Shinobi Isekai!

Llorona

Hanako was alive, that much was obvious.

The steady beeping of a heart monitor chipped away at the haze of unconsciousness that blanketed her mind, slowly dragging her out of the darkness. Her face was bare, cool air foreign on her skin. It smelled sterile, the harsh chemicals burning her nose as she grew ever more aware. She crinkled her nose and shifted—!

She felt like a living bruise.

Her back hurt. Her thighs hurt. Her eyes felt like someone had embalmed them in chlorine and she scrunched them with a groan.

"Hana!"

There was the recognizable sound of a chair scraping against the floor only to clatter as it fell. Her right hand was seized in a deathgrip, held tightly between two warm, calloused, familiar hands which shook just like their attached voice.

"Nii-chan?"

She opened her eyes, hissing against the harsh white light. Sasuke slowly came into focus, his face free of the mask and contorted into an expression of worry, thick dark brows furrowed and pale lips thinned and bruised by worrying teeth.

He pressed his forehead against their clasped hands, taking deep, shuddering breaths. She watched his narrow shoulders rise and fall where he kneeled beside her bed. "Hana."

He said her name like a prayer, almost too quiet to hear but loud enough to echo in her soul. It was laden with meaning she wasn't sure she fully understood, but she tried to squeeze his hand, corners of her mouth quirking upward in what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

"Nii-chan. Hi."

He laughed, breathy and wet, turning watery black eyes on her. "Hi? That's all you have to say?"

Her smile grew of its own accord before fading as her mind began to catch up with her mouth. "What happened? Why are we in the hospital?"

Sasuke's already pale face went as white as a sheet and he looked sharply away from her. His grip on her hand tightened almost painfully, the contact grounding her floaty mind.

"Sasuke," panic began to rise inside her, the heart monitor broadcasting her emotions for the world to hear. "Are you ok? Did something happen?"

The Look™ he shot her made her feel all kinds of stupid and loved at the same time. "Are you serious? I'm not the one strapped to a bed."

Ah. He wasn't, was he? She looked down at the peak in the sheets where her toes were, wiggling them with a concentrated effort.

"The Hokage!" She turned back to him quickly, her brain protesting by throbbing in time with her heart monitor. "Sasuke, the Hokage, is he—?"

He shook his head, eyes downcast. "I'm sorry, Hana. Orochimaru killed him."

Hanako's head fell back into the flat hospital pillow, mind blessedly blank. "After everything I did...Some things can't be changed." She turned to look at Sasuke, taking in the bandages peaking out from beneath his high Uchiha collar. "What happened?"

He didn't look like he wanted to answer that, going visibly green. "I-I'm not sure where to start."

"The beginning is usually a good place."

He huffed at her, a heatless glare livening up his expression. "Shut up. I'm thinking."

"I'll come back tomorrow, then."

He actually looked a little angry, at that. "Are you supposed to be talking this much? The doctor said you'd probably go right back to sleep."

"Oh, so they gave me the good shit. Sweet."