The sensation of pain has this immediate effect of telling the mind to move your hand towards the hurt place of your body, even if that, usually, causes you more pain, whether physical or more.

Needless to say, as soon as she becomes conscious again (and the burn of an open wound might be what did the trick), Hinata's hand reaches for her face, with the kind of puzzling fear only the ones knowing themselves in a truly mad situation can fully understand. The touch of torn flesh and fresh blood manages to bring to her that more pain mentioned above. And it is not the physical side that hurts most.

When one does wake up realizing they're hurt, their hand reaches for the hurt place because, even though the brain knows it shall bring more pain somehow, it wants to check what kind of pain is that - if it's a treatable pain, then it's a treatable wound. Now, if you reach for a wound that hurts badly, but doesn't seem too deep to make you worrisome, you can sigh relieved - that would heal. If you reach for it and find a rather deep wound, you are rather cautious, but can still have hope - that would eventually heal, too. But what if you reach your hand and find nothing of an addition to the skin, but something missing? Like reaching your hand to find your arm has been amputated - that would not heal. That creates pain that goes deeper in the flesh than any wound can.

She touches the upper side of her face to find them there, but they are as good as gone - she knows that from the very first moment. Her body is otherwise in a good condition, the that would eventually heal type of good state. But, that very moment, scars cut deep in her heart and rationality. And she gets up, not feeling the other wounds on her body anymore, while trying to ignore the ones in the eyes. She wants to move ahead, but she doesn't know where. She barely knows where is that place where she fell earlier, but what she knows is that is a place far from home. That there are trees. That there is a river. That there are bodies all around her - she fell down as a victor, but did it worth the price?

And she could not see the road ahead of her, but, right in that moment, she could visualize every single road she had ever walked before. The realize of her life being changed forever wholly brought back the years of life she went through that far - seventeen years, more precisely. Her preoccupations and her fears. And it all suddenly seemed so unimportant, so frugal, compared to the present.

As she stood up, wondering about her surroundings, trying to remake the overall image of the place, as she had last seen it, before the great impact to take her sight, the horror grew bigger and bigger, interweaving with her past insecurities, that were now no longer creeping in, but growing visibly on and extending all on her skin, it felt like. And the mix grew and grew, until reality could hold it no longer - and it exploded. Its remaining dissipated in the air. And she felt down. She fell back down, this time on her knees, on the exact same spot she had made efforts to get up from, earlier.

And while the pain in the eyes made it impossible to realize it at the beginning, tears could still get formed, inside of there. She did not fell them when they formed, not even when they ran down her frozen cheeks, but when they got further, in her open palms - palms she did not remember opening, or the reason she opened them for.

A sound of steps made her fully aware she was not safe and sound at all yet. She stood up instantly, concerned, instinctively putting her body in a defensive pose - as if she could really fight for herself... But what was the alternative? Letting herself get killed while on her knees? That much pride did the - until not long ago - possible heir of the Hyuuga family still hold. But what purpose did she have any longer? Hyuuga is Sun. Sun is light. Light is eyes. She shall call herself no Hyuuga - no more.

"Hinata-sama?"

At the sound of that particular voice, her hands fell from their straight pose. They fell down, like the ones of a puppet having its strings cut.

She could not see her cousin's reaction, now that he had a proper chance to study her wholly, but she couldn't blame him for being speechless during the next minute. But there was no sign he would ever say something. Instead (although she did not hear him moving), she felt his arms catching her, with the intention of carrying her.

"I lost two eyes, not two legs," she said then sharply, and she couldn't recognize her usual safe in that voice, in that clear bitterness, as she pushed him away - although rather gently than violently.

She heard him say nothing again, but she guessed he understood - she felt the need to stand for herself at least that much as to carry her badly injured body. She did not even accept a single hand as guidance.

So they walked slowly home, none of them talking. She was simply following the chakra of her cousin - it was one she got to recognize well over the years. Whether he was wondering for explanation of how all that might have happened or not, he asked nothing. And she was grateful. He was also aware, she knew, that many explanations would be required once they got home. So he just allowed for her to think things through herself, until they were there. And that's what she did - over and over.

A/N: I thought of writing this while recalling a drawing I had seen time ago (don't ask me why it got back to my mind after all of this time). Well, in the image, Hinata was in the hospital. Sakura was taking off bandages from her eyes. The artist also made, in the corner, an image of a blurry Sakura, as Hinata saw her. It seemed that Hinata had had an operation, but was now ok. Now, the story won't really go like that. But I just thought - what if she loses them at all...