Chapter 9: The Storyline

I woke up early next morning, grunting at my lack of proper sleep. the sun was shining brightly on the village and birds were singing happily. The village's morning happy vibes put me in an instantly good mood. I felt calm while laying in my bed, under my covers, enjoying the sound of the birds chirping outside my window. I didn't want to end this peaceful moment but I had to get up and go to work. Nowadays I only take opening shifts early in the morning so that I can go to the academy on time. It was pretty exhausting attending school, training and working part time but you do what you have to do.

I left the apartment looking significantly better than when I woke up. I was wearing my usual ninja gear with my short hair down. I walked the streets of Konoha, smiling at anyone I made eye contact with. I wasn't doing it on purpose. It just became a habit over time. Walking into the flower shop, I greeted Mrs. Yamanaka. She smiled at me and handed me an apron. We didn't share many words, just the usual, before she left me to work. Time passed slowly since almost no one came in this early in the morning. I decided that I could leave the cashier for a couple of seconds and head into the back room to organize it. Just as I walked in, I heard the door opening and someone walking in. I was about to walk back out when I froze in my place. I was face to face with Kakashi. He looked at me with an emotionless gaze and my heart shattered all over again. I can't do this right now. I looked at him mirroring his emotionless gaze. "leave the money at the counter." I said and turned back into the backroom. I closed the door after me and fell to the floor. I didn't think it would hurt this much to see him again. I refused to let my tears out not wanting to deal with a red puffy face. I took deep breaths and collected my thoughts. This is for the best.

When I heard the door close again, I walked back out. I was relieved to see that he left. I took the money he left at the cashier and put it where it belongs. Today's going to be a long day.

Once my shift was over, I walked out of the shop thinking of what I had to do next. I needed to deal with my malnutrition and my blood pressure. Technically if I deal with my malnutrition, it will help with my blood pressure as well so we'll start with that. To the hospital it is! I walked through the busy streets till I reached the hospital. I ducked inside the building thankful for being away from the crowds outside. I took a deep breath and headed over to the nurse in the front desk. She looked at me and the blood seemed to drain from her face. "HEY! YOU'RE THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE." She screamed, alerting all the people in the room. I sweat dropped at her reaction and scratched the back of my head. "Hi again." I laughed sheepishly. "I want to book an appointment please." I said still smiling with embarrassment. "WHAT?! YOU TALK JAPANESE!" More people started looking at us. I chuckled filling with even more embarrassment, "yes, I do. But can you please stop screaming." She looked around realizing the scene she caused. She started again, this time in a way calmer tone. "Sorry about that, hehehe. you said you wanted to book an appointment?" I nodded at her. I ended up with an appointment at 3 o'clock. After she took down my information, I left the hospital and decided to go to the academy.

-Time skip-

I knocked on the door and waited for Iruka to answer. I was 2 hours late but at least I'm here now. Seems like my trip to the hospital took longer than I expected. I heard a 'come in' from the other side and I walked in. "sorry I'm late. Can I take a seat?" I asked respectfully. He thankfully didn't scream at me and just nodded. I walked in and sat in my usual seat next to Sasuke. Naruto wasn't here yet which is weird. He is usually here on time. My eyes widened at my realization. Today is the first episode. OMG IT'S FINALLY STARTING. I NEED TO SEE THE STONE FACES. EEEEEEP!!!! I excitedly pushed Sasuke away so that I can look out the window. I couldn't believe I was seeing this in person. The great stone faces had splashes of paint all over them. I laughed at the scene in front of me. I could see an orange blob jumping from building to building in the distance. I was snapped out of my entertainment with the feeling of eyes on my back. I looked around to see Sasuke standing behind his seat that I'm currently occupying, glaring at me. turns out, the whole class was watching me with a mix of curiosity and annoyance. "he he he… sorry" I said as I got back to my seat. Sasuke scoffed and sat back down, still glaring at me. I hated the way he was looking at me so to distract him, I just shrugged and pointed to the stone faces. He paused his staring for a second to look at where I was pointing. He smirked at the scene and went back to his emotionless state. It's going to happen anytime now. I sat back and looked at Sasuke. He looked at me with an emotionless gaze. I watched Iruka turn around and started my count down. I put three fingers up, then two, then one and I pointed at the door. Just as I pointed to it, a ninja came busting in telling Iruka about Naruto. He rushed out after the ninja, leaving all the students in their seats. I looked away from the scene to look at Sasuke. He was staring at me with a calculating gaze. "How did you know?" he asked. I just shrugged and smiled. "I know a lot of things, little ducky." I said as I poked his forehead. His eyes widened for a second before they turned to a glare. "What do you mean by that?" I just laughed and got up to go to the bathroom, feeling Sasuke's glare on my back the whole way out.

After my little potty break, I walked back in to see the whole class standing in a line. Iruka looked at me, "Elle just in time. I was about to call your name. Can you..." I didn't let him finish as I transformed into a perfect replica of him. His eyes widened, "Okay, then… I guess it's your turn Hinata." I walked back to my seat, ignoring the stares I got, and let my head rest in my arms. It wasn't long before I drifted off into some much-needed sleep.

After what felt like seconds, I felt myself being shaken awake by someone. "hey, get up. school's over." I just grunted and turned away from the person, barely comprehending what they said. "what a drag… if you don't get up, I'm leaving you here." My brain cells started to work again and I just knew I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. That didn't prevent me from still pretending to be asleep. Here's the thing, I get too insecure to sleep around people since I don't know what I do when I'm asleep. It's truly a miracle that I was able to sleep in class today but now that I'm aware of my surroundings again, I was less than hesitant to show my sleepy self to anyone. It's weird, I know. I waited in that position for a couple of minutes till I heard Shikamaru sigh and leave the classroom. I waited a couple of seconds to make sure he was gone before I got up and rushed to the first reflective surface I could find. I made sure I looked normal before I walked out of the classroom and out the building.

I wasn't running late to my appointment just yet so I made my way slowly towards the hospital. Upon my arrival, I smiled at the nurse and she directed me to where I'm going to meet the doctor. "he's going to be here shortly. Just let me ask you some questions before he gets here." I nodded and she proceeded to ask the standard set of questions. She also measured my height, weight and blood pressure, the latter being fairly low. After a couple of minutes of me waiting by myself in the room, sitting on the chair in front of the doctor's desk, he finally walked in. He paused a second at the door and seemed to recognize me. Do I know him? I don't remember him? Maybe he's the doctor that treated me when I was here before. He sat down on his seat and a sweet smile was plastered on his face. We exchanged greetings and he asked me why I came to see him. "Is this about one of your attacks?" I widened my eyes at his question. He was the doctor that treated me before for sure. I'll have to ask him how he did it later. It could be useful if I get another attack. I shook my head at him and started talking. "I'm here because of something else." He nodded at me to keep going. "For almost a year now, I haven't been able to eat anything without throwing up right after eating." His face turned into a serious one as he began asking questions about my last check-up. "well, the last time I got a check-up was about a year ago but there was nothing wrong with me, except for a vitamin D deficiency but I don't think that's related." He got a thoughtful look on his face. "Can you tell me about your eating habits? What types of foods do you eat and how often? It might help us understand why this is happening." Can I tell him the truth? No, I have to tell him. If I really want to get better, I have to tell him. I took a deep breath, "I don't eat often but when I do eat it's usually sugar free, low sodium foods. A lot of fruits too." he nodded and took a look at my results, "it seems like your blood pressure is 80/50. That's considered really low. Did you eat before taking this?" I shook my head, listening for any useful advice he might give me about fixing my blood pressure. "When was the last time you ate?" I needed to think about it for a bit. Seems like the last time I ate was about a week ago with Kakashi. I guess that's pretty bad. I looked at the floor, avoiding the doctor's gaze. "about a week ago." His eyes widened in shock before he looked at my charts again, "You weigh 38 kg!? that's not normal! I'm going to have to get into contact with your guardian." I glared at him. "A doctor is forced to keep his patient's information private. If you tell anyone without my consent, I will make sure to end your career as a medic." He just shook his head. "I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to but I'm going to have to direct you to a nutritionist after this." I nodded at him and dropped my glare. "The only thing we can do now is preform a full body check-up and hope to find what's causing your eating issue." I nodded and he directed me to the bed and told me to lay down. I stared at the ceiling not knowing where to look. I could feel him standing next to the bed. he placed his palms on my stomach and a feeling of calm spread around my body. His chakra felt warm and soft. I was enjoying every bit of this until the feeling suddenly stopped. I looked at him confused to see a look of confusion plastered on his face too. "Your physically healthy but your chakra…" What's wrong with my chakra? I didn't think there was anything wrong with my chakra. This could be bad. "Wait here." he said and rushed out of the room, leaving me on the bed with my thoughts. They got darker by the second. My anxiety was getting pretty bad when he walked back in. He walked in with another medic next to him before they both stopped in their tracks. Those eyes…a Hyuga? I get it. To inspect my chakra network. The Hyuga quickly stood on guard and activated his byakugan. Why would he do that? what's happening? I was getting more confused and scared. I usually know what's happening around me but this time I had no idea and I hated it. I felt my heart beat faster and my chest tighten. The Hyuga glared at me harder before the doctor jumped in. "stop it! you're making it worse!" he rushed over to me and started preforming medical ninjutsu which to my surprise got absorbed into my body. Every time it got absorbed, he would make more and more. I could feel my body calming down from the feeling of his chakra until I got completely calm. The Hyuga dropped his guard and looked at the doctor curiously. "What just happened? Why was she releasing chakra?" my eyes widened. "I was releasing chakra again?" I said stunned. The doctor smiled at me warmly as if to comfort me. "Yeah, you seem to uncontrollably release chakra when you're uncomfortable." I just realized how bad this could be. My anxiety makes me release chakra. An anxiety attack could potentially kill me. I didn't think this curse could get any worse. I sighed and put on an emotionless face. Time to pick the act back up. "Is there anything other than that wrong with my chakra network?" I said looking over to the Hyuga. He reactivated his byakugan and took a look. "It seems like your chakra points surrounding your stomach are blocked." I looked at the doctor, "Could this be the cause?" he nodded at me with a smile. "This is probably the cause and it can be fixed easily so you shouldn't worry too much." I just nodded at him emotionlessly. He told me to lay back down and motioned for the Hyuga to come closer. He placed two fingers on my stomach and sent chakra straight to my chakra points, instantly unblocking them. His chakra felt like ice cold water rushing through my body but the sensation of my chakra points being opened was relieving. He did that a couple more times before he stood back and announced he was done. My body felt looser than usual but my brain was definitely more burdened than before.

After I left the doctor's office, I was forced to book another appointment with a nutritionist before they let me leave the hospital. I headed to the training grounds for some training since it was still early in the day. Also, I found that punching things seems to help ease my mind a bit. I walked into my favorite training grounds to see Shikamaru laying on the grass, staring at the clouds. I didn't feel like talking right now so I just ignored him and started my training. Since the graduation exam is tomorrow, I made sure I knew the clone jutsu. It was easier to form than before, I'm assuming because of my unblocked chakra points. I didn't even know you can block your own chakra points. How did I do that in the other world either ways? Did I have chakra back then too? I ignored my questions and pulled out some kunai. I started throwing them as hard as I can at the tree in front of me. They all latched into the tree except the last one which I reinforced with chakra, which went through the tree all together and latched in the one behind it. The noise seemed to grab Shikamaru's attention. "If you're going to ignore me, at least do it quietly." I looked at him, my emotionless gaze still on. "I'm not ignoring you." He raised his eyebrow at me. "Really? I'm not dumb. You've been ignoring me since you woke up in class." I rolled my eyes. "I'm not ignoring you." I said again as I collected my kunai from the tree. He just shook his head and laid back down. Here I go again, pushing my only friend away. I promised I'd do things differently this life yet I'm going back to my old toxic habits. Come on Elle! you're better than this. I sighed and put my kunai away. Walking over to Shikamaru, I sat down next to him. "Look, I'm sorry. I really wasn't ignoring you." He sat up and looked at me. "Then what were you doing?" I sighed and looked away. It's too scary if I say it while looking at him. "I just had a really crappy day." he raised his eyebrows waiting for me to continue which I was hesitant to do. I hate complaining to other people. He sighed, "troublesome woman, what happened this time?" I looked back at him. He had the same bored expression he always had, but he looked like he was urging me on. Like he wanted me to talk. I kept looking at him, debating whether I should tell him. "listen if you don't get it out of your system, you'll just go around destroying trees for the next week or so." My eyes went wide. It's like he read my mind. No one ever came close to understanding me, let alone understanding me enough to know what I'm thinking. My heart warmed at the fact that he paid attention to me. I looked at him, my shocked expression changing to one of longing. That's when I knew I could trust him. I took a deep breath and started talking. Once I started, there was no stopping me. I talked and talked about everything that happened to me all day. I told him about my anxiety, my chakra, I even told him about Kakashi. I was talking for half an hour straight with him just listening. By the time I was done, he was so quiet that I instantly regretted telling him all this. He is now judging me. He didn't deserve to carry the burden of knowing me. I hate dealing with my life so much why would I make him deal with it too? I'm such a bad friend. My gaze fell to the floor in shame. "Sorry, I just kind of blurted everything out without thinking." He placed his hand on my shoulder making my eyes shoot up at the sudden contact. "Hey, it's fine. You live such a troublesome life. I don't know how you're still this strong." That made my eyes water and a small smile found its way to my face. I am not alone anymore. I hated myself for thinking that. The last time I thought that, I ended up an orphan… again. I stood up preventing this from getting any further. "Thank you for listening to me rant, but please forget everything I just said. It's getting late, I'm going to head home." I said and I left, happy but scared.

I made it home and burst into tears. I was crying because I was happy. I was crying because I was scared. I was crying because I had a real friend. I was crying because I still felt alone. I was so confused about my feelings that I just didn't deal with them. I let the tears stream down my face as I showered and got ready for bed. I felt like I was floating in my own emotions. In fear of floating away, I grabbed the nearest thing next to my bed. I broke the pencil and ran the sharp wood along my skin. The pain was the only thing that felt real right now and it brought me back down to earth. Anchored by my pain, I got on the bed and wiped the tears off of my face. I am not a burden. I deserve love. Not everyone will betray me. I repeated my affirmations in my head, trying to convince myself of my words, until I slipped into a dreamless sleep.