-Hinata's POV-

Even though we were right next to one another, our dreams still connected so Naruto and I spent most of the night catching one another up on what'd happened to us while we were apart. I was distraught, to say the least, to hear of all the terrible things he and my friends had to go through for two entire months. My coma took up half of that time, so I was only awake and struggling for a single month.

He also informed me that Madara hadn't even been caught by the police, at least by the time they lost contact with the outside world at the asylum. The small glimmer of hope that I was holding onto that Hanabi was safe and out of the awful man's clutches was fading quickly. Despite the fact he'd taken over my entire life, I didn't know much about his upbringing or childhood so I couldn't even begin to come up with theories on where he might've run away to hide out.

After spending such a long time talking, a bit of my lingering nervousness around him faded and I felt much closer to how we'd been before everything hit the fan during The Program. We disconnected at some point, but similar to how one normally forgets a majority of their dreams upon waking up, I couldn't recall how long my mind had been absent from him by the time I woke up.

The first thing I could think to myself upon waking was that I was warm. It wasn't an overbearing heat, but one that encouraged me not to move so as not to ruin the comfort. The second was that strong arms, obviously Naruto's, were wrapped around my lower waist. My feet were warm in between his legs, making me blush immediately.

We were laying on our sides, facing one another.

The thing that I noticed last did a better job of flustering me and that was the fact that his face was pressed against my stomach as he held me tight against him. My fingers were gently wrapped in his hair on one hand and the other held the back of his neck.

Inwardly, I shook my head in shame that I was more natural at this type of thing while I was unconscious rather than awake. My eyes fluttered open and I blinked a few times to adjust. It was bright outside. We'd obviously slept much later than intended, but as I bashfully looked down to see Naruto's relaxed face as he pressed his cheek against my ribcage, I couldn't bring myself to wake him.

When he was crying yesterday, the expression on his face had broken my heart. The blonde has always been a cheerful and sometimes goofy person that automatically lifted the spirits of whoever was in his vicinity, but yesterday he seemed worn down. The boy was exhausted.

Since he wasn't awake to witness my selfishness, I hesitated for a second before bravely moving my fingers in his hair. A small smile tugged at my lips that I didn't bother holding back. Slowly, I let them travel down to his shoulder, feeling the tense muscles there before running my hand down his back as far as my arm could reach.

Being able to physically verify that this wasn't a dream and he really was there in front of me gave me the reassurance I needed and I gently brought my hand back up to wrap into his hair again, holding him with a lovely warm feeling fluttering about my stomach. A soft emotion crossed my mind and my eyes widened when I realized it'd come from him. He was undoubtedly awake and had been for at least a few seconds since he'd reacted to something I'd done.

Rather than panic and shy away like my instincts told me to do, I timidly returned to what I was doing and ran my fingers through his hair. After a few calm minutes of zoning out, he took in a deep breath and I felt his arms tighten slightly around my torso as he stretched.

My hands moved back slightly as he came up slightly and I wrapped my arms around his head to hold it against my chest with a warm face. He paused for a moment before one of his arms moved up so his hand rested in the middle of my back and he settled further into my bashful embrace. The two of us lay like that for a long time, breathing smoothly and just basking in the moment of peace while we had the chance.

All good things must come to an end, though, and this one was ended by someone clearing their throat awkwardly. My eyes widened in surprise when they shot over to see Sakura standing near the foot of the bed with tears in her eyes as she smiled weakly at me. My own eyes watered up as I sat up, Naruto moving out of the way once he realized what was happening.

The pink-haired girl climbed onto the bed to tackle me against the pillows in a tight hug and I could feel her chest move as she cried silently. The blonde boy moved over slightly so he wouldn't press against her as she adjusted herself to fall to the mattress beside me.

"I-I've missed you!" Somehow, I managed to get the words out as I somewhat successfully kept myself from falling into a puddle of sobs like I had yesterday.

The girl pulled back to look at my face and a terribly guilty feeling sank in my chest at the sight of her pale skin and dark eyes. It was obvious she was still recovering from saving my life. "You scared the hell outta me. You know that?"

I gave her a sad smile, but she continued with an emotionally wavering voice, "When you and Naruto hit the ground, I really thought for a moment that we were too late."

My brow furrowed in confusion and I glanced past her to see Naruto awkwardly avert his gaze. Sakura picked up on it and looked back at him before facing me with a knowing expression, "He caught you when you came through that window. I think you would've died from the impact if he hadn't."

I looked at him with narrowed eyes, but he still didn't meet them as he pretended to rub the sleep from his eyes. That was something I would want to know and I was confused on why he hid it from me. As my gaze danced back to the weak girl in between us, though, I pushed the topic to the back of my mind for later.

"I heard what you did for me. I'll never be able to repay you for saving my life. Thank you."

Sakura just smiled and lightly touched the side of my face, "You'd do the same for me, I just know it."

Sasuke, Naruto, and Shikamaru accompanied Sakura and I outside for a walk. It was my goal to start training my body back to at least a level that I wouldn't be a hindrance while traveling. I wanted to warm up to it in the next couple of days. My pink-haired friend and Naruto vowed to assist me in case I needed help at some point.

The two mentioned spoke casually every once in a while as we walked. I noticed that Sasuke kept glancing at her, but he didn't bother hiding it when he noticed me looking like he had that one time when Sakura told me she thought he was judging her for being afraid of men. Instead, he held my gaze.

My eyes slowly danced over to her and then back to him, but his expression didn't change. There was something going on there. It would be rude to bring it up here, in front of the others, so I'd have to wait until my healer friend and I could get a moment alone.

"Hinata, you knew that right?"

I tore my eyes from Sasuke's and looked at Naruto with a big question mark on my face. He laughed, "Ino and Sai are together. I can't remember if I told you or not."

My cheeks warmed and I shook my head with a small smile. Yesterday, when the two interacted in front of me, they did seem incredibly relaxed around one another. "I-I think that's great. They've always gotten along well, right?"

He smiled a big grin and nodded, "I think so too," he then nodded at the other Uchiha brother, "What do you think, Sasuke?"

The man looked over and I noticed Sakura quickly turned her head so they wouldn't chance accidentally meeting gazes. A frown pulled at my lips as I wordlessly confirmed that something was definitely off.

"I don't care who he fucks."

A shocked blush came to my face at his bluntness and I noticed my pink-haired friend was getting even more uncomfortable, but Naruto made an annoyed sound with a sour face, "What's up with you lately? You've been such an ass."

All of us waited for the young man in question to respond, but instead he gave the Uzumaki boy a glare before turning to walk back the way we'd come without a word. It was awkwardly silent for a few minutes and I rubbed my cold hands together while glancing between the others nearby.

Shikamaru had remained silent the entire time, but I got the vibe that he wasn't much of a talker and preferred to calmly enjoy others' company so I didn't try to force him into a conversation.

Naruto eventually let out a big sigh, lifting his hands behind his head as he looked up at the cloudy sky, "I think that if you can find someone you get along with like that, especially these days, you should take advantage of it."

My eyes naturally darted over to look at his profile, warmth spreading throughout my face and tips of my ears. Was he trying to hint to me that I should take the first step? Or maybe he was issuing me a small warning that he was soon going to do it himself. What if it's neither and he's simply musing aloud with no secret meaning behind his words?

Sakura interrupted my reeling mind with an almost defeated exclamation, "Do you think they'd still be together if the situation wasn't what it is?"

While I hesitated, Naruto didn't, "Who cares? As long as they feel the same way, it doesn't matter how it started." She didn't respond, but silently looked at the road while we walked.

The blonde boy standing in between us met my eye and it urged me to say something as well, "I-If you spend all your time worrying about the what-ifs, you might miss out on something really great."

Green eyes rose to meet mine and she seemed to cheer up, if only slightly, "So, what about you two?" Naruto and I glanced at one another again before giving her a confused look.

A pale hand rose to cover her lips as she grinned bashfully, "When I saw you guys this morning, I thought maybe…"

I'd been doing so well at forcing my courageous actions this morning to the back of my mind in order to not get flustered, but Sakura threw that plan right out the window. My eyes danced to Shikamaru, who glanced at us with a kind smile as though silently trying to reassure everyone that he wasn't judging.

"I don't wanna speak for her, but when I woke up today, I decided not to hold back if there's something I want to say or do from now on," Naruto's voice was more bashful than before, making me meet his eyes in surprise at his sincerity.

He grinned sheepishly when he noticed my reaction, "It was nice, right? I liked it. I wanna do it again." My blush heightened substantially and I opened my mouth to try and respond, only for a panicked sound to come out. I brought my hands up to lightly cover my mouth before meeting his eye again and nodding.

Sakura let out an uncharacteristic groan, sounding incredibly irritated, "You guys are so corny it makes me want to puke." Shikamaru and Naruto both chuckled at her jab.

She and I spent most of the rest of the day together, most of which in the room Naruto and I were sharing. Eventually, Kiba came to retrieve him, saying something about a strange boy, but I couldn't catch anything else before the two closed the door to the hall and I heard them rushing down the stairs.

Sakura gave me a meek grin, "It's such a relief to see him back to himself. You wouldn't have recognized him a month ago."

A guilty, regretful emotion boiled in my chest and my eyes dropped down to the mattress in between where we were sitting cross-legged across from one another, "He's been trying to keep me from seeing that, but I've gotten glimpses."

She pulled my hands into hers and spoke in a reassuring voice, although lowering it slightly as though worried someone might overhear, "Hinata, he's completely in love with you. Can't you tell?"

Tears rose in my eyes, but I didn't let them fall as I lowered my voice to her level, "I c-can't help but agree with what you said earlier. Would he be interested in me at all if we weren't forced to be partners?"

Her hopeful expression fell slightly and she released my hands to lightly fall back against the pillows, "Yeah. It's hard not to think about it."

I moved to lay beside her, bravely pulling her hand into mine in a sign of solidarity. It was quiet for a long moment before she spoke in a heartbreaking voice, "Would I be a different person if I never got jumped?" I squeezed her hand without looking over at her. She likely didn't want to be stared at while being so vulnerable.

With resolve to comfort my friend, I encouraged her, "I think it made you stronger, at least. You survived something awful like that so you can probably survive anything."

She got quiet once more before lowering her voice to a barely audible level, "Can I tell you something? You have to promise not to tell anyone."

"Of course."

Another long pause came before she confessed in an extremely stressed out voice, "I really want to…I want to be more like Ino." I understood her insinuation easily. Neither of us were shaming her blond friend, but the Yamanaka girl was so comfortable with her sexuality that it sometimes scared others off.

"Sasuke offered to let me use him to try some things yesterday. He said he wants to help me overcome my fear." My face warmed, but she tightly squeezed my hand so I didn't interrupt. "We didn't go that far, just kissing, but I really liked it."

My head finally turned so I could look at her face as she wiped at a few tears that managed to fall, her fingers shaking, "B-But then I got scared and freaked out. He probably thinks I'm crazy now, right? I'm too afraid to face him."

She closed her eyes and took a calming breath before adding on, "I think I do actually like him and just haven't been honest with myself. If he says even the smallest negative thing to me about it, I just know I'm gonna fall apart."

I thought back to how the man in question couldn't keep himself from looking at her earlier today. My gut was telling me something strongly and I took Naruto's advice from earlier and said what I wanted to say, "I-I think you should t-tell him this."

She gave me a look of disbelief so I continued, letting my desire to help her give me courage, "It's hard not to think about the what-ifs, right? What if you don't tell him how you feel now and something happens tomorrow that prevents you from ever doing it?"

My face warmed as I bashfully admitted, "A-All I could think about in that a-asylum was how I wanted to kiss N-N-Naruto at least once so he'd know how I feel and I never did because I was too worried thinking "What if things don't work out between us?"."

Tears rose in my eyes as I reminisced on the terrible feeling, but I blinked them back, "But what if things do work out? What if he's just as terrified of losing me as I am him and that's why he hasn't kissed me yet?"

Sakura surprised me by gasping in shock and sitting up to grab my hands, "I forgot! I-I think the whole mind-link thing between you guys is starting to happen to Sasuke and me!"

I was taken about with shock, "R-Really?!"

She nodded, "It was like we were in M.A.T.. I could feel everything and he said it happened to him, too."

We talked about what happened between her and Sasuke a bit more, both the emotional-sharing thing and her making out with him, before she became visibly exhausted and had to leave so she could rest.

There was a lot of commotion going on downstairs, but I was too nervous to go see what it was. Someone was clearly in pain because a scream would meet my ears every once in a while, but I couldn't tell who it was or how serious the situation might be.

Before I knew it, I fell asleep.