Chapter 1: Steel Doors

I took a slow, deep breath as I stared at the hospital. This was my first day on the job. As a registered nurse one is able to work in any part of the medical field, whether it is pediatric or geriatric, cardiology or oncology -the playing field has a wide field of options. But as for me…the area I chose was far more advanced, far more mentally perplexing, and far more dangerous.

*This place looks like it's from the 1700's…* I thought to myself. I swallowed my spit and it painfully tried to force itself through my esophagus; anything to ease my nerves. I watched my feet as I walked up the collapsing concrete stairs. The hospital was very secluded as a result of the individuals it held. Maybe that was why when I made it to the top of the stairs I stopped at a count of 300.

"Phew!" I panted as I wiped the sweat from my forehead. It didn't help that it was humid outside either. That muggy feel like it was about to rain.

"Oh wow…" A jaw dropping inhale was all my brain could spark as my eyes mistrusted what they were seeing. The hospital that I was finally allowed to see was enormous. Its proximity isn't what startled me though; it was the fact that I knew it was from the 1700's now. The place was falling apart! Weather damaged bricks were scattered before my feet making the path to the entrance challenging as I cautiously marched forward. Vines grew over the bricks and a layer of dust shrouded over its surface like a dark concealment. My mind continued to believe what I was seeing was definitely from a horror story as I noticed daunting gray clouds on the horizon.

"I hope it doesn't storm tonight -OHH SHIT!" A blinding white light followed by a loud roar of thunder nearly stopped my heart. Adrenaline pumping and knees shaking I darted for the main entrance before the rain started to pour.

"Hello…HELLO!? Anybody!" I was frantically pressing the white button and screaming into the speaker at this point, hoping someone could sense the urgency in my voice.

"Ma'am calm down, how can I help you?" Sounded like an older woman, an annoyed one at that.

"H-Hi I'm sorry, my name is Sakura Haruno. I am here for my first day of employment." A long silence went by. If she heard me the first distressing time, then she had to hear me the second time. I considered pressing that button once more, but that first outburst clearly didn't make a good impression. I was frightened by a loud creaking noise that seemed to last for an extensive period. I leaned back and seen two large doors begin to open. I jogged over to them and waited for their launch to finish. Clearly they have not been unfastened in a very long while. Standing there terrified, all I could see was darkness beyond those doors. A final squeal was produced as the massive doors locked in place. I began to walk towards the darkness truly inspecting the doors with each unsteady step.

*Steel. These doors are made out of steel.* with that thought I swallowed my spit once more. My heart was beating out of my chest and my stomach was in turmoil. Evidently my body was telling me to run, to get the hell away from there as quickly as possible. But my mind is much more persistent and would not heed. And with that stubbornness I was merely steps away from entering into that eerie darkness. The sound of something electronic ticked my ear and I looked up to my right to see a camera on the wall facing at me. I continued walking forward as I watched it watch me walk into the hospital. A loud buzz went off and that loud creaking noise returned once more as the steel doors began to close. I turned around to watch them, and to see the beginnings of a torrential down pour begin to unfold.

*Looks like I made it in just in time.* the doors finally shut and I closed my eyes to try to take a calming breath. When I opened them back up I blinked twice; my pupils constricted and my eyes mistrusted what was in sight once more. Dents on these steel doors, but not only dents…blood; lines of blood, as if they came from someone scratching… torn nails from flesh.

"Ms. Haruno?" A gasp from being severed from my inner thoughts came out. I turned quickly to see a welcoming man smiling at me. What I had anticipated in that split second, for his voice sounded comforting…ordinary.

"Oh, I'm sorry if I frightened you…" the man said. He looked over at the door and realized what I was staring at. He rubbed the back of his head and laughed a little.

"Yeah not the best thing to see on your first day is it?" Trying to humor me actually worked. A sweat drop formed on the back of my head I giggled a little; couldn't let him see that for a moment, I was weak.

"I presume it should be expected in a place like this. I apologize for not adapting immediately." Couldn't have two bad first impressions, the first one over the speaker probably made me seem crazy enough.

"No Ms. Haruno no need to apologize! I will have one of my boys come clean this up. I thought I told one of them already…" He said irritably with his arms crossed. I noticed the red pressure point on his head and laughed. He instantly lost his annoyance after I laughed and glared at me.

*Uh…* I immediately stopped laughing and squeaked leaning back a little. He smiled and reached his hand out towards me.

"My name is Iruka Umino, I run this place." Eyes wide in surprise I shook his hand feebly. Such a feat to surmount; and how this man of no more than 30 did so was beyond me.

"I can see you're surprised. My father recently passed away so I took over. I pretty much grew up here so I know the ins and outs. This hospital has been passed down in my family for generations." How someone could basically grow up in a place like this and be so cheery had me dumbfounded.

"I see I will be learning from the best!" I said thankfully. How could of I acted any other way with a jubilant guy like him? Iruka smiled and put his arm around my shoulder.

"With an attitude like that you will do just fine. Let me show you around Ms. Haruno." I blushed a little at his gesture. He seemed more paternal about it though, so it didn't bother me.

"You can call me 'Sakura' if you'd like Mr. Umino sir." Iruka lifted his eye brow and smirked at me.

"As long as you can call me 'Iruka' then. No one refers to one another as Mr. or Ms. around here anyways. We're like a big family; we all rely on each other…especially if one of our patients gets out of hand. We need to be about helping each other no matter what around here, or someone could seriously get injured and everyone knows it. Always abide by that mentality no matter what ok Sakura? Leave any petty problems or disagreements at the door when you clock in for work." At this point Iruka was kneeling in front of me with his hands on my shoulders. He was looking directly into my eyes. I was just leaning back awkwardly returning his stare.

*Hope he doesn't see me blushing!* I nodded my head up and down and he stood back up.

"Thank you Sakura." Iruka said. I followed closely behind as we both weaved through the hospital's dimly lit corridors. Quite a few minutes went by; unfortunately I wasn't sure how long since my watch seemed to have stopped working.

"Here we are." Iruka stared at what was another pair of steel doors. These were just as large as the entrance.

"My goodness these are just like the ones out front!" I exclaimed. Iruka put his hands on his hips and smirked.

"Yup, 20 feet to be exact!" I estimated that much when I had seen the first set out front. Iruka took a deep sigh and I looked over at him. I could sense some nervousness emitting from him. With that I quickly felt it coming on myself and looked back at the doors.

"S-So, this is the sector I will be working in?" Iruka looked over at me and sighed once more. It felt like he was miles apart from me. He was very uneasy.

"Ages 16-25…the most dangerous of them all." Iruka rubbed his forehead with his index finger and thumb as some sort of tension relief. I gulped at the word 'dangerous'.

"So this hospital consists of subdivisions according to age?" I asked. Iruka nodded.

"Yes, all ages from young to old. Generally speaking, the age of the patient usually dictates the severity of their psychological handicap. Along with age comes strength as well. Our teenagers and young adults are at the prime of their physical development, so they are the hardest to handle. Also, their brains are not fully developed in regards to cognitive skills, another reason why they are the hardest to handle. With this combination they are tremendously hazardous."

"Oh I see. I always assumed they would be divided in regards to severity, not age. But you prove a good point on why you do it this way." Iruka sighed once more.

"No you're right Sakura. Typically any mental hospital would do it that way. You remember well from your schooling. But as the rumors have told you, we take the wickedest of all cases. They come here when no other hospital can handle them. We strongly believe that the brutality of their cerebral state has to do with brain development, age being a precursor to their actions and mental processes." I nodded in agreement. Iruka seemed like he knew what he was talking about. I felt as if I could trust him whole heartedly. But no wonder this place was isolated. No wonder I needed a special badge to get in the main a gate…no wonder this place was full of 20 foot steel doors. Speaking of steel doors, I heard that peculiar creaking noise again.

"Take in everything you see and hear little by little ok Sakura?" Iruka said. I could hear some uneasiness in his voice again. A blinding white light shined through the middle of the doors as they opened. I held my hand over my eyes trying to get a better view. Iruka walked over doing the same thing with his hand.

"The sectors that our patients are in must be very well lit! To save money on electricity, we keep the lights in the hallways dim!" He yelled over the creaking of the doors. That final squeal was produced by the doors as they locked in place and I began to walk inside. Their sound was all too familiar with me even though I had only heard them open once before.

"Hold up Sakura, let me walk with you! Stay close!" Iruka said jogging up to my side. A camera watched us both walk inside the white light and that responsive buzz went off. The steel doors closed. My ears ticked, and my eyes shifted…observing. Iruka put his hand on my shoulder as he took a puff off of his cigarette. He knew this could've potentially fucked me up mentally if I weren't mentally resilient. This room was lit up a bright white. The walls were white, and the tiles on the floor were a light blue. Like an operating room feel. It was unnerving. Patients were housed behind a 2 inch thick glass; more than likely bullet proof. A small bed, stainless steel sink, and stainless steel toilet were provided. Outside of each so called 'room' they lived in was another one of the speakers with that white button.

*Must be how the nurses communicate with them for safety. * I thought.

"This sector can house 100." Iruka took his last puff and threw the cigarette on the ground. He squashed it with his foot and stretched his arms towards the ceiling. His comforting hand left my shoulder. I looked down at my empty shoulder and up at him. He smiled and put his hands in his pockets.

"Shall we?" Iruka started walking and I followed behind thoroughly observing the patients. My training from college took over and I got into the RN state of mind.

"WOAH WHAT THE FUCK? H-HEY GET BACK HERE LADY!" What seemed to be a patient flew from around the corner and slammed into me. I fell but caught myself with my hands as my pupils constricted once more. A bad feeling came over me. Something I sensed from that patient. Shortly after, a young man with blond hair and captivating blue eyes slid around the corner. Time seemed to go in slow motion as he made eye contact with me. I could see in his eyes that he was asking 'who is that?' His cheek had a large red mark on it. Time returned to its usual state and he dashed towards the patient.

"DAMN IT NARUTO!" Iruka screamed. By that time Naruto was trying to restrain the patient. The loose white gown was easy for her to slip around in making it hard from him to wrap his arms around her. I wasn't sure how, his arms were very muscular. Demonic screams escaped from her lungs as she kept slamming her shoulder against the steel door. The same spot each time. Slowly but surely she was forming a dent. Easily she maneuvered herself between Iruka and Naruto. Images of the steel doors at the entrance flashed back to my attention. I looked at her hands and seen bandaged fingers.

*That is her! She did that to the entrance doors!* my mind was screaming but my mouth stayed silent.

"Iruka I got her! Give her the stuff!" Naruto was sitting on her back. With one hand he was holding both of her wrists like handcuffs, and with the other hand holding the back of her head to pin her face against the ground. Iruka pulled a syringe out of his pocket and pulled the cap off with his teeth. He shoved it into her neck aggressively. The vein in her neck looked like it was going to burst through her skin. She made eye contact with me. She looked manic, possessed. Then in a matter of seconds…she was out.

"I-I'm sorry Iruka! I gave her a shower and she cooperated fine. But when I tried to put her back in her room she punched me in the face and took off!" Naruto and Iruka argued back and forth for a few minutes. I processed what just happened and began to help myself up. The boys heard me grunt in pain and Naruto ran over. He grabbed my hand and put his arm around my back.

"Hey I'm really sorry about that are you ok?" He talked loud. He seemed a bit spazy too.

"Don't apologize, its ok, N-Naruto right?" He smiled and I blushed realizing he was still holding my hand so…well like a gentleman would. He smelt nice, and he looked well-built too. I could see it through his scrubs.

"Naruto this is my new hire, Sakura Haruno. Sakura this is Naruto Uzumaki." Iruka was smoking another cigarette.

"Hey nice to meet you Sakura..." Iruka crossed his arms and began tapping his foot. He could see that look in Naruto's eyes; curiosity, caring, something that Iruka was not in the mood for. Not after that slip up. The tapping caught Naruto's attention. That pissed look on Iruka's face wasn't any better. The burning cigarette that was hanging out of his mouth completed it. Naruto swiftly jumped away and looked back over at me.

"Oh! Well I got to finish the showers, see you soon ok!" Naruto jogged over to the unconscious girl and carefully picked her up bridal style. I admired how gentle he was with her. Iruka and I followed behind Naruto around the corner. I watched discretely as he placed her in her bed. Then he pulled a remote out of his pocket as he left the room. A glass wall sealed the room seconds after. He walked a few steps to the room next door and used the same remote to open the glass. A petite girl with long black hair and hypnotic lavender eyes housed there. She was looking away. It seemed like it was hard for her to breathe.

"Come on, Hinata." His voice was very, very soft with her. She scooted to the corner of her bed and curled up into a ball.

"It's ok Hinata, I won't look." He walked into her room and gently took her hand to pull her off the bed. She did not fight him. He walked ahead of Iruka and me through the hallway holding her hand the whole time. She was blushing immensely at this point. Naruto had a smile on his face the entire time. I picked up speed so I was walking close next to Iruka.

"He is very pleasant with her." I said. He seemed to care about her. It gave me a warm feeling inside. He respected her, psychologically handicapped or not.

"Yeah he's good kid. He treats my patients exceptionally. He actually cares y'know? I can tell he loves his job." Iruka smiled.

"So I assume he bathes all of the patients in this sector?" Iruka nodded.

"He has to with his own hands. There is too much worry of self-harm from the patients otherwise. But with her there's an exception. That girl is Hinata Hyuga. You could see from the color of her face that she is quite taken by Naruto. And you could also see that Naruto handles her on a more delicate level. Normally of course I would have an issue with any of my employees forming a partiality with one of my patients. But this is a bit different, see, Naruto knew her outside of this place. He knew her before she was ever put into any hospital." Iruka looked down. I gave him a puzzling look.

"Oh my…" If I was working here then I was going to find out about all of the patients. I had to ask.

"What's her story?" It felt like I was crossing a line by asking. Iruka seemed disturbed when speaking about her.

"Very long story short, she was raped. It fucked her up so badly that now she is here. She was in a much less severe hospital of course. I mean she would never harm herself or anyone else…unless needed…but that's a different story. According to Naruto, she has a special gift. He demanded to have her transferred here once he found out. She is a special case if you will. She is part of only a handful of patients in this hospital that is allowed to bathe themself with their own hands. Naruto must stand in there with her of course, that's protocol, but he turns away out of respect. You will learn that a lot of these patients have a special gift. But with an unstable mentality comes misuse of that gift." Iruka seemed different now; seemed internally focused.

*Poor thing…* hearing the word 'rape' made my pupils constrict, a heartbeat was skipped. But now it really made me feel at ease that Naruto was so tender with her. He took care of her so well. She needed that if she is ever going to recover, ever going to trust. As we both continued to walk down the hallway I see a very long hallway to the right. It looked as if no patients were housed there. But all the way at the end in the left hand corner was a room that was completely dark. As if the lights were off on purpose. My lips parted…that small action when something speaks to a person's soul…it took my breath away.

"Hey Iruka…" I stopped walking and tugged on his sleeve like a child. He stopped and looked at my eyes, then redirected his focus down that hallway.

"Iruka why is that one room on the end pitch black?" I assumed he had that horrifying reason that I was anxious to hear. Iruka sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. He opened them back up with an unwavering look in his face.

"That patient down there is Sasuke Uchiha. He is alone in this hallway because he is unsafe. No one is allowed to be housed in that hallway besides him…ever. He's really messed up Sakura. Only Naruto can handle him..." I gave Iruka a curious look and he sighed again. He knew what I wanted. But he could see the innocence and youth in my face, and it scared him.

"Later on Sakura, let's just get to the office." Iruka began walking but for some reason I couldn't take my eyes off of that dark room. The aura pouring out of that hallway filled my senses. But I abided to Iruka's wishes and started jogging to catch up to him. That dark room just wouldn't, no…couldn't leave my mind.