Restoration: Book 1/3

Chapter 20

According to those around me, my eyes had turned completely black before slowly starting to fade back into their usual lavender, but my pupils truly had disappeared. Heeding Obito's advice, I asked them to help me put bandaging back over them so I wouldn't be tempted to open them while they healed.

With no lessons to distract us, all we could do was sit around and talk about what had happened to us until dinner came. Sakura said they only gave her a few injections that made her feel tired, but the more time that passed, the more it seemed like maybe she wasn't telling the truth about the side effects. The girl seemed to be in some sort of pain but wasn't admitting it to anyone.

Sasuke wouldn't talk to anyone, even his brother, so it was anyone's guess what they'd done to his eyes.

Kiba and Hidan said they did the same thing to them as they did to Sakura, but Kiba admitted that breathing through his nose was getting more and more painful. We all worried that he was having an allergic reaction to something, but Sakura checked him over and ruled that out, so people took turns watching over the Inuzuka boy to make sure he was breathing throughout the day and night.

On the other hand, Hidan said his muscles were a bit sore, but he wasn't worried about it. Unlike Sakura, he seemed to be telling the truth. Gaara also wouldn't talk to anyone, but we never expected that he would, so it didn't come as a surprise.

What did, though, was the fact that Deidara and Kisame didn't come back with us. No one knew why they were left at that terrifying facility or if they were still alive at all. Even if Kisame terrifies me and I'm not close with Deidara, I still wouldn't wish what I'd gone through on my worst enemy, so I shared in everyone's worries.

Matsuri helped me eat during dinner since my vision still hadn't returned. The room was quieter than usual, so when the sound of someone nearby shooting out of their chair and rushing away met my ears, I squeezed her hand, "What was that?"

Someone else got up and followed the first person, raising my concern.

"It's Sakura. I think something's-"

Naruto was cut off by the sound of pained screams coming from the direction of the bunks. My fingers started to tremble, and I felt a cold-sweat dust on my skin. She continued for nearly an hour before fainting, leaving Ino to sit with her to make sure she, too, didn't stop breathing.

In the time between dinner and lights out, both Gaara and Hidan also collapsed.

Somehow, I managed to fall asleep, most likely too exhausted from panicking the entire day. A sharp pain shot through my eyes in the middle of the night, and I awoke with a start. It was silent around me because everyone else was either sleeping or quietly watching over one of our downed comrades.

The pain came again, stronger this time, and I grit my teeth as I turned onto my side to hold my head between my shaking hands. It felt like someone was slowly taking a knife and slicing it repeatedly across my eyes and into my head in waves. Despite my efforts to stay quiet, a whimper rose in my chest, and soon I felt a hand atop mine.

"Hinata! Are you okay? What's happening?" It was Naruto. He spoke in a panicked yet still hushed voice. I sensed he'd knelt in front of me between our two beds.

I couldn't possibly form a response with the amount of pain jolting through my head, so I focused on holding my head together with my hands so it wouldn't split apart. He tried talking to me a few more times before he surprised me by climbing onto the bed beside me and wrapping his arms around my trembling body.

The pain was too intense for me to feel embarrassed, and I reacted naturally by pressing my forehead against his chest. One of his hands came up to gently hold the back of my head, and I sensed him saying something to me, but my ears were ringing too loudly to hear. My eyes felt like a flame inside my head was melting them.