So here is the next chapter. Hope you like it. Thanks for the reviews and all the positive words, I really appreciate it. I have a lot of work right now so I don't have much time to write this story but I'll try to post as often as I can.
The road from Land of Waves to Konoha was fairly easy but they felt heavier and heavier on their feet with every passing hour. Going back was inevitable but they still didn't feel ready to be doing it and yet there were no excuses for avoiding this.
It was mostly Hinata that was hesitating. She was overwhelmed by emotions that were raging inside of her. And she felt dizzy from them all. One night when Sasuke was asleep she managed to get out of the tent without waking him up, which was quite difficult. She sat outside beside a tree and went back to the time she decided to go away. She was so much different. She could barely smile then and all she's thought about was how unworthy she's felt. Right now she still felt smaller than everyone but she knew it to be false and could fight these feelings off. She was almost able to look at herself objectively. It was possible only thanks to Sasuke. He saw her as better than most people, she saw herself as wore and being objective to her meant calculating the average of these two. There was something else though that stopped her from going back. Neji. His image popped into her brain right away. There was a sudden pain in her chest and she wasn't able to breathe for a second. He still was dead and she still felt that it was her fault. Away from home there was nothing to keep his memory awake but back home everything was going to remind her of the times they've spent together. She knew how hard this would feel. She's lived through it. The only thing that kept her steady was the thought of Sasuke being there with her.
When Sasuke realized she wasn't in the tent he roused in a second and went out of the tent. It was then that he saw her sitting alone in the dark with her eyes closed and her knees close to the chest. Sasuke was never the most empathetic person but when it came to her he felt everything ten times stronger. When he was close enough to see that her face was once more expressing pain. That pain he saw so much of in the beginning of their journey. That pain he never wanted to see again. And he also felt it, he knew what was the reason and he wanted to do something about it but there was no solution, no medicine he could provide. He sat in front of her and put one hand on her knee to let her know that he was here. Her eyes opened and she exhaled.
„Sorry" she said in a low voice that was supposed to cover her emotions.
„No worries" he wanted to take her away from this land, away from these feelings. „Do you want to talk about it?" But it was all he could do. It was her that guided him to sit next to her and when he did her head was already on his shoulders.
„Neji was an amazing cousin and friend." She said. They've never talked about him till now. „We were so close and when he died all I felt was an unbearable emptiness, pain and aloneness." She was feeling these things right now, as strong as then. „We weren't always so close but when Naruto's fought and beaten Neji it changed him and he opened up. Our relations were tense at first but he really was the only person in my family that wanted me to succeed and be stronger. My sister was far too little to really support me then." She felt Sasukes arm rubbing hers but he didn't say anything. „When he was gone and we came back to Konoha everything reminded me of him. Every little thing was a reminder of his death and my weakness. Every one of our friends, every place. I keep saying that I left to become stronger, and maybe some part of me wanted to but it was mostly to escape this constant pain. And then, when I was away, nothing changed." She was close to crying but stoped the tears from falling. „If I haven't met you I would probably still be an empty shell trying to absorb the beautiful sights from different places. I was broken in so many ways." He remembered this look on her face that made him come to her. „When we bumped into each other you, also, were a reminder of this pain I felt constantly. But somehow you were also the only person from my past that I was able to talk to. If it were anybody else I would have run away. Maybe it was because of your own past, I don't know. But right now we're going back there and I want to but I'm afraid that I'll go straight back to being this wreck that I was a year ago." She felt odd after saying all this. It was how she felt but it also made her feel stupid.
„Hinata" his voice was calm and caring. „When we met I was going nowhere. I would avoid contact with anybody from my past and yet I came to you. The look on your face in this cafe made me want to talk to you, help you even. I know there's close to nothing I can do to help you with this feeling but I'll be right next to you the whole time, I will be there to keep you from falling and I won't let anybody hurt you in any way. Being there is the only thing I can give you. If you decide you don't want to live there I'll pack our backpacks myself and we'll leave." He kissed the top of her head. „You won't be alone." She knew there was no better feeling than the one she was feeling when he said these things.
„Thank you, that's all I need, more even" and they sat like that for what felt like forever and no time at once.
The rest of the way went by rather quickly. The hesitations she's had didn't disappear but were muffled by their conversation. When they reached the gate of Konoha they stopped and looked at it for a few minutes before he took her hand in his and they moved once again.
Izumo and Kotetsu were as always on guard duty. Their first reaction to seeing the two was shock caused by the sight of Uchiha Sasuke entering the village and this shock only deepened when they saw whose hand he was holding. But they quickly covered this expression from their faces.
„Uchiha Sasuke" Sasuke said as if they haven't recognized him already.
„And Hyūga Hinata" she followed his lead.
„Long time away, wasn't it?" Kotetsu asked but it was obvious he didn't expect an answer.
„You two should go straight to Hokage Tower" Izumo instructed them „and we'll inform the Hokage of your arrival" Hinata nodded and they moved once again.
Konoha has changed a lot since she's been gone. Almost every building was renovated and there was no sign of the destruction that happened before and during the war. Some of the buildings looked exactly the same as they once have but others were brand new. The village was full of people minding their business but there were a lot of heads turning their way in disbelief. Most of these faces Hinata knew at least from passing them on the streets. Sasuke didn't pay this much attention to his surroundings. He kept his eyes fixed on their target and moved straight towards it.
Inside of the Hokage Tower there were a lot of people trying to get things done. It was only when somebody said Sasukes name everybody turned towards them. They moved quickly through the crowd and went straight to Hokages Office. Sasuke knocked on the door and didn't wait for the invitation.
„Welcome back" Kakashi said when they entered the room. There were two anbus on either side of his chair.
„Hello Hokage-sama" Hinata said and Sasuke only nodded.
„I didn't expect you to come back so soon after what happened" Kakashi said straight forward.
„It was time to come back" it was Sasuke who said it to Hinata surprise.
„I see" Hokage stood up from his chair and came closer to them. „How was your trip?"
„Alright"
„Anything worth recommending?" Hinata looked at the man confused. Was he chitchatting?
„Oh stop it and say what you need to say Kakashi" Hinata shivered. It was far from proper way to speak to the Kage.
„Hyūga-sama is pissed, some of your friends are too and our best medic is sent away. Nothing much. So you two are staying in Konoha?" Hinata nodded. She was still hung up on the fact that Sakura wasn't in the village. She didn't think much about the girl but she wasn't really mad at her. She just wanted to patch things up. „Where are you going to be staying?" This question was forwarded to Sasuke alone.
„We're going to renovate my house" so there it was. Kakashi looked surprised even with most of his face hidden.
„So you're not going back to the compound?"
„No" Hinata said and was glad that her voice didn't break.
„You have to break the news to you father" and she nodded. „Alright. We'll talk more in the next few days. I suspect you are tired from the journey" they weren't but they both wanted to be out of this room.
What was amazing they didn't meet anybody on their way to the Uchiha district. Hinata was never there and when she saw it it was obvious nobody paid enough attention to it ro renovate buildings here with the rest of the village. Some of them were completely down. The whole image was sad to her. It was the place all of his family and friends lived but now it was neglected and abandoned. When they reached his house they saw that it was still standing but the windows were shattered and the doors were hanging from the hinges. It was a sad view but he seemed not to care about it.
The inside of his home was mostly preserved but the layer of dust was pretty thick and all of the furniture was covered with once white sheets. They decided to stay in the living room for now. He uncovered the couch that knew better times and sat down on it.
„Home sweet home"
