Hallo!

I have overcome demon called a cold, with the sacrifices of tissues boxes!(I'm sorry tissues, we are still friends!)

Yep, over the span of about four days or so, I kinda powered through a lot of my cold, but most of the hell that it brought was on Monday and the rest was just really annoying.

Luckily I managed to get over it in time for this weeks chapter!

So without further adieu, chapta 11!

By the time the person carrying me gets outside, the blinding light sears my heavy eyes to close. But I manage to keep my groggy mind awake and slowly process things around me. The sun's warmth on my skin, such a feeling I never knew I would miss so much. It's day time...but how long were we in there? Arg, my head...What on earth did Orochimaru do to me? For all I know he planted more drugs and liquids into my body. This grogginess could be caused by the potent anesthesia or whatever else was injected into me. A rapid pounding in my head distracts me from focusing too much. Kami, my head…

Next thing I knew, the team had reached the gates of the village, with the frantic worrying of Izumo and Kotetsu.

"Oh my….What happened to her?" One of them questions in a panicked voice.

"No time, notify the hospital that these two need emergency care." Hana's strong voice commands them, and once again her body takes off. Over the buildings and the common people, away from suspicion and panic. A few paces and we meet up with the medical attendees. Hana immediately lets me down on what feels to be a stretcher. "Please take care of them!"

I can tell the attendees are obviously concerned by their murmuring tone and brisk actions. We must look like crap. Who I assume is the main emergency medical attendant, runs a chakra infused palm over my forehead. "The girl's chakra levels are dangerously out of balance and her neurons are rejecting certain white blood cells, run her through a blood test and ask for the Hyuga's assistance!" The voice gets slightly quieter but still as anxious. "Tch, he's not any better off. The male is bleeding internally and has severe bone damage, get him to the emergency care room! Put them both under an anesthesia!" And with that order, the haunting feeling of a needle breaking through my skin inflicts on me and all my senses shut down for the umpteenth time.

When I come to, I'm in a proper hospital bed and in a hospital gown, with an IV bag dripping its contents in me. My preferred way of waking up would have been me alone, or with one or two people at my side. The fewer people there, the easier it is for me to think and calm down, and from an event like this, calming down would have been especially ideal. I did not wake up that way, in fact probably the exact opposite. Scattered around my room, I could spot Naruto, Sakura, Sai, Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Hana. The first one to notice my consciousness; the number one knuckle-headed ninja himself."She's awake! Mizuki-nee is awake!" He cheered and dove for a hug.

"Woah, h-hold on!" I croak, trying to halt him and anyone else from coming near me. But that is useless, as Kiba and Chouji proceed to hug me in a dog pile. Coupled with a specific person and my current state, saying the weight was bone crushing was an understatement.

"Come on you guys, give her some room!" Sakura pulls them off of me, but is still relieved none the less, a wide smile is plastered on her face. Hinata, who had seated herself in the chair beside me, lets out a relieved sigh.

"Well...hey guys..." I attempt to sit myself up in my bed, but my arms ache and refuse to uphold my weight. "Ack, I hurt all over..."

"Don't push yourself, Mizuki-sama. The doctor said that your systems are recovering, and your chakra regulation is being monitored." Sakura explains and double checks the large monitor on the side of my bed. "It's going to be a while before you can get back to your duties."

"You can hang with us while you recuperate! We don't get much action, so we can keep you company, Mizuki-san." Chouji suggests cheerfully and slings an arm around an almost asleep Shikamaru, who smiles lazily and mutters in agreement.

Shikamaru sits up and leans forward in his chair."Maybe you can finally get around to watching the clouds with me, eh? Not like you can train with your chakra like this."

"A-ah, Neji-niisan, c-came earlier and corrected some of y-your chakra valves. He said that you m-might get light-headed occasionally, b-but that just means your chakra is c-coming back." Hinata shyly informs me.

"I see, I'll be sure to thank him for that the next time I see him. I'm just happy that the search parties got to us in time….Any idea what Orochimaru did to me?" I ask slightly worried. If it's anything that could stop me from being a ninja, it would crush my heart. I internally pray for a non-life threatening answer.

Hana reassures me. "So far your tests come out with drugs that temporarily influence your neurons and your cardio system. Nothing too drastic, but they haven't taken a body scan yet so that's all we know so far."

"Great...I guess. How's the other guy?" I rack my brain trying to remember what his code name was, but everything was just a giant blur, I can only recall the past few days. The day the mission started seemed ages ago.

"He's stable, but in no better condition than you, lots of broken bones." Hana grimaces."He had to go under quite a few surgeries, but is expected to make a full recovery."

"Surgeries? Oh my….What did they do to him…?" I hesitantly ask. We were apart the entire time, for all I know they could have torn him apart limb from limb then sewn him back up. I shudder at the thought but still become anxious at the silence they were all giving me.

Hana answers hesitantly and speaks in a tone that she knows I don't like. "It's best if you don't know, besides we aren't completely sure what Orochimaru did to you as well. Just rest-" The tone of secrecy.

"Hana," I say sternly, "What did they do to him?" Saying my tone is serious is an understatement, but I so desperately needed to know. Slowly piece by piece I've been gathering my past self, over time I seemed to of forgot how it felt to be myself, what defines me. Not being able to feel my chakra, it's like having my skin ripped off of my body, now it's slowly growing back. All he did to me was mainly just mental torture. But for all I know, they put my partner through physical torture. Surgeries...Broken bones...I can't control the urging feeling of knowing what happened. When no one answers me, I ask, nay, more like a command, almost angry. "Don't hide this from me, he's my partner, we were responsible for each other. So tell me I let happen to my partner."

"The doctors don't know...There was just a lot of scarring and his injuries seemed to be caused by long periods of intense infliction..." I make a face, one Hana is too used to. "Mizuki, don't you dare blame yourself for what happened, you had no-"

I cut her off. "How long? How long were we held captive?" I knew Orochimaru was after me, my chakra, my abilities, my relationship with Sasuke and Itachi. I knew this, and yet I should've taken more precautions. I don't care if anything happened to me, but knowing that someone else got harmed because of me... Akamaru whimpers at my painful expression and I remember what his code name was. Wolf...he was an Inuzuka… Two of his clansmen are in front of me, the person that made him go through possibly torture. An uncontrollable guilt I know I shouldn't burden myself with pushes through my weak mental defense and settles. All the "What ifs..." and the "I should haves..." burst through the seams. I could have saved both of us the trouble, I was the first one to take watch and secure the traps. Damn it… "Please, tell me how long."

A heavy atmosphere lets down on everyone, taking my anticipation up to an all time high. Sai, being the bluntest of the group decided to speak up and reveal the truth in two simple words. "Six months."

Dun dun dunnnn!(bet ya didn't see that coming)

I just realized, today is the last day of break...that means I go back to school tomorrow...NOoOoOoOoO!

I barely did anything during my break because of my stupid cold, ugh. Body why you do this?

I don't get it, why is it that the first day of vacation I get, I get sick? I DEMAND ANSWERS

Oh man, I can just imagine myself practically dragging myself around school...

Okay, enough ranting for one day. (oops)

I will see you in the next chapter!

BYEBYE!~Grai