Hinata slammed her fist on the floor as frustrated tears ran down her face. Stupid uncomfortable, medical trash chair! She leaned against the side table she had just hit her head off of. She would be covered in bruises until her next check-up, Sakura would see. Her head was throbbing. She couldn't get to a mirror to see the extent of the cut on her forehead. She would never hear the end of that either.
If she could kick the chair at her feet, she would. It crumpled, folding itself while the offending brake that wasn't strong enough to keep latched locked mocked her.
She didn't even feel like getting up at this point. The side table wouldn't stay put with her putting her weight on it. It would just tumble forward. She had learned that the hard way. And if she crawled her way up into her bed, she wouldn't be able to reach it in the morning.
She sighed, reaching over to the offending chair and yanking it up, forcing it to unfold. She jammed the locks back down and tried to pull herself back up. Lock unsnapped again, and the chair turned, catching her fingers in between the bars.
She hissed and tossed the chair back on its side.
What could she do not but cry?
Maybe she really was useless.
Monday afternoon, Sasuke knocked on her office door at lunch. He was a little confused to find her desk empty. He set down his load and waited a few minutes, but then he noticed he didn't even see work on her desk. Everything had been neatly put away as if she had left for the day.
He caught a passing person in the hallway. "Have you seen Hinata?"
"She hasn't come since last Monday. She called in sick."
He frowned. Guess it was home delivery then.
He hauled his package back upon his shoulder and made his way out.
"Hey, Sasuke!" Oh great.
"What?" He grumbled.
"What did you get?" Naruto asked, looking at the mass he had strapped to his back.
"Don't you have paperwork to do?" He sighed back.
"Come have lunch with me." Naruto prompted.
"I have to drop this off. We'll have dinner some other day." He waved off.
Naruto followed. "We can go after. I'll come with you."
"I already have lunch planned." He sighed.
"You just got back. How do you already have lunch plans?" Naruto puffed.
"Made them before leaving."
"I feel like you are just avoiding me at this point." Naruto crossed his arms.
"If I was avoiding you, you would know it, now excuse me." Sasuke huffed.
Sasuke knocked on her door and waited a couple of minutes. He knocked again. Maybe she was sleeping.
Sasuke would leave it at the door. It was very well that she wasn't going to be able to drag it in with that junk chair she had.
He knocked again. "Hinata?"
He heard movement, and then the door open.
Hinata must not answer her door when she doesn't… He lost his train of thought as he caught sight of her.
Hinata had a square bandage on her forehead, the side of her face was covered in bruises, and she looked tired. On top of that, he would say her chair looked like it was in worse shape than when he brought it to her a few days ago.
"You weren't at your office." He told her.
"I wasn't feeling well." She didn't look like she was feeling well. She looked like she had been drained out of her body.
"Can I come in?" He asked.
She moved her chair back, and that's when he noticed that her fingers were also bandaged.
What the hell happened?
He stepped in, and his head quickly swung to the kitchen. That stool, maybe she needed a heavier one. It didn't look beat up, though.
"What is that?" She asked as he closed the door.
He set down the box, untying himself from it. "Special delivery."
He pushed it to her.
She stared at him. He pulled a knife from his pack and handed it to her.
She took it, still looking confused but opening the top. She pulled out the first layers of protection and stopped when she could see enough to realize what it was.
"Three weeks is bull shit for something that you require to be independent." He excused.
She didn't look up. Her head turned down. And her shoulders shook.
"Thank you." She whimpered.
He hadn't expected her to cry. She wiped her eyes and continued to pull it out of the box. He let her do the un-wrapping and just took pieces of wrapping out of her way as she tossed them.
He pulled the main pieces out and the wheels, and she went to put herself on the floor. He had his head turned, and he heard a crash behind him. Her face hard, she glared at her folded chair that laid uselessly on the floor.
He understood all the bruises now.
He sat down, folding his legs together to watch her put the pieces together. She seemed to know where everything went.
Before long, a pile of parts was a full chair.
She paid extra attention to the breaks, locking them a few times and pushing the chair hard to make sure it didn't budge.
Once in her chair, she sighed, moving it back and forth to make sure it moved how she liked.
He looked at her bandaged fingers and the large bandage she had on her head.
"Why haven't you healed these?" He finally asked.
Her expression changed, and she folded her hands in her lap. "I didn't have the energy." She admitted. "When I lost function in my legs I also lost the access to the chakra that runs through that half of my body."
He idly kicked her medical chair. "Do we toss it?"
She frowned. "It's my only backup."
"Is it a backup if it can't stay put when you need it to?" He asked.
She made a face.
"I'm throwing it out." He picked it up and headed out the door with it, throwing it harshly in the dumpster behind her building.
He came back and washed his hands.
She carefully leaned over to pick up her bag.
He was sure that she was ready for the chair to come out from under her at any minute.
"Better?" He asked.
"Much." She agreed.