"Well that doesn't sound like me at all."

Despite himself, Asuma smirked at her sarcastic response. He'd already heard the story of course, Kurenai had been devastated that she wasn't conscious to help. She'd thrown herself into training, angry and grieving. Still, Gai had a look of devastation.

"We searched for three days for you, but we couldn't find you or Tadaaki. If we hadn't been hurt we would have stayed until we got to you."

She reached over and patted his hand.

"It's okay Gai, we're ninja, we know what we're getting into when we make the choice to fight."

"MY MOST WONDERFUL FRIEND YOU ARE TOO FORGIVING!"

Shoko smiled again, a proper smile too. Having Gai and Asuma (and Hiro too) made being stuck in bed just a little bit better. She still couldn't go home, but a part of home had come to her and that was almost as good. They sat and talked a little longer, Hiro kept quiet in the corner of the room, refusing to converse with the three of them.

Eventually, Yashamaru returned with the regular gaggle of doctors and nurses to help her with her rehabilitation and pain management.

"I'm sorry to pull you away," Yashamaru told them "Lord Kazekage would like to speak with you; I will also show you where you will be staying until Shoko can go home."

Asuma scowled "Why can't she come home now?"

A nurse huffed at him "Because we're the professionals and we said so. At the earliest it'll be another month before she can leave."

Shoko shook her head "No way. I'm not staying another month. Two weeks."

"Miss Hyuuga-"

" ."

The nurse decided it wasn't worth arguing and just thrust a thermometer into Shoko's mouth, and Yashamaru ushered the others out.

"We'll be back later Sho!" Asuma called over as they left, following Yashamaru down the corridors.

"She really can't leave for another month?" Gai asked, the older ninja sighed.

"She's stubborn," Yashamaru laughed "but she was almost dead when we found her. In fact I'm pretty sure she died twice on the table."

That was a scary thought.

"She wants to live, so she lived." Yashamaru conceded "I imagine if she wants to leave in two weeks, she'll leave in two weeks."

Now that sounded like Shoko.

It's been a rough couple of months for Kakashi Hatake.

He's essentially been ostracised by all but one of his friends, and he's lost someone he actually had considered to be a close friend and now he was finding out that the Hyuuga wanted his head. Not that he was surprised, but regardless of all of it he was just following orders.

The Hokage didn't order him to care though; he'd managed that all on his own. So when the Hyuuga began their celebrations for the Lady Hinata's birthday a few months after Shoko had perished, and about three weeks after Gai, Asuma and Hiro had left on their mission to the sand (he didn't want to know what the mission was, in case they were coming back with a corpse) he stayed well out of the way.

So he was stood in the Hokage's office, vaguely aware of the latest tragedy. The lightening leader had tried to kidnap Hinata, and her father had rightly taken care of the would-be kidnapper. He wasn't entirely privy to the details, but he knew to placate the lightning's people, a body was to be given.

Kakashi was almost glad Shoko wasn't there to hear one of the men she called brother was dead, so the other man she called brother could continue to rule. Brothers shouldn't have to kill each other, but then they shouldn't be told one was more valued than the other. Thus was the Hyuuga way.

"Kakashi, are you listening?"

He blinked back into reality, and looked blankly down at the Hokage. He'd been staring absently out the window, away wondering what Shoko would have thought.

"You have to go to the sand."

Ah hell.

He nodded, barely hiding his upset at the idea. He didn't want to go to the sand, he wanted to stay here and pretend he didn't have friends. He'd been very honest with himself lately and he didn't like it.

"Because Shoko is still alive, Kakashi."

He blinked again, and the Hokage repeated what he said. Something uncurled inside him, hope, he realised suddenly. Hope.

"She needs to know what has happened to her family."

Shoko was alive. How had she survived the fall? Why was she in the sand?

"Gai and his team have left the sand; their journey is taking longer than I had hoped." The Hokage continued, unable to miss the light returning to the ninajs eyes "I want you to meet them half way."

"Why me."

The Hokage raised a wrinkled eyebrow and didn't answer. He was sending Kakashi because he needed to go and see it for himself. He was about to tell him about the girls eyes, but he blinked and Kakashi was gone. Hopefully Gai would be able to explain to him what had happened before Kakashi got the wrong idea. From what the mission report said, nobody had suspected anything was wrong with her eyes.

Was it the fall? Or was it the mysterious shrieking Tadaaki? He doubted they would ever know the truth, and that was just fine. It wasn't often that tragedies had a happy ending, or a happy-ish ending. Now he had to figure out what he was going to do about the Hyuuga situation.

Tensions in amongst the clan were at an all-time high. It wasn't unknown that members of the branch family had come to resent the main branch but for them to see how easily (in their minds) the clan head discarded his own twin brother for his own sake was the worst. Add the sudden death of Shoko and the Hokage's secret mission to have her watched, and most of the branch family wanted to revolt.

He was hoping that Shoko's return would help, and that she would be able to keep the branch family and the main branch connected. She had her own fight of course now she was blind, on top of the rumours of her true relationship to the twins but that was all talk and no evidence.

He sighed, puffing at his pipe and staring at the scroll from Gai. Hiro was proving to be something of a problem on the mission, causing undue tension amongst the others. It seemed he held a strong grudge against the outsiders.

He was getting a headache. The branch family hated the main family, all the Hyuugas hated anyone that wasn't a Hyuuga and Shoko seemed to be the one shining light that didn't fall prey to the family traditions. She could be a great ally, provided things went well from here.

Hopefully, she and Kakashi would rekindle their friendship. He didn't like to play matchmaker or manipulate his ninja, but having a Hyuuga close to main family close to one of his own trusted ninja could prove useful in the future.

Provided of course, that she forgave him.