Looks Like Someone Could Use a Hand.

[Kazumi]

The soft rhythmical beeps of monitoring devices echoed throughout the somewhat small, but thankfully private, room in the ICU. It was early in the morning, and the frantic rush that had spun like a whirlwind around the girl had finally come to a stop. It had been a long hard night for the Tsukino girl, but the worst of it was over. The stark white room housed a few monitoring devices, an IV that stretched a transparent tube into the sleeping girl's left arm, a single other chair and a nurse who stood next to the bed reading over the reading and making notes of his findings.

He paused and looked down at the bandaged wrapped girl. White strips covered her head so that none of her hair could be seen, but everything else was hidden under a white bed sheet from her neck down. The young man shook his head, let off a small sigh and continued to scribble his results onto the clipboard he held firmly in one hand.

Meanwhile at the Golden Crystal District quite a hive had been shook as investigations had lead the village's police to block off part of the block where the Tsukino family business had been setup. No one was allowed within twenty yards of the shop or the living unit that was attached to its upper floor and read. Thankfully the investigations had yet to be added to the flurry of chaos that had surrounded the hospital on her arrival, thanks in part to the medical professionals who shooed them off rather proficiently.

 

[Samejima]

Out of concern for her friend, even though they may no longer be friends as far as the student was concerned, Naoki made her way through the busy streets of the Golden Crystal District, still marveling at the surrounding lavishness.

Upon noticing the mass of shinobi investigating Yumi's house, or at least the house she went into two nights ago, she was highly confused. Am I in the right place...? She was repeatedly told to leave the premises, likely as the scene was quite busy and needed no young genin around to disrupt their activities. Through hearsay around the house though... she heard a statement that caused her to pester the nearest authority figure for the family's status.

"Hey, wasn't that the Tsukino family's place? To think something that bloody would happen there..."

Upon being told the answer, Naoki blanked out for a minute, before bolting straight to the hospital.

It was just another day at the hospital for the mednin who work here, albeit another day with a young genin asking where her friend might be staying. Upon naming herself as one of the patient's friends, hands on the counter and still blindfolded with a Suna headband, she was directed to the appropriate room.

Yumi... Naoki stood in front of the door to the room, unsure of whether or not she should even be entering. Sure she said she was still on good terms with the student, but really she had no idea how to proceed if Yumi were to send her back out. Nngh... I don't wanna make her even madder at me...

 

[Kazumi]

As Naoki stood there like a bump on a log the door would suddenly open and a man in his early twenties garbed in the lower ranking MiT outfit moved to step out of the room with a clipboard under his right arm. He was stopped by the small blind roadblock in his way, of course and he instead took a step back inside the door to put a little respectful distance between the two.

"Can I... help you?" He asked in a professional, but more more humane tone than the more experienced medi-nin would have likely have managed. From inside the room the sound of that medical beeping could be easily heard, and slow if not slightly labored breathing as well, if Naoki was as super-powered as her abilities suggested.

 

[Samejima]

The door opened suddenly, and Naoki jumped back with a bit of a yelp. Contrary to some beliefs, she could not hear through solid doors any better than an average person could, at this point in her life. "Y-yes, um... Is that..." Her voice caught in her throat, still hoping that it was all a big misunderstanding and that there was another Tsukino Yumi in the room there who'd been involved in an altercation with whatever caused the investigation.

"...Is she awake?" she asked, deciding instead on just accepting the bitter pill and being rid of it as soon as possible. If I wasn't so insensitive a couple days ago... Might've at least been there to...to do something! Ugh... She did have more confidence in her abilities now, at the very least, having been through more than the average 9-year-old, though she was feeling far from super-powered as of now.

 

[Kazumi]

His slightly hardened face softened slightly as he recognized who the girl must be, not specifically but rather that she must have been a friend of the girl's. "She is asleep right now. If you would like, you can come in and sit with her. She tends to wake up in fits, and it would be good for her to have a friend nearby if that happens." He steps back and turns to walk back into the room, standing nearby the foot of the bed as he turned back towards Naoki.

"She has had a hard night, so do not stress her more if you are able." He spoke that softly, but there was a clear threat hidden under his words if she dared to harass his patient, even if she was a friend. "What is your name?" He then asked, giving her a reassuring smile before he looked over towards the bed where the young girl's face was the only thing that was exposed between the wrappings and the sheets.

 

[Samejima]

"Sit with her huh..." I don't know if I should just go in there like that... Maybe I should just wait outside? Or I could hide somewhere so I won't be the first thing she sees? Ah, but then I might shock her when I do come out... Ah, got it! Naoki rummaged in her bag a little, making sure a certain thing was there, before standing up straight and answering the question, quietly enough so that Yumi wouldn't be disturbed. "Ah, my name is Samejima Naoki..."

Upon being allowed in, she would walk inside as soundlessly as she could manage, though this wasn't too hard as the beeping was still allowing her to sense her surroundings to the equivalent of a dimly lit room. As soon as the door was closed, she'd reach into that bag and pull out a few fake explosive notes. Mmm, I wish I had something for my clothes too, but she's already seen my cloak. This'll have to do for now, she thought, sticking some of the notes backwards on her face. There probably aren't many students that have skin as dark as mine either... oh!

The next thing she'd do is somewhat messily wrap the exposed parts of her arms and fingers in bandages, and part of her neck. I'll just have to make do with covering the rest of my neck... And the most normal pose she could come up with was with her left hand over the base of her neck, with her right supporting that arm and sitting upright like some sort of important lady.

She'd try and make her voice as squeaky as possible, asking "Ahem! Young lady, would you by any chance, be alright with a Samejima Naoki coming in here? I- She! Has asked me to ask you, as she did not wish to upset you further..."

She did lose the modulation around the end of her speech, being quite worried. And also quite anxious in case she caused Yumi further stress. Though this was highly likely, in the getup she was in.

 

[Kazumi]

After the blindfolded girl said her name the man would smile and nod, "the station is just down the hall if either of you need anything." He gave the girl another nod as he turned and walked out the door with his clipboard, silently shutting the door behind himself.

As Naoki assumed her oh-so-clever disguise, the slightly older girl continued to silently sleep there in her bed. The timed beeps of the heart monitor chimed out of sync with the girl's breathing. As Naoki disguised her voice and spoke, she would recieve no obvious response from Yumi. A few moments afterwards, however, the girl shifted softly and mumbled, "sorry... mom... dad..." before a grunt of pain silenced her once again.

 

[Samejima]

Haaaaah, what am I doing! Naoki took the makeshift disguise off as she heard Yumi's voice, realizing it would be much easier on the both of them if she'd just come back when someone outside said Yumi was doing well...

The beeps were still telling her that Yumi was in pain however, as they communicated the older girl's expression. Yumi... I hope you're not having a bad dream...

Quietly, she pulled the stool a bit further from the bed, so she can make a faster exit if Yumi didn't want her around after she woke up. What can I even do now... She asked herself this many times before, but it's likely that she's never felt this helpless, having made friends neither here nor there for the most part.

 

[Kazumi]

Suddenly Yumi let out a frantic gasp as she shot up in bed, the heart monitor started beeping rather frantically as Yumi looked around the room in a momentary state of shock. Her breathing was erratic as she looked to her left and then her right, her eyes looking slightly glazed as they tried to take in her surroundings. Then they noticed the feminine figure beside her and she let out a quick gasp of fright before that too slowly subsided.

The covers that were draped over her upper body and neck slowly slid down as she focused further on the younger girl. "N..Naoki?" She asked hoarsely, as if she expected the girl to only be a figment of her imagination. As the cover finally slipped down to her waist Naoki could easily tell much more about Yumi's state. Most notably that her right arm was wrapped in cloth bandages from her shoulder to the end of her arms... which was her elbow

 

[Samejima]

Naoki jolted upright at almost the same time Yumi did, surprised not only by the sound but also the movement. Wah! Wh-what? Yumi woke up?

The girl said her name, and Naoki breathed a sigh of relief. "Yumi!" she exclaimed, moving off the stool to be closer, before she remembered the state she'd let their friendship get to and stopped in her tracks. Yumi then moved a little more, and after the next beep...

...what... "Y-Yumi..." No way... no way! How... what did... If tears could well up at that moment, they would've been overflowing by now. And had her eyes been visible, they'd be widening, though her eyebrows would likely have betrayed her surprise and worry. Does she know yet? She just woke up... Uhh how do I ask her about what happened... Just calm down, keep your voice steady... Oh, what would mom do here, if I... her thoughts cut off, unable to bear the thought of her mother having to see her without an arm... or a working pair of eyes. She couldn't draw on any experience that even vaguely related to the situation she has to face.

If she doesn't, she doesn't need to just yet... I should try to talk to her a bit before anything else. Ah, would be a good time to apologize too, maybe.

"Um... Hi. I-I know you said to leave you alone, so I'll go soon... I just wanted to know how you're doing, and a couple more things, so..." was what she settled on, hoping it wouldn't agitate her. "H-how are you?"

She was, of course, hoping to distract Yumi enough from the state her arm was in long enough for her to keep her cool and process these things... But it would be noticed sooner or later. All she was doing was buying time to try and figure out how to deal with Yumi after she did notice, if she hadn't already.

 

[Kazumi]

The fervant beeps of the machine grew slower with each passing moment, and by the time Naoki had finished speaking it was only going at a slightly accelerated pace. It wasn't until after Naoki had finished entirely when the words seemed to click in Yumi's head. Her face grew a concerned look and she turned in her bed so she could reach out and grab Naoki's outfit with her dominant right hand, to keep her from leaving. "Please don-..." Her efforts were in vain however as the stub gestured as it always would have, but that was all it could actually do.

A sharp pain hit her and she winced, her left hand reaching over to cover the end of her bandaged right arm. Small traces of blood began to tint the very end of the bandages as she had accidentally done something to aggravate the wound. Thankfully for Naoki, Yumi didn't seem shocked or surprised at the discovery. It seemed she had already gone through that process sometime before her arrival. Even still, she could not think of any answers to give Naoki. Her thoughts were still muddled with pain killers, though she was still thankful for them.

"I'm... so...s....." She tried to force the words out as she looked down towards her lap, her remaining hand still clitching at the slowly tinting bandages. It was all she could really manage as tears began to well up in her eyes.

 

[Samejima]

Wh- "No-" Naoki moved to stop Yumi from moving as soon as she noticed the first hints of movement, but she wasn't fast enough, hands frozen in midair as Yumi held what remained of her right arm. I don't think it's the first time she's known about this... Probably still adjusting though, if she woke up just a while ago...

She couldn't tell that it was bleeding just yet, but she could tell that Yumi wasn't in the right mood for small talk. So... so...? She couldn't quite make out what was being said. "I-it's okay, um... shh, shh... Talk a little later, when you feel a bit better, ok?"

A few more beeps sounded, and alerted Naoki to the girl's teary status.

Whoa, what? Ah, what do I do... Does it hurt? "Yumi? Are you okay? Does it hurt? I-I can go call the doctor real quick, he said he'd be just down the hall..." She seemed hesitant to leave Yumi alone, but if she did it would likely be for less than a few seconds either way.

 

[Kazumi]

The door clicked open and a woman who was only marginally taller than Naoki or Yumi stepped in draped in the professional garb of a medical shinobi of a high rank. Her shoulder length black hair framed her face and she regarded Naoki with only a passing notice as she casually stepped her way over towards the side of the bed. She then reached out and put her hand onto Yumi's chest and firmly forced the girl to lie down. "You are going to do more damage to yourself if you do not stay down Ms.Tsukino."

The woman had an air of authority and sounded as if she knew the girl rather well, but had no time or concern for niceties such as patience. She turned from Yumi for a moment and have a breif flat stare towards Naoki before her attention returned to Yumi and the blood soaking bandages. "I would ask you to turn around, but I presume that would do no good." She sounded as if she might be speaking to Naoki. "I need to check her chest to see if she opened up any of the stitching there."

The medinin pulled the covers that only partly covered Yumi's body and the girl winced slightly. "Stay still..." she commanded in a firm but considerate way as she proceeded to pull Yumi's hospital garb up off her body. Had Yumi been in a better state of mind she likely would have been furiously blushing from being exposed down to her underwear like this, but all she managed with a soft groan of discomfort.

Like her head and right arm, Yumi had cloth wraps going around her torso as well, ranging from her stomach up to just under her arms, including her chest. Thankfully there was no crimson staining on those white cloth wraps to indicate anything had been pulled out there, but unlike with her arm, it was impossible to tell exactly what was under those thick cloth wrappings on her torso.

 

[Samejima]

Naoki took a few steps back as a mednin entered, to give her space. Whoa, she came in fast... As expected from professional mednin... Momentarily, she felt inspired to actually become professional like that someday, but knew it was impossible in any case.

The sounds were constant enough to tell Naoki that Yumi's torso was also wrapped, and she let out a gasp, covering her mouth in further surprise. What happened to her chest? There wasn't any of that internal thingy was there? But she's in the hospital now, so she should be okay right?

Next thing she did was attempt to cover her ears, which plunged her into near-absolute darkness. This darkness was unpleasant, but it was bearable for now. It was an act of courtesy more than anything, though she had no way of telling when it was done. She could at least make out blurry shapes, so she'd be able to tell when the mednin stepped away at least, after the checking was complete.

 

[Kazumi]

Since there was no need to change the girl's torso bandages yet, the woman pulled Yumi's gown back down and proceeded the pull the blanket back up so that it reached up to Yumi's neck once again. "It is a wonder you are still alive you know. You had lost enough blood to put the Steward himself unconscious." She might have been exaggerating, but if she was her voice showed no signs of such. "Now rest. As I told you before, as soon as there is anything to tell you, we will." She stared hard down at Yumi until the girl nodded up to her in understanding.

The medinin stepped away from the bed and over towards Naoki. "You see to it that she does rest. A little blood seeping from her arm is to be expected after the surgery, but if she looks like she is in too much pain you alert one of the madinin around here, got it? Also, if you even attempt to rouse her from that bed, I will personally make sure you are strapped down to one yourself until Mother Suna herself comes down here to untie you." That hard stare remained a moment on Naoki, and after a lingering few seconds she turned and made her way quietly from the room.

 

[Samejima]

Removing her hands as soon as the mednin stepped away, Naoki was able to catch everything she said before she left, nodding timidly as she went. Kinda scary...

Naoki then stepped closer to where Yumi was, carefully bringing the stool with her. She sat down, just tall enough to be able to converse properly, and sat there just observing the bedridden girl for a few seconds. Yumi... What happened... Your head, chest... and... Naoki steeled herself, wanting to put Yumi at ease, at least long enough for her to fall asleep. C'mon Naoki... You can do it, just a smile. She's fine now, being taken care of. Anything else... a gulp, as she thought of the girl's family, Anything else... we can talk about later. Just a smile for now, just...

"W-well, you heard what the mednin said... I'll be staying here a little longer, so even if you tell me to go I won't leave until you get some rest!" Naoki said the words with a quiet sort of cheer, and paused.

"Though, um... I'd like to stay longer, if it's okay. C-can I? Just nod, or shake your head a little, try not to talk too much..." She currently showed no signs of leaving. Any thought of a patrol on that day would have to wait.

 

[Kazumi]

“I’m… sorry for yelling at you,” the bedridden girl suddenly apologized in a quiet tone as she stared up at the ceiling. She sounded somewhere between exhausted and dazed, no doubt from the combined effects of the medications and whatever events transpired. “I was just… not that it matters anymore…” Her head turned away from Naoki to hide it from her, although it probably did no good at all.

“is… is he… dead?” she asked with a slight air of hopefulness, as she finally turned back to face the girl who was sweet enough to be there for her. Under the covers her left hand rose from her side and softly grasped at the gown on her chest as she laid there, looking hopefully towards Naoki.

 

[Samejima]

"Huh? No, I was being pushy... I'm sorry about that, I shouldn't butt into people's business in the first place... How you do things is your thing after all," Naoki said, offering Yumi an actual smile this time. "So since we're even now, I guess I'll be sticking around a while longer. Just tell me if you want anything, and I'll go get it for you." Aah so she wasn't too mad at me at least... Well, what was that thing... All's well that ends well!

Yumi then asked her a question, and she wasn't sure whom she meant. He? Her father maybe... How do I break it to her gently... "They said... you were the only one who survived," she started, before pausing a little, "I didn't get much information from the others, but that's what I have so far."

Naoki attempted to gauge Yumi's expression, wondering if she'd said the right thing. It makes sense that would be the first thing she asks... I just wish I had a better answer to give her.

 

[Kazumi]

It was difficult to tell Yumi's reaction to the news. At first she simply looked at Naoki with an almost blank expression. "I... I killed him." She softly replied as she looked down towards her left hand, which she had just pulled out from the covers. "I don't remembere what happened... I just... came home and then I saw..." she paused for a moment as she tried to remember, but remembering hurt and so she pushed that thought aside.

"I... remember my mom's knife... and..." she then looked down towards the wrapped stump of her right arm and winced in what looked to be a sudden shock of pain. She bit her lips vigorously and shook her head softly as if to dispel images or memories from her head. "I just don't... what did they ever..." Yumi mentally fought with herself for a short time as if to try and make sense of it all. Thoguh no matter how hard she tried it just.. didn't.

 

[Samejima]

She what?! Now royally confused, as she thought Yumi was referring to her father earlier, Naoki was taken aback by what she said. I couldn't have heard it wrong... so then maybe she didn't mean her father? But no one said anything about another person, I think... Ah, for now, Yumi needs to be resting!

"Yumi, you should rest for now... We'll talk about all this later okay? Don't think too much, or..." Naoki paused for a bit, thinking about what she might be averse to at this point, "Or it'll take even longer for you to recover..." Naoki was about to try and calm Yumi down by patting her head, but that might've caused complications. Then, she noticed that Yumi seemed to be in pain about something, glancing down at her arm.

"Are you- I-Is your arm okay? Is it bleeding again?" She made a move to hurry over to the station, waiting for a response before she did so.