As Kurenai began to regain consciousness, she kept her eyes closed and her breathing steady according to her ninja training while she tried to analyze her situation.
He wondered how long he had been unconscious.
Her body was lying on what appeared to be a very soft bed, and her ears could not detect anyone nearby.
Of course, it could be that the person who kidnapped her and their team were silently present or watching them from another location.
What confused her at first was that her limbs did not appear to be restrained, something she would have expected from her kidnappers.
But remembering that the enemy seemed to have the ability to suppress the ability to use chakra outside the body, he knew why they didn't care about tying his hands and feet.
They had the confidence to stop anything they did.
This last point worried Kurenai, as it seemed that her ability to escape with her team was limited, if not nonexistent.
And to be rescued?
By the time the Leaf Village notices their disappearance and starts searching for them, she and her team would already be out of their reach if they weren't already dead.
Only his ninja training made him suppress his despair, screaming in his mind that he would find a way to escape and live.
And to do that, you must first understand your situation.
Slowly, her eyelids opened a few millimeters and she saw the white wall of the room's ceiling.
He couldn't see much and decided to open his eyelids wider and close them again as quickly as possible.
Lying down, the woman opened her eyes fully for a second, and her pupils moved rapidly before she closed them again.
The action lasted a fraction of a second, but it was enough to see where he was.
The place looked like… a hospital room?
Kurenai had been to the Leaf Village hospital many times, either as a visitor or because she herself needed treatment after a difficult mission, so she was familiar with those rooms and this one looked like one of them.
But the fact that the place where he was found resembled a room in the village hospital was something he would find out later.
Her immediate concern now was for her students who were lying in beds at either side of her.
The woman opened her eyes again for a split second to try to find all of her students, but she could only see 2 of them from her position.
Hinata was to his right, and Shino was to his left.
From his position, he couldn't see any more, so he was worried that Kiba wasn't with them.
'Are they doing something to him?' he wondered.
Kurenai's imagination played a trick on her, making her imagine that her student was being tortured or that he was already dead.
Kurenai wondered what she should do.
He could get up and try to wake his students, but there was a possibility that they were being spied on and would notice that he had regained consciousness.
¡Woof!
Suddenly, Akamaru's barking was heard and the woman could see the dog out of the corner of her eye.
His student's companion appeared to get up from a bed to Shino's left, and jumped onto a bed between the dog and the Aburame heir, where he began licking whoever was there.
Kurenai sighed inwardly.
If their captors were watching them, Akamaru's outburst would definitely alert them.
That's where her attempt to pretend to be asleep ended.
But she also sighed with relief because Akamaru's outburst told her that Kiba was in that bed.
"Akamaru, basta!"
"I'm awake!"
And Kiba's voice confirmed his thoughts.
Knowing there was no longer any reason to keep her eyes closed, the woman opened her eyes and slowly got out of bed.
"Sensei" - Kiba greeted her while Akamaru continued licking his face and Kurenai returned the greeting by nodding her head.
While Kurenai confirmed that they were in a hospital room, Akamaru's noises also woke up her other 2 students.
"Sensei" x2
The two newly awakened students greeted the woman.
"Sensei, do you know where we are?" Hinata asked, and the other two Shinobi and a dog looked at her.
Unfortunately for the young Hyuga and her companions, Kurenai was just as lost as they were and shook her head.
"The first thing we'll do is explore the room and find a way out."
"They may be watching us and already know we're awake, so let's stay vigilant."
"They can come at any time," the woman said, looking around the room, searching for a window or ventilation duct that could serve as an exit.
As for the door?
Kurenai didn't even think it would be so easy to get out of there.
Their captors have definitely secured the door from the other side and they wouldn't be able to get out that way no matter how hard they tried.
Now they could not use chakra, so they were vulnerable.
They need to find a way out quickly.
"Hinata"
Suddenly, Shino's voice was heard and everyone unconsciously turned to look at him.
The young Aburame usually remained silent, so he always attracted attention when he opened his mouth.
"Yes, Shino?" Hinata asked as she turned to look at him.
The young woman felt powerless at this moment.
She generally didn't like to fight, so her main role on her team was mostly that of a scout.
But at this moment she realized that she couldn't use her eye ability and the young woman felt useless, hoping that Shino might have some idea with which she could help.
"Your forehead," Shino said, raising her hand and pointing her fingers at it.
The others also followed the direction indicated by the Aburame heir and for a moment they did not know what he meant.
But their minds quickly clicked and their eyes widened as they understood what was happening.
They had spent a lot of time with Hinata and had grown accustomed to her current appearance.
Besides her usual attire, her silky long dark blue hair with strands that fell to her sides and a fringe that covered her forehead was what they always saw.
Therefore, they did not find Hinata's current image strange.
…until Shino pointed to the young woman's forehead and their minds went blank.
The mark of the caged bird's seal had disappeared!
Hinata's bangs usually covered most of her forehead.
But after the young woman was branded with the caged bird mark, she began wearing bandages on her forehead that were very noticeable. Her bangs couldn't completely hide them.
And since the fabric of her ninja headband had been cut to be tied around her neck, the young woman still couldn't use it to hide her forehead.
Thus, the bandage on her forehead was very noticeable and made it seem as if the young woman was injured, as a child pointed out after they finished the previous mission.
But now, the bandage had disappeared, revealing white skin!
The seal of the caged bird had disappeared!
The entire Team 8 was petrified, with Hinata being the only one who didn't know what was happening.
The young woman followed the direction Shino's fingers pointed and brought her hands to her forehead, finding that the bandage on her forehead had disappeared.
She had only recently been branded with the seal of the caged bird, so she wasn't used to wearing the bandage on her forehead. Therefore, she didn't notice its absence.
Only when Shino pointed it out did the young woman realize it was missing.
Still embarrassed by the seal on her forehead, the young woman quickly lowered her head and used her bangs to cover her forehead, while looking around for something.
Her gaze fell upon the small table beside her bed, and she quickly stood up and walked towards it.
As she opened the drawers, the young woman didn't wonder why her classmates and sensei were reacting that way when they should already know about the seal on her forehead.
But the young woman's shame over her situation prevented her from thinking clearly, and she began to search desperately in the drawers of the small table.
'Where are they!'
'Where are they!'
'Where are they!'
…
The young woman screamed in her mind as she searched for the bandages she used to cover her forehead.
Although she had tried to act calmly about her situation in recent days, her current despair showed how much the mark on her forehead affected her.
While she was noisily searching through the table drawers and didn't notice that her companions had fallen silent, the young woman glanced over the table and her gaze passed over a mirror.
But a few moments later, the young woman's desperate movement stopped and her gaze returned to the small mirror on the table.
The young woman couldn't help it.
Several tears began to fall when she saw her forehead clean.