Chapter 39: A long-awaited time skip

The night was cold, but the sky was clear, a soft wind blew from the north. Snow from the last storm still lay on the ground. The walkway was shoveled, and piles of discarded snow lay on the brim of the streets. Hibiki walked down the dark road, a blue coat on her body and a bag on her shoulder. The night was quiet except for her heels clicking as she moved. The streetlights were still sporadic but gave just enough light for people to navigate the dark streets. The construction of the lower village was nearly complete, just a few details such as this needed to be worked on, but overall it was ready. Above the cliffs on the flat plains was where the rest of the village spread out. It was mostly business and other such buildings in the creavess, while the upper was residential for the most part. Hibiki's apartment was a mile from the Main village office, it was partially built into the cliff face, just like the rest of the buildings here at the bottom. It wasn't the fanciest of places but it was a place that was her own. Suigetsu lived with her there when he was in the village. However, he spent a lot of time doing errands and working for Orochimaru. The two see each other less and less these days, but it would all slow down eventually. It's just the chaos of rebuilding the sound village from scratch. At night Hibiki often dreamed of the day when she could wake up to Suigetsu next to her every morning, and fall asleep in his arms every night.

It had been two years since the war. Suigetsu, Karin and Juugo had joined her in taking a journey across the land of wind and into small countries on the other side. There they split and Hibiki and Suigetsu went to Haruto's old home to clean up the place. They spent weeks cleaning before selling the place. Hibiki had kept only a few things from there. One of which was a photo of what Suigetsu said must be Haruto and his mother. Of course, she couldn't see the photo itself, but having a piece of family with her felt good. After returning from her journey, Hibiki had revealed that she had the rights to the Land of Sound, a gift from Kabuto-san, given to her in the Land of Snow. With it, she made a deal with Orochimaru. She found a Daimyo to take over the country, Orochimaru was the kage of the village, but mostly in name alone, the administrative work was all left to Hibiki. She was no longer under the control of anyone, instead, she was a partner.

While Hibiki rebuilt the village, Orochimaru spent much of his time with his own goals, rebuilding his labs across the world, with the assistance of Karin, Juugo, and Suigetsu.

Suigetsu had decided that while he did not necessarily trust the man, Orochimaru was making a change, and this change made Suigetsu less frightened of him. At first, he wondered if having been through so much with the snake man had caused him to become attached to him. But in the end, he decided it didn't matter, as long as Hibiki was in the village, he would be too.

Over the past two years, he watched as Hibiki moved around with a purpose and held herself far more confidently than ever. Her smile was real and she seemed so much more at peace. He was happy to watch her as she worked, building a place for her to belong.

Many lost ninja were happy to come and join them. Settling into the area very quickly, far faster than what was expected. Then again Orochimaru always tended to attract people to his side. However, that wasn't the only reason they stayed, many respected Orochimaru, but many more respected Hibiki. They looked up to her and quickly found themselves loyal to both her and their new home. Some new additions to the village were several Uzamaki descendants. They came and found acceptance and were not expected to sacrifice themselves to prove loyalty. Although many were in the village, only one of them had the trademark red hair.

Karin was doing better, she had made a friend with a kindred spirit while on their long journey and they wrote to each other. She started seeing a guy named Shohei, but it was a very casual relationship and more like sex friends than anything else.

Shohei wasn't the best person, he was handsome and his chakra tolerable. Karin was tired of having the ever-looming sadness of her failed love, so she went searching for another. She had a few boyfriends, but none of them really made it more than a few months. Sohei was her most recent boyfriend. And he was an ass, he was also very hot. The two had a mutual understanding of what their relationship was.

Hibiki arrived at her building and climbed to the 5th floor, unlocking the door to her apartment. She gently closed the door behind her, and let out a long tired sigh. She slid her coat off her shoulders, hanging it up before removing her shoes. As she did so, a long snore reached her ears. A smile formed on her lips. She walked over to the bed and sat at its edge. Reaching forward she found Suigetsu's face. Cupping his cheek in one hand, rubbing her thumb back and forth across his cheek. He continued to snore, he must be exhausted…

She leaned in, used her other hand to sweep some hair out of his face, and gave a gentle kiss to his forehead. Feeling more peaceful she stood again and walked to the kitchen. Turning on the light and moving to heat some leftovers from the previous night's meal. As she did so she listened to the soft hum of the light. When she and Suigetsu first started to live here, Suigetsu would often get startled to hear her wandering in the dark. Thus even if she didn't need it, she used the lights when he was home.

Hibiki yawned as she ate alone, still hearing the light snores from the next room. When she finished she brought her plate to the sink. As she cleaned up her mess she heard the floor groan ever so slightly, and soon she heard Suigetsu yawn.

"Did I wake you?"

"Nah, I was planning to wait up for you but, I guess I was more tired than I thought."

He comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist, resting his chin atop of her head. He had gotten taller, while she grew maybe a few more centimeters, barely noticeable compared to him.

She continued to work on the dishes, "Did you eat at least?"

"Right before getting here," he reported

Hibiki turned the sink off and dried her hands with a towel before turning and placing her hands on either side of his neck.

"Want to take a bath?" she asked.

"Sure."

Hibiki started the bathwater as Suigetsu grabbed them clothes to change into. Once they were undressed, Hibiki lathered Suigetsu's hair, it had grown longer, now just passing his shoulders, causing him to often wear it in a low ponytail. Her hair had also grown longer, and she planned to keep growing it. Suigetsu seemed to prefer her having long hair, not that he would ever say so. She too also missed her long hair and was happy to keep it long. After washing the two got into the hot water, Hibiki sat between his legs, and as the two sank in more, they sighed simultaneously. Hibiki leaned back into Suigetsu who kept one arm around her and the other laying on the rim of the tub.

"How was your trip?" she asked.

"Long as always. Man, I cannot wait until the new hideout is finished, maybe then Orochimaru will get off my ass about it," he complained.

"How much longer do you think it will take?"

"Another month at the most," he said.

"That's not too bad."

"How is all that governing stuff going?" he asked in return.

"I would bore you to death if I told you." she smiled.

"Yeah but, it's important to you so I'll endure it," he said, placing his chin on her head.

Hibiki gave Suigetsu a short summary of the work she was doing, and he Listened diligently. Once she was done, the two climbed out of the bath and dried off. Once they were in a change of clothes and Hibiki had brushed her teeth, they retired to the bed together. Under the blankets, the two naturally curled into each other and were soon fast asleep

Everything was good, Life was good, but all good things must come to an end.

AN: So I am skipping the rest of the trip, its just not that important to the overall story, I'll leave what is already up to give an idea of what was going on. sorry for such a long wait, I hope to do better but be patient, please. Thank you so much for supporting this story, I really appreciate it. Stay safe out there and I hope to return soon!