Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and this story has no beta. There are probably a few spelling & grammatical errors.

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Your reviews really do give me motivation. I am always so humbled and encouraged by your reviews. Hopefully this chapter isn't too slow.


Chapter 9

Four days.

It had been four days since Hinata had woken up from her coma and she had still not seen Naruto. She knew that the others had told him that she was awake, and she had even sent him text messages, knowing that it was a bit ridiculous to send a text message to someone who was just a few rooms away. Probably. Still, he had not responded and Hinata was beginning to get more and more depressed. She put on a bright smile for the others. She didn't want to cause any more friction between her friends.

She sighed and looked at her phone. It had been almost nine hours since her last message. "It should be safe to send another one. Right?" she contemplated before typing and sending another message to Naruto.

Ding.

Hinata held her breath when she heard a phone notification sound from right outside the door of the medical room. She shifted in the bed to look at the door, waiting for it to open and Naruto to enter. She strained her ears, trying to hear any other sound. When the next thing she heard was the sound of footsteps shuffling away from the door, her eyes welled up with tears and she choked back a sob.

"Why is he avoiding me? Is he angry that I failed to protect Sakura properly? Did I do something wrong? Does he want nothing to do with me now?" She had been so used to him always being her shoulder to lean and depend on that his absence started to plant a seed of hurt and doubt in the depth of their relationship that had festered and had grown into one of abandonment and loneliness. She felt like her heart was slowly being shredded, each day a little more than the last. She was finding herself examining their past interactions, looking for anything she might have done wrong. She was questioning herself and the security she once had that even if Naruto didn't have romantic feelings for her like she did for him, that he had still loved her as a friend or sister.

"Hime?"

Hinata had been so broken-hearted that she hadn't heard the door open. She quickly threw her forearm over her eyes to try and hide that she had been crying. "Hey, Itachi. Is it time for my rehab?" Her voice sounded bright and cheery, but Itachi's failure to answer her right away was a dead giveaway that he knew she was crying.

She heard the door close and felt Itachi sit on the edge of her bed. She didn't even try to struggle when he gently removed her arm from her face and peered down at her with a gentle expression that he only showed to those closest to him.

"Tell me what's wrong." Itachi had a way of speaking that made it impossible for Hinata to disobey him and so she sat up and looked down at her fidgeting hands.

"You're going to think it's so juvenile and stupid," she said softly. "You'll be so disappointed in me."

"When have I ever been disappointed in you?" he asked as he wiped her tears with his thumbs. "Tell me what has you in tears."

She hesitated before answering in a voice barely louder than a whisper that still couldn't quite hide the slight tremor caused by her desire to cry, "Naruto hasn't come to check up on me yet."

"Ah, I see," Itachi nodded in understanding and watched as more tears began to run down her reddened cheeks.

"I know that I'm probably just being selfish. I'm sure he took our last mission really hard and he needs time to gather his thoughts and deal with it, but I just thought that he would come to see me at least once. Do you think he's mad at me? Or maybe he just doesn't care about me anymore now that Sakura's around."

"My brother's an idiot. I'm sure that the reason he hasn't come to see you has nothing to do with how he feels about Sakura. He is not angry with you either. He cares about you so much. He might not have come in to check on you, but he asks about your recovery all the time. He does care about you. Just give him some more time."

"But, I haven't seen him even when I leave this room. He has to be actively avoiding me. And I haven't seen Sakura once either. It might not be true, but I can't help thinking that he's avoiding me to spend more time with her. I mean, she's prettier, more feminine, and fragile than me. Of course he'd want to be around her."

"No."

Itachi's tone was so hard that she finally looked up at his face, slightly surprised by his edged mono-syllabic response to her. "No?" her eyebrows were drawn together as another tear escaped her eyes.

"No, I can say that he is not avoiding you to be closer to Sakura. And you need to stop comparing yourself to her. You'll just tear down your self-esteem."

She flinched at his words thinking that he was agreeing with her that Sakura was much more attractive than she was and looked down again.

She heard him sigh before he gently placed his index finger under her chin and tilted her face up to look up at him again. "For the record, I completely disagree with you. What I meant was that when you start to compare yourself with other people, you're not giving yourself a fair chance. You're going to compare the things you dislike most about yourself with a person who has that trait in spades. You're not going to see your best qualities. I know you and you'll end up just fixating on those small imperfections that cause you to be insecure.

"So, I need you to listen closely to what I'm about to say and remember this whenever you feel down about yourself. Hinata, you are beautiful, kind, strong, smart, compassionate, and talented. You think you're not very feminine? What is femininity? Is it being delicate and needing to be saved? Bullshit. That's not being feminine. That's just being weak. You want to be more attractive? The most attractive thing that anyone could be is confident. Not stuck up or arrogant, but just confident that you are you. Own it. Stop doubting yourself. All those imperfections you see, those are the things that make you human. You're a perfectly flawed human, just like me and Sakura and Naruto. If you can't love and value yourself, you can't expect anyone else to love and value you either."

Hinata took a moment to let everything Itachi said settle in. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Thanks, Itachi. I really missed you. Nobody gives advice quite like you. You're like an old sage in the body of a young man."

Itachi chuckled and returned her hug. "Naruto's an idiot. He's taking the last mission pretty hard, especially after fighting with Sasuke. Just trust that you're important to him. He'll talk to you when he's ready," he squeezed her gently before they parted.


It only took three more days for Hinata to be completely mobile and ready to train again. She had gone through a week of physio therapy and rehabilitation with Kakashi and Itachi in addition to healing sessions with Haku. Though she was still not in top condition, it was clear that there was no lasting damage or need to worry. Itachi and Kakashi had watched how they all trained, pointing out weaknesses and creating new training regiments for the team, but Hinata knew that Itachi and Kakashi would be leaving soon. They were Elite Hunters and just the fact that they had spent so much time here had been lucky.

"Dinner!" Hinata shouted, though her quiet voice only carried as far as Haku who happened to be passing by the kitchen. "I don't think anyone heard me," Hinata made a face when she saw Haku at the door. "Do you mind gathering everyone?"

Haku just smiled before heading out to let the others know.

As usual, only Haku, Hinata, Itachi, Kakashi, and Sasuke ate together. Hinata knew that Naruto would come around to eat when the kitchen was empty, so she made sure she set aside a plate of food for him. As for Sakura, Hinata was getting legitimately worried about her. Sakura hadn't left the locker room for anything. Hinata had taken her food, but whenever she went to check on her, the food was left untouched and Sakura was looking thinner and sickly.

"I should force her to eat something," Hinata thought as she stared at the food before her.

"We'll be heading out tomorrow at dawn," Itachi announced, cutting into Hinata's thoughts.

It was clear to Hinata that both Sasuke and Haku had been expecting this announcement as much as she had been, and so they just nodded their head as they continued to eat.

"Hopefully it doesn't take four years before we see you again," Hinata smiled, referring to the amount of time that had passed since Itachi had first left home and now.

"I'll do my best to keep in touch," he replied.

"I'll miss you," her smile was still on her face, but her voice leaked sadness. "You as well, Kakashi. It was really nice to meet you. Thank you so much for everything. I hope you keep in touch as well."

"It was great meeting and getting to know you all as well. I'll really miss Hinata's amazing cooking for sure," Kakashi smiled, looking at each of them fondly.

"You must have received new deployment orders," Sasuke frowned slightly in thought.

Hinata shifted her gaze to Sasuke. Elite Hunters weren't allowed to share any details of any of their missions and all Hunters, regardless of rank, knew that, so Hinata wondered why Sasuke would bring it up. "Be careful."

She couldn't help smiling at Sasuke's timid encouragement. Typically, Elite Hunters could choose their own missions pretty freely, however if the Elders were deploying any number of Elites, it usually meant that the mission was extremely dangerous.

Though she knew that Sasuke had complete faith in his brother's skills and abilities, Itachi wasn't invincible, and especially with what happened with their team, Hinata could tell that Sasuke was far more aware of the risks and mortality that accompanied their line of work.

She reached over to Sasuke who sat on her right and put her hand over his which had been resting on his thigh. She gave him an encouraging smile and gentle squeeze. He didn't look at her or acknowledge her in any way, his eyes still peering at his brother. When she figured that she had held his hand long enough for him to understand her heart and intentions, she began to withdraw her hand. She froze when Sasuke quickly turned his hand over, lacing his fingers with hers, still not looking at her as he went back to eating, acting like he wasn't holding her hand in a tight grip.

Hinata looked down at their joined hands in quiet contemplation. "Sasuke must be more worried about Itachi than I realized," she decided, looking up at Sasuke's profile. "His ears are red. He must still not be completely comfortable with being vulnerable with us." She decided to let him hold her hand glad that she had prepared a meal that didn't require the use of her dominant hand.


"Why is Hinata eating with her left hand?" Haku thought as he watched Hinata struggle slightly with her meal. He frowned slightly when he looked closer. She was sitting almost directly in between him and Sasuke, but she was leaning slightly towards Sasuke with her right arm angled away from her body. Shifting his gaze, he saw Sasuke's flushed ears and dropped his fork on the ground so that he could confirm the suspicion that was crawling up his spine.

It was as if time had slowed and he was watching everything in slow motion as he watched every nuanced movement. He watched as Hinata looked down to see that his fork was closer to her. She leaned down, away from Sasuke to try and pick up the fork and Haku witnessed the unmistakeable tug on her arm when Sasuke refused to let go of her hand to let her reach the fork.

"It's okay, Hinata. I'm done anyways," Haku said, though his own voice sounded far away and defeated.

"Are you feeling sick?" she asked, looking up at him with concerned eyes as he stood up. "You have so much food left."

"I'm fine," he forced a smile and crouched to pick up his fork though his eyes were fixed on Hinata's small hand still in Sasuke's firm grip. His smile had vanished and his typically smiling lips were set in a straight line as he glared at the two hands that seemed to be taunting him.

He took a deep breath and clenched his fists as he steeled his nerves and stood up. Turning to face Hinata completely, he felt his expression melt into one of complete sincerity.

"Haku?" Hinata looked up at him curiously.

"Hinata, I know you're not finished eating, but I really need to talk to you. Do you mind coming with me for a bit?"

"Sure," Hinata nodded and stood up. Haku didn't fail to see Sasuke's reluctance in releasing her hand.

"Let's go somewhere private," Haku gently took Hinata's hand in his, shooting Sasuke a glance before leading her out.

Haku wanted to make sure that they had complete privacy from everyone else and led her outside and around the corner of the building. When he felt like they had enough privacy, he stopped and gently placed his hands on her shoulders before placing her in front of him so that her back was to the wall and they were completely face-to-face. He stood, unable to look up at her while he gathered his courage.

He knew that she was confused, which made him more grateful that she remained silent and didn't ask him what was on his mind. He knew that she knew him well enough to give him time to work through his thoughts at his own pace.

"Hinata," he finally spoke and looked up into her beautiful eyes. The rest of what he wanted to say was caught in his throat as he stared at her with his mouth slightly ajar at the sight of her.

The sun was still setting with the last remnants of the sunlight casting a reddish glow over everything it touched. Presently, the light was shining on Hinata in a way that reminded Haku of the majesty of the phoenix. Even her pale eyes were engulfed in the light and he could almost see fire dancing in her irises.

"Fuck it," he thought, pushing her against the wall before he closed the gap between their lips.


AUTHOR'S NOTE: I promise that the next chapter will have a healthy dose of excitement. This chapter is slower than I'd like, but it's necessary for all the things that will go down in the future.