Restoration: Book 1/3

Chapter 22

My hands shook, but I firmly grabbed his wrists and studied his hands. The injuries there were in the same state and also appeared to have odd dental features.

"Woah, Hinata, take it easy!"

I felt my vision return to normal and nearly fell backward when the wave of exhaustion hit me, but Naruto wrapped an arm around my shoulders and held me upright. Deidara's face was bright red, and he looked like he was about to be sick, "Well? What'd you see?"

My entire body felt hot as I tried to wrap my mind around why they'd put what appeared to be mouths on different parts of his body, and I took a few calming breaths to work through my exhaustion so I wouldn't faint.

"It looks like teeth, but that can't be true, right?"

The red color on the blonde's face paled instantly, and Sasori quickly helped him lay back down as he nearly passed out. His words were weak, "T-Teeth? So what's moving then?"

I shook my head quickly, "I don't know."

The room was filled with the steady sound of light whispers, and I felt bad that Deidara was finding this out in front of so many people, but I didn't have a chance to speak to him in private, so it was too late.

Like Sakura, Hidan and Gaara wouldn't tell us what their modifications were supposed to be. Sasuke claimed he didn't know what ability his new eyes were supposed to give him yet, so only Kiba and I knew the reasoning behind our experiments. Of course, we didn't know what happened to Kisame or why they did what they did to Deidara.

Later that night, after everyone went to bed, I lay awake with my mind racing. The things these adults are doing to us, they're downright inhumane. Not only that, but they seem like something from a science fiction film or something, not real life.

On a whim, I activated my eye's new skill again and turned my head to try and see through the wall that would lead out of The Program's area. I couldn't tell who it was, but there appeared to be an adult woman in some kind of cell or a padded room. She was sitting on the edge of a bed with her head in her hands.

"Can't sleep?"

My eyes deactivated, and my teeth grit as the migraine from earlier returned, and I turned over to face Naruto, who'd been the one to whisper and break my concentration, with a hand to my forehead. His blue eyes seemed bright even in the dark room as he stared with an unreadable expression.

I turned onto my side with a frown and whispered, "It's just all so unbelievable."

He nodded in agreement. We stared at one another silently before he replied, "Do you think they'll let us go in the end?"

My brow furrowed. I desperately wanted to reassure him that everything would be okay, but I owe it to him after all the stress I've caused to be honest, "I'll be surprised if they do."

To my shock, he inched a bit closer in his sleeping bag to pull one of my hands into his with a surprisingly serious face, "Whatever happens, let's promise to be there for each other, okay?"

My eyes widened, and for some reason, I hesitated. Even if I've come clean to him about everything, I still can't justify putting him in even more danger.

His grip tightened, pulling me from my anxious thoughts, "Friends, right? I've got your back, and you've got mine?"

I couldn't stop myself from nodding in agreement, allowing his words to bring the smallest bit of hope that we'd somehow make it out alive in the end.

As I was showering the next morning, I was surprised to hear Sakura whisper to me through the thin curtain. We were still the only ones in the bathing area as we'd always been the earliest risers of the group.