Disclaimer: I am writing fanfiction. Of course I don't own Naruto.
Hinata and Shino were walking back into Konoha after coming from the training grounds. Hinata had the niggling feeling that something was wrong. She saw a flash of light that she immediately recognized. She had seen light glinting off of a kunai many times before. Why would someone have a kunai out in the middle of town? "Byakugan." She murmured. Shino looked at her, slightly puzzled. Why would Hinata be using her Byakugan? Suddenly she gasped and leapt forward as fast as he had ever seen her move. Without thinking, he bolted after her.
He arrived in the alley a fraction of a second after his teammate to see her with one hand clenched around the blade of a kunai being held by Kumo. Hinata's other hand was clamped over Kumo's other wrist, which was spurting blood. Hinata had been trained to remain calm so her voice was steady as she ordered Shino to get medics. He didn't hesitate. The wound to Hinata's hand looked deep, and the slash on Kumo's wrist was gushing profusely, despite the other girl's grip on it. Shino's kikaichu reported that Sakura was a block away and poured chakra into his feet, landing in front of her a second later. "We need you Sakura."
She didn't question, just sped away after Shino, following him back to the alley. Sakura tried not to concentrate on the fact that it was Hinata and Kumo, two of her friends that were bleeding, trying to focus all of her attention on the ugly wounds. Kumo's first. The amount of blood spurting indicated that she had nicked the radial artery, if not severed it completely. Hinata could wait. Her injuries were not life threatening, and she wouldn't lose too much blood if she didn't remove the knife.
"Keep the knife in." Sakura ordered, bending over the unconscious form of Kumo with a green glowing hand. She bit her lip as she saw the extent of damage. It was going to take a lot of chakra, but she could seal the artery. Luckily it wasn't completely severed. "Call another medic for Hinata." She gritted out while she worked on Kumo. She wasn't going to have anything left for the Hyuuga when she was done with Kumo.
Dammit. I thought she was doing better. What made her decide that suicide was the only option? Concentrate Sakura. Nothing else matters but the wound. Okay. The artery first…Muscle next… When she had finished, she looked up blearily to see a medic she didn't know looking at her with concern.
"What's the situation?" he asked.
"Radial artery had been cut, but not completely severed. I repaired that and the deepest of the muscle damage. But my chakra's gone." The unfamiliar medic nodded, as aware as she that arterial damage was difficult to repair and depended on immediate attention. "She was lucky." Sakura murmured hollowly. Though I don't know if she would think so. Her slice didn't show any hesitation scrapes. She was serious about suicide. Luckily Hinata stopped her from slicing the other one. I couldn't have repaired them both. "How is Hinata's condition?"
"The other patient is stable and resting comfortable. She should be out of the hospital in a day or two. Is this patient stable enough to be moved?"
Sakura nodded her agreement, and a stretcher was gently laid in the pool of blood next to Kumo's unconscious form.
When Kumo awoke, she saw the bright white ceiling, and smelled the antiseptic. Damn! I'm in the hospital again. She rolled her eyes, trying to see if anyone was in the room with her. To her left, she saw another bed, a mass of long midnight blue hair strewn over the pillow. A tear leaked from her eye. I just wanted to stop causing problems, and I just caused more. Her mind brought forth the all too clear memory of Hinata grabbing the kunai with her bare hand just an inch from her wrist.
The door opened, interrupting her tortured thoughts. Hinata's eyes blinked open. "Shino-kun." She greeted.
"How are you feeling?" he greeted his teammate, as Kumo was pretending to still be asleep. There was no way she could face them again so soon. She still remembered how Shino's face had gotten pale at the sight, Kumo's blood spurting into the sky, Hinata with the kunai buried in her hand.
"I'm feeling much better. Have you heard how Kumo is doing?" the shy girl's voice was filled with concern.
How can she still care for me so much? I hurt her. Unintentionally, but I hurt her, just like I almost hurt Kakashi and Kiba. "Why don't you ask her?" Shino asked Hinata.
"But she's still unconscious!"
"Her heart rate is faster than when I was last here, I suspect that she is really awake."
"I shouldn't be awake, I should be dead." Kumo rasped, never opening her eyes, not trusting them not to start crying. "I hurt you Hinata. I was trying to make sure that I would never hurt my friends again, and I still managed to hurt you. Sakura should have just let me die."
Hinata gasped at her explanation, delivered in a monotone. "Kumo?"
"I almost killed Kakashi, then I almost killed Kiba and hurt you. You would all be better off without me."
"What happened with Kiba?" Shino asked gently.
Kumo narrated her evening without opening her eyes.
"Your logic is flawed." Shino informed her. "You are no longer in any danger of killing Kakashi, and your reaction to being touched unexpectedly can be changed. If we create clones, and have them touch you unexpectedly, then you can practice not killing them instinctively until you feel comfortable. That should resolve the issue. Also, you failed to take into account the emotional damage you would do to your friends if you committed suicide."
The tears that Kumo had desperately been trying to restrain leaked out between her closed eyelids. She felt gentle fingers wipe them away and successfully restrained her instinct to kill the fingers which she could guess were attached to Shino.
"There, that was progress." His deep voice commented. "I touched you without you seeing who it was and you started to move, but you controlled your instinct. If we practice, you shouldn't have to worry about an incident like at the Inuzuka house. Though he should know not to grab a ninja from behind. You are not the only one to instinctively move to attack in that situation."
Kumo's tears simply leaked out faster. Why do they never hate me?