Sorry for the disappearance, but for your patience I posted two chapters which I hope will meet your standards! I appreciate the reviews and would like to encourage anyone reading to review. Let me know what you like, dislike, love, hate- it gives me insight, and it just makes me happy. ;)
The second week, Hinata had become both a ghost to the outside world and to the hallways of the Hyūga Compound, seldom finding a need to be completely away from the Uchiha's side for more than a few minutes at a time. She was constant in her perusal to undo all that had been done to Sasuke's body, silently shamed that a fellow med nin would use their practice so ruthlessly as each day she concentrated on different aspects of his state. She never seemed efficient enough, she was nowhere near Sakura-san or Godaime-sama's level of expertise, and every day she felt as if her inability to be either woman was going to cost Sasuke his life. She was unrelenting, her kekkei genkai always activated and searching, studying. Her hands always glowing furiously with chakra, so much so that she was finding herself more worn with every passing morning, tired and strained. She had been so naïve to think that she could simply prance into the Hokage's office and make a plea for his life to be spared, that there would be no other consequence to the Uchiha to have been held captive for three weeks other than containment. This suffering was part of his sentence, part of his punishment for defecting from Konoha, and Hinata hadn't had the slightest clue the degree of cruelty that had come with that price.
A tear quietly slipped down her cheek but she was so focused upon the slumbering man below her that it was as if it didn't exist. Outside of her room, nothing was relevant unless it was a means to an end, the end being Sasuke's complete recovery. She not only wanted for him to awaken, she wanted him to be awakened and whole –a piece of perfection that was more than just a mirror of when he was at his physical peak. She coughed harshly, an excruciating pain threatening to consume her whole, yet her fingers did not waver nor did her chakra lose its consistency. She would preserve beyond her wildest dreams because not doing so would require her to seek help, and seeking help would therefore forfeit the very life she was trying to save. How could the Godaime be so cruel as to allow her the false sense of accomplishment that came with saving a life when that very life was barely holding on to its splintering last thread? How could Konoha be so heartless with one of her own, dangling death as a peaceful escape as life agonizingly dragged on with a newfound excruciating pain each hour? How did Uchiha-san endure three weeks of such brazen treatment? How did he find the will to live on despite it all?
As dawn gave way to dusk, Hinata felt the warmth of her chakra flicker like a dying flame and then extinguish, and soon enough she wheezed and doubled over. She struggled to bring her hands to cup her face, the trembling seeming to enter her bones as a bust of pain shot through her veins like wildfire. She would not scream, biting her lips so that she could focus, only faintly aware of the thin trickle of blood that was making its way to her chin. She would not be weak, would not forfeit Sasuke's life because she was not adequate enough –not skilled enough. If she could just tap into some sort of chakra reserve, just find a burst in her channels to help her get through this hurdle then she would rest. Kami-sama, she promised that she would rest until she became one with the futon. She inhaled deeply, trying to collect her thoughts over the screaming agony, trying to overcome like Sasuke had done during his unimaginable time as a prisoner in Konoha's grips. Darkness threatened to bleed into her sight, making her scoot closer to the Uchiha, making her lay her head upon the fleeting purple flesh on top of his heart. Her sight weaved in and out of focus as her body began to disconnect all of its senses one by one, but all that she was concerned about was the constant beating of the missing nin's heart.
The first day of this second week of tending to Sasuke, Hinata had first come across this terrible consequence of chakra exhaustion, but then it had been simply a slight fatigue and a little discomfort. As time went on, however, and she went further and further into uncharted territory it grew worse. Midweek she had collapsed from the shock of a swift, overwhelming pain, her body going into a slight seizure because of a system overload due to it being unaccustomed to this type of physical demand. Ironically enough, she slowly had been able to focus on a singular thing –Sasuke's heartbeat. Unknowingly her head had landed upon his chest, and during the mind blowing fire of hurt that had consumed her brain, she was able to numb out everything outside of the constant thump of his heart pumping. She was transfixed by it, and soon it became the staple to keep her from completely succumbing to the harsh consequences of her carelessness. Now, she allowed her lashes to flutter shut and the total feeling of being completely bodiless drag her down into the deep, endless black abyss that she had become familiar with. Still, she was unafraid as she heard the constant thump, like a steady drum that gave the darkness substance, made it vibrate and come alive around her.
Her last coherent thought was if Uchiha-san had ever become a regular to this same place.