She woke up in a white hospital bed, feeling drugged. Everything was so heavy and lax. The only reason Hannah was aware she was in a hospital was:
A) Everything was white, and Hannah thought white was the most boring color ever (it's so plain!)
b) The air reeked of antibiotics, like a laboratory haven for mad scientists
c) There was a white curtain drawn around her white bed
The American couldn't open her mouth. It felt sealed shut. After five minutes of moving her lips around in a comedic fashion, Hannah managed to separate her lips- immediately wishing she hadn't.
It tasted as though a large something had crept into her mouth and died. She couldn't get rid of the taste. Her mouth was dry as the air outside and her tongue felt fuzzy- never a good sign.
Hannah spotted a clear glass of liquid life on the white table to her left out of the corner of her eye. She vainly tried to move her leaden arm. It was like a sandbag!
The American scowled at the mocking cup of water, rim shining in the light with a tantalizing twinkle that was irritating her. Stupid drink.
Fortunately, a nurse happened to check on her. She understood croaks and Hannah's lusty glances at the glass, handing it to her. She drank it down quickly without choking or spilling. She asked the nurse for several more, causing her to raise her plucked eyebrows. Hannah couldn't get enough of the crystal liquid.
"How much water have you had?"
Hannah choked and coughed, seeing the Kazekage in his (no more white! Hannah mentally wailed) ceremonial garments. "Only a few shots," she shrugged, clearing her throat.
She saw the minute twitch of his lips. "Water doesn't substitute for sake, Hannah," he smirked, eyeing her with a pleasant gleam in his bright eyes.
SPLASH!
"Very true. Sugar is better," Hannah giggled, studying the water stain near Gaara's pants.
He scowled darkly. "Thanks. This material was imported from New York."
Hannah sucked in a horrified breath. New York!
Gaara saw her terrified expression and smirked.
SPLASH!
The Kazekage wiped his dripping face with distaste. "What happened in that alley way?" he inquired, standing by her white bedside near the white table.
Hannah repeated her story in a matter-of-fact 'your stupid 'help' was late' tone. She riddled the tale with sarcasm and drama, minus the curse words. The red haired boy was pensive. They remained in semi-comfortable, irritated silence for a while, each wrapped up in their own mysterious thoughts. Gaara glanced down at her. "Penny for your thoughts?"
Hannah thought her thoughts were worth more than a penny.
"There's too much shiroi (white)!" she complained, gesturing with her less heavy arm.
"You won't be in the hospital too long," Gaara assured her, donning his Kage hat. He stayed rooted by her bed.
She eyed him suspiciously, certain he was going to do something strange. "Erm, aren't you going? What about your paper work?" Hannah questioned awkwardly.
He blinked. "It can wait."
"What do you want?"
"Nothing…just…the pleasure of your company, Hannah."
The American knew her brain panicked something was fundamentally wrong with Gaara's sentence. No one ever wanted the 'pleasure of her company.'
She scowled up at him. "Alright, mister. Who are you and what have you done with the real Kazekage-sama?"
Gaara seemed faintly amused. "I assure you I am the 'real Kazekage-sama'."
"Prove it. That's what the fake would say, consummate liar."
"Crazy sadist."
"Crazy, arrogant, stiff baka." Ha. She beat him.
Gaara glared. No need for him to get pissy. "Okay, you're the real Kazekage-sama."
The red haired boy's mouth grimaced at the title. "Hannah, you don't have to add the unnecessary suffix after Kazekage."
"Why?"
" It is too proper."
"What's wrong with proper?" Hannah huffed.
"Nothing." The American grinned as she saw Gaara peer out a window cautiously.
"So you're hiding from your fangirls and nineteen competitors?" she chortled. "I almost feel sorry for you, Kazekage-sama!"
Gaara sent her a withering glare before saying a brisk 'good-bye' and disappearing behind the curtain, albeit white.
Another nurse came in with a glass of water, handing it to her. Hannah frowned. The nurse was different than the last one. Her blond hair was cut short and she stared at me over her glasses. Truly- her name clip- smiled too broadly and her brown eyes glinted maliciously. She seemed to be pleased…evilly so as she left.
Hannah stared down at the liquid. It was clear.
Swallowing, Hannah sniffed it warily. It stunk of garlic.
The American, paranoid about poison, dropped her glass cup over the edge of the bed. Her throat suddenly clogged and she began hacking up a lung- or so it felt. After a few minutes of wheezing, Hannah shut her eyes.
Coughing so much was exhausting. The patient fell asleep.
P-p-P-p-P-p-P-p-P
"Poison?" The Kazekage frowned.
Disturbingly, one of the nurses reported mopping up a glass of water by Hannah's bedside. The medic, out of curiosity, tested the water and found traces of lethal poison. At first, she though Hannah was dead- laying there so still, unmoving, and quiet.
But the American was alive. Apparently someone wanted her otherwise.
Gaara suspected the assault on the girl and the poison were related. Hannah was the target of an assassin, a rampant poisoner. The Kazekage estimated the cause was because of the contest and she was 'close' him.
Word traveled that he had waited out the sandstorm at her apartment and Hannah had mended his Kage robes for him.
The culprit was obviously jealous, and females were the suspects.
The Kazekage sighed, massaging his temples. None of this would be happening if Temari had let him live his life single. He dredged up a team from his army and assigned them to watch over Hannah and her welfare.
She was someone who had been so close to losing her life, someone who had been close to being lost forever...
Kankuro burst back into the office, delicately holding a vial of sloshing orange liquid. He produced the beaker before his younger brother. "This was the poison used. Phosphine. Tasteless, but flammable at high temperatures. The easiest way to identify it is by the garlic or fishy smell."
Gaara rolled his eyes at his brother's joke.
"Anyway, we can't tell if Hannah has sipped the poison," Kankuro told the Kazekage.
"Why not?"
"She chucked the table at the nurses and now she's waving the IV around," Kankuro sighed as if he had more amusing things to see, "I'll bet the bed will be next."
Gaara stood and trailed Kankuro to the hospital, surrounded by an entourage of shinobi. Upon arriving in the hall of the recovering bay, the men could hear Hannah threatening to skewer anyone who dared come near her.
They entered the room to find Hannah grasping the IV like a bat and the frightened nurses and doctors huddled deeply in a corner and edges of the wall.
"Hannah, you can relax," Gaara told her calmly. "You are frightening my nurses and doctors."
Kankuro signaled the subjects of the conversation to slip out of the room unnoticed. The American snorted. "Relax, my arse!"
"What do you mean?" Gaara frowned.
"I woke up with a kunai at my throat and a masked freak in black hovering over me! He was wearing a raven mask and we all know ravens mean death," Hannah exclaimed caustically. "I mean, words of 'f', why is someone so intent on seeing me clammy and stiff?!"
The Sabaku brothers shared a look. The murderer was intent on seeing the American six feet under sand. Things were more dangerous than either had expected.
"Hannah, you and the other competitors are in danger. I am designating you all in one building-" Gaara began.
"That's stupid," Hannah cut in. "An explosive tag would finish us all off if we were all in the same building, killing off most of the competition."
"All competitors for…ah, my hand shall live on the same block until the perpetrator has been apprehended," Gaara ordered. "Only the contestants will live in the households, five women to a house. No visitors are permitted."
In her mind, Hannah saw iron bars slamming down. Things would officially begin to suck.
shiroi- white