Third person's P.O.V.
It's been a week. A week since Shizukana's heart stopped for three and a half minutes. And it's been a week since she last was conscious.
It was quite visible the impact Shizukana had on everyone around her. Kakashi spent most of his time at the hospital, lingering at Naruto and Shizukana's bedside. He knew he had to keep his responsibility as a Jonin so he had to attend missions now and then.
Sakura constantly kept coming to check up on their vitals. Always monitoring Shizukana's health and being on guard if the serum acts up.
Even though Lady Shizune and Lady Tsunade extracted the serum, they suspect that some of it may be embedded in Shizukana's chakra system.
All of the nurses and doctors in charge of Shizukana have to be on alert at all times.
The person most affected by Shizukana's presence was Shikamaru. It took the doctors, a very concerned Shikaku Nara and persuasive Tsunade to convinced the Nara heir to leave the hospital to get some rest.
He stayed by her side for three days straight without getting a wink of sleep. Deep inside, he felt guilty for what had happened and felt that he had abandoned Shizukana.
The rest of team 10 visited and team 8 accompanied them. Hinata was another frequent visitor who visited both Naruto and Shizukana.
It came as quite a shock that Sasuke had done such a thing. But many knew that he was capable of doing so.
At the moment, Kakashi was seated in Shizukana's room. The steady sound of the heart monitor and the calm breathing of Shizukana's oxygen mask was the only things audible in the room. Except for the occasional ruffle of a page-turning as Kakashi read his book.
He had just discarded the wilted flowers from the vase on the bedstand. Ino kept bringing fresh flowers every day. She kept saying they bring colour to the room.
Kakashi closed his eyes from exhaustion as he snapped his book shut. He stood up in a panic when the door was blasted open.
It was a flustered Sakura. Kakashi glanced at Shizukana before rushing to Sakura. "What's wrong?" He asked as terrible thoughts flooded his mind.
"Naruto's awake." She said as she urged Kakashi to follow her.
The Jonin was feeling two different feelings. He was feeling delighted that Naruto was okay and up but then the other was that he was gonna have to explain Shizukana's condition.
He hesitated as he watched Sakura walk into Naruto's room. He wrung his hands in frustration before walking in.
Lady Tsunade and Lady Shizune were in with Master Jiraiya. A bunch of nurses and doctors were surrounding them as Lady Shizune was trying to conduct a check-up but Naruto kept fidgeting.
"Why aren't you guys answering my question? Where Kakashi Sensei?" Naruto said as looked around impatiently. "There you are!" He said the second he laid his eyes on the silver-haired Jonin.
"Naruto." Kakashi greeted. Everyone could sense the hesitancy in his voice. "How are you feeling?" Kakashi spoke calmly while talking silent steps towards the Blond.
"I'm okay. I guess." He said stretching his hand. The only injury visible was the bandage that was wrapped around his left wrist.
The doctors and nurses left the room leaving only Tsunade, Shizune, Jiraiya and Sakura with Kakashi and Naruto.
There was an awkward silence that was laced with tension. Naruto broke that silence by clearing his throat. He wasn't exactly sure how to approach the question.
In all honesty, Naruto was afraid of the answer. Sasuke's greed for power made him do the unthinkable. He wanted to ask them. He knew the answer was on the tip of their tongues.
"Shi-Shizukana-chan?" He murmured as he slowly looked at Kakashi.
"Oh, Naruto," Sakura said she looked at him with tears in her eyes. "She-she's--"
Sakura tried to answer but she couldn't. She couldn't bear to look at him.
"She's okay," Kakashi said giving a small smile towards the blond.
Those two words caused Naruto to let out a big sigh in relief. He chuckled a little before shaking his head.
"However, she's unconscious." Lady Tsunade interrupted causing Naruto to stare at her. "And we don't know for how long."
"But she will wake up, right?" Naruto asked. He had just asked a question that the others couldn't. "I mean, she has to."
"We don't know." It was Lady Shizune who spoke this time.
Naruto's solemn expression from before came back to his face as he clenched his fist. "Can-can I see her?"
"You need to rest. I'll allow you to see her tomorrow." Lady Tsunade said. She knew every well that Naruto wouldn't give up.
"Come on. I just want to see her. It's not like I'm asking to train." Naruto said putting on some puppy eyes.
Lady Tsunade just chucked before nodding. "Only just seeing her. No running around."
Naruto nodded and then looked at Kakashi Sensei before giving out a bright smile.
After a little wobbling and tripping, Naruto walked towards Shizukana's room. Like Kakashi hesitated to walk into the Uzumaki's room, Naruto hesitated in walking into Shizukana's.
But unlike Kakashi, Naruto had the people he cared about waiting for him to walk in. "It's going to be alright, Naruto," Kakashi said with a kind smile as he opened the door for him to walk through.
With an exhale, Naruto walked in and straight towards Shizukana's bedside.
She was laying so still. The only signs of her being alive were the sound of the heart monitor and soft breathing.
Her skin was ghostly pale and her hair seemed like freshly fallen snow. It was hard to see the difference between her and a corpse.
She looks like she was at peace. Naruto was instantly reminded of when he confronted Sasuke.
Flashback...
Naruto has just gotten away from Kimimaro, He was currently chasing Naruto.
"Sasuke! What are you doing? Why are you running away?" The Blond-haired Uzumaki yelled as he got in front of the Uchiha.
Sasuke glared at Naruto as he pulled Shizukana closer to his chest. "Move. This does not concern you." He said as he came up with ways to escape.
"Let's go back. Granny Tsunade can take a look at Shizukana-chan." Naruto said with a pleading look. His eyes wandered to Shizukana who was being carried by Sasuke.
"Why don't you get it? I am not going back and neither is Shizukana." Sasuke yelled out in anger. He was frustrated.
Naruto's eyes widened. "You're hurting her." He said trying to come closer.
Sasuke looked down to find him holding Shizukana too hard. He relaxed his grip on her before slowly kneeling and placing her on the stony ground.
Sasuke then turned to Naruto with a kunai in hand. "If you don't let us go, I will have to put an end to you," Sasuke said before running towards the blond.
Naruto dodged the jabs that were heading his way and pulled out a kunai to deflect some of them. Without hesitating, he made a shadow clone and created a Rasengan.
Sasuke activated his Sharingan before running head-on towards Naruto. The blond dodged the punch before jamming the Rasengan at Sasuke's stomach.
This sent the Uchiha hurtling away and towards the treeline.
Without wasting any more time, Naruto rushed to check up on Shizukana. She laid on the ground with her hair glowing in the sun. Almost angelic looking.
With a frown on his face, Naruto gently brushed some hair off Shizukana's face before turning to face Sasuke.
It was at this moment that Naruto knew that Sasuke would do anything for power.
Present...
"-ruto. Naruto?" Kakashi's voice broke Naruto's chains of thought. "Are you feeling alright?"
"Oh yeah." The blond said waving his hands.
"How about you get some rest? You can come back tomo-" Kakashi was interrupted when he noticed Naruto shaking.
"It's my fault." He said as he clenched his fist in anger. "He hurt Shizukana-chan and I couldn't stop him," Naruto said as he tried to contain his emotions.
Kakashi was speechless. He knew this would happen. Shizukana made an impact on Naruto's life.
"It's not your fault, kid," Jiraiya said as he walked towards Naruto. "What the Uchiha did is not your fault. He made his actions."
Naruto said nothing as he turned and left the room. Sakura followed him leaving Tsunade, Shizune, Kakashi and Jiraiya alone with an unconscious Shizukana.
Before anyone could utter a single word, the door opened once more. "Apologies for intruding." A slick yet cunning voice rang through the room.
It was Danzo.
"Shimura-San." Lady Shizune spoke as she carefully watched the council member enter the room. "What a pleasure to see you." She said faking a smile.
Kakashi turned away to face the window while Tsunade and Jiraiya replaced their worried expression with more of a stoic one.
"I was in the area when I heard about the Uchiha turning rogue. I also heard that many were injured." He said as his eyes flickered to Shizukana. "Such potential. Gone to waste."
"Hatake," Danzo said causing Kakashi to face him. "I offer my sincere apologies and wish that your team gets back to health very soon."
The Jonin nodded his head in response. He watched as Danzo kept glancing at Shizukana. "I am offering my assistance in any way." The councilmen said as he sauntered off towards the door.
"I will take my leave." He said not before smirking. No one said a word until the door was closed shut.
"We have to station Anbu around Shizukana's room." Lady Shizune said breaking the tough silence. "I don't like the way he looked at her."
"That sly bastard," Kakashi muttered as he ran his hand through his hair. "There's a 60 per cent chance that Takada might try something."
"Shizune, arrange four Anbu members around the room and station two of them in Naruto's room." Lady Tsunade said looking at Shizune. "Any more and we'll attract unnecessary attention from the council."
"Hatake, your missions will not be coming to an end however they will be reduced to the bare minimum." Lady Tsunade said before she walked out of the room with Shizune.
"Get some rest. You're gonna need it." Jiraiya said as he followed the ladies.
That left Kakashi alone. He let out a sigh before closing the drapes of the windows.
He walked towards Shizukana and frowned. "Wake up soon. You've made such an impact on everyone that they need you." He spoke softly and gently.
A/N. Hey guys. The previous chapter was quite the chapter, right? Well, this chapter was mostly to show how everyone is coping with what happened.
Kakashi is taking it hard and so is Naruto. I wanted to show Shikamaru but decided against it. Sakura is trying her best to keep both Naruto and Shizukana safe.
Tsunade, Shizune and Jiraiya are not close with her but they see how she has affected everyone and therefore feels down too.
Now, Danzo. What do you think happened there?
Hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Ciao...