"Look!" Hikari put her hand up.
"At what exactly?"
"I got braces! Now my palms won't get so sweaty anymore!"
Itachi closed the cupboard he had his face in and took a closer look at her hands.
It certainly was an upgrade from the leather gloves she wore all the time.
"That's great?"
Hikari's face fell. "You don't like it?"
Itachi shook his head. "No! No I do! I just-"
Hikari frowned and let her hands hang from her sides. "Should I go back to wearing the gloves instead?"
"Hikari that's not what I meant. I really do like them, I think they're great." Itachi said pouring himself a cup of coffee.
Hikari smiled again after that. "Yay! At least now you won't kill me because I broke a wrist and sprained the other."
He choked on his coffee, making Hikari torn between backing away and helping him out.
"You did what?!"
"I'm sorry?"
Itachi blanched at that. He put a hand to his forehead.
"You broke your wrists." He wasn't even asking at that point.
"Technically I broke just one-"
He gave her a look.
"A-apparently a tree can only take so much until it just starts to hit back." Hikari said nervously.
Itachi's eyes widened in apprehension as he stared at her. There was a thought going through his mind that he was ninety percent sure was-
"I'm not drunk I promise."
Nope apparently it wasn't.
He's seen drunk Hikari before. He would choose to never see her again if he could.
"We need to get those checked."
"What?! No! There's no need really! Besides, Yukine is a three day trip away, the sprain will go away during that."
"What about the fact that you broke one?!"
"It'll heal on its own! It's fine!"
"No, I'm taking you to the hospital, let's go." He took her hand firmly but gently, as not to upset her already damaged wrists.
Hikari stayed planted in her place.
"No." She whispered.
Itachi frowned turning to her. "What?" He hadn't heard her.
"No hospitals." Was all she said.
"You know we can't do that."
"Please."
"Hikari-"
"No! No hospitals! Don't take me there!" She screamed, and Itachi realized this was panic.
Hikari was panicking.
Because he said he'd take her to a hospital.
"Okay, okay, no hospitals." He tried soothing her, he really did, but there was no getting to her at this point.
He let go of her hand, opting to holding her forearms instead, putting his forehead against her own, pulling her closer as she cried.
He didn't dare hug her, only put one of her palms on his chest, telling her to focus on his breathing.
He took deep breaths, watching as her own rapid short ones became longer and slower.
Hikari didn't know why her body froze up on her when he mentioned hospitals.
Even what she said came out before she could really process it.
Well that's another thing she knew about herself, she hated hospitals with a passion.
And was scared of them too apparently.
She just didn't know why.
"Honestly!"
Hikari flinched at Yukine's loud voice.
He was so angry with her.
"What have I told you about taking care of yourself?!"
"Take care of myself?" She asked hopefully.
"Yes! And what do you do?!" He gripped her ear.
"Ow, ow, ow! Yukine!"
Itachi shook his head. He was silently amused by this.
Hikari really wanted to swat his hands away but her wrists hurt too much.
Apparently they didn't get better at all during their three day trip, they got even worse. They healed wrong because she didn't know what she was doing.
"What were you thinking?!"
"I was pract- OW!" A sickening crunch sounded as Yukine broke her wrist to have it heal correctly.
"That kekkei genkai of ours is helpful for sure but not when it damages our body, Hikari!" He said breaking the other one.
Hikari swallowed her cries, but her tears slipped past her eyes.
Itachi frowned at the sight. She looked like she was is so much pain.
Well it was understandable. On the second day after she broke her wrist she started dropping things and crying from the pain.
So three days after they were here.
And her body had already healed them incorrectly.
Yukine sighed and bandaged her hands. "No fighting for two weeks." He pointed at her sternly.
"Two wee-"
"I'm going to make them three if you complain!"
She gaped at him.
"Itachi-kun!"
There she goes again. "I'm sorry Hikari, he's the medic here not me."
She whined. "Oh c'mon!"
"How long has she been awake?"
"I honestly don't know, I don't think she slept at all on our way here." Itachi frowned at her sleeping figure.
"We should let her get some rest. Let's go dinner's ready." He patted his shoulder before trotting downstairs.
"Yeah, I'll be right there." He closed the door gently.
Hikari listened to them as they spoke about her.
She still couldn't sleep.
She groaned and banged her bandaged hands against the mattress.
That sparked a shot of pain through both of her wrists.
"Ow."
She felt useless. She raised her hands and looked at them.
She couldn't move them.
She felt useless. She hadn't felt like that in so long.
She hated it.
"Come on, move!" She clenched her teeth. "Do something!"
She felt drowsy all over and that's when she realized that the morphine Yukine gave her was finally kicking in.
She didn't fight it, she just wanted to sleep.
Hikari sat up looking around her.
This place looked familiar.
Too familiar.
She didn't know where she was or what this place was. All she knew is she somehow knew the place.
Everything looked broken, crushed, burned. Blood was everywhere.
Looking at this place, the horrors of it and all the terrible things that must have happened. It looked abandoned.
So sad.
Melancholy.
Hikari slowly got up to get a better look at what was going on.
With every step she took she felt guilt.
A strong sense of guilt and sadness. Regret.
Why would she?
Everything was destroyed.
The whole place was in a terrible shape.
She sow something glint from the corner of her eye.
Hikari took slow steady steps towards it to see a small necklace, with a symbol carved on it.
A symbol she knew by heart, but couldn't remember.
She stared at it trying to wrack her brain for any sign of it recognizing the emblem.
She herd her heart pounding in her ears, then it developed into an annoying ringing.
"Hikari."
She opened her eyes looking at the person calling her name.
"Hey." Itachi smiled at her.
"Hi." She raised her hand to her head.
She really wanted to soothe the headache but she couldn't move anything past her wrists.
"What's wrong?" Itachi asked her worriedly, sitting beside her on the bed.
"My head hurts."
Itachi took her hand away from her head.
"What? Did you need so-" Hikari was cut off by a strangled moan coming from her throat.
Itachi gently pressed his fingertips to her temples.
Hikari hummed in satisfaction as he massaged her head gently, but firmly.
She really needed that.
Except it didn't feel good anymore.
She tensed under his touch "I-Itachi."
He stopped, looking at her with concern at how she sounded.
"What's wrong?"
"I- I..." A lump formed in her throat and she couldn't reply anymore.
"Okay. It's okay. I've got you." He pulled her into a hug, resting his cheek on her hair.
She gasped out, clawing at her neck, thumping on her chest. The pain that shot up her hands didn't make it any better.
"Hikari." Itachi pulled away holding her and arms' reach. "Shit, shit, shit."
He was panicking in her panic. He laid her down prying her wrists away gently so she would stop hurting herself.
She writhed and tried to heave him off, but he wasn't on her.
He wasn't suffocating her.
Her eyes welled up with tears.
He didn't know what to do. He didn't know why she was acting like this. What happened.
Another loud gasp tore through her throat, followed by a scream.
The door flew open. "What's going on here?!" Mitsuki asked with wide eyes.
"I-" Itachi was cut off by a loud sob.
"Shit!" Mitsuki rushed forward. "Hikari, darling." She held her face. "Look at me, c'mon love you can do it."
Hikari hiccupped but tried her best to look at her like she asked.
She moved her hands to put them on Mitsuki's. Her sobs still echoing in the room as she cried.
"Very good, good girl." Mitsuki soothed. "Shh, now listen to me breathe okay?"
She still took rapid breaths.
"Follow me, you can do it. In... Out..."
Hikari listened, trying to match her pace but failing. That made her feel like something was wrong, so she started hyperventilating again.
"No, no you're doing a good job. Try again. In... Out.."
She complied. In.. out..
"See, you're good at it. Try again."
She did.
"There you go, one more time."
Hikari choked but still did so anyway.
Then she felt like the invisible weight on her chest vanished.
She slumped, panting slightly, letting her hands fall to her side.
Mitsuki sighed, looking back at Itachi who looked so concerned through the whole thing. She let Hikari's face go slowly as not to startle her.
She mentioned him over with kind eyes, and a silent gesture.
He approached the two women slowly, sitting hesitantly next to Hikari.
Her head snapped to look at him.
Oh no. He'd seen her like that. She looked away from him covering her face almost in shame.
Itachi reached out to her, but stopped himself, his hand hovering over her shoulder.
Mitsuki gave him a sympathetic look before slipping off the bed, then whispering in his ear as before she left the room. "I'll go fetch her some water alright? Stay with her."
He nodded solemnly.
Of course he would. He didn't need her to tell him that.
"Hikari," he whispered.
He saw her flinch then turn her body away from him.
He saw her like that.
She didn't want him to see her like that.
So weak, so fucking pathetic.
She whimpered when she felt his hand resting gently on her shoulder.
She didn't want him to see her like this.
"Hikari, it's okay. You're okay."
She whimpered again. Why was he still here? Why did he stay?
He frowned as she still didn't look at him. Like she was hiding away from him.
Itachi felt a lump form in his throat. "Mitsuki-san will be back with some water."
She still didn't look at him.
"Hikari, please."
She made herself even smaller.
Itachi found himself blaming himself for that intense nerve wracking panic attack she suffered from.
He was trying to make her feel better, she seemed just fine.
What happened?
What triggered it?
Filled with self doubt he reluctantly took his hand off her shoulder, and scooched away from her.
"I-I'm sorry."
Hikari lifted her face a little.
"Please, I didn't mean to upset you. I don't know what I did, but I promise I won't do it again. I won't, so please. Please, say something."
Hikari finally looked at him. He looked like he was about to be sick.
The mere thought of him being the cause of her more intense than usual panic attack made him want to throw himself out the window.
Hikari reached out to him, stopping herself halfway. Did he think he was the reason? He wasn't.
The was just no way. But how was she supposed to explain? How was she supposed to face him after he saw her like that?
How?
"Itachi-kun?" She needed to set things right with him.
Itachi let out a breath of relief. She didn't hate him.
He turned to her, slowly, carefully. "Are you okay?"
Hikari smiled sadly. "I-I've been worse."
Itachi exhaled then pulled her into a hug.
Hikari held him back, gripping his shirt tightly. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Hikari muttered in his chest.
"No, no no. You have nothing to apologise for. It's okay. You're okay." He soothed, running his hands through her hair.
She shuddered. "I'm sorry you had to see me like this. I never- I-"
He shushed her gently. She didn't need to apologise for anything.
Mitsuki returned to the room to find them both snuggling together.
"Aw, look." She whispered to Yukine.
He looked over her shoulder to see the adorableness that was the two of them.
He smiled at their sleeping forms. Then a thought occurred to him. "That doesn't look like it's comfortable."
"I guess not. They'll figure it out themselves, we should let them be."
Yukine nodded leaving first with Mitsuki following shortly after, closing the door as she went.
Progress.
There was progress.
"This can't be right." Yukine frowned.
"What what's wrong?"
"Your wrists haven't healed even a bit since you got here."
"But- but it's been three weeks already."
"I'm trying Hikari I really am."
"What's happening?" Oh no. She wanted to go back to Amegakure already.
He wanted to use her hands and do something. Because so far she's been useless.
Yukine was telling her she couldn't.
With Itachi on a mission with Kisame, he left her, insisting that she stays here until her wrists are fully healed.
"Something's terribly wrong here. Hikari we might need to operate."
"N-no."
"Honey I know it's difficult for you to accept that but please."
"I don't want to go to a hospital. Please don't make me do it. Please."
Yukine sighed. "It's the only way. I'm sorry."
"N-no wait! Don't!" She fought him as he pulled her by the forearm.
"Yu, Yu please please. They'll heal on their own eventually. I-" she choked back on a sob.
"No! No! I-! No!"
"Somebody hold her down!"
No no no. She had to get out of here. There were strangers everywhere.
They were touching her. Holding her down.
Restraining her and restricting her movements.
No no. White... She could see white.
No.
It was all white.
She was in a hospital.
And they were touching her.
Somebody get her out of here. Somebody do something.
Anything.
Make them stop.
Hikari thrashed around ignoring the pain. Ignoring the shouts.
She needed to-
She gasped as a sharp pain ran through her neck.
She looked over to the person who injected her, sending a look of betrayal to him.
He was the one who brought her here after all.
Yukine stared her her unconscious figure. Her tear stained face and betrayed look still haunted him after the operation.
She would wake up anytime soon now.
Then they're getting out.
No more supervision needed.
No more staying at the hospital.
Hikari stared at her wrists and tried flexing them.
At least she can feel them now.
And she had new scars added to her collection.
Yayy...
She still refused to speak to Yukine.
She just wanted to go home already.
She wanted Itachi to comfort her and tell her she was fine. That everything was okay because she felt like it wasn't.
Like she wasn't
She looked up at the sound of someone knocking on her door.
"Come in."
"Hey, I'm so sorry I'm late."
She felt herself smile.
Itachi's here.
"Itachi-kun."
Oh no, something was wrong. That tone.
He dropped the bag he had with him and sat next to her on the couch.
"What happened are you alright?"
"I-I-"
"Hey, it's okay. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." He held her hand stroking it gently with the pads of his thumbs.
Hikari just nodded.
Itachi sighed.
She looked like she suffered a lot over the past four weeks.
"Hikari."
She looked up at the sound of her name being called.
She was startled by a flick to the forehead.
"Ow. What was that for?"
He just kept his fingers hovering over her forehead with a fond smile.
She found herself blushing at the look he gave her and covered her forehead with her hand, looking away shyly.
What was with that look anyway?
It's shorter than usual and I'm so sorry for that. Also I know I'm like super late but writers block man. It just felt right ending it there. Cute little bonding. Writing this chapter was really intense so that's all I can offer. Buuuuttt this chapter hints at something coming soon anyone can guess what it is?As always please review I'd love to hear what you guys think! Feel free to pm me anytime I'll reply as soon as I see it!