sunshineverse | [Open] There's nothing to do here all just lie and complain in bed at the hospital

Who: Hyuuga Hinata and OTA
Where: Konoha Hospital
When: July 13 (late) to July 26th.
Notes: Polar Bear cub summons will growl at anyone who enters her room, you’ve been warned.

It’s late when Hinata comes to. At first she isn’t sure where she is, the shadows are wrong and the bed too lumpy, but it’s the smell of antiseptic that clues her in. She’s in the hospital. She remembers being impaled during an ambush after returning to the mainland from Yukigakure. She remembers the blade sinking in and her numb reaction as she stumbled back off the blade, blood seeping through her clothes, between her clutching fingers. She can’t feel any pain though and that is a little terrifying as she shoves her blankets away and tries to get into a position where she can pull her hospital shirt up and look at her stomach.

From the little light coming in through the window she can make out the outline of stitches. The wound at been too much for them to just heal. It would scar, but that’s hardly a problem, it isn’t her first nor will it be her last scar in the years to come. She prods at the area around the stitches and breathes a sigh of relief when the tender flesh throbs painfully. Falling back against her pillows, Hinata cheers a little inside and tries to find a comfortable spot so she might fall asleep again.

The snuffling sound near the edge of her bed though doesn’t really help, nor does the appearance of a pale snout over the edge and then a pair of larger claws. She has a vague feeling like she’s trapped in a really bad horror movie and then the snout nuzzles her cheek and she realizes it’s one of the cubs. She’d made her first summoning contract just before the ambush and the cubs had stayed with her even after being stabbed. She smiles at the bear and has to wonder how the heck did Sasuke convince the hospital staff to let them stay?

Lifting a hand she scratches behind his ears feeling oddly at peace now that she knew the bears were still here and not some creepy horror movie monster meant to finish her off. She’s perfectly content to allow the cub stay half on her bed nuzzling her face but the medic that comes in has other ideas and shoos him back to the floor, which earns him a growl. The medic checks her vitals asks her a few questions, changes her IV and leaves her alone again. The cub comes back, paces along the side of her bed before curling up as if he was guarding her.

She doesn’t have a chance to see if anything changes as she drifts off again, only to wake again when its morning, or at least daylight and both cubs are polishing off the remainder of what had to be the hospitals offering to their stomachs. Her nose wrinkles, it smells a bit like rotting fish. And it makes her stomach roll in protest, thank heavens there’s nothing in it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's never not amusing to see how much his teammates adore their favourite foods -- Sasuke might like foods, but he's pretty sure he doesn't stare at it the way Hinata and Naruto do at cinnamon buns and ramen, respectively. He lets her get a little deeper into the dessert before he moves to the bag of fish, lowering it to the floor to try and keep at least some of the fishy smell down.

At least they're fresh, so the smell isn't too bad when he opens the bag, laying two fish down for the bears, at which point it occurs to him belatedly:

"... they won't have problems with the bones, will they?"

She nibbles at the piece of cinnamon bun. She strains a little to see how the bears handle the fish that Sasuke put down. From her angle it looks like they're handling them just fine. The look they give Sasuke, after seemingly inhaling the fish is precious though. Or at least it is to her. It could probably be interpretted as being somewhat predatory with they way they're eyeing the table and licking their lips.

"I think they handled the bones fine?"

Sasuke is also considering whether he ought not to have gotten more fish, with the way the bears are looking at him now. He supposes they're probably hungry, having been cooped up standing guard over Hinata for so long -- maybe the hospital has something else they can eat. Of course, hospital food is less than palatable compared to fresh fish, but presumably hungry bears can make do with mystery meat until better options come around.

"They did," he agrees with Hinata's question after a moment passes and the bears don't seem to be at risk of choking. "I'll have to let the medic-nin in charge of the hall know to bring more food in for them as well as you."

He glances at her with a somewhat strained smile, adding: "If I'm really persuasive, they might be willing to warm up those buns for you if they get cold later."

She's actually amazed that they didn't poof back to where they came from once she got injured. But they would have to make do with whatever could be scrounged up until they felt she was well enough to leave. But the company was nice, and she wasn't in any rush to get rid of them anytime soon.

"Good," she murmurs with a satisfied smile as she sinks back into the pillow.

"Not right now, I want to know how you're doing?" She sounds stronger here, clearly not interested in hearing him say he's fine if that isn't the case. Not that she actually has the energy to poke at him if he fibs, which he probably knows despite her acting.

Sasuke is ready to resume full-time fussing over Hinata now that the bears are squared away, his usual terse bedside manner considerably mitigated by familiarity with his patient, but he's thrown off by that question. He blinks, then shoots her a perplexed look.

"I'm fine, obviously," he says, and if there's irritation in his tone it has more to do with himself than anything Hinata has said. "I'm not the one who's going to be stuck on bed-rest for at least another week."

He's her teammate and best friend, she was bound to ask at some point how he was doing. Besides she was in good hands at the hospital and he knew it. Between the staff and her bears, there wasn't much to worry about. She'd heal, they'd repair the damage they could and then the rest would be up to her body.

She merely raises an eyebrow at him but smiles as if to say she knows better. "I have Takeo and Takeshi it won't be that bad."

They've known each other far too long for Sasuke not to catch the undertone to her expression, but he's grateful for her not insisting on following up on it. He's had enough of that with others already, and whatever he feels, there's no doubt in his mind that Hinata is the priority at this point in time, and especially in her own hospital room.

He can't resist smiling a bit at her words, though, amusement filtering into his face. "Are you trying to say that summons who can't talk are better company than me?"

"Maybe sometimes. They spend a great deal less time trying to be my doctor anyway." She's teasing him of course. There are very few times that Hinata isn't happy to see her best friend even if he is playing doctor. The silence did eventually get to be too much and more than once has a medic walked in on her talking to her bears as if they could respond to her. They were young though so there was a chance wasn't there? Kakashi's summons could talk after all.

"Hey, I'm definitely more trained in medical ninjutsu than they are," he protests, though he can recognize the teasing tone in her voice, and it's a relief to see Hinata well enough to engage her sense of humour. "But I suppose I can give them my frequent-customer card for the bakery so they can bring you snacks."

"I know, I know. But they're only bad habit is crowding in when a new staff member comes in." And staring down her cousin, Obito, and Kushina. Well everyone...They have a lot of people to get used to once she gets out. She loved her bears though and she knew they cared a lot about her too. Even as Takeshi twitched his paw swiping across his snout with an inch she knew they wouldn't leave her here unattended for something like cinnamon rolls. "You could try but I don't think they'd leave if you did."

Sasuke fully approves of the bears' protectiveness thus far, young as they are, and his expression says as much when he looks at them next. It looks like they've cleaned up the fish he'd brought with speed and managed not to choke on any of the bones; he's probably going to have to bring more next time. How much do growing bears eat?

"Summons are supposed to look out for you," he says. "Though hopefully they'll get used to the hospital staff in time."

"I don't think they'll be leaving just because I've been released from the hospital so they'll have time." She shifts a little lower in the bed. As much as she was enjoying Sasuke's company, all the joking and laughing was making her a little tired. Something that the bears seemed to be picking up on as the edged a little closer to the bed.

"No, they shouldn't," he agrees, giving the bears an approving look. It does seem like Hinata is reaching the end of her energy for the time being, though, so he reaches out to give the back of her hand a reassuring touch, letting some of the relief that she's on the mend show in his face.

"You should rest more," he says. "I'll come back to visit whenever I can."

"I will, I promise," she murmurs around a yawn. Her eyes drooping a little as she settles into the warm cocoon of the hospital blankets. "I'll hold you to that."

[Open] There's nothing to do here all just lie and complain in bed at the hospital

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