Chapter 1
The world spun, and the moss felt like jelly underneath my naked feet. I stumbled ahead, and grabbed every tree I passed for support, all while panting like a sick dog. My world was blank, and I had no idea of where I was, where I came from or even my own name. A few words of different meaning still seemed to float through my head, but I couldn't make them out in my current state. I was too dizzy, and too nauseous to process anything but the forrest around me, and even that in all it's emerald green made me want to hurl. Even though I had no sense of either location or my current whereabouts, I soldiered on ahead, trying to walk as straight as humanly possible, but probably ended up taking only left turns.
I stopped at a tree and threw up on the ground. My insides felt like they were on fire, and blood started dripping from my nose as I hurled my guts out. As soon as I could, I kept going with another couple of left turns. Who am I? Where am I? What am I? I could feel that I was. I could sense my own mind, and I could feel myself being. Like a machine, I was slowly waking up but with neither programming or purpose. I just was.
"Hey, there! You all right, mister?"
I tried to turn around to see who the voice that had spoken belonged to, but the effort proved too much for me and I stumbled over my own feet and fell to the ground. I think I hurled again, but it was hard to tell.
"Hey! What's wrong? You sick or something?"
"He's not looking too good, Konohamaru. We should take him back to the village", the voices continued. I could see three shadows surround me, speaking to each other in low voices, and before I knew it I was picked up by my arms and carried. The forest blurred around me, and the wind caught my hair as I was suddenly moving faster than I could even think. The speed was inhuman, but for some reason didn't feel unnatural. What am I?
I have no idea how much time passed. For all I knew it could have been five minutes, an hour, or possibly years. It was all a whirlwind of darkness and nausea, but suddenly I woke up. My head was clearer and I slowly opened my eyes to look around. A hospital room in sterile colors of white and grey surrounded me. I was tightly tucked into bed and apparently wearing a patient's gown. An IV was hooked up to my left forearm, just above a large tattoo of some strange symbols, the meaning of which I couldn't recollect for the life of me. It was strange, not knowing your own body.
I sat up, suddenly feeling how hungry I was. Whatever it was that I was suffering from, I had started to recover and moving wasn't a pain filled horror anymore. I sat my feet down on the cold floor, and tested my legs. Shakey, but stable enough to stand. I grabbed hold of the IV drip, and used it for support as I moved over to the window. The bright sun stung in my eyes as I looked out over the many buildings and houses that spread like a garden of flowers before me. It came back to me that one of my rescuers had called it a village. It seemed such a small word for such a large place.
The door to my room opened up.
"How are we feeling?"
A gorgeous young woman of green eyes and pink hair walked through the door. She was wearing a doctor's lab coat over a red qipao dress, and flashing me a friendly smile. Some things never leave a man's mind, I guess.
"Uhm…", I began, but was immediately surprised at the sound of my own voice. Was that how I sound? The woman pointed at the bed.
"Could you sit down, so I can examine you", she asked. I walked back with the IV drip, and carefully sat down, my legs already aching from the ten feet walk. I looked up at her, trying my best to stay respectful. She placed a hand over my forehead, and I felt a surge of warm energy run through my head.
"Can you tell me your name", she asked. I thought for a bit, but I had nothing. I knew no name that seemed to fit. "Can't remember", I said with my strange voice. She didn't seem phased by my unintelligible answer.
"I see", she began and moved her hand to my chest, and now I could see that her fingers was bathing in a soft green glow. "Your cells have suffered some serious trauma. I'm not certain what you went through, but I don't know many people who could survive this kind of damage", she explained as I enjoyed her hand against my chest. After another few moments, she took a chart from the foot of my bed and studied it, before looking at me again.
"Well, what's the last thing you remember?"
I searched my mind after anything to tell her. "I… I think I was in… a forest", I tried.
"One of our teams found you in the woods at the outskirts of our village. Do you remember anything before that", she said. I tried searching my memories again, but nothing. Nothing before grabbing hold of a tree and throwing my guts up into the bushes. I shook my head, which made the room spin again, and so I laid down.
"Right. I think some rest will do for now.", she said and hung the chart back on the foot of my bed. "Do you have any questions?"
"Yeah… Where am I", I asked with fatigue in my voice.
"Konoha. The village hidden in the leaves, in the land of fire", she answered informatively. Konoha, I thought. It was like hearing the name of a person that you can't remember the face of, but that you are certain to have met at some point. The woman watched me carefully as my mind ticked away.
"And who are you", I soon added. She smiled at me again. "Sakura Haruno. Chief medical ninja of Konoha", she introduced herself. "Are you certain you can't remember your name? Can't keep calling you 'the patient' forever."
I took a deep breath and searched my head one last time. As if I was searching for something very specific in a room, but knew neither what or where to search. It seemed hopeless, but after a moment resembling a minor eternity, a word appeared before my mind's eye. I had no idea what it meant, but it felt familiar.
"I'm not certain. But, Yari…", I told her with a strained tone. "Yari?", she repeated. "Well, then. It's nice to meet you, Yari", she said before she stepped out and softly closed the door behind her.
I soon slept again, and not before late I slept some more. I think I spent the next three days in dreamless slumber, but suddenly I awoke anew. This time I felt different. My head clear, and my body vigorously relaxed. I soon saw that it was nighttime as I looked around the room before I sat up. My muscles responded well, and there was no pain.
I sat my feet on the floor again and stood up, poised and sturdy. With no clue of what to do, I unhooked the IV from my arm and went to the bathroom. I will not describe the experience, but it was definitely my best time spent so far in my few hours of memory.
Several pounds lighter I came out and searched the room to find some more covering clothes in a wardrobe. I quickly dumped the far too airy gown and put on a pair of sweatpants, a comfortable robe and stepped into a pair of slippers before I walked out of the room to have a look around. Long darkened hallways spread out in all directions, and I chose the one to my right which sported a 'stairs'-sign.
My body moved as I wanted it to, but as I found the stairs and started my journey down I felt my breath growing heavier, and as I reached the bottom floor I had to stop and catch my breath again. Still not a hundred percent, I guessed.
Voices carried along the halls now, and I carefully looked around the next corner. Uniformed nurses and a lab coated doctor stood around talking near something that resembled a reception, and a few feet away from them in a waitroom chair sat a young man, seemingly half asleep.
At least I thought he was half asleep, but even though I only peaked around the corner, he noticed me immediately. I quickly withdrew and hid behind the corner again, hoping to not draw further attention.
"Hey! Why are you hiding? You trying to sneak out, or something?"
Incredibly quick and quiet as a mouse, the youngster showed up at my side. His blonde hair stood spiky, and his bright blue eyes scanned me carefully from top to toe.
"Uhm… I'm not certain…", I answered, and the young man took a step back, resting both of his hands behind his head.
"I hear ya," he began. "I've been waiting for them to discharge me for an hour now. Came in for a post-mission check up, and they're fussing over my broken finger", he explained and turned towards the doctor over at the reception. "IT'LL BE HEALED BY MORNING ANYWAY!"
"Calm down, Naruto. It'll be just a few minutes to process it is all", the closest nurse said calmly. The young man, apparently called Naruto, just scoffed.
"THAT'S WHAT YOU SAID AN HOUR AGO", he shouted back at the nurse. My first impression of him was that of a hot-headed young man. Soon he sighed and turned back to me, with a sparkle of mischief in his eyes.
"No, screw this! You want to get some food? I've been living on rations for six days, and I'm starving for some real grub."
I wasn't sure what to answer. I didn't even know myself, little less the person in front of me, nor the place I was in.
"Come on, if we leave now, they'll still be open", Naruto said quickly and grabbed the arm of my robe leading us around a far off corner and towards an unwatched exit. Clearly not the first time he snuck out of the hospital without a discharge. "This way", he said as we left the hospital and walked out into the crisp night air.
The village was very quiet. Lanterns and torches were lit here and there, and the night sky was clear and filled with stars.
"So, I guess I forgot to ask. What's your name?", Naruto asked as he led us on along a narrow street. I panted heavily from the brisk walking pace, but soon found enough breath to answer him.
"I'm, uh… Yari, I think", I said with a ringing tone of uncertainty.
"Yari, huh? Any last name?", he asked and pointed ahead towards a small hut, with an open wall entrance covered only in short drapes. "Over there! You like ramen, don't you?"
"I don't know", I answered honestly, but could feel that I was definitely getting hungry and more than willing to try whatever it was.
"Whaddaya mean, you don't know? Have you never had ramen before?!" Naruto exclaimed as we walked up towards the hut, with its drapes flashing the words Ichiraku Ramen.
"I can't remember", I answered and followed Naruto inside. "Kind of can't remember anything at all."
We were greeted by Mr. Ichiraku himself, and sat down right at the bar before Naruto ordered for the both of us. Apparently just one portion was nowhere near enough, and soon we sat with three bowls each with different soups and toppings. I ate to my hearts (and stomachs) delight, of the fantastic noodles and just as Naruto had insisted, I had no trouble whatsoever finishing all of the three portions.
"...and then I woke up in the hospital. This pink haired woman asked me some questions. Sakada-something", I explained to the best of my memory.
"Sakura. Yeah, she's great. Don't worry about a thing, she has patched me up more times than I can count. Just don't piss her off… She may look skinny, but she packs a crazy right hook."
I must say, I liked Naruto. His easy going outlook to practically everything was a breath of fresh air in my time of absolute uncertainty. Whoever I was before I ended up in that forest, I can only hope that I had once had someone like Naruto in my life. Somebody that can make you just forget the world and its pain.
"NARUTO!"
The voice shrieked and rang through the night air, and I quickly turned on the spot. Sakura, with eyes blazing and hair flailing, was coming towards all the aura of an enraged boar. The tender bedside manner that she had shown me at the hospital seemingly a thing of the past. "Oh, no…", I heard Naruto moan as Sakura closed in.
"YOU IDIOT! YOU ARE NEVER TO LEAVE THE HOSPITAL BEFORE WE DISCHARGE YOU!", Sakura scolded Naruto, who looked like a dog who just took a beating.
"But Sakura…! It was taking forever, and I was hungry", Naruto moaned, but Sakura just scoffed.
"YOU HAVE BEEN HUNGRY FOR TEN YEARS STRAIGHT! DO YOU THINK I HAVE TIME TO RUN ALL OVER LOOKING FOR YOU?! WE HAVE ANOTHER MISSING PATIENT, AND IF ANYTHING HAS HAPPENED TO HIM WHILE I HAVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR YOU, SO HELP ME I WILL…!", she carried on, but stopped when Naruto gave her a half witted smile and pointed at me. Slowly and with a stare that could easily have been used to cut metal, she turned her head and looked at me.
"Naruto", Sakura began while staring at me, but now with a freezingly cold tone. "What - is Yari - doing here - with you?"
"Uhm…", Naruto mumbled with a terrified look. "I took him out for some ra-."
He didn't get to finish the sentence. Instead, Sakura punched him in the face with such power that I could feel my hair flutter from shockwave. Naruto toppled over from his chair and fell to the floor before he rolled like a ball into the wall with a bang, causing a painting to fall and hit him over the head. Sakura was not only terrifying. She was stronger than an angered troll.
I sat frozen in my chair, praying to some higher power that I wouldn't have to face the same punishment, and stared at Naruto who groaned in a pile on the floor. Sakura ran her hands through her pink hair while taking a deep breath, before she turned back to me. Suddenly her face changed, and the caring smile was back as if nothing had happened.
"Yari. In fifteen minutes I will be in your room at the hospital to check on you. You WILL be in the room and in bed when I get there. Understood?"
She spoke with all the tenderness of concerned caretaker again, but with something in her eyes that terrified me more than all the memory loss in the world ever could.
"Yes, ma'am!" I answered loud and clear. Sakura smiled again, turned on the spot and walked back towards the hospital. Before she turned a corner, I could hear her say to herself, "As if we needed ANOTHER knucklehead ninja in this village!"
Ninja. That word.
