It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Konohagakure. Sakura Haruno was at home, finally enjoying her free time after a busy week at her pediatric clinic. Helping children is something she deeply enjoyed, and she would treat them for free if they were orphans whose parents died in the Fourth Shinobi World War. A few minutes later, she heard footsteps on the stair and smiled. She knew that her daughter, Sarada, descended.

"Mother, can I borrow one of your books?"

"Sure, sweetie! What book?" Sarada was the bookish type, wanting to know all there is to know about the world. Sakura believed that Sarada should go out more and mingle with children of her age.

"Fourth Shinobi World War: The Causes!" Sakura frowned. "Why would you want to read such a dark book? I told you everything about the war."

"I know but if I read this book, it would be like daddy would be here with me!" Sarada smiled. The pink haired kunoichi was saddened however. Sasuke was never around. His last visit was years ago, when Sarada was so little she wouldn't remember him. She rose from the sofa and took one of the many books in the library. "Here it is."

"Thank you, mommy!" Sarada took the book and went back to her room.

Sasuke… Please, return home. She needs her father!

Meantime, in the Hokage's office, Naruto worked at his computer, even though he despised doing that. He wanted to be out there, training, fighting, spending more time with his family, not doing paperwork and reading e-mails. However, he was the Hokage, and paperwork was part of his job as the leader of Konohagakure. Man, I always wanted to become Hokage but now that I am… It's not so fun anymore! Suddenly, the door was almost kicked down by Shikamaru, who entered Naruto's office in a hurry!

"Shikamaru, what happened?" Naruto went straight to his assistant! "You almost destroyed the door!"

"Sorry, Naruto, but it is an emergency!"

"When it's not an emergency… So, what happened?"

"Naruto… It's… It's…"

Naruto got angry. "Tell me, man! What is it? Jeez, sometimes you are such a weirdo, believe it!"

"It's about Sasuke!" Naruto froze. Sasuke was his best friend, the man for whom he sacrificed his right arm. "What happened with Sasuke? Tell me, Shikamaru!" Naruto picked Shikamaru from his shoulders and started to shake him.

"Calm down, Naruto. Sasuke… he is very ill." If a huge anvil would fall from the sky and hit Naruto in the head, he wouldn't suffer as much as he suffered after hearing these words. Sasuke… "But, how?"

"Apparently, it's the same disease that his brother, Itachi, suffered from."

"But if it is the same disease that Itachi had, that means that Sasuke will… No, it is impossible! I refuse to believe it! Where is he now? Is he in the village?"

"Yes, he is. Sasuke was in a small village at the border between Land of Fire and Land of Rain when he fainted. In that village, it was an Amegakure garrison. A shinobi recognized him and sent a message to our village. With the new alliance between Konoha and Ame, it was the sensible thing to do."

"But… How would you know it is the same disease? Maybe he fainted from lack of sleep or food or…" Naruto was interrupted by the grim look on Shikamaru's face.

"Tsunade-sama confirmed it. Looks like this disease plagued the Uchiha for centuries. It is something generated by their Sharingan and strong chakra. It runs in their blood."

"No… Where is Sasuke now?"

"At the hospital, in a special ward. It is not contagious, but we wouldn't want someone to hurt him. Even now, there are people in Konoha that despise Uchiha."

"Good call… Shikamaru… Let me inform Sakura-chan before going to the hospital."

"Of course, Naruto. Go! I will stay here and work while you are there."

"Thank you, my friend! But… It is a lot!"

"Well, it's troublesome but someone has to do it."

Naruto smiled and left his office and the Hokage building. While walking, he entered into some kind of trance. He woke up inside him, where Kurama, the Nine-Tails, awaited.

"Kurama! You must help Sasuke. You know everything! Surely there is something that you can do to save him!"

"Naruto… If the Uchiha brat is suffering from that, he is as good as dead! This affliction is centuries old, and affects only them. It is one of their curses. Three out of ten Uchiha suffered and died from it. It's like leukemia, only with this disease, the chakra starts to attack the body. There is nothing I can do!"

"But… We can use our Six Paths power! I saved Guy-sensei with it, didn't I?" The fox sighed:

"It is true, but you restored his body, which was injured. You can mend wounds with the Yang Release, not cure diseases, especially not the chakra-affecting kind. That would require knowledge beyond anything I know about the Uchiha!"

"Bah… Stupid Kurama! You don't know anything!"

"Shut up! You can heal the damage the chakra is doing to his internal organs! That would prolong his life. But there is a limit to that too. If the cells multiply too fast in too little time, he would die as well!"

"Finally a good idea! Thank you, Kurama! Sorry for lashing out at you!"

"Hmm… Fine!"

Back in the external world, Naruto reached for Sakura's house. He knocked at the door and his former teammate from Team 7 opened the door.

"Naruto! Hey! Long time no see! Finally, you decided to visit after so long! Come in!"

"Thanks, Sakura-chan…" Naruto entered the house and sat on the couch. His face was white as milk.

"You look awful, Naruto. You should rest. I know you are the Hokage and all, but hey, we all have to take a break for a while! It's Sunday, have fun with the kids and you know… other kind of fun with Hinata!"

Naruto blushed. "Sakura-chan, that's so naughty. But… it's not about that. It's about Sasuke!" Sakura was in awe. Her heart started to pound. "Naruto, where is Sasuke?"

"He's… He's… Kami… He is in the hospital. He is sick!" Sakura's mouth opened, trying to speak but no word managed to exit her mouth. "Apparently, Granny Tsunade checked him, ran some tests and all that and she discovered that he suffers from that illness Itachi had…" Suddenly, Sakura exited the house in a hurry. "Wait! Sakura-chan!" Naruto followed her quickly.

At the hospital, an entire wing was dedicated to Sasuke, with many guards posted on the halls, all Chunin-level or higher. Sakura ran desperately towards her husband's room. She entered, as she was a medical-nin so she had clearance. There he was… Lying on a bed, with an oxygen mask on his face, with many tubes and medical equipment attached to his body… The man she loved, the man who fathered her child, just… dying. Sakura almost fell down. In the room entered two more persons.

"Please, let me alone with my… Oh! Tsunade-shisho, Kakashi-sensei!" The two former Hokage were there, with her.

"Sakura, if there is anything we can do to help you, we will do it!" Kakashi was sad as well, seeing his former students like that, suffering.

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei." She then turned to Tsunade. "Shisho, tell me what Naruto said to me isn't true!"

"Sakura… I am afraid it is. I ran all the tests, you can do it yourself if you want. There is no doubt about it. Sakura started to cry, but after a few moments, she asked Tsunade: "How much he has left…?"

"A… A few weeks, maybe a month!" Sakura was devastated, but she knew that it is not the moment for desperation. She must do something about it, but what? If her master, Tsunade, the greatest medical-nin of the world couldn't do anything, what could she possibly do? What? Even her master, one of the Sannin was powerless… But… She was not the only Sannin.

"Tsunade-shisho… I must go, I need to do something. Please, it's ok if leave Sarada at your house?"

"Not a problem, you know that Shizune loves her very much!" After she retired from the Hokage position, she took Shizune as a housemate, both being unable to enter into relationships. "But tell me, what are you going to do?"

"Please, trust me, shisho! I will return soon!" Sakura left, without saying anything more. She knew what she had to do!