Amaranthine Flame 2

"Kimiko!" She fell on the floor with a loud thud. I struggled to sit up. Weakly, I shifted my position, using my left hand as a leverage and leaned sideways towards her.

"Hey Kimiko, stop fooling around!" I reached out to grab her arm and shook her. Still she stayed motionless. In confusion, I glanced around.

"Where am I? How did I get here? What happened to her?" My frown couldn't get any deeper.

Shizune-san hurriedly stood up from her position at the far end of the room. The rest of the medics inside the room seemed frozen in their positions.

"Bring in a stretcher!" Shizune shouted out. As if woken from a trance, two of the medics stood up and rushed outside to get a stretcher while the others hurriedly moved towards our direction.

Shizune held on to Kimiko's wrist to check her vital signs and shook her head in frustration. "I told you not to... You never do listen, do you?" Shizune scolded Kimiko, not even caring that she was still unconscious and wouldn't be able to hear her rantings.

"What did she do now?" I asked. I am at such a loss here. No one seemed to want to answer any of my queries.

"She used up all her chakra to seal your wounds. I ordered her to stop but she just wouldn't listen," Shizune explained as she fussed over Kimiko. "She had just saved you. And she risked her own life in the process."

Of all the stupid things to do... I clenched my fist. "Damn! You're so stupid! Weren't you even thinking?" I shouted at her in frustration. I wanted her to shout back at me for cursing at her but she just laid there, motionless.

The two medics, who initially ran out, entered the room holding a stretcher. Kimiko was picked up with utmost care and was laid down on the stretcher. She looked pale as a ghost.

My head still hurt and it felt like it was splitting in two. Still, I tried to sit up to check on her. I leaned over the stretcher and held her hand. She was nearly as cold as ice! The gravity of the situation suddenly sank in. I sat there, speechless. The two medics picked up the stretcher to transfer her to the adjacent room. As they raised her, my hold on Kimiko's hand loosened. Her arm hung limply over the edge of the stretcher. One of the medics walked over and tucked her arm again within the stretcher. I just sat there, frozen, staring after them as they disappeared from behind the door.

I turned my glance towards Shizune. "Will she be okay?" I said, trying to be hopeful.

"I still couldn't say. Chakras are our lifeline. If she has fully depleted it, it might already be too late. Let's just hope she had stopped just before she had drained herself of it." Shizune stood up. "Get another stretcher and bring Neji to rest in the ward section," she shouted, ordering the other medics.

"Hai!" They quickly brought in another stretcher and helped me onto it.

Rest? I wouldn't be able to rest in this situation. I wanted to voice it out but I knew it would just be useless. Shizune-san would just scold me if I did and would still send me off. Worse, she might even let one of the medics stay to guard me to make sure I wouldn't do anything stupid. I would just have to comply.

They brought me in one of the rooms in the ward section. "Take some rest. We would have to get back to the ICU to assist Shizune-san. We will be back to check on you in a while," one of the medics said.

I just nodded obediently.

In a second, they were out of my room. I struggled to stand up, holding on to the side table for support. My head was spinning and I shut my eyes, trying to take a moment to breathe in and calm down. After a while, I raised my head and stared towards the door. I can't just stay here and wait.

I held out my arms and clasped my hands, starting to form seals.

"Henge no Jutsu!" I transformed and assumed the form of a medical nin. I walked out of the room and retraced the way back towards the ICU.

It didn't take long before I got there. I quietly slipped in the room. Everyone was too concentrated on what they were doing to even notice me come in. One of them glanced towards my direction but quickly went back to his work, taking me in as just one of them.

A low, erratic, beeping sound echoed within the room. Three nins including Shizune-san were bent over a medical table in the middle of the room. I walked closer towards them, curious on how things are progressing.

Kimiko laid on a steel table. They had taken off her clothes leaving her in her underwear. Wires were attached to every section of her body, monitoring her vital signs. The three medics who stood beside her were emitting a green neon light from their palms. They must be transfering chakra to her body.

I waited for her to show signs of recovery. Seconds turned to minutes and still there was nothing.

Secretly, I activated my doujutsu and checked on her chakra circulatory system. The levels were so dangerously low, I'm having a hard time seeing it.

"Kimiko...try to hang on...please..."

I couldn't see a thing!

Darkness enveloped me. My head felt like it was floating. The pain that I had just a few minutes ago was gone and my mind was as clear as glass. All of a sudden, I heard a voice...a very familiar one.

"Kimiko..."

Dad?

I pivoted and saw him behind me, just a few feet away.

I saw him slowly walk towards me with a smile on his face, his arms in an open embrace. I ran towards his direction, jumping up to give him a big hug. "Oh, how I have missed you!" I gasped excitedly. I slightly pulled away to glance at his face, trying to check if it was truly him. "It has been so long since you've left us. Where had you gone? Why haven't you even tried calling us?" The feeling of hurt that I had been keeping for so long suddenly bursted out and my tears started to fall.

He kept silent, just staring through my eyes.

Why wouldn't you answer me?

I slowly glanced around. "Where are we?" I asked in confusion.

"A place where you shouldn't be in just yet," he said.

"Huh?" I frowned as I started to get much more confused.

"I can't stay long. I had only come here to warn you." His right hand cupped my face; his thumb, wiping my tears. And then, he smiled sadly.

"About what? What do you mean 'you can't stay'?" I held on tightly to his arm, worried about having him leave again.

He leaned down and looked me straight in the eyes...those deep brown eyes that I so vividly remember. "You have inherited a 'gift' and you are being hunted by those who seek for it. But don't falter. I know that you have become wise enough to decide on what is right. You have to learn how to harness your 'gift' and use it to protect those whom you care for."

Slowly, he straightened up and held out his right arm. His hand was balled up into a fist. As he opened his palm, a sphere of blue light radiated from the center of it. The chakra he was emitting started to take form...a small sapling started to grow, its leaves slowly emerging and unfolding from the main stem.

He bent down and carefully set the sapling on the ground. "Make it grow."

"Huh?"

"Make it grow," he repeated.

I looked at him as if he was nuts. Nevertheless, I knelt down to look closely at the sapling. "But how?" I looked back to my dad in confusion.

"You'll know how," he answered back mysteriously.

I stared back dumbly at the sapling. Well, here goes...

I held out my arms and slowly closed my eyes. A voice echoed in my mind.

Did I just hear that right? I repeated what it said.

"Mokuton Hijutsu...Jukai Kootan!"

My eyes flung open as I felt my charka pouring out. The ground shook and I took several steps back. The sapling started growing into a small plant and then a tree. It then continued to grow, branching out, twisting and winding. In just a matter of seconds, we had been surrounded by its thick foliage!

"Whoa! Did I just do that?" My jaw hung in amazement.

My dad grinned with pride as he glanced at my work of art. He then turned to look back at me. "There are a few more things that you would have to learn. You have only just started." He leaned down and planted a kiss on my forehead. Then, he straightened up and ruffled my hair.

"Aww, you're messing it up!" I grumbled.

He chuckled in amusement and smiled softly. "Your mother and brother need you. And I could see that there is someone else who wants you back." He gave me a loop-sided grin.

"Kimiko...try to hang on...please..."

A voice echoed in the darkness. "Neji?" I looked around in search for him.

The moment I looked back, I was all alone in the dark. "Dad?" I glanced around, finally realizing that he was already gone.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain shoot all throughout my body. I fell on my knees. My chest tightened and all of a sudden, I felt like I was falling, plunging deeper and at such a fast rate.

My back smacked against something hard and I arched it in pain.

"Kimiko!" I felt a hand suddenly hold on to my arm.

I slowly opened my eyes, trying to make out the blurred images.

I felt something fall onto my cheek. I lifted a hand to touch it and tilted my head slightly to look at my fingers. It's some sort of liquid...

Another one fell and yet another...

"Neji..."

His tears were falling as he leaned over, staring straight at me.

"Hey, it's you..." I grinned into those silvery eyes and then frowned at his outfit. "Why are you wearing a medic uniform?" I asked, a bit confused.

"Neji?" I heard Shizune-san's angry voice. "Didn't I tell you to stay in the ward?" Shizune moved towards Neji and grabbed him by the shoulder. He suddenly released his Henge and let out a sigh. "Go back to the ward and stay there." Shizune folded her arms in annoyance.

Two medics moved beside him.

"Hold on a second." He took a quick step towards me and leaned over, giving me a deep kiss. Slowly, he pulled back, his lips brushing against mine. "Welcome back," he whispered, smiling softly.

I couldn't keep myself from smiling back.

Neji turned to walk away. The medics were trailing behind him to escort him towards the door. But before he stepped out, he paused and turned to look back.

"I'll see you in a while," he said before letting out a loop-sided grin.