Author's Note: Well... I enjoyed writing it.
Disclaimer: If Naruto was mine...let's just say I'd slap Sasuke up the head a few times.
Professional Observations
10/1
Assigned new patient today, calls himself Uzumaki Naruto. Young boy, messy blond hair, three strange scars on each cheek, about 13 years old. He interacts well with most of the other children, unlike other patients; has "boundless" energy.
Will continue observation until our first session, which is to be on the 10th.
10/3
Received results of the patient's physical today. He acts, at times, like he was abused (paranoid, very cautious about position and the proximity of escape routes) but shows no physical signs of such. Only scars are the whiskers on his cheek, a strange pattern on his stomach and a faint mark like a stab wound on his hand; he has no scrapes or bruises. Also interesting, although not commented upon by doctor, is that he has none of the usual scars that little boys have, like he's never had a skinned knee.
He also seems to seek attention (perhaps abused through being neglected rather than physically?) with loud antics and pranks; the warden was not amused at the trip wire he set up. V. independent, cooks for himself (insists on ramen whenever possible). Passion for orange clothes.
10/4
If not for his insistence on being from a different world and strange behavioral habits, would almost think he was sane. Read a transcript of his questioning; patient believes himself to be a ninja. Evidently can do some sort of magic trick involving a spinning ball in one hand that he produces from nowhere; less impressive considering he wears long sleeves. Patient also asked about two other children, referred to ask 'Sasuke-dobe' and 'Sakura-chan.'
10/7
Patient placed in solitary for today for two hours after a particularly nasty prank. Warden asked what drugs I recommend. Told her to wait, allow me a further chance to study the symptoms of his neurosis, as they are unusual.
Another new development. Patient is an amazing physical specimen, almost 100 muscle and very coordinated. Unusually strong, fast, and is able to outlast all of the other students. If he ever becomes depressed, I may think him bipolar; his mood does not swing, but all are filled with same energy and restlessness.
Also, as to his reference to other children: contacted the last place he stayed, and no mention of either child. However, learned interesting tidbit: no one knows where he is originally from. Neither parent has a DNA sample on file in country. This raises an interesting question: who is paying for his treatment?
10/9
Tomorrow is first session. Observed Uzumaki for longer than usual today. He is very fond of knives. Was caught on camera sneaking three v. sharp knives out of kitchen. Interesting as I was observing him at the time recorded on camera. Perhaps time system is broken. Must ask Warden to look into this.
Patient heals very quickly? Fell during a game today. Caught a glimpse of skinned knee- looked v. painful. Patient was not upset. Saw knee again tonight after dinner, no injury. Perhaps I saw wrong earlier.
Patient also has fondness for rooftops. Has been caught on rooftops 4 times since the 1st. Was put into solitary for one hour today as punishment.
While patient was in solitary, strange thing occurred. Cook claimed to have seen look-a-like sneak a roll from kitchen; patient, however, could not have left solitary. No windows, and door was guarded the entire time (he has somewhere learned to pick locks and is quite good at it; suspect it would be impossible to keep him in strait jacket).
10/10
First session today. Unusual occurrence: Patient recognized me as 'the dobe who's been tracking me and scribbling on a piece of paper.' Told him, yes, I was observing him. Patient asked me to stop, said it made him uncomfortable to be watched. Made no promises.
Session otherwise normal. Patient told me about delusions; unusually vivid and lengthy; evidently have been going on since patient can remember. Patient demonstrated skill with knife (I confiscated; where did he get it from?) and physical skill to try and prove his point. Seems to have a v. strong will. If cured, suspect he will go on to do impressive things.
Recommended three types of drugs to Warden today; it is unfortunate to resort to this so early, but patient is very firmly fixed in his delusion.
10/13
No noticeable change in patient's behavior. Patient is rather small; have already upped drugs to the dosage for that of a full grown male, but it seems to have done no good. Patient is still full of energy and insists on the truth of his imaginings. Has continued to try and prove said beliefs with physical activity. Showed me the spinning ball trick again; when I said it didn't prove anything, he grew angry and threw it through the window.
Discovered strange tattoo on stomach; possible relation to scars on cheek? Seems unlikely.
10/14
Several patients escaped through hole in wall. It evidently appeared after session with Uzumaki yesterday. Fortunately, he was not among them. Guards could not determine what made the hole. Police said it looked like no explosive they knew. V. strange. Patient seemed to find all the confusion v. funny but would not explain why. Called the Police very inappropriate words. May be a further symptom manifesting itself.
10/15
All three patients were recaptured. People in area nearby were v. inconvenienced; city council may finally give us money to improve security and medication. Incident w/ wall turned out to be v. good. Police still do not know how it happened, but think it was accidental.
10/17
Uzumaki escaped; new hole was found in the same spot as old, suspect he went through it. According to police, done same way. Perhaps faulty pipe nearby? Am unsure how patient escaped; was in his room, locked in at the time. Lock appears to have broken, unsure how. It was new, possibly faulty.
Police are still looking. Told the storekeepers to watch out for anyone ordering ramen. Suspect Uzumaki will be found soon. Scars are v. distinctive.
10/19
Two days and no sign of Uzumaki. May have left town; bus driver reported an unusual passenger but said it was a blond girl. Had same scars on cheek. Perhaps accomplice who broke Uzumaki out? Scars - Some sort of gang. No, impossible. Uzumaki has no known family. Suspect he was simply lucky and has not been seen.
10/22
Suspect Uzumaki will not be found. V. unfortunate, as his treatment was not near done.
10/29
Uzumaki returns. Police in city five hours away arrested after v. long chase. Patient apparently collapsed due to hunger. No doubt he couldn't find any ramen in the city. He has been placed in solitary and now has a guard posted outside his door. I have doubled his dosages; hopefully, the medication will begin to take effect.
10/31
Have been talking further to Uzumaki regarding his world. Is very interesting; he has told me in great detail about his 'teammates' and 'sensei' as well as someone called the fire shadow. I wonder how he drew adults into his imaginings… it seems more likely that they're imaginary after all.
Status report: 11/1
Uzumaki Naruto is a young man of around 13 years. He suffers from the delusion that he is a ninja and refuses to believe otherwise. Uzumaki is unusually resistant to the standard medication, and I believe this is because he has been exposed to them before. Unfortunately, no hospitals in the area have him on record, and I must wonder if he is using a false name. Uzumaki, outside from his delusion, is a relatively stable young man. If not for his irrational belief, I believe he could function normally in society. He has tendencies towards violence, foul language, neither of which is too unusual for a teenage boy. He also has a dislike of authority figures, namely the warden.
As of right now, I have been able to make no real progress towards curing his delusion. It seems to be very firmly fixed, and deeply rooted. He has thousands of details about his imaginary world, and never seems to contradict himself. The use of the names of other children makes me suspect that he drew others into the delusion, or perhaps created it with them. I have already asked other hospitals to watch for children with the same delusion, as it is entirely possible that an entire group of them are so fixated.
I do not yet know what caused him to believe so wholeheartedly in his imaginings. He never speaks of a particularly traumatic event, and does not seem to bear the standard signs of one who's been through something so bad they block it from memory. Still, his case is unusual in most other regards, and it seems likely that it might be unusual in this way. I will keep a closer eye on him.
Author's Note: This is currently a one-shot, but if anyone's interested in reading more, I have a tentative plot mapped out that would involve further chapters (and possibly the rest of Team 7)!