She didn't know where she was at when her eyes opened to an unfamiliar ceiling. The area around her chest and rib cage ached like hell, and her body seemed too stiff to move. It was as if she hadn't moved in a long while – the girl thought. The soft pitter patters of the rain clunked heavily upon the metallic ceilings, and wherever she was at smelled a bit stale with a thick air of humidity in it. It made her lungs breathed them in slowly as if she has some sort of smoking problem. The girl craned her neck.
On her side was an opened, dull green box that has medical supplies in them. Underneath the first air appeared to be some sort of light green mat that extended towards the stone-like and cracked walls.
Was this place some sort of village in the countryside of Europe? The girl wondered. But then, she remembered that she hadn't been to Europe or Asia for a few years now. So why exactly was she here in an unknown place, and not the safety of her city in America?
Without straining her painfully, stinging torso; the girl clenched her teeth and groaned as she tried to bend her knees. Then she used her elbows to push herself up. "Chee…!"
'God damn, that hurts!' She panted heavily, albeit somehow managed to sit straight up. Shakily, her arm moved to touch her chest, only to find that it was garbed in moist bandages and not her actual shirt. She flinched and her breath hitched. A sense of dread crawled from the core of her gut to the underneath of her skin. It brought a horrific chill down her spine, afraid to see what had happened to herself and why she was like this. 'Oh, god. Please, please don't let it be like this….' Hesitantly, she looked down.
Wrapped around her shoulders and her entire mid-section were those gauges stained with dark red blood. Why… Why was she bleeding..!? Did she get into some sort of accident or – or maybe someone stabbed her? The girl couldn't remember. No matter how hard her mind tried, she just could not remember! Her family, her friends, her school; where were they!? She tried to speak, but the breathlessness and parched throat stopped her from doing so. Could she get up? No, it hurt too much! Where was the person who owned this place? Who was—?
The door creaked from behind her, but her body throbbed too much for the girl to look back.
"You shouldn't be up!" A woman's voice shouted, followed by heavy footsteps.
The girl saw a lady with long, blue-colored hair that parted on the middle and slanted dark brown eyes. She appeared to be Japanese from her face, eye and body shape with somewhat tan skin. But how was able to understand Japanese? That was what the girl was wondering as she felt the woman's hands urged her back down. She just couldn't think straight at the moment. Was this woman her savior? Why was she in Japan? And which part of Japan was this? "W, water…" The pre-teen croaked. Her breathing was heavy to the point that it sounded like she was loudly heaving. The woman slowly helped her drink from a glass cup, which felt oh so great!
The freshness of the cold, pure water! It was like jumping into a cool pool in a very hot and sunny day – relieving the girl of any discomfort and thirst from dehydration. She coughed and panted with an, ah.
"…Thank you…." She stared at the woman with grateful eyes; finally, the brunette could now talk.
"Are you feeling any pain, right now?" The lady, who appeared to be in her late twenties, furrowed her brows and frowned. "I have some pain killers and some broth for you to drink. What is your name?"
The girl sighed from the wave of exhaustion, so she closed her eyes and muttered, "Ren. Ren Phuong. Who are you?" Ren questioned. She didn't want to be left in the dark, especially after being saved from this really nice lady. Like, could someone give a golden metal for her selflessness? Maybe it was just her sleep thinking, but it really could be a good moment for this, right now. Ren listened closely to the alto voice as she slowly gave into sleep. "My name's Tsunami. Can you tell me what happened? Who hurt you and why?" Miss Tsunami's tone sounded very worried and scared, Ren duly noted. The sleepiness was making her feel lazy. Or was it nonchalant? She didn't know. The girl was too tired to care, but…
"I...cannot remember..." Feeling her breaths slowing to an even pace, Ren gave into the dreamless slumber and away from the agony and pain. "I don't know… Can't remember… Where's family - and friends….?"
The next time Ren woke up, it was somewhat brighter outside, given that the rain has stopped and it was now only cloudy today for wherever she was at. She realized that the pain she felt yesterday was now dulled down to a slight sting or ache. Ren wasn't sure how to describe these pains since this was her first time, excluding her vigorous sports and activities. Although hesitantly, she contrived to sit up, again; yet instead shuffled on her butt towards the Genkan. There were a few pairs of slippers and her Hunter boots at the end of the right side; her bag on what she assumed were the tatami mats above it. Did Miss Tsunami go through her things? Ren wasn't sure, but at least, she was thankful to still have her stuff.
Scooting to the end, the girl stepped into the slippers before she shuffled her way towards the door.
Her body movements seemed to be very sluggish and numbing as if she was extremely low on energy. Ren leisurely grabbed the door handle and swung it open. From what her ears perceived, the slight clanks of kitchenware and chopping could be heard down the hallway, where a small flight of stairs leads to the so-called kitchen. Ren followed the noises. Knowing that she's in good hands and that she'll live, the girl's mood lifted up tremendously from the shock that she had pulled the day before today.
She walked like a penguin down the five steps and stood on top of the wooden floor.
It was like the room Ren was in before with the actual floor and the Genkan, only that the concrete Genkan here has a dinner of eight chairs on the center and the counters with the kitchen stove and sink up against the walls. Miss Tsunami was chopping up vegetables alone in this house. Ren cleared her throat after she found no not-so-awkward-way to get the lady's attention. Tsunami whipped her head towards the girl in shock. "M, morning…" Ren tried not to fidget under her gaze.
"You're awake." Tsunami rushed to her side. She helped the girl down and got her to sit on the closest chair. "That's good. I was pretty worried when you didn't wake up for the past few days—"
"—wait, what…?"
"But I'm glad to see that your body is healing well." Tsunami smiled happily before she headed back to the kitchen section. "I'll go warm up some broth and get water for you. Do you still feel any more pain?"
"A little." Ren lightly touched her wound, too scared to press and feel any pain. She wondered what had happened. "Um, can you tell me what kind of injury this is?"
Thanking for the warm water, the girl drank it slowly as it soothed her parched throat. It has been sounding very ugly and like an old lady this whole time. She grimaced at her death-like cough. Tsunami answered, "I stitched up a big gash on your chest and found out that you heavily bruise the lower three ribs of your ribcage. You said that you didn't remember what happened, right?" Ren said no, making the woman hummed in suspicion. Maybe it was because of trauma that Ren went through, which made her forgot about the entire incident? Otherwise, if it was amnesia, Ren wouldn't have been able to remember her name at the least. "Well, that's odd."
"It is." Nodding, the girl agree. She asked a question before she sipped some water. "Sorry to bother you about this, but can you tell where we're at? I don't remember such a place like this before…"
Which was true; however, Ren did not have the heart to mention how poorly developed this village in Japan was possible done. After all, Japanese people were known for the technology and scientific achievements. There should be some more, but the girl couldn't remember them all. She wasn't that into the other country's culture, other than the basics. Looking around, Ren noticed that there was a lone picture hanging next to the stairway, and it was ripped where a missing person was at. On the other hand, this picture seemed to be familiar for some reason, too. "The Land of Waves."
"Hu-!?" Ren choked on her water.
Thanks to the injury, hitting her chest to ease the fit would be a huge no-no, but… "The Land of Waves!?" Ren landed her wide eyes on the woman's back. Miss Tsunami had to be kidding! There was no such thing of the Land of Waves, other than the anime that her older brother and sisters used to watch. Calming herself, the girl tried to reason. Maybe she was only joking around or something – she thought. But then, what kind of person like Tsunami would joke… "Uh…" Sneaking a nervous glance at the lady, the urge to ignore the confrontation made her pause for a while. She forced herself to talk. "You're not playing around or pranking me, right….?"
"What do you mean?" Tsunami blinked with a confused expression.
The Phuong didn't know how to react or feel about this. It was like it froze as it tried to protect her from something, something that she wouldn't like to experience or go through. Ren wasn't sure, but honestly, she was really worried and scared. How was she supposed to approach this situation? Should she ask questions about…? Oh. Holding the cup between her hands, the girl stared into the water's reflection. She realized that she was holding her breath, although Ren didn't have the guts to breathe. "…Um, can you – does anyone else live in this house, with you?"
Thankfully, Tsunami let it slide, much to her relief. She was cooking something that Ren wasn't sure of. "Yes," the lady answered, "my son, Inari, and my dad lives with me. They should be at the bridge right now."
"…Oh." Wide, brown eyes lingered on the liquid. Many thoughts were going through her head as she tried to sort things out. Like what was going on? How did she get here? How in the world could this place exist?
This was bad. This was like for real, like really bad.
Ren's respiratory was shallow and painfully dawdling. There were too many how's and what's in her mind. So many questions but no answers to satiate her increasing curiosity.
But all she knew that she was in the Naruto-verse.
Does not own the Manga/Anime, but the OCs and future drawing belongs to me.
In need of Editor/Beta Reader! Thank you for reading! Please, Like/Comment/Critic!