Here you go! Chapter 2!! It's slightly longer than the first one but still not humongous. I like this chapter... I think... yup, I do!

Spoilers for the latest manga chapters. However, the condition of all of the ninja after the battle was totally and completely MADE UP! I am not psychic, nor am I Kishimoto-sama. I DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN!! So don't bombard me with angry reviews/pm's/e-mails complaining about a characters condition. The only reason I killed Yamato off is because I haven't read all of the chapters he's in, so I don't really know his character (and I kinda felt that someone needed to die/get seriously injured).

However, how he died is a real condition. I did not make it up. My beloved grandfather died the same way and it was very hard for me to write that part. I wasn't making a joke like "he lost too many brain cells from watching porn!" However, I was pretty young when he died so it wasn't clearly (or scientifically) explained to me so forgive me if it seems kind of sketchy. NOTE: If you send me a message making fun of this form of diing I will not only delete your callous words but I will find you. And you will pay. Beware.

Disclaimer: Look up... up... yes, you see what I typed up there? There's your answer. I do own this plot (there's a plot? Dude!) and the character Amaya (it's a Japanese girl's name meaning "Night Rain" and don't worry, she's only mentioned). And I own my Kakashi writsband. Hehe, I love it so...

(And for those of you who care: Japan was AWESOME!! I loved it!)

Ok, (sorry for getting all serious for a sec there) I think that's it.

Any questions/concerns/ideas/criticism/corrections/squeals/glomps/gifts/flames will be appreciated! The last one may not be taken seriously though... ((shifty eyes)) On with the chapter!


Chapter 2: Watching

Sasuke was alive. Itachi was dead.

Hinata sat next to Sasuke's hospital bed, listening to the monitor reaffirm the fact that Uchiha Sasuke was alive and back in Konoha (even if he didn't know it yet) with every pulse. She had been appointed Sasuke's personal medic but had also taken it upon herself to watch over him non-stop in his unconscious state. She had left his side only once to visit each of the Konoha ninjas from the retrieval mission that were in the hospital, and was back in her chair in Sasuke's room an hour later.

Sakura had minimal injuries, however, Tsunade had ordered her to stay overnight for observation. The Hokage might be a gambler but when it came to her medic-nin she took no chances. Kakashi had also been released the next morning, since he only suffered from chakra depletion due to overuse of the sharingan. Naruto had to stay for three nights having suffered more severe injuries; however, because of his massive healing capabilities, he was released much sooner than anyone else would have been in his situation. Sai was building up his strength before he underwent risky surgery on his arm. Though the artist ninja could do this at home, the Hokage had thought it would be best if he remained in the hospital, where he could be monitored. The blonde woman was concerned about him succumbing to depression and doing something rash over his (possibly permanent) inability to use his right hand and arm. Yamato had died suddenly on the fifth day of their return. The autopsy revealed the cause of death to be a loss of too many brain cells. Shino had been released the day of their return but was confined to the Aburame compound and prohibited from all training and missions for two weeks. Kiba had also been released from the hospital but had to return for a check-up every day, which he complained about loudly because of the crutches he was forced to use. (It had taken both Kiba's mother and sister to "convince" him to use the crutches. Kiba's hearing didn't return to normal until two days later.)

As for the other three members of Team Hebi, after being interrogated and cleared by Ibiki, the Hokage had granted them permission to stay in Konoha. Karin had struck up an odd, and scary from what Hinata was told, love/hate relationship with Naruto. Suigetsu spent most of his time flirting and training with TenTen, it seemed they had bonded over their mutual love of their weapon(s). While those two were staying as guests of the Inuzuka Clan, Juugo was being kept in Konoha's most secure, most heavily guarded chamber while Tsunade and every medic (she could spare) searched every medical text ever written in the hopes of finding a way to help the normally gentle man. Though, unlike Orochimaru, Tsunade had made his chamber as comfortable as she could, without compromising security, and provided him with good food (with open kitchen hours) and clean clothing while Kurenai researched if there was a genjutsu that could be used (while Sasuke was unconscious) to calm Juugo down so he could, safely, leave his room.

Hinata rose from her chair and stretched her back as she walked over to the window overlooking the southern part of the village. Hinata's eyes glazed over as she sighed, barely taking in the all-too familiar sight of Choji's favorite Korean BBQ restaurant and the surrounding buildings. Hinata had been staring at the same view for ten long days. The view from the window was so firmly etched into her mind, she was fairly certain she could paint it from memory accurately enough for even Sai's well-trained (and rather picky) eye. If it hadn't been for Neji and Hanabi's visit, the shy kunoichi was sure she would have lost her mind by now.

Since Hinata hadn't been at home when Sasuke had returned, she hadn't been able to pack anything. Thus, when she began her vigil over Sasuke, Hinata had only the clothes on her body and nothing to entertain her mind or waste time with.

Every silent hour seemed to bring her perilously closer to the dangerous line between boredom and insanity. Then, on the fourth day, the door to Sasuke's private room opened to reveal Hinata's cousin and younger sister. Though they both had stubbornly insisted they had come to see how Uchiha was doing, it was clear by what they brought with them that the person they had really come to visit was Hinata.

Neji had given her a bag filled with various scrolls on water ninjutsu, Hyuuga techniques, medical jutsus, and medical salves, creams, and ointments as well as several of Hinata's favorite books. And, hidden discreetly at the bottom was her scrapbook filled with pictures of her and Sasuke as children and pressed flowers that he had given her (or they had collected together).

Hanabi had brought her a red, blown glass vase full of white, light blue, and pale purple peonies. She had blushed at the look of adoration her big sister gave her and Hanabi had hurriedly placed the vase on the nightstand beside Sasuke's bed. Hinata had really been touched by what else Hanabi had brought her. Her little sister had packed her a small suitcase with a few sets of Hinata's clean clothes (from then on a maid from the Hyuuga manor came by every other day to take her dirty clothes and give her clean ones) and all of her necessities.

They hadn't stayed long though. While Hinata and Neji had been on friendlier terms since Naruto had beaten some sense into him (both literally and figuratively, she had been told) they were far from best friends. Ever since Hanabi could stand, she had spent most of her time training with her father, so the two sisters had never had the opportunity to be very close.

In fact, it was Choji who visited Hinata most. Hinata suspected Shikamaru had asked his best friend to visit her often, knowing that she would get bored and lonely but would tenaciously refuse to leave the wounded Uchiha (the Nara genius had always been very thoughtful and friendly to her). Shikamaru himself couldn't visit because he was assigned to review all of the requests coming into Konoha and rank and assign the accepted ones as missions. This job (mostly) was normally done by the Hokage, but she had delegated Shizune to do all of her paperwork and Shikamaru to handle the incoming mission requests while she devoted all of her time to helping Juugo.

Choji visited Hinata everyday, except once when he had a mission, and spent lunch and a few hours of the afternoon talking with her. Occasionally, Ino would join her teammate and whenever she would join them, Choji always packed a healthier lunch for them all to share. Usually, whenever it was just Hinata and Choji eating, the Akimichi brought "comfort food". Habitually, Hinata resisted the temptation to overindulge in such oily, fatty, greasy, fried, overly salty, and/or overly sweet foods, but considering the circumstances, decided stuffing her face would be a much more emotionally satisfying choice. And it was.

Hinata walked back to her chair (mercifully, one of the nurses she knew and was friends with had exchanged the hard chair for one of the comfortable chairs in the nurses station after she walked in and saw Hinata sleeping at Sasuke's bedside in that dismal excuse of a chair) and picked up her scrapbook from the top drawer of the dresser. Sitting down she placed the book on her lap. She always hid it and avoided pulling it out whenever anyone else was in the room. She wasn't ashamed or embarrassed about her childhood relationship with Sasuke, quite the contrary really, but she wanted to keep these precious memories to herself. It made her feel incredibly selfish, but wanted something, this connection with Sasuke, to be all her own and remain hers, just in case Sasuke never-

NO. Hinata shook her head; she wasn't going to think those thoughts. Checking once more to ensure she was alone (growing up in the Hyuuga compound could make anyone a little paranoid) and with renewed determination (and a little more force than necessary) she opened the scrapbook and started looking through the various pictures.

At least, she thought she was alone. However, one bosomy, young-looking medic had decided to take a break and peek in on the Hyuuga heiress and Uchiha survivor. Tsunade thought anything would be less discouraging than the brick wall she had mentally been running into over and over with the Juugo case. Silently opening the door a crack, she was about to announce her presence when she heard Hinata speaking quietly to the confined Sasuke, Hinata, caressing one of his hands with hers.

"Oh, and this one was taken on Mother's Day at "yuki's", you remember the café your mother always took us to. She loved that café. Yuki's daughter, Amaya, still works there you know. Whenever I go, I always pause, waiting for you to order for me even after all this time."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, startled by this new information. Watching Hinata flip a page and then continue voicing the memory behind a certain picture.

"Do you remember this one? It was taken at my fifth birthday party. I remember you gave Shikamaru a bloody nose for hugging me."

Tsunade barely resisted the urge to snort at the mental picture of a five-year old, and red-faced Sasuke punching poor, lazy Shikamaru in the face. The Hokage rolled her eyes. She'd bet her entire savings that the genius had thought up 100 different ways to avoid the confrontation but was too lazy to actually do anything.

"I remember the present you got me. The beautiful, lilac-tinted crystal unicorn with a gold horn and hooves on the white glass stand, you remember? I still have it on display in my room; it's my second favorite present. My favorite present is what you really gave me at that party. I remember shortly after opening all the gifts, you grabbed my hand and hid us behind the big oak in the yard. You said that you wanted to give me a present from yourself. I was confused and told you I already opened your gift." Hinata giggled lightly. "You frowned, and glared so hard at the ground between us, complaining that even though you had picked the horse out, since your mom helped and paid for it, it wasn't really from you. You said you wanted to get me something that was just from you. Then you pulled out an impeccably made daisy crown and placed it on my head. I remember it looked so flawless, no petals missing on any of the flowers, all the knots that connected the daises were hidden, and it fit my head perfectly. I kept thinking that you must have spent hours searching for the perfect daisies and painstakingly knitting the chain together. I just couldn't believe you, that anyone would spend so much time and effort into doing something for me. Especially when you didn't have to. I think," Hinata's voice sounded choked. She kept pushing the words through her unshed tears, "I think that's when I really fell in love with you. I knew I had a crush on you when we first met and you were so kind to me while I cried. But I think- I know that day, under the big oak tree, my crush blossomed into love."

Hinata stopped holding back her tears and let out a fervent sob. She clasped his hand firmly in one of hers and placed her head on his chest.

Tsunade heard Hinata's muffled voice pleading to Sasuke through his hospital shirt. "Please Sasuke. I need you to wake up. I-I can't be alone. You promised you'd come back to me. You promised you'd marry me! Please, I need you! Please! Please, please." She kept repeating, "please", until the word dissolved into sobs.

Sighing quietly, Tsunade closed the door as silently as she'd opened it as Hinata clutched Sasuke's shirt with her free hand as she sobbed into his chest. Walking back to her office Tsunade decided research was much better than watching this heart-wrenching display. Anything was.

Hinata eventually cried herself out and raised her head from his chest. After going to Sasuke's private bathroom (it was connected to his recovery room) and quickly cleaning up a bit, Hinata resumed her seat and laid her head down on Sasuke's bed by his waist and at length fell asleep.

The next morning, Hinata awoke to the sunlight streaming down on her poor eyelids. Sitting up, she kept her eyes closed while she stretched her back and neck, listening to several joints popping. Opening her eyes, she saw her scrapbook open in Sasuke's lap. Perplexed, she looked slowly right, noticing that Sasuke was sitting up. Eventually, her eyes reached Sasuke's face, he was staring right back at her, one corner of his mouth twitching up in amusement.

Hinata's mind shut down. She could scarcely believe Sasuke was awake. She didn't know what to say.

Luckily, Sasuke, noting Hinata's shocked face, took that weight off her and broke the silence growing between them.

"I'm back."