Rest
Masaki felt himself waking up again. If he was right, then he had not moved the whole time, and his sister was still lying on top of him. That is how stiff his body felt.
He slowly opened his eyes and noticed the dimness of the lighting. It was easy for his eyes to adjust, and he turned to the side. The light outside the window told him it was nighttime.
This time, he felt the need to use the bathroom. He tried to move, and his sister tightened her grip around him. He didn’t know her name, but he did call her something. He didn’t know her or how she acted, but she had seen her during mealtime. All those times, he thought of her like a little cat.
“Kitty,” he whispered and felt how dry his throat was.
Her body reacted instantly. He could feel the tension in her body beginning to ease out. She slowly began to move and turned her eyes on him. Big black eyes landed on him like she hadn’t just been sleeping.
“Kitty,” he whispered again, and tears began to fall in her eyes. He wrapped his hands around the tiny being and held tight. His need could wait a little more.
His logical, psychical needs can wait. His emotional needs couldn’t. And for the first time, he knew he needed this more than anything else. He needed to feel like someone wanted him. Someone wanted him for him and not because he was something more, something people expected.
And this little Kitty in his arms was just there for him and not because of something else.
He let tears fall and cried silently like he had known how to do in his last life. He could feel his own shoulder getting wet, and she wasn’t crying silently. She was hiccupping, and it somehow alerted someone as the light was put on in the room, and someone came to look.
They didn’t know who it was. Neither did they care, as this was their first time being able to touch each other and hold—hold someone that they both knew would not hurt them. Hands that had never been held with care, holding each other, making silent promises neither would ever put to words.
He told her countless stories of family and friends or what life should be like. That child had simply listened to his whispered tales, not questioning any of it. It was nice to be a child so full of naivety, but then he suddenly recalled what that man had done to her.
He blinked stupidly for a moment and then turned serious.
“Your leg?” he questioned, his teras forgotten already.
“Leg,” she said and then pointed to it. His eyes zeroed in on it and widened as he noticed it in bandages. “It hurt. Nice lady, fix it. Now, not hurt.”
He closed his eyes, and tears pressed out. When he opened his eyes again, he asked: “It doesn’t hurt?”
“Not hurt,” she said rather proudly.
“I’m glad,” he said and smiled. He really smiled, maybe for the first time since he had been here.
“What is that?” she then imitated what she could see.
“I was smiling. You do it when you feel good inside, this warm and fuzzy sort of feeling. I am feeling warm and fuzzy right now, and it makes me smile,” he explained as best he could. He really wasn’t much of an expert on how this goes, but the simpler things were easy to explain.
“Your stories make me smile,” he was surprised to hear that since he had not heard much of her reactions at those times. Then he frowned, and his bodily needs came to the forefront of his mind. He needed the bathroom, and soon.
“Kitty, could you move? I need to go to the bathroom.”
“Yes. Kitty needs to pee, too,” that’s when she began climbing off him and was suddenly caught by the person in the room they had completely forgotten. Kitty froze, tensing up.
“I’m just helping you down so you won’t hurt your leg again,” the woman in white clothes said. As soon as her feet touched the ground, Kitty looked around. The woman let go of her and took a step back, letting her adjust.
“Do you need help?” the woman asked him.
He swallowed, considered his body's current condition, and nodded. He kept an eye on her movement, but she never did anything to harm him or his sister. He was still wary of her, even as she led them to the bathroom attached to this room. She helped them as much as was needed and always asked if they needed help.
But the more he moved, the more his body adjusted, and his movement became as fluid as possible. He was sure nothing was wrong with him before returning to bed.
“Do you know when we are being let go?” he asked as she pulled a blanket over them.
“Rest up right now, but probably tomorrow, as there really wasn’t too much wrong with the two of you. Well, aside from the broken leg, none of you had any serious injuries.”
“She had a broken leg, but she just walked…” he stopped and thought, “How long does a broken leg heal?”
“With a proper healer, not too long, but without one for several months.”
“Then, how long was I …?”
“A full day. It happens quite often when children get Chakra exhaustion. You basically used up all your chakra stores in your body.”
“Chakra…” he mumbled. He couldn’t even fathom what that was. It or what he felt at that moment felt nothing like magic. So, it must be some other sort of power.
It was probably questions for another day.
He settled under the blanket and held his little sister in his arms. He soon fell asleep again, and when he woke next, someone barged into the room and touched their foreheads for a moment. The man looked at them for a moment and then left.
“Discharged those two. They are wasting space,” the person said a moment later, and he could hear something clatter on something. Footsteps were moving away from them. He could barely figure out how to breathe, let alone blink. He could feel a tight grip on his arm and looked down at his sister, who was also having trouble adjusting.
That person had just been so loud and intrusive. They were used to a quiet house with calm footsteps. Nothing was ever yelled, and no one ever stomped like that man was walking.
He wanted to get out of there as quickly as he could.
The woman from last night rushed into the room and found them that way. “I’m sorry dears. He isn’t usually like this. He had a bad night with too many emergencies. He was tired and angry. Were you scared a lot?”
“No, that… he wasn’t scary, just loud. We’re not used to loud.”
“Oh,” she then seemed to recall why they were there. “I’ll get you something to eat, and then we’ll figure out how to get you… back. Oh, dears…” she sighed and walked out of the room.
Masaki fussed over Kitty and helped her to the bathroom. Her leg was still weak. The woman had someone bring them some food, and a while later, they were given clothes that didn’t suit them. Finally, when Masaki saw the wide doors out of the Hospital, he finally recalled what he wanted before leaving this loud place.
Everything here was so damn loud, and he would feel relieved when he got out of there, but just then, he stopped and pulled at the clothes of the woman who looked after them at night.
She stopped and wandered back. If he had seen correctly, someone from their supposed family was already waiting for them, but he just wanted to see her once.
“Can we see our mother before we return to the Clan?” He asked, so even the Uchiha looking at them heard. The woman and the Uchiha looked at each other momentarily, and the Uchiha nodded.
“Alright, let’s go and see if we can.” The woman didn’t look very sure, and Masaki had no clue what to make of it. He might be living his second life but couldn’t decipher what that look might mean.
Even then, the woman took them to another part of the Hospital, and they found their ‘mother’ in a strange bed that was tilted, and her head was lower than her feet. But that wasn’t what startled him. No, he didn’t even pay attention to her current position. He had seen her in much more terrible positions. She was strapped down, but even then, that wasn’t what startled him.
He stood there rooted at the door and saw her eyes holding life again. Her eyes had been dull and lifeless since the moment he first got hit by the cane. Her dark eyes held a small, very minuscule amount of life, and Masaki was stunned, and his mind came to a halt.
He didn’t notice, but he began to cry silently, tears spilling down his cheeks. He could not control his emotions or his body as he walked to the otherwise empty room. He also didn’t notice that the woman stayed by the door or that Kitty held onto his shirt and tagged along, slightly hiding behind him.
He was there by her face and looking at her.
“My wolf,” she mumbled, and Masaki was shocked; he had not heard her voice since she whispered those orders to him every night. “My cat,” she continued, her eyes moving to his side, and Masaki nearly laughed. “And fox,” her eyes dulled a bit but then resolved to something. “Masaki…” It took a while for her to gather enough strength to say it and a bit more to say the next word. “Mirai,” she said, her eyes focused on his side. His sister simply stared at her; not a peep escaped her.
Masaki lifted his hands to wipe his eyes for a bit. He stepped closer, as close as he could. “He is dead. I killed him.” His throat was thick with something, but he said it and saw a horrendous amount of relief wash over her. “You can… rest. We’ll be fine.” He said what he meant to, his throat thick with something he couldn’t name. Maybe it was sadness and pain. He wasn’t sure he should feel this way.
“My wolf…” she said again, tears streaming from her eyes. Then she closed her eyes. Masaki whipped away the tears he knew wouldn’t just stop coming down. He was sad, but she had a right to rest.
If the Foxes survive, it would be their own resilience and will to live. He moved to her hand, took it briefly, and placed his forehead against it. The tears just didn’t stop. He shouldn’t care. He should care about a woman who gave birth to him, but then… but she had also done everything she could with all the possibilities she had. Everything in her life was out of her control, and she was given no way out.
And, as young as he was, or old, he grew to dislike the Clan he was born into. With the short time, he had actually been aware of the Clan… how could they not notice. His little sister wasn’t ever registered as a member of the Clan just because their ‘father’ didn’t like her gender.
Maybe it was just their father who was like this. Perhaps it wasn’t the Clan, and maybe it was just this man who was so terrible. And he resolved to watch what the Uchiha Clan was before he placed a verdict.
He let go of his mother's hand and looked over at her. Her eyes were open, and she pulled in a startled gasp and then smiled. “Wolf,” she mumbled with the smile he had barely ever seen it. And stupidly enough, the tears that had stopped began again. He pushed them away and walked out of the room, letting her have her rest. He would accept whatever he chose at this point.
“Rest,” he said once again at the door. He looked back and noticed the faint smile, which he then returned. He was lost in thought when he suddenly found himself outside the Hospital and was directed in some way. He looked around curiously. It was the first time he actually saw what the outside world looked like.