Beautiful Imperfections - An Uchiha Madara Love Story

Chapter 22 - Disquiet

Just a cute pic of Hiro! ^^

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Akina pov:

"Thank you Akina." Taiki san said with a barely visible smile.

I returned it hesitantly and bowed as he left the infirmary, his arm wrapped in bandages. When he was out of sight, I sighed deeply and glanced sideways at the herb garden, many thoughts rushing through my mind.

Several weeks had passed since the incident with Hitatsu san and my Kekkei Genkai. After that happened, I refused to train with Madara, having summoned up the courage to tell him I disliked fighting and I didn't want to learn anything that would make me hurt someone again. He wasn't happy about it at first but he mellowed down after a few days saying that he would give me some time to compose myself before we began training again. After a week and a half of rest, Madara insisted on resuming training again. However, I had been putting it off again and again, saying that I still wasn't feeling well enough to do so. I could tell he was beginning to lose his patience and it wouldn't be long before I was forced to get back to sparring with him.

I was extremely apologetic to Taiki san and Osawa san for not being able to help Hitatsu san enough. I had also apologized with a deep bow to Osawa san for hurting him and attacking him while under the control of my Kekkei Genkai. He had apologized too, saying that it wasn't my fault and that he had been unjustifiably harsh with me. Nonetheless, I wasn't able to be normal around him and Taiki san anymore – I felt so ashamed and apologetic that I could barely meet their eyes when we happened to pass by each other and exchange greetings. Even today when I wrapped up a wound Taiki san had suffered, I couldn't speak to him as I had been doing before.

Besides recovering from the shock of the incident, I had become slightly reserved, keeping to myself and avoiding unnecessary meetings and conversations with anyone. I had been restricting myself to the infirmary to treat those who came in injured and my house, particularly the room that Madara and I shared. I could tell that Madara had become restless from my silence and behavior but I was glad that he didn't question me about it – he had given me time and, of course, his reassuring affection and I had slowly returned to my normal cheerful self. Well, almost.

Tajima sama and his wife had come to see me too, surprisingly worried for my well being and telling me that if there was anything I wished to talk about, they would be there to listen. They were truly kind people and I was very thankful for their concern.

I shook my head to break from my train of though. I walked to the cupboards to check the medicine bottles on the racks and see if any particular medicine was running low and had to be prepared immediately. Two of the medicines were almost over so I got out the necessary ingredients and took a seat on the floor to prepare them. I put some leaves, bark and petals into a pot to boil for one of the medicines and added a few leaves and roots to a mortar to grind them for another medicine.

As always, the sound of the mortar and pestle grinding against each other was comforting and the aroma of the mix that reached my nose was pleasant. I continued to grind the mix until it was a fine paste, well mixed and now a brilliant shade of red. I got up to get a ceramic box in which I could squeeze out and store the juice but upon taking just a step forward, the room spun. I stumbled on my feet while clutching my head and took support of the table beside me. Unfortunately, my arm touched a small vial bottle that was placed there and it tumbled off the table only to meet the floor and shatter to pieces.

The dizziness settled quickly but I was left drained and breathing heavily. I closed my eyes and exhaled deeply to regain composure and straightened up soon after.

"Onee chan!" I heard Hiro call out in worry as he ran into the work room. He looked at the broken pieces on the floor before meeting my gaze curiously. "Onee chan, are you okay? What happened?"