A/N Thank you for following this story. Please enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Naruto or its world. I don't own any media or pop culture referred to or mentioned in the story.
If you want to vibe this chapter, look up "Krale - Memoirs of the Forgotten" on youtube.
"I hear the sound of angels when I close my eyes."*
"Angels?"
"Well, who else would be singing in my dreams?"
Wake up, my heart.
Nami opens her eyes slowly. Ah…I'm still in the white room.
Looking around her, she takes in the seemingly empty space. A quiet rattling comes from above her. Her gaze goes to the metal poles running along the ceiling. On it, metal rings hold a long white curtain. The AC pushes the fabric in a frigid artificial breeze, cooling the room with a quiet hum.
The curtain cut off her sight from everything but a small window to her right. With the lights out, it cast everything in a dull, washed-out gray.
For a moment, Nami looks out, wondering where her grandmother took them now. Faintly, she makes out the tops of barren trees and a dark, stormy sky. The clouds swell heavily with rain, ready to burst in a torrential downpour at any moment.
How long was I asleep? Where's grandmother?
Nami tries moving her body. "!" Pain flashes down her back and arms, leaving a searing sensation. She swallows a whimper, head flopping back on the pillow.
What happened to me? Why does everything burn?
Nami's thoughts are cut off by a voice coming into the room. "I just have to check one more patient before my break."
Immediately, Nami relaxes her body, going boneless as if asleep. Just like her grandmother taught her to do if she were captured.
("I know you want to play with them, my heart. But I have you stay close to me so They can't take you." Miho smoothed down Nami's curls as she held her. She never told Nami who 'They' were. Only that 'They' were dangerous. Waiting to take her. Waiting to hurt her. "After all, our family is known for their bright colors. And your hair is so pretty…" Miho made it sound like a curse. But she continued her ministrations, lulling the child to rest. "Hush now, my dear, and sleep." Soon, Nami did just that, falling asleep to the sound of her grandmother's humming.)
Turning her head to face the window, Nami's eyes shut just in time for the curtains to pull back with a smooth glide of metal rings.
"Ah, it seems she's still resting. We were hoping she woke up today." A man's voice came from above her.
Nami does her best to keep her breathing steady. She plays her grandmother's lullaby in her mind, regulating her breaths in count with the melody. (Mmm mm mm mm…) Inhale 1, 2, 3.
"She's so small." Another voice whispers, a woman's this time. "What happened to her?"
Exhale. 1, 2, 3, 4.
The first voice is on the other side of her bed now, checking the liquid tube attached to her arm. "The reports were mixed, but apparently they found her by the border. She was caught in some sort of explosion."
Inhale… 1, 2, 3, 4. Breathes aren't perfectly even, her grandmother pointed out, so Nami changes the count.
"You mean near-?"
"Yeah. They think whoever she was with got caught in the blast that injured her."
Exhale…. Wait, what? A blast?
Luckily, her stutter is minute enough they don't notice her breathing is off.
They continue talking. "We're still watching for signs of brain damage." Nami hears the frown in the male voice. "According to the reports, she was muttering gibberish when they brought her in. The only thing they could only make out was 'Baabaa.'"
Inhale… Exhale…
Nami almost jolts when a hand smooths down her head. "Her grandmother, maybe?" The female voice makes a sympathetic sound. "Poor thing…" The second voice sounds so sad. "I hope it's not another war." This last part they say in a hushed, nervous manner.
The first voice makes a sound of agreement. Nami hears them writing on something near the foot of the bed. "She won't be the last orphan we see if things keep going the way they are."
At this point, Nami wants to wake up and ask about her grandmother. But she reels in the desire. Instead, Nami shifts in her "sleep," groaning out loud. The woman hushes the other person. They whisper something, too soft for her to hear.
After that, the two people don't linger long. As they leave, they pull the curtain back in place, then close the door with a soft click.
In the silence that follows, Nami stays still for several minutes before she opens her eyes.
Grandmother, where are you? And what does "war" mean?
The sun is long set when Nami fully stirs from her false-slumber.
She tried waiting for her grandmother to come. But as the shadows crawled across the floor, as the sun went down, Nami felt her panic grow.
Grandmother never left her alone this long. She needs to move.
So here she is, taking note of her surroundings. From below the curtain, Nami sees a yellow light from the direction of the door she heard earlier. Would the people who took her notice she's missing?
Nami takes a couple deep breaths, remembering her pain from trying to sit up earlier. I hope it's better now…
Bracing herself for the pain, Nami counts down before slowly moving her body. 3, 2, 1… "!" Indeed she feels intense pain again.
But this time, she's determined to get somewhere safe. Come on… come on…
It takes time, but her efforts pay off. By the time she moves to the end of the bed, Nami is sweating and trembling. Pain continues to shoot through her back, but she's up!
She leans against the railing at the foot of the bed to catch her breath. Step 1: complete!
Now what's Step 2? Find Grandmother.
She looks at the liquid tube sticking in her arm. She lightly pokes it and winces, feeling a thin stick under her skin. Whatever this was, she needs to take it out before she can move.
Nami bites her lip in thought. She wonders if it's like the time her grandmother removed the glass from her hand.
The woman had to leave the shard in till they got back to their medical supplies. When Nami asked why, Miho told her removing it incorrectly might make her spill too much blood.
Nami hopes the stick in her arm wasn't like that.
She peeks at the curtain while picking at the tape on her arm. Once both sides are free, Nami shakily pinches the bandage and pulls the stick free.
The girl whimpers openly now, closing her eyes at the pain. When it's done, moments later, Nami opens her eyes, blinking tears away to see what it was.
It was a needle!
Nami sways for a moment, feeling dizzy. Grandmother said needles were for medicine and poison.
("This is a senbon." Miho showed Nami the weapon and repeated the word a few times for her to learn it. "If one's in your body, you need to move quickly. Pull it out if it's here, here, or here." Miho pointed at safe spots on Nami's body for her to remove needles. "It's best to get it out of your system by removing the source. Take it out, then pray it's not poison.")
Nami swallows, throwing the needle and tube down. She puts the sticky bandage back onto her arm to stop any blood. She hopes there was medicine in that needle...
Now free to move about, the girl wastes no time hopping down. The floors are smooth and cool under her bare feet. Where are my shoes? Where is my hood?
She tries not to dwell on the fact her hair is uncovered. It goes against everything her grandmother taught her, but it's more important she finds her guardian.
Quietly, Nami moves to the curtain. She pauses, checking for voices. After hearing nothing, Nami slides the fabric aside.
There is another long white curtain across the room from her pulled shut. Beside that, two beds sit empty. There is no color, only more gray and white in the darkness of the room/
Nami swallows, wanting to leave the unnatural space. She follows this urge, moving quickly to the door. She pauses again, looking down at the bright light shining from the other side of the closed door.
To her relief, she couldn't hear any footsteps or see any shadows.
Now's my chance!
Silent as she can, Nami moves down the hall. She doesn't bother trying to remember the turns she makes. She just needs to get out.
After several minutes of taking random turns, Nami stops. Her initial rush of energy is dwindling, and her back is burning.
"The patient in room 7 wasn't taking the treatment well." Voices suddenly turn the corner.
Nami ducks into the open door behind her, heart racing. Fortunately the lights are off and the beds are empty.
She peeks around the doorway, seeing if they noticed her. These people were dressed in white dresses, walking into the room across from her.
"Hello, we have dinner for you!"
Food? Her stomach growls then. Nami's eyes go to the cart they're pushing. The bottom half is covered by a cloth and the top has plates of food.
"We'll be back around to get the dishes." Their voices return.
The nurse turns to the cart as her co-worker comes back. "Is that everyone on this floor?"
The second woman glances into the dark, empty room across from them. Walking over, she leans in, turning on the light to make sure it was still unoccupied.
No one admitted yet, just as it was this morning.
"That's everyone!" The second nurse marks down their notes after turning off the light and flipping the room's plate to notify it was free to use.
The first nurse sighs in relief, ready to take a short break before making her evening rounds. Things got busy in Konoha Hospital. Fortunately, it is calm right now. "Thank goodness. Let's drop these off downstairs. I heard Hanako-san from hematology brought some pastries in the west lounge."
As they start pushing the cart to the elevator, her colleague makes an excited noise. "The one whose husband owns the shop on Main?" The pastries are popular among the medical staff, something to look forward to between long shifts.
Her co-worker nods, pressing the button to their floor. "Un, it is! I heard she included some of their new seasonal varieties."
From there, the two nurses continue their trek to return the cart to the kitchens. On the way, they greet their colleagues, and help direct patients to the right locations.
The second nurse checks her clipboard, then the plates of food they didn't pass out. "Hey, does something look off to you?"
"Hmm? What do you mean?" The first woman stops pushing the cart down one of the lower hallways of the hospital. They are up the corridor from the kitchen, sooo close to taking their break.
Her friend counts again then looks around the plates. "These are all missing sides…"
The first nurse groans, seeing her friend is right. "Oh no, do you think they left off some of our patients' food?"
The second nurse grimaces. And they were about to have one of those pastries too… "We should double-check to be sure…"
With a sigh, they keep pushing the food cart to the kitchens to tally what food might've been left off.
As their chatter moves away, a small face peeks around the doorframe they stopped in front of.
Heart racing, Nami hides her face again, leaning against the inside wall of the room.
Grandmother… Where are you?
A/N Nami is finally in the Leaf! What do you think so far? Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.
*this line is from a Virtual Self song.