Upon mount Myoboku, all was silent. A whisper of a wind echoed through the chambers of the Great Toad Sage who sat silently in his chair. One might think that the old toad was dead, but the steady breaths that entered and exited his mouth proved otherwise. There was a slight rasp in his breath, either a result of injury or age. His body, wrinkled with time, did not move other than the slight rise and fall of his chest.

The Great Toad Sage was still, but his mind was not. Visions of a future that he has seen before but yet, never has ran through his mind. A loud gasp echoed throughout his chambers as the toads' eyes shot open.

"The second part of the prophecy has been revealed at last," the toad gasped, gripping his staff. "A second chance given..."

Two toads hopped with haste into the Toad Sages chambers, hearing the noises he had made in his waking.

"Gamamaru-sama, we heard you wake," Shima, who is often referred to as 'Ma', stated with worry. "Is all well?"

Gamamaru shifted in his seat, still disturbed by his visions of the future. "Shima, Fukasaku, send for Jiraiya. Tell him that the second half of the prophecy has finally been revealed."

...

Sasuke and Sakura watched the unconscious boys' chest rise and fall as he breathed slowly. The two have been at his house for around 30 minutes, both deciding to watch over Naruto after snooping through his house.

Sakura was surprised by what she found as she investigated the blonde's home. The fridge was practically barren, only holding a few bruised apples and leftover ramen. The cabinets held little food as well. Sakura expected them to be filled completely with ramen- leaving no room for other food, but she was only half right. Yes, the cabinet's only content was ramen, however, there were only three things of cup ramen. The cooking supplies were meager as well, but Sakura did manage to find a kettle to boil some water to make some tea (the rosette was especially surprised to find tea).

The kettle appeared to be old, but well maintained. The girl had decided to wash it, but grew frustrated by the lack of heat that came out of the kitchen faucet. Sakura took a sip of her tea as she continued to watch Naruto's chest rise and fall. She couldn't fathom how Naruto could take showers in that cold water. Perhaps that was one of the uses of the tea kettle.

The girl glanced at Sasuke, who sat silently while occasionally taking a sip of his tea. She remembered the frustrated look on his face as he went through Naruto's medical supplies. Every ninja got a mandatory medical pack from the hospital every three months. Even Team 7, just a new Genin, got medical packs. Sakura, of course, has already gone through hers and she knew for a fact that every ninja (other than Jonin and Anbu) got the exact same medical pack she did. Naruto, however, didn't even have a third of what she did, and based on Sasuke's face, the same extended on his end.

Sakura bit her lip. If only she knew some Medical Ninjutsu. Maybe this wouldn't have happened. Thanks to the basic training given at the academy, she could tell that Naruto has several broken ribs. If they were lucky, that would be the extent of it.

The two not-unconscious occupants jumped when there was a knock on the door. Sasuke slowly took out a kunai and crept to the door. The knocking sounded again, the sound practically echoing throughout the room. Sakura quietly pulled out her own kunai and positioned herself in front of Naruto.

"Who is it?" Sasuke questioned, placing the kunai behind his back and out of sight. With his left hand, he reached out and grabbed the handle, ready to pull it open or hold it closed.

"Most youthful Genin," a shout resounded. "I have been running through houses in search of Naruto's most esteemed address for I have already searched his two teammates' homes." There was a slight pause. "May I come in young Genin?"

Sasuke looked towards Sakura, giving her the 'are-you-kidding-me' look, but Sakura just shrugged in response. Sasuke just let out a small sigh and slowly opened the door, only to be blinded by a blindingly white smile.

"Gah-" he shouted, stumbling backwards. The boy covered his eyes as his back hit the wall. "What the heck was that?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

Just as Sasuke was regaining his sight, he was lifted in the air (and was also disarmed somehow). "Your eyes have finally been opened to YOUTH!" a man in a green jumpsuit shouted.

Sakura could not believe the sight in front of her. Sasuke was raised up into the air (or at least as high as you can go with the low ceilings in Naruto's apartment) by a man in a green jumpsuit that also had a hideous bowlcut. She rubbed her eyes and looked towards the sight again only to find the same thing. Sasuke's eyes were locked with the strange mans' own like they were in some sort of staring contest. The rosette began to slap her cheeks when she saw a sunset appear in the background.

"Who are you?" the girl asked shakely, standing up from her chair by Naruto's bedside.

"Youth," Sasuke mumbled, and the jumpsuit-man nodded in affirmation.

"You've been enlightened." The man put Sasuke down, who slumped limply to the floor. The man nodded before turning towards Sakura.

Sakura held up her kunai, ready to defend herself from the strange man in front of her. She glanced towards Naruto and then back up to the man. She was not going down without a fight.

"The name's Might Gai," the man suddenly shouted, giving her a thumbs up. "You must be the Kunoichi on my rivals' team."

Sakura's eyes bugged out of her head as she stared at the man. "Your... rival?" she questioned quiscally. "Kakashi-sensei is your rival?"

Gai flashed her a smile, and Sakura quickly looked away. "Indeed he is, young flower. Though, I do not know your names."

The rosette cleared her throat. "Um, my name's Sakura Haruno, the boy you have just corrupted is Sasuke Uchiha, and the unconscious one is Naruto Uzumaki," she introduced.

Gai's eyes furrowed when listening to her introduction. She looked at the bed Sakura was standing beside and saw that Naruto indeed was unconscious on the bed. The man quickly did a one-over on his condition and was relieved to see that Naruto was breathing normally.

"You are indeed a young flower then, Sakura-chan," Gai complimented. Sakura blushed bashfully. "May I ask what happened?"

Sakura's eyes darkened, thinking back to the events at the restaurant. "It's a long story..." she trailed, not wanting to tell the man too much. Based on how she has seen the villagers act towards Naruto, she didn't want to just trust anyone.

Gai nodded in understanding. "Shall I let my rival know that you are here?" he asked, wanting to give the Genin at least a little bit of support.

Sakura nodded gratefully. "Yes, that would be great, thank you."

Gai said his goodbyes and left the shabby apartment. His mood was considerably darker than it was earlier, and his mind was running through the many possibilities of what could have happened to Naruto. None of them were good.

Sakura let out a sigh of relief as the man left the apartment and went to check on Sasuke, who was laying on the floor mumbling something about the power of youth. Sakura cringed a bit, not liking the sight of her crush in a less-than-perfect state. The girl brought Sasuke a blanket and layed it over him before going back to Naruto who was sleeping peacefully.

The rosette twiddled her thumbs and bit her lip as she waited for her sensei to arrive. Despite only knowing the man for about a month, she trusted him with her life- even if he was an annoying pervert.

Sakura jumped from her seat when the door opened and threw the kunai she was just holding at the unknown occupant. There was a quick clang and Sakura pulled out another kunai.

"Maa, good reaction time, but bad awareness of your surroundings," Kakashi chastised, holding his own kunai.

Sakura gasped. "Oh my gosh. Kakashi-sensei, I'm so sorry," she apologized, putting her own kunai away.

Kakashi just held up his hand to stop her apology. "It's quite alright, Sakura." He looked down and saw Sasuke slumped on the floor. Gai had failed to mention that. "What happened to him?" he asked, gesturing towards Sasuke.

Sakura shuddered. "He's been corrupted."

Kakashi immediately understood. "I see."

The both stood in silence until Sakura offered her sensei some tea, which he gladly accepted. The green-eyed girl began to boil water in the kettle as Kakashi settled down next to Naruto. The silver-haired man checked the boys' wounds (finding that his Genin did a surprisingly good job wrapping them) and found them mostly healed. The only injury that remained seemed to be the broken ribs. Luckily none of his ribs punctured a lung, so bringing the boy to his home was the best choice. Speaking of which...

"Sakura, how did you find Naruto's house?" Kakashi inquired, leaning back in his seat.

The said girl walked into the room with a steaming cup of tea and handed it to Kakashi before speaking. "Oh, that. Hinata told us where he lived," she answered, sitting in her own chair which creaked under her weight.

"Hinata, eh?" Kakashi mumbled to himself, sipping his tea. Seems like Naruto has a stalker, though, Kakashi couldn't really fault ther girl. Naruto isn't the open book that he seems.

Sakura sighed. "Sasuke and I didn't trust taking him to the hospital after what happened. I'm sorry, sensei."

Kakashi shook his head. "Maa, Sakura. I already told you not to apologize," he stated. "What's done is done, but now you must tell me what happened to Naruto."

{July 16, 2020}