Becoming

Part 27

                The room was dark and the only sound heard was the crackling of a fire somewhere outside. It echoed from down the hall, and had the fire not been there, none would know there was any life in the basement of Tobi's creepy home. Naruto was the only other life there, and he himself could hardly tell he was alive. He drifted in and out of consciousness. Sometimes a random person was in there, tending to something. Sometimes it was Tenten. Another time Shino. Others yet, Lee and Sai, and other people that were forced to work for Tobi. It seemed there was always someone talking to him, telling him what to do. Always, always, he heard "Don't die. You can make it" or "Stay alive. Master Tobi won't be happy if you die." They always expected him to do something.
Now Naruto lay awake in complete and perfect misery. He was devoid of strength. He couldn't use the restroom, move his head or arms. Even if he had wanted to he couldn't. He was tied to the table he lay on. His eyes, however, could drift down to his chest, where he saw the gashes and bruises littering him. One gash reached from his thigh to shoulder, and was several inches wide. He remembered each agonizing second as the blade Tobi had used moved the slow and agonizing trek up. Naruto wanted to shudder. But he couldn't. He couldn't move anything, and it all hurt so badly. The taste of blood was strong in his mouth and he wanted to spit out the dark liquid.
The lock to the door clicked and someone was shoved in. Naruto couldn't turn his head to look, but whoever it was spat out insults to whoever had thrown her in.
"You Naruto?" she asked, scowling as she patted her dress, trying to rid it of filth. She paused suddenly and lifted her skirt. Her eyes flew to Naruto a second later and she slapped a hand over her mouth, having just seen Naruto's condition. "Oh my goodness! You're hurt!"
Naruto rolled his eyes. No really! He wished she would stop staring at him. It felt awkward and uncomfortable, and Naruto knew already he was showing more skin than he would have liked. At least he wasn't totally uncovered.
"They said you were badly injured and I didn't believe them," the girl hastened to explain. She pulled up a bag and as she got closer, Naruto saw it was a medical bag. "They took me when I was on my way home from an appointment," she explained bitterly. "Told me to heal this injured man. I'd heard of them and thought they just wanted to keep me here for convenience. Guess you and me are stuck together now. Can you talk? No? That'll be fixed up soon. My names is Laurie..." and on and on she went. Naruto had to admit he was grateful. She talked for the both of them, and her talking lulled him to sleep. He was glad he didn't have to put up with the pain of when she cleaned the wound. Maybe that was her plan...and Naruto knew no more.

When he woke again, he felt disoriented. Naruto opened his eyes and looked around, finding Laurie sleeping in a chair that had been placed. He was feeling surprisingly better. He could move. He sat up, noticing his hands were free, and looked down. He was covered, head to foot in bandages. A huge one was wrapped around his head, leaving only a bit for him to see. He'd been in worse shape than he'd thought. Though blood soaked them, he could see they'd been applied gently, so as not to cause him too much discomfort.
What impressed Naruto even more was the fact that he could feel no pain. Not yet at least. Laurie must have given him an herb or something to keep it at bay. Maybe poured some wine down his throat. It didn't really matter. It was absent for a moment.
Laurie stirred and sat up. "Oh, you're awake!" she said, eyes wide. "You slept for three days! I mean, I knew the medicine I gave you after you fell asleep would completely knock you out, but it was so long! I was getting so bored, all alone in here."
Naruto didn't even bother trying to talk. She did all the talking. Again, Naruto drifted off to sleep listening to her talking.

Here ya go! Thanks again for being patient. I got sick right after coming back from the trip, so it took a bit longer than I had planned to update. I hope you enjoy this update. I should, this time for real, update normally again. Not planning any roadtrips or getting sick for a while. Love ya all! 

Btw, my friend brought this up. Should I say ya or yuh? My friend, let's call her K for now, was saying ya can be read yeah...so like, which is best? Any opinions? (i always said ya like yeah...but idk...i just started typing 'yuh' as 'ya')