updated 7-14-15

Chapter 19: Picking Up Souvenirs

"Life lessons are also found in the dark moments of life, and in many instances those moments change our life for the best"

― Martin Suarez

.

.

The sun started to shine then. Slowly rising from the horizon, a light amber glow radiated from the floor-length windows of the hospital, brightening the hallways and filling the tents and rooms of the patients with the hopes of a new day full of promise. The destruction of the hotel could be seen far in the distance, as well as the many people watching and helping the workers search through the rubble for any surviving victims. The day of horror had finally passed, and now a day of renewal and rebuilding could start. Not only just for the buildings that were destroyed in the process, but for people as well.

When the light ray of sun hit the couple, Hinata opened her tearful eyes and looked for the source of light. It comforted her abundantly and made her feel much stronger somehow. She could breathe now. That feeling of unaccountable dread was gone, and slowly she could feel herself come back down to reality.

Gradually, she removed her arms from around the silent man, and let them fall to the sides of her hospital gown. He was still holding her though, not seemingly ready to let the moment go. But in truth, they both knew that they had stayed in the moment too long. That moment between them was considered rare, taboo even. What would happen now?

They wouldn't live happily ever after like in fairytales. The tragedy that had happened didn't change the fact that they weren't on such good terms. To Hinata, it only made their relationship more horrid.

This whole trip to Paris, she had come to save Deidara from his turmoil as well as stop her husband from making a huge mistake: taking a life. But what's to say that he hadn't killed anyone already? Who knew how long he had been doing this?

He had gotten off scotch-free once again. The evidence of the picture he had was now burned in the flames of the bomb, and from her conversation with the chauffeur-spy, he had the police at his beck and call.

He could return back to his life, the one he had in Japan. He would still be admired, still be rich, still be successful, still be with Sakura. His life would still be normal, the same, even though he had done horrible, horrible things.

Her life would be hectic when she got back to Japan.

She would struggle to fit in, to match up to the Akatsuki's and Sabaku's expectations. She would have to face Ino and her friends with the bruises and injuries she had acquired, and know that she had almost frightened them to the brink of insanity. This moment between them right now would never change things; all it had done was tell her that life wasn't easy.

Life isn't easy. Sometimes you have to let go, despite what your heart and your mind tells you.

Without any repentance whatsoever, she pushed him away gently and looked tentatively into his obsidian eyes. Despite his detached face, she could tell what he was feeling. For the first time in her life, she could tell what Sasuke Uchiha was thinking.

Those dark eyes begged her to stay. She couldn't understand.

Hinata turned away and stared out the window at the rising sun, not wanting to see if rejection would stain his eyes. "I-I can't."

"You can. Just stay." What did he mean by stay? "Come with me back to Japan."

Hinata looked back into his eyes, stunned by his words.

She had obviously thought that he meant that he wanted to her to stay and listen to him some more, but in reality he wanted her to come back to him. She didn't understand; why did he do such terrible things to her, yet now he wanted her back?

Her feelings for him were inconsistent, always changing despite how she really wanted to feel.

Her heart had told her that she had loved him in their marriage, then it told her she didn't love and that she hated him, but then went against itself and said it loved him again. Why did she feel like this? She was confused; she didn't know herself, and she was becoming frustrated with trying to find herself.

She didn't want to leave him, not at all. She was afraid of leaving…

Pathetic women, clinging onto their husbands because they are afraid to move on in the world with the fear of being alone!

She froze. Deidara's words were still in her head. Am I afraid to move on?

She was afraid of leaving him. What if no one was there for her? What if she ended up lonely for the rest of her life, without anyone to love or be loved by?

Right now, her heart lurched at the idea of going back to him; it wanted to go back to him. But her mind stood up for once and disagreed with the idea.

She took a step back away from him. She couldn't give him anything, she couldn't say anything. She was conflicted as to what to do – her mind and her heart were at war.

"Time's up."

She stiffened when she heard a voice laced with amusement sound down the hall. She whipped her head in that direction, mistakenly making herself dizzy; she had almost forgotten about her head injury.

Sasori was leaning against the wall, his posture lazy and face unreadable. Their ten minutes were up.

She quickly looked back up at Sasuke, wanting to see what he would have to say.

Just then though, his phone started to ring. He looked down, not surprised in the least, and pulled the ringing phone from his jean pocket.

Hinata gripped her hospital gown in her hands, waiting to hear the voice that would seal their fate for now. The hallway, filled with the tents of the groaning patients became silent all of a sudden as that melodic voice drifted slightly from the phone.

"Thank God you answered the phone! I called so many t-times! Are you okay?!"

Hinata wanted to cry, but only felt the tears in her eyes stay still. She was frozen in place as she watched Sasuke only glance at her before responding.

"I'm okay."

"I want you to come home, right now! Please Sasuke, come home!"

The tears started to come down then, as well as a painful pang in her heart.

"Okay. I will." How his voice went considerably soft at the pinkette's voice and how he accepted her demand upset the bluette somewhat, but also made her overwhelmingly sad.

How could he respect her so much, yet disrespect his own wife? Was Sakura better than her? Was she worth his love?

Once again, a sense of betrayal was what she felt from him. He had forgotten her right now, and was busy talking to the pinkette over the phone. Hinata started to feel like dirt underneath his shoe again as she tried to wait for his conversation to end with his fiancé.

"Hyuuga, let's go." Sasori's voice was laced with annoyance by now.

She wiped her eyes, turned, and slowly walked away from the Uchiha. The sun rays coming from the window hit part of her face, drying a little bit over the tears leaking down her chin. She was hoping that he would stop her, say that he loved her and would never let her go…

But he did not. His conversation with Sakura continued, and when the bluette looked back, she saw that he was heading towards the elevator, his back turned towards her and his phone still perched on his ear.

Her heart started to break significantly each step she took towards Sasori. Her gaze was on the ground; she didn't want to see Sasori's face. She was afraid that she would think she was weak, because that is how she felt. Weak.

Not only did she feel weak, she felt unwanted, unloved, unappreciated, misunderstood, upset, and unhappy. She felt like she had in her family, in her marriage, and even in school.

She felt like Hinata. This is how she always felt in the end.

The bluette stopped once she spotted Sasori's shoes, but didn't look up. Still, she didn't want to see his face, but had too when she felt his fingers grip her wet chin and tilt it up.

When his eyes met hers, she averted her sight towards the window once again. The large Eiffel Tower was right in their view, creating a perfect background for the morning.

Mother had always wanted to see the Eiffel Tower…

She heard him scoff lightly. "Why are you so faithful to him?"

She sniffed a little and closed her eyes."I made a vow in front of God that I would keep my fidelity to him. I-I would rather suffer it out then break that promise."

Sasori's eyes widened a bit at her answer. She was suffering, literally breaking apart. She had to watch her own husband walk away from her and cherish another woman. The redhead could only imagine what the Uchiha had done, and slowly he was starting to become suspicious behind his motives. Why would he hurt Hinata?

He obviously wasn't good at this 'comforting thing', so he didn't know what to do right now to knock the girl out of her depression. But he was willing to try. It was the least he could do after all the hell she had put herself through just to save Anne.

Her tears were still falling; with a light brush he wiped the tears from her cheeks. "It's going to be okay, Hinata. I promise."

She nodded a little, but didn't take his words to heart. Too many promises were being made today for her. Two were too many.

Sasori gave a low smirk at her defiant behavior. "Ready to get going?" Hinata shook her head from his grasp and looked down at her feet, a light blush coming onto her face.

It was a relief that he was okay as well. He was the one she had missed the most since the ball; she was grateful to have him as a friend now.

Pushing Sasuke to the back of her mind, she gave the stunning redhead a sincere smile and nodded.

But somehow, disaster found a way to rear its ugly head.

"Just leave me the hell alone!", a voice bellowed before the door of room seven opened, revealing Deidara, angry and wild, and at the same time, broken.

The patients and nurses on the cardio floor stopped and looked after the man that disturbed the little peace that they had.

Sasori sighed wearily and was about to follow the raging man, but Hinata squeezed his hand, disrupting his train of thought.

Hinata smiled meekly in reassurance. "I'll go. Just talk to them s-so they'll understand."

She was determined to make a difference somewhere. Her determination stirred something in him. Sasori shrugged.

Hinata soon followed after the Deidara, resolute to calm him down.

"She's going to be fine so please don't worry! Doctor Eric is really spectacular at his job - she should wake up any minute now!", the nurse said cheerfully to the two blonde men perched by Kushina's bedside.

Mikoto sighed in relief while leaning against the also relieved Madara. They were grateful. Most people that had got hit by chunks and pieces of the ceiling ended up in a coma or dead.

Naruto looked towards the chipper nurse, his excitement similar to that of a wagging-tailed puppy. "How long is 'any minute now'?! I don't think I can wait much longer!" He moved in closer towards the sleeping woman, his nose already smelling the rose-scented shampoo she had used before the incident. "Mama, can you hear me? It's Naruto! Your favorite son! N-A-R - !" He yelped when he felt a fist come down above his head. "D-Dad!"

Minato stared at his son for a while before sighing and shaking his head. He gripped Kushina's hand and leaned his head on her stomach, waiting for those beautiful eyes to open and greet him with the same warmth he had felt since he was a mere elementary boy.

Mikoto couldn't help but coo at the scene. "Aww, I'm so jealous! Why can't Fugaku be more affectionate?"

Madara snorted. "Brother being affectionate is like Naruto being quiet – It's not gonna happen."

Mikoto glared before leaning further into his side. "Remember when I asked you for your input? Yeah, me neither."

"I hope that she will be able to recognize at least one face.", Naruto murmured as he stared at his Kushina's tearful face. "It would be stressful to be in a world where you know no one."

"She'll remember me!", Mikoto said in self-assurance.

Madara had the urge to roll his eyes. "And why are you so confident?…"

"We're besties! Our friendship and unconditional love for each other will exceed all obstacles that may come through life!"

Madara sighed tiredly.

Naruto looked over at his father, who was still lying on his mother's abdomen as silent as a mouse.

Guilt raced through him when he saw Minato's patient and hopeful face as he stared at Kushina. He wished that he hadn't put them through this. All he could do now was pray that his mother's memory at least consisted of his father.

He knew that if his mother didn't remember his father, Minato wouldn't be the same. Kushina was his life.

Hinata panted heavily as she ran after the blonde man. He was headed towards the balcony at a pace so fast that the bluette couldn't help but sigh in relief once she conquered the challenge of catching up to him. She sucked in the rich oxygen, glad that her burning lungs were cooled, using her knees to steady herself from falling over. Running on a full system of medicine wasn't a good idea.

"D-Deidara-san…"

He turned towards her, frown present. "You shouldn't make it a habit of putting your nose in my business, Hyuuga."

Hinata wasn't in the mood for his backlashes or whatnot; she arose from her current position and stepped forward towards him and grabbed his shoulders, despite the fact that he was a good seven inches taller than her.

She got to the point. "What are you afraid of?"

Deidara turned his gaze towards the ground, his frown turning to complete confusion.

The bluette wanted to sigh, but decided to be patient. Just like he had done for her, she would help him realize his mistakes.

She let her hands slide down his shoulders over his bare skin until it reached his hands. When she saw that his attention was on her, she gave him a smile. "It's okay to move on, Deidara. You just have to accept it."

He scoffed lightly and turned his head to look out over the balcony. "You don't understand."

Hinata squeezed his hands. "Then help me understand."

He gave her a strange, suspicious look before looking back out towards the beautiful city. He then sighed; she was the one who had basically risked her life for his mother. Telling her some personal information didn't mean that he was a whiner.

"Mondine and mother were the only family that I knew of. All my life, I thought my father, Mondine, hated me, but now I find out that he isn't and that I have a dad who has lived near me this whole time! And that I have a younger brother. I can't -"

Hinata gripped his hands in hers and looked into his eyes, trying to further read him. "Are you upset because you feel that your life was a lie?"

After a long pause, he shook his head. He snatched his hands from her and walked around the bluette towards the open doors.

He was him leaving right before her eyes. She knew what he was afraid of now…

"You don't think you deserve anything good."

Deidara froze at her words, feeling a chill come up his spine.

"What d-did you just say, un?"

She turned towards the balcony and looked out over Paris. Today was a beautiful day for recovery. It was time to move on. "You've always wanted a family, a real family. Now that you have it, you don't think you deserve it." She looked back at the stunned blonde. "Everyone deserves happiness, Deidara, no matter who they are or what they've done. You can either accept it or live in doubt of it."

Deidara could only stare at her in admiration. She seemed different than before.

His heart raced when he saw her give him a bright smile. "If you ask me, I don't think anyone right now deserves to get what they've wanted more than you."

He had once thought of her as weak. Seeing her right now brought about a whole new perspective; she was here for him right now despite his hurtful words and blunt dislike of her. She interrupted everything and in the end, saved everything. He didn't expect this - he didn't know what to say -

"Deidara!"

The two looked towards the hallway and saw the tall, Japanese man from before, Yuzuru Suoh. He smiled. "Let's welcome Anne to the world of the living."

"She's awake…" Deidara looked back at Hinata, but all she did was usher him with her hands to go.

With a little hesitance in his steps, he went towards the man. His father.

Yuzuru smiled as he threw his arm over Deidara's shoulder. "So how old are you, boy?"

Deidara looked down hesitantly. "Twenty-one."

"I've missed that much, huh? Well, hopefully I can make that up to you," he said sheepishly, guiding the young man down the hall. "You'll have to forgive Tamaki. I'm sure that once you two gain some understanding that you both will hit it off. He's always wanted an older brother, after all. I hope that you'll overlook his direct behavior - he is the dramatic type..."

Their voices trailed on down the hall soon; Hinata smiled when she saw how Deidara smirked at his father when something was said. He looked happy, a complete opposite from the man she had seen a few days ago.

She sighed dreamily and looked back out over the balcony. The sky was a bright blue, highlighting the scattered clouds, and the plaza walkways and streets were littered with people despite the tragedy yesterday. The bluette would never forget Paris, that's for sure.

It was a shame that she didn't have a souvenir though…

"Good job in cooling Deidara down." She turned towards the Sasori, who was heading towards her at a leisurely pace. "You've been a big help, Hyuuga. Thanks."

"H-Hinata. I think I deserve that now."

Sasori smirked, amused by her boldness. "Very well, Hinata. Thanks. Alot."

She playfully bowed. "You're very, very welcome my good man." She mocked him in her French accent.

"We should get going. Temari and Kankuro are waiting for us."

Hinata gave him a puzzled look. "What about Deidara?"

"I think that he'll want to stay here for a while with his family." True. Hinata tried to see if there was anything that they had missed, but sighed and complied with the redhead.

"I-I have to get dressed first." The bluette led the way out of the clear double doors, but Sasori looked back out over Paris, an inquiring look pointed out.

"I can't help but feel I'm forgetting something…" He shrugged after a moment and followed after the girl, leaving the city of Paris to glow in the sunshine.

The attendant smiled at the three men and lady coming up the long stairs. "Welcome back! I hope the trip went well!"

Shikamaru snorted and made his way to his seat, a cigarette already in hand.

Neji came onto the jet after the Nara, a head bandage wrapped around his head as well as a blank face. Soon after came the brooding Uchiha and Karin.

The attendant looked around for a certain blonde, jovial man. "Is Namikaze-sama boarding on today?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "No ma'am. You can take off now."

The woman nodded and made her way to the pilot's chair. The door soon shut, separating the pilot from the passengers.

"So Naruto is flying back with the others..", Shikamaru pulled out a lighter and proceeded to light the cigarette.

Sasuke looked out the window, ignoring the redhead laying on his shoulder. "Yeah."

The Nara's lazy eyes cut at the Uchiha. "You done?" You done with the Drug thing?

Sasuke glanced at Shikamaru. He had promised the Hyuuga that he would stop… "Yeah.."

"Can I take your word for it?"

The jet slowly took off.

"My word is gold.", Sasuke muttered sarcastically.

"Silence is gold." Neji got annoyed quickly with all of the short questions and answers. His head was still pounding from his injury. Trying to catch a conversation with one ear was aggravating.

"I don't believe you", Shikamaru challenged.

Sasuke glared at the lazy man. "I don't have Mondine to watch over it anymore. That should prove to be sufficient enough for your sanity." Shikamaru still held a blank face. "I dropped all the workers working in each of the sites. They're completely empty, save for the delivery trucks and the actual stuff itself."

Neji sighed and looked out the window at the buildings from the sky; he didn't even want to bother with the two men at the moment.

"You can't just leave the stuff out!", Shikamaru almost yelled at the man's insolence. "If that shit gets into the wrong hands, Paris is done for!"

Karin couldn't catch on to the conversation going on, and soon resorted to pulling at her red locks.

Sasuke glared more at the surprisingly belligerent male. "It's just drugs Nara."

"Drugs that could get people killed! Are you oblivious to yesterday's incident?!"

Neji watched as smoke came from four buildings. "Guys – "

"Don't you think I know that already?!", Sasuke spat.

Karin looked between the two men with wide eyes behind her glasses, watching as they yelled back and forth.

Shikamaru scoffed."So why do you think that having them out wouldn't do any harm?!"

"What did you expect me to do, Nara? Blow them up?!"

Neji stared blankly at the fiery ruins of the buildings. "They blew up.", he started slowly while staring solemnly at the scene.

The argument between the two froze and they slowly looked over at the Hyuuga who was calmly watching the flames roar, the head bandage making him look like an interested child.

When the two moved towards the window, sure enough, the four drug sites were burning and in ruins. From the jet, it looked like smoke tornadoes forming from the sky.

"What the fuck?", Sasuke questioned. Shikamaru only stared out in surprise.

Slowly, each male sat back down in their seat and looked at one another. A long silence ran around the jet, and suddenly Karin became uncomfortable and decided to move to the back, next to the mini fridge.

Neji pulled out a magazine."You did say that the workers were gone right?"

Sasuke nodded.

"Then…we have nothing to worry about?", Shikamaru asked with a little hesitance.

Sasuke shrugged.

"W-Wait, Sasori-san! Stop!", Hinata shrieked as she was almost dragged towards the entrance, past the nurses and patients in the area.

Even though she was excited to be going back to Japan, she still had a few matters to attend to. Most of them were finding out if any of the people she knew were still hurt. It would be rude to just leave them behind…

Sasori stopped and looked down at the girl with a look of irritation. "I don't like to keep others waiting, girl…"

"I-I know, but I really need to see someone b-before I leave."

The redhead gave her an accusing look."You want to see Uchiha?"

Hinata waved her hands around frantically, not wanting him to jump to conclusions. "N-N-NO! I-I wanted to see someone else, I swear!"

"Sure you do", Sasori looked the other way at the tents being taken down. "Only a few minutes. That's all I can spare."

Hinata smiled up at the man and nodded before rushing to the receptionist's desk.

The elderly woman smiled at her from behind the mahogany desk. "How may I help you ma'am?"

The bluette shyly blushed and responded, surprised that the woman wasn't going crazy like the paparazzi. Almost every doctor and nurse here were very respectful of the rich and famous; Hinata was guessing that they didn't know her yet.

"C-Can you tell me where most of the Uchihas and Namikazes are?"

"Can I have your name please?"

The bluette looked around for a minute before leaning in slightly. "Hinata Uchiha."

The woman looked at her for a moment before scrunching up her face in confusion. "You mean that you're…Hinata Hyuuga Uchiha - ?"

" - For now, but we're hoping to change that to Hinata Hyuuga Hitachiin. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?", Sasori butted in as he came to stand beside the blushing girl, a slight smirk on his face as he stared at the newly-realized woman.

The elder woman dropped her pen and her clipboard and stood back to point right at the two, not noticing Sasori's offended look. "Y-YOU two are HINATA and SASORI!"

"It's rude to point," Sasori muttered, which earned him an elbow in the rib from Hinata. People around were starting to look in their direction, and Hinata prayed that they would have the decency to stand back at a time like this.

Just how did the others get to their rooms without being bombarded by paparazzi?

The bluette tugged the redhead's thin sweater closer to her and shushed the almost squealing woman with her hand motion. "P-Please ma'am, we need to know where they are – epp!" She squeaked when she felt a flashing light come from behind her and Sasori. They were already here…

The receptionist nodded quickly and started to scan through the papers on the desk before finding one that caught her eye. "Most of them are in room 4, right down that hall. The others have been checked out already as well as your husband, ma'am."

So he had gone back to Sakura after all…

Sasori gripped her shoulder. "Come on, Hyuuga."

Hinata nodded and followed after the tall man, her baggy pants brushing against her fingertips.

When walking down the white, sterilized hall, Hinata could see that a great deal of the tents were gone, now replaced with workers and caretakers as well as families checking out their loved-ones. She smiled a bit at the scene; she was happy that things were coming back to normalcy right now.

She would now have to focus on other things beside drugs and violence, like her friends and family. She dreaded having to go home to Ino with the bandage on her head; the blonde would never let her leave the house when she saw it. Tenten would probably want to track down the guy who did it, not realizing that the guy was either dead or in prison, Hinata didn't know. And Konan would be her emotionless, slightly uncaring self, Konan. The bluette would then see how her sister Hanabi was doing, and even hang out with her nii-san Itachi and her friend Gaara when he wasn't miles high in work.

Hinata looked to her left at the redhead, who was duly looking forward with his hands in his pockets. She smiled at this, which caused him to look down at her and give her a smirk of his own.

Yeah, she would find time to squeeze in her red companion, even though he was a sarcastic, horny Narcissist at times.

"YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!" A screeching voice broke the trance the two were in. They both looked at each other before taking off towards the sound.

"NO ONE IS TRYING TO RAPE YOU, KUSHINA!"

Hinata and Sasori whipped around the corner and saw the commotion going on in the room.

Three nurses were around the woman on the bed, who was crazily looking around like an animal. She could also see Mikoto, Naruto, and Minato trying to corner the woman from moving out the bed.

Hinata looked over at Madara, who was shaking his head. "Uncle, w-what is going on? Is Kushina-san okay?"

Madara was surprised to see her for a minute, but then switched his gaze to Sasori and nodded towards him before looking back over towards the belligerent Kushina. "Kushina can't remember us right now. She thinks that we're rapists."

"W-Why?"

Madara shrugged. "She doesn't have on any underwear? Your guess is as good as mine."

"MAMA! Hold still!", Naruto bellowed at her, reaching out to grab at her ankles.

Kushina stared down at him with confused glare."I'm not your mama, boy! You're all trying to trick me!", screamed the red woman from atop the bed. Seeing this as an opening, Minato reached and grabbed her by her waist before pulling her down into his arms.

She blushed when she was in his arms, but wiggled a bit to get away. "H-HEY, do I even know you pal?!"

Mikoto came forward slowly, hands up so as to show Kushina that she wasn't an enemy. "He's your husband! And I'm your best friend, Mikoto! Don't you remember any of us?", the Uchiha woman asked desperately. The nurses stopped and stared at the odd scene.

"SO what the hell am I? Miso?"Madara was pissed that he wasn't mentioned. Kushina looked over at him; everyone in the room paused as well as Madara when her navy orbs met his red ones.

After a moment of silence, the redhead pointed at him and muttered her answer.

"Butler-boy…"

…

"Well that's better than nothing." Mikoto tried to make the atmosphere cheerful, but failed when Madara looked over at her with glaring eyes.

"You told me I was a part of the clique, that we were a trio!", he scolded her fiercely; he didn't like being called their lackey. She glared at him a little, pushing back the little guilt she had with a huff.

"You are a part of the trio. It isn't my fault that all of us have different opinions on the matter!"

Madara had had enough; he pulled out his phone and started to dial.

Mikoto grabbed his arm. "W-What are you doing?"

"I'm going to tell brother - !"

The phone was slapped out of his hand, and he looked at the berated woman like a slapped child.

"Now, now, Madara. Let's not jump at accusations and resort to ugly things, okay." She coughed lightly in her fist and smoothed down her dress before looking stoically back up at the pouting man. "I apologize sincerely from my beating heart."

Madara glared at her once again. "That sounded so fake that I didn't even have the heart to listen to the rest of the apology!"

"Tough. You expect me to repeat it?!" She made it sound like a death sentence.

Soon enough, a childish argument started between the two. Naruto, attempting to be mature, tried to stop the two.

Hinata and Sasori sweat-dropped. "So, this is some of your family?" Not really, but she couldn't help but smile.

"T-They are all my family."

Kushina looked back up at the handsome blonde holding her, a blush on her face. "Could you put me down? I need to get ready to go."

Minato gave her a puzzled look. "You're ready to leave?"

The redhead nodded and was slowly put down on her feet. She looked over at Hinata and smiled a bit before grabbing her things off the chair. "Mommy will be done in a minute, sweetie. You just wait outside for her."

Hinata felt her ears become hot when Kushina smiled right at her and proceeded to get changed in the bathroom.

Doctor Eric walked through the door then, a big smile on his face. "The tests came in. will have a full recovery!"

No one paid attention to the man; all eyes were on Hinata, some in shock and some in slight jealousy(Mikoto).

Sasori turned towards the girl with a confused gaze. "Wait a minute - so Kushina is your mother?"

Hinata shook her head, slowly easing behind him as to not be the center of attention.

Kushina came out the bathroom, newly dressed in jeans and a hospital logo shirt. She began to walk towards the two at the door, but was pulled back by her waist by Minato.

"Excuse me sir- but I need to go home with my daughter. I'll call you though if you ever want to-"

"BLAH BLAH BLAH!", Naruto screamed, fearing that he would hear blasphemy from his mother. He didn't want to hear that.

Mikoto looked over at the confused-faced doctor. "Doctor Eric, do you know why she is acting like this?"

The doctor paused for a moment before thinking. "Mrs. Namikaze, could you tell me your daughter's name?"

Kushina looked at him for a moment. "It's . But anyway, her name is Hinata."

Naruto gasped as he looked over at Hinata. "B-But you're not my sister!"

"And you're not my b-brother!", the bluette added.

"Because you're not my son!", Kushina yelled at Naruto, who looked deflated.

Madara sighed, nudging Mikoto. "Didn't we just spend almost two hours explaining why he is her son?"

Mikoto bit her lip in anxiousness. "Wait a minute, Kushina has been siccing herself out to think that Hinata was her daughter, so now that she has lost some of her memory, she will remember her as her real daughter?"

"Where do you come up with these explanations…" Madara replied with sarcasm.

Naruto became depressed and started to inch over towards his mother, who was still in his father's grasp. "Mama, I'm your son!"

Kushina stared blankly down at him before smiling and patting his head. "Don't be sad – Hey, how about I adopt you into the family?!"

Minato looked down at his wife and decided to ask a question. "Whose Hinata's father?"

Kushina blinked. "I had her asexually. Like a chibi plant."

"I can't do this.", Madara muttered while holding his head down, trying not to laugh.

"This is so heart breaking…" Mikoto cried, putting her face in her palms,

Naruto fainted silently next to Doctor Eric, who slowly motioned the nurses to give him a shot.

Sasori and Hinata shared a look.

Minato smiled down at his wife. "You're my wife, alright."

Doctor Eric cleared his throat. "I'll transfer her medical papers to Japan's hospital. In the meantime, you should let her go with the person that she knows the best. She will become stressed if she is around strangers at the moment; making the prescribed medicine I gave her work against herself in an effort to destroy some of the sympathetic system. Right now, she needs her immune system to keep her healthy. I suggest that once you all get back to Japan to start showing her around, making her get a clear concise of her location and what-not, maybe even triggering some memory of some source."

"Will she remember the rest of us soon?", Minato asked.

The doctor nodded. "I'm positive that after about three months she will have her memory back."

A round of sighs went throughout the room and all anyone could do right now was stare at the blushing woman in front of Minato.

"Thank you."Minato smiled at the doctor, who sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"The pleasure is mine, although I do have a selfish request to ask of you all."

"You have been so nice and patient with us that we could not refuse such a wish. What would you like, Doctor Eric?", Mikoto asked him.

"I-I was wondering if you all would take a picture with me, you know, something I could rub in my brother's face once I get back home?"

Everyone in the room nodded and moved over the unconscious Naruto towards the man.

"I'm sorry for putting you through all the trouble.", Minato stated once they were outside the Sabaku jet.s

Hinata smiled as she pulled him into a hug. "I-It's okay, Minato-san. I don't mind, although I find it strange that she would remember me of all people."

He returned her hug. "It shouldn't be strange. You were such a nice girl for your age when you were in high school. Whenever you came over with Naruto, Kushina would always gush about how good-mannered you were, so its no wonder she remembered you."

Hinata pulled back and looked at the Namikaze. "I a-always thought that she liked me because of how I looked."

Minato looked at her in surprise before smiling down at her. "Kushina and I had had a daughter before Naruto." Hinata raised a brow at this. His smile slowly fell as he recalled that time in his life. "She didn't live long. After about a year, we were lucky enough to have Naruto after that. Kushina had always talked about having a daughter when we were together, but it looks like that wasn't meant for could say that having you around helped us cope."

So that was why Kushina always seemed so attached to her? She felt that she was her daughter.

"I-I'm so sorry, Minato-san.", she bowed before the man slightly. He chuckled at her formal stance.

"Don't worry about it. Just make sure you take care of her. She can be a handful at times." Kushina passed by them and walked up the steps to the jet, but not before looking back down at Minato and blushing red. He smiled at her and watched as she hurried up the steps. "But I love her all the more."

"Minato, hurry up before we leave you behind!", Mikoto screamed from the passenger seat, startling the driver a bit.

"Pipe down before you shatter the driver's eardrum!", Madara yelled from the backseat. Naruto gurgled from the loud noise; the needle made him a little sick.

Minato nodded and was about to say goodbye, but was cut off by her last question.

"W-What was her name?"

The blonde looked down at her and soon his eyes softened.

"Hinata." He kissed her cheek and soon got into the truck before leaving the secluded area, leaving the girl to watch them drive away with a stream of tears going down her cheeks.

So Kushina and Minato named me… She looked towards the sky, right at the Eiffel Tower. Mother… Her mother, so generous and kind, shared her own daughter with them. But there were so many questions left unanswered. How were her mother and the Namikazes connected?

Hinata smiled at the Eiffel Tower. Her mother's beautiful face came to mind.

I love you, mother…

"Hinata, come on! I would hate to have to leave you behind!", Sasori called from the jet, his red hair swaying in the light breeze.

The bluette wiped her cheeks and ran towards the redhead, intent on not getting left behind.