Uzumaki

Echo

He stared. A snake was biting his wrist, two teeth neatly on the vein, and as he went through the darkness, he saw her; at the other end, bound by that same snake at her ankle.

"Satsuki?"

She didn't look up, staring at her own right hand, her fingers twitching.

Naruto looked to his wrist, and tried to lift out the the teeth of the snake.

The coil tightened, and Satsuki's ankle broke. She screamed.

--

Naruto awoke violently. He sprang up and then fell down, dragging something to the ground with him. He lay there for a moment, and then something hit him in the stomach hard. He gasped and opened his eyes.

Satsuki was lying there, her hospital gown so large it left one shoulder exposed. Her limbs were crooked and bent, her mouth slightly agape, but her eyes still closed. He'd pulled the blanket from beneath her in his awakening, the white sheets tangled with his legs.

The IV was still running straight into her arm. The heart monitor was still beating steadily. Her hair was long, strewn around her shoulders. The gown was gaping at the stomach.

Naruto froze, registering the moment, where he was, what she was-

He stumbled up to his feet in a hurry, tripping over the blankets as he tried to untangle himself. He lifted her - trying not to expose her and not quite succeeding - and found himself off balance from her unexpected lightness. Naruto cringed, clumsily wrapping her up as he pulled her onto the bed, and sitting down with a loud sigh.

He rubbed his eyes, trying to blink himself out of his drowsiness. The beep of her heartrate was so steady he almost fell asleep again.

"Yo."

He started and whipped his head up to see Kakashi. The door was open at his side; perhaps Kakashi had opened it quietly, or Naruto had fallen asleep for a moment. He didn't know which of the two it was.

"Yo," Naruto said, opening his mouth and closing it again. He sat up, wiping water from his eyes. "What're you here for?"

His teacher walked to the other seat and sat down, eyes still glued to his book. "Same thing as you, I imagine, Naruto."

Naruto nodded slowly. "I guess." He drew his gaze to Satsuki, nervously noting the displacement of her features, the way her hair was swept to one side of the pillow, her hand splayed outwards.

"We sure spend a lot of time in the hospital, huh?"

Kakashi looked up, and raised an eyebrow. "Well. That's probably to do with you, isn't it? All of those dangerous situations you get yourself into."

Naruto huffed, leaning back in the chair and tilting up his chin. "Hmph. I didn't ask for all these weird things to happen."

"So, did you sleep here?"

Naruto flinched.

"Uh, yeah. Didn't mean to."

"That explains where you were, then," Kakashi said. "You weren't here when I checked earlier. I was looking for you."

"What for?"

"A quick meeting," he said. "I've spoke to Sakura as well. She'll be here soon."

"Oh," Naruto said. He couldn't pull his eyes away from how the sheets were caught under Satsuki's right side. Was her mouth slightly open, too?

"Y'know, it's kind of weird to watch someone in a coma, right?" Naruto said, laughing nervously. He twisted a curl of his hair between two fingers. "Like, when I sleep, I bet I look pretty weird. I wouldn't want someone to watch me. What if she starts drooling, or sleep-talking about her undying love for me?"