The voice speaking made no sense, at least she thought it was a voice. It was so muffled.
Why do I feel this way?
Her body was radiating with aches, every muscle felt stiff. The world was still black.
Where am I?
Slowly fluttering open, her eyes adjusted to a burning bright light above her. She wanted to move her arm to block it out, but it felt heavy, and weak. Her eyes scanned the room around her, white, very bland, she could see a mash of colors to her right. Flowers.
The once burning light was now softening and welcoming her back earthside. She breathed in deeply, appreciating that she was able to do so.
"Sango, you're awake! It's pretty early in the morning, but try and stay awake for me. I'm sure you're well rested" It was the voice again, a young long blonde haired female approached her, once her eyes adjusted she was relieved to see the familiar face.
"I-Ino?"
Ino nodded putting a finger to lips signifying to be quiet. She nodded to Sango's left, giving a cheeky smile.
Sango turned her head to the left to see a sleeping Shikamaru in a chair. He was leaned against her bedside, Kirara peacefully asleep on his lap as well.
"He's been staying here every night..." Ino winked at Sango, "You must be Temari's number one enemy right now" The blonde giggled, she then placed her hands over the young demon-slayer, a green light emitting from her palms.
Sango could feel her face flush, the sight of the two next to her was a very warming way to wake up. Him making these kind gestures wasn't helping her fight the fleeting feelings she was gaining for him.
"You'll probably be really sore. Broken ankle, 3 broken ribs, tons of cuts, bruises, internal bleeding. You had a collapsed lung, but Tsunade took care of that personally. You're lucky, she's the best Medical Ninja around. She was able to repair your bones to minor breaks, so you'll need to be easy on yourself for a little".
Tsunade? I figured she would have had my body thrown out while unconscious..
Ino skimmed her fingertips along the top of Sango's hand, "Can you move your fingers for me?"
Sango looked to her hand, and they slowly twitched, "Good! That's a great sign..you've been down for about a week. 5 days to be exact...so your muscles are probably gonna be sore the first time you move around".
Sango released a troubled breath, 5 days? I cant believe it...
She continued twitching her fingers, in an attempt to move them, willing them to move farther each time.
Finally after a few moments, she was curling her fingers in towards her palm, extremely slowly.
Ino was right - it was a little painful.
"Shikamaru will be relieved to see you awake...he's only left to eat, or use the bathroom. Not even sure if he's showered..." The blonde gave a tender look to her comrade, "He can be a very thoughtful guy sometimes...Him and Kirara have been great friends too. I didn't even think he liked cats".
Sango looked back over, giving a warm smile to the two sleeping, "Yeah..he is pretty thoughtful.."
Ino grinned again, "Sooo...you two been on any dates".
Sango blinked, and felt herself go red again, "No". She decided to just play the Shikamaru card, and stay silent on the matter. Ino's grinned turned into a frown, seeing she'd get no hot gossip from her teammates potential love interest.
"Well, you're healing amazingly, thanks to Lady Tsunade ultimately. Like I said, your ankle and ribs are minor breaks, so you'll be restricted for a little, until fully healed," Ino kept going on over Sango's health which she slightly tuned out in her own thoughts - thinking about the fight, and even more so how Kirara showed up in this world.
"Uhhh Sango?" Ino had her hands on her hips, lips pursed, brow pinched, she must've missed something. Shikamaru was right, she could be a little scary, but her intentions were always good.
"Don't over do it, okay? I know you want to get home, but the easier you take it now, the better your healing process will be".
Sango nodded, "Thank you Ino"
"No problem, I'm your attending nurse if you need anything, make that lazy ass come get me" She walked to the door, opening it, and looked back at the young slayer
"Also...I'm sure Shikamaru wouldn't mind you sticking around..." She stuck her tongue out giggling, and departed the room.
The shutting of the door caused Shikamaru to twitch in his sleep, making his head slid a little, waking him. He blinked a few times, and yawned, settling back in the chair he looked over to Sango only to realize his eyes were being met with warm oak orbs staring back.
"You're awake!" He exclaimed, which this awoke Kirara, who stood in defense on his lap at first, giving a rather cute growl. She then realized Sango was awake as well. Quickly leaping into her arms, mewing, purring, and finally lying down on her stomach. Sango laughed, petting her tenderly, "I see you and Kirara are friends"
He blinked a few times (still waking), scratched the back of his head, and cleared his throat "Yeah...she's not too bad"
Kirara shot him a look, then continued to purr happily in her lap, causing Sango to giggle and cringe in pain.
"You alright?"
"Yes...just like Ino said...very sore," He nodded, and stood up stretching his limbs, then sat on the edge of the bed facing her.
"I'm glad you're alright...that demon really messed you up," he yawned, and smiled at her, "You don't have to worry about your stay here in the village...I had a talk with Tsunade. She was impressed with the fact you lured it away from the village, more or less pleased actually..." yawning again, he placed his hands in his pockets, "Either way, I'm glad you're awake, and alive..."
xxx
After a few days upon waking, Sango was released from the clinic.
About 2 weeks later she was given the okay to start training again. The days all felt the same during her recovery, mainly mundane because of her limited mobility.
In the time spent recovering, Shikamaru stopped by every day helping her in any way he could, bringing books, teaching her Shogi, going out and helping her get around town.
Shikamaru was being confronted with relationship rumours, yet again, by Naruto and the rest of Konoha 11. Typically walking away when the conversation started, or denying any feelings. The words 'women are troublesome', being heard frequently in response to the teasing.
The two had also spent some more time staring at maps and brainstorming where the Gate could be located at as well, not letting the fire for her mission burn out in her down time.
Shikamaru ended up finding out the scrolls came from the Land of Earth, a small village located in the North.
This helped filter out a lot of possible countries, even though it was more likely the gate would be up north, certain countries had mountains that reached so high snow formed. It relieved Sango to be making progress while she was recovering.
They had taken Kirara to see Inoichi about 2 weeks from Sango's hospital release. He preformed the same Mind Jutsu on her that he did for Sango. Finding out that Kirara had jumped through a portal chasing the Centipede. She had caught Sango's scent prior to finding the Centipede, and followed the demon in hopes of finding her master. Though in her memories, Inoichi could not find who opened the portal. This added more mystery to Sango's story, because now they knew it was possible to traverse through a portal. But how?
Today was a cool Fall day, Winter was soon to follow in a few weeks. The trees were almost bare of all leaves, everything was turning brown, and shades of red. In the day it was a comfortable cool, but at night it was starting to require thicker clothing.
Sango was sitting in the courtyard, fixing the blades connected to her slayer suit. After finally getting some made to perfectly line her arms, she was ecstatic. She had some demon hide from the previous ones that entered the village, and showed the local blacksmith how to meld it into the metal. Now she finally had everything to fix them.
"We're gonna travel to the Land of Snow," Sango turned and saw Shikamaru approaching her, Kirara jumped up immediately onto his shoulder, purring. He laughed, and pet the little cheerful cat-demon, she had taken a great liking to him. Especially to Old Lady Ayame, who made Kirara her own bowl of food for every meal, and treated her like a queen. Sango couldn't help but appreciate the bond Kirara was forming with everyone, she's so cute how could you not love her?
"The Land of Snow?"
He nodded, walking over and sitting in front her. Watching her hands nimbly attach the knives, and adjust it onto her outfit, "Why there?"
Shikamaru pulled out the one of the scrolls, kneeling in front of her and spreading it on the ground.
"Completely overlooked this...its kinds of embaressing...but look," He pointed to the top of the gate that demons were coming through, there was a symbol.
"Is that a village symbol?" She questioned,
"A countries symbol..The Land of Snow's to be exact, it'll be a few day travel, so we'll start when you feel up to it"
Sango placed her hands in her lap, sucking her lower lip in between her breath, "I've been slowly training recently...my ankle is still sore after being on it for a certain amount of time".
"Well, were not leaving until your fully healed...I can't have you getting hurt again". He looked at her seriously, and started to pet Kirara again.
Sango stared at him curiously, then looked away, "It won't happen again, I won't be found defenseless".
He rolled the scroll back up, placing it into his pouch, and stood up, "Good. Maybe we should try and work on your chakra some more"
Sango nodded, "That could help out a lot. I've just never exactly been without Hirakotsu. I was foolish, and got too comfortable".
Shikamaru felt the regret in her voice. He too would be upset if he was defenseless, but he never exactly was unless his chakra ran out.
"Oh Shikamaru!" The Old Lady chirped walking into the courtyard, "In time for lunch today? Will we expect you for dinner too?"
He looked over and smirked, "Yeah, of course".
"Good good, tonight is Tempura!" She chuckled, and walked off from the two.
Shikamaru's father was now even starting to crack jokes about seeing his 'girlfriend' every day, Shikamaru only gave the same response he gave to everyone else. He was like an emotionless robot sometimes.
Extending a hand, he slowly pulled the slayer up, and they made their way to the small dining room. Old Lady had already eaten, and was setting Kirara's dish down as they entered the room. Kirara bounded over, giving her thanks and started to nibble on her fresh fish.
In the middle of eating, Shikamaru placed his dish down and cleared his throat, catching Sango's attention.
"I've been wanting to ask...where did that scar on your back come from?"
Sango wasn't expecting this and stopped chewing her food, giving a hard swallow, setting her rice bowl down.
Placing her hands in her lap, and letting out a soft breath, she began..
"You remember when I said my village got attacked? I didn't exactly tell you the truth...I was on a mission with my father, little brother Kohaku, and some other slayers...we went to this castle-" Sango developed the story, telling him about the deaths, how she was buried in a grave, and awoke piled under dirt.
Her story wasn't exactly pleasant, it kind of made him wish he didn't ask as to not evoke the memories within, "I'm sorry for asking".
Sango smiled, "Don't. Kohaku is still out there..I just have to save him from Naraku. Which is why I must return home".
He nodded, and started to gather their plates, taking them to the kitchen, after a few moments he returned
"Alright, lets go ahead and get to training. Can't get better if we're not practicing".
Sango smiled gleefully at the Shinobi, and rose from the table, opening her arms for Kirara to jump into them.
xxx
They spent all day practicing, seeing little improvement in her ability to manifest chakra. He was doing the leaf test with her, making her hold it in her palms and try to cut it in half. The most she got was a little cut at the top of it, but hey some progress is better than none. It enthralled Sango to know she was able to manifest some, this only pushed her to want to practice during her free time.
The rest of the time was spent with Sango throwing her Hirakotsu, and stretching, trying to get her muscles back into use. Of course, Shikamaru was found in the shade, relaxing. Kirara took the chance to nap with him, curled into a small ball on his chest.
Sango couldn't help but stare fondly at the two, only to curse herself mentally for yet again letting feelings stir inside of her. At least Shikamaru was showing no signs of liking her back, or saying anything indicating it. Although she wouldn't exactly mind if he did.
As Sango was making her way to the sleeping individuals, Kirara's ears twitched and she perked up "Haha did you hear me coming?"
Kirara jumped off of Shikamaru, immediately transformed mid air, a disgusting snappy snarl escaping her throat. Her fur was standing high on the nape of her neck. Sango took a step back.
"What is it?" Sango questioned, looking over her shoulder for any sight of what could be making Kirara go into defense mode.
The sound of her snarl alerted Shikamaru, he jumped straight to his feet, a kunai ready in his hand.
His face serious, then shifted to horrified "Shit, look up"
Slowly, her gaze shifted up only to see a horde of demons floating in the sky. There had to be atleast 100 of them, Sango clutched Kirakotsu in her hand, "We can't let them get into the village!"
She ran over to Kirara jumping onto her back, and quickly the cat-demon climbed into the air towards the horde. Her throat still erupting with snarls, and roars. These caught the attention of the demons, and they all aimed themselves at the approaching demon-slayer
"SANGO! DONT! YOU JUST RECOVERED!" She could hear his plea, but ignored it as it became fainter in the distance.
The chuckles, squeals, and gurgles of all the demons now reaching her ears. A sweat broke out onto her brow, it had been a while since she had seen so many.
I refuse to let them in the village...
She sat up straight, and sent Hirakotsu soaring right into the center of the oncoming horde.
