Turning point: Chapter 8

:Repent:

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Beep... Beep... Beep...

That familiar sound echoed through Tayuya's head as her eyes slowly opened, her vision was blurred but she knew this location well. She didn't need to see properly to tell she was back in the hospital room she'd woken up in on that first day, she wasn't unable to move around this time though so she took the opportunity to sit up. An action she immediately regretted. The movement caused her head to spin and her stomach to turn, she quickly found the bedpan on her nearby table and vomited until her throat was sore.

Tayuya eventually brushed her hair back behind her ears, placed the used bedpan on the floor and lay back down as carefully as she could. She stared at the ceiling wondering how she'd ended up back in the hospital, the last thing she remembered was her fight in the alley which nearly got her abducted and then blinding pain and darkness. It was at that point the back of her neck stung as if it were burning, she hissed in pain as her hand flung itself up to cup over the spot. She was about to voice her thoughts of confusion to no-one, when she caught a glimpse of movement in her window. Turning her head a little too fast caused her to feel dizzy again but she was able to will herself through it to frown at the man sitting on her window ledge.

"It's a seal."

The copy ninja Kakashi stated without the need for a question.

"We sealed your curse mark for you since you don't seem to have as much control as we thought you did."

His blunt explanation and nonchalant tone was irritating but Tayuya didn't let it get to her too much.

"What do you mean you sealed it?" She snapped back. "You can't just seal a curse mark away, it's too strong for that."

She frowned at Kakashi who had pulled out a book and started reading, 'Make out paradise' Tayuya had never heard of it but the adults only warning on the cover said enough.

There was a good five minutes of silence before Tayuya spoke up again.

"Well? You wanna explain it to me? It's not something you can just do even if you are a Jonin."

She said it in a way that was almost mocking him for thinking he could do the impossible.

"You're right."

Kakashi suddenly replied which made Tayuya raise an eyebrow slightly.

"You can't completely seal a curse mark away, but you can help to suppress it."

He pointed at her as he spoke.

"This seal is based solely on your willpower to not use the curse mark. If you don't want it to stop it then it won't do much for you. But if you don't try to rely on the curse mark and want to keep it in check, the seal will be much stronger."

He gave her a strangely unnerving smile as he finished his explanation. Tayuya looked away and stopped to think for a moment, she gently touched the spot on her neck before turning back to ask Kakashi a question. Without her noticing he had vanished from his perch and only the gentle breeze from outside came from the open window, it gently brushed Tayuya's hair over her face and she sighed as she brought her hand up to push it back with her fingers.

By the late afternoon the nurse walked into Tayuya's room and checked her over, after getting her to perform a few tasks like simply standing and walking the nurse told her that she was well enough to go home. Still feeling a little queasy as she walked back, Tayuya decided to play it safe and take the short way home but walk as slow and steady as she could. She could still feel the slight burning sensation on the back of her neck which occasionally made her wince, getting looks from the people around her every time she stopped.

Eventually she made it to the last corner before her new house, by then she was feeling close to throwing up again and just wanted to make it inside so she could sleep the rest of the day off. After fumbling around clumsily with her key and using a somewhat embarrassing amount of concentration to get it into the lock, she finally pushed the door open and stepped inside. Kicking off her shoes at the entrance and closing the door behind her the pitiful looking girl walked through her empty house and headed shakily upstairs to the bathroom.

After splashing water on her face which seemed to slightly help with the sick feeling, Tayuya decided a bath might help her to relax. Dropping her clothes on the bathroom floor and sliding into the tub, she ran the water to fill up around her so she could lay back and rest. Staring at the ceiling seemed to calm her as the water rose past her waist and thighs, steam slowly filling the room while her eyelids started to feel heavy. She thought about the last few days and sighed. She'd spent two days in hospital, one day out in the village and then after going berserk another day in hospital. If she were anyone else she would've just been seen as really unlucky. Tayuya thought differently though. She knew that something was wrong and it wasn't just dumb luck, or rather un-luck, that kept landing her in hospital. She rested her head back on the side of the tub and turned the water off with her toes now that it covered her chest, her long red hair splayed out on the side of the tub and hung down while she continued to stare blankly at the ceiling.

"I guess you could call it karma... Or something like that." She thought to herself. "You do as much bad shit as we did for the sound and you're bound to end up with a few near death experiences I guess."

As much as she hated to admit it, she sighed as she realized that the only way she was going to get herself out of this vicious cycle was to try to do some good for once. An hour passed with her doing nothing but soak in the now warm water and her fingertips were starting to wrinkle, against her will she knew it was time to get up and dry off. Feeling much better than she did before, Tayuya pulled herself out of the tub and drained the water before grabbing a nearby towel and wrapping her hair up in it. She then wrapped a second, larger towel around her body and exited the bathroom with a slight slump in her posture. Despite not feeling sick or in pain anymore she was exhausted from the amount of effort it took her to do everything once she was on her own again, so without making time to properly dry off she simply let herself fall onto her bed and was sound asleep in seconds.