A new Saga.

[marvolous.]

Being homeless is not too bad.

Aside from having to scour whatever land I am on for food and other necessary essentials, I actually enjoy being able to wander about freely. There is no village to tell me where and what I am supposed to be doing with my life, nor does my mother pester me much anymore to get my life of track -- after years of her failing to get that message across, I don't blame her for giving up.

But there are some cons to this lackadaisical means of living. For one, foreign land is everywhere when you are a vagabond; no matter where I go, my guard remains up - sometimes even borderline paranoia. Secondly, when the seasons change and game (Animals, rodents, etc) becomes thin, food as a result becomes scarce.

This usually only happens for a few days to a week usually, but there are times where it lasts much longer than that. This is one of those times: it has been almost three entire days since I last had a meal within my stomach. Most of my energy had been devoted to finding some form of food, so I was now left drained, famished and exceedingly uninspired.

I somehow managed to trek into what I assumed was a village, bypassing it's main gates and using whatever strength I had left to convince it's guards that I belonged inside. I wasn't sure how I did it, or even how I managed to find the village, but I did not question it. Instead I continued forward, allowing the smell of fresh food to quench my resolve.

I had almost reached it's source before my body gave out, forcing me to the ground. My hands remained at my sides, unmotivated to move, whilst my head embraced the hard texture of the ground. I closed my eyes then, the glistening reflection of the sun on the ground further irritating my already fragile mind.

"So close...." I muttered to myself, barely that of a whisper. "I was so damn close."

[~Kohana <3]

Many thought that the position of Kage was something to be revered, treasured, and given with the utmost of admiration and testament to skill. Most of the time that was indeed true and in others it was simply a glorified paper shuffling mess of a title. However she still had her responsibilities elsewhere in the village. After all, she was head of the medical division of her ranks and the best Medical Ninja the shinobi world could offer next to that of the famed Kusakage. That was why she now walked through the halls of the hospital, her steps quick and her heels clicking loudly.

With her here, she had given a good portion of the staff the day off. Working her people to death wouldn’t accomplish anything of course. Which was why she had been called in to handle a case that had just been brought in. For more than one reason of course. The boy was suffering from various conditions; deprivation, exhaustion, sun exposure, just to name a few. Normally any single person could treat an individual suffering from such ‘easy’ conditions. But what made this necessary for her was the fact that he was a foreigner. The report on file said the guards had let him in under assumption that he was nothing more than a traveling civilian class boy—even still it had to be checked.

She entered the room the boy was being held in, clipboard in hand as she skimmed through the lab results from the blood work they had ran. As she looked up she would use her free hand to reach and pull the curtain back to view her patient. However, she nearly faltered afterwards. Ivory eyes widened as they took in the tussle of white-blonde hair atop the boys ahead along with the chocolate like skin. The colors were off but damn if it didn’t look like him. It had been some time since she was left actually not knowing what to do in a situation.

Could it be one of his brothers? No. She knew that was impossible they were either dead or had a fair complexion, like Tenryu.

Who are you…? And why do you look like him?!

Breathing to gather herself, she couldn’t help but stare at the boys face. It was disturbing to see such a resemblance there. However she brushed the thought aside, dubbing it to the wind due to her missing him so much. A slight chuckle would come then. She must miss him something terrible if she was even seeing his face on a kid like the boy before her. Sighing then, she grabbed the seat that was customary to be next to ever bed and pulled it up to his. Taking a seat, she would reach out to grasp one of the boy’s wrists and pull at it somewhat in an attempt to jar him awake.

“Wake up young one,” She started, glancing up to his face for a moment. “Everything is going to be alright. I just have to ask you some questions is all.”

[marvolous.]

I was almost positive that I was dreaming.

Or at least that was what it felt like. My memory was hazy, quite like I had experienced the last couple days through a clouded vision. I remember the hunger, though - the rippling pain that encompassed my entire body as it burned through what was left. But that was all; from stumbling upon a village to collapsing within it's borders, I did not remember a single thing.

“Wake up young one,”

I heard the voice, but could not register as to who it belonged to. It, along with the casual pull at my wrist, stirred me from my subconscious. My eyes opened then - left, then right - and their gaze searched the room for the creator of such an annoyance. A woman to my side was quickly noted, and though I did not outright turn and look at her, I kept her with my gaze by using my peripherals.

"Tch." My fingers rushed to my arm, pulling the IV that had been attached to my vein and breaking the grasp the woman had on my wrist. Concurrently, I shifted my body away for her; well, as far as humanly possible whilst still remaining on the gurney.

I then finally turned to her, capturing her entire image as my eyes danced along her frame. If I hadn't known better - and felt the pain of forcibly ripping an IV out of my wrist - I would have thought this was a dream just by how she was dressed. Was she supposed to be my nurse or something?

"Who are you, anyways?" I blurted out, my voice hoarse but nonetheless flat - bored-like, even. "From what I can tell by this room it looks like I'm in a hospital. But-- you do not look like a nurse, at least not dressed like that."

I coughed, looking away slightly; if my skin was a fair complexion, my face would've broadcasted a fiery red hue. Still, though, I did not break our gaze.

"What kind of food do you guys have in this place?"

[~Kohana <3]

How cute.

The voice in her head was dry, just like the look she gave the boy as he reacted. Was that truly how one treated someone who saved their life. In all honesty, she found him rude and unsatisfying. Shaking her head, she would let him finish his little query about her and her apparel (which she found nothing wrong with!) as well as the food situation. Not once did he ask about his health or why he had been brought in or anything. Just like a child to be so immature. However she truly couldn’t fault him entirely. This was a foreign place for him. After all, she knew he was no part of her village.

“Kohana. The Yondaime Hokage as well as Head Medic of Konohagakure.” She started; eyeing the dripping IV as its contents lazily splashed along the floor one drop at a time. “Yes you are in a hospital. You passed out to do food deprivation, slight malnutrition, exhaustion, and even a little bit of sun exposure. You were lucky to have made it here when you did otherwise you most likely wouldn’t have woken up.”

As she finished she would click the buzzer that was on the side of the boy’s bed. In response a nurse poked her head in. This uniform was much more nurse like. The typical tightly pulled white top with an overlapping front, which led down into a knee length white skirt. Skin colored leggings were worn with only inch, perhaps inch and a half, white heels and, of course, the stable white cap with a red cross on it which laid over top of the symbol of Konohagakure. Kohana would mouth something to the woman who would disappear as quickly as she came immediately after.

“So, normally I have an issue with random people coming into my village—however considering you’re so young I’ll cut you a break. What’s your name and where are you traveling from and traveling to?”

Regardless if she had brushed it aside or not, the kid’s looks still reminded her so much of Akira. With the shock passed and now just sitting and talking with the boy she could truly compare and contrast between the two. Granted his skin was lighter, hair a shade darker, and his body opposite, the facial structure was truly alike as well as that bored look he had given her just moments ago. Reminded her of the look Akira had given when they had taken down guards outside a laboratory during one of her missions long ago.

This is just too uncanny. I don’t like it…

SPOILER: Click to show

-3

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[marvolous.]

Was she trying to impress me with her fancy title? Hokage... Head-Medic - both titles meant very little to me. I had never been part of a village before, really, so the respect a shinobi would have towards a Kage - even one from a different village - was nonexistent. To me she was very much like every other person in this village; annoying, mundane, and unimportant. The only difference between her and lets say the random medic that popped in the door? This one, Kohana as she told me, looked like a prostitute.

"Look lady, I never asked for your help in the first place. I appreciate it, don't get me wrong now, but I never asked for it." I was cautious of how much she knew about me, or rather had found out when I was unconscious. I could not tell whether this was some form of backwards psychology or interrogation, but I sure as hell wasn't going to reveal anything about me. "Thanks for fixin' me up, but I'll be leaving now."

Without another word I moved from the gurney. Testing out the strength of my legs by lightly shifting my weight between them, I moved around the bed, careful to keep a curt hold on the back of my gown to prevent it from fully revealing myself. I had subconsciously paced around the room for several moments before realizing that my actual set of clothes had been removed.

Upon realizing this I almost turned to curse out the 'Hokage', but I composed myself - the last thing I needed right now was to be thrown in jail. "How about we make a deal, Kohana." I tested her name for the first time, letting it roll off my tongue. "In exchange for my clothes, I'll get out of your hands. Easy enough, right?"