Chapter Seven
I'm floating…I feel so free…like I'm flying…I'm floating in this darkness…did I save him? Am I the hero of this tale…? If he is alive…then I don't mind being dead…Itachi…. live for the both of us…my heart will always be yours…Kyuuei thought to herself as she floated along a dream-like blackness. It was warm and comfortable and she didn't feel any pain from her burns or wounds. She opened her eyes to see that the only thing giving off any light was the unearthly blue glow coming from her own presence. She looked at the distance where two more blue glows form in the distance before finally taking the shape of her parents.
'My darling daughter, I am glad to see you again.' Her mother whispered softly, her voice echoing throughout the darkness. She pressed herself into her mother's arms and smiled.
'My little Kyuuei, we are so proud of all that you've accomplished. But you shouldn't give up living so easily.' Her father told her.
'We are always watching over you, my sweet darling girl, and we hear the prayers you send to us.' A tear fell from Kyuuei's eye as she hugged her mother even tighter.
'I miss you both…so much…' she whimpered softly. Her father kissed her softly on the forehead and smiled.
'Bu we are always here in your heart, Kyuuei-chan. Tell me something…if you could give Itachi one thing what would it be?' She blinked in confusion and thought it over.
'I would give him my eyes…so that he could be happy again…I would trade him eye sights…' she answered, completely sure of her answer. Her mother smiled.
'That is what you gave him, Kyuuei. You willed him to see and now you will not be able to see any longer. Do you understand, my daughter?' Her mother asked. She nodded and smiled softly.
'I understand. If I can stay with him and he can be happy, I would give him anything. I love him, mama…' She whispered. Her mother smiled and nodded, as did her father.
'Then go back to him with our blessings, Kyuuei.' The woman answered. They all embraced each other once more before everything faded into bright, comforting white light…then all went dark.
"Kyuuei! Kyuuei, wake up! Please, Kyuuei!" She heard Itachi calling her from beyond the darkness. She knew that she wouldn't be able to see him even if she opened her eyes so she focused on trying to move her arm. All she succeeded in doing was twitch her fingers. It felt like her muscles were screaming at her to rest, but being stubborn, she refused to listen. She felt someone grasp her hand and she did all she could to grip back.
"Itachi?" She rasped as if her voice hadn't been used in a while. She heard a few audible sighs of relief go up around the room.
"Kyuuei…Oh, Kyuuei, thank the gods you're alive…" Itachi whispered. It sounded like he'd been crying, or that he was about to. She smiled slightly.
"I saved you. You're alive." She rasped happily. She heard someone snort, as if they were scoffing at her statement.
"And you nearly killed yourself doing it. Next time, don't be so stupid as to use a technique that puts you in a coma for nearly two months." A sarcastic voice called from the corner. She let out a raspy chuckle.
"Good morning to you too Sasuke." She called back. Finally, just to test herself, she opened her eyes. Everyone let out a collective shocked gasp when she revealed her glassy white eyes.
"She…she's blind!" Someone gasped. Kyuuei laughed softly and nodded, waving her hand as if it was no big deal.
"I traded my eyesight for Itachi's. As long as he's happy, I'll be happy." She grinned. Itachi kissed her gently on the lips and she kissed him back. "I'm going to say this again, Itachi…you smell nice." Everyone chuckled. Itachi just wrapped his arms around her.
"At least now I'll be able to protect you and keep your from getting into a position like this again." He whispered into her hair. She smiled and nodded.
"But I'll get in the way a whole lot more…and by the way, Sasuke?" She called to the raven-haired boy with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked up at her, forgetting she was blind, but she got the idea. "Next time, don't be so stupid as to make me use a technique that puts me in a coma for two months." She grinned at him. A couple people in the room chuckled softly and Sasuke blushed. Itachi kissed the top of her head softly as someone else came in. Something warm was put into her lap and she furrowed her eyebrows, confused.
"What's this?" She heard Itachi ask. Someone chuckled.
"That is a puppy. She's already trained as a Seeing Eye dog and, when asked, wanted to help someone like Kyuuei who would sacrifice everything for those she loved." A woman explained, barely hiding a laugh. Kyuuei smiled and pet the puppy's head gently, laughing softly when it licked her fingers. She felt Itachi's smile at her reaction.
"What's her name?" The blind girl asked, petting the puppy's soft fur. The little dog wriggled in joy at getting so much loving attention.
"Her name is Kyoui. If you spend enough time with her, her language will become clear to you and you'll be able to talk with her whenever you want. She'll be your eyes too." The woman explained. "There's a technique she'll be able to teach you when you're able to speak with her that will allow you to see what she's seeing. My brother hasn't even perfected this, but he has perfected some other techniques with his dog, Akamaru." Kyuuei smiled, hugging Kyoui close to her chest.
"I'll take good care of her, I promise." She vowed. Suddenly, she got a small idea and concentrated her chakra into her eyes. She could see fuzzy outlines of everything. Itachi was standing by her side; she could recognize his outline anywhere. Around the room there was Kakashi standing with Sakura and Naruto and Sasuke was standing in the corner. There was also a woman standing there that she didn't recognize. She looked down at her lap and there was an adorable little puppy with a spot of some sort over one eye. She traced it with her finger and saw the woman look at her in surprise.
"What color is this spot?" She asked. Everyone looked at her, surprised. Itachi waved a hand in front of her face experimentally. She flinched back at how close his hand was. He stepped back, alarmed.
"Kyuuei-chan? Can you actually see? Even if you're blind?" She looked at him and blinked.
"You never thought of concentrating your chakra into your eyes, Itachi? That's all I did and I can only see faint outlines. Besides, it's hard to keep up." She told him, deactivating her new technique.
"Anyway." She heard the woman again and tilted her head so that she could hear the woman better. "Kyoui is a tan color with a brownish-gold spot over her eye." She explained. Kyuuei grinned and kissed the puppy's nose.
"You and I are going to have a lot of fun, Kyoui!" She giggled. Itachi sighed softly and put his hand on the top of her head.
"We're going to need to get supplies to take care of a dog now, Kyuuei-chan. But only and I mean only if you rest up so that you can get out of the hospital sooner." Kyuuei's pale eyes widened and she immediately curled up with her puppy and closed her eyes, causing a few people to laugh. Itachi looked over at renowned veterinarian, Inuzuka Hana and smiled. "Thank you for making her happy, Hana." Hana crossed her arms over her chest and grinned at the boy she used to know.
"Well, if she has to put up with you all day long, I figured she needed something to give you a pain in the a-" Kakashi put a hand on her mouth gently.
"Hana." He laughed nervously. "There are three genin in the room with you as well, you know." Hana grinned and blushed, waving her hand around.
"Bah, they've probably heard it all before. Well, come on, pack, we've got to get back to work." She called to the pack of her dogs surrounding her. They all left in a flurry of fur, leaving only team seven and Itachi in the hospital room.
"I'm surprised that you've recovered so fast, Itachi. For getting a kunai stabbed through your heart, it was only luck that you had a girl that was willing to give up her life's energy to save you and take your growing blindness upon herself." Kakashi told the younger man. Itachi blinked and nodded, looking at the sleeping girl contently snuggled up with her new puppy.
"I didn't want her to do that…I wanted her to stay safe…" He whispered. Naruto scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest.
"And the only reason she didn't was because of Sasuke-teme." He growled. Sasuke tackled the boy, yelling out incoherent things while trying to suffocate him. Sakura tackled Sasuke back and Naruto lay on the floor, wide-eyed. Kyuuei mumbled in her sleep and Kyoui growled protectively. Itachi pet the puppy on the head, trying to reassure it that Kyuuei wasn't in any danger. Kakashi picked Sasuke up like a football and gave Itachi one of his trademark eye smiles.
"We're going to have a small talk outside. Excuse us." He politely exited out of the room. Itachi pointed at their retreating forms, confused.
"Does my brother always do that?" Sakura blinked and grinned.
"Yes. But we love him anyway." Was her response. She helped Naruto to his feet before dragging him off. "Come on, Naruto. Kyuuei-san is never going to get any rest if we're in here. See you later, Itachi-san." She called.
"Y-Yeah! And tell Kyuuei-chan we said 'hi' to her when she wakes up!" He called as he was being dragged away. Itachi smiled softly and looked back at his sleeping love. It was time to start over, start a new life, and this time…
I'm going to do everything right… And the girl smiled softly in her dreams…content.