Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little to find it.

--Tori Amos

Burn City 4

I glanced expectantly from the clock to the door. It creaked open and a small form crept in. Her shoulders were slumped, her head down so that her bluish-black hair almost fell into the glass of water she was holding. She set the glass down on my bedside table and glanced up, a hesitant smile lighting her face.

"'Afternoon, S-Sasuke." She murmured and I had to bite my lip to keep myself from returning her smile.

"Hmm." I grunted and picked up the water, the cool touch sending a refreshing peace into my stinging hand. I set it to my lips, slowing slipping its cold liquid, and she stood awkwardly beside me. Her pale, almost-white eyes slid to my window.

"I-it's raining." She said, stating the obvious, and the small smile found its way back to her lips. I scowled.

"I noticed." I said and turned grumpily away from the offending window. Hinata's head tilted.

"You d-don't like t-the rain, S-Sasuke?" I nodded and her eyes widened. "Why? It's so… so…" She waved a hand in the air, at loss for words. I raised an eyebrow.

"It's noisy, smelly, it makes everyone in a bad mood--if you haven't noticed--and! You have to stay inside so you don't get sopping wet!" I snapped and looked at the TV dismissively.

"B-but…" She stammered. I glanced over at her and met her eyes for a moment before she looked away, a blush adorning her pale cheeks. She turned to the door, but stopped, hand on the door-knob. "Um…" She murmured and cast a wanting glance over her shoulder. I sighed.

"What?"

"Ah…" Her eyes glanced back up into mine and her blush intensified. I patted the end of the bed invitingly and she gratefully sat. "Rain isn't a-as bad… I-it isn't like y-you say." She hesitated.

"Go ahead." I urged, nodding. She smiled.

"Um, t-the noise is soothing, like a-a massage or like w-when you're trying t-to sleep, and the ocean, crashing a-against the rocks, l-lulls you t-to sleep.

"The s-smell… W-well, um, it smells like f-flowers blooming; like a-a bird, o-or a butterfly, spreading its wings for the first time… I-it smells s-sweet… Clean--like a n-new beginning; a-as though the w-world was w-washing all the e-evil things away a-and starting over." She smiled a toothy grin at me.

Like the world starting over…

"Eh… Poetic." I said and grimaced. She didn't respond, something I was getting used to. "Do you really think of it that way?" I asked, slightly shocked, slightly annoyed.

"Yes." She nodded and relaxed, leaning against the wall and fiddling with a corner of my covers. "The rain is beautiful. And you know… That once it's over," She leaned closer to me, her voice becoming a whisper. "The flowers will bloom."

A day later

I winced and held a bandaged hand stiffly over my arm, resisting the urge to rub it.

"Gah…" I breathed and lowered the hand; I couldn't believe how much it hurt to simply change my bandages.

I held up a hand mirror, examining the bandages, and winced. Bandages--with the gross, clear goop on them, much to my dismay--covered my face and body, a few pink, and sometimes flaming red, scars peeking out from the edges. A scar ran down one of my eyes; I desperately hoped it would fade, or else I'd have to get plastic surgery.

A knock--or a warning, it seemed to me-- sounded on my door and I scowled, waiting for my ugly, red-headed, "recovery-group-member" to come bobbing into my room.

The door opened and a, I suppose, pretty blonde walked in, pushing a not-so-pretty man in front of her.

"Here we are, Gaara!" She said, a little too cheerfully, and Hinata came in after her, looking slightly intimidated--or maybe just afraid--of the woman before her. I chuckled.

Hinata pushed something up to the side of my bed and I stared, shocked at the sight of a wheelchair sitting in front of me. She smiled hesitantly but expectantly.

"You expect me to get into that thing?" I demanded and Hinata nodded almost gleefully. I sighed. "Fine. Inject some more morphine."

A few minutes later

I grit my teeth painfully, which didn't really help my mental situation, and gripped the arms of my wheelchair tightly, so tightly that my knuckles, or what was left of them, began to turn white. Who knew that getting into a wheelchair could hurt so much?

I began to daydream, thinking of how much Shikamaru, when we were in high school, moaned about how much he would love to have a wheelchair, so he wouldn't have to use his legs. I shook my head, which only caused more pain; wheelchairs were hell.

"Uuuugh…" I couldn't help but say it. I mean, when you're in excruciating pain, even the most stoic of us all, will give a good, "Ugh."

Hinata glanced at me worriedly, and hesitantly, so softly I almost didn't feel it, put her hand on my shoulder.

"Aaaahh, don't touch me!" I snapped and whapped her hand away from my shoulder. She looked away, an almost hurt expression in her eyes, and I felt a wave of guilt. But can anyone blame me? It hurts when people touch your burns, and I was almost crazy from sitting my burned butt into the wheelchair anyway. Trust me, all lazy bums who want wheelchairs so that they don't have to do anything straining, wheelchairs are not worth it. Leave them alone. I sighed. Talk about rabbit trail.

"I'm okay." I said quietly and Hinata glanced back at me, a small smile on her lips. I don't know why that cheered her up. I meant it as a, strange I know, apology, but most people, especially girls, wouldn't get it. I guess she did though.

A few weeks later

Everything after that went well. We ate a picnic, to my horror. Mainly it was just the nurses talking, with a few grunts interrupting, and maybe a sentence or two if they asked good questions. I, personally, was just staring at Hinata… She was blushing a lot that day, either from the heat, or the presense of the, rather intimidating, woman. Or maybe she just noticed I was staring. But her stutter was horrible! Every word she said, "Y-yes, I-Ino, I-I… u-u-um…" Gah.

"Um… S-Sasuke?" Speaking of stuttering. I turned, trying to keep my smile friendly.

"Hinata?" She smiled back, but there was a strain in her smile too, as though she knew that I was faking.

"Ano… I'm l-leaving, now." It wasn't what she was about to say.

"No. Really, what did you want?" I asked, controlling, to the best of my abilities, my right eyebrow, which was just itching to twitch. Her eyes glanced over at my picture of Sakura, still sitting on my bedside table, right beside my glass of water, before they quickly turned back to me, her blush intensifying. I sighed. God, the woman was good.

"I don't want to talk about it." I snapped, harsher than I meant to. I knew that if I started talking about it, I'd start crying, and I didn't want her, of all people, to see me cry. Hinata nodded, and turned to leave. The door shut loudly behind her, and a wave of lonliness washed over me, and I almost got up to race after her. But, then again, I'd probably just have fallen on my face.

I stared at the picture, utterly mesmerized, and then shuddered, a sob breaking through my façade.

Her numb body, the little girl, the man, the dying mother, the rescuer, the plane--and her body--blowing to pieces in a shoot of flame.

I turned away, shaking from dry sobs, my breaths becoming horrible heaves. I stared out the window, warmth and the rolling sunshine barriling through my window, for the first time thinking that it would just be easier to stop breathing, to go--and join her, up in… Wherever she was.

The door opened, but I didn't even notice, and small, quiet footsteps went towards me.

"S-Sasuke?" I turned, my tears blurring her image. "S-Sasuke.. Ano--"

"Hinata--where do people go. When they, you know, die." I said, and Hinata's eyes widened in shock. She shuffled her feet, and looked out the window, almost tiredly.

"I… I don't know." I could almost see tears, welling up in her eyes. "I w-would like t-to think t-that they went t-to h-heaven, but I-I don't know. N-none o-of u-us can…" She took a deep breath, her voice becoming shakier as she spoke. "Can r-really k-know, s-since we h-haven't d-d-d-died." It seemed that she had trouble saying the word. She turned away, her small shoulders shaking. After a few minutes of silence--her, staring at the wall; me, staring out the window--she turned back to me, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Ano… D-do y-you want t-to go, um, o-out?" Her voice was still shaky. An unexplainable wave of excitement hit me, though it was quickly covered again by sorrow. I shrugged.

"Hmm." She smiled, reading, yet again, my grunt.

"I'll g-get the wheelchair." She spoke quickly and made a run for the door.

"Gah!"

A few minutes later

I sat, sulking, in the wheelchair, the pain shooting through my bandages.

"Ah… Hinata, this really hurts my butt." I whined, and a giggle escaped her, though she quickly muffled it. I looked around, as she stopped in front of her car. "Where are we going, anyway?"

Hinata shook her head, keeping her silence, and helped me, this was not a very good experience, into the car. I shook my head.

"Are you sure my burnt, screwed up body is ready for all this strain?" I asked, and Hinata giggled again, making me a little too happy. She shook her head.

"I-It's been a-a year s-since y-you came. Y-your recovering v-very well." She answered, her hands locked onto the wheel.

You wouldn't think that a little, timid, shy, thoroughly-child-like woman like Hinata would be a crazy driver, now would you? But, guess what, you're wrong. If it makes it any better, I was too. But, seriously, her driving is scary. I've never gone that fast. Ever.

It took us about five minutes to get my stiff, frightened muscles loose enough for me to move--especially my fingers, which were white from clutching the chairs arms so tightly. Hinata giggled, nervously this time.

"A-are y-you alright?" She asked. I stared at her and then shook my head tiredly. Not that wheelchairs were all that much better--though the were, since you got to go slow in them.

We sat in the ice cream shop--yes, she took Sasuke, the ultimate hater of all sweets, to a ice cream shop--and a few people stared at us, which was thoroughly embarrassing, but Hinata ignored them, showing a strong sense of will. Why she never showed it before, I'm not sure.

"Why did you come back?" I didn't mean to ask her that, but the question had been rolling in my head for a while by then, and it just… popped out.

"W-what?" She knew what I meant. I continued to play with the melting ice cream, unsure if I could even eat it in my bandaged condition, considering I could barely hold the spoon, with my fingers wrapped up so thickly.

"You know. You left, and then you came back. Why?" I answered. She looked away, a blush spreading across her cheeks, though her hair, which had grown over the year, swept up into a messy bun, did nothing to hide her red ears.

"I knew… Y-you had t-to be in p-p-pain. A-after all, S-Sakura-san d-died… T-this is t-the anniversary o-of her d-death." Her stutter had grown worse, showing she was nervous. I felt irritation build up in my chest, and immediately regretted asking the question. I glared.

"I don't need your pity." I said. Suddenly her head whipped around to face mine, a glare, though a soft one, on her face, her delicate lips tipped downward.

"I'm not giving you pity." She said, softly, harshly. I didn't dare interrupt, she wasn't even stuttering she was so serious. "I'm giving you understanding." She turned away angrily. That was too much.

"Understanding?" I snapped, my voice not nearly as controlled as hers. "How would you understand? How do you know what I'm going through? You can't understand, Hinata!" Her shoulders shook, but when she turned back to look at me, very, very slowly, there was no anger on her face, only utter sadness.

"Since when did you know that?" The soft whisper sent chills through my body. She sat up straighter, her eyes pained. "Since when did you know my life story? I knew someone who died in a plane crash too." That stopped me dead. She turned away, trying to hide the tears that were threatening to spill over.

"Who was he?" I asked. She shook her head.

"K-Kiba. My fiancé." She answered, so softly I could barely hear her. I shuddered, unable to find a response.

"I could never figure out why I lived… When he died." She said and turned back to me, a tear leaking out of her eye. Without thinking, one of my hands went up and brushed away the tear, the liquid sinking into my bandages.

"Hinata…" For once it was my voice that was shaky, and I realized, by the burning sensation that stripped down my cheeks, that I was crying. I turned away. "I don't want to cry." I murmured, knowing that I sounded horribly like a child, and hoping that she hadn't heard. A hand slipped onto my shoulder and I knew that she had.

"Crying doesn't make you weak, Sasuke. It makes you stronger. It takes real courage to cry." I turned back, but she wasn't looking at me, though her hand was still on my shoulder. She looked out the window, tears slipping down her porcelain skin, the sun glimmering in them. I had never seen anyone so beautiful.

"Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little to find it."

Authors Note

I'm sorry that was so short, guys. I know, huge, long wait, and then short, not so great chapter. I'm sorry. . But I couldn't find the inspiration for it, or the time, and I felt like it ended, right were it did. If I continued it, it'd just get worse.

Ah… I'm unhealthy, which is part of the problem with time. I might have appendicitis. It sucks. But, then again, I might just have a bladder infection, they're not entirely sure. Stupid doctors. XD

Oh, and I'm also sorry if Sasuke seems marjorly OOC. I did try to keep him witty and slightly macho, but I'm afraid that for this story... Well, he's just going to have to be out of character some. Sorry!

Anywhoz, thank you all for your reviews, especially book-fanatic14 and Alfora. You guys are great. I hope that this chapter was okay. : D