Fair warning this one is a little heavy.

oOo

Day 23 Prompt: Takane no Hana (Japanese)

"The unattainable flower."

The fallen trees were the first sign. The caustic smell of ammonia, signaling Akamaru's signature move, came next. He spotted chakra burns and upturned earth. The beetle calmly fluttered to the inside of a massive crater and landed on Shino's outstretched hand.

Sasuke's Sharingan activated unconsciously, and he would from then on always wish it did not. Blood splattered against the earth. Shino lay against one side, clutching his sternum while his insects buzzed agitatedly around him. Next to his feet lay the body of a woman with a Lightning forehead protector.

Akamaru stood guard over another Lightning nin who groaned in agony over an unseen wound. Possibly with blocked tenketsu, seeing as the enemy could not move.

Two other Lightning nin lay outside the crater, and Sasuke knew immediately those people were dead as well.

But. In the middle. Right in the middle, lay Hyuga Hinata cradled in Inuzuka Kiba's arms. Her face twisted in extreme pain as her Byakugan alternated from activating to deactivating in a random pattern. She cried in a hoarse voice from the pain. Her skin was red, and a long gash lay beneath her right eye. Her legs kicked out as the agony shook through her body.

With his Sharingan, Sasuke could see the chakra pooling in her mouth and in her face. The light of it blinded him momentarily. He could not imagine what it did to her.

The seal was trying to destroy her eyes. But she was alive and could feel it.

Sasuke skidded to a stop next to Hinata. Itachi was behind him, and he unzipped Sasuke's pack, tossing the med kit over Sasuke's shoulder.

Sasuke accepted it and threw it open.

"You good?" he asked Kiba.

Kiba nodded quickly, tears pouring down his cheeks. "Fine. She can't stop it!"

"Where in her mouth is her seal?" Sasuke asked urgently.

"On her tongue!"

Kakashi kneeled on Hinata's other side. He grabbed her face and with a murmured apology, forced her mouth open.

Sasuke's hand ignited green. "I'll have to disrupt the chakra so we can figure out how to reverse this."

Kakashi caught his wrist with his free hand. "No! You'll just channel more chakra into the seal, and it'll get stronger. You need diffuse chakra. You need blood."

Sasuke could not help his disgusted scoff. He bit his thumb angrily. He could feel the blood on his teeth as he bared them.

"I want it to be known for the record this is very unsanitary and I hate this!" he exclaimed even as he reached into her mouth and rubbed his cut on her tongue.

She gagged a bit but the burning chakra pulsing around her eyes sputtered to a stop for a moment.

He held a glowing green hand over her cheek to heal the gash and hopefully soothe her burning nerves.

"What do I do now?" Sasuke asked Kakashi.

Hinata cried out, her voice only a croak now.

"Hinata!" Kiba sobbed.

"Shit!" Kakashi said, pushing his headband up to reveal his borrowed Sharingan.

He also bit his thumb and added his blood to Hinata's mouth.

"Ew!" Sasuke shouted.

Kakashi shook his head. "Too much of one person's chakra might make it worse, but a collection of different chakras will disrupt the seal."

"This is disgusting!" Sasuke complained again.

It was just an attempt to mask his real feelings. His hands shook. His skin felt hypersensitive and his clothing rubbing against him burned. This could not be happening. Not to Hinata. She could not lose her eyes.

Shisui laid a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Kakashi," he said low and fierce, "tell us what to do."

Kakashi closed his eyes tightly in thought. "We need to reverse the chakra flow. All her chakra is now concentrated in her head." He shook his head. "We should have waited for a Hyuga, they could have changed this at any time."

"There wasn't any time to wait," Sasuke hissed.

But what really was he doing now other than delaying the inevitable?

"I've got it," Shisui said lowly. "Keep her eyes open."

Sasuke gingerly pressed his fingers to her eyelids.

Too occupied to pay more than half a mind to his cousin, both Kiba and Sasuke started when another Hinata suddenly stood next to the huddled group.

"Oh," she breathed, looking down in horror at her body.

Sasuke turned to Shisui to see his Mangekyo Sharingan activated.

Even Itachi paused from wrapping Shino's wounds to breathe: "Kotoamatsukami."

The projection of Hinata met Shisui's gaze. "You need to block my tenketsu in my eyes. It'll fool the seal into thinking that I'm dead and deactivate."

"Shit, I should have thought about it," Kakashi said.

"I can't see your tenketsu," Sasuke replied frantically, his Sharingan burning.

Her chakra was so bright. He could not see. He could not see!

"I can't keep this up," Shisui said, leaning even more heavily on Sasuke.

"Kiba-kun?" Hinata asked her teammate. "I've taught you where the points are."

The man in question wiped his face with a sleeve and took a deep, shuddering breath. "Mother. Fuck. I got it." He addressed Sasuke. "If I show you the points can you block it? I don't have enough chakra control not to overload her system."

Kakashi spoke before Sasuke could. "I'll block them. You'll need to heal her eyes immediately after."

Shisui sighed and clumsily fell to a seated position. Hinata disappeared.

Sasuke removed his hands but could not help but keep close. He rested one palm on the crown of her head, and the other on her collarbone. The tips of his fingers searched out her fluttering pulse. Not to count. Only to reassure himself.

"Standing by." Sasuke's voice sounded like dirt grinding on glass.

"Kiba, go," Kakashi commanded.

Swiftly Kiba began to point. "Here… Here…"

Kakashi followed closely. Itachi helped Shino limp closer, then went to secure the prisoner. Akamaru growled possessively. Shino grabbed Hinata's hand.

Sasuke never took his red eyes off of Hinata, watching the brightness concentrated in her face slowly dim.

"Akamaru, he's gonna take the prisoner to Konoha," Sasuke called. "You can stand down."

Akamaru's growls stopped.

"Thank you," Itachi whispered quietly.

"Almost," Kiba said.

The light now only lingered over her mouth. Sasuke wanted to heal her eyes but could not risk getting in Kiba and Kakashi's way.

The light sputtered out.

"Now!" Kakashi said.

Sasuke already started moving before Kakashi spoke. His hands ignited with healing chakra, and he cupped both eyes with a palm.

"Why is her chakra dark?" Shisui asked with no little alarm.

Sasuke gritted his teeth. He wanted to check her pulse but the damage around her eyes was so extensive.

"What?" Kiba barked, jostling Hinata underneath him.

Hinata caught her breath and for a long, long few seconds did not breathe out.

Kakashi sat up and placed his hands over her breastbone for chest compressions. "Kiba, put her head on the ground."

Kiba did not. Instead: "Shino!" Kiba cried.

Shino grunted. "I don't know if it'll be enough."

"Enough what?" Sasuke practically yelled. "Kiba, let her go!"

"Shino!" Kiba snapped his teeth at his teammate.

Shino grunted and sat up. He only had enough strength to flop a bloody hand onto her neck. His pores opened and a small contingent of insects swarmed out of his skin and into Hinata's mouth.

Sasuke pressed his lips together to prevent from gagging. First the blood now this. Sasuke felt contaminated and he was not even the patient.

He forced himself to look at them. They shone like little pinpricks of stars down her esophagus and stopped right before the stomach near the heart. They flared bright for a second before dimming. Like a match lighting a candle wick, the dark chakra points near her heart sparked once, twice, before catching and flickering alive. They pulsed with her heartbeat and the chakra slowly began to travel through her system.

Hinata seized. She gasped as her breathing sputtered back into some kind of rhythm.

Kiba began crying again, bringing a lock of her hair to his face, and breathing deeply. Akamaru nuzzled his partner's shoulder. Shino and Kakashi fell back.

Shisui caught Shino's shoulder. "Well done."

Shino said nothing but reached up to pat Shisui's hand.

Itachi walked up; an unconscious man slung over his shoulder. "Is she okay?"

Sasuke blinked back his own tears. He felt like lightning had just struck him and now his body was trying to remember what normal felt like. "She's okay," he replied hoarsely. "She's okay."

Hinata sucked in a deep breath and coughed. He could feel her lashes fluttering against his palms.

"K-Kiba?" she rasped. "Shi…Shino?"

Weakly her hands reached up to touch Sasuke's wrist. Kiba caught her hands and gently forced them to rest on her breastbone.

"I'm here, Sunshine," Kiba sniffled. "Shino too. We're okay."

Sasuke noticed then the amount of blood on Kiba's hands and how twisted his fingers looked. Shit.

"You sure you're okay?" Sasuke eyed Kiba.

"Oh, is this Sasuke?" Hinata asked.

"I'm here."

"A-are…" she coughed, then smacked her lips. "Did I bite my tongue?"

Kakashi huffed out a breath. "I'll get some water."

"Kiba… Shino…" she sighed, after having something to drink. Her voice was stronger. "Do-do you know what this means?"

Everyone leaned closer.

"I won cinnamon rolls."

Kiba burst out in hysterical laughter. Without moving his legs, he allowed his upper body to fall back harshly against the dirt. He threw his hand to the side and pounded it against the ground. Shino pulled his collar over his head to hide his face in his coat, and shook with low, deep, sobbing chuckles.

"I'm crying," Kiba gasped.

All the other men exchanged looks, bemused and confused.

"What's so funny?" Sasuke asked.

Hinata coughed, then grimaced at the pain. "I… I'll explain later. Sasuke?"

"Yes."

"Are my eyes all fucked up?"

Sasuke instantly remembered their first encounter like this. He pressed his grin to his shoulder. His hands never moved from their spots on her eyes.

"Don't worry about it." he said, unable to keep the smile out of his voice. "I've got you."

"Okay. Thank you."

oOo

Coming up: Neji catches up with the group.