A Promise Kept [P]

Shifts at the hospital were always grueling. Especially when genin and chunin alike were careless with their training sessions and thought that they could just have themselves healed in no time at the hospital. Many times did the girl dig her heels into the floor as she practically growled out that they had to heal naturally. That she couldn’t simply magic away their injuries whenever something happened.

Closing her eyes for a brief moment, Saya took a deep breath before snapping a patient’s folder closed and entering her relatively large office. A lot of the staff members had been against this particular move, but her skills in the operating room had been proven over and over again. Moreso when patients and their families began to accost her in the middle of the hallways to discuss certain procedures and guidelines for recovery. Which was why she now had her own office, complete with an armchair, a loveseat, and one of those psychiatric couches where a patient can lay down and talk.

The medical expert placed the folder onto a growing pile in the middle of her desk before rolling up the sleeves of her doctor’s coat as she stepped into the adjacent bathroom to wash her hands. Saya’s lips quirked up at how much she was given. An office with a bathroom and a closet? Lucky! But that smugness quickly dimmed once she realized how tainted she was. Seeping into the drain was pink liquid - a combination of water and the blood on her hands.

Right. Surgery. She had just finished one.

Shaking off the the past five hours, Saya proceeded to wash off the grime and splatter of blood on her face. But in the midst of splashing water onto her face something tingled at the back of her mind. She paused, raising her head just a bit as she tried to listen for something out of the ordinary. The water continued to run, filling the silence that now permeated the room.

WORD COUNT: 332

Time and space bent, reality itself swirling like a whirlpool with a smoldering, white eye as the focal point. Sandals lightly clasped against the tiled floors, sending out a mild echo amidst the silence of the room.Damon soon followed, appearing just beside Yurei in a similar fashion. “Saya,” Yurei spoke, breaking the softly ambience of the running liquid. His voice was considerably deeper than when they had met all that time ago. There was a certain chill to the base, yet it was also embracing, mild. He now stood over six feet, his spiked hair adding even more to his height. As he shifted in place, his burly hair fell from his face, drowning his alabaster skin in the sunlight that peaked through the hospital windows.

“I hope that I’m not interrupting,” Yurei continued, leaning his head to see what Saya had been washing. His silvery eyes flickered, noting the girl’s appearance. She hadn’t changed much at all, still sporting that raven-like hair and bangs. She’d kept thin as Yurei had, though his shoulders were considerably more broad, especially with the kimono that draped over his shoulders, giving him an almost triangular appearance. “It’s good to see you, again. I’m sorry this is so sudden. I,” he paused, glancing at Damon, “We didn’t mean to drop in unannounced. If I was able to let you know we were coming, I would have.” Yurei took a deep breath, momentarily closing his eyes. His white Sharingan receded, each of the tomoe drifting into either of his pupils. His eyes were left with more of a metallic appearance, glossy and hazed.

“Hoshigakure isn’t a home for us, anymore,” the alabaster-skinned Uchiha said, briefly scanning the room. His eyes returned to Saya’s, her image reflecting in the pearls. “You were the only person I knew to come to.”

Yurei eyes ached, reddening in and around his irises. Saya’s presence was odd, like a distant call from the past, an echo far from the source. More than that, it was a warmth, tame like the spring’s sun. It was her chakra signature, the songbirds, what had called him here in the first place.

WC: 359

Damon nonchalantly walked outside of the swirling vortex that belonged to the eyes of his Uchiha brother. He casually glanced around the room, trying to make sense of where they were. Instead of crowding the bathroom with the other two, Damon slowly paced around the room, studying everything in sight, notably her desk with the plethora of paperwork residing on its surface. After all, he did not know her, or anyone else in the world outside of Yurei anymore. They had left behind what little home the pair still had. Were they rogues now? How long would it take for their departure to go noticed? The boy was lost in thought and did not realize Yurei had glanced in his direction, as his silver eyes moved to look out the window, his body following and half-listening.

Mountains.

Yurei had brought them to a land of mountains, a range that he had not seen in years. Kumogakure. The Village Hidden in the Clouds. The land that was practically Rome, all roads leading to its ever expansive conquests that had occurred some time ago, mostly uncontested. Damon frowned slightly as he gazed outside the window, his face being showered in sunlight. This place was no home either, not for him. He cast a side glance at Yurei, wondering how the white haired Uchiha felt before looking back outside the window. It’s a dreadful feeling, knowing that you don’t truly belong anywhere.

With a flick of her wrist Saya felt the cool comfort of a kunai sliding onto her open palm. She gripped it firmly as she waited. The seconds ticked by painstakingly slow as her instincts told her that something was coming. She blew out a breath, steady and focusing on what may come. None too soon it was the click-clack of wooden sandals adding to the stream of water pouring from the faucet that alerted her of an intruder. Her body tensed for a millisecond at the prospect of someone entering her office with barely a sound. It vexed the genin that the defenses she had set up were not triggered.

Then her name was called.

Her head automatically tilted towards the man’s voice that spoke her name. It did and did not sound familiar to her, but the girl swore she’d heard it before. Saya refused to let her guard down, however, and slid into a battle ready stance when her visitor peeked over to the bathroom door that she had left halfway open. She saw white on white. An albino that she should have recognized the moment his presence had entered her domain. The only reason why she had yet to fling her weapon on him was the feel of his chakra. All soft breezes, feathers, and the scent of freshly laundered clothing.

”Yurei,” was her only reply; her tone held a bit of shock as her hand absently turned the tap off. Saya was inwardly flustered, having not predicted that her day would have such a twist. ”Not at all. I was just…” A drop of water fell on her lashes, reminding her that she had been cleansing her face before his arrival. ”I was just washing my face.” With another flick of her wrist, the kunai returned to its resting place.

Saya shook her head at his apology and began to exit the bathroom when she saw him flicker his gaze elsewhere. That’s right. There was a foreign chakra that accompanied Yurei’s. She could make out the back of a similarly tall young man with dark hair. He didn’t bother to insert himself into their conversation, seemingly content in staring out the window. She hummed quietly to herself until her gaze sharpened and zeroed in on the pale Uchiha, pausing beside him to listen to what he had to say.

Their plight took only a few seconds for the genin to come to a single conclusion - they had defected. Her mouth had gone dry. She had offered her aid to fugitives. That meant that she had unintentionally placed her village in danger. No doubt that their previous affiliations would come looking for them. ”Why don’t you guys make yourselves comfortable?” Saya licked her lips and gave the pair a slight smile.

A promise was a promise. They were seeking shelter and she was going to give it to them. Saya was already running ideas and solutions on where they would be housed, where she should obtain important documents so that they would be “legal” in her village, and how she should hide them during their stay in Kumogakure. At least for now. She needed to report this to someone sooner or later, but preferably when they were settled or had an extra escape plan in place.

This one was on her and she knew consequences would soon follow.

Her wet bangs continued to drip droplets of water onto her shoulders and down her chin, and it was starting to bother her. She had barely raised her hand to brush her hair to the side when her senses detected a chakra making their way towards her office. Her brows furrowed in thought as she tracked the signature before her eyes widened in panic. It had just turned the corner and entered the hallway that led to her office.

Saya, without saying a word, began to push Yurei in the direction of his friend, whose name she had yet to to ask for. ”You. Get in the closet.” Saya stalked towards the man by the window and a made move to tug at his wrist and none too gently drag him towards the closet, where she would unceremoniously dump her two visitors into the cramped space. They probably had to duck a little due to the shelf that ended just a bit below their height. Maybe an inch or two.

”Someone’s coming.” She finally told them before quickly slamming the door on the pair. Just scant seconds until the knob of her office door twisted and pushed open.

WORD COUNT: 766
TOTAL WORD COUNT: 332 + 766 = 1098

Her back pressed against the length of the closet door, but there wasn’t the click that usually accompanied the concrete evidence that entrances and exits were firmly closed. The handle of the door dug somewhat painfully against her shoulder blade; it would also be equally harrowing to the two gentlemen hiding within the closet’s confines. Saya tried to push more against it, probably jarring against their profiles and causing more harm than good.

Unfortunately for the genin, Komon was already stepping through the threshold of her office. Saya seized for a millisecond at his entrance. She had been a bit too busy to hear his words by her door and was caught off guard with him standing there. ”K-Komon!” Saya exclaimed, clearly surprised with him in her office. ”What… What are you doing here? Are you hurt?” The color in her voice shifted to worry.

The girl was a little more than confused. The jounin never really visited her in her workplace. That special privilege was granted to his assumed girlfriend, Amai. In fact, this was probably the first time they met at the hospital. Taking a step forward, which allowed the stubborn closet door to creak open an inch or two, Saya gave the Hyuuga a once over. There was nothing from his outward appearance to indicate any injuries and he didn’t seem to be favoring any particular limb either.

With the crack open either one of the Uchihas could see Saya’s back and probably some part of Komon’s body. It could have been his head or torso or even his sandaled feet. Either way Saya was internally panicking as she kept her facial expressions as blank as possible. There was no way he could pick up a tell from her face. However, her hands had begun to play with the edges of her lab coat.

During that moment too, an opportunistic little critter came crawling out of the woodworks. So to speak. Eight thin legs clung to the side of the closet wall before springing itself onto the shoulder of the dark haired Uchiha. He probably didn’t feel it until it crawled over his clothes and placed its fuzzy feet against his neck and began to traverse over his collarbone. If he were to move in any capacity to smite the spider, he would be risking exposure.

WORD COUNT: 392
TOTAL WORD COUNT: 1098 + 392 = 1490