The Archangel of the Hidden Leaf

Chapter 6:

Sweet Pareidolia

The lukewarm water decanted from the cup and trickled through the clumps of tangles before finding itself back in the bucket of cloudy water. Every fiber had a dull reflection from being wet, but Ino was not satisfied with the cleanliness yet. She leaned into Sakura's ear and whispered: "It's like it's never been washed."

Sakura examined the thick clumps from where she was sitting next to Ino. She knew the task of cleaning up the poor girl's hair was going to be tough, but now that it was being done, she was afraid that it was impossible. Each mat had accumulated dirt that was struggling to dislodge with the stimulation of water. Ino might have been right with her conjecture, but Sakura could not confirm if it was true or not. She did not know anything about the creature's backstory.

"Let's try the soap next. I'll get you more water," Sakura offered, getting to her feet and picking up the bucket.

Ino nodded and reached behind her to grab the two bottles of shampoo by their lids. One contained a concoction that would deeply clean and repair damage. The other was good for a lasting scent. She unscrewed both lids and proceeded to mix the two shampoos in the cup with her fingers.

The creature stayed laying on her back on the hospital bed with her hair hanging off the edge. She had not said anything since Sakura escorted her from Ichiraku Ramen. Ino was warned of her appearance but was not prepared for how delicate and quiet she ended up being. Sakura claimed she murdered two chunins like the rumors around the village were saying, so she was expecting someone unstable. Instead, she was encountered with an angel. There was no fuss from her at all when her hair was soaked to begin cleaning it. So the question arose: How could someone like her be a cold-blooded murderer?

Sakura returned to her side with a bucket of fresh water and placed it back on the floor beneath the dripping hair. "Alright, let's give this a try," Ino commentated, lifting a hand to reveal her four fingers lathered in the pinkish mixture of shampoo. "I'm going to touch your hair a lot now, okay?"

"Okay," the creature replied in a hushed voice.

Ino lifted a clump of hair and began to press and spread the soap around it until it reacted with the water and foam up. She would do the same for every visible tangle. Sakura stepped closer to the creature and looked down at her face. Her colorless eyes shifted, making the gleam of the artificial lights in the ceiling wobble in them. The medical shinobi knew her attention was focused on her. "You've never told me what your name is," she coaxed, trying to forget the near attack at the ramen bar completely.

She slowly blinked. "I don't know what my name is," she admitted, her voice silky with woe.

Sakura could not help but feel a jab in her heart. "Are you an orphan?"

Silence filled the air for almost a minute. The creature thought about that word. Orphan. It was something she did not want to face or accept but hold hope that it was not true. Ino listened in as she used both hands to massage the foam through the mess of brown hair, aiming for the scalp as the final destination. She knew her father would have a part in the investigation of the murders by looking into the mind of the creature for information. Anything she would tell Sakura, Ino could relay it to her father in preparation for his investigation in the Analysis Team.

"My mother stopped bringing me food," she expounded. "I don't know where she went."

The jab in Sakura's heart transformed into a crack. She grazed her eyes over how emaciated the creature was. Her arms were riddled with bone protrusions and visible blood vessels. The muscles in her legs were so atrophied that she was not sure how she managed to walk properly. She had already seen her torso; her ribcage was completely detectible, and her abdomen caved in as if no organs were inside. From her knowledge of the human body, there had been a lack of food in her system for months or even years.

"And she never gave you a name?" Sakura sadly asked.

"No."

Brokenhearted, Sakura glanced down to Ino. The two made eye contact. Ino's expression showed she was listening and shared the same troubling feelings as she did. Everybody deserved a name. It helped make a person who they are. Sakura got her name when her parents laid eyes on the color of her pink hair. Ino got her name from her clan's tradition in collaboration with the Nara and Akimichi Clans. Names were special and meaningful.

Thinking about the origins of their names, Sakura reminded herself of the creature's most captivating characteristic. Her featureless face held so much mystery and beauty, unlike anything she had seen before. She was born with it. It could have been the reason why her mother could not find a name for her. Perhaps she was mystified by her daughter's appearance? Perhaps…she was horrified? Either way, Sai was able to explain what it was Sakura was looking at. A pareidolia. It was the phenomenon in which the beholder thinks they are recognizing a shape or pattern in something that is not actually there. In this case, there really was a face, but it still seemed as if there was not at the same time. Maybe that could be the source of her name?

"I can give you a name," Sakura kindly proposed. "Would you like that?"

The creature's gaze remained steady. It was impossible to read her potential thoughts. Ino smiled to herself as she dunked her foamy hands into the bucket of water to rinse them. She believed her friend was handling this well. There was no shaming or ousting the creature's predicament. She was simply trying to help her.

"Yes," the creature confessed, a hint of longing in her response. The gleam in her eyes increased in size as they threatened to water.

"What about…Dolia?" she suggested as Ino rinsed her hair with audible splashes. "It describes how pretty you are."

The creature absorbed the name for a moment. She did not know what it meant, but she was welcoming of anything to serve as her name. People probably viewed her as only a monster and nothing more, like the families of the two men she killed. Having a name felt like a new beginning for her, and it would help show people that even though she had a monstrous side of her, she was still human inside and out.

Involuntarily, tears filled her eyes and she inhaled. "Thank you."

The sight made Sakura smile. She was building a connection with her. "You're welcome," she replied, stepping back to attend to Ino's foamy water. She waited until Ino was finished rinsing all the soap out of her hair before picking up the bucket to go dump it outside the room.

"Dolia," Ino began as she opened a new bottle of hair product, "I'm going to try to get the mats out of your hair now, but there's a chance I'll have to cut some of them out. Is that okay with you? To have shorter hair than you're used to?"

"…Yes."

Sensing the hesitation in her voice, Ino sought to alleviate her worries. "You're going to look brand new. I promise," she soothed, hearing the door open again with Sakura's reemergence. When the bucket was placed underneath her hair once more, she did not hesitate to get back to work. Every mat was individually massaged with conditioner. She tried to use her fingers to gently comb apart the clumps, but some would not cooperate at all. Not giving up hope yet, she began to thoroughly rinse the clumps to further moisturize the tangles. The goal was to get the mats to ease and let go as much as possible.

Ino could see a major difference in the smoothness of each strand already. What was once a dull reflection against the lights was now a healthy one. She picked up a comb. "Help me with this, Sakura," she vocalized, grasping a clump, and pressing the comb's prongs to it. "I'm sorry if this hurts, Dolia. It'll be over soon."

Together, Sakura and Ino attempted to comb out the mats of hair by gripping them from the top and pushing the prongs through the bottom. It was a tedious process, but they were determined to save as much of the hair length as possible. Unfortunately, some parts were too far gone to be saved. They both had to pull out their kunai knives to slice off sections. As the hair dangled, it became more and more obvious that it was uneven. Ino felt guilty. The parts they managed to save would end up having to be cut anyway.

Sakura collected the hair that had fallen to the floor and disposed of it as Ino worked to even out the length of the hair. She had Dolia sit up and used her kunai to finish off the job. Her hair used to hang lower than her waistline, but now it hung closer to her shoulders. Because it was curly, after it dried, it would become even shorter. But Ino ran her fingers through the soft, untangled strands, slightly disappointed but satisfied with the outcome. "All done," she announced.

Sakura came around the bed with a mirror. Upon seeing the result, she smiled. "That's much better," she complimented, offering Dolia the mirror to view her new look.

She took it by the handle and was greeted by a reflection of herself. It was a new experience; she had never seen herself before so clearly. She did not realize just how different she looked compared to girls like Sakura and Ino. But she also saw how voluminous and shiny her hair was. If it were not for Ino and Sakura's kindness, it would not have been fixed after a lifetime of not being tended to. They went out of their way to do this for her.

Sakura watched as Dolia had tears well up against her eyelids and pour over onto her cheekbones. Her lip curled as she tried to hold back weeping. "Aw, it's okay," Sakura comforted, knowing it was from being happy.

Ino thought about what was going to come next for Dolia. As much as she hated to acknowledge it, she knew what lay ahead in her future was bleak. Her father would look into her mind, she would be held in a prison cell, and she would be punished for her crime. Even though she just met her, Ino dreaded someone as sweet as Dolia having a future like that. Something about it just did not seem right at all.