[fanfic] Momentary Blindness

[semperdormientes]

She hadn't meant to overuse her eyes.

At seven years old Hinata had a good idea of her capabilities. She was slower than anyone would like when it came to learning her family's fighting style. That didn't bother her exactly. She had faith she would learn eventually. If it took longer than average that was okay, her father would be happy when she did eventually achieve mastery even if he was critical of her along the way. He did because she was heiress and there were certain expectations. Her slow learning was the biggest of her faults, in a surprisingly long list for only a seven year old.

It pushed her to overcome, grow, and become stronger, better. For all her father’s stern disapproval over the sloppiness of her kata or meager speed, she knew that he cared about her. He merely wished for what was best for the clan, and that was her as she heard her uncle and father say in quiet voices meant not to be overheard by anyone. She was like her mother, unfailingly kind and serene in her presence, two traits that would serve her well. She liked hearing them praise her in secret, even as she weathered the dark looks of her great aunts.

Passing out on a training ground was a small price to pay then for improvement. The purposeful stride of her father was nothing in the face of the worry she'd heard in his voice when he’d woken her up. She couldn't be sure how long she'd been unconscious, but if her father had gone looking for her it must be well past dinner.

His silence didn't carry the weight of his disappointment, though. She'd noticed that quickly. Almost as soon as he'd hoisted her up on his hip like he had when she was little and her mother was still alive. She didn't even hear the cooing of the villagers as Hiashi passed carrying his eldest home. She was caught up in the calm Hiashi was giving off, that whatever was wrong was nothing to worry about. No she felt safe, cradled against him like she was precious. Her tiny hand clutching at the neckline of his kimono, and her pale eyes staring up at his face though the image was blurry around the images when not a complete black haze.

"Close your eyes," his voice is firm but lacking that frustration common to when she fails to follow one of his instructions. He shifts her slightly so her head is resting higher on his shoulder and somewhere along the way she drifts off exhausted as much from when she'd been training as from whatever was wrong with her.

It was only later when she woke while a clan physician was examining her that she learned it was from eye strain. She would have blind spots until her eyes recovered and until then she would be excused from her academy classes.