That's all I've got for now and I'm so sorry about the delay but work was tense in the last few months and I barely had time to do anything else. Right now I'm sick so I have time to write. Hope you like this chapter ❤️
„I was going to visit you today or tomorrow" Hinata said when all three of them came into the house. Sasuke went straight into the kitchen to unpack the groceries but he hoped it would take longer. He didn't have problem talking to their peers but talking to Hinata's sensei could be tricky. He didn't care enough about being polite to other people and he didn't believe he should treat anybody differently. But he knew Hinata had her sensei on a pedestal and he needed to behave himself. So when he came back to the living room he asked the guest if she wanted anything to drink, just as a good host would.
„Oh I'm so sorry I didn't ask" Hinata almost jumped and went into the kitchen. He heard water being poured into the kettle. So there went his way of avoiding conversation longer.
„I've never been in here" Kurenai started the conversation and all he wanted to do was avoid it. „I mean in Uchicha district" he knew what she meant but before he could say it he bit his tongue. Tact.
„It used to be more representative" he sat in the armchair that was nearest to him but also furthest away from her.
„Oh I can only imagine" she smiled at him. „How is it being back, huh?" She was nice, he had to admit. But how could he answer her? That if it weren't for Hinata he would have never came back?
„It's alright" he decided to be just polite. She didn't come here to become his psychiatrist after all.
„I've heard that you two haven't been allowed back on missions" he didn't expect to hear that. Hokage didn't send any messages to them even though he had said that they had to see each other in the next few days and it's been almost a month now. He didn't complain for now. There was a lot of work to be done in the house and he wanted to put all his resources into this first. But he knew he would be bored soon and missions would be necessary for him to stay sane.
„We do need to speak to him about it" Sasuke heard Hinata asking him to come to her so he stood up. She needed help bringing tea to the living room.
„Here you go" she said and sat down next to her sensei. She put her hair behind the ear. „What were you talking about?" She asked.
„About us going back to being ninjas" Sasuke answered.
„Oh we need to take care of it!" She's almost forgot that it was something they had to do.
„I talked about you two with Hokage yesterday" she said and looked at both of them. She would have to get used to the two of them together. „And he wanted me to bring you with me to him. Later today" so that's why she's visited them so soon. „I want you to know that there are a lot of people against Sasuke going back to being Leaf ninja" she saw the angry spark in Hinata's eyes but what was more shocking was the lack of it in Sasuke's. „So you will probably be put with Naruto for all the missions for now"
„And you came here to tell me this why?" Sasuke hoped his voice didn't sound hostile. He was truly curious.
„That's not what I came here to say. I thought this part was obvious to both of you when you decided to come back" She was nervous about the next part of her speech though. „I came here because of what Kiba and Shino have told me about you two. Hokage thinks it would be best if the two of you would have to spend missions apart. That means that Hinata will be back in her team" it was a concern of hers and Kakashis that Sasuke wouldn't be a big fan of this idea and judging from his face they were right.
„Well this was also kind of obvious" Hinata said smiling. So they didn't talk about this aspect of moving back to Konoha.
„Obvious?" Sasuke looked at her but there was no anger in him to Kurenai's surprise. „I do not like that idea to be honest"
„Did you imagine that to every mission that you go, don't forget - with Naruto, Hokage would also assign me? It would be a waste of resources" she reached out to him and he mechanically took her hand in his.
„All right so when do we have to go to the Hokage tower?" He asked and looked back at Kurenai who was visibly shocked but he didn't know what by.
„Whenever you can" she remembered when Kiba and Shino have told her about Hinata's relationship. First she was mortified by the idea, then she got used to it but was still hesitant about it and now she was in shock. Never in a thousand years would she have guessed that Sasuke could be as… gentle?
„Let's finish our tea and go then" Hinata smiled. „Kurenai-sensei how is Mirai?" Sasuke soon understood it was Kurenai's daughter.
„I just wish Asuma could see her" Kurenai smiled sadly. „She reminds me so much of him, you know?" Sasuke knew that Asuma was dead but he's never asked how it had happened but now was definitely not the time so he just concentrated on his tea. Hinata on the other hand was so happy to ask a million questions and hear answers to all of them. He knew that this conversation would look a little differently if he was not there. He did see Kurenai's eyes that were full of worry when she was telling them about their meeting with Kakashi. He didn't understand why was she so worried. He wasn't totally mental to lash out because of these things. Was this what they thought of him? It would be so hard to change everybody's mind about him. He felt as if somebody has put a weight of the world back on his shoulders. Nothing was hard for such a long time for him. This time he's spent with Hinata was easy and this heaviness was exactly what he has feared.
When they were on their way towards Hokage Tower she grabbed his hand and squeezed it. She did notice the change in his demeanor but didn't want to draw Kurenai's attention to it so she just observed. But she knew they had to talk about it sooner rather than later.
Hokage told them almost exactly the same things Kurenai did. He wasn't as cautious about Sasuke.
„You two also need to go through psych evaluation and a physical one as well" he looked at them with his one eye and seemed bored. „And when you get cleared to go on missions we need to put you two in right categories. Sasuke is clear to me but I need to know about your progress Hinata" she almost blushed. She still wasn't happy with her strength but she knew she was at least better than when she's left. When they were about to leave Kakashi called Hinata back in and made sure that Sasuke stayed outside. „I have something for you. I pondered weather I should give it to you but since it's got your name on it I don't have a lot of options" he reached for a small envelope and gave it to her. He knew that she recognized the handwriting. She put it inside her pocket and smiled.
„Thank you" she left the office.
They went straight to the hospital to make appointments for both of them to be cleared as ready to fight. Hinata was first to see Ino there. This girl was standing out everywhere she went. She was tall and beautiful. Her long, blonde hair were always shining even after a 12 hour shift at the hospital. But what stood out most about her was her self confidence. Hinata was jealous about it for so long. When she saw her a letter in her pocket suddenly felt heavy.
„Oh hi Hinata! Sasuke" she welcomed them. „I've heard you were back. What do you two need here? Is everything okay?" She was smiling at them but Hinata felt some reservation from her and it was obvious why.
„We just wanted to make appointments for a routine check ups" Hinata answered and got a hold of Sasuke's hand. It was a habit of hers now apparently.
„Oh right! Come after me I can get it done for you if you want to." Hinata didn't know if she wanted to but it would be weird to say no so she followed the blonde. „I'll put you up for a psych evaluation for tomorrow okay?" She looked at them when they were all in her office. „But I can ask my friends to give both of you your physical exams right now. Well I'll ask one friend to do yours Sasuke and I'll do Hinata's myself" she tilted her head and smiled sweetly.
„Sure" Sasuke went outside with her and Hinata was asked to wait a minute. When Ino was back she was less tense.
„How are you Hinata?" She asked and started her tests.
„I'm alright, and how are you?"
„Oh I'm fine! I've moved in with Sai and everything great" she started listening to her heart and lungs so Hinata didn't say anything else. After a lot of medical questions they were finally done.
„She wrote a letter to me" Hinata said. She saw that Ino tensed all over again. „I just got it from Hokage so I didn't have time to read it yet. But you have to know that I don't hold any grudge against her and if it were just for me she could be back home"
„I know that Hinata but I also think it's good for her to be away from here" she looked as if she was about to cry „She wouldn't be able to move on here and maybe a change of scenery is going to help her. Thanks for telling me that anyway" And with that their conversation was over. Hinata went out of the office and Sasuke was already there. He heard.
„These doors should really be thicker" she said and started walking towards exit. He followed her with unhappy face.
„Were you going to tell me about it at all?" He asked from behind.
„It depends" she answered.
„On?"
„On what's in this letter" she didn't want to fight about it anymore but she was not going to let go.
„So you are going to read it" he sighed „Hinata she tried to kill you"
„I remember what happened and I think reading it won't kill me. You can be there beside me to check my vitals after every sentence" she knew that being mordant wasn't the best solution but she was at her wits end when it came to this subject. „She is my friend and I want to read what she has written. It doesn't mean that everything will be suddenly fine"
„Doesn't it? Didn't you just say that you don't hold any grudges?"
„Because I don't. I know that you do and I understand that, just please understand that I want to know what is in this letter, okay?" They were almost back home and neither one of them spoke another word until they were there.
„I don't understand how you can be so calm when it comes to this Hinata" He was the first to speak. His voice was quiet and somehow controlled. „You have the right to do whatever you want so go ahead and read this letter. It's just that I keep on relieving this horrible situation whenever I think about her and it hurts. That's why I react the way I do" She smiled at him and came closer. When she hugged him he felt some of the heaviness being left off of him.
„It's never my intention to hurt you, you know?" She had to say it. „My reactions aren't always perfect as well and I'm sorry about it." When she sat down she took the letter out and read it. It was short but she could feel tension that was poured into it. There was nothing she couldn't think about herself or hasn't thought of already but it was nice to get an apology. „Do you want to read it?" She asked Sasuke who was looking at the letter with much intensity reached for it and scanned the page. He was obviously put out by the content of it.
„She's got a lot of nerve!" She wanted to laugh at his reaction but decided not to.
„Is there any way she could have written this letter so you wouldn't react that way?"
„Probably not" he admitted. „But she does have the nerve to write to you about how much she loved me" he tossed the letter on the coffee table and sat next to Hinata on the couch.
„It doesn't matter, does it?" She got closer to him and put her head on his shoulder.
„I guess it doesn't" he embraced her with one arm and relaxed. „You're right, it doesn't matter"
