Chapter 3: Wake Up Call
As Shino escorted the prisoners to the Hokage and awaiting jounin, Shikamaru and Kiba waited outside the mystery woman's hospital room. Shikamaru thought back for a second to a few moments ago when they first found her lying unconscious on the ground. Though she was bloody and bruised, he thought she was quite cute. Her face was very shapely and her long hair very soft looking. He finally snapped out of the flashback when Kiba began to speak to him.
"I wonder how she got here. She was so mangled. Do you think she's a spy who was ambushed by the Konoha ANBU?" he asked Shikamaru, slightly growling toward the door.
"I don't know. But I know one thing; we have to find out who she is, and why she was a mess. And also why she ended up outside the village," Shikamaru answered.
"True. I'm still a little iffy on her though. I smelt a trap when we were near her, but I can't quite figure it out. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I feel like there's something wrong…." Just then the door to her room opened and a nurse walked out.
"You two may see her now. She should be waking up very soon," she smiled.
"Is she hurt badly?" asked Shikamaru.
The nurse politely smiled again. "Well, she has a few bad cuts and some open wounds that look like they're from kunai, or other sharp weapons. She has a really bad cut on her forehead. Looks like it was from a blunt attack. The wounds had some sand in them, so we had quite a time cleaning them out". Kiba and Shikamaru started to head in, but the nurse stopped them. "There's something you two should know before you go in there". She paused. "She's not from Konoha, as you've more than likely already noticed. She's from the Sand village". Shikamaru and Kiba froze in their tracks and their ears pricked. A ninja from the Sand outside Konoha battered and bruised? There was something wrong about that. "You can go and see her, just don't throw her on trial right away. She's dehydrated and needs to rest for awhile. She won't be able to handle rough interrogation from two strong, handsome jounin like yourselves". The nurse smiled again, bowed slightly, and entered a door down the hallway.
The two walked in and each sat down on either side of the Sand girl's bed, thinking about the information they just heard. Shikamaru spotted her head protector on the end table next to her bed. He flicked it with his finger, making it ping loudly.
"I wish she'd wake up already. I want to know what she wants, and what happened to her," Kiba growled. Akamaru barked.
"We'll find out everything we need to know when she wakes up," Shikamaru said in an annoyed tone. He looked at her lying in the hospital bed and noticed her choker. It had a small cat charm on it and looked as if it had never been taken off. It seemed almost embedded in her skin. He was mesmerized by the two small sapphires in the cat's eyes.
At that moment, a small moan escaped the throat of the patient. She stirred a bit and her eyes began to open. Kiba and Shikamaru both looked on attentively. "Her eyes," Shikamaru thought. The ninja's eyes opened up, revealing bright blue eyes, identical to the cat eyes around her neck. Kiba, Akamaru and Shikamaru all looked down at her as she came into consciousness. The mystery nin put her hand on the bandage on her forehead, then looked up at the strangers staring down at her. She shot up out of bed and stood on the mattress, getting into a low stance.
"Who are you? Where am I!" she yelled as she reached around her back looking for something. She gasped, "My pouch!" She grabbed Kiba by the collar of his jacket, "WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY POUCH!" Suddenly, she stopped yelling and her grip immediately loosened. Her eyes rolled back and she fell over and off the bed towards Shikamaru. Shikamaru caught her just before she landed on the floor.
"Well she's a lively one," said Kiba fixing his collar and giving a look of excitement.
"Troublesome too," Shikamaru huffed as he put her back in her bed. As she laid there in her hospital robe, Shikamaru couldn't help but notice how much energy she had suddenly at the sight of them, and how she immediately wanted to protect herself. "She seems like another Naruto, always rushing into fights before thinking". He sighed. "Just our luck". But Shikamaru wanted her to awaken again, as troublesome as she seemed. He needed information from her, why she was there, who she was, why she was beaten as badly as she was. He needed to know.