Epilogue II

Hinata woke up once again covered in a thin layer of sweat. The nightmares had started a few days ago and it only seemed to be getting worse, but at least today she didn't wake up screaming. Usually right after she got up she was bombarded with a series of stomach cramps, a normal occurrence right after she fought off a wave of her sickness that seemed to come back every few months.

Sure enough when she threw her legs over the bed she clutched her stomach.

"Ow… This sucks… I'm all out of the medicine too…"

She got out of bed and stretched, thanking Kami that it was a Saturday and that she didn't have to go to school. She opened her door and walked into the kitchen to see if breakfast was there yet. It wasn't.

Usually this wouldn't be a concern but Naruto had made it a point to show her he still cared by making her favorite foods, usually with an inspirational note along with it. In the back of her mind she had this nagging suspicion that something was wrong, horribly wrong. She felt a shiver run up her spine and she got scared. She had only felt this way two times in her life, the first was when she was first taken to the hospital as a little girl, and the second time was right before she was in that terrible car accident with her parents and brother.

She took out her phone.

[To: Namikaze Naruto

Where are you?]

She hit send and sat in a chair in wait. It was several minutes before she got a reply, but she almost wished she never got a reply in the first place.

[From: Namikaze Naruto

Hedjlp Mefghm]

Hinata got up and ran to her brother's room, throwing open the door and letting out a scream. In front of her was Naruto, laying in a pool of bloody vomit on his futon. He was hyperventilating, his skin was a white as a sheet of paper, and his eyes were dulled.

Hinata ran to his side and tried to get him to sit up, tears flowing down her face when his skin was cold to the touch, but he just fell back down when she let go of him. She laid him on his side in case he had to vomit again while she covered him with his sheet to stop some of his shivering. She got out her phone and punched in 119 (The Japanese equivalent to 911, the emergency medical number).

She paced back and forth as the number dialed, and she tried to stifle her cries so she would be able to speak and be understood.

After what seemed like an eternity a woman on the other end picked up. "Hello, this is Shizune, what is your emergency?"

Hinata took a deep breath so she could talk between the sobs. "My name is Hinata and *sniff* my brother's sick *sniff* and he's lying on his bed *sniff* and he vomited blood *sniff* please send help!"

The woman was silent for a few seconds. "Ok, help is on their way, but I need you to stay on the line while they arrive. I need you to take a deep breath and keep talking to me, ok? Can you do that?"

Hinata did as Shizune told her to and said a quiet "Hai".

"Ok, now, I need to know if there were any symptoms before today. Any loss of appetite or sleep, or maybe a past medical history? Has he been sick lately or has he been around anyone who was sick?"

Hinata started sobbing again. "H… Hai… He hasn't been feeling well lately and I was sick not too long ago. He helped me through it and helped nurse me back to health."

Shizune sighed. "Hinata, I need you to calm down a little ok?"

Hinata shot a look at Naruto and took a few moments to calm herself. "Ok…"

The woman on the other end cleared her throat a bit. "Ok, now, I need to know what you had. Do you know what it was? If you know what it was then the doctors will have a place to start their testing and will be able to treat him faster. So, was it a cold or a flu, or was it bacterial?"

Hinata was able to respond through her sniffles. The name of her condition was seared into her memory since she was told every day that she was very lucky to have survived such a devastating illness.

"It… It's called the Kyubi no Yoko virus."

There was a silence on the other end of the line.

"Hello, are… are you still there? Please… please don't hang up…"

There was a low curse on the other end. "Sorry about that. I had to warn the paramedics. Now, are you SURE that is what it was? You have to be positive."

Hinata sat down by Naruto and stroked his hair as he began whimpering. "Hai… I've had it since I was a little girl. I was able to recover but I have small relapses every few months or so, but I have medication for it. I don't understand, I was told that my brother was immune! Why is this happening now!"

Shizune tried to calm the hysterical girl. "I don't know Hinata, but you have to calm down, for your brother. The paramedics should be there soon, and they will be able to tell you what you need to know. Stay on the line, but open the door when they get there, ok?"

Almost as if on cue the blare of sirens signaled the arrival of help. Hinata jumped up and ran to the door, throwing it open to see three men with face masks covering their noses and mouth with a stretcher.

"Hurry! He's this way! Please hurry!"

She led them to Naruto's room, and two of them went in. They checked his vitals and lifted him up to be put on the stretcher. As they were strapping him in one of them pulled Hinata aside.

"Are you the sister?"

Hinata was still watching the two men strap her brother down on the stretcher, but she was able to nod.

"Ok, now, do you have anyone you can stay with while we take him to the hospital? Perhaps a neighbor or-"

She turned her attention towards him. "NO! I want to go with him!"

The two men pulled the stretcher out of the room and signaled the third man to follow. He sighed and turned towards Hinata again.

"Look, I know you want to, but we just don't have enough room for you in the ambulance. I'm sorry, but you can't come with us."

He turned around and followed his colleagues out of the house not even letting Hinata respond. She followed them out yelling at them through her sobs and cries. The next thing she knew was that she was on her knees, watching as an ambulance drove away with her brother in the back. She didn't know how long she cried in that position, but she did know that it felt like forever.

Finally, a pair of arms helped her to her feet. She didn't fight it, and she let the person lead her to the house next door, and it was then she realized it was Sakura. Hinata looked up with her bloodshot eyes and saw a teary-eyed pink-haired girl smiling back down at her.

"Hinata, are you ok?"

Hinata nodded her head yes.

"Did you eat breakfast yet?"

Hinata shook her head no.

"Did that ambulance come for Naruto?"

Hinata again nodded her head yes.

Sakura opened the door to her house. "Ok. Here is what we are going to do. My mom is making breakfast. We are going to eat quickly, then we are going to drive to the hospital for Naruto, ok?"

Hinata weakly nodded her head in agreement.

"Hinata."

The girl looked up at Sakura.

"You need to be strong. Be strong for Naruto. He's going to pull through, I know he will, but he's going to need us to be there for him."

Hinata could only nod her head.