"Captain! I think we found her!"
The sounds of multiple footsteps running at a sprint could be heard through the dark, empty corridor. The echo of their footsteps only increased the closer they got to the room.
"You're sure?"
"Her description matches. She's not awake, though, so I can't get confirmation."
Giving him a nod, Tenzo moved quickly in the room past him. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. The room was what he imagined it might be. The stereotypical medical procedures room. Different types of equipment with a function unknown to him, a metal cart that held dozens of elixirs and medicines, a light that hung from the ceiling above the metal examination table. . . that held the woman in question.
He took a breath to calm himself, running his sweaty palms on his pant legs before he finally gained the strength to take the few feet towards her.
It was her.
There was no doubt about it. He could never forget her face. It was hard to see his friend in this state, but she at least looked peaceful as she lay in her sleep state. He brushed the loose bits of her chestnut brown hair out of her face and sighed in relief.
It really was her.
His breathing hitched when he noticed that she was laying on the cold, metal table completely naked and scolded himself for not noticing sooner. He quickly unclipped the cloak from around his shoulders and draped it over her body.
"Captain?" He heard from behind him.
He carefully scooped her in his arms, careful to keep her body hidden from the world, and headed toward the door.
"We're going back to Konoha." He said as he walked past his comrade.
"Yes, sir."
As he walked down the corridor, the rest of the team parted the way for him and fell in behind him.
"Someone send notice to the Hokage of our return. And someone send word to Kakashi Hatake." He said sternly.
"Hai!"
~*~
Beep Beep Beep
'What the hell is that obnoxious beeping?'
My head felt like a pike was splitting it down the middle. Every breath I took in caused a pulsing sensation in my brain that sent a sharp wave of pain with every pulse. My eyelids were heavy, almost like they were cemented shut together. But I had to open my eyes. I needed to make this beeping stop. And maybe get something for my head.
Forcing my eyes to open, I hazily looked around the room to see a blur of blue moving around me.
'Where am I?'
Nothing looked familiar. Granted, my vision hadn't completely returned yet. But with each blink, I could feel my eyes slowly adjusting to what I realized was the extremally bright, white room. The blurs of blue turned out to be nurses that, looking at their faces now, were frantically working around me. I had no idea what they were saying. The only thing I could hear was the obnoxious beeping coming from behind me. I squeezed my eyes together as I grew more agitated with the sound, only to instantly regret it as the sensation hurt my head more than my breathing.
Opening my eyes, I weakly moved my head around in a desperate attempt to get someone's, anyone's attention. I just wanted the beeping the stop.
'Please, make it stop.'
As the beeping accelerated, the room began moving more frantically, making me lose all hope that someone would hear my silent pleas. That was until I looked in between two nurses. In the corner of the room, I made eye contact with a man that seemed almost familiar. But no matter how hard I tried to get my brain to try to remember who he was, nothing was coming up. It was obvious I was important to him, though. There was a faint stream of tears that ran down the left side of his face, and the look of concern made me feel guilty that I couldn't remember who his mystery man was.
But as soon as he noticed I was looking straight at him, his eyes widened slightly, and I could only hope that he would hear my silent pleas. I looked above me to where the beeping was coming from, then quickly back to his gaze a few times. To my surprise, he moved toward the direction I was looking, disappearing behind me. And then it happened.
Silence.
The beeping finally stopped, and it was all thanks to this mysterious man.
I closed my eyes and let out a sigh in relief. Opening them back up, I could see the nurses were scolding him, trying to make him leave, and a panic filled in my chest. The only person who was listening to me and they were going to make him leave. I kept my eyes on him, hoping he would meet my gaze again. As he locked eyes with mine again, I shifted my eyes down to my hand that I was weakly opening before shifting them back to him. I don't even know who this man is, but I needed him to stay with me. He's the only one who seems to be listening.
He pushed against the nurses who were trying to force him out and slid his hand in mine. His hands were much bigger than mine, so much that he could easily wrap his entire hand around mine. The pads of his hands were calloused, but yet his palm and fingertips were soft. He was trying to say something I could tell by the movement under his mask, but I closed my eyes, giving him a small head shake to silently tell him I couldn't hear him. He closed his eyes with a sigh and rested his forehead against mine, running his other hand against my hair. I was surprised by the gesture, but at the same time, it felt right. Like this was something my body had been used to for years. I might not have any memories of his man, but it was clear we had a history.
I frantically looked to him again when I saw a nurse grab his arm and try pulling him away. I tightened my grip on his hand as hard as I possibly could, but honestly, the wind could have opened my hand with no issues.
'Please let him stay. I need someone who listens to me.'
He shook his head to the nurse and turned back to me with a closed eyed smile. Moving our joint hands to his masked lips, he placed a small kiss on mine and caressed my cheek. Another nurse appeared behind him, pushing a chair next to him, to which he gladly took. A small smile crept on the corner of my lips as the realization sank that he wasn't going anywhere. That the mystery man who understood my silence was going to be here for me. It was relieving, and it made my eyelids grow heavy knowing that I would have someone to speak for me with him here.
Seeing my exhaustion, he rubbed his thumb gently across my eyebrows and down the bridge of my nose as if encouraging me to rest. I don't know how he did it, but the motion quickly lulled me to sleep.
~*~
Beep Beep Beep
'Ugh, again with that annoying beeping?'
I don't know how long I was out, but I'm just glad that my head didn't feel like it was being split open by a blunt kunai anymore. It was more of a dull ache now, but I will take that any day compared to how it felt before.
Opening my eyes, I was surprised to see the chair next to my bedside was empty. For some reason, it hurt to see that chair empty. I wasn't sure why, I didn't know who the man even was. But I was actually half hoping I would see him again.
"He will be right back, dear."
I jumped slightly at the sudden voice that came from my left. It was nice to know that my hearing had returned, but at the same time, I wasn't prepared for it either. Her voice was sharp and high-pitched, but also bubbly. It felt like nails on a chalkboard to my ears, and I honestly just wanted her to leave so I wouldn't risk getting another headache again. But I needed to know who he was.
"Who?" I asked, my voice raspy and airy, as I turned to her.
Her face fell slightly as she looked over her clipboard she was writing on. "Your husband." She said, watching for my reaction.
My eyes widened as wide as they could without causing pain to my head. My husband? I was married? Was that who that man was? If he's my husband, why do I not remember him then? Why don't I remember ever getting married?
"H-husband?" I gasped silently in surprise.
"You don't remember?" She asked, putting the clipboard down and standing next to me. Her hands illuminated a dull green hue, and I could feel the small amount of pressure that was in my head slowly easy away.
"No."
"Can you tell me the last thing you do remember?"
I opened my mouth to respond, but thinking about it, I really couldn't remember anything. Nothing at all was sticking out in my mind. I closed my mouth and looked down at my lap, furrowing my eyebrows.
'There's got to be something I remember.'
"No, no, that's okay. I'm going to go get the doctor. I'm sure they will be able to give you some answers." She said, giving my hand a small squeeze before recollecting her clipboard and walking out of the room.
'How is there nothing in here? There has to be something I remember. Something, anything.'
It wasn't long after she left that the door slid open again. I looked up from my lap and over to the door to see the same mysterious man from before. Looking at him now, that I'm more awake and not suffering from a crippling migraine, I could see his features more clearly. He looked tired, exhausted even. His eyes were heavy and hooded, and a slight sag of purple hung underneath them. His silver hair fell loosely over his forehead and his left eye, but I could see the faint glint of red peaking through the loose strands. Which made me curious. Why did he have one red eye and one grey? But that wasn't the only mystery he had. A mask completely covered his face from the nose down. His blue long sleeve shirt clung loosely to his body, but I could still see every well curved muscle in his arms and chest.
I can't lie. He's handsome.
I just wish I remembered him.
His eyes met mine, and he froze in the door for a moment, as if trying to figure out if his tired mind was playing tricks on him. I gave him a soft smile, and he rushed over to my side, resting his forehead on mine again as he did before. His scent surrounded me. It was intoxicating almost the smell of wet earth after a rainy day and pine trees. I couldn't help but close my eyes and inhale.
God, I wish I remembered who he was.
"They didn't tell me you were awake." He said softly. "I was fully expecting to see you asleep still."
"I'm sorry." Was all I could think to say.
I was sorry. So horribly sorry. Sorry that the person who he thought I was doesn't remember him. Doesn't have any memories of him, or us, or anything for that matter.
He caressed my cheek and furrowed his brow. "You have nothing to be sorry for, love."
My eyes grew wide slightly. Love? So this was who the nurse was referring to. We're married? I'm married to him? How the fuck did I manage that?
He leaned back slightly, examining my face. "What's wrong, Emi?" He asked nervously.
"I-I'm sorry, but I -"
The door slid open again, but he never took his eyes off of me as he anxiously waited for my answer.
"It's nice to see you awake again, Mrs. Hatake." I blinked a few times, tearing my gaze away from his and turning to the source of the new voice. She was a a petit woman, with blonde shoulder length hair and crystal blue eyes. "I'm Doctor Choi. The nurse tells me you're having some memory loss?"
"Wait, memory loss?" I heard him say from my other side. But instead of facing him again, I dipped my head down in embarrassment as a lump formed in my throat. I don't know why the surprise in his voice affected me so much, but a small tear rolled down my cheek.
"Can you tell me the last thing you remember?" Dr. Choi asked, to which I shook my head in response, still keeping my gaze down.
"That's okay. We can start small and work our way up." She said with a hint of a smile. "Let's start with your name?"
"You both kind of just told me my name." I said sheepishly, too embarrassed to look up still.
There was a brief silence, which only made me believe the two of them were having a silent conversation. I felt his hand wrap around mine tightly, making me jump slightly, but when I looked up at his face I relaxed almost instantly. He gave me a closed eyed smile. "You're okay, Emi. You're safe here. No one in this room is going to hurt you." He assured. "We just want to help you, okay?"
I took a shaky breath, and gave him a small head nod with a smile tugging on the corner of my lips.
"Do you remember his name?" Dr. Choi asked with a hopeful voice.
I stared into his eyes for a moment, trying to see if there's a a silent message that will give me the answer, but all I found was myself getting lost in his left eye. The three tomes slowly rotating around his pupil. It was truly mesmerizing. I didn't realize I had done it until I saw my hand brushing away his hair from his face. I don't know how I knew it was there, his mask and his hair hid it perfectly, but there it was. The long pink scar than ran from his eye brow down into his mask. My fingers reached out to trace it, but I quickly pulled my hand back in embarrassment.
"I-I'm so sorry. I didn't -"
He grabbed my hand and placed it back over his scar. "It's okay, Emi." He said softly.
My fingers traced his scar down his eye and stopping at the hem of his mask. "I-I don't remember your name, but this I remember." I confessed retracing his scar from the top of his mask back up to his brow.
His eyes looked over my shoulder to the doctor then back to me. "What do you remember, Emi?"
The faint memory of the summer sun warming my skin as I ran through the woods surfaced in my mind. A faint breeze blowing my hair wildly behind me as I ran against it. Except it wasn't just me. He was much smaller, but it was definitely him. I remembered him running in front of me, his silver hair that once defied gravity was pressed back against the wind. And to my flanks were a girl with short brown hair and purple marks on her face, and a boy with jet black hair and goggles on his head. But I didn't know who they were. It was obvious they were my teammates, but what their names were unknown to me.
I gasped slightly as the memory continued to play in my head. "A war?" I asked unsure of my answer. "We were on the same team, with. . ." I trailed off as I tried to desperately remember their names, but my mind kept coming up empty.
"It's okay. Try to focus on what you do remember. The rest will come on it's own." Dr. Choi said gently.
He gave me an encouraging nod to continue, but I could tell by the look in his eye, this was not a memory he wanted either of us to relive.
"Something happened to her." I said scrunching my brows as I tried to keep putting the memory together. "I-I don't know why, but we split up. I-I went with him to find her." I paused as I tried to remember what happened next after the memory stopped. But as soon as I looked back into his eyes, it was like the memory that was put on pause started to play again. "I wasn't paying attention because I was trying to keep him quiet. . ." I traced his scare again with a small frown. "You got this protecting me."
The corners of his eyes crinkled, making me believe he was smiling under that blue fabric that kept his face a mystery. "Yeah, I did." He said with a nod.
"Is there anything else you remember?" Dr. Choi asked.
I shook my head, but my gaze stayed fixated on his. There was just something about his eyes that kept me captivated. It was like they told me everything, but nothing at the same time. I could tell he genuinely loved me. That he was worried about me, yet he was happy for my small little memory. But yet, I still didn't know who he was, and I wished so badly they would tell me.
"I'd like to keep her at least one more day. Maybe even run a few more tests. I can't guarantee anything, but I think her memories should come back. It just might be a slower process that we would like." She said mostly talking to him. Or at least I hoped she was talking to him because if I was being honest, I was not paying much attention to her. I was still fixated on him.
As his gaze shifted over to her, I couldn't help but try to picture what he looked like under his mask. I mean, I had to have seen it at one point, right? We are married after all. Unless he's self cautious about the way he looks, them maybe I haven't seen it. But something told me that wasn't the case.
"I'll come back and check on you later, Mrs. Hatake." Dr. Choi said suddenly, bringing me back from my thoughts.
I gave her a soft smile and heard him chuckling under his breath as soon as she closed the door behind her. "You were staring pretty hard there, Emi." He teased.
A warmth spread across my face as I blushed in embarrassment. It wasn't like I was discreet about my staring, but I had hoped he wouldn't bring it up. So much for that.
"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, I was just. . . I don't know how to explain it." I said in embarrassment as I buried my face into my hands to hide my embarrassment.
"It's okay, Emi. You don't need to be embarrassed." He chuckled. "I know you don't remember, but it's okay if you stare at me. You are my wife, after all." He said, gently tugging my hands from my face and lifting my chin up so I was looking at him. "Even when you can't remember who you are, you still act like the same Emiko I know and love." He said with a hint of a smile.
I blinked in surprise. "Is that my name then? Emiko?"
He nodded his head, tucking the loose strands of brunet behind my ear.
"A-And yours?" I asked almost too embarrassed to ask.
"Me? I'm Kakashi. Kakashi Hatake. Making you, my wife, Emiko Hatake." He said, giving my hand a gentle squeeze in affection.
A/N:
Hey guys! Thanks again for giving my fanfiction a look over! I know it's not perfect but I'm hoping you guys will be able to enjoy it! The goal for now is to update the story once or twice a week. For the most part I already have a good chunk of the story done, it's just a matter of going over it again and doing some heavy editing. Which I'm sure at some point you will notice.
Anyway, feel free to leave some feed back! And I'll see you guys once chapter 2 is ready! :)