Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, however I do lay claim to the oc in this fic.

Thank you everyone who added me to their favorite list and followed my stories I appreciate it a whole lot. I apologize once again for my sporadic updating habits. I haven't had much time to write, and a smart phone doesn't exactly a computer make. So while I could read while at work on breaks, writing was not possible. Thanks for sticking with me as I drag my way to my next chapter and/or story. Now lets continue from where we had to leave off eh?

Review of previous chapters end: He had to make sure that she would live. These feelings puzzled him, and he couldn't figure out what it was that motivated him to feel that way. He had never met her, or he was pretty sure he hadn't. His mind replayed what he could remember of her appearance; Long golden brown hair (a rare shade around there,) round face, small arched brows, and full lips. No he was sure he'd never met her.

Chapter 2; Beginnings

Drip...bathump... Drip...bathump... shhhh...bathump... tap, tap, tap, bathump...tap, tap, drip...bathump... tap, tap, drip...bathump...bathump...bathump...bathump,bathump...bathump, bathump, bathump...

What are those noises? Am I dead?I think I should be, but I'm too cold and I ache too much to be dead... Wait, why is the beeping getting faster? And who's that breathing so loudly? Is it me? Wait I recognize these sounds... a hospital. I'm in a hospital. I got away... Someone found me... I should probably wake up and tell them what happened but I'm so tired. I'm finally safe. The bastard can't get me here. Is it OK for me to relax finally? Can I really stop worrying about the pain...Whoa, whatever they just gave me is great...No pain... I should really wake up and tell them... Find out If I'm really safe...but well, I'm too tired to deal with it. I'm just gonna go back to sleep... yeah, sleep is good...

It had been three days since Ibiki had found the young woman lying unconscious on the hospital bed, and she had yet to wake. There had been one point where they all thought she would, In fact her heart rate had increased dramatically, only to drop back to a slow monotonous rhythm when the nurse had injected morphine into the woman's I.V line to dull the pain that all were sure she was in. Medics made their way in and out checking on her vital signs, each testing to see if she would respond to outside stimuli, but no one seemed to know why she hadn't regained consciousness. Though her injuries were severe there was no evidence of head trauma or injury to the brain. Tsunade had brought up the idea of emotional trauma, and they had attempted to have Inoichi enter and investigate her mind. Attempted being the key word. It seemed that the girl had some kind of natural barrier that kept Inoichi from intruding on her thoughts without invitation.

Ibiki, of course, found that his interest in the girl had grown even stronger after the discovery of her mental walls. As he sat at his desk he would mentally went over what little he knew. The puzzle the girl presented fascinated him. No one knew who she was. There was no record of her in any of the Konoha databases, and none in the other allied villages. She had none of the muscle tone or calluses that proclaimed one to be a shinobi or warrior of any type, in fact nothing about her could be construed into any individual vocation.

Her features also gave no indication as to where she was from. They were unique, and yet they were nondescript. Golden brown hair could be found in several parts of the elemental nations. The pale complexion paired with said hair could be found in completely different parts of the nation. This made him even more curious as to where she could be from. The single most defining feature the woman had was her eyes. No one had ever seen anything quite like them. When Tsunade had pulled back the girls eyelids to check the responsiveness of her pupils many in the room had paused to stare. Even unresponsive the girls irises were captivating. They were mostly a deep, deep blue, but shot through the blue were jagged streaks of silver radiating from an uneven ring encircling her pupils. The brief glimpse he had gotten had reminded him of his time in Mizu when he had witnessed a storm cloud over a restless sea illuminated by lightning. (This thought of course made him slightly embarrassed so he'd never, ever, speak it aloud.)

All in all she presented a very interesting puzzle, and Ibiki had always loved solving puzzles. He wanted to know if she was a threat, he also wanted to know what had happened to her. Most of all he wanted to know how she'd gotten on to his property and through all of his traps in her condition. So... he waited. Each day after he'd finished his shift he visited the hospital in hopes that she had awoken, only to leave slightly disappointed. He had, of course, left orders that he was to be immediately informed should she wake, but his usual patience with such things seemed to have abandoned him. This was yet another puzzle the man had yet to work out. Ibiki couldn't understand why the woman had gotten under his skin so badly. He had seen worse injuries, but for some reason he couldn't explain he was disturbed by the girls wounds, and he wanted to know who had inflicted them.

Ibiki had known at first glance that the injuries were deliberately inflicted. After all, he was an interrogation specialist and what kind of accidents could lead to surgically precise cuts along the bicep and the wrist? Someone had taken a knife and cut open her bicep from armpit to elbow, and then engraved and "H" into her wrist in the same manner. In addition to this was the long knife wound on the left side of her ribcage, as if someone had started to peel her skin away from muscle, and the third degree burns as if someone had held open flame along those cuts, and then there were the bruises. The girl had a ring of bruises on her ankles, right wrist, and throat. All of them were also raw and red. As if she had been bound and tried to struggle to get away from her attacker or whoever had tortured her. Her left wrist had been cut open and burned too badly to see if the bruising existed there as well, but Ibiki was certain that it did. He was also certain that she had gotten away before the other person had finished, and that had she not escaped she would be dead.

Ibiki finally sighed and put the woman out of his mind to finish his paperwork. Just as he finished filing it his door flew open.

"SHE'S AWAKE!" Screamed a panting ANBU operative, obviously having bolted to T&I as fast as his legs could carry him.

Instantly Ibiki was up and moving toward the hospital, a small sadistic grin on his face. He had a mystery to solve, and the main character had just stepped onto the board.