A/N

Sorry for the long break but I have had some health issues that I thought would pass but have not so sitting up, typing and numerous other acts have become difficult. Therefore I have decided to just go with shorter chapters until I'm able to manage more. With any luck this will mean not so long a wait for the next chapter.
Oh and thank goodness Kishimoto own Naruto otherwise the manga would never come out!

...

"Neji?"

"As incredible as it sounds, it is indeed me." He chuckled at the blonde's very obvious look of bewilderment.
"What the hell Neji?" Naruto's confusion quickly turned to joy as he leapt to his feet and threw his arms around his old friend. His hug was returned awkwardly yet with a familiar warmth that somehow assured him that the man in front of him was indeed Neji.

"I woke up in the dark, both literally and figuratively. I didn't know where I was, though once I managed to find a light I could see enough to know it was most likely someplace underground. There were no windows and the air was heavy with moisture and the smell of dirt. I could see beyond an open doorway to a lit hallway but nothing else. A more pressing matter was the fact that I had no idea who I was. So there I lay until Orochimaru walked into the room."

He'd gone onto explain that he'd had no idea at the time who the rather effeminate, amber eyed man was and his initial reaction had been quiet anger. Surprisingly, the sannin had seemingly understood that the anger was based on fear and had taken no offence. In fact, he had pulled up a chair, sat himself down and proceeded to tell a tale that had the confused man doubting the sanity of the one who had apparently saved him.

"The war had finished and most of the shinobi had departed for home, leaving a select few to collect the remains of those fallen. Orochimaru had disappeared as soon as the end came. Perhaps he was concerned about punishment for past crimes committed. Neji couldn't be sure. Luckily for Neji he had not actually left the area but was in hiding, waiting for an opportunity to peruse the battle site.

He'd walked by Neji initially, assuming that it was just one more dead body in amongst the masses of bloodied corpses but then he had felt it. It was just a spark of chakra but such an intense spark that he had turned back to scan the fields for it's origin. That was when he'd found the fallen Hyuga and the source of the strange chakra. Perhaps if one of the sentinels had found the body Neji would have been returned to the Leaf immediately but it was Orochimaru and despite following Sasuke into battle he still harboured a deep fondness for the mysteries of life. Neji had become his latest puzzle.

He never learned how the snake sannin had managed to remove him from the field without detection but when he had finally been cognisant enough to ask why no one had ever come for his body he had been told that massive storms had occurred days after the end of the war. The many attempts by the villages to retrieve their dead had been thwarted by raging flood waters. Ultimately the Alliance had decided to abandon their search and had chosen instead to erect a memorial monument with the names of those lost.

The question of why he had not returned on his own before now was more difficult for Neji to answer. His face clearly showed shame as he explained. "I woke up two years after the war ended with literally no use of my body. My muscles were so atrophied that it took me another six months of working with Orochimaru to simply be able to walk unassisted. It was a full year before I remembered who I was. By then I had become almost friends with the man. He was surprisingly easy to speak with and I suspect he enjoyed having someone to talk to. He went so far as to ask me to travel with him but by that time I knew that I wanted to return home so he brought me to one of his hideouts close to Konoha. He left me there after telling me he would likely come through again once every month or two. Should I change my mind I could let him know when I saw him." Neji had looked at his old friend with a twinge of guilt. "I came back fully intending to return to my family but somehow I couldn't bring myself to take that final step. I couldn't bring myself to admit it at the time but I can now. I was scared." He lifted a hand and brushed it over his unmarked forehead. "I was free of that mark for the first time in forever and I just didn't want it back. I didn't consider that they might leave me unsealed. I wasn't ready to chance that so instead I stayed nearby and made it my life's work to keep an eye on Hinata from behind the scenes. That's why I found her so quickly after the attack. It's also why I didn't bring her back initially. A couple of days before the attack I watched as two of the elders spoke with a young man. I couldn't see well enough to identify the man but judging his behaviour i knew he had to be a Branch member. There were some heated words exchanged and then they pulled the youth off into the woods but not before I had caught Hinata's name and the words 'will no longer be an issue'. I went after her then. Unfortunately, I wasn't there in time to stop the attack. After the conversation I overheard I couldn't take a chance returning her to the village so I brought her to the bunker. Luckily Orochimaru was in house at the time and treated her. I finally had to bring her back despite the danger because I needed Lady Tsunade's expertise with medicine."

"I'm glad to did." Naruto face was unusually serious. "I was going nuts not knowing where she was but that still doesn't explain why you are alive."

"Did I forget that part?" His eyes shifted away from the intense blue of Naruto's gaze. "Yeah, I guess I did." He took a deep breath. "Orochimaru told me that the secret to my revival lay in the Ten Tails or more specifically the chakra of the Ten Tails."
...

Naruto sighed, the sound somehow echoing his inner turmoil.. Tsunade's little "surprise" had kept him far longer than anticipated and by the time he had returned he had found two very happy shinobi and one slumbering fiance. Although he was thrilled that Kiba and Shino had had an opportunity to speak with her, he was a little upset that she was once again asleep. It seemed he'd barely had any time with her and the need to hear her voice, to know that she would once again open her eyes caused a flutter of panic in the pit of his stomach. The peaceful smile that adorned her face however calmed his nerves and he was once again reminded of how easily she could calm him.

In the months that she'd been gone he'd had a lot of time to think about the soft spoken woman who had somehow become the single most important thing in his life. He'd thought about all the times that she'd been there for him, all the times she'd saved him and he'd realized that he had always held a special place in his heart for her. That realization had made him both happy and sad. Naruto, however, had never been one to dwell on regrets so in typical Naruto style he'd let the sadness go before it could take root. The happiness, though, he had held onto. It was something far different than anything he had previously experienced. Though it had been tempered by the worry he'd felt at Hinata's disappearance it was still excited him in ways he'd never imagined.

If asked Naruto would tell you that despite his trials as a child he had been happy. Sure there were times he'd had things happen that had nearly crushed him. Sasuke's defection as well as both Neji and Jiraiya's death had been examples of that but he'd bounced back, determined to make the most of those hardships. In time, he had. Jiraiya, Neji, Inoichi, Shikaku and all the others that had died became his strength as the war ended. Then Sasuke had returned to the village and his world seemed to be complete. His growing friendship with Hinata had added to that sense of content and it had only grown along with their closeness. When he finally admitted to himself he was in love with the raven haired woman life had seemed almost perfect. He didn't think there was a way to be any happier.

Then they had made love. Each and every touch they'd shared had only served to increase his sense of delight, both in the woman and in life in general. It was then as he lay, caught in a post coital euphoria that it had come to him. Life did not get better than this.

He could take his time and romance Hinata. She certainly deserved it for her patience. Even he had to admit, it had taken far too long for him to come to his senses. But he was done wasting time. With that thought in mind he drifted off, body protectively wrapped around her.

A/N
Just for this chapter I have selfishly opted to forego recommendations. Instead I am asking for some suggestions. I need some uplifting Naruhina story suggestions. Something to sooth the soul and the nerves if possible. I've had to become careful about the material I read for a number of reasons. Hope some of you can help with this.

This does not mean I am still not waiting for chapters from a few of the more intense stories I have been reading. Some stories are just too good to put away regardless of their impact on you.

Serious Sam - Another chapter of My Precious People please!

tenneyshoes - Sparks and The Path We Walk. Yes I know you just updated but both are just too darn good to wait for.

DeisuiNeko - Snow Angels.

gigiree123 - A Reluctant Return

Aqua-Zodiac - Wait WHAT!

There are so many more but I will stop here.

~frowns~

Despite saying I was foregoing recommendations it seems I have done so anyway, haven't I?