"Sakura!" Tenten and Ino weirdly screamed at the same time as they shoved there selves through the door. Ino was wearing her usual outfit except with her backpack on her shoulders. I had guessed she had just gotten back from a mission, and didnt even have time to unpack. Tenten was wearing a pink shirt and blue pants. Her hair looked damp, as if she had just taken a bath, but it was in the usual pig tail look.

"Tenten, Ino!" I yelled back as loud as my throat was going to allow me. It was still hurting, and im sure it would for another couple of days.

Ino ran up and hugged me as softly as possible, Tenten following. They both sat down on the stools, Ino crossing her legs politely and Tenten sitting straight up. They both smiled with enthusiasm and happiness.

"Hinata is on her way," Tenten said smiling. "She's coming with Neji."

"Yeah, Hiashi was training with Neji when Shikamaru and I came to get her. Neji's taking a shower and Hinata is waiting on him. They'll be here soon." Ino explained. "And im sure you can tell that I just got back from a mission." she said smiling.

"Yeah, I could tell." I said laughing. "What mission?"

"Oh just helping out with the rebuilding of a bridge. Nothing difficult, Shikamaru literally caught me when I was on my way to my house. When he said you were back and that you had woken up, I couldn't wait to see you, so I just came straight here." she said rubbing the back of her shiny, blond hair.

"We heard about Neji giving CPR to Akiyo..." Tenten said blushing. "Thats...pretty amazing, huh?"

"Yeah, if it wasnt for Neji...I don't know what would have happened." I said in a tone as if I were thanking Neji right here in front of me. "He saved his life."

"Tenten, are you blushing?" Ino said smiling and poking Tentens cheek. Tenten turned her head.

"No!"

"Yes you are! You like Neji, don't you!?" Ino asked as if she never knew she liked him in the first place. Tenten never admitted it, but we all knew she had a crush.

"No I don't! Hes just a teammate!" Tenten exclaimed trying to control her outrageous blushing. "Honestly!"

I chuckled. "Sure, Tenten, sure."

"Neji and Tenten, sitting in a tree..." Ino began to sang as if she were in first grade. Tenten rolled her eyes and looked at me.

"I thought Akiyo was supposed to be a girl." Tenten said trying her hardest to change the subject.

"We all thought that. I was surprised when Sasuke said it was a boy instead. I couldn't believe it at first." I said thinking back to how surprised I was at that time. "Oh well, that happens sometimes."

"So, you really saw Sasuke?" Ino asked. "That's what Shikamaru said...but I thought maybe you were being delusional when you said it."

I rolled my eyes. "No, I wasn't being delusional. Ask Naruto, he saw him too. So did Neji."

"I can't believe he just popped out of nowhere like that." Tenten said placing a finger on her chin as if she were thinking. "Its amazing. Has he changed any?"

"Not at all." I said smiling a sad smile as I remembered Sasuke. "Hes just a little more sarcastic, but...hes still the same old Sasuke."

"I wish I could see him." Ino said crossing her arms. "It'd be great to see him again. Its been so long."

"Yeah..." I muttered. "But anyway," I said trying to get my mind off of Sasuke before I started having another panic attack "did you guys see Akiyo?"

"Yes!" Ino exclaimed, obviously getting my hint that I didn't want to talk about Sasuke. "He's gorgeous, Sakura!"

"Yeah! Beautiful!" Tenten agreed. I smiled and laughed.

"Thanks guys," I said happily. But then I frowned. "I wish I could see him, I havent seen him since we were in the woods...I just want to see how big hes gotten in three weeks."

"Well, hes just a tiny thing." Ino said looking at the door as if Akiyo were right there. "But hes doing alright. Hes beautiful, but that was expected." she said turning to me and grinning. I smiled in return and looked at the door. When I see you...I thought.

"Knock, knock." Neji said opening the door right before my eyes. I smiled when I saw him come in along with Hinata and Naruto behind her. Neji's hair was damp from the shower Tenten said he had took, and Hinata was wearing a dark purple dress that came to her knees. It matched her perfectly and she had a blue ribbon in her hair. It was up in a perfect, neat bun. She was so beautiful. Naruto, of course, hadn't changed his appearance since I had saw him earlier. He was still pouting about me not letting him be Akiyos godfather, but he forced himself to smile.

"Sakura," Hinata spoke softly, her pale big eyes looking at me with joy. "Its good to see you so happy." Neji nodded beside her and smiled.

"Thank you, Hinata." I said smiling a large smile. "I'm glad you came."

"Of course I did. I missed you." Hinata said shyly as she walked over to my bed slowly. Neji was right behind her and held a small box in his hand. Hinata looked at Neji then back at me. Neji nodded and handed me the small box. I took it gently and looked up at them with confusion.

"What's this?" I asked shaking the box a little.

"Nothing major, just some Hyuga ointment if you need it." Neji answered, stepping behind Tenten. Tenten looked up at Neji then at Ino who was smiling at her with humor. Tenten rolled her eyes as I looked back up at Neji.

"Oh, thank you." I said placing the box on my table. "That's very nice."

Hinata nodded and smiled. Naruto walked up behind Hinata and placed his hand on her shoulder. This, of course, caused Hinatas face to become as red as a tomato. Generally, Naruto didn't notice.

"Gee, Hinata, you and Neji are really good friends, huh?" He said with an idiotic smirk. "Your guys's ointment really works, Sakura will be better in no time with that!"

"Na...Na...Naruto..." Hinata stuttered.

"Hm?" Naruto asked getting close to Hinata's face. "You say something?" his face was just inches away from Hinatas. Hinatas face was so red, I had almost never seen it so red.

All of a sudden, she just collapsed. We all gasped, but Neji caught her right before she hit the ground. He picked her up into his arms and glared at Naruto. "Naruto...what did you do to my cousin?" he asked angrily.

"I didn't do anything! Shes just weird." Naruto said crossing his arms. "You guys always think its my fault!"

"She was perfectly fine until you touched her!" Neji yelled.

"What did you say!?" Naruto yelled back. "You wanna fight, Neji? Cause we will, outside me and you!"

"Oh please, Neji could whoop you..." Tenten muttered under her breath quietly.

"What did you say!?" Naruto screamed glaring at Tenten now. "You want to go too?!"

"Oh please, Naruto, your no sweat to me. And im way too mature for you." Tenten said. "Im just stating the facts."

"What facts? The fact that your scared?!"

"Naruto!" Neji yelled. "Don't talk to Tenten that way!"

"Oh c'mon! Sakura, help me out!" Naruto said looking at me with a goofed expression on his face. Ino and I sighed as we both seemed to have smacked our foreheads.

"If your going to fight, go outside." I said evilly.

"Sakura"-

"Outside!" I screamed looking at Naruto angrily. Naruto crossed his arms and growled.

"I'm always the one who gets yelled at...." he muttered as he slowly walked to the door.

As soon as he was completely out of the room, Neji sighed as he held onto his cousin. "I'd better get her to a room..." he said as he began slowly walking to the door as well.

"Wait!" Tenten yelled before Neji was fully out the door. "Let me go with you." Tenten said as she jumped up from the wooden stool. She trotted over to Neji and held the door open as he carefully brought Hinata into the hallway.

"Ooo la la!" Ino joked around as Tenten slammed the door shut. I smiled and let out a sigh.

"Guess its just us, huh Ino?" I said looking at her. Inos big pale blue eyes looked back into mine and she smiled.

"For right now. Kiba, Shino and Lee are going to come over later to see you as well. Lee was pretty worried himself." Ino said. "I know you and Shino don't talk much, but he was concerned as well. All three of them kept asking Lady Tsunade if there was anything they could do. Of course, there wasn't. But we're all just really glad your okay." she said smiling. She flipped her blond hair to the side as she smiled, showing her teeth. Ino was very pretty. I used to be so jealous of her, but now, she was just a best friend. Although in our past, we did fight a lot.

"I'm so glad I have friends like you guys to count on." I said sighing. "You guys rock."

"Well I do, anyway." Ino said holding up a peace sign and sticking her tongue out. I chuckled as I relaxed my body a little. Ino looked at me for a moment, then spoke. "To be honest, Sakura, I expected you to look worse than this."

"I felt worse than this." I said laughing. "Besides my throat, I feel good for the most part."

"I expected you to be all bandaged up." Ino said smiling a fake smile. I could tell in her eyes that she was just as worried as anyone else when I was gone. "But you look okay."

"Well, I am all bandaged up under the covers..." I snorted. "But you don't have to see that."

"So...how did it feel?" Ino asked out of the blue.

"How did what feel?"

"Having a baby...like...what was it...um...like?" Ino asked biting her lip.

"Well...it hurt." I said closing my eyes and smiling. "Hurt like hell, actually."

Ino smiled. "Sounds like it." she laughed. She looked at me for a long moment then frowned. "What about...um...Sasuke?" she asked after a while. Ino began squirming in her stool, from the expression on my face I guessed.

"I don't know." I answered honestly. "I don't know where he is, and how he is. I just...don't know."

"But you saw him..." Ino said. "How did that feel?"

It took me minute to answer. I could either lie and say it didnt feel any different, or I could tell the truth and tell her how much I still loved him. I remembered his calm expression when he saw Akiyo, and how he was the first to hold him. I had never imagined Sasuke would ever be the one to deliver my baby, it was still shocking even after all this time. I actually saw excitement...love in Sasukes eyes when he laid eyes on Akiyo, his nephew. But he looked at him like...like he was his own son. After all this time, I thought Sasuke would truly hate Akiyo, but in reality he loved him. Or, that's what I believed.

"I understand," Ino said bringing me from my thoughts. "I see that it is still hard to talk about him, huh?" I just looked at her for a moment. She nodded. "I get it, its okay."

"He used to be my teammate, Ino." I said thankful that I wouldn't have to talk about Sasuke now. "It'd be like you losing Shikamaru or Chouji. It breaks your heart."

"Is your heart still broken, Sakura?" Ino asked curiously. I looked down at my pale hands and sighed. I could hear birds chirping outside and kids playing. I even smiled when I heard Neji and Naruto arguing down the hallway. Then I sighed again and looked at Ino, a smile still on my face. I remembered Sasukes face, and what Kyomi told me the last night I saw her. How she told me that he cared for me. And that he would come for me. " don't worry. I'll come back for you..." Sasukes words repeated in my eyes as I opened my mouth to answer Ino.

"Its more like...cracked." I said placing my palm on my chest. "But...but its healing."