Everything seemed fuzzy. There didn't appear to be reason for anything, she just walked with obligation to nothing. There wasn't any reason to it.
Takara just stumbled down the hospital hallway trying to do something she wasn't sure of.
The vague hallway opened up to a waiting room and Takara's feet fell from underneath her. She was kept from the ground, though, by someone she didn't realize was there.
She was still tired and was close to falling back to sleep but whatever force kept her from colliding with the floor shook her mercilessly.
Her head just bobbed back and forth with it.
. . .
Kaori-sensei sighed like her regular strained self but was seriously overjoyed to see her only female student alive. "Stop that, Isao, you're gonna snap her neck."
"What's wrong with her?! Is she coma walking or something?! Why can't she talk to me!? This isn't right!! She's ruined forever, ah!! We've lost her! She'll never be the same again!!"
A limp hand came surprisingly hard across Isao's face. "Shuh-udup. . . " A drunken order came from her barely conscience mouth. "Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii'm sleepy. . ." Takara collapsed onto the floor and let out a medley of pig-like snores.
"No, I think she's just tired." Kichiro was careful to stay away from the girl while she was in such a state, for he had suffered a similar occurrence while on a mission so many weeks ago.
Lesson learned: Trying to wake up Taka is BAD.
But, however painful that memory was, the overwhelming relief in knowing that his teammate was okay was more then enough to sooth that little bit of a grudge.
He couldn't wait to tell her!
. . .
Two hours of lazy sleep, a quickly engulfed meal, a situation explanation, and a cute clothing crisis later Takara was out of the hospital and again walking without purpose.
According to information received from a nurse her mother was on a business trip, her sister was in school, and her father was in the midst of surgery. So what Takara did was simple to her: she went to the Field.
It was strange that her mind was working that way-- hey, maybe the drugs hadn't worn off-- but she wanted to finish doing what she had been doing before, the night that she was going to see Shikamaru in the first place.
She arrived sooner then expected and immediately went to thinking. It was mind boggling that she had really been in a coma. It seemed so cliche.
Should she have been happy that she lived? Should she have been isolated for missing out on so much? Should she have felt betrayed? By. . . she forced her thoughts to a mighty halt.
Gaara.
. . .
. . .
. . .
Shikamaru did something completely radical, something he hadn't done in so long: he didn't go to check the hospital.
Everyday he went to see her and her situation never changed. He didn't want to give up but the reality was closing in fast.
She was never going to wake up, was she?
Instead of going to the hospital he went straight to the field. His gaze seemed to fall without reason(I'm sensing a pattern) onto the horizon in front of him.
Grass. Grass. Flower. Grass. Grass. Grass. Takara. Grass.
. . .
However genius he was, it took a moment for that to register.
He stood in a moment, soaking in utter awe, at something he thought he would never see again.
A blonde ditz sprawled over the grassy field staring up at the clouds. Only one thing was missing. Him.
Instead of running and spazzing out like a certain blonde who shall remain nameless would, he took casual strides, drawing absolute pleasure from each step, and sat down quietly. She was too into her thoughts to notice.
. . .
Five minutes passed and she didn't notice him. Shikamaru was beginning to become antsy. Had some medicine not worn off? Was she ignoring him?
He sat up and looked down on Takara to see that she was sleeping.
Funny, she had been sleeping for at least a month, and now she just wanted to sleep more.
But then, suddenly, he had an idea that made his face burn with heat.
Taka always loved princesses, like she had often expressed, and seeing her sleeping in what seemed like an eternal coma he could only think of one fairy tale: Sleeping Beauty.
On many occasions Takara told him of her opinions of the princess's stories, Sleeping Beauty being one of those, while he half-listened and half-heard her.
In the end, in what she told him was her favorite part, the Prince leaned down to kiss her and when their lips met she woke from her nightmares.
While he was battling this thought, he was sinking down towards her without realizing it.
Twelve inches, eleven inches, ten inches, seven inches, five inches, two inches, one inch. . .
When it came down to four centimeters Shikamaru's torso shook in shock when he heard a "HEY!" from behind him.
He flipped over and looked up at Naruto who had his arms crossed angrily.
"What were you doing?!"
"I wasn't doing anything." Shikamaru's mind searched every corner of his conscious for an excuse. "I was looking at her to see if she was okay." Naruto's glare remained skeptical. Shikamaru, not wanting to continue looking Naruto in the eyes, turned to look back at Takara as though still examining her. "Her breath doesn't smell of any sedative drugs, so I'm assuming she's just napping."
"Oh." Naruto's arms dropped to his sides and he pretended to know what a sedative drug was.
Shikamaru turned an indignant eye on Naruto because he just realized that this blonde dropout had trespassed on his and Taka's special place.
"What are you doing here?"
"I heard Takara got out of the hospital and I came looking for her." Naruto came to her side and looked down her. His eyes were full of care and frustration and Shikamaru took this into careful consideration.
"Well she's okay," Shikamaru affirmed, wanting for Naruto to leave.
"I'm going to wait until she wakes up." Naruto crossed his legs and sat down beside her.
"You don't have to do that." Shikamaru was feeling a green sting of jealousy and the red bite of anger.
"I'm gonna wait for her to wake up."
"I think you should leave. You can come see her later."
"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Naruto was getting angry as well.
"No, I'm just--" Shikamaru didn't know what to say and Naruto proceeded to get angrier.
Takara blinked her eyes open. She looked up through blurred vision to see the aggravated faces of two people she could find nothing but good feelings for.
Her next action was committed upon pure impulse, like an involuntary reflex as swift as the beat of her heart.
Takara snapped up and wrapped her arms around the necks of Shikamaru and Naruto.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Comas and comrades,
Life is a mess.
But now she awakens,
The sleeping princess.
AUTHOR'S CORNER
To anyone who's reading this, I love you. Really, really, really do! So loyal, I know I haven't updated in the longest time.
But don't worry, mis amigos, check out my profile to see what the IMNP plans are. I'm far from finished and I'm just short on time.
If you're bored, go check out my new Naruto story, Konoha Shinobi Preparatory High School: Interactive, which I have planned to make much easier to write and I will be writing it in the fiction time lapses.
Oh, and for those who read The Obsession by Desert.Moon-sama, I put that "Shudduuuuup," in there for her, in you-know-who's honor.
Rest, Dear Prince, and may legions of angels sing thee to thy rest.
cries then dies