-Hinata's POV-
If I was dead, if the window hadn't broken and I ended up being burnt alive, then either hell wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be, or heaven wasn't paradise. In fact, everything just felt kind of neutral. Nothing was too hot or cold, and it wasn't so uncomfortable that I'd complain, but it wasn't pleasant.
With nothing to do but reminisce, the events over the past twenty-four hours were repeated. Even if I really have died, I put up a hell of a fight, especially given how weak my body was, to begin with.
I desperately wanted to be proud of myself for putting everything into survival, but I couldn't. No matter how much effort I'd put in, I still failed. I still broke the promise I made to Naruto to hold on until we could meet again.
With a hypothetical shake of the head, I distracted myself from my self-disappointment. Another thing bothered me. Before I passed out in that house, when I was running from the second gunman, I remembered hearing someone whisper something. When I woke up, though, that girl assured me she couldn't speak.
Had a second person been there, or had she been lying about being mute? I was leaning toward a second person being there because I was on the second floor when I woke up. That frail teenager couldn't have possibly gotten me there in time for us to both hide, if at all.
If I was right and someone else had been there, it was probably a man, but where had he disappeared so quickly, and why would he leave that poor girl behind? If the shooter hadn't returned and killed her, I probably would've realized this and asked. I didn't even manage to get her name, but if I was dead, at least it was in the same house as someone kind enough to help a stranger in need.
The exceedingly dull aura around me lurched for a moment before disappearing completely, and I found myself awake. I was…alive? This must be another dream because my body had been beaten and broken, but it didn't feel that way. It was leagues less painful than it'd been when I was tackling that window.
I took a ragged deep breath and winced when an ache burnt through my midsection and the back of my right shoulder. My lungs had been overworked at a dangerous level, but what convinced me that I was alive was that I'd been shot in the same shoulder that was throbbing.
Hope filled me, and I hesitantly opened my eyes, terrified this was just a dream tricking me. The room around me was incredibly dark. A streetlight down the road was the only thing providing light, which was dull at best. I had no idea where I was, and that terrified me.
A hiss slid past my lips when I lifted my right arm due to my shoulder injury, but I lifted the thick blanket over my body to see that I was in a thin bathrobe. I let the covers fall back down as my hand caught my eye. It'd been covered in cuts so deep I needed stitches, but now the injuries were healed enough, so they weren't bleeding any more.
How long had I been out? My heartbeat sped up as I started to panic. Had I been in another coma? Were weeks of my life gone yet again?
I went to sit up, only to freeze, when I felt a weight on the edge of the bed stopping me from tossing the blanket off my body completely. The room was so dark that I couldn't see what it was, so I somehow managed to climb off the bed near the pillows with my limbs trembling. My muscles were so incredibly sore that each little move hurt, but it was still much less painful than expected.
My knees hit the thick carpet on the ground, and I crept forward slowly until the shadowed figure slumped over the side of the bed became clear. A quick gasp sucked into my lungs, and thick tears immediately started to fall heavily down my cheeks.
It was Naruto.
He was here, actually here, right in front of me.
One arm lay atop the bed, and his head rested against that arm's shoulder as the rest of his body leaned heavily against the side of the bed. He'd obviously fallen asleep trying to wait for me to wake up.
My fingers shook heavily as I pulled the hand that'd fallen lifelessly onto his lap into my grasp. The tanned skin was calloused and warm, making my chest ache with relief. This wasn't a dream. It was really him.
Naruto's face relaxed in sleep, and my eyebrows furrowed at his small cuts and eye bags. How much did he willingly suffer so he could come to save me? My entire body trembled as it tried to withstand the unbearable emotions rushing through me, and I quickly became exhausted again.
Selfishly, I curled into a ball beside Naruto's lap and held his hand to my cheek with mine. If my body could muster the energy, I'm sure I'd have been sobbing, but instead, I fell asleep with silent tears running endlessly down to the ground beneath me as I tried to keep my eyes open.
What felt like hours later, I awoke to the hand against my cheek twitching in my grasp. I was nervous about opening my eyes. It felt like things had remained the same since I fell back asleep, but if I looked around and it wasn't, I didn't know if I'd be able to take it. My body was in the same tight ball it'd been in when I lay beside Naruto's lap, and it was incredibly sore.
The hand twitched again, and I desperately tightened my grasp on it. Something moved nearby before I heard the voice I'd wanted to hear in person for weeks. Naruto sounded extremely concerned and surprised, "Hinata!"
My eyes squeezed closed harder, and I gritted my teeth firmly.
"Hinata, are you awake? Are you okay?"
Tears welled up and eventually fell onto the hand cupped to my cheek. My voice was hoarse, and my throat felt scratchy as I spoke in a voice that accurately depicted my disbelief, "I-I'm alive, right?"
His hand moved under mine and held my face more firmly. "Yes, you are," the relief in his voice was thicker than I expected, and it sounded like he was close to tears, "Can I see your eyes?" He likely thought they might've been injured by the way he asked.
I shook my head, squeezing them tighter, closed still, "I-I-If I open them and you're not really here…."
There was a long pause before he spoke again, this time in a soft and reassuring voice, "I'm right here, Hinata. Look at me."
My body obeyed instantly, and I saw a thick red rug under the large bed we sat beside. Hesitantly, I released his hand and struggled to sit up, wincing at the ache all the movement was causing.
He adjusted his hand against my face more comfortably and lifted my chin so I'd be forced to meet his gaze. Emotional, beautiful, and happy blue eyes stared at me, and a slow, ragged breath left my lips. A pressure rose steadily within my chest. I slowly straightened my spine, too afraid to look away from his face for even a moment.
One moment I was stunned and rigid, but the next, my vision was blurred with tears, and I was shaking with sobs. My arm wrapped around my torso to try to ease the sore ache my uneven breathing was causing, and my head fell slightly as I covered my eyes with my free hand.
"H-Hey, it's okay, don't cry," Naruto didn't seem to know what to do, and I wasn't a person who would know the answer.
My shoulders shook as I cried for a few more moments before he shifted his body in front of me. Looking up, Naruto's back was against the bed, and his legs were on either side of where I sat on my knees.
His face was a little red, but he didn't hesitate as he pulled me against his chest and wrapped his arms tightly around my trembling form, which only made me lose it further. Amidst my loud sobs, I heard sniffles from him as he undoubtedly started crying.
After a few moments, the door to the room shot open, and I heard a familiar voice, "Hinata! What's wrong!" I lifted my face from Naruto's shirt to see Ino rush around the bed so she could lay her wide eyes on us sitting on the floor.
Her brow furrowed, and her face turned bright red as she started crying and lunged to the ground to wrap her arms around me, working around Naruto's. She yelled at me through her tears, "Don't ever scare us like that again!"
I was still crying too hard to speak, so I could only nod as she pressed kisses into my hair for a moment before releasing me and sitting back on her knees to look me over. "Are you hungry? Do you want something to drink? Is there anything you need?" She wiped at the few stray tears still falling as she quickly shot off questions.
"Come on, Ino, give her some time to calm down," Matsuri and Sai were suddenly standing behind her, the Uchiha boy offering the blond girl a hand and helping her to her feet.
Matsuri smiled at me with tears in her eyes, "I'm so happy to see you, Hinata." I tried to return her smile but probably didn't manage it and buried my face back into Naruto's shirt to muffle my tears.
Sai spoke softly to not upset anyone, "We'll make breakfast for you two. Stay here and rest." The trio left without another word, and my partner and I were alone again.
It took over five minutes for me to calm down enough that only a few stray tears were falling as I hiccuped and rested against Naruto's chest, wholly exhausted yet again. My cheek was pressed against his shirt, and one of my hands held a fistful of his shirt to keep me grounded. I'd turned onto my side while crying, so his hands were clasped near my hip, his arms around me.
It was silent momentarily as my eyes dazed unblinkingly on his bent knee. His breathing had evened out, and the steady rise and fall of his chest against my face helped keep me from falling back into a puddle of relieved tears.
I was embarrassed by what happened but was thankful he let me use him like this. All the fear and pain I'd suffered since the end of The Program had been bottled up, and one look at his face not only opened the bottle but took a hammer and shattered it.
The arm across the front of my body pulled back, and Naruto gently brushed my hair behind my ear before holding my head against his chest more firmly as he pressed his lips into my hair. Finally, my burning eyes managed to blink, and I was able to break from my dazed stupor. My body felt much smaller than his as I leaned into his touch, hoping to reassure him that I was alright without having to say it.
"I thought you were dead for an entire month," he suddenly spoke in a voice that sounded as dazed as I was.
It felt like I was trying to swallow cactus needles, but I still responded, "I-I was in a coma."
There was a long pause, "Because of Hidan?"
I nodded, feeling his fingers slide into my hair as I did. Before he could respond, I recalled the events that led to my broken ribs and asked, even though I was pretty sure I knew the answer, "Did Suigetsu…?"
Naruto made a negative sound confirming my suspicion before speaking again, saying, "Don't think about that right now."
A sad feeling overcame me, so I tried to change the topic from the poor boy who'd died. "W-What about you? Are you alright? You said you didn't want to talk about it until we were together again."
He hesitated, and I could feel his heartbeat pick up with my ear to his chest, so I struggled to pull back slightly and look at his face. To my surprise, he still had tears falling slowly down his face, and I instinctively reached up to wipe them away, wincing as my injured shoulder burnt in objection.
His silence worried me, and I carefully adjusted my body to fully face him again, "Naruto?"
Big blue eyes shook as he obviously tried to keep himself from crying any harder, and his mouth was in a firm line as he stared down at me. My brow furrowed, and I cupped his face between my hands rather than just lightly wiping at his tears, coming onto my knees slightly so I could adequately reach him.
His cheeks turned a light shade of red like before, but he finally responded, lightly wrapping his hands over the top of mine, "None of that matters now."
It was my turn to blush. The Naruto in front of me was more akin to the dream Naruto than the one I'd been around in person for the last few weeks of The Program. Before I could respond, the door shot open, and a few of our friends came in. My eyes widened when I realized what he and I looked like, and I hurried to release his face and sit back down on my knees with a blazing heat burning my entire being.
Ino set a tray with food and drinks atop the nightstand before putting her hands on her hips and glaring down at Naruto, "Don't you dare pressure her into doing anything, you idiot. I'll kill you."
The boy in question's face immediately matched mine in color, and he put his hands up in defense, "It wasn't what it looked like!"
The blond girl looked between him and me for a moment before sighing, "Fine, I'll believe you, but if I find out you try to make a move on her, there's gonna be hell to pay." A small smile rose to my lips as they continued to argue. This was a feeling I missed dearly.
I was forced back into bed so Ino and Matsuri could help me eat, even though I didn't need it. Many people came in to say hello as I ate, and my heart felt fuller with each person. It became clear that two people weren't coming, though.
"Where are Sakura and Sasuke?"
The two girls glanced at one another and Naruto, who averted his gaze. I looked between the three of them, "What happened?"
Naruto awkwardly ran a hand through his messy hair, "Sasuke was hurt yesterday. He's fine, so don't worry. He's just stuck in bed for a day or two. Sakura, though…"
Ino spoke, and I could hear the concern in her voice, "She used too much energy healing everyone last night and collapsed."
My eyes were wide, and I shoved the spoonful of oatmeal that Matsuri was trying to feed me gently away from my face, "Healing..?"
My eyebrows rose in realization. Orochimaru mentioned he tried to give her the power to heal others, but it never showed up, so we all thought it was a failure. I looked down at my arms and body with a feeling of grief, making my heart beat more quickly, "Because of me, she's-"
Ino cut me off angrily, "You weren't the only person she healed, and besides, she chose to do what she did. It's nobody's fault, so don't start blaming yourself."
My teeth grit stressfully for a moment before I relented and gave a short nod, "Is she going to be okay?"
The blond girl nodded, "I think she just overexerted herself, so her body's trying to recover energy. She'll probably wake up soon, a day or two at the latest." So I was forced to accept that I'd have to wait to see my pink-haired friend.
After being introduced to the newest member of our group, an ex-ANBU soldier who helped everyone escape the asylum they were at, I was given a rundown of the immediate future's plan. Once everyone's fit for travel, we'll return to Konoha. What awaits us there will determine the next step.
My only goal right now was to recuperate as quickly as possible and not be a burden. It would take a long time to pay all of these people back for what they'd gone through to rescue me.