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The following day, I hurried to Hitomi's early in the morning and waited here for Naruto who arrived around 11 o'clock. He explained to me why he was there at all. Actually, only his sensei should come here, because he had to do something here due to an order and Naruto begged him all the time to come along, until his sensei probably gave in and brought him with him to sunagakure. "Unfortunately, we won't be here long..."
Finally, he turned to Hitomi and his cheeky grin disappeared all at once. "You're not to blame for that, Naruto." "Of course I am!" he brought out in a huff, "after all, I let her talk me into bringing her to you while we were fighting instead of dropping her off somewhere else."
I wonder if she's proud that I'm starting to change.
"Here, you can have a never-expiring ichiraku ramen voucher from me. When you're awake, I will pay a bowl of ichiraku ramen for you because those are the best ramen I know. There's nothing better than this. So wake up quickly." Unfortunately, his sensei quickly picked him up again and I said goodbye to him. "See you around!" "Yeah..."
And off he went... that was quicker than I thought.
"By the way... Grandma Chiyo was able to convince the others to let me be appointed kazekage. I'm really glad she's giving me this chance. The others also agreed, among others also because Kankuro himself had no interest in the post. I understand that... But this is the first step for me to gain the trust and respect of the residents."
"That... makes me... happy..."
What?
I widened my eyes in shock and could hardly believe it. "Hitomi..." Several times I blinked to make sure that this moment was real right now. And it was. "Gaara..." "Hitomi... You're finally awake again." I couldn't believe it. She really had opened her eyes again.
"W-Why are you crying...?" "Am I?", I asked her, grabbing my face. She was right. I was crying. The more I tried to wipe away my tears, the worse it got. "You're finally awake again... I was so worried about you." She explained to me how she listened to me all the time about all the things I told her, which made me really happy. So coming here and talking to her every day had not been in vain.
She always wanted to answer me, to somehow signal that she was listening to me, but I guess her body didn't obey her. When she wanted to get up and tried to stand on her feet, it went terribly wrong, because her legs could not hold her weight and she threatened to fall. With the help of my sand, however, I didn't let that happen, catching her in time and putting her back in the bed.
"Wait here a minute. I'll get a doctor." As quickly as I ran out of Hitomi's hospital room, I came back with a doctor and I reported the situation to him. "It may be that the feeling in her legs is not quite there yet. For now, she should be on a wheelchair until her legs are also fully recovered," the doctor explained, "But first, I would do an examination once, now that the patient is awake." "So will I be able to walk again?"
Hitomi's voice sounded anxious and unsure. Just like she was when we first met. "Of course so don't worry. It is, as I said before, just a temporary condition." Visibly relieved, I exhaled at the doctor's words. The doctor then began to fully examine Hitomi. Most of her injuries seemed to be as good as healed.
Only the one on her face hadn't.
Three visible scars appeared at the place where I injured her with my claw. These were now constant proof to me of what I had done to her. "I'll give the results to one of the nurses to get a wheelchair." Smiling kindly, he said goodbye and we were alone again. "Let's fight together for a better future," I extended my hand to her, "and this time I won't make the same mistake.... let's become friends again and give our all together hand in hand for our future."
