A/N: Shippuden spoilers.

Disclaimer: Naruto will always belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Even in my wildest dreams. Really.

Restorative

o

One: Day and Night

Hinata watched the drip of the IV. His room was silent. She felt as if she would hinder his very recovery if she so much as took a loud breath. Her pearly gaze drifted to his face. There was a long scar down his cheek that stubbornly refused to heal.

Feeling useless, Hinata quickly leaned over and rearranged the daisies she'd brought for him. They weren't pretty; they were rather plain, really—pitiful, compared to the lavish blue-white columbines. Sakura always had impeccable tastes in flower; maybe it was a side-effect of sustaining such a long friendship with a certain blonde florist.

". . . Sakura told me, " began Hinata quietly, feeling the need to rationalize her unneeded presence, ". . . She asked me to stay with you." She paused, wondering if her excuse was good enough for him. He didn't say anything, just remained unconsciously asleep as he had for the past two days. Hinata continued, "You probably won't be able to hear me, Naruto, but Sakura insisted that patients recover faster when someones speaks to them. 'Even when they're unconscious, their subconscious knows when someone's there.'" Hinata released a sigh of relief when he remained unresponsive, itching to scrub the burning off her cheeks. She felt really silly, talking to him like this.

"I hope you get better soon." Although she was not there to personally witness it, she'd heard of his unfortunate lost against Pein in his pursuit of Sasuke. She instantly felt bad that she had been holding off another Akatsuki member with her team, forcing him to face that formidable man alone. If only he had had back-up . . .

Naruto would be furious when he came to. He would blame himself again, for letting Sasuke slip through his fingers a third time. After all, he never asked Kakashi-sensei to take his senseless self back to Konoha without having first taken Sasuke with him. Hinata worried seeing him so anguished. He had smiled only once during the entire mission.

"We will search harder to find him next time," Hinata asserted suddenly with a firm face. "The Hokage says his whereabouts are unknown at this time, but I'm sure you will find him. You always do. I admire you very much, Naruto, for not giving up after all this time . . . I really . . ."

Hinata hushed softly. "I like you."

There, she'd said it. Maybe it wouldn't be too hard to do it again, when he was awake. She smiled in a small display of triumph and smoothed out a crease in the blanket. It was spring green, and matched the flora outside perfectly. Hinata glanced at the daisies thoughtfully; maybe she could press one for him. Would he like that? She reached up to pluck from the vase when she caught movement in the bed beside her chair.

Naruto's blue eyes opened.

She stared at him, wide-eyed. He looked directly at her, eyes slowly focusing. A flicker of confusion ran over his expression. He mumbled something unintelligible with his dry, parched mouth.

"Naruto?"

He tried again, his eyes gaining more clarity. "Hinata?"

Hinata didn't recall leaving the hospital, but here she was, somehow, hovering about one of Naruto's favorite hang-outs: Ichiraku. Maybe she had wanted to pick up some ramen for him, but now she couldn't quite remember why she was here, or how she ended up here in the first place.

"Welcome to Ichiraku," greeted Teuchi, the owner of the well-loved establishment. "Can I get you anything?" he asked her amiably as she ducked in.

Hinata automatically plopped into a seat, before abruptly standing up. "I . . . no, I apologize—I'm not really all that hungry . . ."

"Hinata?"

Hinata's gaze swung to the side, alarmed to see both of her teammates seated on the far side of the ramen bar. "Kiba, Shino!"

"One miso ramen over here, please," Kiba ordered, as he motioned her to sit next to him. Teuchi nodded, shooting Hinata a warm smile. Hinata began to protest, but Kiba merely waved it aside. "Don't worry 'bout it, Hinata. We haven't seen you all day. So, what's up?" Hinata casually settled herself down, glancing around Kiba's bold, brown mop over at Shino, who remained consistent in consuming his night's victuals.

"One miso ramen," Teuchi announced, setting a steaming bowl before her.

Hinata nodded deeply. "Thank you." She plucked a pair of chopsticks from the bin and murmured a short utterance in gratitude, before preparing to dig in. She looked up at her friendly teammate. "Thank you, Kiba."

He acted as if appalled in a joking manner. "Don't mention it, Hinata! It's on Shino's tab, after all." Beside him, Shino stiffened briefly, before resuming his meal. Whether it was because he didn't mind paying for Hinata's portion, or because he was, by now, used to Kiba's ill-placed humor, Hinata knew not. Either way, Hinata made sure to thank Shino as well. Shino nodded to let her know it was fine.

"So, what's the occasion?" Kiba remarked flippantly after a while. "You don't usually come here for dinner, Hinata." Hinata ducked her head, appearing to channel the utmost concentration in wrestling the stubborn noodle into her mouth. Unless her missions resided out of Konoha, she was always required to take supper at the Hyuuga household. It was rather suffocating, at times, but most of time, no one really paid her mind. Maybe they wouldn't notice today.

"There's no occasion," she answered, although her mind screamed otherwise. Naruto had awakened, and it really had made her day. He even tried to talk to her before Tsunade shooed her away gently; after all, she was positive Hinata would not survive a half-naked Naruto undergoing certain medical examinations. Hinata looked up, only to flinch back at Kiba's magnified face next to her own. "Kiba!"

Kiba leaned back. "I knew it. You're blushing." His eyes flickered over his shoulder to Shino. "What're you blushing for?"

Her hands went to her cheeks instinctively. "I'm not," she said with difficulty. Shino glanced up at the undertones in her tremulous voice.

Kiba made a humming noise in the back of his throat as he scrutinized her. "Weird. You've been like that since you got here, didn't notice until you looked up." Hinata fought to suppress the red on her face, the red she didn't even know was there to begin with.

Hinata approached the compound, silent as a mouse. Its imposing outline loomed closer with each step, and she felt dread manifest in the pit of her stomach. What if Father was still up? What if he was waiting for her? What if he was displeased with her dinner exemption? She was normally not out this late, unless it was mission call, and even then he was informed prior to the assignment. But she enjoyed speaking with her teammates; it was especially pleasant late into the night. It made it more special.

The door creaked open, but her erratic nerves were placated when she found she was not greeted by the sharp angles of a chafed Hyuuga Hiashi. She trod down the darkened hallways, feeling guiltily sneaky, despite the fact that she did nothing to warrant any explicit disapproval.

She reached her bedroom door, after what seemed like eons. She slipped inside her unlit room, and carefully closed the door behind her. She stared out of the window, at the lovely night view, and wished she had admired it more outside. Without turning the on the light, she got ready for bed, feeling strangely content and looking forward to the next morning's sun.

To be continued . . .

A/N: First attempt at a viable multi-chaptered fic. It's probably revoltingly OOC right now. For that, I apologize; I hope to get better at this soon. Naruto and Hinata are just so difficult to write! Any character advice at all is welcomed. Thank you for reading!