Kokoro felt a dull throbbing pain in her stomach. The first thing she felt was pain, as she regained consciousness, before she even opened her eyes.
It wasn’t unbearably painful, it was just there, not hurting too much, but not letting her forget about it either.
Kokoro wondered why her stomach hurt. Had she eaten too much dessert last night?
She slowly opened her eyes and gazed around the room in astonishment. Where was she?
Her gaze traveled around the room. She was in a small room, with bare white walls. She was lying down in a small bed, with a large window to the right. On the right, there was also a small table with a vase with flowers in it.
She looked to the left, and was surprised to see Sasuke sitting there and staring at her with an anxious expression on his face.
“Onii-chan where am I?” she asked him softly, sitting up. She was surprised to find that it hurt to talk.
Sasuke’s expression relaxed and slid back into his blank-emotionless face, and he answered , “You’re in a hospital, Kokoro.”
“A hospital? Onii-chan I just have a stomach ache. Why would I go to the hospital for a stomach ache?” Kokoro asked, puzzled. “Where’s Mother?”
Sasuke’s blank face hardened and he looked away, pain seeping out to be displayed on his face.
Kokoro gasped as she remembered. Mother, Father, they were both dead. And Itachi! Itachi, her beloved brother, had killed them!?
Her eyes filled with tears, and she tried to hold them back, but they trickled out, one by one, until they finally poured out and she gave in to her grief.
She sobbed softly, crying for her Mother, her Father, crying from the pain of betrayal. Sasuke awkwardly put a hand around her shuddering shoulders, comforting her with his touch.
***
Outside the room, The Third Hokage looked inside, his heart heavy with grief for all those who had died, and the two now orphaned children. He shook his head sadly and spoke quietly to the Jonin standing beside him, “It is a sad world when children so young have to witness and bear such things.”
The ninja nodded and said, “But at least they have each other.”
“Yes.”, the Hokage said, “At least they have each other.”
***
Sasuke looked at his little sister, curled up in a small ball under the covers. Kokoro had cried herself to sleep, and had red eyes, but she had a peaceful expression on her face.
Sasuke sighed in relief. He remembered his horror and fear when he had thought that Kokoro had died as well.
Flashback:
Sasuke stood in front of the Uchiha Compound, his face twisted with hardly contained grief. He had come here to check whether everything that had happened was real, and he had found out that it was.
He remembered seeing his parents collapse in front of him, blood streaming from their wounds, and a Kunai knife being plunged into Kokoro’s stomach.
He remembered seeing his neighbors, and relatives being killed in the same ruthless way. He had felt as though he had actually witnessed it all, when he had only been inside Itachi’s terrible jutsu.
Sasuke shook his head, trying to clear it from such thoughts, but they kept creeping back to him. His mother.
His father. His sister. His mother, all dead! Killed by Itachi. He felt a murderous hatred rise inside of him. He would kill Itachi! He would kill him for what he did.
Sasuke was startled out of his thoughts when he saw one of the nurses from the hospital running towards him, yelling his name.
“Sasuke! Sasuke!”
She came to a stop in front of Sasuke, and kneeled over panting for breath.
“Huff, huff, pant huff.”
Sasuke waited for her to get her breath back.
“Whoo,” said the nurse, wiping a hand across her forehead , “I have never run so fast and so hard in my life!”
She straightened to glare at Sasuke.
“Give me a heart attack, will you? Disappearing like that. Come on we have to get back to the hospital.”
The nurse turned around and walked in the direction to the hospital. Seeing that Sasuke wasn’t following, the nurse turned around to look at Sasuke sternly. “Come on, don’t you want to see your sister?
Sasuke stared, startled, shock pulling him out of his grief.
“Sister? My sister is…dead.”
The nurse’s look softened and she said, “Sweetheart, you don’t know do you? Your sister is alive, but she’s in critical condition. We don’t know whether she’ll live or die. The doctor is taking a look at her in room 20-”
Sasuke rushed off before the nurse could finish her sentence.
“-5.” she completed, coughing in the cloud of dust left behind.
“This is not good for my asthma.” the nurse said wearily, and began trudging back to the hospital.
***
Sasuke raced up the steps in the hospital and ran so fast he was almost flying ,racing to room 205.
He looked inside the room and saw his sister, pale and unconscious. She was alive! As he watched, a nurse went into the room, and wheeled her out . Sasuke ran up to the nurse and asked, “Is-is she alright?”
The nurse smiled at Sasuke.
“Yes, but she won’t be moving much for awhile. She’ll stay in the hospital until she’s better.”
Sasuke let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.
He suddenly thought of something, and asked, “Where are you taking her?”
“To her room. You can come along and sit next to her bed, if you want.”
“Thank you.”
Sasuke walked next to the nurse until they reached the room. He opened the door for her and followed anxiously behind.
As the nurse lifted Kokoro out of the rolling bed, Kokoro’s shirt slid open, and Sasuke saw that Kokoro’s whole stomach and chest was bound with tight bandages.
“Why?” said Sasuke, at loss for words. 'Why so much bandages? She- she was healed wasn't she?
The nurse noticed Sasuke’s gaze and said softly, “Your sister was stabbed by a Kunai knife in the stomach. She lost a lot of blood, but the doctor was able to help her. The wound was deep, so she’ll be bedridden for a couple of days, maybe even a week or two, to allow it to heal naturally.”
Sasuke sat on a chair next to Kokoro’s bed and stared at her blankly.
The nurse left the room, quietly closing the door behind her.
Kokoro slowly opened her eyes, after what seemed like ages, and looked around the room.
End of Flashback
Sasuke leaned forward in his chair, carefully studying Kokoro’s face. It was pale, but she was breathing normally and seemed ok.
Suddenly, Kokoro reached out in her sleep out and grabbed Sasuke’s nose.
‘Ack!!’ Sasuke screamed in mental agony, waving his arms about. After a couple of minutes of silent and careful removal of her hand, Sasuke was finally free. He sighed in relief, and sat back in he chair.
Just as quickly as before, Kokoro grabbed Sasuke’s hand and hugged it to her small body, sending Sasuke crashing into the bed.
He tried to gently remove his hand from her grasp, but he heard her whimper softly, a small expression of unhappiness crossing her soft, childish face.
Sasuke sighed heavily, climbing into the bed, careful not to wake her. It wouldn’t hurt to lie there for a little while, right?
The next morning, when the nurse walked into the room, she saw both of them sleeping on their sides, facing each other.
Kokoro was still clutching Sasuke’s hand, a small expression of contentment on her face, her small, shoulder length black hair falling across her face. Sasuke mouth was partly open as he breathed softly , his hand hugging Kokoro to him, as though if he let her go, she would be lost forever.
At that moment, the two looked so peaceful ,it seemed as though everything was alright, as though their life hadn’t just been shattered, and their world torn into a million pieces.
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Chapter notes: I hope this chapter is okay, and not too crowded. I hope you like it! :)
Please review. Criticism is welcome.
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