Chapter 11: The Preliminaries completed! The New Foe!
Naruto ran through the infirmary. He stopped once the staff scolded him. He stopped at room 12 and opened the door. Asuma sat there reading a magazine. "Oh. Hey there Naruto." He said.
"Hey Asuma sensei!" He said happily.
"Sshh." He said.
"Huh? Oh sorry." He replied.
Asuka began moving. She opened her eyes and looked over. "Asuma sensei? Naruto?" She said. She sat up and clutched stomach.
"Hey sorry about that. Guess I overdid it." He said. "I'm gonna go find the doctor." He replied leaving the room. He found the doctor and then went outside of the building. Yuki and Kakashi stood by the door.
"So. How is she?" Kakashi asked.
"She'll be fine. One punch to the gut won't kill her." He replied.
Yuki sighed and held his head down. "She wouldn't be in here if it wasn't for me." He said. Asuma pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
"Did anything unusual happen when Naruto came?" Kakashi asked.
He inhaled and blew out smoke. "Nah. Why do you ask?"
"We'll tell you later." Yuki said. He took a cigarette out from Asuma's pack.
"You didn't seem like the type to smoke." Kakashi replied.
"I only smoke on rare occasions or when I'm stressed." He said lighting it. As they talked a group of medical ninja ran into the hospital carrying a stretcher. A few seconds later Sota ran by them.
"Sota?" Kakashi replied.
"This has been one crazy week." He said. After a while he put the cigarette out and left the hospital. Kakashi and Asuma stayed.
"What's gotten into him?" Asuma asked.
"Oh you know….family troubles." Kakashi replied.
On the inside Sota stood in front of the door. "Hinata!" He yelled.
"I'm sorry you can't be here." A doctor said.
"But-" He was cut off.
"I promise you we'll take care of her." A nurse said closing the door.
Sota held his head down. He left the hospital and went back to the exams. The exams ended after a while. Maru and Honoka won their matches. Gaara fought Lee and nearly killed him. It shocked everyone.
Lee was sent to the hospital. Gaara also went. Later that day Sota sat in his room. "Something wrong Sota?" Yuko asked.
"No. I'm okay." He said. "Actually. Mom...do you think I'm strong?"
"Of course I do. Why?" She asked.
"..No reason. Just wondering. Goodnight." He said.
"Oh...ok." She replied leaving. He got under the covers and stared at the ceiling. "Hinata…."
"Is there something wrong with Sota?" Yuko asked walking into the kitchen.
"Aren't you his mother?" Yuki asked.
"If you haven't noticed he's at that age where he doesn't tell me a lot of things." She replied.
"I don't know. He's probably got a crush or something." He said putting a teapot on the stove.
"Who's he been hanging out with again?" She asked.
"Oh...you know...Neji Hyuga." He said taking out two cups, filling them with tea.
"Neji. Hiashi's nephew." She replied.
"Yeah…" He said.
She groaned and held her head down. "I thought we saw the last of him years ago."
"We were bound to run into a Hyuga eventually. So we either face it, or lock ourselves in our house." He said pouring hot water into the cups. He placed both cups on the table.
"...How bad would that second idea be?" She asked.
~Elsewhere~
"Mom." Yuri said.
"Yes?" Reiya replied.
"I know you want to keep me safe but...why are we at Mr. Iruka's house?!" She yelled.
"Because we have nowhere else to go." She said.
"We have plenty where else!" She said.
"I'm not going anywhere else that's close to the hospital. That freaky red haired boy could be out there looking for you." She said fixing Yuri's hair.
"Mom I don't think he's gonna come out here." She said. The two of them heard a noise behind them. They screamed at the top of their lungs.
"Stay away from my daughter!" Reiya yelled holding up a lamp.
"Whoa wait a minute it's just me Iruka!" He yelled putting his hands up. "I just wanted to tell you the bath's ready."
"Oh. Well then thank you. See Yuri nothing to be scared of." She said.
"...I'm going in the bath." Yuri replied leaving the room. She looked out the window. The hospital wasn't that far away. She closed the window and locked it.
~The next day~
Sota woke up feeling awful. He got dressed and walked downstairs to see Maru and Honoka eating breakfast. "Morning Cousin." Maru said.
"Hey. I'm going out." He said leaving.
"What's up with him?" She asked.
"I don't know. I hope he'll be okay." Honoka replied.
"Hey did you hear?" She asked. "Some princess is suppose to be at the Chunin Exams."
"Why would a princess be here?" She replied.
"Something about trading resources. But why wouldn't the hokage just ask the sand village?..."
~Hospital~
Asuka stared at the ceiling bored out of her mind. She sat up and looked out the window. "I hate being in the hospital." There was a sudden knock at the door. "Come in."
The door opened. A short boy walked in. He had spiky red hair and wore a beige vest over a brown short sleeved shirt. A brown handkerchief is tied around his waist and he's wearing gray shorts. A hidden sand village headband hung around his neck. His eyes were the same as Asuka's.
"You look miserable." He said.
"Kazuki? What are you doing here?" She asked.
He handed her a box. "Kozaru and I came to watch Maru and Honoka." He said. Kazuki is Maru and Honoka's younger brother. Kozaru is their older brother. He's the oldest out of the four. Kazuki is the youngest.
Asuka took the box and opened it. Inside was just some cookies. "Thanks." She said.
"Mom made them. She said to share them with everyone. I'll get you some water." He said leaving.
She sat there eating the cookies. Within a minute a doctor walked in. "Hello. Ms. Higurashi?" He said. She looked over at him. He had semi long purple hair that hung over the left side of his face and dark green eyes. He was pretty young to be a doctor.
"Yes?" Asuka said.
"I've just come to do a routine check up." He said. He went over to a drawer and pulled out a needle. "But before I give you this I need to check your vitals." He said. After taking the usual measurements he picked up the needle and walked over to a cabinet.
"What exactly are you giving me?" She asked.
Oh just the usual." He said injecting it.
"The usual what?" She asked again.
"The usual...general anesthesia." He said, a eerie smile appearing on his face.
"What? Ane-" She was cut off as she started to feel weary. She fell back onto the pillow.
"Sweet dreams Asuka." He said.
She soon felt the darkness over her. She woke up later to Kazuki calling her name. "Asuka! Asuka!" He yelled.
"...Uh..huh? Kazuki?" She said.
"What happened? Are you okay?" He asked.
"Ugh…" She groaned grabbing her head. "That doctor...he drugged me."
"Doctor? What doctor?" He asked.
"The young doctor that was in here." She said.
"I didn't see anyone leave the room. When I walked in here you were sprawled out on the bed." He replied.
"If he wasn't a doctor then…." She said looking down shocked.
~On the roof of the hospital~
"My plan has now begun. It'll take some time but it will all be worth it. What say you? Kabuto Yakushi." Said the doctor.
Kabuto appeared next to him on the roof. "I'd say you're pretty brave. Going into the same room as the nine tails." He said.
"The girl has only some of the fox's power. But that doesn't mean she still isn't powerful." He said holding up a vial containing a light blue liquid.
"What's that?" He asked.
"Something that will come in handy. And I know the perfect people to give it to." He said.
"Hmp. Can't wait to see how your plan turns out doctor." He said. He looked over at his name tag. "Hanazaki Hanzaki? Really that's your name?"
"Nothing wrong with making one up. Besides it's not my real name." He said. He put the vial in his inside pocket and walked down from the roof.
He walked through the hallway and saw Sota standing in front of a room. He walked over to him. "Oh. Hello doctor." Sota said.
"Hello. I see you're worried about your friend." He said.
"Yeah. I hope she'll be okay." He said. As he stood in front of the door he noticed Hinata waking up. She looked over at him and started to mouth something. "Huh? Be...hind yo-" He was cut off.
Hanzaki stuck a needle into his neck and injected him with something. Sota hit the floor immediately. He took the vial out and poured it down his throat. "I didn't plan for you to wake up Ms. Hinata."
"S...Sota." She said weakly.
"Don't worry. This will only take a second." He said pulling out another vial, a creepy smile appearing on his face.
