A Sign That You Were Here

by xpastelberriesx

Hinata was certain she was dead, but apparently, she wasn't that lucky. Instead, she was faced with a husband that shouldn't be her husband and two children that shouldn't be her children. She now has the chance to live the life she yearned for long ago. Although, everything comes at a price. (NaruHina/SasuHina)

6. Wrong Words

The strangely unnerving absence of an impaling stare prompted Hinata to put one leg before the other faster than ever before.

Having grown so accustomed to the glare of the ghost, the lack of it turned her stomach.

Slipping through the gate of the hospital with ragged breathing, she swallowed the bile piled in her throat.

Her mind barely registered the directions the receptionist gave her to Sakura's office. As she climbed the stairs, her mind swirled around the sudden disappearance of the unknown entity. Even though the rational part of her brain screamed danger, her intuition sent ripples of warm waves all the way through her soul upon thinking about her shadow.

She almost tripped over her own feet when her eyes darted to the nameplate next to the closed mahogany door. It spelled Uchiha Sakura and Hinata bit on her bottom lip so hard that a crimson drop of blood welled up on the plumpness.

Licking away the salty redness, she reached for the door handle when the voice coming from inside stopped her midmotion.

"Take a look at this," Sakura's unique tone was hardly audible behind the thick material of the door, but her words gradually became more understandable once she moved closer. Hinata laid her ears on the hard, cold surface to be able to hear as much as she possibly could. "This is a scan we made of Hinata's brain during her surgery."

Muffled syllables of words that belonged to someone other than Sakura could be heard from inside, but the voice's owner was situated too far from the door for Hinata to guess the meaning of the sounds. Activating her Byakugan, she spotted Naruto leaning against the wall of the office with his arms folded while Sakura stood close to the door, pointing at a monitor on the wall opposite of him.

In moments like this, Hinata wished she had enhanced hearing instead of enhanced vision. Or better yet—both.

"Exactly," Sakura nodded and turned to inspect the scan on the monitor. "But after an injury as grave as hers was, there should be something. Anything. Yet, on the scan, her brain looks completely normal."

Hinata watched as Naruto pushed himself away from the wall and walked closer, grabbing his chin as he focused his eyes on the monitor. "Do you have an explanation for it?"

"Yes." Sakura stayed silent for long, sluggishly passing moments, prompting Hinata to glue herself to the door. "Genjutsu."

The word made Hinata scowl.

"Genjutsu? Would being put under a genjutsu tear your chakra pathways?"

Sakura turned her head to stare at Naruto before she shifted her gaze back at the monitor. "I don't know, Naruto. I've never seen anything like this, but… she's the Hokage's wife. If an enemy is looking for a weak spot, it's only logical to attack your family and gather intel on you through them. And for that, they need something stronger than a regular genjutsu."

Hinata could clearly see Naruto's fingers stiffening as he gripped the fabric of his shirt. "What would anyone gain by making my wife believe she has another family?"

Without an answer, Sakura sauntered over to her desk and started sorting some documents as though she could find the answer to Naruto's question in them. Hinata had to concentrate to guess the meaning of the sounds that eventually left Sakura's mouth. "Does Boruto or Himawari act differently?"

Naruto's gasp was painfully audible. "I… I don't think so."

Sakura nodded. "Keep an eye on them anyway. Just in case." She sat down on the chair behind her desk and leaned on her elbows, shifting her frosty gaze at Naruto. "It should be Ino."

"Sorry?"

"Shikamaru told me you will have Hinata's memories inspected by a Yamanaka. Ino should be the one to complete the examination. We might be up against a powerful genjutsu, one that was cast days ago and still doesn't show any signs of weakening. It's entirely possible that there are only minute clues or even none at all about it in Hinata's mind. Ino is the only one who can recognize a genjutsu even in memories that seem one hundred percent real."

Naruto only answered with a stiff nod before he reached for the doorknob, making Hinata jump away from the door. The veins around her eyes disappeared just in time before she found herself face-to-face with her husband of this reality.

Baffled for a moment, Naruto's irises dilated before he plastered a grin onto his face. "Hinata, you're early."

A pink blush bloomed on Hinata's face as she tucked her hair behind her ears. "Yes, I… was about to take Himawari to her friend's house, I think her name was Yuina. Yes, I'm sure she said Yuina. But Himawari told me she can find her way, so I let her go and umm… I figured I could come earlier than arranged. So, I… should I check if Himawari arrived safely?" she rambled.

Naruto tilted his head to the side with one eyebrow raised before he let out a faint giggle. "It's okay, Hinata, I'm sure Himawari is safe. Yuina's house is only a street away from us." He patted Hinata's shoulder and grinned at her. "See you later."

With a puff of smoke, Naruto was gone and Hinata could only blink.

"Come in, Hinata," she heard Sakura's voice from inside, effectively dragging Hinata out of her daze.

Sakura was still seated behind her desk when Hinata pulled the door closed behind herself. With trembling legs, she hurried toward the empty chair on the other side of the desk. After squirming a bit on the uncomfortable piece of furniture, she glanced at the monitor on the wall. However, instead of the scan of her brain that she had anticipated to find there, she could only see eternal blackness on the screen.

"How are you feeling?" Sakura smiled at her as though she hadn't just discussed the possibility of Hinata being under a genjutsu that was cast by an unknown enemy.

"Good."

"Any pain? Dizziness? Lack of appetite?"

"No, nothing."

Sakura bobbed her head as a sign of comprehension and scribbled down words on a paper with Hinata's name written on it.

"Please lie on the bed, I will be there in a minute," Sakura gestured with her head toward the examination bed in the corner of the room and Hinata didn't hesitate to comply.

As Sakura was leaning over her, examining the recovery of her chakra pathways with warm waves of green chakra coming from the palm of her hands, Hinata pondered if she would be able to learn advanced medical ninjutsu while she was trapped in this dimension. The Sakura of her own dimension had started teaching her before her untimely passing, but Hinata's knowledge wasn't even nearly enough to heal all the gruesome wounds ninjas faced during the war.

Sakura's deep understanding of medical ninjutsu could be the ace up their sleeve.

Hinata parted her lips to voice the question when her pale eyes locked with squinted jade ones, and an entirely different question rolled off her tongue than she had planned. "Do you see something abnormal?"

The narrowed eyes widened as though Sakura had just realized the kindness she wore as a mask had slipped off her face. She leaned back and the warmth of chakra disappeared. "No, the chakra flow seems normal. I can't sense anything that would give a reason to worry."

"Am I well enough to train?"

Sakura's posture stiffened. "You want to train? What for?"

"I'm a shinobi, Sakura," Hinata answered, pushing herself up from the bed.

Sakura stared into the lavender eyes. "I haven't seen you train ever since Boruto was born."

"That wasn't me," Hinata mumbled as she zipped up her jacket. She didn't miss the twitching of the corner of Sakura's eyes. "I was wondering if you could teach me medical ninjutsu."

Green eyes grew large then narrowed in a second as their owner leaned against the desk, squeezing its edge. "You already know the basics."

"But I want to know more. When war rages, there's no jutsu more important than medical ninjutsu," Hinata replied, her voice gradually softening as she spoke. Sakura's lips parted in a possible excuse, but Hinata was faster with words. "I'm aware you must be busy with your work at the hospital and taking care of your children, but I'm a fast learner. I promise."

"I will think about it," Sakura muttered before a cackle smoothed out the creases on her forehead. "By the way, Sarada is old enough to survive a few hours without me."

"Is she the oldest?"

"She's an only child." Sakura's face lit up as she talked about her daughter, but her cheerful expression swiftly turned into a frown when Hinata's gasp pierced through the air.

"But she's a girl," Hinata blurted out, immediately regretting the choice of her words.

Sakura folded her arms, the smooth skin around her nose crinkling. "I don't see where you are going with this."

"I was just thinking about the clan. She would eventually marry someone, take her husband's name, and… wouldn't that mean the Uchiha are gone?" Hinata stammered, but as soon as the words left her mouth, she wished she could suck them back.

"You should worry about the Uzumaki and let me worry about the Uchiha," Sakura scoffed and gestured Hinata to leave.

Hinata bowed her head both as an apology and a goodbye and left the visibly irritated pink-haired kunoichi alone.

Strolling down the streets of Konoha, Hinata's mind was full of the possibility of the Uchiha name disappearing in this reality. The Sasuke that existed in this world seemed an entirely different person than the Sasuke who lived in her own memories.

The mental image of herself, breastfeeding six-month-old Aiko barged into her mind. The gulping sounds coming from the baby filled the silence of the night as Hinata sat on the edge of the bed. The faint light from the lamp on the nightstand recast the tuft of black hair on top of Aiko's head into an orangish color, and every fiber of Hinata's body shook with motherly love.

Abruptly, two strong arms wrapped around her waist, followed by a quick but tender kiss on the neck. Hinata let out a soft moan as her husband relaxed his head into the crook of her neck, gazing down at the peaceful, grunting baby.

"She eats a lot."

Hinata chuckled at the remark. "She's hungry."

Sasuke only let out a faint hum and stayed silent for long minutes. He reached down to brush the chubby cheeks of Aiko with the pad of his thumb, making the baby squeeze her eyes tighter together.

"I like even numbers."

Hinata turned her neck to the side, searching for an answer in Sasuke's dark eyes. "Sorry?"

"I like even numbers," he repeated as though these four words could serve as an explanation. As Hinata's confused lavender eyes glimmered in the half-light, he continued with a vague grunt, "I was thinking about names. If it's a girl, we could call her—"

"Wait." Hinata's whisper prompted Sasuke to blink. "Do you want another baby?"

Sasuke shifted his eyes back at the peaceful and content features of Aiko. "I'd like to give the kids as many bonds as possible."

At that moment, the war raging in the world didn't matter. At that moment, the tenderness and determination radiating from her husband convinced Hinata that no matter what obstacle they faced, the two of them together could overcome it.

Because at that moment, they weren't tortured souls. They weren't parents of children that were hunted down by more enemies than they could keep track of.

They were only a regular couple with a regular desire to grace another wandering spirit with the gift of life.

Basking in the reverie of love with her husband and newborn, Hinata let the idea flash through her heart with balmy billow. As much bliss as the thought gave her at the moment, she knew that this condemning desire to have another child would eventually extinguish in both her and Sasuke.

Nobody truly wanted to doom another innocent soul with a lifetime of danger.

Blinking away the tears in her eyes while homesickness latched onto her heart, Hinata spotted a shock of blond hair. Its owner was seated casually on a bench with his legs spread widely apart. Ocean blue eyes were fixated on laminated cards. In front of him, a boy around his age sat with his legs crossed and eyes focused on similar cards. Next to them stood another, his hands on his hips as he darted his eyes between the two other boys.

"Boruto," Hinata waved with a smile as she ambled up to the teenager.

"Hey Mom," Boruto glanced up from the cards in his hands for a short moment to wave back.

"Hi, Hinata-san," the two boys greeted her in chorus. Hinata knew both of them from her own reality—Inojin, the Yamanaka heir, and Shikadai, the Hokage's son. At least in her own reality.

To hinder herself from staring at the two familiar teens for uncomfortably long, Hinata walked behind Boruto to check what kind of cards he was focusing on so hard. As far as she could tell, it must've been some kind of a game.

"Oh wow, you have a card of Naruto. And is that Akamaru?" she exclaimed as she peeked over the boy's shoulders.

"Mom, you're not supposed to tell what cards I have in my hands," Boruto whined as he pushed his cards against his chest, accompanied by erupting laughter from Inojin and Shikadai.

"I'm sorry," Hinata nibbled on her lower lip, a pink blush dusting her white skin upon realizing how easily she had managed to embarrass Boruto in front of his friends.

Shikadai wiped away a tear of laughter from his eyes as he motioned toward the cards in his hands with his head. "To have a fair match, I will reveal two cards of mine as well. I have a card of my dad, and one of you, Hinata-san."

"Me?" Hinata blinked at the boy, pointing a finger at herself in surprise.

"Yes," Shikadai nodded and turned the card around for a moment.

Hinata couldn't muffle the playful smile that spread on her face as she elbowed Boruto on the side, "Do you also have a card of me, Boruto?"

"No, Shikadai didn't want to exchange it with me for any of my cards. I even offered my Fourth Hokage card," Boruto muttered, crimson redness blooming on his whole face and all the way down his neck.

Hinata placed her hand in front of her mouth to hide her giggles. Swallowing the tickling urge to chuckle out loud at Boruto's visible embarrassment, she turned to his two friends. "So, how does this game work exactly? It looks entertaining."

All three boys glared at her as if she had suddenly grown two heads. Darting her eyes between the wide-eyed teens, Hinata cursed herself for her inability to let things go.

"You always scold Boruto for spending all his money on these cards, Hinata-san," Inojin commented, tilting his head to the side. The clothes he wore caught Hinata's attention and didn't let it go. In her own reality, Inojin never took off his chuunin vest—seeing him without it seemed almost unreal.

Hinata took a deep breath, concentrating on coming up with a believable excuse, but Boruto spoke up before she could part her lips. "Mom lost her memories of the past fifteen years."

The two boys gasped and Hinata couldn't help but wonder why Boruto hadn't mentioned anything to them before.

"We didn't know, Hinata-san. Will your memories come back?" Inojin inquired.

"I'm working on it," Hinata smiled at him softly. "But thank you for asking, Inojin."

Boruto snapped his head to the side to glare at Hinata. The way the bright blueness in his eyes darkened sent goosebumps all the way up on Hinata's arms. Rolling back her shoulders in an attempt to show confidence, she plastered a kind smile on her face.

"We didn't tell you his name."

The squinting of Boruto's eyes showed distrust and the sudden desire to cut her tongue out and eat it overwhelmed Hinata. That way at least she wouldn't ruin basic conversations ever again.

"I remember certain things." As she voiced the half-truth, her fake smile still reached from ear to ear. Before either of the boys could continue pushing her though, Hinata turned on her heels and lifted her hand in a wave. "Have fun, boys. Be home at dinnertime, Boruto."

Hinata only let out the breath that got stuck between her ribs when her fingers slipped around the handle of the front door of the Uzumaki house. The scent of candies and bubblegum nearly swept her off her feet as Himawari clashed against her body, locking Hinata's waist in a tight hug as soon as she set a foot inside the house.

"Welcome home, Mama!" Himawari snuggled to her mother before she took a step back and opening her arms wide, she announced, "Everything was fine."

Hinata blinked, trying to give a deeper meaning to the simple statement as the exuberant trembling of blue irises suggested that there was, indeed, importance to Himawari's words. Hinata's lips quirked up in a gentle smile as her gaze ran through the slightly puffed-out chest.

Threading her fingers through the indigo hair the same way she used to run through the black locks of Aiko, Hinata smiled down at Himawari. "Of course everything was fine. I trust you, Himawari."

The little girl's face brightened as she clasped her hands together, tensing her body to refrain herself from jumping up and down in joy. Watching the intense jubilation washing over Himawari, Hinata's heart swelled with affection.

Her counterpart must've been treating ten-year-old Himawari as though she was still a small child. However, her counterpart wasn't here now and Hinata grabbed the opportunity to start building another type of bond with her daughter of this reality.

"Hima, do you want to train with me before dinner?"

Himawari tilted her head to the side, blinking. "Training?"

"Mhm, training. I know you haven't decided on becoming a shinobi yet, but you can train even if you don't want to be a ninja. It's important to know how to protect yourself and the ones you love."

Locks of Himawari's short hair flew in all directions as she bobbed her head up and down. "I would love to train!"

Hinata tucked an unruly wisp of hair behind Himawari's ear. "Alright. Do you have something you can wear? Something that lets you move freely."

Himawari patted her lips with her index finger as she turned her gaze toward the ceiling in concentration. Abruptly, her eyes grew large with recognition and she exclaimed, "I got a training suit from Grandpa for my birthday."

Hinata's heart clenched by hearing the word 'grandpa', but she kept the bright smile on her face so Himawari wouldn't notice the sudden shift in her mood.

"That will be perfect. Hurry and let's change." Hinata urged Himawari by patting her back, but before her fingertips could brush against the girl for the third time, Himawari was already marching up the stairs.

Hinata followed her with a low giggle. After peeking into Himawari's room to make sure she didn't need help, Hinata slid into the room she shared with Naruto to search for a proper training suit for herself as well. She opened all the drawers and rummaged through almost every corner of the room, but she couldn't find anything to wear. She found all kinds of clothing: kimonos, summer dresses, skirts, and jackets, but nothing she could comfortably wear for training.

"Are you for real, Hinata? You must have something somewhere, just show me," she mumbled as though her counterpart could answer her.

After searching the room with her Byakugan as a last resort idea but not finding anything suitable, Hinata let out a painful sigh. "I promised a training session to Himawari."

She walked to one of the pulled-out drawers and since staring at its contents couldn't turn them into women's clothing, she took out black training pants and an orange short-sleeved t-shirt. Putting them on, she blew a strand of hair out of her face and tucked the t-shirt into the pants to make it less loose around her frame. After fixing it in place by tying a satin belt around her waist in a tight knot, Hinata rolled up the ends of the pants so she wouldn't trip over them.

Glaring at her own reflection in the mirror, a breathy laugh tore from Hinata's throat. Her outfit wasn't the best training suit she had ever worn, but it served its purpose.

"Mama, are you wearing Papa's clothes?" Himawari barged into the room, already changed into her own training suit. "We should ask Grandpa to buy you a training suit for your birthday, too."

"You're right," Hinata laughed and let Himawari grab her hand and pull her toward the backyard. Halting under the only tree on the property, Hinata let go of the little hands and looked down at the eagerly shining blue irises. "Alright, Hima, have you ever trained with me?"

"No," Himawari shook her head.

"Have you ever trained with anyone?"

"Not really."

Hinata raised a single eyebrow. "Not even Dad? Or Grandpa?"

"No, they usually only train Onii-san. But he wants to be a great ninja, so I don't mind," Himawari sang with a wide grin. "But you helped me to learn how to activate my Byakugan on purpose. Does it count as training?"

"You have the Byakugan then?" Hinata asked with lingering astonishment in her voice. Himawari had never been properly trained and yet she had activated the Byakugan at such a young age. She had serious potential if it was true.

"Look." Himawari turned her pointy gaze at the trunk of the tree, the veins on her temple bulging and her cerulean blue eyes whirling into opalescent ones.

As the veins receded after Himawari deactivated her dojutsu, Hinata was wondering if Boruto also had the Byakugan. Or any kekkei genkai that could've been the result of combining such strong lineages as the Hyuuga and the Uzumaki.

Himawari impatiently swung herself back on forth on her legs and Hinata sent a proud smile in her direction. "Very good, Hima. Do you know about the Gentle Fist?"

Himawari pushed out her chest and threw her arms behind her back as though she was in school, answering a teacher's question. "Yes. It's the main technique of the Hyuuga."

"That's the one. Do you know how to do it?" When Himawari shook her head with a sad frown, Hinata shot her an encouraging smile. "I will teach you the basics first.

"To describe it in short, it's a hand-to-hand combat style which inflicts internal damage to your opponent through attacking the chakra pathway system in the body. Chakra pathways are what you see inside people when you activate your Byakugan," Hinata pointed at her own eyes while explaining.

"If you attack someone's chakra system by infusing your own chakra into their body, you can hurt them quite badly. Also, there are several chakra points throughout the body and if you hit them directly, you can even knock out your opponent."

"Mhm," Himawari nodded, her eyebrows furrowing attentively.

"I will show you the basic stance."

Hinata positioned herself into the usual stand for the technique while explaining to Himawari the most important things to pay attention to. After Himawari tried to copy her stance, Hinata helped her correcting the mistakes by lifting her left arm a bit higher and putting her right leg a bit farther back. After Himawari got the hang of it, Hinata showed her some basic hitting techniques and stayed beside Himawari, practicing the moves together.

As Himawari lost her balance for a short moment after a particularly forceful hit, Hinata couldn't help but see Kosuke in her. While staring down at the little girl, Himawari's short, neat indigo hair twisted into Kosuke's disheveled locks of the same shade. Instead of ocean blue eyes, endless blackness shimmered with mischief.

"It's great that Onii-san didn't see me now, right? He would've thought he could beat me if we sparred," Kosuke looked up at his mother with a toothy grin and steadied himself, resuming his training as if no clumsy moment had happened.

Abruptly, a now-familiar voice molded Kosuke's features into Himawari's once again. "What are you two doing?"

"We're training, Onii-san," Himawari chirped as she hit the air with the hilt of her hand just as Hinata had shown her.

Hinata relaxed her muscles and turned her head toward Boruto with a gentle smile. "Do you want to join?"

"You're doing only basic stuff. I've already learned all of that from Gramps." Boruto dismissively waved his hand and headed toward the house.

"You can spar with me. What do you say?" Hinata's question made him stop in his tracks and she had to bite her cheeks not to let a smirk occupy her features.

"I don't want to hurt you, Mom." Boruto's voice trembled with indecision, but he still turned his body back to face his mother and sister.

"Do you think you can, Boruto?" Hinata asked with a challenging giggle.

"If you insist," Boruto snorted, walking in front of his mother with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket, but the sparkle in his eyes betrayed his real feelings about the opportunity.

Boruto gestured Himawari to go out of the way and after his sister plopped down on the green grass under the tree with an excited clap of her hands, Boruto removed his hands from his pocket. He bent his knees just enough to steady himself and pierced Hinata with a determined glare.

"Don't hold back," Hinata commented as she activated her Byakugan and took her stance.

"You either, Mom," Boruto muttered and formed a hand sign to create shadow clones.

Three clones emerged from small clouds of smoke and before Hinata could mull over the possible amount of Boruto's chakra reserves, all four Borutos dashed forward and started attacking her. As his leg connected with Hinata's blocking forearm, the sheer force of the kick sent an unpleasant sensation through Hinata's insides—Boruto's intentness felt as if he was fighting his worst enemy.

Moving away from each attempted hit as though she was dancing, Hinata closed down each clone's chakra points without breaking a sweat, causing them to disappear one by one. Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion once the fourth clone—which should've been the real Boruto—also disappeared in a puff.

As movement caught her eye from behind, Hinata spun around to block Boruto's attack. He tried to use an underdeveloped version of the Gentle Fist against her which caused Hinata to let out a small chuckle—without the Byakugan, the attack was nothing more than a harmless attempt of intimidation. She grabbed the boy's wrist and kicked him in the stomach, but a gasp rushed out of her throat when Boruto's body disappeared with yet another puff.

She inwardly scoffed at her own amateur mistake—she had concluded that Boruto shouldn't be able to create more than four shadow clones at his age. Underestimating an enemy in real situations could result in death—too many of her comrades learned that the hard way.

As Hinata's focus weakened for a moment, the real Boruto managed to find an opening and the edge of his hand maneuvered dangerously close to Hinata's chest. However, an inch away from winning, his muscles stilled, and he stopped the attack.

Hinata curled the corner of her mouth in a smirk as she grabbed Boruto's wrist with one hand to hold him down and hit his chakra points in his arms with the other. Boruto's eyes widened as his mother twisted his arm behind his back—enough to give him a little scare without damaging any muscles or bones—and pushed him into the ground.

"Uff," he yelped as his forehead knocked against the dusty ground. "That was unfair, Mom."

"You should never stop in battle whoever your opponent may be," Hinata answered softly and let go of Boruto's arm, kneeling down next to him. "Are you alright?"

Boruto pushed himself up, sitting cross-legged on the ground and massaging his wrist as he mumbled, "It's nothing."

Himawari appeared next to them with a grin stretching wide. "You both are so strong. If I train more, I will be able to fight like you and Onii-san, right, Mama?"

"That's right," Hinata smiled at her and straightened up.

Her eyes found Boruto as he was brushing off blades of grass from his pants. A seemingly innocent motion, but it turned Hinata's smile into a frown. The pout on Boruto's face as he noticed the green smudge on the black clothing twitched Hinata's heart—she would much rather clean the stubborn greenness off her children's clothes than the copper-red.

"What are you all doing outside?"

Hinata snapped her head toward the voice that still sent a chill down her spine whenever she heard it.

"Papa, Mama started training with me!" Himawari squealed in joy as she jumped into Naruto's arms.

Naruto's legs wobbled from the unexpected weight, but he balanced himself before he could trip over. He laughed at Himawari and let the girl wrap her thin arms around his neck. "Is that so? And how was it?"

"Amazing," Himawari cheered. "Mama said I could fight like her if I keep training."

"And do you want to keep training, Hima?"

"Yes, so I can protect Mama, Onii-san, and you, Papa."

Hinata's gaze suddenly became hazy with wetness but she couldn't turn her eyes away from the heartfelt moment unfolding between father and daughter as Naruto pushed his forehead against Himawari's.

The scene reminded her of a sleepless night a few months ago when Aiko's high fever made the little girl delusional with nightmares. Hinata tried everything to push the fever down from old tricks she had learned from the elderly to the basic medical ninjutsu Sakura had taught her, but nothing seemed to work.

Aiko cried and Hinata cried with her.

At least until Sasuke climbed into the small bed and cradled the fragile body, pushing his cold forehead against Aiko's fiery one. To this day, Hinata wasn't sure if Sasuke used any type of genjutsu to put Aiko to sleep, but he spent that night uncomfortably balling his body in the tiny bed, guarding over his daughter's sleep.

"I can't believe I hesitated to hit her," Boruto muttered to himself with a pout, but his foul mood soon turned into strong resolve. He swung himself to his feet and fist-bumped the air. "I will win next time."

Naruto laughed as Hinata stuck her arm out for a high-five and Boruto eagerly slammed his palm onto hers on his way back to the house.

"Onii-san, wait. Can you teach me some tricks?" Himawari bolted after him, leaving Hinata and Naruto alone outside.

After the front door closed behind them, Hinata turned to Naruto. "I hope it's alright that I trained Himawari a little. She wanted to try, and I thought it can't do any harm if she learns how to protect herself, even if she doesn't want to become a shinobi."

"Don't worry about it. I'm glad Hima showed some interest in training. I would like to see her become a shinobi, but I don't want to push her, you know." Naruto stared after the children before he shifted his gaze at Hinata, arching a single eyebrow. "But are you well enough to train?"

"Sakura said everything is fine."

"Alright," Naruto nodded and raked his gaze through Hinata as though he had just realized what she was wearing. "You should buy some clothes for training then. As much as I like seeing you in my clothes, they're a bit oversized, you know," he commented as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and shot a mischievous smile toward Hinata.

"I know. Sorry for stealing your clothes, but I couldn't find anything else to wear," Hinata mumbled with a slight blush tinting her cheeks, looking everywhere but at Naruto.

Clearing his throat to mask his laughter, Naruto made an overdramatic motion, rubbing his stomach. "Let's go inside, I'm dying of hunger."

Hinata quickly bobbed her head and dashed toward the front door, but Naruto's next words made the world spin around her, squeezing all the air out of her lungs. "By the way, Sasuke arrives tomorrow."

---

I'm so sorry for the significant slow-down in my updates, but I hope this family-oriented chapter was at least worth the wait. One thing is important though: I'm not abandoning the story!

Huge thank you to everyone who left a review, follow, or favorite! You all keep me motivated in hard times. Special shout out to LavenderEyedAssassin who lifted my spirit with her continuous support. Check out her story 'SHIBARI - Bound' if you're hungry for a well-written SasuHina story, I promise you won't be disappointed!