Hinata was starting to worry about her teammates. She was back for a long time now and they still were out on a mission. She wanted to see them and spend some time with them. She wanted to see Kurenai as well but her sensei was out with the two of them. Sasuke was training with Naruto daily now so she had some time for herself. And she tried doing things. She met with Hanabi and Tenten. She worked out on her own and cleaned the house which was still unfinished. They've finished bathroom and kitchen and now were in the middle of renovating the living room. It all took such a long time. But she liked it that way. She could get used to every room one by one.

So when one day during training she saw four familiar chakras entering the village she almost lost focus and it almost cost her getting stabbed by Sasuke. His eyes were immediately bigger.

„What happened?" He asked her. Almost stabbing her wasn't his idea, it was simply because she froze unexpectedly.

„My team's here" she said and smile appeared on her face. He exhaled and sat down. He didn't know what to feel about the two other man in Hinata's life. He decided to give them a chance.

„Go" he smiled at her and she hugged him clumsily and run.

Kiba and Akamaru were the first ones to know. Their noses were sure that Hinata was back at the village. Shino realized soon after. It was Kurenai that took some time to realize it. All three of them looked at each other with anticipation. When she appeared before then it was clear that she was running the whole way there, her hair were messy and her cheeks reddened. But she was smiling widely. She run into them and they hugged her. It was the reunion she was hoping for.

„You're back" Kurenai said and Hinata saw small tears forming in her eyes.

„I am" she smiled again. „I'm sorry it took me so long" she felt stomach cramps out of guilt. Yes, she still felt guilty for leaving without any word.

„When did you come back?" It was Kiba that asked this question.

„A month?" She shrugged her shoulders „I don't really know."

„So long? We were gone for less than two months!"

„You probably need to go to the Hokage, huh?" She asked and they nodded.

„At least one of us does" Kurenai smiled at them „We need to talk more soon Hinata, my doors are always open, remember" She hugger Hinata again and rushed to give a mission report.

„Last time we saw you you were in a poor condition" Shino spoke at last. „How are you?"

„I'm alright!" She didn't want to talk about the incident. She still didn't know how to feel about their involvement. „What doesn't kill you, huh?" She smiled and hoped they would drop the subject.

„Sakura crossed the line" but she was disappointed. „I thought you were dead" Kiba's face was pale now. It was like that every time he remembered her fall.

„Please, can we not talk about it? I'm okay and that's all that matters. How was your mission?"

„It was boring as hell. Right now every mission is boring. Well almost every mission. Most of them are about delivering something." Kiba was gesticulating wildly while telling her a long story of how they got to one of the furthest villages of the Land of Earth. They unknowingly went to Inuzuka's. When they sat in Kiba's room she was surrounded by memories. She felt warm. Why was she so differently predisposed to meeting them this time? She was so angry at them the last time and now she as only happy.

„You're back home?" Shino asked.

„No" she felt weird now „I moved in with Sasuke" she knew that it could be a turning point in this conversation.

„Into the Uchicha district?" Kiba's brows were furrowed already and she wanted to roll her eyes.

„Yes"

„Isn't it weird living there? I mean, it's a creepy place"

„We're renovating his house now. It somehow wasn't weird really. It used to be his family home and that's how I try to think about it." She was partially lying. She did feel shivers coming down her spine every time she thought about what Sasuke's seen there in the past. But she wasn't eager to talk about it with them. At least not right now.

„What did Hiashi say?" Kiba grinned knowing that it had to be tense moment.

„He wasn't particularly happy about the idea. But I'm not a child anymore so he had to get over it" she started petting Akamaru. „I'm happy, you know?" She said without looking at them. They needed to hear this and she needed them to accept her decision.

„It's hard to get used to it Hinata. We've never been really found of him and nothing changed except maybe the fact that he saved your life. But we've never been his friends and he's never been our" Shino looked at her briefly. She knew that what he said was true. „We'd love to be optimistic about this relationship but all I see is my best friend with a man that wanted to destroy Konoha, our home."

„He's changed" she almost laughed at this. She must have sounded so unreal to them. All these women who were so sure that their abusive husbands have changed. But it was a different story here. She simply couldn't just say so, Sasuke was the only person that could change everybody's mind about him. „Never mind, please just promise me that you'll give him a chance" she saw doubt in their eyes but both of them nodded. It was all she could ask for now.

„I have to go home." Both of them looked tired so she left with Shino and decided to walk him home.

Shino was noticeably more tense when they were alone.

„Are you still angry with me?" She asked after a few minutes of walking.

„Not really" he exhaled loudly. „I just need to process some things and we need to get to know each other again to be honest. I don't know everything about you anymore. And you don't know everything we've been through." He put his hands into his pockets „But I think we are still best friends and time will get us back to what we had" She smiled even though she didn't feel the same way. She knew for a fact that her actions would leave scar marks on their relationship forever. But she still was going to try and gain their trust back.

Once she was back home she realized how long she was gone. She even started to miss seeing Sasuke so she run up the stairs onto the porch and opened the doors smiling. He was meditating on the floor and she smirked at it. Meditation was one of the last things she would think he liked but she was wrong. He knew that she was staring at him and his lips started to tremble with incoming smile. He opened his eyes.

„Did you have a good time?" He got up and came up to her.

„Mostly, yes" her hands immediately landed on his shoulders, his embraced her waist and they stood there looking at each other until she decided it was time to kiss him. Oh how she wanted everybody to see him like she did. But it was just a matter of time before people did just that, she hoped.

„Wanna go out and eat something?" He stepped back.

„Don't we have anything here?"

„We do" he smiled and went into the kitchen. She joined him and they started cooking dinner together. When they finished eating she dragged him outside to sit on the porch. He sat at the bench and she sat on his knees.

„I love you" she said without looking at him as he was stroking her arm.

„I love you too"

The next morning he was the one who woke up early so he decided to go out for some groceries. There was almost nothing in the refrigerator and they also needed some cleaning products. When he was in the shop he tried not to draw anybody's attention but he listened to his surrounding. He was almost unable to turn off this vigilance he grew so attached to. Sometimes it paid off though. He heard Kiba and Shino talking on the street when he was exiting the shop.

„Maybe he did change, we did see him saving her life" Sasuke tried to ignore this conversation and go back home but he somehow couldn't. It wasn't that he himself particularly cared about what they were thinking but he did know that Hinata cared. And because of this he followed the two.

„Yes but it doesn't mean he's really changed nor that we can entirely trust him" Kiba was obviously more hesitant towards him and that was okay, he understood. Yet he did feel the worry building up in him. If Kiba had these feelings he was going to express them to Hinata. Or maybe he already has. Sasuke went back to the last night and the fact that Hinata hasn't been trying to tell him all about her meeting with her team.

„She does and we can't keep on bringing it up. She is a grown woman and she can take care of herself" Shino was always more calm and prudent. Sasuke didn't remember talking to him even once in the past but he did feel some respect for the man. „Also remember that if he does something to her there always is Naruto to put him in his place" Sasuke didn't pay much attention to this statement. He knew it was no joke but it didn't matter now.

„Maybe you're right." They were quiet for a few minutes and Sasuke was just turning to go home when Kiba added. „You know she wants us to be friends with him, right?" This troubled both him and Kiba and maybe even Shino.

„We don't have to do everything she wants"

„Should we try?"

„We'll see" Shino's voice was more stiff now. His last statement felt more like a no. Sasuke sighed and turned away from the voices. Maybe he was wrong. It seemed as if Kiba was more inclined to accept him after all. Shino just didn't want anything to do with him. And again there were two sides of Sasuke in opposition to each other. One that simply didn't care and this side had one advantage - it was here the longest, but the other that wanted to make Hinata happy was maybe just as strong.

Kurenai decided to visit Hinata first. So she detected her chakra and went in this direction. It wasn't until she saw the Uchicha district gate that she realized where Hinata was. Kurenai has never been here before. She remembered Itachi from her childhood and she remembered the horror that happened but that was it. She never had anything to do with this part of town. But she did now so she swallowed loudly and went inside.

„Can I help you?" It was Sasuke that asked this question. He was just beside her with groceries in his hands.

„Is Hinata here?" He smiled and nodded.

„You are Kurenai, right?" There was no sensei or anything but she was okay with that. She didn't need praise from anybody. She just nodded and followed him when he passed her. „I have to check if she's already awake" he said but before he could reach the door it opened from the inside and Hinata went outside.