New chapter! It has been a long time in the making, but I am finally writing on this story again after many, many months!
Prodigal Son
Chapter 6
Naruto spat another gobbet of blood onto the floor of the dark cell he was being held in. His hands and feet were secured by chains, and he had been stripped down to his boxers, which had taken on a dark red color as they soaked up the blood that ran down his battered frame.
"Why don't you tell me who you work for? Why make both our lives this much harder?" Ibiki asked, his voice smooth yet ominous.
"Cuz' scarface, I don't work for anybody," Naruto retorted, smiling through bloody teeth and a severely swollen left eye.
The smile was lost as Ibiki planted yet another punch into the side of the blonde's face, rocking Naruto's head back.
The blonde would've fell to the floor if it weren't for the chains clamped around his wrists that hung from the ceiling.
Naruto couldn't recall exactly how long he had been in the dank prison cell, but he could recall just exactly how many times the bald man had hit him. He had decided he would be generous and pay the bastard back in kind when he got free.
"Do we really have to play these games? You aren't getting any prettier," The torturer sighed, rubbing his bloody knuckles.
"Haha! Even like this; I could get more women than you could on your best day, gramps!" Naruto replied, chuckling through the blood in his mouth.
Morino Ibiki was known to be a patient man, but today he was losing his patience. Sure, he had interrogated criminals for days on end, but in just a few hours the blonde captive had frayed what little he had in nerves, 'Little prick doesn't give an inch, even when his face is mush!'
Naruto spat out another glob of blood and spit and the mixture splattered all over Ibiki's boot.
"Oops! Guess my aim is off with just this one eye.." he said.
A flurry of punches pounded into his chest like a butcher's hammer tenderizing meat. Naruto felt a rib break under the salvo and grimaced.
"You are a tough son of a bitch, I'll give you that. This next treatment, however, not even a well-skilled ninja master could resist the pain. You will talk; they always talk.." Ibiki threatened, walking over to a table covered with a black cloth.
Naruto eyed the man as Ibiki swept the cloth off the table, revealing a set of what looked to be clay plates. The small, flat, circles were brown and rather plain looking, but Naruto could pick out some sort of writing on them and it piqued his curiosity.
"Uh huh..and just what do you plan to do with dinner plates? Other than go fetch me some lunch that is.." he joked.
Ibiki's only reply came as a shrug.
A few seconds passed and the torturer walked over and stood in front of the blonde with one of the plates in each hand. Naruto didn't have time to study the objects very well before the bald man slapped both plates onto his bare chest, where they surprisingly stuck in place.
Naruto was becoming a little apprehensive about the strange objects, but wouldn't give his captor the satisfaction of knowing so, "Well, these things are a little cold, but otherwise I don't really feel any more inclined to talk.."
"Is that so? Guess we should turn them on then," Ibiki muttered disinterestedly.
Naruto watched as Ibiki placed one of his hands on each of the circles and closed his eyes.
Lightning hit the blonde's chest and he felt the wind drawn from his chest, at least Naruto imagined the pain he was feeling would be akin to being struck by lightning. A violent rush of electricity coursed its way through his veins, accelerating his heart and shocking his organs. The pain this caused the blonde was unlike nothing he had ever encountered. Naruto couldn't even remember dying to be quite as painful as what the plates were doing to him.
Just as the pain faded and Naruto regained his breath enough to tease his captor again, Ibiki started again.
The plates hummed and the pain throbbed through his body again; it was all Naruto could do to not scream out in agony.
When the second wave of pain had passed, Ibiki opened his eyes and removed his hands from the plates; a confident grin showed on his scarred features.
"Doom plates are what we call them around here. You can see why they get that name, cant you?"
Naruto hung limply by his wrists and dropped his head; his body had lost all the fight and rebellion he had been building up, but not his mind.
"R-really? I would've gone with something different. Like..Joy Circles? Or..Happy Fun-time Plates?" Naruto spat through ragged breaths.
Ibiki growled and the plates sent another wave of agony coursing through the blonde's body, earning himself a strangled groan from the proud yakuza.
"I don't need to touch you anymore, fool. I've poured a good amount of chakra into those plates and they will continue shocking you whenever it pleases me," Ibiki explained as he began to pace in front of his captive.
Naruto was starting to lose consciousness as his vision began to blur and he felt his body shutting down, "Y-you can't break me, old m-man. No one can b-break me.."
Ibiki was about to reply when someone started banging on the door of the cell.
"Who is it? I'm with a prisoner right now," The torturer muttered distractedly.
The banging continued and the torturer growled, looking between the door and his captive before unlatching the heavy steel door and swinging it open.
Naruto tried to get a glimpse at who had come to his cell, but his vision went dark and all he heard before he passed out was a woman's scream.
Shikamaru made his way across the rooftops of his city, urgency putting speed into his pace. He couldn't understand why the Hokage would make such a fuss over a known criminal!
His day had been going normally until two of the Sannin had showed up with news about the blonde man. He usually liked his job, but being an ANBU Squad Captain on days like this was just too troublesome.
He didn't have time to dwell on his thoughts however, as he had finally reached his destination: Konoha Hospital.
Shikamaru personally hated hospitals, but had to admit that there were few smarter minds than those that tended to the sick and wounded within the hospital's white halls. It was one of these brilliant minds that the ANBU Captain was searching for now: Haruno Sakura, gifted shinobi and one of the brightest medical minds in the country.
The young woman had been given countless invites to become a certified doctor within the hospital, but had declined every time. She had instead opted to stay with her original team of shinobi comrades, Team 7, and served as the team's field medic.
Shikamaru didn't really know why he was searching for her in particular, maybe it had to do with the fact he had been trying to get a date with her for a few months now, or maybe she was just the best for the job at hand.
He didn't really know why fate pulled him towards things, but if the pineapple-haired ANBU knew anything, it was that you could usually always follow your gut in most situations, and Shikamaru's gut told him that if anyone could control a rampaging blonde criminal enough to patch him up, it was Sakura.
The receptionist saw him coming and smiled brightly, "Captain-san! How can I help you?"
Shikamaru grinned and rested his arms on the desk, "Could you fetch Sakura Haruno for me?"
The girl pouted playfully and nodded, picking up a small microphone and pressing the activation key, "Would Sakura Haruno please come to the front desk. Sakura Haruno, front desk please."
The message played across the hospital's speaker system and a few minutes later the young woman in question came walking down the hallway towards the front desk.
When Sakura saw the ANBU Captain waiting for her, she sighed and rolled her eyes comically at him, "Shikamaru, I thought I turned you down last week.."
Shikamaru chuckled and held his hands up defensively, "I swear this is purely.."
The ANBU stopped talking when he noticed the gorgeous, pink-haired woman had several scrapes and bruises on her arms and legs, as well as a bandage on the back of her head and a band-aid across a cut on her forehead.
"What happened to you?" Shikamaru asked concernedly as he inspected the bandage on the girl's head.
Sakura giggled and pushed the doting ANBU away," Just returned from a mission not too long ago; got into a rough spot. Now what were you saying?"
"Uh. Never mind, I will find someone else to do it. You should go rest."
Sakura frowned and jabbed Shikamaru in the side, "Don't baby me. You came to me specifically for some job or something, didn't you? So let's do it."
Shikamaru was about to protest again, but decided against it as Sakura was already marching out of the hospital doors, "H-hey, wait up!"
Sakura waited for the ANBU Captain to catch up before taking to the rooftops, using chakra to hop from building to building as they made their way to the middle of the city.
"So you want to tell me where we are headed?" she shouted back to Shikamaru.
The ANBU caught up in a few bounds and adjusted his pace so they were traveling side by side, "I need you to come with me to release a prisoner."
Sakura snorted at that and looked over at Shikamaru, "And? There is something you aren't telling me."
"Eh. He is a yakuza thug we caught this morning; he was trying to break into the village. We locked him up a few hours ago, but two of the Sannin showed up and blabbered something about the prisoner and the Hokage sent me to free him. Thing is..he has been with Ibiki for a while and I thought he might need some medical attention," Shikamaru muttered the last part a little ashamedly.
Sakura's eyes went wide and then narrowed angrily, "Shikamaru! Why did you fiddle around then!? This guy could be dead by now! You know Ibiki is crazy when it comes to his job!"
The two didn't exchange any more words as they took off at a quicker pace towards Konoha's prison. It didn't take long for the two to reach the prison, and it took even less for them to find the cell Ibiki was conducting his investigation in.
Sakura rushed up to the door; she was breathing heavily and sweating profusely. Shikamaru wasn't much better off and took a deep breath before banging on the cell door.
No sound came from inside and he passed a wary glance to Sakura.
The pink-haired girl frowned and pounded on the large steel door herself, adding a bit more force than Shikamaru had.
The sound of a key unlocking the door could be heard, and after a pause, the door swung open to reveal Ibiki, his hands covered in blood and with smears of it on his clothes. He didn't look happy either, and Sakura guessed the prisoner had put up more of a fight than the older man would have liked.
"What is this all about..?" Ibiki started to say, but Sakura pushed past him and entered the room.
Her heart caught in her throat and her eyes widened in horror at the sight she was confronted with.
The yakuza thug that had been both her savior and captor for nearly a week was suspended before her. Though she could barely recognize him through all the blood and dirt, it was definitely the man she remembered.
"Naruto!!" she screamed, crossing the room just as the blonde lost consciousness.
She almost cried at the state of the once proud and fiery young man. His nose and jaw were obviously broken, and his left eye was swollen to the point where it would be impossible to see, and the blood was everywhere. He had various cuts and bruises that painted his bronze skin a mismatch of red and purple. Sakura checked him over quickly and deduced that Naruto had at least 3 broken ribs and a broken wrist, apparently caused by the manacles holding his unconscious body in the air.
"Shikamaru! Help me get him down and back to the hospital!" she ordered frantically.
The ANBU Captain brushed past Ibiki and went over to the distraught medic, "What do you need me to do?"
"Get under one shoulder and I'll take the other, we can't afford to carry him because his ribs are broken, so we will have to support him like this till we can get him in a bed. Ibiki! Unlock these shackles and open that door wider!" she ordered, positioning herself under Naruto's left arm while Shikamaru took the right arm.
Ibiki hesitated for a second and was about to protest, but Sakura fixed him with a glare that could've froze water, "Do it, Ibiki."
The torturer sighed and obeyed, unlocking the shackles on Naruto's feet, then the ones on his wrists. Without the manacles to hold him up, Naruto's weight hit the two shinobi supporting him and Sakura almost stumbled, "Alright, let's get him out of here."
Without another word to Ibiki, the two carried Naruto's unconscious form out of the dungeon and into the sunlight.
They took a minute to catch their breath, and then took off towards the hospital as quickly as they could.
"Ibiki I hear you were using less than normal methods on our captive from this morning. Care to explain why?" Sarutobi droned, looking over Shikamaru's report at the torturer.
Ibiki sighed at the two other occupants of the room. He hadn't expected an ANBU Captain to burst in on his interrogation, and in typical ANBU fashion, the pineapple-headed lazy ass had reported on him!
"The prisoner was being exceptionally resistant to normal methods, sir," Ibiki answered.
"Nonetheless, those plates are to be used on especially powerful S-class rogue SHINOBI! The man you tortured has had no chakra training, chakra resistance, or protection from those plates!" Sarutobi growled, frowning intensely at the other man.
"In my defense, sir, Naruto Uzumaki is a known yakuza enforcer with claim to over 100 kills and an immense list of other known criminal acts. He is just as dangerous, if not more so, than some of the shinobi I've used those plates on," Ibiki retorted respectfully, keeping his emotions in check.
Sarutobi nodded, 'He is much more than that..'
The Hokage looked from Shikamaru, who had been silently standing in the corner, to the window before sighing tiredly, "You have a good point in that, Ibiki. You will not receive the full punishment intended for such abuse, but will be held under house-arrest for 30 days. Your sentence will be carried out to the full, unless I or any figure of equal authority decide to shorten it. You are dismissed."
Shikamaru watched as the torturer exited the room before turning to Sarutobi, "I can't say I completely agree with your choice on that one, sir."
"You aren't in the position to give your opinion, Shikamaru. This may come back to bite me in the ass, but it is better to have Morino Ibiki on our side, rather than harboring hatred towards us," Sarutobi muttered, lighting his pipe.
"Sakura will not let this drop quietly; she was extremely upset at the state of the yakuza," Shikamaru said as he made his way to the door.
The old shinobi frowned in confusion and held up a hand, signaling Shikamaru to wait, "You said she screamed the prisoner's name when she saw him in that cell?"
Shikamaru nodded, "Yes. She was visibly upset while we carried Naruto out of the prison as well."
"Hmm. Did you inform her on who he was before you got to the cell?"
Puzzled, Shikamaru shook his head and turned away from the door, taking a seat across from his leader, "No, I just told her we were going after a prisoner. No names or information involved."
"Then it seems our dear girl has met this yakuza somewhere before," Sarutobi muttered, looking out a window in thought.
Shikamaru frowned and leaned on the Hokage's desk, "Perhaps on her mission? Did she report anything about it? I noticed she was bruised up and had a bandage on her head."
"She didn't make a report. Her team leader, Kakashi, did."
Kakashi wasn't a man to be rushed into anything, and the annoying ANBU Captain that was pestering him about his mission report from a week ago wasn't helping him get to the end of his book.
"Kakashi please! I need to know what happened on that mission!" Shikamaru bellowed from the ground below the tree Kakashi was sitting in.
The white-haired ninja cast a lazy eye down at the man below him, "Yo. Shikamaru, how long have you been there?"
The Copy-cat Ninja smiled behind his mask as the pineapple-headed ANBU turned red and kicked the dirt. Kakashi always had a way of aggravating people that were in a hurry. He lived his life simply and slowly, constantly late and never without an excuse; he was admired by some and despised by others.
A legend in his own right, Kakashi had mastered almost as many jutsu as the Hokage, had spent a 7 year stint in ANBU Black Ops, brought more S-class criminals to justice than anyone to date, and was the creator of arguably the most powerful assassination jutsu ever created, the Chidori.
No matter how much of a legend he was, people still seemed to forget all that and chalk him up as a lazy, mask-wearing, porn-reading, pervert. Not that Kakashi really cared either way.
"I've been yelling at you for 15 minutes!" Shikamaru bellowed, still stomping around at the base of the tree.
"Oh? Sorry, I was caught up in my book. What can I do for ya?"
Shikamaru stopped pacing and exhaled before looking back up at Team 7's leader, "Come down here and we can talk."
Kakashi dropped out of the tree and landed nimbly beside the other man, "I'm at your service, Captain-san."
Shikamaru nodded and looked around the deserted street cautiously, "I need to know what happened to Sakura during your team's latest mission."
"Why don't you ask her? Or read the mission report.." he droned, crossing his arms and giving Shikamaru a quizzical look.
Shikamaru looked unconvinced, "I've already read the report and all it says was you went on a retrieval mission in Yosin to retrieve some papers from an informant. Nothing about Sakura, a fight or anything."
Kakashi frowned beneath his mask, "And you don't accept that is what happened?"
Shikamaru's gaze became serious and he stepped close to the white-haired man, "Sakura has a myriad collection of bruises and scrapes on her arms and legs, not to mention the massive bandage on the back of her head. She didn't get those from falling down the stairs."
"You're right. She didn't fall down any stairs during the mission," Kakashi drawled, eye-smiling at the ANBU.
"I'm not joking around, Kakashi. What happened to her during that mission? I have permission from the Hokage to get this information from whoever or whatever I please," Shikamaru hissed, pointing a finger at Kakashi.
What happened next would be the subject of many reports and red tape. In the blink of an eye Kakashi lunged at Shikamaru, picking him up by his flak jacket and slamming him against the wall of one of the deserted stores that inhabited the lonely street. Shikamaru didn't fight back as Kakashi pinned him against the wall; he knew better than to try anything foolish against the other man.
"Don't threaten me, boy. Just because you wear that ridiculous ANBU mask, does not give you the right to threaten your elders and betters! What Team 7 does on their missions is between them and the Hokage, not you. Did you actually think you could scare me into telling you anything?" Kakashi hissed through his mask, his one eye staring furiously into Shikamaru's two.
"Kakashi..you know what will happen if I report this- Ungh!" Shikamaru started to say before he was slammed against the wall again.
"I told you not to threaten me, Shikamaru. You will get nothing out of me, and you best not bother Sakura or Sai about it either," The white-haired man warned, releasing Shikamaru and disappearing in a puff of white smoke.
It was all Shikamaru could do to not gape at what had just happened.
Kakashi, the goofy, laid-back, fun guy that he was, had just shown a side that Shikamaru had never seen. The white-haired man had never been violent or even rude to him in all the years they had known each other.
Something very, very serious must've happened on their mission; something that would make Kakashi so protective of not only the information, but of his team as well. It was something that would cause him to react so angrily towards Shikamaru's questioning; that didn't bode well with the pineapple-haired man at all.
Shikamaru sighed and dusted off his vest, wondering exactly what to do next. He was sure Kakashi would be watching over Sai and Sakura now, just to make sure they weren't bothered.
'What happened to you, Sakura?'
Sakura sighed and wiped the sweat that had collected on her brow. The operation had gone well, and Naruto's outer wounds had been taken care of. She had set most of his broken bones and taken care of the cuts and bruises, but there was little she could do about the damage done to his organs.
Even Tsunade had come by and taken a look at the blonde, but sadly because of the intensity of the foreign chakra burns on his heart and lungs, she couldn't risk pumping anymore chakra into them, healing-natured or not.
The Hokage had dropped by during the operation to check on things, but after studying the blonde for few moments excused himself and hurried back to his office.
Finally, Shizune had come by for a little bit, but began crying hysterically when she saw the state Naruto was in, and had to be escorted out by Jiraiya.
Now, however, it was just Sakura and Naruto in the hospital room, as the other nurses and staff had been ordered to let the blonde sleep after the operation.
Sakura sighed and looked at her blonde charge; she had decided to take the first watch over him, just in case anything went wrong during his sleep.
She smiled as he breathed in and out slowly, finally somewhere safe from harm; a place where he could sleep. Sakura wondered if he had done the same for her when she had been imprisoned in the yakuza compound.
It seemed like an age ago, but she had to admit barely a week had passed since she had spent time with the blonde, talking and laughing despite their captivity. At least, she had thought he was a captive until the compound was attacked. That hadn't been fun at all. The man she had come to know and like during such a short time had turned out to be the man that had captured her in the first place.
She had felt hurt and betrayed at first, then angry and vengeful, but now she didn't know how she felt about Naruto's true self.
Sakura had pondered that throughout the next few days. A yakuza he might be, but he had taken care of her and taken the edge off being a prisoner, right? She had told herself she couldn't forgive him for deceiving her, but was he right about her? If she had known he was part of the organization that imprisoned her, would she have even given him a chance to get to know her? She admitted to herself that she probably wouldn't have.
Another part of her was curious as to why she even thought about it anymore. Why ponder over some guy you met in a prison and talked to? Sakura almost laughed out loud at how silly her thoughts were. She must be getting tired.
"Sakura?" A voice woke her from her thoughts.
She immediately turned to see if Naruto had woken up and was calling out to her, but saw that he was still sound asleep. It disappointed her a little bit, but she didn't know why.
Sakura stood up from her chair beside the blonde's bed and turned to see who had come in, "Uh, yea? Sorry I dozed off."
"Hehe. It's alright; I'm here to relieve you," The young nurse giggled as she entered the room.
Sakura recognized her immediately as Hinata Hyuga, the lavender-eyed heir to Konoha's most powerful clan.
"Ah, Hinata. I was hoping they would send someone with heart to relieve me. Most of these nurses would take a scalpel to Naruto's throat, rather than watch over him," Sakura sighed, walking over to the other woman and giving her a hug.
Hinata giggled and hugged her pink-haired friend back, "Big, bad, yakuza or not; I don't murder a patient we spent 2 hours trying to save."
Sakura pulled away and smiled sleepily, "I know you wouldn't. I will be in one of the overnight rooms just down the hall. Come get me if anything happens."
"Oh no you don't! You go home and crawl into your own bed. Nothing will happen that I and the nursing staff can't handle. Shizune-chan is taking the shift after me as well, so you won't have to worry about any psycho nurses murdering your boyfriend till at least..7 in the morning," Hinata said, smirking slyly at the last part.
Sakura blushed and shook her finger in Hinata's face, "It is NOT like that. I just know him from somewhere and he helped me out in a tough spot" she explained, before quirking an eye at her friend. "Shizune? Tsunade-hime's assistant? Why is she offering to watch him?"
Hinata giggled lightly and looked Sakura up and down while waggling her eyebrows, "What did you need help from a yakuza with? Getting undressed? Paying your gambling bills? And yea, Shizune offered out of the blue, maybe he helped her with something too."
Sakura blushed again and slapped a hand over her friend's mouth, "Hinata! You are so vulgar, I swear!"
The lavender-eyed woman just giggled through Sakura's hand and rolled her eyes comically. Sakura couldn't help it and started giggling too, until they both noticed how loud they were getting and had to cover their mouths.
Hinata pointed at the door with her free hand and made the "okay" sign with her fingers, while Sakura nodded and took one last look at Naruto before leaving the room.
Hinata watched Sakura leave, and then went to sit beside Naruto's bed, "How ya doing, big boy?"
Sakura walked lazily through the moonlit streets of Konoha on her way back to her apartment. She was surprised how quickly the day had passed at the hospital.
The moon was full and bathed the village in silver light that made Konoha all the more beautiful than it usually was. She almost wished she had someone to share the beauty of the night with, admitting that it was too pretty for one set of eyes. And as if on cue, Shikamaru dropped from a roof and walked over to join her.
"Speak of the devil," Sakura muttered, looking over at the ANBU Captain.
Shikamaru sighed and looked up at the silver clouds floating through the twinkling sky, "Nice night."
Sakura nodded and continued her slow walk, "Sure is. How did things go with the Hokage?"she asked, "Did Ibiki get his just deserves?"
Shikamaru shrugged and kicked a rock out of his way as they walked, "He, umm, Ibiki is on house-arrest for a month."
Sakura stopped and looked at her ANBU companion, "What? You're kidding right?" she asked surprised.
Shikamaru stopped and looked at the ground while scratching the back of his neck, "No. Ibiki had a good argument and Sarutobi let him off with a minimal punishment."
"He nearly killed Naruto! He used those fucking shock plates that they used on-!" Sakura started to retort, before stopping mid-sentence and looking away.
"That they used on Sasuke; I know," Shikamaru finished, sadness filling his eyes as he looked at his pink-haired friend.
Sasuke Uchiha was not a subject that anyone liked to talk about. The talented young ninja had deserted the village on his 16th birthday and had cut off all connection with Konoha. He had left his home, his team, and his girlfriend all behind on his quest to find his brother, Itachi.
Sakura's heart had been ripped in two on the day her boyfriend, lover and best friend, Sasuke Uchiha had abandoned her with nothing.
Konoha had sent countless hunter-nin teams out to bring the raven-haired prodigy back to the village, but all of them failed; either finding no trace of the young man, or not returning to the village at all.
It had been 3 years. Sakura believed she was healing, but it still stung to think about him.
"I'm sorry, Sakura," Shikamaru muttered quietly.
"Yea, well..whatever. Nothing to be sorry about; it has been a long day and I get a little emotional without sleep," She said to herself more than Shikamaru.
"Mind if I walk you home?" Shikamaru offered, "I'm headed that way anyways."
Sakura smiled weakly and nodded, "Yea, I would like that."
Without another word, the two friends continued their walk to Sakura's apartment.
Shizune walked at a brisk pace through the hospital entrance and with a wave and a smile at the receptionist darted off down one of the hallways. She knew she should've just stayed up all night; falling asleep and showing up late for "Naruto-watch" was not something she was going to let herself forget.
She blazed down the hall, counting the numbers on the doors, till she found the one she was looking for: Room 243.
Stopping in front of the door, she adjusted her kimono where it had ridden up, and calmed her breathing before opening the door and peeking inside. A smile split her face when she caught the sight of the Hyuga girl resting her head on the blonde's lap, snoring lightly.
With barely a sound, Shizune entered the room and shut the door behind her. A few cautious steps and she was at Naruto's bedside.
Ever so gently, Shizune shook the other girl's arm and woke her up, "Honey, it's time for you to find a real bed."
Hinata smiled groggily and looked over Naruto with a practiced eye; she noted the heart rate monitor and everything was in place before standing up, "Oh but he is such a nice pillow.."
"Hehe. I know, right?"
Hinata yawned and gave Shizune a quizzical look, "You say that as if you know all about it."
Shizune waved away the question and took a seat next to Naruto, "Oh its nothing. Sorry I was late."
The other girl was intrigued now, "Have you..slept with him?"
"Maybe. Why?" Shizune asked.
Hinata yawned again and shook her head, "No reason. Just curious."
Before Shizune could ask what she had meant; Hinata was out of the room and gone.
"Oh well," She muttered to herself as she stroked Naruto's spiky mane.
The sun flooded through Sakura's room as Konoha began to wake up and begin the day's duties.
The soft, yellow light kissed the tangle of pink hair that stuck out from under her thick white comforter.
A groan came from under the covers and Sakura poked her head through the comforter and yawned like a bear coming out of hibernation. After a few minutes of staring around her room dumbly, she caught sight of her alarm clock and just how late she had slept in. 7:30.
With a shriek of alarm she kicked off the covers and leapt out of bed, "Shit!"
She slid across the room and scooped her clothes across the floor as she went, throwing on the clothes she had worn last night without a thought. After slipping on her shirt, she went into the bathroom and checked her appearance in the mirror, groaning at her appearance, "Shit!"
In a few seconds she was naked and in the shower, scrubbing away yesterday's sweat and blood, and cleaning her hair.
It took nearly an hour, but she was finally ready to leave; showered, shaved, and clothed in a clean outfit Sakura headed out the door. 8:45.
She arrived at the hospital and flew to Naruto's room, swinging open the door and sweeping into the room. 9:02.
The room was empty, the bed was made, and it looked as if no one had ever been in Room 243.
Sakura was officially worried. 9:06.
What'd everyone think? I haven't written in so long it feels weird to pick up my story.