seeing 6.
"You were supposed to keep an eye on him, not let him escape from right under your noses!" Shizune berated, waving her hands in the air for emphasis on her frustration as she glared at the two nurses who flinched at the tone of her voice. "And the least you could have done was made sure that he received a dry set of clothes—he did carry a boy the same size as him on his back in the pouring rain, did he not?" She stared at the nurses who in turn stared dejectedly at the tiled ground before sighing at motioning for them to leave. "Just… next time keep your eye on him, you know he likes to push the limit. Dismissed."
As the pair scuttled back to their stations, Shizune slumped into one of the rehabilitation hospital's small lobby chairs. 'I can suddenly see why we're sued more than we're properly thanked,' she thought groaning uncomfortably in the chair. 'I need to remember to tell Tsunade-sensei to put an order on cozier chairs.'
Fiddling with the thin foil band on her ring finger, she swallowed a gulp of warm water to calm her nerves. However, with no avail, she began to pop her knuckles methodically.
'He's going to be okay, he's going to be okay, he's going to be okay," repeating the mantra in her head, she crushed the empty cup in her hand. 'He's going to be okay, he's going to be ok—'
"Miss?" a voice snapped her out of her trance.
Flying up from her seat, she stared eagerly into the eyes of the sea-green clothed surgeon. "Yes? Is the surgery done? Is he okay? Will he be…" she trailed off as the look on the surgeons face informed her of all the things she would need to know.
"But… you said… you said that you c-could operate on him and nothing would go wrong!" she tugged on her hair as her vision blurred. "This isn't supposed to happen! He isn't supposed to leave me—he promised! I can't lose him after he's only come back!" she shoved the disconsolate surgeon out of the way before charging down the hall into the large operation room, where multiple doctors worked together to lift the long bag onto the stretcher.
Running up to the closed bag, she encircled her arms around the hidden body, tears of anguish ran down her cheeks as her grip on the bag tightened. "No! Please...don't leave me!" she sobbed loudly while hands pulled on her.
"What is she doing in here? Somebody get her out!"
"Ma'am, you need to let go of the body."
Her arms gripped even tighter as she shook her head, tears falling faster down her face.
"Please let go of the body Miss, it needs to be taken down to be autopsied."
Biting her lip, she dropped to her knees. "I can't let him go! I don't want to!"
"You have to, he's already—"
The force pulling her soon stopped as it was replaced with a soothing rub—it was the surgeon from before.
"I'm sorry."
Jolting awake, she shook the excess water from off of her umbrella before folding it back to its compact size. Standing up with support from the tree, she dusted the soggy dirt off her legs; she zipped up her jacket to keep out any unwanted breezes.
Sighing softly, she made her way through the forest to return to the convivial hospital, and silently wished that the people from before dispersed. Swinging her small, peach umbrella around, she froze as sounds of footsteps neared.
Coming to an abrupt stop, the intake of the moist air was welcomed by his dry throat as he slid off the damp hood of his sweater. Looking at his surroundings, the deep green forestry bathed in the previous heavy shower and the sun now shone through the thick foliage that the trees made together.
'Looks like this is a good place to rest,' he thought running a hand through his equally damp blonde hair. 'I wonder if Shizune nee-san is freaking out?' he snickered loudly at the thought of the mid-aged woman pacing back and forth, ripping her hair out.
Falling to the ground, he released a long sigh and inhaled deeply before lying down on the dark brown soil. Staring up at the covered sky, a group of birds flew overhead, chirping. Shaking his head, he proceeded to do crunches. 'I wonder if he's awake…'
Jogging quickly so that he could return to his little prison house—though inside he knew that it was the one place in the world he wished never to leave—the light rain suddenly cursed the sky and threw heavy pelts of water down at his head.
'Shit, Tsunade baa-chan is going to kill me if I track muddy prints into the prison again!' he glanced uneasily down at his moving feet and soaking shoes, to see the splash of mud decorate his feet and shins. 'And if I knew it was going to rain I would've worn sweatpants,' he thought, grimacing at the feeling of his drenched shorts.
Glaring through the haze of rain, a boom of raging thunder followed the brief burst of lightening. Speeding up, he stopped unexpectedly at the blurry sight of six fallen bodies—one farther away from the others. Approaching the secluded body with caution, the body was of a boy, about his age and his crimson hair matched the steady gush of blood flowing from multiple wounds. To his unwanted surprise, the boy moved to prop himself on his elbow, though the strain was evident.
The other five bodies were gone by the time he looked back up. 'I suppose they want nothing to do with him.' Deducting the possibilities that the crimson-haired boy was of any danger to him while sustaining such wounds, he stopped his advance when he was glared at—his eyes were a piercing hue of a lightless jade that stared through his clear blue ones. Although the glare was rather intense, he thought back to an equally intense glare and resumed walking forward; the closer he was, the fiercer the glare became. Realizing that the boy was straining himself just by glaring at him, he decided to end this as fast as possible so that he could return to the hospital. So he used a move that Lee showed him and brought his hand down in a downwards chop.
Certain that the boy was unconscious; he reached over and lifted the boy onto his shoulder with a low grunt. He was heavier than he looked, and at a closer look, he was very built. Wiping the dripping rain from his eyes, he pushed off the balls of his feet in a hasty dash north.
—
Pulling open the door to the hospital, the receptionist gasped as he entered with the boy on his back.
"Are you okay? Tsunade-sensei was beginning to get worried when you didn't come back from your morning jog, it even began to rain!" the receptionist released an even louder gasp as the boy on his back coughed loudly, blood splattering on his shoulder. "What happened?! Someone bring a gurney!" she shouted at two passing nurses.
They laid the red-haired boy along the lobby chairs as they waited. "I found him when I was running back; it took me longer with an extra person." He explained.
The receptionist nodded before running to meet up with the two nurses and three other doctors bringing in the gurney. "On three—one, two, three!" they lifted the wounded boy onto the gurney before speeding away to the emergency room.
Shaking his head to rid any extra rain that had hidden itself in his hair, he stood up into a stretch. 'To the right…' he leaned exaggeratedly to the right, 'To the left…' Switching to the other side, his peripheral vision caught a flash of pink hair. Grabbing a fistful of small pebbles from off the ground as he bent over, he stretched out his back before hurling the pebbles in one swift motion at the intruder. The barrage hit the bark with resounding thumps, resulting in a muffled yelp as the intruder ran out from behind the tree.
Falling back into a stance, he relaxed and was fast to apologize when it revealed a petite girl. "I'm sorry… for throwing rocks…at you." Listening to his own lame pretext made a pink flush run over his cheeks. "Now… w-what's a… a little girl like you doing in the woods all alone?" he asked, attempting to regain what little face he had left.
However, to his dismay, her face twisted into an insulted one as she began to make broad, wild hand gestures, pointing primarily at himself and making a fist before ramming it into the palm of her hand.
'I guess her mom is the type to really enforce the whole "don't-talk-to-strangers" rule.' Wincing, he raised his hands, "Okay I get… no need to get dangerous." Scratching the back of his neck, he swallowed nervously. "So… what's your name?" this time he stood farther away from the girl incase she decided to start flinging rocks at him.
Biting her lip timidly, she looked around before picking up a thin sapling; crouching down she proceeded to write something on the ground.
Sa… ku… ra. Ha…ru…no.
He crouched down to read it. "Sakura Haruno," he repeated, receiving a light nod from the girl who began to wave her hands wildly again—though this time with a stick in her hand. Inching away once again, he pointed to the ground, "H-How about you write it down?" he suggested.
Nodding in response, her long, elegant brushstrokes made the dirty soil shine with dignity.
Now that I've told you my name, the polite thing to do now is to tell me yours.
Finishing reading the request, he looked up to the pink-haired girl who held out her hand. Taking her opened hand and standing up, he was embarrassed to find that her hand was surprisingly warm, causing him to blush. Clearing his throat and running a hand over his face, he was now looking down at her.
"Naruto Uzumaki's the name." he grinned brightly at the girl before squeezing her hand and dragging her through the forest back to the hospital. "Now, I know a place where they have the best ramen!" he boasted before pulling her along.
As they ran through the wooded forest back to the hospital, Naruto secretly enjoyed the warmth that Sakura's small hand exuded.