The air, crisp and cold, wrapped around two dark silhouettes, standing at the top of a giant monument. On one side stood a boy, thirteen, maybe fourteen, behind him a sleeping village stretching past the horizon. On the other stood a girl of the same age, standing before a sharp dropoff, directly into a deep lake. The stars shined steadfastly above, and the small moon shone from behind her, giving the two a small amount of light to see eachother with.

"I wanted to see him one last time..." Her voice cut through the silence, as he watched, worried and scared and frozen, as she stepped backwards. The sound of her sandals against the rough stone reverberated around the stone figures, stone faces depicting leaders of the past.

"Sakura, You can't-" His voice cracked, unable to continue. "You-"

"But then again.. he's gone, isn't he? He's not here, is he?" She looks into his eyes. "You didn't bring him back, did you? You promised..." Her voice slowly raised in volume. "And now... You're not going to bring me back, Naruto... Are you?"

"Sakura? No!" Naruto yelled, stepping forwards.

She gave a weak wave of her hand. "Ja, Naruto... Have a good life..." She said, stepping backwards... And she was... gone....

"Sakura!" Time seemed to freeze as he watched the girl, his teammate, his crush and companion through more hard times than he could remember. He couldn't move fast enough... Not to save her...

His shoes scrabbled against the ground, pausing for an infinitesimal second as he stopped at the edge, debris falling. Then, wordlessly, he dove after her...

Wake Up
Chapter One: Naruto
By Alden-san

It had been a month since what had happened at the clifftop. It had been a month since Naruto had caught Sakura mid-fall. It had been a month since she'd hit her head. Naruto shook his head to clear out the sound of the night, to clear out the remnants of the nightmare. Pushing back the covers, he walked out into his apartment's small kitchen and opened the fridge.

Sighing, he pulled out his milk jug and poured a glass. He'd woken up the next day in the hospital, with Sakura lying, lifeless, in the next room. When he'd been told she'd barely survived, he'd started worrying if she'd ever wake up, if she'd ever smile again... It was all that bastard's fault. Naruto swore that if her ever saw that jerk's face again, he'd kill the bastard for doing that to her.

Lee spent all his days sitting beside her, holding her hand. Naruto, too, spent most of his time. The two boys usually sat together in silence, but had sometimes shared a word or two. Ino was a frequent visitor. Heck, even Shino showed up once. Now Team 7 was down to one member who wouldn't do any missions, living off his savings. He knew he couldn't go back to his job, abandoning her here... it was his fault she was here in the first place...

A month, and no response... Naruto poured some milk into a mug, and stuck int in the microwave. He placed the milk back int he fridge, then wandered over to the window, watching the first rays of dawn over the tall buildings. Naruto no longer ran around, cheering. He swore, he'd give up Hokage, give up RAMEN even, if only he could see her move, see her walk, see her smile

Ding! Ding! Naruto turned away from the window and walked up to the microwave. Opening it, he pulled out the warm mug and breathed in the smell of warm, fresh milk. A scene from years ago wafted up in his mind... The day they'd first been a team... He'd planned to turn into Sasuke and have a tender scene with his crush, but it backfired when his stomach almost melted in reaction to some bad milk. He'd spent nearly an hour in the bathroom.

That all seemed so far away now. Sasuke was a sound-nin, Sakura was in a coma, and he, himself... He was a still a genin, still living alone in the same old apartment. He drank up the last of his milk, changed into some fresh clothes and headed out the door. Passing Ichiraku, passing his team's old meeting place, to the hospital. Walking into that white building every morning had been the tradition for the last month, so why would it be any different today?

He entered her room to see Lee sitting there, beside her in his usual spot. Lee had refused, in a strange freak of a promise, not to train until she woke up, or something else happened. Therefore, Naruto had to deal with the sight of Lee sitting there in a t-shirt and jeans, looking pensive and troubled. This was another of the constant reminders of her condition. Sitting in his own chair, Naruto looked at her.

"Naruto-kun..."

Naruto looked up, turning his head to meet Lee's gaze.

"Yeah, Lee?"

"Well... I was wondering... What really happened, that night? Why,... Why would Sakura do something like this?"

Naruto pondered answering his question. He'd stayed silent, preferring to mull the event over in his own mind before he told anyone else. Lee deserved to know! part of his mind argued. But Naruto didn't want to tell him. He wanted to keep it, safe, in his head... To pretend like it never happened.

'But you can't do that forever, Naruto. Someday soon you'll have to deal with this. And she'll wake up, possibly worse than when she-'

No, I won't think about that. Not yet... I'm... not ready....

Naruto shook his head to clear it, and looked at Sakura's pale face, her chest just barely rising and lowering, rising and lowering, rising, lowering...

Lowering...

Wasn't it supposed to be rising by now? Was she dying? Would she die? Then he'd have murdered her, and her blood would be on his hands, and he would-

"Sa-Sakura-chan?" Naruto stood, running over to the bed with wide eyes. "Doc-"

Rising. Lowering... Rising.

Lowering...

...Rising.

Naruto sighed in relief and returned to his chair, gladdened beyond anything he'd felt before. She'd almost died... But she was still alive... And that was enough, for now.

For now, all she needed to do was live.

"Naruto-kun?"

Naruto blinked, and opened his eyes. White tile, somebody's shoes... He looked up to see Lee's concerned face. He frowned and shook his head, waving his friend off.

"I'm not, Lee... How is she? What time is it?"

Lee drooped, and pointed to the window. Sakura wasn't any better, and it was dark out. Naruto felt like he'd awakened from the dead. "When... when did I fall asleep?"

"You... fell asleep right after lunch. Ino-san visited just after you did, and stayed for a while. Iruka-sensei also visited. Kakashi-sensei still hasn't come..."

Naruto mentally swore. Kakashi still hadn't come to see her, not once. The bastard, high and mighty with his damn jounin missions, couldn't even come to see his student when she lay in some sort of vegetable coma-thing.

Another time where that damn bastard had something else to do first, apparently.

--End--

A/N - Another fic... I'm guilty! I think this is it, though. At least I'm writing! I don't think I'm at my best right now, so I'll just take a break for a while. I'll update Nami and this periodically, because they're easier to write. Friends is one that takes a while to write a good chapter, and I wouldn't dare touch it while not at my best. JtI, however, won't be posted until I'm finished the whole thing, all three books of it. Sorry!

At least you can tell me if you like this one.