If Promises Could Be Kept

Eleven

"To live is to suffer. To survive is to find some meaning in the suffering." — Friedrich Nietzsche

She wasn't sure where she was, but the distinct taste of sand in between her teeth was severely off-putting.

The next thing that registered was everything that led up to her current predicament, whatever that was. The riot, Korharu... she clenched her jaw. She couldn't let herself think about that or she wouldn't be able to stop the tears from welling behind her eyes. It was easier to focus on her surroundings, to figure out where she could possibly be. Unfortunately, the most likely option was that the Iwa nins had caught her and that she was being held prisoner.

Then again, the sand that was still in her mouth was suggesting otherwise. Not to mention it was crazy hot and unbearably dry. Just thinking of water made her want to open her eyes and take her chance with whoever had found her.

She'd come to the conclusion that someone had found her because after she'd stuck Sakumo-sensei with one of her arrows, she'd decided to hell with it and used the Bolting Arrow one more time, not sure where it would send her or if it would work at all. She'd never attempted to use the seal with such a small amount of chakra, and wouldn't have been surprised if the chakra exhaustion had killed her.

When she tried to move her limbs, she was pleasantly surprised to find that they weren't tied down or restrained in any way. They were heavy with the weight of chakra exhaustion, but otherwise free of cuffs or ropes. Sighing in relief, she tried to sit up, but found that her entire body ached with the aftereffects of her escapade in Iwa and laid back down, deciding to familiarize herself with her surroundings.

She was lying in what seemed to be a small room with adobe brick walls and sparse furnishings, including the full bed she was lying on, a small nightstand, a dresser, and a single lamp. There was nothing on the walls, no windows, and nothing else to suggest where she might be. Just from the walls, she'd guess Suna, but that didn't exactly make much sense, so she couldn't really come to any solid conclusions.

Damn, I'm bored, she thought idly as she counted the spots on the ceiling. The ceiling was a different material than the walls, probably drywall, and had the distinct markings of water damage scattered across the far side by the door. Luckily, it didn't take long before the door to the room opened.

Whoever she was expecting, the person that came in definitely wasn't it. He couldn't have been more than ten or eleven years old with fiery red hair, not dissimilar to an Uzumaki's, and slightly duller red eyes. Her Suna theory was confirmed by the forehead protector that the boy wore. He was slight in stature, but she didn't let that fool her, especially in Suna because of their Puppet Brigade. The members of that unit weren't physically imposing, but were much more creative in their methods of killing, so she didn't want to tick this boy off.

Still, she was a ninja, and as soon as the door opened she went for her weapons, which weren't on her person. (Of course.)

Interestingly enough, as soon as the mystery boy realized that she was awake, his eyes widened and he faltered with the water jug in his hand. They simply stared at each other for a minute before the boy seemed to gather himself and cleared his throat.

"I, uh, brought water. I also thought you might want food because of the chakra exhaustion, but I wasn't sure when you'd wake up, so..." He trailed off and looked down at the water in his hands.

"Thank you," she croaked, her voice thick with the lack of water and scratchy because of the sand that seemed to coat her throat. The boy realized this and came forward to hand her the water. She sat up slowly and accepted it gratefully.