"Yuki-chan? Yuki-chan?"

The voice was soft and gentle, opposite to the headache and the pain in her eyes. It felt soothing as she felt a hand gently patted her head as a mother would.

Then her eyes open in shock as she quickly sat up. She heard a small cry of shock and felt the blankets that covered her body fall to her lap.

as a mother should?

Her birth mother died in the massacre and her mother in Iwagakure died during one of her missions. Who could it possibly be?

"Yuki-chan? Are you feeling alright?"

Hinata. Her kindness and gentleness reminded Yuki what it was like to have a mother. She felt the jealousy harnessed, yet hidden, in her heart. It wasn't long after her squad mates' deaths that Misoka also left the world, leaving Yuki alone in the village. Survivor's guilt.

But it wasn't till she was walking on the streets again did she really appreciate Misoka's non-judgemental heart and the love and happiness she had provided her with. The sounds of laughter as young children, not even just that. When any young person was with their mother, she could hear them, playing together or even just chatting together. She would feel the tears threatening to fall or the pain in her heart. Yuki knew she would never be able to happen again.

Even here in Konoha.

Her composed face felt the crack in it grow wider before it finally broke apart. Hinata held the sobbing girl and stroked her hair, waiting patiently for her to finish.

Hinata wasn't quite sure what was going on but she knew that Yuki had a hard life and she would never fully understand what it would like to be blind. And she was also blessed with an extended vision.

"T-thank you, Hinata." Yuki looked up. "It's just that I don't really have a family any more. I mean, you have your whole clan. And all I have is Itachi." Even if she at her lowest, she must not ruin her cover. She wasn't supposed to know that Sasuke was alive.

"But you also have Sasuke," Hinata paused before quietly continuing, "although he's not here." She brought Yuki's hands together into her hands, changing Yuki's sad face to one of surprise. "You still have me as your friend, so please don't cry, Yuki-chan." Hinata felt happiness when she saw Yuki's smile.

But she wasn't the only one.

Watching outside of Hinata's room was Neji. He had heard most of what they had said and heard Yuki cry. He couldn't help feel a small pain in his chest when he saw her tears. But now knowing that she was well, he left the Hyuuga compound for training with Lee and Tenten with a small smile on his face.

"I'm curious, Yuki-chan, how do you see other people when your blind?" Hinata saw Yuki's hesitation and quickly added, "Y-you don't have to answer. I-i'm really sorry I asked." Yuki shook her head and smiled. "It's alright. Not many people have asked so I was a bit surprised by the question."

They went and sat on the wooden corridor as Hanabi trained in the outside training ground. "I use roots in the ground to help me see." She placed her hand on the ground and allowed her chakra to go into the ground. "The roots grow in large systems underground and usually they touch each other at some point. My chakra travels along those roots and emit small traces of chakra in a wave. When my chakra finds an object containing chakra, it bounces back to the roots and returns the information to me." Hinata watched as the chakra returned back to her hand.

Yuki then furrowed her brows and said, "You didn't understand that right?" Hinata was reluctant to say no but soon gave up. She watched as Yuki tried to think of another way to explain. "Yes! I found it." She grabbed Hinata's hands and asked, "You know what dolphins are, right? And how they find their way underwater?" Hinata felt surprised by her forwardness and managed to squeak a "yes".

"Okay, now think of my chakra as the noise that a dolphin makes and the sea are roots of plants. It's like echolocation." Hinata understood now. "But what about people in buildings? How do you tell?" Yuki smiled and replied, "My chakra isn't like normal echolocation. It can go through the wooden support beams or buildings since wood has fibres. It then goes around the building. But I can't do stone buildings." Yuki brought her arms behind her and leaned back. "But there are other ways I have been trained to see people and things. With ninja who have strong chakra systems, I can see their form because I can see their chakra. But only as a single colour. And I can see because people are warm."

She sensed Hinata's confusion. "Close your eyes, Hinata and then face the sun. Can you see the colour change?" Hinata did what she was told and faced the sun with closed eyes. On her lids, she could see it was redder and brighter then when she was facing Yuki. "I understand. I never realised that before." Yuki finally sat back up. "I can't see the colour change but I can sense 's because you heavily rely on your eyesight. I don't have that, so all my other senses have to be sharp in order to protect myself the same way you can protect yourself."

"To be truthful, I'm envious of your eyes and what you can see. So treasure it."

As Yuki felt the warmth of the sun on her cheeks, she felt relieved and the burden on her heart disappeared.

But only for now.