Chapter #6
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, it all belongs to Masashi Kishimoto
"Seeing is not as simple as looking."
-Joseph Kosuth
UP IN THE REALMS
"It's about time we sent you back Ms. Hyuuga"
"Do I have to? There is nothing but pain and suffering back down there. I have nothing to go back to. Besides there is so much more you haven't told me."
"Tout en temps voulu. All in due time, you will know what you must. But keeping you here any longer is unwise. We will meet again, Hinata. I'm glad to be of service to you."
"What?"
"Tell no one of our encounter, the Sages of the Hyuga are taught to be destroyed,"
"Why?" she inquired as her body came to view
"For your protection, we will continue this conversation another time."
"When will I see you again?"
"I'm always with you, I'll come to your aid. Now that you are almost of age there is much preparation to do but all in due time."
"Alright," she relented
Mona took her hands and with a smile, pushed Hinata back into her body.
Nurse's Office
"Nurse, she's awake!" Naruto cried out, glad to not have the potential heir of Yuki at death's door
The nurse scurried into the room, and looked at the body in front of her.
"Miss Hyuuga, how are you feeling?"
"I'm alright,"
"That's good, no fever. Her skilled fingers felt for temperature, "Any weird feelings?"
"No but why are my eyes covered?"
"What are you talking about? There is nothing on your eyes."
Naruto shared a skeptical look with the nurse who seemed just as perplexed. Excusing herself to grab her ophthalmoscope, Naruto drew his chair closer to the panicking Hyuga. Her body shook in waves as she stared blankly into darkness. Her fingers white from clenching tightly. As a panic wave settled on her.
Large warm hands covered hers, ceasing her shivering, his voice reassuringly soft, "It will be okay."
His words played like a record on repeat taking residence in her heart. She had never had anything to rely on - yet at that moment, the mental conjure of his smile, sparkling blue eyes, sincere vocals, and warm hands, she felt somewhat at peace. She believed him. She believed his words. In her seventeen years of life, she dreaded hospitals. The sterile silence and loneliness that came with the space ripped her deeper than any wound. Just his being there, was enough to make her believe him.
The nurse shuffled back in, her slender digits roaming the skin on Hinata's face in a practiced symphony. Fingertips prying open her eyelids in examination. All the while his hands stayed in hers - absorbing the anxious energy she squeezed into his. The nurse asked a series of questions, her tone free from emotions Hinata could glean from.
After the nurse was done with her examination, Naruto queried on the state of her eyes.
"You seem to have received a sort of blindness. I have never seen anything like this and can't even tell you if it is temporal or permanent."
Hinata drew her legs to herself, Naruto's hands tightening even further around hers
"I'm really sorry Ms. Hyuuga. I will do some research on it but I do insist you go to a hospital." With that the nurse left.
Blind
Blind
Blind
She couldn't see. Not the sterile chill of the nurse's office, not the bleak darkness of the school, not the beauty of her willow tree. And all she had was the boy she had pushed away.