When she opened her eyes again the dark orange hue of the setting sun was starting to shine through the window of the ward that they were in. She tossed and turned about, still a little reluctant to be waking up only to be reminded that she was supposed to be taking care of a patient here.

So, she forced herself to sit up while using the back of her hand to rub the sleepiness away from her eyes. She found herself staring into Haku's eyes, it seems that he's already awake and had somehow managed to find a way to sit up despite the fact that he's currently, he's supposed to be unable to even find the strength to move his limbs thanks to him still recovering from his chakra debt. He could still turn his head though, so that is something.

"You aren't supposed to be able to move."

"I still can't move my limbs, but sitting up still isn't a problem, just a little troublesome," he argued.

She really had to suppress the urge to throttle him.

"Haku, I knew you heard what the doctor told you. No trying to move on your own or using chakra until he clears you. The amount of chakra left in your body is barely able to keep you alive right now. Hadn't he made it very clear about the consequences of suffering from a severe case of chakra debt? Mr I-popped-six-soldier-pills?"

"I-"

"Do you want to know how bad your condition was? Let me give you some context: you made history, you know that? First person in the village to suffer from a case of chakra debt as severe as yours. Even Rin had no idea how you came out of everything without suffering any permanent damages to your body and the only plausible explanation she could think of is your Ice Release. You really have your bloodline to thank for," She chastised him, making doubly sure that he understands he was extremely lucky that the only consequence he is suffering now is that he is temporarily bedridden and unable to move his body on his own power.

Stupid Haku.

He wisely kept his mouth shut.

"Are you hungry?" She asked, only for him to reply with a slow shake of his head. Well, neither is she.

She wrinkled her nose a little when she realised that it's been days since either of them had properly cleaned themselves. Her included, because her attention was entirely on making sure that Haku was able to tide over his chakra debt condition. The last time she took a bath was probably about two days ago.

She raised her right arm to smell herself and goddamn, she really does stink. This really is unacceptable, especially now when she is sure Haku's chakra debt condition will no longer relapse.

She turned to look at him, who realised that something wasn't quite right in her gaze.

"What is it?"

"We really need to take a bath, you and I both. Have you smelt ourselves?"

"Do I look like I am capable of doing anything to rectify this?"

"That's why I'm asking you. Do you want to be princess carried to the restroom, or do you want to be piggybacked?"

"What?"

She pointed to the restroom attached within the private ward that they are in. It's times like this that she is glad that the sensitive nature of their status grants them several perks, like being entitled to a private medical ward that comes with its own private restroom installed with a proper bath.

She could imagine the figurative gears turning within his mind as he pieced out the unsaid part of her words. She could see from how his eyes had widened slightly in sheer defiance.

"No."

"You really need to bathe, Haku. Proper hygiene and all that. I bet that the last time you were properly cleaned was probably before you went off to the frontlines."

"Just… I don't know, get one of the nurses-"

"You haven't seen the situation out there. Manpower is short on all fronts, especially in the hospital. Why do you think they let me administer treatment to you instead of having a proper doctor or medic doing it? I'm not selfish enough to trouble the nurses or doctors for something that I can handle myself, their workload is crazy enough as it is. The first batch of the village's forces will return sometime tomorrow or the day after, and they are all busy preparing for their return," She informed him of the reality of the situation that they are currently in before adding. "Besides, it's not like I've never seen your naked body before. I've been seeing it for years with my byakugan and there's nothing special about it."

"... I feel so violated."

"Hoh, then what about this? Who else do you think helped to wipe your body and changed you out of your clothes in the one week that you were sleeping away?"

She really wanted to capture the look of shock and disbelief that is on his face right now. Too bad she doesn't have a camera.

"So, princess carry or piggyback?"

"Is there no room for negotiation?"

"I'm giving you one. Princess carry or piggyback," She replied, and perhaps she was enjoying her little vindictive revenge a little too much seeing that she was barely able to wipe that smirk off her face. Seeing that her stupid idiot had temporarily short circuited with how his mouth was opening and closing without a sound, she decided that she would make the decision for him.

She decided to do a princess carry, just to see him squirm a little in embarrassment. Serves him right for worrying her like that for one entire week.

Oh, he tried struggling, he tried alright, but he was still recovering from chakra debt and was unable to even move a single limb. So, he resigned himself to his fate and slumped in her arms, allowing her to have her way when he realised that there was no way out of this and that there was truth to her logic. They are in dire need of a good wash before any of them fall sick from the lack of proper hygiene care or whatnot. Her shadow clone picked up two towels and a fresh change of clothes for them both before disappearing in a puff of smoke as she entered the restroom with him in her arms.

She sat him down on a wooden stool and promptly stripped him naked, and watched as his face started to flush red from embarrassment. Seriously, everyone in the clan had probably seen each other naked at some point in time thanks to the nature of their dojutsu, accident or not, it really isn't that big of a deal.

She decided that she might as well take a bath while washing him at the same time, so she stripped herself naked too, although she did this behind his back so he wasn't able to see anything. Well, he could look if he wanted to if he simply turned his head but knowing him, he won't, not like she will stop him from taking a peek anyway.

"Embarrassed? Shy? Feels as if you don't have any dignity left in you at all for having no choice but to have someone else to help wash you, huh?" She cannot help but make the verbal jab as she sat on another wooden stool behind him and shampooed his long smooth hair. His entire body had gone rigid like a piece of rock, either too shy or embarrassed at his current predicament to even try moving.

"Well if you don't want to relive this humiliating experience ever again, Yuki Haku, maybe the next time you might want to consider not getting into chakra debt by popping six soldier pills. Are you getting a kick out of scaring me with how close you are to death's door each and every single time you return from some big fight? Because it sure does seem that way to me and let me tell you, it really sucks having to worry about the person you care the most for days on end without knowing if they will survive the night."

"Sorry."

She decided against continuing to berate him after hearing the apologetic tone of his voice. He didn't ask for this either, and he had also lost someone dear to him on the frontlines while she was forced to stay in the village and wait.

"Weren't you supposed to be hidden away by the ANBU?"

"There was a change of arrangements after the Hokage made a temporary return with you in tow before teleporting back again to the frontlines," Hanabi replied absentmindedly while helping to scrub his back. "Initially, a minimum of at least two medic nins were needed to monitor you to ensure you didn't accidentally die from a sudden relapse of chakra debt, because even if they have the chakra control needed, they may not necessarily have the chakra reverses needed to keep transferring chakra to you so frequently. It was entirely by luck that I not only have the perfect chakra control needed and have chakra compatible with yours, and also have more than enough chakra to spare, which then means that those poor medics are able to focus their attention on areas and patients that need them."

"And so you stayed in the hospital with me."

"Like I said, we are short on manpower on all fronts. We have to work around the limitations we faced," She shrugged, not like he could see anyway with how she was sitting behind him. "So, the team protecting Naruto and I split into two. Naruto is being protected by Mikoto under the previous arrangements, switching between safehouses every set period. I stayed with you under the supervision of the ANBU team that report directly to Dragon -He's the ANBU Commander, by the way- so like this, if anybody tries to snatch me away they would almost certainly locate me first at the hospital which was already booby-trapped to the village's gates and back."

"You are acting as a bait to keep them off Naruto's tail."

"I'm not complaining. I was able to save your sorry ass because I was here with you, transferring chakra over and over again. Matatabi wasn't very happy with it for some reason though."

Her hands snaked over to wash his front and she felt his body turning even stiffer at the contact. She cannot help but roll her eyes.

"Haku, I've seen everything there is to see and touched everything there is to touch while you were sleeping away the entire week and had to help you with everything. Yes, even down there."

He let out a frustrated groan at her words, resigning himself to his fate because he wasn't able to move a single limb with his current condition. She continued to wash his body with where she was seated behind him, her arms wrapping around from behind to quickly wash what needed to be washed before rinsing him clean.

"Alright, you are done. Now just give me five minutes to clean myself and we are out of here."

Washing herself was much easier and faster. Haku determinedly looked straight ahead the entire time, not even turning his head back an inch to look at her where she was washing herself behind him. She doesn't know whether to be amused at his actions or to be annoyed at the fact that even bathing together with the prettiest kunoichi in his generation was unable to incite a reaction out of him.

Stupid Haku.

She easily dried herself with a quick application of fire-natured chakra to evaporate the water droplets on her skin, a neat trick that Mikoto had imparted to her during her stay with the Uchiha matriarch. She quickly got herself dressed in fresh clothes before drying him off with a towel, dressed him, and then proceeded to princess carry him out of the restroom. Haku looked like he simply wanted to crawl into a ditch and die after everything was said and done.

"If bathing together with the most beautiful kunoichi in the village is really such a humiliating experience for you, maybe this would be enough motivation for you to not do something so stupid the next time," She told him, unable to keep out the slight annoyance in her voice even if she tried. Seriously, not to toot her own horn, but she's confident in her looks and this idiot-

Ah, whatever. The things she does for her idiot.

She placed him down on a chair so that she could go and change the bedsheets, because it really is due for a change. Maybe she could go and check in with the doctor in charge of Haku in the meantime regarding when he would be able to be discharged. It will do some good to them both if they were able to go back home.

And so, she returned to the ward with the doctor in tow, and the doctor ran through a series of checks on Haku once more. After what seemed like forever, the doctor finally gave his verdict and surprisingly, Haku's cleared. He is able to be discharged. The doctor said that Haku's current condition of not being able to mould chakra or move his limbs would probably persist for another day or two, which is entirely normal for shinobis who suffer from a severe case of chakra debt, but other than that he's free to go.

Hanabi personally thinks that the reason why Haku was given the green light was because the doctor had no choice but to free up as many beds in the hospital as possible before the first batch of their forces at the frontlines return tomorrow. That said, it's probably the right thing to do because Haku is no longer in critical condition. His life is no longer in danger, so there's no need to take up precious resources that could be better used elsewhere.

"I was told that your weapons pouch was emptied of all the scrolls in it, especially for the ones you apparently stole from Kumo. Your godfather would probably still want a verbal report from you when he returns though," She informed him and held out a bloodied weapon pouch for him to see while she's helping to pack their belongings, which really wasn't much. "I've helped you checked and packed whatever was left inside, but I can see that there is a headband that obviously wasn't yours and a weird looking mask-"

She took out and held out that weird demonic mask as she said that, waving it around to catch his attention.

"Don't touch that mask, put it down."

"Huh? What's-"

"Put, it, down," He insisted, looking suitably alarmed and that indirectly made her alarmed as well. "That mask is the last thing she left for me, and it is an object to trigger a secret Uzumaki sealing technique that directly affects your soul. I've seen her temporarily allowing the shinigami to possess her when she puts it over her face and I still haven't figured out if there are any weird ways that might accidentally activate this object."

She quickly shoved the mask back into his weapon pouch, trying to ignore the tingling sensation that was spreading from her hand and crawled upwards to her scalp. Whatever this mask may be, a technique that could actually affect the soul directly couldn't be anything good.

And to think she almost put it over her face in curiosity during a point in time when Haku was still unconscious… Oh god, if she had really done it…

Her body let out another involuntary shiver at the thought. That was too close. She really shouldn't be messing with objects she knew nothing about.

"I… The shinigami wouldn't possess me just for touching it… right?"

"Who knows?" He replied with a roll of his eyes and she cannot help but shiver.

"H-Haku! Stop scaring me!"

"Have you seen the Shinigami before, Hanabi? Long white hair with a dagger in his mouth-"

"Haku!"

"You should see those hands, so devoid of life, like those of a rotting corpse, that sick purplish colour-"

"Yuki Haku! Last warning!"

"So there is something that you are afraid of after all."

"Well, it's the shinigami!" She hissed, holding his weapon pouch as far away as possible from her like it's cursed. Then again, it probably is cursed.

She carried him on her back in a piggyback and walked out of the ward as soon as she was done packing. Immediately, ANBU Bird reappeared beside her in a flicker.

"The doctor gave him the all clear. We will be returning back to the Hyuga compound," She informed him and when his gaze turned to the awkward passenger on her back, she quickly added, "You have your job to do, so I will carry him back myself. Besides, I doubt anybody would be foolish enough to ambush us in our own village again when our forces are about to return anytime now."

"Wait, you were ambushed in the village?"

Of course, trust Haku to immediately pick out what was wrong in her words. She was hoping to tell him about it at a later time, but apparently things never go according to plan.

"I will tell you all about it afterwards," She promised as she headed for the exit, which in this case is the nearest opened window. She took a chakra-enhanced leap and easily landed on the nearest rooftop and began to rooftop-hop her way back. A brief activation of her byakugan allowed her to spot her ANBU guards discreetly tailing after her from the shadows.

"If you really wanted to know, Iwa and Kumo joined forces to siege the village. They tried to kidnap Naruto and I too, but we beat them back. I managed to enter one-tailed mode and maintained it until the battle was over, by the way."

"You did that? That was quick."

"Of course, you are speaking to the Hyuga prodigy here," She gloated before turning back to the topic at hand. "Then… Han happened. Like how Yugito suddenly appeared within the village back then, Han appeared in his fully transformed state and breached the walls over there."

She gestured in the direction of the breach that happened with a slight jerk of her chin. Repair works are still ongoing as far as she could tell.

"And then… Kato Dan died. He was really skilled, but ultimately outnumbered."

"And the Gobi?"

"The ANBU suppressed his transformation and forced him to flee. The Iwa and Kumo nins had no choice but to retreat after that, but not before the ANBU hunted down as many of them as they could. I saw it all with my byakugan. Pretty sure the sharingan was involved in the Gobi suppression, there was even a weird sharingan pattern reflected in the Gobi's eyes for a short moment. I thought I was seeing things cos it was a four-tomoe pattern. I always thought sharingan only had three tomoes."

"Four tomoe?"

"Yeah. You know anything about it?"

Haku remained silent for a short while before speaking up.

"Don't publicise this bit of information, but I've heard rumours of sharingans having another stage past the normal three tomoe stage, which grants the user abilities that are otherwise inaccessible."

"Like how sensei is able to teleport?"

"Yes."

"Hmm, I see, but if this is not common knowledge then it probably means that not every Uchiha is able to unlock such a stage in their dojutsu."

"You can try asking sensei when he returns."

"This obviously falls under the category of clan secrets, Haku. I'm not that stupid to ask what is obviously a forbidden topic."

"It's sensei we are talking about, common sense doesn't really apply to him."

"True… Oh, did you know that he and Rin were planning to get married the moment this war was over? And he actually forgot to tell us about it? If Mikoto hadn't let slip about it I would still be kept in the dark."

"Huh, you too? I found out about it when I was at the frontlines. Told him that if he forgot to inform us about his wedding he could forget about receiving any gifts from us."

Hanabi let out a snicker at those words. That's so Haku-like.

"You think any of us would be the jonin sensei of Obito-sensei's kids one day?"

"I dread the arrival of such a day. You or Sai can have the honours."

"Sai? Seriously? You are going to stick sensei's kid with Sai? That's so inhumane."

"It's either him or you."

"Why not you?"

"If he's anything like sensei, he would successfully annoy me within the first five minutes of us meeting each other and I would have frozen him into a popsicle. If his kid turns out to be anything like Rin, then I might consider being the sensei of his spawn."

"Come to think about it, some of us would end up being jonin senseis one day. Feels kind of weird to have some twelve year old calling you sensei."

"Being a sensei is probably similar to the D Rank babysitting missions we had, just a lot more tedious."

"Now I'm actually curious as to what kind of senseis you and Sai would be."

"I don't even want to think about it. I might actually go rogue if I'm being saddled with clueless genins."

"Come on, it wouldn't be that bad."

"Then you try being a jonin sensei."

"And you seriously think the village is going to risk letting a jinchuriki be a jonin sensei? Think logically, Haku, it's going to be either you or Sai."

"There's always a first to everything."

"Like how I have to help you bathe, Mr I-popped-six-soldier-pills?"

That shut him up real quick.