Otogakure, the land of Sound
Beep. Beep. Beep.
What's that?
"His heart rate is picking up"
Who's that?
"He must be finally regaining consciousness"
Who?
"What do we do, Doctor?"
Doctor?
"Give him a sedative, at least we know he's recovering, but we can't let him wake up before she comes"
She?
"It's picking up even more!"
What's happening?!
"External stimulus must be assaulting his senses after the coma; he's going into a panic"
Coma? Whose coma?!
"Just sedate him, it will be fine"
What's going on?
Who are you?
Explain!
What's…
Wha…
Plea…
Hel…
The rhythmic clicking of high heels echoed out of place in the long hallway where the light hurried steps of flat shoes were usually the norm. The reverberating beat of the firm steps was almost foreboding in the empty hall of the Intensive Care Unit in the Otogakure private hospital as a woman – that much was obvious – made her way without hesitation towards room 5032, led by a dainty nurse whose light stride was but a quiet pat pat pat only accentuated the edge of the loudly clicking heels.
"It's in here, Miss Fūma" spoke the nurse, head down as she stood in front of the closed door, leaving room for the only slightly older woman to enter first.
The door opened without a need to knock. Those inside had heard the heels too, approaching from a distance.
"Miss Fūma, my pleasure" the doctor greeted, going unacknowledged.
"You said he had awakened" she reminded; eyes fixed in the frail looking body of Uchiha Sasuke. Thinner and paler after 5 long months of uninterrupted sleep, an injury induced comatose.
"We put him back under, so you could talk to him first thing" explained the doctor.
"What's his status?" the woman questioned, red tinted lips pursed in concentration as she walked around the hospital bed, short steps restrained by a form hugging pencil skirt. But she was in no hurry.
"Beyond stable" the doctor answered vaguely. It was a glare rather than a verbal order what told him to elaborate "The coma did him good, his body had all the rest it needed and now he's fully healed, and some physical therapy will get him back to full potential in no time" he said almost too excitedly.
"Full… potential?" she asked, bangs hiding the questioning raise of her slick brows.
"Well… you know" he hinted vaguely.
"No, Doctor, I don't think I know" she pushed with sarcasm.
"As a… special agent" he said with some hesitancy, noting how the woman directed the subtlest of looks to the nurse "C'mon Miss, with looks like that, he can hardly go sneakily under cover. We all know who Uchiha Sasuke is, what he does" he spoke cockily.
"Nurse…" the woman stopped a second to look at the name displayed on the badge attached to the nurse's bust "Lee, would you give us a moment?" she asked, almost too politely, a stark contrast to the icy gaze fixed on the big mouthed doctor.
"Not a problem" was all the nurse said before walking to the door, lightly closing it behind her.
"Do you have an idea of what's at stake here? The things you're saying so freely are classified" she chastised with gritted teeth.
"I di-"
The door opened again, nurse Lee walked back in.
She had a gun.
Bang.
Well… no, not bang.
How does one describe the sound that a bullet makes when fired from a gun with a silencer on it?
It's an odd one. But the sound of the small metal ball piercing bone and flesh is always the same. A clean shot to the back of the head and Miss Kotohime Fūma was no more.
Exit wound in the middle of the forehead, could have gotten Holstein too, but the angle wasn't quite right. No. It was the second shot that did it.
"Didn't even put a guard outside the door. Made it easier than it should have been" she spoke in a tone so different from the submissive voice that spoke that short phrase to the lady now laying on the cold marble floor. Blood was beginning to pool.
"I knew I'd heard that voice somewhere" the raspy, unused but unforgettable voice of the youngest Uchiha rang low from his post in the bed.
"So you really are awake. Guess I got the dose right" the obviously-not-really-a-nurse said, sounding mildly surprised, proud even.
"And you just counted on me to play dead without any indication of your plan. Or that there was a plan to begin with?" he complained with a glare.
"Well, it worked" the woman dead-panned, putting her gun away into the waistband of her uniform skirt.
"Not quite. How are we getting out of here? I can't walk" he reminded.
"Like I'd bother myself with an invalid" she huffed "I've been stretching, massaging and electroshocking your limbs daily, your muscles aren't atrophied so badly that you can't walk, you'd just be clumsy for a while, getting used to it" she explained while busying herself with preparing what looked like spy gear out of a James Bond movie, pulling a hook gun out of a place where something of that size shouldn't have fit. But impossible isn't a word in the vocabulary of the Konohagakure shinobi.
A privately founded, Fire country-based agency dedicated to weapons research, asset training, high level espionage, and more, oh so much more, at the convenience of those willing to pay the fee.
"Now get up and let's go, you go down first" the woman instructed, securing the end of the rope after firing the hook, making sure it stuck strong enough for their weight. They were on a timer, people would of course notice the obvious rope going from a window in the second floor to the parking lot, and they were sure to not miss the young man dressed in a hospital gown going down it.
While the nurse readied their escape route, Sasuke tested the mobility of his muscles, numb and tingly, but movable enough. Assessing his surroundings with practiced quickness, he opted for the doctor's clothing minus the robe, changing as fast as his semi-sedated state and weary muscles allowed.
They were on a timer. Sasuke was only halfway down when "Lee" was prepared to go down herself.
The rope untensed. Sasuke was close enough to the ground that the short fall didn't hurt.
But why was it untensed? With Agent Yamanaka's added weight, it should have instead just tensed further.
"Did she not secure it well? That idiot" the sickly man murmured, turning behind him.
Clean shot to the back of the head. Exit wound in the middle of the forehead.
Yamanaka Ino's forehead.
Sasuke knew better than to freeze in shock. He had to run.