"It's time to wake up, girl."

"Mweh?" My tongue was cold and heavy – the first thing to go as grogginess rattled my skull. Initially, I accused my usual morning haze but then I realized the rest of my body felt just as limp. It was like I was enveloped by numbness. Every nerve prickled as if layers of starved mosquitoes had settled to feast on any agility I had. This was different than any lazy morning: the feeling that came next confirmed it.

I flexed my fingers, trying to fumble my way into clarity, only for something to latch onto me from my subconscious. It was a feeling leftover from a dream – nothing more – but still, it clung to me with a desperation only that emotion could bring. I sought its edges, trying to divide its poison from reality, but the more I dragged myself from sleep, the more the foreboding weighed upon me, rattling inside my skull.

What was my dream? I thought as I trudged through the apprehension, trying to find the smoky cache of memories. A nightmare?

Frowning, I fluttered my eyes and managed a reluctant squint. I hadn't intended to challenge the new day, but apparently, I angered it nonetheless. It barreled into me at full force as cold hands ripped my eyes open and shoved a burst of green light into the back of my skull.

"Wah!" I jerked upright and wrenched away from my attacker's grip only to hear Koko chide, "Now, really? How do you expect me to work?"

"Sorry," I tried to mumble, but my tongue flattened the notes to sound more like "Thothy". That was all I had a chance to say. It started from my stomach – a low, roiling heat like liquid flame – that built and built, stretching its claws outward into the surrounding nerves. The magma inched through my body, searing the veins it used on its path of destruction. My body reacted instinctively: I hunched over, and I heaved – every unaffected muscle doing its best to shove the inferno out.

"It'll pass within ten or so minutes," Koko said as she scrawled more of her notes. "Your body is adjusting to the treatment. It's trying to draw more chakra into your system, but – well – you can't make enough. Well, enough to live but not the amount you're used to."

I could only wheeze as I let the spittle drop from my lips. Without any food, that was all that came up. With what felt like the flaying and roasting of my innards, I'd have appreciated something more understandable. Like blood or something, I groaned, the thought more a patchwork of impressions than intention. "D-Dying," I eked out, curling inwards until my head was wrenched between my knees.

The doctor made a low note in her throat. "People are actually dying, you know?" she stated in a voice neither cruel nor berating. "Less than a fifteen-minute walk from here. Shinobi from Konoha and civilians from everywhere else."

I glanced through haggard locks to trace the dark circles under Koko's eyes, the hollows in her wan cheeks. In some weird way, she reminded me of myself then – my reflection after weeks without proper sleep or food. She was haunted by something I knew, but ghosts or duty – I didn't know which. Guilt prodded me from within my pain. I knew she wasn't accusing me, but I was the reason she wasn't there saving people right now. I'd been fine enough before this. I could've managed my time in Konoha without her treatment. I could've handled myself. I have enough death on my hands, I thought, shuddering. I don't need anymore.

"Th-thothy," I murmured, doing my best to straighten up. "D-don'th need thoo be here. I'm f-fine."

Koko didn't even look up from scribblings. "Yes, I do. You'd have been dead within two weeks." She walked over to my side and placed two fingers to the inside of my wrist, her gaze flitting over mine. "Don't blame yourself, girl. If you want to blame something, blame the war. Besides-" She shrugged, and her hands began to glow. "Hokage asked me to attend to you personally."

I nodded, not feeling the slightest less guilty. Under her healing, the fire searing my guts started to recede like a wave, dragging through my muscles like a rake. I could feel every nerve it relinquished as my senses sighed in relief – a lingering echo of the pain that banged around my hollow bones. The clanging reverberated up my spine and into my skull, slowly drumming forth a headache.

Perfect, I groaned. In my feeble attempt to ignore everything about existence, I watched Koko work her way through each of my limbs. It only made me more miserable. Not being able to see her working the threads of musubi she kneaded, I had to turn away: I didn't need more reminders of what I'd lost. Desperate for any distraction, I turned back to the weird foreboding that still thrummed my heartstrings. I must've dreamed, but what was it about? I frowned and sought the memories. Was I talking to someo- The pounding in my skull sharply spiked. I winced, receding from the territorial creature, and pursed my lips. Son of a-

"Good morning, everyone!" Rin's voice rang, snagging my attention. "Mira, how're you feeling?" Whatever expression she saw on me made her crack a smile. "That bad, huh?" She stepped into the room, wheeling a new cart filled with books and scrolls. She seemed washed and rested, but what confirmed it was her new tear-free set of casual clothes.

She must've gone home, I considered. Then frowned. Home. Was that what I dreamed of last night? Yes! And I was talking to someone. A stranger who was a… The headache bit bone, and I felt the ache ring even in my teeth, but my apprehension had multiplied alongside it. I dug into the pain to find the truth, but I found every move rebuffed with a redoubled pounding.

"You've been out for fifteen hours," Rin chirped at the edge of my focus, shoving the cart into the corner. "After everything, you really deserved some good sleep." She straightened out the scrolls and then skipped over to wash her hands in a basin. "Today will be a bit easier, but the procedures will be on your ankle." When I didn't say anything, she turned and scrunched her nose at me, recognizing my expression. "Headache too, huh?"

I nodded absently, making another tired swipe at the pulsing wall. I didn't even know if the memories I was looking for existed. The more I scrabbled after them, the more they seemed to disperse into unrecognizable fragments. Even though I couldn't remember anything specific, my gut churned at the dread seeping into me. Something important had happened – I knew it with the certainty of instinct – but all I could recall was a sense of invasion. But it's not that. It feels stranger than that. It's like I almost welcomed whoever was there. Why would-

"Here." Rin pressed a cold cup into my hand.

I made a grateful babble with my wobbling tongue and tossed back the water.

She shrugged. "The procedure was rough. Don't worry, you'll be better soon."

"Yes," Koko mumbled as she stepped back and flicked through a pile of records on a table. "After fixing up your ankle today, you'll need a bit of recovery. You'll learn the basic exercises to strengthen the ligaments for after you're released."

My nose puckered at the word 'released', but I was too tired to have any real alarm. I glanced down at the bulging joint and cupped the other leg to my chest. Gulping saliva down a too dry throat, I eked, "Thow long?"

Koko rolled her eyes, ending it with a deadened stare on me. "For as long as you have that ankle."

I kept my eyes fixed to hers, and fought the urge to glance down at her too-loose pant leg. Instead, I let out a long breath and muttered, "Figurths."

"Pakkun came by earlier," Rin slid in as she handed Koko some more files. "Said the wolves were just finishing up eating and were doing well. Even Big Wolf!"

A weight I'd forgotten shifted on my shoulders. I let out a breath and glanced at the kunoichi, oddly finding myself believing her words. Even if this news didn't make me entirely relieved, I appreciated it nonetheless: I could see it in her expression that she was just trying to make me feel better. If it had been anyone else, I'd have found it suspicious that I'd missed the promised messenger. Hell, if it wasn't for her, I'd have been suspicious that Koko had purposefully destroyed my "chakra pathways" after they put me under.

Continuing her attempt at cheering me, Rin held up her hands and said, "And, um, I've brought in another basin of water for you to wash up in and a new set of clothes for later. That'd be nice, right?"

Rubbing my shoulder, I nodded. "Thankths," I mumbled, straightening up to rake ratty strands behind my ears. Even when I lived exclusively amongst the wolves outside of Azūmi's forced baths, I'd never felt this filthy. On the road, I knew it was getting bad when my fingers tangled in the clumps of mud-encrusted knots in my hair. Similarly, even though I'd eaten little, I could taste my sour breath and lick the grimy mucous off my teeth. I could even smell myself now: I was washed distinctly in Teru's scent – a fact that wouldn't have normally bothered me if my brother hadn't needed a bath so badly himself.

"We should get you cleaned up before everyone comes," the girl said with a smile.

My brow furrowed, anxiety tickling my gut. "Ef-evferyone?"

Before Rin could answer, Koko interrupted, "Yes. Time's short. We need to get you into Konoha's records." She flipped to more official looking forms and glanced between me and her jotting pen as she muttered, "Dark brown eyes. Auburn hair." She pointed her pen towards a corner, but before I could understand what she wanted, she asked, "How old are you?"

"Uh." I scratched the back of my neck, feeling a layer of dirt and sweat gather beneath my nails. "Not sthure. Th-they said I lookthed abouth three when I firsth came yearsth ago but-"

I glanced at Rin who offered, "A bit younger than me?" When Koko raised a brow, she clarified, "I'm almost twelve."

The doctor wrinkled her nose. "Already? Where's the time going?" she muttered before clearing her throat. "You're right. She's already scrawny, but she'd be too scrawny to be twelve. Let's be generous and say nine." She noticed my frown and met it with her own. "What? You want to be eight? Fine." She crossed out the number and wrote the new one only to again jab her pen towards the corner. "Well, hurry up! Get on the scale!"

"I'm not sthcrawny," I grumbled, annunciating each syllable, but that was all the fight I could muster. Wincing at every move, I slid off the bed and put most of my weight on Rin's proffered arm. That's when I noticed the strange, papery gown into which they'd wrapped me.

I didn't have anything against dresses. Azūmi had sewn me one once and, in fact, I realized in some ways it was more practical as long as they were built sturdily and loose enough. However, after Azūmi instructed me on the proper behavior when wearing one, I avoided them whenever I could. Meanwhile, this thing was as thin and crinkly as paper, and, I had no interest in crossing my legs and "being demure" with the way I ached now.

I turned questioning eyes onto Rin who explained, "It's to make procedures or examinations easier. All patients in the hospital wear a gown like this unless the treatment is really basic." She rolled her eyes. "Or they put up too much of a fuss."

I nodded and, with Rin's help, hobbled over to the scale. I pulled myself up onto the black platform I'd ignored only to flinch in surprise as a red arrow jumped to the numbers '45'. Whatever it meant apparently quantified my existence as Koko poked her head over my shoulder. "Ah, a bit underweight for your age range whether you're eight or seven or whatever you want to be." She slid a numbered, metal bar upwards and slapped the clipboard to the top of my head. "Hm, judging by everything else, you should actually be a bit taller than average."

I grinned up at her. "So, I'm thall?"

She removed the chart and scribbled something. She caught my expression. "Huh? Uh, no. You're actually a bit shorter than average. It's typical these days with you refugees. Your growth plates have probably been affected by an inadequate diet and number of injuries."

Again, I wrinkled my nose at her. Koko returned the gesture by pinching her own shut. "I work with rotten limbs regularly," she groused, her voice now a nasally static, "but you need to take a bath. Now." She yanked me towards a set of screens covering the back corner of the room.

Rin darted over and flung one of my arms around her shoulder. "I got it, Koko."

The woman relented, and I shot Rin a thankful nod. The girl smiled as she lugged me past the screen, her breath not even hitching at the effort – likely because she was holding it. She pointed out the basin I was to use as I slid out of the scratchy gown. I flung it to a corner as Rin handed me a warm, dripping towel. I began raking it over my skin, loosening the grime of weeks-worth of sweat and dirt that had built up over the layer of massacre that hadn't been entirely removed.

Rin grabbed a fresh towel and helped me with the spots I couldn't reach on my back. She filled the silence with a steady stream of chatter, talking about how her parents had barely known anything about the kamigami when she asked them, how some of her friends were back in town, and that she'd been craving a good bowl of ramen. I did my best to give her some of my attention, but I had delved back into battle against my headache. I answered her questions when she asked, such as when she tapped my left shoulder.

"Where'd you get this?"

I glanced over and noticed an old, jagged scar about which I'd forgotten. I shrugged. "Probably a hunt." I blinked. "My tongue isn't numb."

She grinned. "Of course! I said you'd get better, didn't I?" She drew out a clean rag. "About the scars, I can give you a cream to make it go away. It's something all us kunoichi use."

"Make it go away?" I asked, enjoying how light my mouth felt. "Why?"

"Well, some people don't mind'em, but you just get so many as a shinobi." She shook her head. "It doesn't look good especially for a medical-nin. If we have a lot of scars, it shows we can't heal cleanly." She put a comb to my hair and managed to bring it down all of two inches when she stopped. "Uh, we might need to cut your hair too. It's a bit…ehm, messy."

I puffed out my cheeks. I'd always liked my hair to hang just past my shoulders. It was short enough to not be much of a nuisance – especially after Azūmi had braided it – but also long enough that it could cover my eyes if I wanted to take a noontime nap.

My experience with haircuts was that they'd always be an ordeal. Akio, being good with blades, was the haircutter at the shrine, but Azūmi would always hem and haw over his every move on my hair. More than once, I scrambled away from the tense and awkward standoff that often resulted – half my hair still uncut. Still, fighting back a sniff, I gave a noncommittal grunt and yanked my fingers through the worst of the tangles. As I worked at a particularly heinous knot, I moved towards the clothes prepared for me.

"Old clothes of mine," Rin explained. "They'll fit a bit better than the clothes Obito picked since they're actually girls' clothes," she laughed, "but they still might be a bit big."

I tossed aside the bag she brought them in and held up the plain cream shirt whose sleeves would end just past her elbows, but near my wrists when I wore it. There was a similar issue with the dark red pants that'd fit her legs snugly but would need to be rolled up on mine.

"Those colors suit you," she explained, but all I could think was a sulking, Am I actually that scrawny? I can't be.

I forced these thoughts out and said, "Thanks, Rin."

She shrugged her shoulders. "No problem. The thing is you need to put this back on for now."

My expression fell as she held up a pale gray blob I'd tossed aside. To be fair, it was made of the same paper material lining my bed, and I hadn't noticed it actually had sleeves. It was an identical copy of the scratchy, thin thing I was wearing right now – just cleaner. Everything in me wanted to say no, but I was already in Rin's debt. With her wide eyes not even having to turn pleading, I relented.

"Fine," I grumbled and grabbed the outfit to slide it on. The material, as predicted, was thin and somewhat scratchy.

"Hurry up, girl!" Koko called.

I growled to Rin. "Why doesn't she use my name?"

She sighed. "Don't mind it, Mira. It helps to not get too attached when you're a doctor."

I was drawing the dark meaning from her words when Koko called again, "Nearly done? I want to get these reports finished! Danzo has been breathing down my neck for them."

Danzo? My breath hitched, and the headache smashed my skull. I hissed as I grabbed onto the basin's edge, my fingers shaking. Rin, who'd been rubbing a spot between my shoulder blades, sputtered apologies.

"Did I hurt you?" she panicked.

I waved her off, straightening up as I let the name roll around my mind. Though I swore I'd never heard it before, instinctual surges of fear and anger erupted within me. It was like my innate hatred for Habu, but neither as raw nor as violent. It also felt like I had a reason behind my reaction, but as I scrambled my way through my mind, I found myself straining at smoke, hitting darker voids of memory. Still, whatever it was, it had me on edge enough that I had no choice but to pry, "D-Danzo?"

"You saw him yesterday," Rin chirped over my shoulder. "He was the one with the bandages and cane."

Of all the people. I shook my head, blinking through the headache's crushing claws. Was he in the dream? If it was a nightmare, he definitely might've been. I shuddered. With the way he looked at me, he's no friend.

Not realizing the source of my confusion, Rin explained, "He's a member of the Konoha Council along with the other two who were there, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu. They're basically advisers to the Hokage. You see them around here and there in the Village, but-" Her voice lowered. "I'd stay out of their ways if I were you. They can be a bit… intense."

The scratching of the pen nearly covered Koko's grunt of input.

"Hmph," I acknowledged, tightening the wrap around my waist, as my mind circled the steely black void. It felt like I was forgetting something important – something critical – to my existence at Konoha, but for some reason, all I could come up with was this suspicion that I'd missed some realization. I traced the interactions I had with Danzo and found it cluttered with other snaps of images, mostly of the Hokage. Still, one moment stuck out to me. 'Shouldn't we ask for clarifications?'

The papery gown crackled as my grip tightened on its hem. That must be it, I thought with the strange certainty that needed no proof. He probably wants me to spill everything I know. My brow crinkled. But every time I try, I can't. I can't even say the words. I shuddered as my throat grew thick at even the idea of describing what I'd done to the shrine. I licked my lips only for the edge of my vision to catch Koko's pen scrawling away words that I had no chance of understanding. I pursed my lips and glanced at Rin and wrung my hands. "D-do you think I could have a pen and paper?"

She blinked. "Sure, but why?"

I looked down at my knees. "Well, you had to give a report, right? So, I th-thought that-"

"They're leaving his office already?"

We flinched at Koko's cry and peaked around the screen to see a bulky, masked shinobi bent down next to her ear. Before the figure could say anything else, she shooed him off and turned to me.

"Come on, girl," she chided. "Didn't I say to hurry up?" She slapped her gaze onto the book-laden cart and barked, "Did you bring all the scrolls on sealing, Rin?"

"Yes, Sensei," she called back as she helped me around the corner and back to the bed.

I heaved myself up onto the thin mattress, anxiety taking its well-worn perch on my shoulders. I shifted where I sat and whispered, "What's happening, Rin? Who-"

I jumped as Koko stuck a metal tube into my mouth.

"Leave it," she ordered, smacking my hand back down. After a few seconds, she yanked the device out and checked its end. "Fever's officially gone." Before I could ask what she had done, she was hitting a hammer against my knees – making my limbs jump without command – only to yank my head down and peering inside my ears, my nose, then mouth. She had me saying "ah" then forced me to stretch this way and that while reading letters off a card she told Rin to hold several feet away.

"We gave you your shots while you were under," Koko rushed, scribbling the last of her notes. "Seemed like the best choice with your reaction to seeing a needle." She yanked a black pad towards me. "Put your fingers in this, and then press down on this paper."

Dazed from whiplash, I did as she instructed and stared at my ink-sketched fingerprints. I hadn't realized they were so swirly.

"Hm," Koko hummed as she nodded. "Well, that should take care of the medical records. We'll give them to the pencil pushers so they can get you into the system."

"Hating paperwork as much as ever, eh, Sensei?" The voice should've been disembodied – none of us had heard her approach.

We whipped around to face a tall woman whose blonde hair was divided into twin, loose ponytails. She leaned against the doorframe, her headband across her forehead glinting Konoha's symbol. Her dented, gray armor covered her from her shoulders down to her waist while clean black pants hung past her bare knees. Her brown eyes surveyed us with cool interest.

Rin sucked in a breath, and her grip tightened on the board she'd been holding. Already intimidated, Rin's reaction had a growl nearly rumbling from my throat. When it was just Koko, I trusted Rin enough to stand up for me, but now a new player had entered the game.

And this player had Rin's hands shaking.


As always, please leave a review of ConCrit or general feels! I appreciate every single one! I'm specifically curious how you guys are liking the portrayal of all the new canon characters!