It needs but one foe to breed a war [OPEN]
Characters: OPEN
Location: Horrorspital
Rating: PG?
Time: Starting October 2 lasting various days.
Description: A place for all those injured from the attack on the city.
Note: It's up to you how long you want your character to stay in the clinic, remember their recovery will take a wee bit longer than usual because of how short on staff the ( Read more... )
Location: Horrorspital
Rating: PG?
Time: Starting October 2 lasting various days.
Description: A place for all those injured from the attack on the city.
Note: It's up to you how long you want your character to stay in the clinic, remember their recovery will take a wee bit longer than usual because of how short on staff the ( Read more... )
In his fleeting moments of awakeness he'd been keenly aware that he had no idea where he was. A vague sense of movement and a memory of the cells, a few trees, parts of Death City- and a few faces. But much of the ordeal was disjointed at best, and when Naruto finally made it to the clinic, it no longer mattered. The exhaustion wasn't something he could outrun in the end, and all those days in the prison, pushing himself to his limits and finding every means possible to keep himself awake, alert- they won out eventually. Naruto had been motionless since his arrival, save the slow, steady rise and fall of his chest, and after complaining so extensively about the silence in captivity, he wasn't even awake to enjoy the end to it.
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She'd check in on him in between other patients, hoping for him to wake up at any moment but so far she had been luckless.
After she felt that most everyone else was either cared for, or being tended to by one of the other employees she pulled up a seat next to his bedside. It'd be a moment of rest for her in the chaotic past week, and she could take this time to watch him for any signs of wakefulness.
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It wasn't the hospital- where everything was sterile and white and suffocating, and it wasn't sound. There was no room of crowded family standing over him, watching his face. There weren't any old friends. Instead it's the same steady thud-thud-thud in his chest- the one that's tapped out his existence for all the world to hear. The sheets weren't sun warmed cotton, but instead a scratchy linen, just like the pillow beneath his head and it's that, that attracts his attention.
Brows creased, just a fraction and the twitch of his fingers was more instinct than anything conscious. His index finger lifted, then half dragged little more than an inch before his hand resettled. After that, Naruto figured it was mostly just like waking up. Like slowly remembering your body after leaving dreams behind.
He breathed then, deeper than before- to remember that he could, to help clear the fog from his head and it was confusing more than anything else. He felt sort of dizzy and still half asleep and moving in general seemed sort of difficult- which alarmed him. As alarmed as he could be while in the process of waking. What he needed, was to know where he was, to figure out his location, and to find a way out, to get to safety. Or, and when he swallowed it was more strained than he could remember the gesture ever being- or he could try to remember what he's trying to get safe from.
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She scooted her chair a little closer to his bedside, leaning over a bit to watch him more closely, brow furrowed in worry. A part of her told her she was being too fussy, but they had lost one person--Rin. Rin was someone she didn't even know, and she had died before the mission had even begun, or perhaps during it, but it was still a heavy burden on her heart and she didn't want to lose anyone else.
She looked on for a moment more before in a very soft voice, barely above a whisper she tried out his name. "Naruto?"
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One blink, then another, and the brightness was distracting, disarming, but ultimately enough to make that fog start to shift. He could see curtains, and what looked like even more light- some short distance off. A window maybe, but not enough of a breeze to reach his hair or his face. Everything else was warmth. Naruto turned his face and his first real look at the world since his escape, is Winry.
He remembered seeing her a handful of times, and knew her name from places he couldn't quite remember- but they were all things he blamed on his aversion to spending time at the clinic. It'd always been Sasuke there, or he'd gone to visit others. Faced with her image a mere foot from his bedside, Naruto realized he was hard pressed to remember if they'd ever officially met at all.
The lamp light pooled over his bed, spilling across the sheets, and faintly, like from a world away, he could hear voices. Movement. A low hum of life going on around him. Lips parted and his gaze moved, confusion evident on his features and it was as he struggled to find his voice that Naruto became increasingly aware of how dry his mouth was. Lips chapped, maybe cut. Every minute detail took a small eternity to process- at least, until his gaze reconnected with the girl's face.
His arms were heavy, hell his whole body felt heavy, and for all of the anxiety that pumped through his blood in that moment, Naruto just couldn't manage to get up and moving. Couldn't manage to urge his body into awakeness any more than it already was- even when he hears his name. Naruto's mouth opened to speak again, but it's a ragged croak that comes out in place of every question he couldn't find the words for.
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She was relieved to see him away, but he was obviously in no condition to be exert much energy so she very gently laid a hand on his head.
"Don't work yourself too hard. You're still really injured. You don't need to worry anymore, you're back safe in Death City. Everyone here in the clinic will be taking care of you. I'll bring you some water, okay?" She got up and left to do just that, returning with a bowl of water. She knelt down by the bed, one arm going above Naruto's head so that she could steady herself, the other hold the bowl steady.
"You ready for some? Just blink if you are." She half wondered if he could even understand her.
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Yeah. Maybe, maybe it was something like that.
But there she is anyway, and maybe Naruto was still alone, and maybe his bonds didn't mean anything at all. But there was this girl he'd barely ever spoken to- holding a bowl of water and watching his face. And Naruto had never wanted to have someone be right where she was as much as he did now. The words took too long to sink in, a slow assessment of his location and in the end, he blinked simply to blink, but craned forward for the water regardless.
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"Here you are." Matter-of-fact tinged with relief, not expecting a reply. He moves to loom over the bed to peer at Naruto's steady-still form, evaluating the injuries for himself. "I've been looking for you."
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It was different this time.
His body was changed. The city was changed. The prison. The witches. The experimentation. The others. The escape attempt. -Rin. How much of it was his own fault? How much had he changed things, worsened them for the others in his efforts to give them hope? How many promises had he broken? Sleeping at least, sleeping was dreamless. And while it might have been equal parts escapism and necessity, it was still effortless. At least, until one unabashed entrance startled him from it- at which point Naruto's body jolted- and despite still healing wounds, the ninja rolled, seeking the source of the sound.
Minato.
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He holds out something that is perhaps difficult to see in the haze of the pain-killers, fatigue, and convalescence, though the squat cylindrical shape should be unmistakable. Cup ramen. Minato drums idly on its paper-styrofoam surface.
"They told me you can't eat it yet, so this is for after." He sets it down on the bedside table and continues to examine the injured ninja with casual calm. "You were gone for a while. Knowing you can have ramen immediately after should help you get better sooner."
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Belatedly his attention drifted to follow the gesture, the styrofoam cup placed on his bedside table- but the words, that's what catches. Naruto's hand lifted, splinted fingers scratching idly at the back of his neck. At the expanse of stitches there. "H-How long were we gone?"
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"Two weeks. It was a long time."
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But to be able to follow the gesture gives him hope. He's already reached his limit with the clinic, and Naruto couldn't be more eager to get out and start moving. The words leave him before he realizes it. "It felt longer."
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Like going into the desert without protection or partners. Sasuke's sick bed isn't too far away, which is why Minato chose the dead of night to visit. He kneels down beside the bed. "Sasuke told me how they found you..."
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His voice sounds as disconnected as he feels, and almost too abrupt. "You didn't go on the mission?"
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