a look of sadness as he studied Naruto's face.

"This is so confusing, Lee-san... Sasuke-kun hurt Naruto-kun, and Gaara saved Naruto-kun..?" Sakura's eyes looked at Lee's eyes. Lee blinked, and sighed. "It is true, Sakura-chan. I also saw it. Gaara-san used his sand to catch Naruto-kun, stopping him from dropping to the foot of the waterfall." Sakura blinked, wide-eyed. Lee continued "And, as soon as Shikamaru-san saw that Naruto was losing a lot of blood, Gaara used his sand to wrap Naruto-kun's body in a cocoon and placed just enough pressure on his chest to stop the blood flowing out of his wound. He did the same thing for Neji when we later found him."

Sakura shook her head, unbelieving. "Sasuke-kun tried to kill Naruto-kun, and Gaara saved him..." She turned back to Naruto's face, looking for any sign of colour, and at those curious whisker-like lines he had always had. Her face took on a look of determination as she fought to control her desire to scream in pain. Her hand tightened around Naruto's. "Everything feels completely upside-down, Lee-san."

You've always protected and helped me, Naruto-kun. Now it's my turn to be by your side and look after you. I don't want you to die. I need you, Naruto-kun. And I am here for you.

-----------------------------

Naruto stirred out of his sleep, and found himself next to Kyuubi's cage once again. He sighed heavily, and let his head drop.

"You don't really want to be here, do you, boy?"

Naruto looked at Kyuubi. It seemed to have got some of its fire back. His own strength was returning as well. "Sorry, fox, I guess I just want to wake up and find Sakura-chan." sighed Naruto.

Kyuubi roared with laughter. But there was no malice in the laughter. Naruto's jaw dropped, and he arched an eyebrow. "What's so funny?"

"She is already here."

"What!?" Naruto jumped up with a start. "Sakura-chan is already here? Where? What do you mean? How do you know?"

Kyuubi snorted. "Well, I can sense her. She is by your side. Along with that Lee human. She is holding your hand as well - a form of affection among humans, is it not?"

"Sakura-chan... Thick-brows..." Naruto gaped. Then he raised his voice. "I need to speak to her!" he yelled "I need to see her! Can't you let me wake up for a few seconds at least!?"

"That is simply not possible. Your body... well, our body has taken too much damage. Even with my healing abilities, it will take a long while before you can wake." Kyuubi responded in a low, growling voice.

"Damn it!!" Naruto cursed, and kicked out with a foot, sending water arcing into the air. He felt like he was yelling and banging on an invisible wall, his voice unable to reach his friends.

"Calm down, you brat!" Kyuubi spat menacingly, its red eyes threatening Naruto. "If you get all worked up like that, it will take even longer for your strength to return. Stop wasting it!"

Naruto stopped suddenly, panting heavily. He knew the fox had a point and so sat down. "I'm sorry, fox... I just want to hear her."

"You can if you keep your mouth shut, idiot." Kyuubi closed its eyes. "Just listen..."

"Listen..?" Naruto looked quizzically at Kyuubi. It had already gone back to sleep, deep grumbling snores echoing around the cell. "How am I supposed to hear her, if you snore like that, dumb fox?" pouted Naruto. He sighed, and looked for any dry spots on the ground. He was fed up of sleeping in the water, even though he knew it was not real. The only dry ground was in front of Kyuubi's cell. Naruto worried, debating about resting so closely to the bars. Then he remembered. If Kyuubi tried to kill him, it would also die. And, well... it didn't seem so bad for a demon this time, Naruto figured. They were both stuck here together.

Naruto sat down on the dry ground, six feet away from the bars. While six feet wasn't a bad distance, it was nothing compared to Kyuubi's huge claws. He took off his jacket and sighed, making it into a make-shift pillow. He rested his head and shut his eyes... and listened. He listened harder, and harder, searching for any sound asides from the lapping water and Kyuubi's breathing. Then he heard it.

Sakura's voice. Naruto sighed with relief. It was a voice he needed to hear. He lay motionless, just listening. He smiled slightly.

-----------------------------

"I don't know if you can hear me, Naruto-kun..." Sakura spoke, "but there is so much I want to tell you. That I need to tell you."

Lee had already gone home, on Sakura's request. The genin had protested so much against leaving, but Sakura had eventually persuaded him to go and rest from his fight. "I'll be fine, Lee-san" Sakura had smiled at Lee. "Thank you so much for being here with me. But you should rest, Lee-san. You were on a dangerous mission, after all." The poor man just had to concede defeat and slunked off sadly, his head and shoulders drooping, his arms limply hanging at his sides.

Sakura giggled at the the memory. She really did not mean any offence towards Lee, whom she was quite fond of, but he could be so dramatic at times. That was part of why she liked him, she guessed.

She shook her head and sighed. "I'm so sorry, Naruto-kun... I treated you so badly. I never truly understood who you were. I cared for you, yes, but I also wrongly tagged you as someone who could not understand me." Sakura's eyes softened as she gazed at Naruto's face. "But you truly understood me. I just never realised it until too late. You were a much better friend than I had given you credit for. And I want to be a much better friend for you."

-----------------------------

Naruto's face softened, and a tear appeared in the corner of his left eye. She called me Naruto-kun... She wants to be better friends with me... Sakura-chan... Thank you. The tear rolled down across his face.

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"I realise now I never said thank you, Naruto-kun. Thank you so much for always helping me, always protecting me. Especially when you saved me from Gaara. I-I was so touched when I heard it was you, but for some reason, I never did come up to you and thank you for that. You risked so much for me." Sakura sniffed, smiling. "I swear I will protect you, and be by your side."

-----------------------------

Damn it, I wish I could say something to Sakura-chan! Naruto's brow furrowed, his eyes squeezing shut, tears leaking out.

-----------------------------

The door clicked open, and slowly swung open. The nurse peeked her head in, scanning the room. She spotted Sakura asleep in her chair, her hand still on Naruto's. I should send her home, but something tells me not to, the nurse pondered. Gently, she slid a wardrobe door back and took out a thick, neatly folded white blanket. She draped it over Sakura, all the while doing her best not to disturb the girl. Sakura stirred a little, mumbling, before going back to sleep. What a lucky boy, the nurse smiled, to have such friends. Being an adult, she of course knew Naruto's secret, but she did not hold any grudge against him. As far as she was concerned, he was just a boy who had not asked to have the demon sealed within himself. He wasn't the Nine-Tails itself. She just wished that more people shared her view - though she had heard that some people had started to doubt their own prejudices after Naruto's tournament fight. She checked the readings of the monitor, pencilled them down on the clipboard that hung from the wall above Naruto's head, and quietly left the room.

***

The morning sunlight penetrated Naruto's hospital room, long golden rays cutting across the air. The door slid open, and Kakashi silently entered, his silver hair and headband reflecting the golden light. His one visible eye focused on Sakura. He sighed, raising his eyebrow, showing exactly what his expression would have been if you could see it under his ever-present mask. Wordlessly, Kakashi approached Sakura's chair, and placed a hand on her shoulder - gently stirring her out of sleep.

Sakura blinked sleepily, and it took some seconds before she realised she was in the hospital room. She looked at the hand, then its owner. "Kakashi-sensei..." Sakura began. Kakashi smiled with his eye. "Good morning, Sakura."

"Kakashi-sensei... Sasuke-kun..." Sakura whispered, looking downwards and at Naruto's face. Her eyes drifted unconsciously to his chest, where she had seen that horrible wound. She could not see it any more, for the area was now covered with a clean bandage.

Kakashi squeezed Sakura's shoulder. "I know, Sakura... As soon as I came back here from my mission and heard the news from Tsunade-sama, I made my way here as swiftly as I could." Sakura opened her mouth. "Sakura, we can talk later. For now, you should go home and rest. Your parents are quite worried about you. Shizune was kind enough to inform them that you were safe and well here." Kakashi told his student. "That's an order."

Sakura looked at Kakashi's visible eye. He smiled. "Don't worry, I don't have a mission for today, so I will take care of Naruto." Sakura smiled and nodded. She brought herself to her feet, taking the blanket off in the process. Giving Naruto's hand a last squeeze, she said "Goodbye, Naruto-kun. I'll be back soon."

Naruto-kun... thought Kakashi. He thought it best not to comment on Sakura's change.

As soon as Sakura had left, Kakashi sat down on the chair she had vacated. His eye scanned Naruto's body and the pipes that surrounded him. He sighed heavily.

"I hope you pull through, Naruto. A lot of people are missing you." said Kakashi. He shut his eye, musing on how Team 7 had changed ever since the Chuunin exam.

Sasuke... I'm so disappointed in you. You are now walking down a dark path. But I will not lose hope that you will see the light and return.

One thing was certain in Kakashi's mind. Even if Sasuke returned, things would never be the same again.