After Lady Tsunade left the room with the other two following behind her, Marianna waited until she knew that they were out of ear shot before putting her head in her hands and letting out a loud frustrated groan. They shouldn't be here. SHE shouldn't be here. Her family had left for a reason. Her very existence was kept secret for a very good reason. Too many secrets were being kept for her to ever return here. "I'm sorr-" Amaya started, but Marianna silently held up her hand. "I already told you its fine Maya" Marianna stated, calling her friend by her childhood nickname, "It couldn't be helped, but now we need to figure out how we're gonna get out of here." Amaya nodded her head. "I know, but your far to weak to go anywhere for a few days. To be honest, I don't know how far I would get without resting either." Marianna knew all of this to be true, she nor her friend would get very far without resting for a few days. Until then they had to buy themselves sometime, talk as little as possible, and tell as little as possible. Above all she had to hope HE wasn't in the village, she prayed he wasn't here, hopefully on a mission. A long mission. Because if she ran into him, she didn't know if she could control her emotions. Controlling her emotions was something Marianna was always good at, she had to be in order to keep her true identity a secret. Her life depended on it in most cases, that's why her mother left when she found out she was pregnant with her. She clutched the silver locket that hung around her neck, it was the only thing she had left. The only thing that reminded her of a happier time, when things were easy. When they could have stayed easy. "Alright" she said addressing Amaya, "Here's what we'll do. We're going to stay here until we are well rested, and then we will leave. Until then we're going to have to be very careful about what we say and do." Amaya agreed with her friend. Though neither girl would show it, they were scared. They had been ever since their Village was attacked. They didn't know what they were going to do, they didn't even know if anyone else had survived. Marianna wanted to find her sister Yani, who was 7 months pregnant with her niece, and her brother-in-law Kuro. Maya had an older brother named Raiden who was her sister's age, and they were very close. All they wanted was to find what was left of their family and put all of this behind them.
A knock at the door pulled both girls from their thoughts. "Come in" Marianna said. The door opened and in walked the women with pink hair, Sakura if she remembered correctly, the name suited her. Sakura gave both of the girls a warm smile, "Lady Tsunade wanted me to tell you that you will be escorted to your rooms now. She said that their will be extra clothes and towels waiting there for you so that you may shower and make yourselves comfortable, also dinner will be brought to you." "Thank you" Amaya replied with a smile, "We really do appreciate it." "It's really no problem, we want you to feel same and welcomed here, and Lady Tsunade really wants to find out what happened to your Village." A wheelchair was then brought in the room by a nurse for Marianna. "It's alright" she said "I can walk." she then tried to stand up to make her point but was over come by dizziness and had to sit back down. "Or maybe I'll just take the chair." Sakura laughed, "Good choice. Now I wasn't you to stay in bed for a few days, no walking unless its to go to the bathroom." Marianna nodded her head in agreement. She was then helped into the chair, and taken down the hallway to an elevator, where she was then taken upstairs to a large room that contained two beds. Sakura and Maya helped her into bed, " The shower and bathroom are behind that door, you'll find everything you need in there." "Thank you," said Marianna, "Please tell Lady Tsunade I said thank you as well." "I will. Amaya your room is down the hall, I'll give you two a few minutes to shower before sending in your guards." Amaya hugged her friend before leaving the room, and then for the first time since the attack Marianna was alone. For a minute she just sat on the bed, but the shower was calling her name. She stood up, wavering for a moment, and slowly walked to the bathroom. inside she found a pair of black shorts, and a dark green t-shirt, along with a sports bra and underwear. Towels hung on the wall, and soaps lined the counter. She took what she needed and turned the shower on full blast. She loved hot showers, not warm, hot. She sat under the spray of the water for a moment, before she started washing her hair and body. After she was done cleaning herself, Marianna continued to stand under the water. That's when the tears started to fall. She hadn't cried yet, she hadn't mourned the loss of her sister until then, and once she started she couldn't bring herself to stop.
She sat there on the tiled floor under the water that had long grown cold when she heard a sharp knock at the door. "Are you alright?" asked a familiar male voice. She stood up and turned off the water, "Yes, I'll be out in a few minutes." she said as she dried off her body. Whoever it was walked away from the door, and she combed her hair. She pulled on the bra and underwear that surprisingly fit, as well as the shorts and shirt, and then walked out into the room. Lying on the bed next to hers, with his hands behind his head, was the man she had first seen when she had woken up. His name was something-Nara, she couldn't remember, she was to busy waking up in hospital bed to really pay attention. He sat up and looked at her, under normal circumstances, she would think he was cute. He had dark brown eyes, that looked warm and kind, and a strong jaw line. Even though he was sitting down she could tell that he was built under his black shirt and green flack jacket. His dark black hair was pulled back into a ponytail, kinda looked like a pineapple. Yes under normal circumstances she would think him to be cute, but these weren't normal circumstances. He was her guard, her babysitter really, he was her to make sure she didn't go anywhere.
Hello" she said, Shikamaru silently waved back to her. "We met earlier," he said, "with Tsunade." Marianna nodded her head signaling she remembered. "Nara right?" he nodded. "Yea Shikamaru, I'll be your guard for this evening." She smirked at the word guard. "You mean babysitter?" she asked, her tone laced with sarcasm. Shikamaru wanted to smirk but held it back "More or less" he replied. He watched her as she moved around the room, now that she was up and moving he really got a good look at her. Her brown hair fell down her back in loose waves, and stopped just before her waist. She really was a pretty girl, a little too young for him but still he had eyes and he looked. Honestly it was kind of impossible not too, considering her shorts weren't very long and showed off her tan legs which were toned with muscle as well as her...well you know... Her shirt was clingy, not tight but it clung to her body enough to show her off her chest. She honestly wasn't lacking in either department. Now again Shikamaru wasn't a pervert and never fawned over girls but he was 21 years old and knew when a girl was truly pretty, not make-up pretty like Ino could be sometimes.
After putting her dirty clothes in a pile in the corner, she sat down on the bed beside him. "So," she began, "when does the interrogation start?" He raised is brow at her. "You know, when are you going to start asking me all kinds of questions about my life, pretending that you're only trying to get to know me, when really all you're after is why I don't want to be here." He didn't hold back his smirk this time, the girl was blunt, and she wasn't stupid. "No interrogation." he said getting up and walking towards the window. "It's not really my thing." He wasn't lying. He wasn't good at asking questions. He was good at figuring people out and their personalities, but extracting information was never his strong suit. It was Marianna's turn to raise her brow at the Nara. "Really?" she asked. He looked into her eyes to show that he was serious and he nodded. He saw her shoulders droop, like she had been holding her breath and finally let it out, she believed him it seemed. And why wouldn't she? He wasn't lying to her, he wasn't going to press her. She seemed like the type of girl that didn't talk about herself unless she wanted to
"He walked back over to his bed and pulled a shogi board, this was how he interrogated people. "What's that for?" she asked. "To pass the time, guarding you is going to be a drag, but it doesn't have to be boring." he said as he sat on his bed, put a table between them, and faced her. "You mean babysit?" Shikamaru rolled his eyes, but she turned in faced him. He set up the pieces and let her make the first move.
"Fifteen minutes into the game Shikamaru was stumped. Not because he was losing, but because he could not get a read on this girl. She was all over the place, normally he could get a good read off a person from how they played. For instance if someone played aggressively, always on the offensive, never hesitating their moves, it meant that their personality was bold, confident, but not cocky. That they were smart and never backed down. Marianna on the other hand, he just couldn't read. It was almost as if she was purposefully prolonging the game. As soon as he started to advance she would get defensive, then suddenly she would switch to offense, but she only stayed on the offensive long enough to trap him. Then she would let him advance and go back on the defensive. Besides that all of her moves were quick and deliberate, her eyes showed no emotion and her face was blank the entire time. Before he knew it Shikamaru was at a loss, all of his pieces were trapped, he couldn't make a right move, but when he looked at her pieces he saw that neither could she. He looked up at her and she smiled. "You didn't really think you were the only one who used board games to get a read off of people did you?" she asked smugly, "You would have noticed what I was doing if you hadn't been so focused on trying to read me." emTroublesome women, /emhe thought, and she was, she gave him a headache. She also made him crave a cigarette. As she got up to use the bathroom, he stepped outside onto the balcony and pulled out a pack and a lighter. The nicotine helped with his headache, he wasn't addicted to the cigarettes, if fact he usually only had one or two a day. They just made him feel better, closer to Asuma, and they helped clear his head.
He heard Marianna come out of the bathroom and step out onto the balcony, out of the corner of his eye he saw her pick up the pack that he had sat down. Instead of scolding him about the dangers of cigarettes like every other women did, she pulled one out and lit it. He watched her as she turned around and leaned her back against the railing, she inhaled and exhaled the smoke with ease. This obviously wasn't her first time. "What?" she demanded, "don't make a stupid comment about me being too young. I'm only 3 years younger than you." "I wasn't going to say anything." he replied, and he wasn't, it wasn't any of his business what this girl did, she had her reasons, as did he. They were silent for a few minutes before she spoke again. "So when did you start?" "Before the war, my Sensei had died and this was kinda his thing I just picked up on it I guess." She nodded understanding. "What about you?" he replied looking at her. She looked at him then, "About a year ago. I needed something to stay in control, keep the nightmares away." "What kind of nightmares?" She raised her eyebrow, "I thought we said no interrogating." "We're not," he replied, "You don't have to answer if you don't have to." She stayed silent and finished her cigarette. She moved to go back inside, but she stumbled a bit. He reached out and grabbed her arm to steady her. "That cigarette was probably the last thing I needed." she said, "Troublesome." he muttered under his breath, and he helped her back to her bed.
Someone knocked on the door then, Shikamaru opened it and a dinner cart was wheeled in. He handed her, her tray of miso soup and crackers and sat down with his own tray. The food wasn't bad, actually good for once. They ate in silence, and when they were done Shikamaru gathered the trays and and put the cart outside. A nurse came in then to give her more fluids and something to help her sleep.
"Shikamaru took this time to change in the bathroom, he pulled out a pair of black pants and black shirt, just something to be more comfortable in. When he came back out, Marianna was already asleep. emWhatever they gave her must have been strong /emhe thought. He laid down on his bed and pulled a book out from his bag, and started to read.