...she was wearing an expression of pure terror and panic. Her mouth was moving, and yet he could hear no words.
Hey everyone! This is my first ever published fanfic! so please go easy on me, no flames! just some constructive criticism would be great :D This is the first chapter, i know its kind of short and maybe not my best work but if i get enough reviews i'll continue it.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: i, like so many others, do not own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden or any other characters mentioned in this story that i didn't make up myself.
Chapter One
It was dark. Naruto found this strange, seeing as though he had just been standing around in broad day light a moment ago. He felt the pressure of silence and emptiness pushing down on his body. His eardrums were thumping, and he could feel the veins in his head beginning to thud along as well. He tried to rub his head as an attempt to ease the constant and irritating pounding, but found his limbs all of a sudden immobile. It was as though an outside force was holding them down to his side, resisting the messages from Naruto's brain to his arms.
His entire body felt as though it was being pushed to the floor, and the relaxing numbness he had been experiencing was replaced by a strange tingling sensation in his muscles. He wanted to close his eyes to ignore the sickening feeling it caused his stomach, but realised that they were already shut. For some reason Naruto was nervous about opening them and seeing were he lay, though he instantly felt stupid and so slowly lifted his eye lids to a rather surprising sight.
It was as though an imaginary button had been pressed and the world was now in slow motion. He saw a big cloud of earth suddenly erupt from the ground. The nearby trees gradually split in half, sending shards of bark gliding out in all directions, like small spears. The ground seemed to vibrate, but he couldn't hear any explosion. His vision began to focus a bit more, and he could see a pink haired girl running towards him through all the commotion.
It was Sakura, and she was wearing an expression of pure terror and panic. Her mouth was moving, and yet he could hear no words. She bent down and put one hand to her mouth, and with the other reached out, as if to touch him but snapped it back. It seemed as though she was too scared to touch him, but why? Faintly, he began to hear soft echo-like sobbing. He lowered his gaze to his body to see what was wrong. It was at that exact moment that everything flooded back into him.
The memory of a battle and a blinding rage, had it been his or someone else's? Sound, he could hear the loud, heart breaking cries of Sakura who had turned away covering her face. And above all else he could feel pain. Every inch of his body felt as though a red hot cattle prod was rubbing against it. It stung. No, words could not even describe this pain. He let out a blood curdling scream that just wouldn't stop. He longed for the numbness of the void. He'd give anything just so he would never have to feel this pain again.
Sakura seemed to snap out of her trance at the sound of his voice and quickly spun around. She placed her hands on his chest, causing him to scream louder as he tried to beat her away. But she closed her eyes tightly and her hands glowed bright green as she began the healing process. That was it; the pain was too much. Naruto gradually began to faint, but with the image of his body left fresh in his mind. For where his skin used to be was nothing but a red, almost raw substance, like his own body had begun to be sucked away. Slowly the feeling of numbness returned to him, and the void pressed down against him once again.
The night had been a still and quiet one at the hospital. The sterile halls remained empty except for the faint smell of detergent and disinfectant that lingered in the air. The unfilled chairs of the waiting room stood still, ridged and cold. The young nurse yawned as she restocked the magazine stand and put out some fresh flowers. Her great sense of boredom was for a moment replaced by a small amount of pleasure. Maybe she could bring some happiness into the room that caused sadness and pain for so many others who had to wait for news about their loved ones.
The nurse left the dreary room and roamed the desolate walkway, her footsteps echoing through the vast corridors highlighting the largeness of the building. She would occasionally glance into the wards as she passed. Each time there was an empty bed a shiver would tingle down her spine. She couldn't help but feel as though the neatly folded sheets and newly covered pillows had a ghostly atmosphere about them. Almost like a constant reminder of all the fatally ill people who had laid there in the past.
The nurse finally made it back to her small desk at the front of the building and sat down to drink her nice, warm cup of tea. The clocked stroked midnight and a loud ringing bounced through the hollow foundations of the hospital making her jump and slop her tea down her front.
'Damn clock' she muttered as she tried to mop it up with a tissue. She starred up at the round face, noting how the big hand and little hand both pointed upwards. Her eyes narrowed at the thought of all the lucky people who were in their comfortable beds sleeping away. A yawn escaped from her lips again. She sunk down into her chair and her eyes began to flutter as she slowly...drifted...off...
BANG! The two glass doors swung open, making her once again jump. A pink haired girl ran up to the desk covered in dirt, dried blood stains and tears pouring from her eyes. The girl started blubbering incoherent words, luckily the nurse had had much experience with people like this.
'Okay, okay shhh clam down', the nurse said in a soothing tone, coming around and sitting the girl down into a chair. 'Now come on...sorry what's your name?' she asked sweetly. The pink haired girl tried to steady her breathing, and then whispered slowly.
'My-My name is...Sakura'
'Oh, Sakura that's a nice name. Now, tell me what's wrong 'The girl stared back at her confused, as though the nurse was missing something important.
'Don't worry about me!' she yelled, 'Naruto! Naruto, he's out there! I couldn't carry him any further, you need to help him!' her green eyes starred at her pleadingly.
The nurse rushed out and gasped when she saw a young, blond teenage boy lying on the floor. She rushed back indoors and pressed the emergency button, whilst demanding help from anyone in the facility on her two-way radio. She then hurried back to the boy, with Sakura following her trail. Soon after, a stretcher was brought out and Naruto was heaved onto it. Once inside the nurse gasped at what she saw. Patches of the boy's skin was gone, as though it had been ripped away.
Sakura began to sob again, 'I-I tried to heal him as best as I could', she said between breaths, 'but I just...' she began to trail off. Naruto was wheeled into an emergency room and Sakura was told to wait outside. The nurse tended to her as best she could, and led her to an empty bed, advising her to get some rest. Once, she was certain that Sakura would be alright, she returned to the emergency room , waiting outside curious as to what had happened to the poor boy.
It seemed as though hours had passed before an angry looking blond woman came storming in her direction with a grey-haired shinobi, wearing a mask over his eye, hot on her trail. The nurse was surprised when she realised that the woman was none other the Hokage herself. Tsunade halted a little way from the door and turned back to the man.
'So there were five this time, correct?' she murmured. The man replied in the affirmative.
'It took almost all of the chakra I had to seal him...Sakura couldn't even heal him completely', the Hokage seemed to tense up at this piece of news.
'I see...' she replied softly. The shinobi's eyes suddenly rested on the young nurse and he coughed indicating to the Hokage that they were not alone. Tsunade looked over her shoulder and gave her a piercing stare, causing her to look away as though caught doing something she knew she shouldn't.
'Well...try and contact Jiraya, wherever that goofball is. He seems to know more about this than anyone'. She turned away and walked straight past the nurse. As the other man hurried off in the opposite direction, she found herself full of wonder. Who exactly was this boy? And why was he so important that the Hokage had come to see him? She returned to her desk mulling over what an interesting shift this had turned out to be.
Well there you go! hope you all enjoyed it! remember, first time uploading on fanfiction, so no flames :D