Chapter 78: An Unexpected Arrival

Disclaimer: Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I create.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 78: An Unexpected Arrival

While the two girls kept arguing, Naruto glanced at the bed on the other side of the room.

Hinata lay there, her eyes closed, with a machine connected to her mouth. A continuous beeping noise filled the room.

Naruto didn't need any knowledge of the medical devices being used here, to realize that her condition was very severe.

Noticing Naruto's gaze, the girls stopped their pointless argument.

"They brought her here a few hours ago…she's been in intensive care since yesterday," Ino said in a grave tone.

"I can't believe her own cousin left her in that state…" Sakura frowned.

Being injured by an enemy during a mission was one thing, but for her own family to do this? She couldn't understand something like that.

"You underestimate the internal conflicts of a large clan," Naruto replied. "Is she going to recover?" he asked Ino, who seemed to know more.

"The doctors said her life isn't in danger, but they don't know when she'll wake up. If she stays like this too long, there could be permanent damage," the blonde girl answered.

"Do you know what caused the Hyuga boy's anger?" Naruto tried to get a bit more information about her clan. Perhaps there was something he could do about it.

Ino shrugged. "The Hyugas are very private and would never let others know about their internal affairs. The only one who might know something is my father because he works closely with the Hokage, but…"

"He wouldn't tell you," Naruto guessed.

Ino nodded.

"Say, Naruto…" Sakura felt the need to change the topic. "Did you hear a loud noise a few minutes ago? It almost sounded like glass breaking."

"I'm surprised you heard anything, considering how loud you two were being." Naruto told her.

"Hey! We weren't that loud!" Ino retorted.

"It was nothing…I believe someone broke a window by accident," Naruto said, deciding it wasn't worth sharing what had happened with Gaara with these two. It would only serve to worry them, and there was no chance for that red-headed boy to return, now that he knew Maito Gai was close by.

However, he did wonder what Ino was planning to do, considering she must have already been informed about who her next opponent was.

Before he could ask, Ino made an angry face and pointed at him.

"I just remembered something… You're the one who called me a fool during my match, weren't you?!"

"There's no need to thank me for that," Naruto brushed her off.

"I wasn't going to thank you!" she snapped.

"I mean…he did help you, right? You were about to fall into that guy's trap," Sakura pointed out.

"I wasn't…I knew what I was…" Ino found herself at a loss for words.

"As I said…no need to thank me. I just saw you doing something foolish and called you out. Just try to be more careful next time." Naruto said in a calm manner.

Ino huffed with annoyance.

"Did Kakashi come to see you?" Naruto asked Sakura while ignoring the blonde girl glaring at him.

She nodded. "He came last night, right after my parents left. He said he's going to leave with Sasuke for most of the month so he can prepare him for the finals." Sakura sounded a bit conflicted as she told this to Naruto.

"Wait, but what about…" Ino threw him a glance.

"It's fine. I'm the one who told him to do that," Naruto said, not wanting them to pity him, especially for something he didn't need.

"You did?" Ino looked confused.

"Why would you do that? Aren't you going to train for the tournament?" Sakura was equally baffled.

"I have my own way of doing things. I don't need t—" Naruto stopped talking when he heard a loud commotion outside.

There were a lot of people talking very loudly, and the noises were getting closer.

"This way! , the last room is empty. He can rest there," a female voice said. It sounded like one of the nurses.

A group of several medical personnel with at least one or two doctors passed by their door, heading to the last room.

They could all clearly see the nurses pushing a wheeled bed with someone on it...a young man with black hair who looked very familiar.

"Wait! Is that?…" Ino thought she was imagining things.

"That did look like…" Sakura was just as puzzled.

They heard the doctor speak in a clear, stern tone to the nurses. "I don't want anyone disturbing Mister Uchiha. Is that clear? We've already called for his sensei and notified the Hokage."

"Sasuke…" Naruto narrowed his eyes.

'He's hurt?… But how? He was fine yesterday, and there were no more fights remaining.'

"Oh no! What happened to Sasuke?!" Ino exclaimed.

Sakura got out of bed in a hurry. "I have to go see him!"

"Stop, Sakura. They won't let you in. You heard what the doctor said just now," Ino reminded her.

"But…Sasuke is hurt…What happened? Who could have done that? He was fine yesterday, right?" Sakura glanced at Naruto.

"He only had a few minor injuries from his time in the forest…This means something happened to him after that," Naruto concluded.

"Someone attacked him?" Ino asked.

"Could it have been his next opponent?!" Sakura suggested.

"His next opponent is Kiba, remember? You also saw the list…so that's a no," Ino reminded her.

"They said Kakashi has been notified… I'm sure we'll find out what happened if we wait a bit longer. That would be better than guessing," Naruto said.

Sakura nodded with some reluctance.

'It looks like my trip to the mountains will have to wait a bit longer…' Naruto thought. He was also very curious to find out what had happened to his moody teammate.

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