Restoration: Book 2/3

Chapter 1

Since our ensemble cast has been split up, this story will alternate between a few characters' point of view.

The third book will be posted with each POV as a separate story, so please bear with the multi-POV for this one. 

Thank you for reading!

-Hinata's POV-

I awoke with a start but couldn't move my body. My eyes opened wide, and I looked around in a panic. Judging by the nearby machines and the IV in my arm, I was hospitalized.

The memory of what happened came to me, and my entire body jolted when I tried to shoot out of bed, only to wince at the incredible pain that came through my torso. Through winced eyes, I saw that thick straps were holding my body down. My hands were free, but a loud "clunk" cut through the air when I tried to move them, and I felt a tug. I was handcuffed on one hand on top of the restraints.

What exactly did this hospital think I was going to do? Go crazy?

My free hand gingerly moved to lift the thin medical gown I was wearing, and I saw a thin scar running down my stomach between my navel and chest. Judging by its state of healing, I had to have been out for a very long time because there weren't even stitches holding it together.

"I'm your brother!"

Neji's desperate confession replayed in my mind, and tears rose. The heart monitor's beeping sped up at my emotional distress, but I ignored it. So Neji was the son of my mother and Madara. That'd make him around twenty-two or twenty-three, pushing Madara's age restriction limit on The Program applicants.

He had to have applied to meet me because the odds of us randomly meeting in a place like that were slim to none. If that's the case, I couldn't understand why he waited as long as he did to tell me his true identity.

The door to the room opened quickly, and a nurse let out a slight sound of surprise when I met her eye, "You're...You're awake!"

I nodded, "Where am I?"

She shook her head quickly, "I'm not allowed to talk to you," Then she turned and hurried out of the room. A confused expression rose to my face, but I didn't have to wait long before a different person entered, the same nurse following silently behind them with a red face.

"Well, I'll be...You are awake!"

I tore my eyes from the excited nurse and wordlessly greeted the new arrival. It was a tall woman with tan skin, red hair, and dark brown eyes. Her attire told me she was a doctor and not a nurse.

"I'm going to be honest, Dear; I was beginning to worry you were a lost cause."

"Can you tell me what's going on?" I tugged at the cuff on my wrist, "Why am I strapped down like this?"

The woman rested the clipboard in her arms against her hip and stepped forward to adjust a few things on the computer controlling the IV in my arm and heart monitor, "My name's Dr. Uchimaki, but you can call me Tayuya. I prefer a more casual approach with my patients."

She paused as though waiting for me to respond, only to continue when I didn't, "Multiple of your ribs shattered, and your lungs ended up damaged by the pieces. By the time you got here, I didn't think you would make it, but you pulled through. You're a fighter, aren't you?"

My brow furrowed as I tried to forget the awful events that led to my injuries. Hidan likely couldn't care less if he killed me. The way he'd been charging me with that knife so he could deal a finishing blow said it all.