A/N: A lot of angst, but some wholesome Hiashi and Hinata.


Shikamaru heaved a weary sigh as he knocked on the front door of his home. "She's going to absolutely rend me limb from limb for this… are you sure it's not too late to back out?"

"That's your mom!" Temari insisted with a deadly glare.

"Yeah, what the hell, Shikamaru?" Ino chimed in, folding her arms. "I know for a fact that if you don't, she'll rain hellfire upon all of us for not letting her know you were okay."

"What a drag…" he mumbled.

Footsteps could be heard from inside, and Shikamaru braced himself as a woman opened the door with a disheveled ponytail and tired eyes. "Yes?"

Her half-lidded eyes immediately opened wide as she took in her son standing awkwardly before her, looking for all the world that he'd rather be anywhere else.

"Hi, Mom…" he mumbled, raising a hand in greeting. "I'm back?"

Yoshino stared at her son for several long moments, looking him up and down in disbelief.

Ino glanced at Temari and discreetly began counting down on her fingers. Three, two, one…

"YOU FOOLISH BOY!" Yoshino screeched, grabbing Shikamaru by the collar and bringing him in for a tight hug.

"Mom, can't- can't breathe," he wheezed, attempting to hug back.

"That's the first thing you can say to me? You've hardly been back for five minutes and all you do is complain that I'm hugging too tight?" She scolded, pulling back long enough to look into his face before bringing him in again, embracing him a little more gently this time. She huffed, hiding her tears in his shoulder. "You should be lucky I'm not kicking you straight out of this house for making me worry so damned much!"

Temari shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably while Ino smiled at the duo, hands clasped together behind her back as Yoshino scolded him between hiccupping breaths.

Not far behind, Shikaku came rushing to the door as he heard his wife's yelling, his face set in an unbelievable surprise.

"Hello, Nara-san," Ino politely greeted him with a small wave.

"Ino, Shikamaru, you're back?" He exclaimed, nearly dropping the scroll in his hand in his haste to the group. "You're alive and well?"

"Alive and well," Shikamaru wheezed, patting his mother's back. "Though maybe a little crushed."

"You ungrateful son," Yoshino snapped, wiping her tears and giving him a glare.

"I'm so relieved you're both safe," Shikaku spoke instead, smiling widely at the teenagers. "And the Sand princess too?"

"Just Temari is fine, please," she said, bowing her head in deference.

"Have you seen your parents yet, Ino?" Yoshino questioned, wiping her hands on her apron and taking the blonde by the shoulder. "I know your father will be delighted to see you."

Ino faltered at this, her lips parting as she looked to the other two. "Uh… well…"

"We figured you would be a better stop first," Temari filled in, giving Shikamaru a nudge to the ribs and ignoring his slight wince. "I've heard much about you from him and I admit I was a little eager to meet you."

The older brunette blinked before smiling at her. "Is that so? Well then. Nice that my son has found at least two responsible young ladies as friends."

"Indeed," Shikaku chuckled, stroking his chin. "If you don't mind, we were just about to prepare lunch. Would you like to join us?"

"We'd love to," Ino assured. "I missed your cooking!"


Later on, Ino was the one standing nervously at her door with the other two nearby.

"I did it, now you have to," Shikamaru reminded.

"I- I know!" She exclaimed with a huff. "I just… I'm just choosing the right time, that's all!"

Temari raised an eyebrow.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

Ino fidgeted with her hands, glancing from the door to her feet, then back again.

The brunet finally heaved a sigh. "Look, if you're not gonna knock-"

"I'm knocking, alright! I'm knocking!" She shouted.

Maintaining eye-contact, she brought up her fist and rapped on the door hard.

With every thud, Shikamaru winced.

"There, you happy?" Ino huffed.

"... you could've done it softer."

"Well I KNOCKED!"

The door suddenly flew open in a rush. Ino's mother greeted them with an irate expression. "What?! What could possibly be so important-"

She stopped short, staring at her daughter.

Ino suddenly felt her nerves return. She lowered her eyes and raised a hand to give a tiny wave. "Um, hi, Mom…"

Ino's mother stood still for several seconds, just looking her up and down. Finally, she shut the door in her face.

"Wha- hey! Mom!" She exclaimed, knocking again.

"I don't want to see you," she replied angrily from inside. "You've caused me too much pain."

The younger blonde's mouth dropped open in shock. "But- but I just got home! I wanna see you and Daddy!"

There came no response.

Temari rested a hand across her shoulder as her posture slumped and she lowered her head to stare at the ground. "Hey… maybe we can come back later."

"Geez, I knew she'd be mad, but not that mad…" Shikamaru grumbled.

"Not helping, Shikamaru," Ino huffed, wiping her moist eyes. "Let's go get something to drink."


"I just can't believe it," Tenten huffed a quiet laugh as she wrapped her arms around Sakura in a tight hug.

"You'd better, because I'm not planning on going anywhere for a while." She chuckled, patting her back. "I missed you."

"I missed you more!" The brunette woman retorted. "I see you finally unlocked the seal."

The pinkette's hand raised to her forehead, where the light green rhombus proudly sat for all to see. She smiled softly at the ground. "Yeah… at least one of us was able to."

"Well, we're here," Hinata said as they walked up the front steps to the compound. Her hand trembled as she took a good look at her childhood home.

"You sure you can do this?" Ino asked her quietly. She leaned in with a small frown.

The Hyuuga hesitated for a few seconds before she shook her head. "No, I… I want to do this. I have to do this."

Swallowing hard, she raised her hand and knocked.

There came a shuffling from inside, and footsteps towards the foyer.

Her heartbeat pounded in her chest as the door opened.

Hanabi stood in the doorway, any words she had dying immediately on her tongue. Her eyes widened as she looked from Ino, to Tenten, to Hinata, to Sakura.

She blinked.

Then she shrieked.

It was so loud that Tenten winced and Sakura had to cover her ears as Hanabi sank into Hinata's waiting arms, sobbing hysterically. Still, it seemed to serve as an alert, because not soon after, Hiashi came running down the hall towards his now-blubbering teenage daughter.

"Hanabi?!" He called, as he ungracefully stumbled to a stop at the door.

"D- D- Dad," Hanabi cried, lifting her head to squint at him through blurry vision.

"Hello, Father," Hinata quietly greeted, her eyes soft with tears.

Hiashi's mouth was agape, his eyes the size of dinner plates as his arms fell to his sides.

"Is… is this real?" He breathed, reaching for his oldest. "Is this a genjutsu?"

"I'm not a genjutsu, Father, I'm here," she implored, taking hold of his hand and tenderly squeezing.

There was a long moment of silence as Hiashi's shaking hand gripped hers, and then he let out a trembling sigh.

"Tell me something only we would know," he demanded.

"On Uncle Hizashi's twenty-eighth birthday, to celebrate Neji's impending birth he got so drunk that he vomited on one of our clan's sacred scrolls," she recited with a hint of a smile. "In order to appease the elders, you took the fall for him and ended up transcribing a wall scroll with 'I will not destroy sacred clan properties' one hundred times while the elders attempted to recreate the scroll's contents."

Only allowing himself a brief chortle at the memory, he was now taken aback at her knowledge of the incident. Blinking rapidly against the tears rising in his eyes, he reached for her again.

"Hinata, you're- alive," he wept, bringing his daughters in for a tight embrace. "Thank the gods you're alive…!"

She let out a laugh that sounded more akin to a sob, squeezing her father tight. "I missed you, Father…"

Ino shifted from foot to foot before leaning in and whispering to Tenten and Sakura, "So… do we join the group hug, or what?"

In that moment, Hiashi looked up and uncharacteristically smiled at the girls. "Well come now, you three!"

Ino looked at Sakura.

Sakura looked at Ino.

Tenten grinned.

"If you insist, Grandpa," replied she, pulling in the younger girls with her to join the hug.