Life Starts Now (P, IO, NK, Haru)

Cheri gasped as his fingers tightened around her mangled wrist, her fist loosening and her knife thudding to the grassy ground. She was silently thankful that none of her recently closed gashes reopened, as they were deep and would be a pain to stop bleeding. Her mind flashed back to the heavy iron shackles that cut her past the surface of the bone in some places, though the image of the past quickly flitted away.
 
”And if you wanted help, you wouldn’t try stabbing me without warning!” Cheri shot a glare at him, her feline eyes fierce as she met his mix-matched one. "Who says I did, eh?!" she retorted. "Just 'cuz I need help, doesn't mean I want it!"
 
However, her previous rage  dissipated as she watched his coal-colored eye change into an intense crimson - dull, she noted, compared to her own - and a few little black, curved dots appear around his pupil. A name for this flittered across her tongue but she didn't quite catch it, as she had only heard it once in reference to her own eyes. 'Shurinkan... No, that's stupid. Sharinham...? Ugh.'
 
She'd have to ask later.
 
As she surrendered the fight to the older person before her, he gave her back her knife. 'For insurance' he had said... He gave it back? Willingly? Strange... He was probably planning something. Cheri took it anyway. For insurance. The girl tucked it back in its sheath at her side.
 
She was soon lifted and carried. Cheri's body remained so stiff she might as well have been a statue. As much as she hated to admit it, physical contact terrified her. It scared her so much that she felt like hyperventilating, but two things held her back. They were her pride, as well as her logic. Logic, because what could would hyperventilating be when she was eight minutes from probably death? None.
 
However, she couldn't help but realize that this was the first time she was carried in a non-hostile way. He wasn't shaking or yanking her around like the captors would, and she was briefly reminded of Konpeki's gentle touch.
 
Cheri wasn't sure if the next, conveniently-timed throb was heart attack or heart ache. They were equally as painful and equally as deadly, so did it matter anyway?
 
They reached a pharmacy in under a minute. Cheri was let down gently, so different from how she would normally have been thrown into the floor... or wall, depending on where she was and who was 'handling' her. It was a nice change, she supposed.
 
Seconds later, the biggest wad of cash she had ever laid eyes on was shoved towards her. It took a minute for her to realize the ryo was for her, immediately confused when she did so. However, her fingers, quivering from both pain and uncertainty, grasped the crisp money anyway.
 
She turned around and entered the twenty-four hour pharmacy, her posture straight and unwavering despite the now constant sharp ache in her chest. Her limp was nonexistent, as Cheri didn't even register the throbbing in the place her newly mended bone was. She was used to it, honestly - pain, that is - and covering it up.
 
The ten year old climbed the triplet steps and slipped through the wooden doors of the shop. Aside from her, there were two people inside the room - a teenage cashier who looked like he'd rather be sleeping and a woman in her late middle ages who seemed to be annoyed at her clerk's lack of enthusiasm. She guessed the kid's attitude was expected, though, since it was 2 AM.
 
Due to her ignorance of the average social standard, Cheri walked right onwards, mindless of her mutilated outfit and how abnormal the blood was that smeared across her skin, clothes, face and teeth. The girl just kept right on walking, heading carefully down the isles and pulling out the required five pill bottles and packet of empty capsules.
 
She wondered at the silence and horrified stares she received from the shop's other too occupants as she made her way towards the register, pulling a random magazine off the shelf along with her supplies. It would come in handy. Once there, she merely showed the boy behind the counter her items and slapped down a bundle of bills. Sure, it was probably more than enough, but she didn't exactly know how to figure prices... nor did she have time.
 
After paying, the ten year old exited the building. Her calm façade slipped off almost immediately, her greyish face growing even paler as the intense pain only grew worse. She began wondering how in the world something could hurt so much, and why her attacks were far worse than average, before her sense met her once again. She was Cheri. Cheri didn't get good things, only bad. Always bad. Even good things turned out bad in the end... Also, she had experienced this many times before, so why was she wondering again?
 
Her thoughts were cut off as the stumbled on the middle step. Luckily, though, there were only three steps, the girl merely landing a little harder onto the ground than previously planned. She collapsed onto the stone step, breath coming out in harsh pants. Cheri withdrew her knife, laid the magazine on her lap, and pulled one of each capsule out of each bottle. Immediately, she got to work. Each pill was cut into different, sloppy proportions, but they were good enough. The tiny parts of each that she used were crushed into a not-so-fine powder and sprinkled into the empty capsule, the container at least two or three times as big as one of the average pills. Once she had filled it with a little of each type of pill, measured as good as she could at the moment, she slipped the top onto the pill and sealed it with her tongue, the melting plastic edges fusing. She'd done this a million times.
 
Then, she downed the probably-hard-to-swallow pill dry. The task was easy, as if she had done it every day of her life - and she had, just about.
 
One minute. One minute until she had an attack. It wasn't going to work in time.
 
Ten seconds. Twenty seconds. Thirty, forty. Nothing. 56, 57, 58... Her chest was so tight she could barely breathe, and she braced herself for the oncoming attack, something she had experienced too often in her life. 59... But nothing came. She didn't feel that characteristic searing feeling throughout her, didn't detect anything that felt like her chest was being pried apart with crow bar. Ten seconds later, she could feel how the ache was getting smaller and smaller, and by one minute it had fizzled out completely.
 
Cheri sighed in relief, breathing in her precious oxygen, before sorting the remaining pieces of pills into their respective cases and tucking them into her pouch. Her fingers had only brushed the ryo at her side before she remembered she wasn't exactly alone. She then rose, not unsteady in the slightest, and came to Haru.
 
The scarlet haired girl held out her hand towards him, almost all of what he gave her still there. Not even a hint of a smile pulled at her lips as she stood before him, but she was used to letting her eyes do the talking for her. In them was gratitude, the untainted thanks of a child. It was something that surprisingly hadn't been taken from her in all her years. "'Ere's your ryo... 'N... Uh, thanks, I guess..." she said quietly, not making eye contact as she stood there semi-awkwardly.

As the girl entered the building, Haru wasn’t quite sure what to do. He couldn’t just leave, so all he could really do out here was wait. He watched her idly with the byakugan, and she seemed to know what she was doing. Still, from the count she gave, they were running out of time, fast. The chances were high that the medicine would not work, which could mean she would need the life support. He hoped Noctis would get there fast enough.
 
She exited the building, finally, and she seemed pretty calm. She even tried to give him back the money he had given her.
”Hold onto that. You’ll probably need it to get yourself a place to stay in the village.” He told her. It was odd, she was suddenly so casual, when a few minutes before, she had tried to kill him… Oh, crap…
 
He glanced down at his limp arm, which he had, somehow, forgotten about. Weakly, he lifted it up, clapping it against his other hand, and forming a tiger seal. Black lines spread across the seal on his forehead, and his wounds sealed themselves shut. Easy peasy.
 
He pointed with his now restored arm to the Kage offices.
”Now, follow me. We need to get you checked into the village. You can explain your story a little better on the way. You did say you were from Tengakure, right?” He would ask her as he walked. He would stay silent as they walked, giving her time to explain her story in more detail, until they arrived at the Kage office.
 
Then, they would enter the Kage office, where he would quickly fill out the necessary paperwork, holding the papers out at several occasions for her to sign.

”Now, do you know of any family in the area? Any names I could search for?” He would ask her.

Cheri's eyes widened as he told her to keep the ryo. Why? She didn't deserve his kindness. She didn't deserve any kindness at all, really. Still, a life of deprivation taught her to accept a gift when one came around, as they were few and far between. So she did take it, slipping it into her pouch. Her sign of thanks was a mere nod, though again in her eyes was that innocent gratitude. One would have to know her to see it, though.

 
Cheri watched as he made some strange formation with his fingers and then clamp his hand to his arm. Suddenly, black markings – surprisingly vivid to her, as the night was especially dark – spread across his forehead, until the skin and flesh started just… sewing itself back together. She caught herself staring after a mere second of doing so, but still… She wanted to do that…

 
Cheri couldn’t help the moment of dark humor that crossed her mind, having to bite back the vain smile that tugged at her. It was amazing, truly amazing, how Konpeki’s and her lives could have changed from a simply… thing like that, self-heal. It was truly amazing… She found her lips still quirked upwards a bit, despite her efforts. The Uchiha child could only hope her ‘savior’ (as if…) wouldn’t notice, as she really didn’t want to delve into her pasts.

 
They began walking, the still-unnamed man – she really needed to ask – telling her what they were to do. So she was to get checked in to Tenga? What was this town, a hotel? Then again, she didn’t know jack about hotels, or even villages at all for that matter. Maybe you did need to check in… “Sheck me in… I don’ think I ahve a reservation…” she mumbled, dejectedly. There was no sarcasm in her voice, either…

 
Cheri just kept walking, oblivious to how ridiculous her statement was.

 
…It was around this time that the rest of his words caught up to her, and Cheri realized she had hoped to soon. Gee, you’d think she’d learn to silence such an absurd emotion by then, eh? She blamed her age.

 
Anyway, the girl felt a bit like she was going to throw up, but her stomach was too empty for that – that jerky-captor-food-whatever-it-was had fallen out of her pouch in her struggles to free herself from that one hold… Ahem. Cheri knew that she had to recount her story… It was not so much that she was afraid to tell; her past was, mostly, an insensitive subject. It was the act of reliving the horrific events, of remembering Konpeki…

 
Cheri’s eyes took on an unfamiliar burn, similar to the one they gained when she heard Konpeki’s last scream. She wondered briefly if her pills had stopped working, because her chest hurt. Badly.

 
Cheri could do this though. If the red-head could do what she did that day, without a single tear to boot, she could tell a story. She sucked in a breath, her eyes cold and shadowed. Her gaze lingered half on the ground and half in another place entirely as she struggled to find the words to say… “O… okay…” Her voice was quiet, almost whispery, as she spoke.

 
“Like I said before, I’m originally from Ten…ka?… I think. I only ‘eard the beginning of my story once, on my seventh birthday. It was our present that year… Anyway, I was born with an ‘eart condition, something that I’ll talk about later. Because of this condition, I was separated from my mother ‘n twin at birth ‘n put in the ICU. Six ‘aurs later and I was stolen for my last name, Uchiyha. In the twelve ‘aurs it took to get to the ihdeout, I died… eh, twice I think it was,” she began, oblivious her verbal faults. That was the beginning of the story, and she wished it was enough. It wasn’t, though. Too much else happened to not include it…

 
“For two years, I lived in an ohspital room. I ahd at least 12 ‘eart surgeries, though they couldn’t put me under ‘cuz they thought it’d kill me. I guess it wasn’t too bad… Anyway, they took me out a the ohspital and put me into slavery around the time I turned two. Slavery and experimentation, and the last one only made things worse, especially the electricity… If you’re wondering ohw I learned to talk, well there was a lot of it around me in my first two years. I only picked up broken Japanese, though, and mostly medical terms at that. No wehre near fluent.” That part was done. The start of her life was done. The next part, she could be very vague in… She only had to relive the worst of it.

 
“Around the time I turned three, I ahd a cellmate thrown in with me, Konpeki. Eeh became my best and only friend, as well as my teacher as far as speesh went – looking back now, that’s kinda odd to me. Eeh only spoke to me the whole time, and the captors thought he was mute... Anyway. In the following years, the experimentation got worse and so did my ‘eart. My resistance to the medication also got worse, and eventually the pills didn’t work at all. By the time they made a new formula two weeks after the first failed, I had died… once, yeah once.


 
“A bit later, Konpe-kun and I went through a… special experiment. They cut out our eyes, moving the color of Konpeki’s eyes – a deep emerald green – into dog’s eyes and my Shari-whatever – your swirly red and black eye thingy – into cat’s. Then they gave us those. No numby-stuff again, ‘cuz it probably would have killed me, but I guess it wouldn’t have mattered since I died again anyway. Over all, I think I died… 7 times? Yeah.” Okay. Okay. She didn’t go into details. She made it sound a lot better than it was, even if that nullified version seemed harsh as it was. He didn’t need to know the gruesome details, like how many times she’d lost an arm or been sliced open. It was fine. It was a secret. He didn’t need to know.

 
Now she had to tell how she escaped, right?

 
“The people that ‘eld Konpeki and I… were sick. In the head. When the kids would turn ten…” Cheri’s voice grew shaky, and she thought she felt her lip quiver for a moment. Even if time had passed and her assaulter was dead, by her hand no less, she was still scared. She would probably be somewhat scared for the rest of her life, would always hold onto the apprehensions. No matter what she pretended to be, Cheri was still just a child…

 
She took a deep breath, ready to say it aloud. Yes, she had said it before, but it seemed like he hadn’t hear her. She was raging at the time anyway. It didn’t count. “Since… Since I turned ten a few days ago, Konpeki just before me… He tried to… to… He tried to rape us, okay?” The word got stuck in her throat as she said it, coming out quieter than the rest of her already-stuttered sentence. Cheri was still traumatized… She was just undeniably good at keeping it hidden.

 
“He pinned me to a wall first, and ‘cuz I ‘ad no other option, I kinda… ripped out his throat… with my teeth…” she said, trailing off a bit. It was then that she became aware again of the disgusting, dry taste in her mouth, visibly shuddering as she did.

 
“But yeah, eeh died. I looted the body, 'n then Konpeki 'n I tried to escape. It wasn’t the first time we tried, but it was the first time we killed someone 'n made it outside. To Konpeki, the sight was normal. He used to tend the outdoor gardens. Me, though? I ‘adn’t left the compound once. I ‘adn’t walked through that door since they first brought me in… Which, I guess, explains why I’m so pale, ‘uh?” The hard part was over… Now, for the impossible.

 
“'Cept the guy who attacked me wasn’t dead when we left ‘n ended up ‘itting a buzzer that alerted the rest of the compound before eeh was gone. We were caught just after we got outside, tackled to the ground. I ended up getting free from my size, but not without getting my leg snapped. Konny was bigger than me… Well, taller. Eeh couldn’t get away, but they couldn’t catsh me without letting 'im go.


 
“So, they gave me a choice, I guess. I could come back and we’d both live, or I could run away and be free… but Konpeki would die. The choice should ‘ave been clear… ‘n it was. I left him. I know I’m just making excuses for myself when I say this, but if I went back… It would have been worse than dying. Way, way worse… Heck, we already wanted to die… I honestly still wouldn’t be against it, ‘n probably wouldn’t have cared too much if you’d just left me in the grass…


 
“So yeah. We stuck to our unspoken agreement ‘n I left ‘im. Eeh died, I know eeh did… I ‘eard his last scream when I turned my back and I ‘eard it die in ‘is throat when I started walking… When I realized he was gone, I guess my eyes started feeling strange, like I could see better, but the feeling left pretty soon. ‘N so I just kept walking and… ‘Ere I am, twelve ‘aurs later,” her voice shook audibly at the start of her speech, but it evened back out into a chilled, detached tone by the end.

 
They arrived at some huge tower by the time they stopped. It was black against the night sky, and even with her perfect night vision, she doubted she would be able to see the top. The man spoke again.

 
“I probably ‘ave family somewhere, but I don’t know their names. For all I know, they’re dead, and if not, I’m dead to them,” she said normally, eyes locked on the building jutting into the sky before her. “Besides, I’m done with taking orders. I’ve ‘ad enough of that, thank you.”


 
She glanced at the silver-haired, robed man. “Oh yeah, what’s your name, anyway?” Because it was as good a time as ever.

Haru noticed the girl’s stare as he fixed his arm, grinning slightly. He liked the attention he got when he did stuff like that. The super strength, the crazy feats like his creation rebirth, miracle healings, and pulling out bones without provocation. He had grown into quite an attention seeker, compared to his quiet, reserved self.
 
At Cheri’s comment that she had not made a reservation, Haru let out a loud, uncontrollable laugh that echoed across the empty streets. It took a moment for him to recover enough to respond to the girl, and for a while, he just stood there laughing. He didn’t know why he found it so funny, maybe it was because the writer needed to fit in an extra paragraph to increase the word count of his post.
”Haha! Reservation… That’s rich!” He wheezed, whipping a tear from his eye. When he finally recovered, he stood up straight, noticing that she actually looked sincere when she said that.
”Oh, you were serious? No, you don’t have to have a reservation… we’re not a hotel or anything like that.”  He would explain apologetically, not wanting to hurt her feelings.
 
He noticed her eyes take on the unfamiliar look, as if she was angry about something.
”You feeling all right??”  He would ask her, resisting the urge to put a hand on the girl’s shoulder. He genuinely felt bad for her.
 
When her story began, Haru immediately found a point of interest. She was kidnapped at birth, from Tengakure, because of her last name, Uchiha. AND she had a twin sister. That… that was either something very important, or an uncanny coincidence… The only thing that made it less likely is that she said her last name was Uchiha… 
”Umm… do you happen to know the names of any of your family members? Even a last name would do…” He would inquire.
 
He remembered being told, long ago, by his father, that Aryll had a twin sister, but after her mother died in childbirth, her twin was lost in the hospital. The mother was an Uchiha, which only served to make the puzzle fit together better. The only thing was, he was pretty sure his sister’s birth name was Koneko Hyuuga. Although, he was pretty sure Cheri wasn’t her real name, based on what she said next.
 
She was… a slave? Oh, wow… That explained the maid outfit. The broken Japanese came from her picking up what she heard, and the strange eyes, which he now could identify as heavily modified sharingan, came from the experimentation. He knew she would probably snap at him if he comforted her, so he tried his best to remain silent.
 
She died… Seven… SEVEN TIMES?
”My God, you’re a medical miracle!” Haru said, geeking out about the fact that she had been dead not once, not twice, but SEVEN times. Granted, that wasn’t the appropriate way for most people to react. ”Pardon my excitement, but do you know what kind of medical jutsu they used to heal you?” He would ask, unaware that the girl didn’t know what a jutsu was.
 
Her story continued, getting sadder and sadder with every sentence. One thing that struck him hardest was the rape attempt by her captors, and how she escaped. This girl ripped his throat out with her teeth, which explained the blood around her mouth. Haru shuddered, imagining the taste that must be in her mouth still. He stopped at a vendor and put down a bit of ryo to get her a bottle of water.
”Here, drink this and rinse the blood out of your mouth. Spit into the sewer grates if you have to.” He would say, offering her the bottle. He then continued listening.
 
She had never left her compound since the day she entered, so he imagined the light was incredibly painful to her, since her eyes were used to the indoors. He stayed silent as he listened to the rest of her story, deciding the last bit, which was particularly emotional, didn’t need any interruption.
 
When she said she didn’t know of any family, and that she was probably dead to them, he felt himself grow sad. He hadn’t heard any of his family speak about Koneko for years… They hadn’t ever told Aryll about her twin, as she was far too young to hear of such things. He hoped this was… No, wait, he hoped it wasn’t just a coincidence.
”Oh, you’d be surprised.” He responded quietly to her as he filled out the rest of his paperwork. ”My dad hat a fit of depression when my sister went missing… it was… not unlike your story.” He would say, looking back up at her.
 
”My name is Haru Hyuuga, sorry for not telling you sooner. Umm, Cheri, if you wouldn’t mind… would you be okay with coming to the hospital with me to preform a DNA test? We can find out if you have any family in the village, and get you reunited with them if you do…” He would say, standing up slowly. He didn’t want to get her, or his own, hopes up by mentioning any more about the possibility of her being his sister, though the evidence was stacking heavily in favor of that possibility.
 

If the girl complied, he would lead her to the hospital, where he would maneuver expertly through the offices, getting them a medical ninja to preform the test fairly easily. They would be led to a waiting room, where they would have to sit for a while. After a few minutes of waiting, a medical ninja would come to collect Cheri, leading her to the room where the test would take place. Haru would be made to wait in the waiting area, in the meantime. He would sit idly, pulling his headband over his eyes to get some much needed rest from all this stress. He wondered if that really was Koneko… He wasn’t sure if he wanted that to happen or not…

Cheri, still walking, fixed the man with a questioning stare. Her question was answered quickly though and she averted her eyes to the ground, a slight pink tint dusting her cheeks. How was she supposed to know this…? Besides, what she said must not have been that funny, right…? His laughter was a little unwarranted… “Sh-shut up…”  she muttered.
 
 
 
A bit later, he asked her if she was alright. With this, a sad smile touched her lips, a smile that didn’t reach her eyes in the slightest. “Not really, no. But I’ll live; I always do.”
 
 
 
She gained a thoughtful look on her face in response to his question, trying to think back to what the man had told her. Her father was a H… Heegahu…. Haguya….. “’Eyuuga. I think eeh said that m’father was Something Eyuuga, but I might be wrong. My memory is ‘azy,” she replied. Since she was already on the topic of her family, she decided to think a little harder. “Something ‘appened with my mother, too… I think… I think eeh said that she died when I was born… I don’t really know. Again, that whole conversation is a bit fogged… I never thought I’d really need it.”
 
 
 
She was quiet for a few moments, thinking. So her mother was dead… What of her father? Or twin sister, for that matter? Did she have any other siblings? Maybe she’d find out later… Deep down, she realized that, no matter how she resented authority, the idea of a family… was appealing.
 
 
 
After a few more minutes of talking, she heard him exclaim something about her being a medical miracle. Miracle? That… was funny. “Nothing in my life is a miracle, except maybe the fact that I’m still breathing,” she snorted. “No,” Cheri decided, “that’s more of a tragedy.”
 
 
 
Then, her eyebrows moved into a bit of a puzzled little furrow, her bottom lip poking out in a cute pout. It was one of her few facial expressions that let on any emotion, and the emotion it displayed at the moment was bewilderment.
 
 
 
“Jutsu…? I… ‘ave absolutely no clue what a jutsu is, so I can’t ‘elp you there. All I know is that their method required a lot of electricity. I wouldn’t recommend it anyway, because it ‘urts like ‘ellfire ‘n messes up the ‘eart. Though, that might’ve been because they liked to keep it going for a little too long. “To make sure you’re okay,” they said. “It’s for your own good~!” they said! For my own good my a-… Mh.” Cheri silenced herself before she ranted any further… and also before she started swearing, because she promised Konpeki she would quit that a week after she started, when they were six. She may end up breaking that promise someday, anyway, but for now… The least she could do was honor the promise. She coughed uncomfortably, mumbling something of an apology for nearly cussing.
 
 
 
She noticed the way he shuddered as she spoke about the way she ripped Jokun’s – yeah, that was the name of her attacker – throat out. Her gaze was cast to the floor for a moment in shame, for she really was ashamed of her actions. Well, not very much, considering what they had done to her in the past… It was just how she brought him to death.
 
 
 
Cheri froze, though, as he bought and offered her a water. She realized that the shudder that shook his body wasn’t of disgust towards her, but simply the taste that was in her mouth. Wide-eyed with surprise, she hesitantly took it, an almost unnoticeable dust of blush covering her cheeks once again. “Th-thanks…”she said quietly, actually voicing her gratitude for once. Cheri decided he wasn’t a horrible person… Actually, he was probably one of the best people she had known in her entire life. That didn’t mean she was fond of him, though. It was simply an acknowledgement.
 
 
 
Cheri soon realized who he reminded her of, even if it was only with a few tiny characteristics. One of her captors during her stay was… not as unpleasant as the others. This was the man who fed her, brought her water, and brushed her hair. When she was younger, he even bathed her and played some odd little games. He wasn’t exactly warm and affectionate, but still… Yatoshi was probably the closest thing she’d ever had to a father. Perhaps one day, if she ever returned to the hideout, she would pay him a visit.
 
 
 
Cheri screwed open the water bottle with only minor difficulty – so what? She wasn’t used to unscrewing things – and rinsed her mouth, spitting into the sewer grates. Her eyes narrowed as she watched the dark scarlet mixture seep down. “That’s… probably not just Jokun’s blood…”she thought aloud, not even realizing she was doing so. It was just a bit of a habit, really. She and Konpeki had always spoken their mind around each other, as they had nothing to hide.
 
 
 
She took another sip, swallowing it this time. Her dry throat burned, having been neglected for… Eh, around 15 hours. She didn’t acknowledge the pain, though, and just took another larger drink, before screwing the cap back in place and sticking it into the pouch at her side.
 
 
 
Cheri turned back to the man, beginning to walk and continuing her story.
 
 
 
“Your sister went missing? Oh,” she asked simply. Cheri offered no words of comfort, her insensitivity showing through once again. The only person she truly cared for was Konny, anyway… She took note of how he said the stories were similar, but for why, she didn’t know.
 
 
 
“Your name is… Ahru. Cool,” she said simply, taking no notice of his last name. Really, for someone so sharp, she was tending to miss a lot of details that day. Then again, who could blame her?
 
 
 
Then… the rest hit her. Cheri abruptly stopped in the middle of the street, her head bent and too-long bangs covering her eyes. Her face grew paler, if possible, and her hands balled into tight little fists at her side. “…Test…?” she asked quietly. That word… haunted her. So many years… For so many years, she had heard the word, felt its consequences… She didn’t trust the word ‘test’ in the slightest. “I’m… not exactly comfortable with… testing…” she added.
 
 
 
Images continued to flit through her head. Needles, containing a thick blue liquid. A liquid that made her entire body feel like it was being torn apart and burned. A knife, inching towards her heart, her eyes, and cutting with no restraint… Screams echoing in her ears, laughter as well… She didn’t trust testing. She didn’t trust it at all.
 
 
 
But… That kind of testing probably wasn’t what he meant, right? Just a simple DNA test, probably a blood test. They’d be taking just a tiny bit of blood, not injecting a tiny bit of something into it. It wasn’t an experiment, it was a professional exam to match her to any living family members… Normal people didn’t take up human experimentation, right…? “…Fine. Fine, but if I sense even the slightest thing wrong with the situation when I get there, I will not ‘esitate to kill everyone in my way… I am never reliving what I went through… Never again,” she finally complied, raising her gaze. She could see his mix-matched eyes with her own eerily crimson set, but he wouldn’t be able to see hers. From the way her fringe now fell, her expression was hidden.
 
 
 
Cheri decided that was a good thing, since she could tell her face was an array of pain and panic and she really didn’t have the will to fix it at the moment.
 
 
 
The young runaway was stiff as she walked with Haru to the hospital area, trying her best to mentally prepare herself. So what, they might stick her with a needle? She’d done it a thousand times, more than a thousand times! But… every time resulted in agony. How… How could she not be afraid? She was 10 for Christ’s sake… It was completely justified! But, then again… She’d been though a lot more than the average ten year old. She acted more mature sometimes than adults she knew. So why were needles such a fear to her? It… It didn’t make any sense… It just didn’t…
 
 
 
Cheri kept her thoughts to herself as they walked to and through the hospital. It wasn’t until they got into the waiting room that she decided her hair was bugging her. Numbly, she swept the crimson strands into their normal places. “To ‘ell if I look weak…” she mumbled quietly, though accidently loud enough for Haru to hear (she didn’t even realize she swore). Her face was at least twice as apprehensive as before, her foot tapping softly upon the floor in quick succession. Her hand, which was still balled into a fist, bounced along atop her knee in the same rhythmic pattern.
 
 
 
The girl, though, didn’t voice her worries. She didn’t need comfort, not from some stranger with a metal headband. In time, the nurse came to collect her.
 
 
 
Cheri stood quietly and strode alongside the nurse, completely silent. Her breathing was quickened, showing her anxiety. Eventually they came to a room. She was made to sit in a half-bed, half-chair type contraption, something she had sat in many… many times… and just when she was little. This whole place, all the antiseptic and the white and the bandages and… Cheri could feel herself panicking inside, and it took all she had not to freak out.
 
 
 
A doctor arrived shortly after the nurse left. He instructed her quickly on what they were to do, oddly paying no mind to her maid outfit, countless bruises, scraped, cuts and scars, or the fact that she was covered in blood. He just stared impassively through his rectangular glasses, the model figure for a detached doctor.
 
 
 
He then handed her a type of bean bag ball or something… She quietly refused, though. She couldn’t handle whatever pain a stupid… needle... brought…. That was a big needle. That was a big needle and it was connected to a cylinder thing and was there something in that??? There better not be something in that and okay that swab thing was cold on her wrist and wait, was he sticking that in her wrist- FRICK ow ow ow ow whyyy in her wrist, it hurt dangit! Ow… Whyyyy…. Okay, no more needle…
 
 
 
Her eyes were wide as he removed the highly offensive object and squirted the sample into some sort of test tube. He then looked at her impassively through his glasses. “Do you remember the way back? The results will be out momentarily,”he asked.

She nodded, her eyes still wide and her face incredibly pale… though not from blood loss. The doctor then turned away, waving a dismissive hand. With that, Cheri rose from her seat and quickly exited the room, heading back to the waiting room. Almost immediately, she spotted the silver-haired ANBU and sat hastily into the chair beside him.

Her movements were obviously rushed. Seeing as though no one besides Haru were in the waiting room, Cheri… didn’t feel as strong of an urge to hide her emotions. Her breathing increased even more, face paling and hands shaking. One came to grab her blackened wrist, the one that had taken the needle. She felt as though she might begin hyperventilating, and she tried to calm herself as best she could.

”Needles…’n hospitals… ‘n testing… I can’t breathe…” she managed out. She wondered if this was the start of a panic attack and decided that, if it was, it was perfectly justifiable. It was just… Cheri didn’t do hospitals. She didn’t do needles either. Nor testing. Over all, that day was pretty suckish.

Haru shrugged after recovering from the laugh.
”I wasn’t making fun of you, that was just really funny.” He assured the girl, patting her on the shoulder. He really didn’t mean to hurt her feelings, especially after all that she’d just been through. When he asked if she was alright, a faint smile crossed her face, and her response, well, it seemed to contradict what the smile showed. It was sad that she could go from sarcastic and angry to sad and silent so fast. Maybe he shouldn’t have laughed so hard at what she said.
 
Eyuuga… Hayuuga… Hyuuga. Her father was a Hyuuga, which meant her mother was an Uchiha. This, coupled with the fact that she was from Tengakure, and there weren’t all that many from either of those clans in this city, reinforced to Haru what he had already guessed. And that was just the icing on the cake. Her mother had died in childbirth. These circumstances were all too similar, and he felt he had to tell her something. To stay silent would be very bad for when she inevitably found out, but what to say? “Oh, I think I’m your brother.” No. That was stupid.
 
”Umm… Well, if you’re trying to say Hyuuga, then we’re related. My parents were both part of the Hyuuga clan.” He would tell her, putting his hands in his pockets. What to say, what to say…
 
“Nothing in life is a miracle, except maybe that I’m still alive.” She said. That quote rang through his head. It went in one hear, bounced around in his skull, then sat there on top of his brain, poking and prodding at it.
”You’d be surprised.” He stammered hastily. At this point, it was clear he was uncomfortable with the conversation, though the reason would not be clear to her. He closed his eyes, not speaking for a moment, staring straight ahead. He really had no idea what to say at this point.
 
”Miracles happen all the time. You just happened to come across a medical ninja just as your injuries seemed too grave to continue.” He pointed out after a few seconds of silence, opening his eyes. They continued walking, until the point where he gave her the bottle of water.
 
”No problem. Let me know if you run out, I can get you another bottle. There’s a lot of blood…” He offered, putting his hands back in his pockets. Her comments about the blood not being only her own stirred little reaction in Haru. Partially because he was a medic nin, and therefore unfazed by blood, and partly because he was still thinking about what to say. He wanted to say something, but if he jumped the gun and told her, and then it turned out to be true? He didn’t want to crush her hopes, or his own, for that matter. So he would stay silent. For now.
 
No real response was given towards his sister disappearing. He wasn’t surprised. He wasn’t asking for sympathy anyways, simply trying to show that he had some understanding of her situation.
 
Her discomfort with testing was inconvenient, but understandable.
”Don’t worry. They aren’t going to hurt you, I promise. They’re here to help.” He told her, patting her on the back reassuringly. She would finally agree to go with the medical nin, and Haru would sigh, slumping into a chair. What a night.
 
When she came back, she was spazzing. Big time. As she reached for her wrist, where the needle had been placed. Although it should have been healed by the doctors, Haru would place one of his hands on her wrist, activating the mystical palm technique. The green glow of chakra would soothe the injured hand, and calm her nervous system.
 
   
”Just breathe. Deep breaths. Nobody’s going to hurt you now, it’s the last test you’ll ever need.” Haru said, partially lying about the last part. He could say fairly surely that she wouldn’t have to come back in here, but he couldn’t be absolutely sure. Eh, close enough.

(((Ahhhh sorry!!!! I forgot!! Will post as soon as I get an idea, or when my computer arrives back, whichever is first!!! Really sorry Ruru D:)))