amethyst solitary (naruto u.)

Prisoner

The first thing Manaka felt was warmth.

Not cold nor lethargic, assuming she collapsed under the turbid sky without any coverage from the snow. Just average, which automatically brought alertness to her sense of hearing to discern what settled around her.

Beeps of monitors twinkled in the background and clicks of heels against marble, almost as if echoing from an empty hallway, affected her laid back posture to slightly shift whilst feeling the cotton sheets send tiny, genuine kisses beneath her.

Manaka squeezed her eyes shut as a faint light seeped through the darkness behind her lids.

A moment later, she opened them groggily, flinching at the golden and peach toned sunlight streaming through the glass windows. She blinked quickly until the blur faded, then frowned when a hazy turquoise ceiling came into view.

One thing popped in her and it certainly affirmed logic.

This wasn't her bedroom ceiling.

'Where am I?' She tried propelling herself up, but something cold prevented her from rising upwards.

Like something seriously heavy and metal-like weighing above her body, resisting any particular movements.

'Are those...CHAINS?!' The pearly covers shielding her entire figure, except her clavicle and the rest of her head, made it hard to inspect what held her down underneath the sheets. But she could feel the cold metal clinging onto her skin.

"Am I being held captive?!" She squirmed uncontrollably, panic compelling her arms to compress outwards, hoping to snap open some sort of lock and eventually set herself free from this hostility.

Alas however, it wouldn't budge to break.

Suddenly, clips of last night's memories halted her actions and effortlessly numbed her limbs from prying, turning her face white as a ghost. Everything came back running into her head like a bullet grazing through her skull.

The incident at the park, the cloaked man's presence, the scarlet-red eyes, everything that had occurred yesterday perceived into her mind and paralyzed her.

Was it his doings? Did he kidnap her and lock her in this room while she was out of it?

But yet again, she can feel her arm being infused within an IV machine, and medical equipment were present on top of a tray next to her, claiming that she was in a matter of fact inside a hospital room, not some old, abandoned warehouse.

Does that mean she's been saved?

"Oh! I see you're awake." A soft voice interrupted her consumptions, startling her in the process. "How are you feeling?"

Craning her head aside to catch a glimpse at the intruder, a woman with light brown hair dressed in a nurse uniform trudged inside and approached her, holding a clipboard in hand. After skimming her thoroughly, Manaka admitted she seemed harmless.

The teenage girl stared blankly before hesitantly responding. "O-Okay...I guess?"

"Alright let me take out your IV." She obtained a gauze pad from the tray and held it over the peripheral IV insertion site, gently withdrawing the catheter after, "You suffered from malnutrition and a bit of anemia. However, looking now at your face color, you seem better than when you first arrived at the lobby."

Manaka licked her lips, "Really?...Um, can you tell me where am I? And also why can't I detach myself from the bed?"

The nurse meekly smiled. "For safety reasons, we were afraid you'd attack the Hidden Leaf Village once you regained consciousness."