青い骨の美 - The Beauty of Blue Bones

Chapter 20

Spring
Friday—6:34M

"So!" Naruto's boisterous clap made the two quiet individuals jump [moreso in Hinata's case, Sasuke simply glared at the man] as he picked up one of the available chairs and plopped it down before straddling it and leaning against its back. "I would like to assume that two days was sufficient time for everyone to recoup and mentally prepare themselves for what we're about to do? Hinata, are you feeling better?"

Pulling the sleeves of her shirt over her hand, and brushing her hair out of her face as she curled in on herself while pushing another sushi roll into her mouth, she nodded slowly. "As ready as I can ever be." Her manners were adorable, a habit she would not be letting go of any time soon. She raised her hand to cover her mouth as she spoke, completely missing the somewhat amused and softened looks she was receiving. "Of course, there are some things that we don't necessarily have at the moment, that is all due to the fact that we don't exactly know what it is that we'll need until I wake up."

Unfurling the bandages that were firmly wrapped around what little remained of his left appendage, being careful to turn away from her so she wouldn't stare [bless her heart, she hadn't seen the horrors of the jagged scarred flesh and he'd like to keep it that way], Sasuke grunted. "You've prepared everything?" He used a pair of forceps and a cotton pad soaked in saline to clean the area. Sasuke was on strict instructions from Tsunade to keep the area cleaned more than usual in preparation for the operation he would undoubtedly undergo sooner rather than later—he didn't like it either.

"What is there to prepare more than my psyche?" She looked down into her plate, four rolls remained for her to eat, yet she could not find it in herself to consume them. "Would you like some help?" She barely blinked, or looked at him, being careful to keep her eyes on his face despite how nervous that made her feel. He was obviously self conscious about his 'disfigurement' even if he were to scoff at that notion.

"I'm fine." He shook his head as he carefully began wrapping his limb again.

"We're going to be in your room checking on you very often the moment you fall asleep. I don't know what we should be expecting, or if anything would happen at all, but we shouldn't be completely lax just in case something happens." Naruto ran a hand through his blond hair, tugging on the growing locs as he stared at his two friends. "We're just as anxious as you are to start this, Hinata, it would be understandable if you decide to delay the first trial for another week."

"No, that's alright. This has been going on for too long as it is, and I want to get it over with. The longer we wait, the more hesitant I'll be to do it." She shifted in her spot, "I avoided sleeping last night—that would ensure that I'd enter a state of deep sleep faster than usual. We don't have a backup plan for this, so neither of us can really mess anything up."

"Should we set a timer? Surely it would be a good idea to wake you up after a certain amount of time." He turned to Sasuke, the question directed at him since he's had more history and experience with Hinata's more abrupt and reluctant possessions.

"You can't wake her once she's in that state." Sasuke frowned, "you simply have to let it happen and hope that it's over before long."

"Unfortunately." Hinata's expression was a mirror of his own. "The most glaring obstacle, and scariest aspect for me at least, is that there is no telling how long I'll be asleep for. This is also going to be completely different from what you saw, Sasuke."

"What do you mean? How different could this be—obviously we know that it's more dangerous, you told us one of the consequences of 'going under'—but how much 'different' are we talking about?" Naruto's eyebrows were furrowed as he listened to her. He knew that there was something Hinata wasn't telling them; something that should probably be talked about before it's too late. He had this awful feeling in his stomach, a sense of foreboding that was paired with and amplified by Kurama's agitation as she continuously beat around the bush. He didn't know how to approach her on the matter, however, he wasn't as blunt as Sasuke, or cunning like Shikamaru. He'll simply talk to Sasuke about it.