Magnetism

Chapter Thirty-Eight

-Sightless-

It had been three days and Natsumi still hadn't woken up. She wasn't in a coma, but it still felt like her recuperating was taking too long. "When is she going to wake up?" Akito asked, resting his chin on his propped up elbow. He stared at his wife from the chair he hadn't left since he knew she was alright, other than to shower of course.

"Well I've cleansed her body at least three times. There is nothing harmful left, but the whole experience did tire her out." Satomi explained, leaning against the opposite wall. Toshiro sighed, keeping silent in his own seat. He had to admit he was worried, but she showed no signs of not waking up. Minako sat on the arm of the chair Toshiro was in and was currently running her fingers through his red locks in an attempt to soothe him. She knew he wasn't comfortable with the progress Natsumi had made, but was keeping it to himself.

Kyo came through the door then, holding two large paper bags. "I brought breakfast!" he declared with a smile.

"Thanks I'm starving." Satomi said, walking up to him and taking an offered cup of orange juice. She walked back to her sister, setting the cup down and began to unwrap the bandages around her eyes. She placed them aside and traced around her closed eyes, a soft green light emitting from the tips of her fingers.

"How are her eyes?" the blonde asked, handing out breakfast sandwiches to everyone.

She shook her head, "Not good. Everything is healed but the nerves were eaten away. I might be able to restore her sight but…it would be extremely difficult. Nerves are hard to reform."

"I have faith in you." He said, handing her her sandwich and taking a bite of his own.

Natsumi stirred for the first time in three days and let out a low groan. Akito was up instantly, taking her hand in his. "Honey, can you hear me?" he asked, stroking the back of her hand.

She turned her head towards Akito, a smile forming on her face. "Akito," she whispered, tightening her grip on his hand. She opened her eyes and stared up at him, but they were much more faded than their normal pale jade. Her smile disappeared quickly as she sat up. She lifted her hand to her face. "Am I wearing a blind fold?" she asked, no one answered. She pressed her fingers against the face and slowly felt around her eyes. She pulled her hand from Akito's grip and felt around her head. "Oh my God…oh my God!" she started hyperventilating.

"Baby, calm down." He said, placing his hand on her shoulder.

She smacked his hand away, rejecting his touch. "What happened to my eyes?" she shouted, everyone could feel the sand swirling in the air as her grains moved towards their distressed mistress.

"Well, you got some of the poison on your eyes and the nerves are damaged…" Akito began, not sure how to finish explaining it to her.

"But the good news is Satomi may be able to heal them!" Kyo said perkily, trying to diffuse the situation.

Natsumi just screamed at the top of her lungs grabbing her head and trying to not let her fury take over her body. Toshiro pushed Minako behind him, keeping a grip on her hand in case he needed to make a quick exit. "Natsumi please calm down. I know you understand the slim chances, but Satomi is an excellent surgeon."

"GET OUT!" she screeched, her sand swirling around her as she brought her knees to her chest, trying to control her rage. "NOW!"

Toshiro pulled Minako quickly with him towards the door, "We need to leave." He said to them all. Satomi backed up quickly, shielding her face from the aggressive sand. Kyo grabbed onto Satomi and led her from the room, covering her body with his own so that she wouldn't get hurt. Akito hesitated, not wanting to leave her.

"Natsumi…"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" she snapped, starting to pull on her hair. The sand formed between them, moving around her in a protective manner.

A hurt look came to his face, and he backed out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Everyone was still standing in the hallway, and as Minako moved to place her hand on his shoulder to try and comfort him, he vanished in a puff of smoke, not wanting any of their pity.

Satomi frowned and pulled away from Kyo, heading down the hall to start reading on ocular surgery. She would have to make sure nothing went wrong because if anything did, Natsumi might die. Kyo followed after her, not wanting to leave her alone with herself. Toshiro looked down at Minako and sighed. "I told him this would happen."

She looked up at him and sighed. "It doesn't matter. With Natsumi-chan, Akito-kun feels things he never used to, even hope."

"Hope?" he arched a curious brow.

She nodded. "He was hoping she would get better, and then he was probably hoping you were wrong, and that even if she did get upset, she wouldn't force him out of the room." Then she shrugged. "But oh well, I'm sure they'll work things out like always. They just need some time."

"Well…I hope you're right. But…I don't think this will blow over as easily. My sister…is very reliant on her sight…this will probably destroy her. But…" he sighed, leading her down the hall to the exit. "I'm sure you're right." He said, trying to hide his doubt.

Toshiro pushed open the door to Akito and Natsumi's room. It had been two days and Natsumi had refused to see anyone, not even Akito. Satomi had been cooped up in the hospital's library studying. The redhead looked around the room, seeing it was empty. He walked towards the balcony and pushed the glass door open. He went onto the perch and glanced down at Akito, who was sitting in a chair, staring out at the village, unmoving. "How are you doing?"

"How do you think I'm doing? My wife, the woman I love, is blind and doesn't want to see me." He said tersely, his gaze remaining on the village.

"Well, technically, even if she wanted to see you she couldn't." he pointed out. Akito remained silent, but slowly his eyes moved until they were glaring hatefully at the redhead. Toshiro held up his hands in defense. "Ok, ok. Sorry, too soon."

"Toshiro-sama!" someone called from the ground. The red head glanced over the railing and saw one of Iwa's messenger's.

"What?"

"Natsumi-sama is gone!"

Akito shot to his feet and looked down at the man. "What? Where could she go? She can't see anything!"

The man paled, not having seen the Uchiha until he was up. "U-u-um…U-Uchiha-sama…I don't kn-know, she was just gone. We were watching her room at all times. I swear." He said, sounding panicked. Toshiro couldn't help but snicker.

"Akito you're scaring the man, besides if you must know where she is, she's outside the village, near the mountains." He said simply, pointing off towards the north. Akito looked at the redhead and nodded.

"Thanks." Then he looked over the rail and pointed at the man. "If anything has happened to her, I'm coming after you." He threatened, quickly summoning Kei, hopping onto the hawk's back and flying off.

Natsumi sat in the middle of a field of flowers, she had managed to find her clothes in her hospital room and was now dressed in her black shorts and her small black long sleeved shirt. She ran her hands along the soft grass, a grimace set on her face. She saw nothing but darkness. It was almost cruel that she could feel the heat of the sun on her skin, but nothing seemed to break through the barrier.

She closed her eyes but it made no difference. She felt tears running down her face then. This was worse than being dead, she felt completely useless. Her life as a ninja was over. She ran a hand through her hair and gripped it tightly, trying to grasp onto her sanity. She could no longer be an assassin, she couldn't protect Akito, she would be a hindrance. The most lethal woman in the ninja world had been quickly reduced to a civilian.

Her whole body tensed when she felt a disturbance in her floating sand. "I told you to leave me alone." She said solemnly, not moving from her curled up position.

"I'm not going to leave you out in the open alone." Akito said, hopping off Kei and walking towards her.

She placed her hands on the ground and stood glaring directly at him. Just because she was now blind didn't mean she couldn't feel him and lately she'd been using her sand to 'see'. So she filled the area around her with the particles so that it was just like air. "I don't need anyone to protect me!" she yelled, "I'm not useless!"

"I don't think you are useless! But you scared the hell out of me when someone told me you had disappeared. You can't get mad at me for worrying about you, Natsumi." He said, stopping in case she didn't want him near.

"I can and I will!" she snapped, her hands forming into fists. "I don't need to be worried about, I don't need someone to watch me, I'm blind not paralyzed." She had to take a deep reassuring breath. It was hard not to portray her emotions and how she felt she was lying. She could at least defend herself if someone came after her, but her mind worked tactically and if she couldn't see she couldn't plan ahead.

"Honey, I almost lost you three days ago, I won't risk losing you again!" he yelled, his worry and emotions bursting forth. "You are my world, my entire universe, and I could see it all withering away as you lay there on that hospital bed. And there was nothing I could do about it, except rely on your siblings to save you. I'm just glad that you're alive."

She stopped, her tense stance loosening. "You don't understand how I feel right now…"

"Then help me understand. I want to be there for you, I'm supposed to be there for you as your husband, but I can't if you won't let me." He said, taking a step closer.

She sighed, looking deep in thought. "Ok fine. Think about it like this, I guess the only way I can explain it is if you tried to imagine fighting me before without your sharingan. Like…I'm moving slower than everyone which is not something I'm used to. My brain is programmed to analyze a situation and devise a way to take down my opponent. It's how I think about everything, even if I didn't want to. Do you know how hard that is to do when you can't see?"

He paused and thought about it from that perspective. It would have been extremely difficult to fight her that first time without his sharingan. He most likely would have come out of that fight even more injured or possibly dead had he not had it. "I kind of understand what you mean now, but…we could always retire somewhere after the investigation. We could go back to Kika Island." He suggested, knowing he was blindly reaching for a solution.

"It doesn't matter where we go! I'll still be blind! I can't go after some tiny lead in some country I might have never been before. And what if it's Mist Akito? I am a liability now! You might as well just leave me here or send me back to Suna so I can rot out my days doing nothing of significance!" she yelled, her fury returning. She yelled out in agony and buried her face in her hands. She hated this! "I'm not the woman you love anymore." She cried.

He went over to her and pulled her into her arms. "You will always and forever be the woman I love Natsumi. The fact that you can't see will never change that." He said, cupping her cheek.

"Please," she scoffed, trying to break from his hold but her attempt was weak. "I can't fight anymore. You can't tell me without lying, that you would have fallen for me had I not had the physical dexterity I did. It was what caught your interest in the first place."

He frowned. "No, what caught my interest in the first place was the most interesting girl I had ever met, who liked me before learning I was an Uchiha and didn't run away when first being introduced to my father. What kept my interest was how beautiful you became. Your fighting ability did have a factor in my interest, but now that I know you and we are married, I'm always interested." He told her, running his thumb along her jaw.

"Of course I didn't run away from your dad, I was six years old and my dad is Sabaku no Gaara…that and…" she paused, looking down out of habit. "I thought that someone who was so mean was unhappy and at the time I had vowed to make your dad smile or something stupid like that." She sighed, trying to resist his touch. There was just no way he was really accepting her as worthless as she was right now.

He tilted her face up towards his and smiled at her, even though he knew she couldn't see it. "I have never seen my father smile. But, you make me smile, and that is an accomplishment all in its own. I love you, Uchiha Natsumi, in sickness and in health, as long as we both shall live. Would I be the man you fell in love with if I ran away from a situation I didn't like?"

"Maybe." She pondered. She lifted her hands up slowly and felt his face to see if he really was smiling. When she felt the incline of his face, her own mimicked his action. She could see it in her mind, his smile, but knew her memory was not doing it justice. He brought his hand up and placed it over hers, rubbing his cheek against her palm in a sign of affection.

"You are so beautiful." He murmured, kissing her palm.

"I wish I could see you one last time…" she frowned. Why had this happened to her? Did karma truly exist out there? After she had spent nearly a week away from her husband, she was poisoned and lost her sight, and now she would never ever get to see his face again. See his emotions which he so rarely showed. She felt herself begin to cry again, it just wasn't fair.

"Honey, don't cry." He said, wiping away her tears with his thumbs. "There is still a chance you will be able to see again. Satomi has been pouring over medical text books ever since you woke up. And I've heard enough about her abilities to know that if anyone can bring back your sight, it's her."

The flow of tears stopped, but the sadness did not lift from her face. "Akito you don't understand…that kind of surgery is extremely risky. If she and Toshiro make even the slightest mistake, I could die."

He froze. Neither of them had said that, probably because they didn't want him to freak out. "Well, Kyo seems to believe that they can do it, but, if you don't want to try, I will stand by you the entire way." He said, resting his forehead against hers.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked hesitantly. He faltered. He wanted her to go through with the surgery so that she could see again because she would be a liability during the investigation. But he also didn't want her to do it because of the risk. So he chose the best answer he could think of.

"I want you to do whatever will make you happy."

"Ok. But what do you really want me to do." She glared. She could sense his hesitation in answering her. But she needed to know.

He sighed. "I want you to try the surgery. After the last few days of being around Satomi and Toshiro at the hospital, I believe they can do it. After all, you learned from one of the best medics in the world, who surpassed her teacher at an early age. And…if they do mess up, it won't be long before I join you in death."

She felt her heart stop. "Akito…you can't stop living just because I die."

"You are my life Natsumi. There's no point in living if you're not in it." He said, voice full of conviction.

He could see the tears swelling in her eyes once more. She just couldn't seem to keep them back. "I love you Akito."

"And I you, my dearest Princess." He kissed her tenderly then, stroking her cheeks with his thumbs.

She smiled against his lips and leaned into his embrace. "Ok…I will try." She said softly.

"Would you like to go back now, or do you want to wait a while?" he asked, running his fingers through her hair.

"No," she shook her head. "The longer I wait the more reluctant I am to do it. We should go back now."

"Alright." They stood then, and he picked her up in his arms, carrying her bridal style. He walked over to Kei, who had been enjoying himself in the beautiful field of flowers. Akito jumped onto the bird's back, and held Natsumi closer to him so she would feel safe. "Take us to the hospital Kei, and fly carefully." He ordered. The bird nodded and took to the sky, doing as he was told. They landed not ten minutes later, and Akito proceeded to carry Natsumi into the hospital and towards her room.

The nurses and medical staff stared in awe. The youngest Sabaku had been very difficult the past few days, and it was obvious that her husband really was the only one who could tame her. He kicked open the door and carried her to her bed, laying her down gently. "Do you want me to stay, or get Satomi?" he asked, stroking her cheek.

"You can do whatever you want. You're my husband. Basically anything you say goes." she pointed out laying her head down. It was odd, not being able to see anything and it was beginning to be very difficult to tell what Akito really wanted, since he did not allow his emotions to show in his voice.

"Then I will stay with you, I'm sure one of the nurses will tell her anyways." He said, sitting on the side of her bed. "You know, I actually hugged Satomi. It was weird." He said, grimacing slightly at the memory.

Natsumi looked over to where he was sitting, "You what?"

"Yeah, after not knowing whether you were going to live or die, and then when she saved you, I thanked her, and hugged her. Emotions just aren't healthy for me I don't think, I do strange things when I feel too much at one time." He admitted.

She laughed, shaking her head. "No…if you didn't feel emotions then you wouldn't show me your love. And your love is the most amazing thing anyone has ever given me." She reached around, searching for his hand. He quickly took it so she no longer had to feel for him and held it tightly. "And it makes me happy…that you were scared…I know that you care…but…you know." She smiled sheepishly, shutting her eyes so she could rest.

He smiled. "I do." He said, kissing her forehead and moving to sit in the chair next to the bed so that she had plenty of room.

It wasn't much later that Satomi walked in looking surprised. "Natsumi, where did you go? Are you ok?" she asked, rushing to her sister's side.

The younger twin sighed and turned her head towards Akito. "I'm fine Satomi."

"What were you thinking?" she demanded. "You could have gotten hurt!"

Natsumi grimaced, her grip on the sheets tightening. "She was with me Satomi. It's fine." Akito said, knowing that the conversation was upsetting his wife.

"Still." She huffed, crossing her arms. "You shouldn't up and leave in your condition. You never know what could have happened." She scolded, as if she were speaking to a child. Natsumi just stared vacantly at the wall, only seeing darkness. Just how useless she was now was really sinking in, like she needed to be taken care of. Akito gave Satomi a silencing look, shaking his head a bit in order to signal for her to stop.

She looked at Akito, returning his look with one of confusion. "What?"

He stood, walked over to her, and pulled her aside, causing her look of confusion to grow. "She's sensitive about it. I just got her to calm down." He whispered in her ear.

"Oh," she glanced back, a small frown forming on her face. "Well…does she want to do the surgery?"

"Yes, but the longer we wait the more apprehensive she is about it." He said.

She nodded and sighed, "Well…I've been reading and I know how to do it and I know I can do it…in theory. It'll take at least five hours though…"

"We decided to give it a shot. And as hard as it is for me, I trust you, and believe that you and Toshiro can do it." He told her.

"Alright," she breathed out, giving him a sincere look. "We'll start tomorrow morning. I need a good night's rest if I'm going to be in top form."

He nodded. "I'm going to stay here tonight, if that's okay. You know…spend some time with her." He was kind of embarrassed that he was showing so much emotion around Satomi, since part of him still didn't like her that much, but she had saved Natsumi's life, and was now his sister, even though she didn't know it yet.

She crossed her arms and gave him a look, "It's not proper protocol for someone not related to the patient to stay the night. But…" she trailed off, he thought she was going to make an exception, but the next words that came from her mouth only set him on edge. "That wouldn't apply to you now…would it?" she asked, arching a delicate brow.

"How did you know?"

Satomi rolled her eyes, "I'm not stupid Akito, and I was treating her for days. I saw the ring. That…and Toshiro told me."

"Stupid idiot can't keep his mouth shut." Akito mumbled, frowning. Then he looked back up at her. "We were going to tell you eventually, but…you know…things happened." He said, scratching the back of his head.

"Whatever you say." She said heading for the door. "And try to control yourself Uchiha. I heard about you and Natsumi's little role play."

Natsumi turned a dark red and huffed. "Stupid Kyo and his big mouth."

"Am I the only male who can keep his mouth shut?" Akito asked, not really expecting an answer.

Satomi stopped at the door and glanced back at him, "Well then, I suppose that's why they are your friends. Opposites do attract after all." She looked back at her sister and then to him. "Look at your wife for instance. She is excited and happy, while you are silent and depressed. You are calm, she is fiery. Need I go on? It's the same with friends." She turned to leave once more. "Good night. See you in the morning Sumi." She waved and shut the door behind her.

He sighed and sat back down on the bed. "Is there room in that bed for me, or shall I sleep in the chair?" he asked, rubbing her leg. "It's fine if not, since that's where I slept while you were unconscious."

"No, no!" she said, sounding a bit desperate. She moved to the side of the bed, stopping when she felt the edge. "Please don't leave me alone in the dark." She said sadly, holding the blanket up for him. He crawled in next to her, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her up against him.

"I will never leave you in the dark." He said, kissing her neck. She nuzzled into him, gripping his shirt tightly. She missed his hold so much.

"I'm sorry I told you to go away." She whispered, burying her face in his chest as she snuggled closer. He stroked her head.

"It's okay, I probably would have freaked out the same way. If you think about it, I rely on my sight as much, if not more than you do, since I have the sharingan." He said. She just laughed and nodded. She breathed in his scent and relaxed. She would finally sleep for the first time since she came out of her coma.

"Goodnight Mr. Uchiha."

"Goodnight Mrs. Uchiha."