--------------------------------------------------
I sit hugging my knees with my blank ocean blue eyes staring out into the darkness. I feel no pain. All that runs though my head is emptiness and apathy. "What's wrong with you?" I look around, searching for the voice. It sounds so familiar, yet I cannot remember who it belongs to. A face appears, and a spark ignites in my mind. "Mom?!" I yell. "Mom!" Her face disappears. "Why can't you do anything right?" I can see my father's disapproving face. I wince. "F-father? Father, wait!" I reach my hand out desperately. His face disappears, but then reappears along with my mother's. "You're a disappointment." They share a look of disgust, as they disappear into the black abyss. "Mother? Father? P-please, wait. Don't leave!" Fresh tears run down my face. The first in more than eight years. I close my eyes and roll into a ball. "W-why? Why did you leave me?" In the distance, a white light grows closer and closer, until it swallows my shaking and desperate form.
I gasp for breath as I shoot up, eyes wide. I reach my hand up to my sweaty face and feel wet drops on my fingers. It was just a nightmare, I tell myself. But why were my parents there. I remember almost nothing about the five years I spent with them. In those years they had managed to neglect, starve, and abuse me before finally abandoning my to fend for my five-year-old self. The year after they left me, I cried almost every night. I felt bad and pitied myself until I finally got tired of being weak and useless. I made a promise to myself that I would become strong and do everything I could to protect the people I love.
Just then a nurse comes in. She has long brown hair tied loosely in a bun. Her emerald green eyes look over my sweaty and pale face, worry evident in her voice as she speaks. "Do you feel alright?" I nod and realize that I am in a hospital room with white walls and a window near the bed. The memory of last night flows through my mind slowly, as I process what happened. I shouldn't be in a hospital if they only knocked me out. The nurse puts her soft hand on my forehead. Her hand smells like lavender, and I can't help but think that this is what it would be like to have a caring mother. I banish the unwanted thought and look out the window as the nurse slowly draws her hand back to write something down on her clip board. "You still have a fever, but it should start going down after your medicine." After she speaks she hands me a small plastic cup with a clear liquid. "Drink it. It will help bring your fever down." She smiles at me reassuringly. I quickly gulp down the substance, and gag at the horrid taste. The nurse chuckles lightly and takes back the cup to throw in the garbage. "What happened?" I ask. I do not expect her to know what happened last night, but I ask her anyway. "The Hokage and some others brought you in. You were out cold and looked pale. You weren't breathing very well either. Well, I'll be back later to check on your condition. Until then, you should rest."
I look down at my hands and sigh. My life will never be the same. I may not have had the most peaceful or happy childhood, but it was my life. I did what I wanted, where I wanted, and when I wanted. Others might say I am sick for what I've done; killing people. But to me, it is normal. It is just something I do to survive. Well, something I used to do. Now that I am stuck in Konoha, I don't know what I am going to do. I am not used to being around people, and don't know how to talk or act around them. I don't know what their normal is. No doubt some people will know who I am and what I've done and hate me for it. But maybe I can start a new life. Maybe I can make new friends; people who I can trust and love. People who I can protect. As I think, my eyelids get heavy and I slowly drift off into a dreamless sleep.
The next time I wake up I am I a different bed. The walls around me are painted a dark navy blue and there is a small oak dresser in the far right corner. I notice a small window with white shades on the opposite wall as the bed. I pull the warm blankets off my body and feel a rush of cold air. I shiver and stretch, piping everything back in place. I stand up and take a step towards the covered window when a rush of dizziness and nausea hits me. I fall on my knees and grab my thriving head. Once the pain subsides I slowly and shakily stand up, taking baby steps towards the window. When I finally reach it I pull the shades back and a beam of light blinds me. From what I can tell, it is morning.
