Hospital

This is a Kimimaro x Tayuya fic.

Also, there's a sort of hidden metaphor in here. I dunno...but look out for it, 'kay?

Anyway...enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...

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Tayuya always hated hospitals. She hated the perfect and pristine whiteness of every fucking thing. She hated the clean and sterile smell, because if was just so fake, so artificial. And she hated it even more when she gets injured while sparring or during a mission (which happened a lot), because that would mean a trip to the Sound infirmary, which would in turn mean she would get prodded, bandaged, examined, and stitched by that asshole Kabuto.

But most of all, she hated it because it was a place of death. People died in hospitals, and their memories would be erased without even being given a second thought about, fading into nothingness...leaving behind not a single trace of evidence that they had once existed.

That creeped her out. And not a lot of things could creep Tayuya out.

So when Kimimaro became hospitalized, she hadn’t visited him once…until now.

Tayuya couldn’t exactly pin-point the moment she decided to pay him a visit, only vaguely recalling gathering up her wits and shoving her way into the accursed room quickly before she changed her mind. She ended up standing near the doorway to the infirmary, overcome by uncertainty and debating fiercely within her head about whether or not she should continue with the visit. In the end, she opted to just stay where she was for the moment and calm down before going any further.

A few minutes went by uneventful...until Kabuto slid past Tayuya and stalked into the infirmary, a bucket of water in his hand. Tayuya smirked. The sight of Orochimaru's closest henchman helped her regain a bit of her old confidence and sass.

"Watcha doin', shithead?"

Kabuto, like usual, ignored her.

Tayuya wondered vaguely if she should give him the finger, but instead fell silent (for the moment) and observed as the Sound medic set down the bucket, pulled out a soaked sponge from within it, and passed it over a streak of blood (probably Kimimaro's) that was marring the otherwise pure-white wall. Tayuya watched as the crimson substance slowly became lighter and lighter with each swipe of the sponge, eventually fading into a sickly shade of pale pink...until it was completely gone, leaving the wall spotless and perfect once more.

Tayuya shuddered involuntarily at that sight, although she just couldn't exactly put her finger on why.

So instead, the redhead moved forward almost mechanically, and sat down nervously by the sickly boy’s bed as Kabuto exited (although not before flashing her what was supposed to be a friendly grin, but turned out instead to be a twisted and slightly malicious leer. Tayuya had no problem giving him the finger that time), wondering half-heartedly if she should try to wake him. The silence was stifling, and the uncomfortable hush was only pierced occasionally by the soft hissing of Kimimaro’s oxygen mask.

Tayuya fidgeted uneasily with the hem of her dirt-stained shirt. She was half-praying (rather guiltily) that the white-haired boy wouldn’t wake up at all during her “visit”. Then she could just leave after a few more minutes of enduring this fucking smothering silence. She was also hoping that because then she wouldn’t have to say anything to the leader of the Sound Five when he did wake up. What were you supposed to say to a fatally ill person anyway? “I’m sorry”? “How are you feeling”? “Get better soon, or I’m gonna fucking kill you”?

Tayuya heaved a great sigh in annoyance. She had never had to deal with this stuff before, and she certainly did not want to start any time soon.

“Tayuya…?” a dry and raspy voice whispered. The softly spoken word cut through the air like a knife through butter. To Tayuya, it sounded like a cannon in the heavy silence.

The short-tempered girl jumped and swore loudly, before looking down into a pair of sea-green eyes.

Kimimaro was dying, slowly but surely, that much was obvious. He was much thinner (he was rather thin to begin with anyway, so that was saying something), he couldn’t even sit up by himself, and had to have a fucking machine to breathe for him. But most of all, his eyes were fading, losing the healthy luster eyes were supposed to contain. Tayuya felt a sudden wave of unusual sadness wash over her as she watched the dimming emerald orbs, although she didn’t really understand why.

Realizing that she was staring shamelessly, the redhead struggled desperately to string together a sentence that she had already prepared ahead of time to say when she faced Kimimaro, but her mind had gone completely blank for the moment.

“Uh…oh shit …I-I’m…um, I mean…sorry…you-uh, I…um…hi?” Fuck. I sound like an idiot…

Kimimaro just gazed at her blankly.

Silence...

Suddenly, he began to retch violently, gasping and coughing breathlessly. Tayuya panicked, but had no idea what to do. All she could do was watch helplessly, gripping the edge of the hospital cot until her knuckles went white. Tayuya really wanted to scream at Kabuto to get his ass over and help the Kaguya progidy, but no words escaped the redhead's throat.

The leader of the Sound Five was falling apart before her very eyes.

She was so lost in her musings/panicking that she barely noticed when Kimimaro finally managed to suppress his coughs and settled down again.

The infirmary seemed even more silent than before, and this time, the silence was downright strangling.

And that’s when Tayuya realized it as she watched the fifteen-year-old boy lie on the hospital cot, frail chest heaving up and down fiercely just so he could breathe.

She realized that Kimimaro was…weak.

The harshness of reality hit the young adolescent girl head-on like one of Jirobo’s body slams. All along, she hadn’t wanted to visit Kimimaro because, deep down, she just couldn’t face the truth that she knew she’d have to confront when she met the silver-haired boy again. It was the painful truth that Kimimaro will die, and without a leader, the Sound Five will surely die with him.

Suddenly, Tayuya felt sick. She wanted to leave. She needed to leave.

As she began to stand up, something cold and frail brushed against her hand. She looked down. Kimimaro was holding onto her hand for dear life.

Tayuya could feel her eyes widen as the bone-wielder opened his mouth to speak.

“P-please…stay…?”

Tayuya could feel her eyes beginning to sting. No. NO! Goddamn it! I can’t fucking cry! Not in front of Kimimaro! Oh, shit…

“Shut the fuck up and rest,” she instructed him roughly, although her voice remained uncharacteristically soft and tender. She immediately regretted speaking in the first place: The last few words stuck painfully in her throat.

But Kimimaro didn’t notice. He smiled weakly at her and finally closed his eyes, sliding back into a drug induced slumber.

Then Tayuya cried. Cried for the first time in years. She cried for herself. She cried for the Sound Five.

And she cried for Kimimaro.

Eventually, when she ran out of tears, she fell asleep in the chair, still holding on to the Kaguya progidy's hand. Because all along, it had always been she who needed to hold on to his hand for dear life.

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Kimimaro didn’t remember a single thing from Tayuya’s visit. And Tayuya never brought it up.

Four weeks later, Kimimaro died, and the Sound Five faded from existence along with him, leaving behind not a single trace of evidence that they had once existed.

That same day, Kabuto stalked into the infirmary, a bucket of water in his hand. He set down the bucket, pulled out a soaked sponge from within it, and passed it over five streaks of blood that were marring the otherwise pure-white wall. The crimson substances slowly became lighter and lighter with each swipe of the sponge, eventually fading into a sickly shade of pale pink...until they were completely gone, leaving the wall spotless and perfect once more.

Tayuya hated hospitals more than anything else in the world.

And she hated them because they were a place of death.

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Ring around the rosy

A pocket full of posies

"Ashes, ashes"

We all fall down!

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Also, if you're wondering about the rhyme...that nursery rhyme is actually about a disease, and some think it's the Bubonic Plague. The "ring around the rosy" is a symptom of the disease, "pocket full of posies" refers to a pocket full of herbs carried by people with the disease, because the sickness was said to cause you to smell bad, and "ashes, ashes!" refers to the cremation of dead bodies...ew. "We all fall down" will be kinda self-explanatory now, won't it...

Yeah, so I was creeped out by that rhyme since forever, and it kinda fitted the ending to this story ('cuz Kimimaro dies of a disease...) Correct me if I'm wrong on the origins of this rhyme...

Please review! Constructive criticism much appreciated!!

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