[A/N] Update 3/28/15, 4/3/15 - Editing things I missed somehow.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto...
Chapter 2: What's in a name?
She let out a primal roar and the chakra spread out from around her, destroying the vines. Red chakra started to surround her. She felt stronger, faster and no longer weakened by the poison. The little white kitsune started to run once more. However it felt like her body was on moving on its own.
The vines increased their assault and speed, adjusting to this new speed. She saw the light at the end of the 'tunnel' and it was closing. She used the last of this power she had. She took one last leap of faith and the rock was moving to block the exit. A single vine shot out in desperation as she made it passed the rock. She turned her head slightly as the vine latched on and pulled her back towards the hall. The girl closed her eyes and in a last ditch effort tried to call upon that chakra again. She felt nothing this time.
Her tail was caught in between the rock that was blocking the passage to the previous hall. Her agony was unbearable as she heard a sickening crunch of her bones in her tail. She screamed in terror as the excruciating pain was followed by the flow of blood. In a last ditch effort the vine yanked one last time , and her tail was ripped out. She could feel her pelvis being yanked out from her body and piercing her skin.. Her eyes rolled behind her head and she passed out laying on the ground.
Her eyes opened and she had no idea how much time had passed. The pain was gone completely and her pelvis was back in place. She stood on all fours and tried to walk, but she found herself wavering from left to right randomly. She laid on the ground and decided it was impossible to get anywhere. Instead she decided to get her bearings and contemplate.
It was breathtakingly beautiful. The many colors of flowers that lead to trees off in the distance. There was sweet perfumes that filled her nose. There was a delicate wind that made the grass sway and even giant flowers reaching the sky. She found colors fascinating as there were many, but she could not identity anything she could see or smell.
She was used to the darkness, but it was vivid and bright. The only glimpses of the 'outside' world she experienced was when the door opened from her dungeon. They made sure to cover the fleeting light from the bottom of the door. A place like this was probably seen as peaceful, but she found it stressful and terrifying. She was not scared of the dark, but of the silence. She tried to move her tail to her mouth, but remembered it was gone.
During the times strange people came into her room, she always focused on the room next to her's at night. She could hear a caretaker reading bedtime stories to the other children. It was the only reason why she could speak. She never paid any heed to those in the room with her. At first she did, but she had gotten used to it. Screaming and begging is what they wanted from her, but she decided not to give them the satisfaction and she stayed quiet.
She remembered there was one kind caretaker. She remembered most was her circular glasses. After she disappeared it was when adults and children would come into her room. That woman was the only reason why she didn't give into the voices in her head. The voice disappeared shortly after she killed all those people. The voice she heard earlier in her dream was new. She didn't know what to make of it.
There was a figure off in the distance near a tree and her vision grew hazy. She closed her eyes to rest once again.
Hiruzen sighed, as he had wrote to Tsunade three months ago. Yet she did not respond to any of his messages or even his summons.
"Any progress?" a young woman's voice asked.
"Nothing so far Megumi-dono, she's still in coma. Tsunade still isn't responding to her summons. I only arrived a few minutes ago. I thought I would report into you first," Hiruzen said as he looked at the young woman.
She had black hair that reached her mid back and brown eyes. Megumi wore a simple black kimono with a yellow obi. She had her fingernails and toenails painted yellow. She wore pink blush on the apple of her cheeks. If you didn't know her you would never think she was Hiro's or Shijimi's daughter.
"We will have to take more drastic measures. You can leave now, inform me of any new developments," Megumi said coldly and Hiruzen bowed slightly. He left her office and made his way to the room the girl was in and Hikari.
"What's happening now?" Hiruzen asked looking at the active Hikari.
"There is more brain activity going on than last time! She should definitely be conscious in normal cases," Hikari exclaimed as she placed her glasses on the table and began rubbing her temple.
"Do you think something is keeping her from waking up? Perhaps its the Kyuubi's influence that is keeping her like that," Hiruzen theorized.
"It's possible, but have you even looked at her yet?" Hikari asked pointing to where the girl was laying.
Hiruzen found himself turning towards the bed where the girl laid. His eyes went wide and wondered how she came to turn into a white kitsune.
All of a sudden the heart monitor started alerting them that her pulse and heart rate were dropping. Hikari grabbed her glasses and rushed to the girl's side as blood was staining the bed. Her hands were glowing green as she tried to figure out what was wrong.
"What's wrong?" Hiruzen asked in alarm.
"Nothing is wrong is wrong with her body! What the hell is going on here? Is this some type of poison?" Hikari said in panic. A strange yellow liquid appeared and started to seep into the kitsune.
Her pulse and heart rate was slowing going down. Hiruzen looked down, he saw the floor somehow was stained with blood, and the smell of copper. The room started to become complete dark. He rubbed his eyes wondering if he was seeing things. He thought he saw a visage of a red head that he once knew and vines that were covering something. He blinked several more times and found himself back in the hospital room.
It was than their worst fears had come to pass. All they could hear was the monitor making a flat line sound. The old man tipped his hokage hat down. He had failed the girl who never had a chance at life. His knees weak and his hands clutching the bed railing. His knuckles and his hands looked like they were turning white. He was staring at another one of his failures. He had done nothing to save or help this girl. His legs were shaking and they felt heavy to the point they would give out any moment.
Hikari ignored the flat lined sound and all the blood. She continued to try to resuscitate the girl. Hiruzen and Hikari slammed into the wall behind them, they heard a primal roar and light purple chakra surrounded the kitsune. Hiruzen recovered very quickly and turned his head to the foot steps.
He saw Tsunade standing there with her left hand out. The old man took the gesture and Tsunade pulled him back up. She looked at the room and saw the damage. Tsunade was glaring at Hiruzen and waiting for an explanation. They left poor Hikari unconscious on the floor, until he was done explaining. Hiruzen could hear the heart monitors beeps once more and sighed in relief before the machine turned off from being broken.
When she was about to respond they heard a sickening crunch of bones and they heard a sick ripping sound. The two watched as the kitsune's pelvis pierced the skin and the tail was ripped off completely. Tsunade saw yellow liquid seeping out from the tail. She took several breaths to calm herself and began to use a small dish to collect the yellow liquid.
"Shizune get in here! Sensei make yourself useful and get me a diagram of a kitsune's anatomy!" the blonde shouted. The liquid would have to wait to be analyzed.
She could smell sake as it burnt her throat slightly. The smell was familiar and she remembered the bottles they used to throw at her. They used sharp fragments of the glass to throw at her that would make her bleed. Other times it would be all she had to eat.
"I'm glad your awake now. You've been sleeping for a little over of six months," a woman's voice said gently and the girl opened her eyes. Her vision blurry for several seconds until they adjusted to the light.
This wasn't the world she recognized. Her world was filled with black and random people she did not know. There was only one person in the room and the woman hasn't done anything bad to her.
"Where am I?" the girl asked with no emotions.
"Your in the hospital in the capital. You're safe here and there is no need to worry about people hurting you. My name is Senju Tsunade," Tsunade said softly and looked at the girl rather intently. The small white kitsune was looking out the window.
She jumped off the bed and walked into the corner of the room and squatted down. Tsunade had seen this many times with certain animals. Her eyes went wide knowing what it was she was doing.
"Stop!" Tsunade shouted and the girl stopped.
"You don't need to go to the bathroom in the corner anymore. Follow me," Tsunade said gently and the girl followed.
"Forget about everything that you knew. The real world is more than just a dark room," Tsunade said gently to the small kitsune. She had to pick her words wisely, she could mould this girl into anything she wanted.
"This is a toilet, we use this to go to the bathroom and not the corner of the room. All you need to do is properly place your self so it will go inside the bowl of water," Tsunade said and the girl walked towards it very slowly and began pawing at it.
"Here use this to get up if you can't jump. It's a step ladder," Tsunade said placing some kind of apparatus the girl had no idea what it was. She began pawning at it, and slowly made her way up to the first step and than the next one.
She looked into the bowl of water and lowered her head to lick the water. Tsunade sighed inwardly as she watched the girl drinking from the toilet water.
Get a hold of yourself! It's not her fault, she doesn't know any better. The blonde thought to herself rubbing her temples.
"That's not for drinking. If you want water we can get you some. Squat down over the bowl and go there. Don't fall in, I'll be outside until your done," Tsunade said and left the room. The girl could hear her talking to someone. The lecture resumed on how to use the bathroom. After she heard the flush, she opened the door to see the girl looking down and watching the bowl of water swirling around.
"You really smell bad. I doubt they have anything in the hospital for fur. We'll need to get you a collar as well. They don't allow exotic animals walking around. For now your going to just act like a pet. For your protection, we'll register you as a pet under my name. First we'll go to the animal registry and than the pet store," Tsunade said and held the girl to her chest, her arms wrapped around the girl.
After they left the pet store the girl was observing people on the streets. She didn't pay attention to her surroundings. She found it strange that girls and women would coo at her and pet her on the head. Men would just smile at the fox, while children would wave happily to her.
A young woman bent down to her level. She was holding a small portion of meat in her hand. The kitsune began sniffing it and pawing it. Tsunade stopped as she didn't hear the jangling sound of the tag. She turned to see the girl pawing at the meat. The young woman cooed for her to eat it and the girl ate it off her hand. Tsunade thanked the young woman and they continued on their way. They reached the end of the market and Tsunade had a bag of food for the girl. Eventually they reached their destination the palace.
"I see she's awake now," Megumi said looking down at the small white kitsune.
"Yes, I brought her here since you asked," Tsunade said looking at the fire daimyo.
"Follow me, we have much to talk about, but I'm sure our friend here needs a bath and some warm food. I have prepared a room for her in the palace. We also need to figure out how to change her back," Megumi said as she began walking.
"Actually, she's eaten plenty for lunch already. There were a lot of people giving her food, and somehow I ended up with this bag of food on her behalf," Tsunade said turning her head to see the kitsune looking around.
After walking up some stairs they reached a long hallway. They stopped in front of a set of double doors that had a name engraved on it. The girl couldn't read it and walked into the room. It had its own fire place, large a canopy bed, white marble flooring, a desk, bookshelves, a desk and even a TV. She had no idea what any of these things were. On the right side were large arched windows and a large door that led to the balcony. There were several doors leading to the bathroom, changing room, baths and a large closet. There were also various toys all around the room.
"This room was your mother's room. I added the toys to the room. When you were older you would have been brought here anyways. She used to come here when she needed a break from the world. If you have no where to go little one you can always come here. This room is now yours. Where are my manners? I'm Murakami Megumi and I am the daimyo of this country," Megumi said looking at the small kitsune who only tilted her head.
"I doubt she knows what a daimyo is, or what a country is," Tsunade said sighing.
"You knew Okaa-sama?" the girl asked impassively.
"My parents were the ones who knew her. I met her a few times when I was just a little girl. Tsunade-san knows her better then myself. She was a friend of my family," Megumi said softly.
The girl noticed there was a picture on the nightstand and tried to jump on to it, but it was too high up. The two thought the sight was rather cute. Tsunade took the picture from the nightstand and placed the bags she was holding there. She picked up the girl and placed her on the bed.
"Her name was Uzumaki Kushina. She died shortly after you were born," Tsunade said sadly and Megumi looked at the clock.
"If you'll excuse me, we'll talk later in about an hour. I have a meeting to go to. I'll bring this bag of food to the kitchen, we can't have the food spoil," Megumi said and left with the bag.
"Your special, you have two Okaa-sans' and no Otou-san. I can't tell you about Kushina until you are older. She made me promise and I intend to keep it that way. I promise to tell you the truth when your older," Tsunade said softly as they explored the different doors and finally finding the large bath with a shower head.
"I'll explain how to clean yourself and what to do. I'll use myself as an example," Tsunade said as she began talking her clothes off and began her lesson. She walked out of the bath and into the changing room after they were done.
"There we go. Your fur is soft and fluffy now. Do you have any ideas how to change you back?" Tsunade asked in hope for a good answer.
"Picture yourself as a human again. You can switch back and forth," A voice rang inside her mind. The kitsune changed instantly into a girl. She followed Tsunade to the mirror.
She had red kitsune ears on her head with white tips. She had short red hair that reached nearly the bottom of her neck it became purple. She had a milky white skin tone and her skin had a poor complexion with no natural rosy cheeks. There were no scars on her. She had two different colored eyes. Her right eye was violet, while her left was a light lilac color. Both eyes had a tinge of the opposite color in them. Her eyes had vertical slits instead of a pupil. She had a round face with long eye lashes, a small nose and small pouty pink lips. The last notable thing was her tail was red with a white tip at the top.
Considering they found her bald, her hair growth is normal. Her eyes remind me of marbles. If it were anyone else she would have been dead the day they started her assaults. No doubt the Kyubi was healing her. She would also be littered with scars if she lived somehow. Once I tell you the truth will you hate me? If you want to kill me in the future I won't even defend myself. Tsunade thought to herself riddled with guilt and shame.
The girl tilted her head from a odd sensation she felt. She didn't understand what it meant, but it was coming from Tsunade and it was directed at her.
"Your quite pale, but overtime I'm sure your skin will be more healthy when you get some sunlight," Tsunade said and left the room. The red head followed suit and saw a maid outside in the main bedroom.
"Ojou-sama, your not supposed to walk out of the changing room without a towel on or clothes. It's not proper for a lady to do such things with people in the room. Please go back inside and wait for me," the young maid said with a smile.
The girl walked out of the changing room with a white and pink furisode kimono. It was separated by white and pink squares. Each white square held various red, white and pink flowers. On top of that were light green leaves. There were also strawberries and a few yellow butterflies embroidered on the kimono. The obi was red and it had various white and pink flowers on it and a rabbit printed on. The obi-age on top and bottom of the obi was a darker pink. It had a pattern of pink polka dots and white petals. The obijime in the middle was also the same, and there was a fan tucked within on the left side.
"The box I left on your desk has some other accessories," the young maid bowing and left the room with a basket of laundry. Tsunade patted the spot to her left on the bed.
The girl walked slowly not used to wearing clothes and trying not to trip. Tsunade found it rather cute, but her blank facial expression ruined the cuteness. She watched as her tail was still motionless. She wondered if it was linked to the girls emotional status.
"Do I have a name?" the girl asked quietly and no emotion in her voice. Tsunade wasn't phased at all by the tone.
"Well your parents had trouble naming you. You see each of their own families had their own ways to name their daughters. Kushina was named after a certain kami named Kushinada-hime. She was the kami of self sacrifice and the rice paddy princess. They named their children after different kamis. Your other mother's family named their daughters after flowers, and started with H," Tsunade explained.
"They were going to go with the neutral route. And name you after a book that my teammate wrote. The name they picked was Naruto. However when they found out you were a girl, everything went down hill. They argued quite a lot from what Kushina told me. It is why you don't have a name. I suggested Naruko, but Kushina didn't listen to me. Kushina was a very stubborn woman," Tsunade said reminiscing and let out a small chuckle.
"Actually your birth records have been updated. It went right under Hiruzen-dono's eyes," Megumi said stepping into the room with a folder in her right hand.
"What happened?" Tsunade asked with concern.
"There was a record for her, but it seems they filed her under false pretenses. They were collecting the generous ryo that was meant for her up bringing. The people involved have been punished already," she said exasperated.
"I've digressed from the main point. Your name is Uzumaki Kohana. Your name comes from the kami Konohanasakuya-hime. The kami of flowers, cherry blossoms and delicate life," Megumi said with a smile walking towards Kohana.
"Both your parents used one of these ribbons when they were younger. I'm sure you would want them," vocalized Megumi with a smile dawned on her face. She began gently with the red ribbon and wrapped it around the left side of her bangs. The dark blue ribbon that was borderline purple was tied on the right side.
"It looks like I'll have to prepare long sticks for the future," Tsunade said with a smile. Megumi chuckled and Kohana tilted her head.