Together, We Help

Naruto woke up, frantic, and panicking.

...because it was morning. He actually slept through the whole freaking night. And it was already noon.

"That damn Shikamaru!" He growled and slipped on his Hokage robe before dashing out of the Hokage resident to his office. He was mad that he overslept, but he was even more annoyed that Shikamaru didn't even bother to come wake him up. So much for a "quick nap."

"Shit." He groaned, knowing that there will be a new, highly stacked pile of documents for him and there will probably be notification reports and files along with that, too. Sometimes he felt more like an office secretary than an actual Hokage...he didn't realize that there was so much paperwork involved.

'Now I know why Tsunade baa-chan was always so irritated...' He sighed and shook his head. Once he reached the Konoha Headquarters, he made his way up to the Hokage office.

Sure enough, when he opened the door, he let out a small shout of frustration when he saw the pile of paperwork on his desk.

"Morning, Hokage." Shikamaru came up from behind him.

"What the hell! You let me sleep through the whole evening and through the whole night! Why didn't you come wake me!?"

"You needed to rest." Shikamaru shrugged and handed him a small batch of yellow envelopes. "Those came from the trade stocks center this morning. They need you to review over them and sign your name to give them permission to start a trade route to Iwagakure."

Naruto rolled his eyes, even more annoyed by the fact that Shikamaru totally ignored his rants. He snatched them from Shikamaru's grip and walked to sit down at his desk.

"What's the situation with the neighboring villages. Did any of them respond?"

"As of now, no villages are requesting for any protection. They also want to wait two days to see if there's any suspicious activities...they don't want to use extra resources and waste the time of our shinobi if there isn't even going to be an attack."

Naruto sighed and leaned back on his chair. "Alright, then. And the hospital?"

"Medical supplies have been replenished."

"Security headquarters?"

"The border guards are still on watch and they're checking the perimeter outside Konoha every 3 hours."

"Anything from the ninja academies?"

"Besides from the recent promotion of the children to Genin, there's nothing to report."

"...good." Naruto stood up and looked out at the village. "The team should be arriving back tonight. I get to see Hinata again." He smiled, all his negative thoughts vanishing at the thought of her.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow when Naruto suddenly turned around to face him, with his eyes shining. "Oh yea! When is the marriage date for you and Temari?" He sighed at that troublesome question. Sure, he loved Temari and sure, he knew that she was the one that he wanted to spend his life with, but he just hated when people got all nosy into their relationship. And of course, Naruto was the most nosiest person he knew.

"In four months."

Naruto's jaw dropped. "But...but that's so long! If you love someone, wouldn't you want to get married right away?"

"Ehh...not really. It could wait." Shikamaru shrugged.

"Wha? How can you say, that, though? It would only make sense if you want to get married as soon as possible because you want to be with that person, right? You two should definitely push the wedding date to be earlier." Naruto grinned hopefully at him. It'd be both weird and exciting to see a man such as Shikamaru to get married and settle down.

"Well, I mean...we both already know how we feel. That's enough confirmation that we are together, whether married or not. And it doesn't matter whether we push the wedding date to be earlier or later...I already know that she's mine." Shikamaru almost cringed at how cheesy he must've sounded right now, but whatever...he was Naruto's advisor. He might as well advise.

Naruto blinked. "Interesting...I guess I wouldn't know how that feels like. I got married too quick to Hinata...but I mean, everything's been working out lately. I never imagined that I'd be this happy with her as my wife."

Though it's been nearly 7 months since Naruto and Hinata's wedding, Shikamaru still stood surprised at how much Naruto adored her. Maybe he was just too used to seeing Naruto chase after Sakura, so it was strange to see Naruto finally return Hinata's feelings.

'Well, I guess it's refreshing, too. It's nice to them both happy.' Shikamaru thought as he put his hands in his pockets. "...anyways. I'll go check on the surveillance process outside the gates. I'll report back to you in a bit."

Everyone was relieved once the Konoha gates were in view.

"We're here, Lady Hinata!" Kiba announced.

Hinata smiled weakly at him and nodded. She was glad that they made it back to the village even before the sun was setting...that meant Sakura had a good chance to recover. "Sakura's safe now...I've slowed down the process enough. We just have to get her to the hospital so she can be treated by Lady Tsunade."

"Lady, Hinata, you can rest now...thank you." Sasuke replied genuinely as Hinata took a deep breath before she released herself from the jutsu.

As expected, she immediately felt an excruciating pain coursing through her body when she stopped the healing and she winced when the throbbing in her head got worse. She's never felt such pain and immense exhaustion all at once in her life like this. Her vision blurred and though she knew Kiba and Shino ran to her aid, their voices were only small echoes that faded away.

"Lady Hinata!" Kiba caught her in his arms when she fell unconscious and collapsed off of Akamaru. "Come on, Shino, we have to get her to the hospital, too. The rest of you guys report back to the Hokage ASAP." Everyone nodded in agreement.

When they got near to the gates, the border guards didn't bother to stop them because they saw Hinata and Sakura's state.

"It's the Hokage's wife! Let them through!"

Once they entered back in the village, Sasuke carried Sakura in his arms as he dashed alongside Kiba and Shino to the hospital while the others ran the opposite direction to the Konoha headquarters.

"Get the herbs ready!"

Tsunade's voice rung through the hallways as multiple doctors and nurses went back and forth, getting supplies and such.

"Can you save them both?" Kiba questioned anxiously.

Tsunade's hand hovered over both Sakura and Hinata and she narrowed her eyes. "For sure, Sakura can recover. We have the antidote to treat this poison. Hinata did a good job healing her, but..." She sighed and gazed down worriedly at Hinata's exhausted state. "...Hinata's chakra is almost completely drained. At this point, she probably can't move for days and I don't even know when she'll be able to wake up. Performing two healing techniques at once is very life-threatening...if you guys got here any later, she probably wouldn't even be alive."

"Is there any way of ensuring that she can live?" Shino asked.

Tsunade stayed quiet for a few moments and then something clicked. "The Hokage."

It was a simple statement, but they all understood. Naruto had more chakra than any other shinobi they knew.

Tsunade called over two doctors to transfer Sakura to an emergency room so they can start the curing process immediately. "Treat her external wounds and check for any internal damage. If there's no severe injuries, then you guys can go ahead and inject the antidote." The doctors nodded before they rolled Sakura's hospital bed away to the another ward. Sasuke excused himself before following after them.

"We need to get the Hokage here now, so that we can start the healing process on Hinata, too."

"The others are reporting back to him right now. No doubt, he should be here in a few moments." Shino explained.

Tsunade nodded and then pressed her palm lightly against Hinata's forehead. "...she's cold...her body temperature isn't even regulating properly right now."

Kiba reached over to hold Hinata's hand and he squeezed it tightly. '...come on, Hinata...don't die on us...we still need you here.'

Naruto was taken by surprise when they all appeared in his office out of nowhere. His eyes lit up at the sight of them and he immediately stood up to greet them. "You guys are back!"

His smile slowly disappeared when he realized that the whole team wasn't there. "...where's everyone else?" He narrowed his eyes. "Where's Team 8? Where's Sasuke and Sakura?"

"The mission was a success." Sai commented. "Your presence is requested at the hospital, immediately."

Naruto's raced just a little faster and that pit of fear coursed through his body again. "Why? What happened?" So that bad feeling wasn't just a superstition...something did go wrong. When no one spoke up, he got angry and slammed his fist down on his desk, startling them. "What happened?"

Lee stepped forward. "During the fight with the rebels, Sakura got poisoned."

Naruto's eyes widened.

"She was in a very bad condition, but Lady Hinata was able to slow down the process enough for us to reach it back here."

Naruto felt a small wave of relief was over him. He'd have to thank Hinata later. "What about Team 8?"

Lee hesitated a bit. "...um..." He glanced at both Sai and Ino, who clearly looked like they didn't want to be the ones to break the news to Naruto. "...Lady Hinata...is also in great danger."

Naruto didn't even need to hear anymore. In a blink of an eye, he disappeared from the office, leaving the three standing there dumbfounded.

Everyone in the hospital was surprised at Naruto's sudden appearance and they all bowed to him respectfully. Naruto paid no attention to them and his eyes searched frantically for Hinata.

"Hokage!"

Naruto turned to see Kiba and Shino running towards him. He grabbed Kiba's sleeve frantically and looked at them both anxiously. "Where is she?!"

"With Lady Tsunade. Come on!"

Naruto quickly followed after them as they led him to the emergency ward. Once they reached the room where Hinata was, Naruto's heart dropped at the sight of Hinata's pale appearance. She looked lifeless and he felt even more afraid because he could barely sense her chakra.

"Why is she like this?" Naruto rushed to her side and took a hold of her hand.

"She used two healing techniques to help Sakura survive. Transferring that much of her own chakra and life force to another person took its toll on her body...if they got here any later, she probably won't even be breathing by now." Tsunade explained. "I need your chakra. You're the only one who can stabilize her with your chakra and even after that, you'll still be in good shape. If we don't get started soon, I don't know if she'll make it."

Naruto didn't have any complaints. He'll do whatever it took to save her. He couldn't let her die...she can't leave him like this. "Let's start now. We have to save her." He reached over and gently caressed the side of Hinata's cheek and his heart ached when he noticed that she was cold to the touch, as if she was already dead. God, he had never felt such fear like this in his life; he didn't know how he would cope with it if he lost her.

"Will she be awake once the healing process is done?"

Tsunade shook her head. "I'm afraid not. She'll most likely be in a comatose state for a few days...I don't know when exactly she'll be able to regain consciousness."

Naruto's teeth clenched and he tightened his grip on Hinata's hand, afraid that if he let go, she'll slip away. "Please, do whatever you can to keep her alive..." He looked at Tsunade with pleading eyes and she simply nodded at him.

"Don't worry. I will make sure that she lives."

All credits to the author and Masashi Kishimoto