The Lost Flower of the Hidden Leaf (WIP)

Chapter Twelve; Cursed

Cold battled heat. Two consuming forces threatened to collide within her. Yet Katana felt at peace. There was an inexplicable harmony between her mind and heart, filling her entire being. Was this what it was like to die? If so, dying wasn't so bad. It didn't matter if he survived or not, anyway. Not a single person would care or shed a tear at her death.

He would. They both would. What am I doing? I can't give up and die. They need me. They're... in danger. Oh, no. No, no, I have to help them! I have to get to them! Come on, open your eyes. Open. Your. Eyes!

Katana blinked against the bright light above her. She fervently prayed this wasn't the afterlife's beckoning call. A groan escaped her when she moved. The pain tearing at her limbs was good, though. It meant she wasn't dead.
She carefully turned her head, realizing then her hair was no longer in a bun in her neck, but spread loosely around her head. She was lying in a bed, underneath warm covers. The pillow felt so soft. Part of her wanted to give in to sleep, but she absolutely refused to do so. She couldn't just lie down and take a nap. Sasuke and Naruto were in trouble!

Through squinted eyes, Katana perceived what appeared to be an IV drip and a machine. It had a screen with several lines and numbers on it. A monitor, perhaps? It was definitely the source of the obnoxious beeping noise she kept hearing. Why was it so loud? She tried to push herself up, but her body screamed, protesting in agony. All she could do was lift her head from the pillow.
Katana took in her surroundings. She was in a circular room with white and green walls and purple double doors. Sunlight penetrated from the windows, but there was also a light fixture on the ceiling. That explained the brightness she saw when waking up. Katana turned her head to the other side. Her eyes widened.

"S-Sasuke?"

No amount of pain could have kept the girl cloistered to the bed when she saw her best friend fastened to a respirator. She grunted, attempting to get up to a sitting position, but the covers weighed a ton. The quickening pace and beeping of the monitor reacting to her movements were really starting to vex her. Katana traced her arms until she found a bunch of cables and yanked them off her. She yelped when the IV shot out from underneath her skin. Blood stained the white sheets, but she couldn't care less.
At last free from that damned apparatus and the now silent monitor, Katana slid from underneath the covers. Her body hit the floor as she clumsily broke her fall with her hands. She dragged herself toward Sasuke's bed. It was only a few feet, but she was already exhausted.

"Katana! What in heaven's name are you doing?"

A pair of firm hands grabbed hold of her. She glanced sideways and recognized Team 7's squad leader. Kakashi pulled Katana up and tried to get her back into her own bed, but she pushed him away the moment her feet touched the gray tiles. She stumbled toward Sasuke, nearly collapsing before she reaches bed. Why did she feel so weak?
Katana sat sideways, propping herself up with one hand over Sasuke's unconscious figure. She caressed his dirty raven hair with trembling fingers. A white bandage covered his eyes. He was breathing too fast, desperate to take in every bit of oxygen the machine pulsed out.

"He'll be fine," said Kakashi as he came up behind.

"What... happened?" she asked, panting from the exertion.

"Nothing you need to worry about. Come on, let's get you back to bed."

Katana smacked his hand away. She knew she was no match for him in the state she was in, but if he believed she was going to leave Sasuke, he had another thing coming. Upon seeing her insistent glare, Kakashi sighed. He pulled over a cart holding several syringes and vials. 

"Fine," he said, "but let me clean you up and redress the bandages. You've reopened some of your wounds and ripped your IV out. If Sasuke wakes up now and sees you like this, he'll have a fit."