at a resolve

Chapter Three

"We will do whatever we can."

The doors in the trauma room were shut before him and would've slammed on his face had he taken a step farther.

Time stood still as he raced towards Konoha, but the moment he stepped into the village everything happened very fast. They almost took him away but they figured Naruto could take him to the hospital faster than anyone else could. He did not waste any time. Right now, however, he was no longer needed.

"Naruto!" The blonde turned to see their pink-haired teammate running toward him. His heart sank. What was he going to say to her? It would shatter her to know what happened.

"Sakura," he muttered under his breath, his voice quite caught in his throat. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," he placed his hands on her arms. Her emerald eyes were filled with worry as she looked straight into his. His arms shook as he held her so he pulled back, breaking his gaze.

"Hey, I'm sure it was not your fault," she pulled him back softly, tugging his arm as Naruto began to turn his back. "Let me look at you, c'mon. You're a mess - "

"No, I'm fine. He needs you in there," Naruto stood his ground. "Please make sure he pulls through."

"They will call me if they need me. They're good enough and we've sent enough of the best we have - "

"Please, Sakura. They won't let me in. But you, they will let you- "

Sakura observed Naruto, whose skin was getting paler by the second. His eyes were restless and only managed to look at her fleetingly.

"Okay, I promise I will go in there as soon as I make sure you're okay - "

Before Sakura could finish her sentence, Naruto's eyelids drooped and his knees gave way. She knelt just in time to catch him from falling to his side.

"Sakura, how is he?" Shizune was walking down the hallway.

"His chakra is okay but his system was in a fight-flight state for a long time," Sakura replied. "His body needs to shut down for a while, but he'll recover pretty quickly."

"We'll look after him," Shizune said, pulling Naruto toward herself. "Go inside, the situation is more delicate than they expected."

Sakura looked at the door to the trauma room and nodded.

----

"We've done our best to keep the bleeding to minimal. It's his temperature that's worrying us right now," the chief medic beside Sakura explained.

"I was informed his heart failed once," Sakura stated.

"Twice. Once the first time Naruto saw him, he barely brought him back," the medic made an incision at his side and inserted a tube to drain fluid from his lungs. "The second time - he crashed right after we wheeled him in."

Sakura paled. She was confident earlier that the situation wasn't as grave as they made it sound like. His teammates were the most powerful ninjas in the first place and together they were invincible. But seeing Naruto's reaction and the situation Sasuke was in, she realized she was wrong. What could have happened?

She concentrated on keeping him stable. His pulse was weak but it kept a steady rhythm. They placed an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth. He was breathing on his own, that was good. Like the medic said, as long as they made sure he didn't bleed out, the temperature was the only trouble they currently had. They would worry about everything else later.

Sasuke was burning up and Sakura feared an infection. Before she could think of what to do, his body began seizing violently.

"Have you checked for head injuries?" Sakura asked as her hands glowed green.