The tranquility of the morning had slowly begun to lull Hinata into much needed sleep. She had woken up an hour after they had arrived at the hospital and was pleasantly surprised to see her sharing her room with her teammate. Gaara was also in the room, sitting in between their beds, seemingly lost in thought.

"You're finally awake," he said, getting a gasp from the female. He couldn't stop the smirk that overcame his features and he shook his head.

"How long…?"

"Hard to say but no longer than an hour," He turned his gaze to meet his teammate's before he stood, headed for the door. "I'll go inform Yamato-sensei of your recovery. He wants to know what happened back there." Hinata only nodded and Gaara left without saying another word. Hinata watched him leave, and just continued to stare at the door a while longer before her attention turned to the other occupant in the room. He looked so peaceful, it almost made her forget that he had been yelling in pain like she'd never heard before.

Almost.

She threw the covers off her and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She came to face him and watched him turn to his side, his back to her now. The first thing she noticed was that his tails were gone. She couldn't deny that she felt a bit of disappointment at that but, mainly, she was happy to see he was okay. She wanted to get up and touch him, to put her fears to rest and have undeniable proof that Naruto was back.

As fate would have, it was not to be as Yamato walked in, followed by Jiraiya of the Sannin and her other teammate.

"How are you feeling, Hinata?" Yamato asked in a low voice. Hinata smiled tiredly.

"I'm feeling… well, all things considered." Her reply brought a smile to Jiraiya's face as he sat on the window sill in the back corner.

"That's good to hear. Now, on to business," Yamato turned serious, deciding to stand by his student. "Please, tell me what happened back there."

Hinata wasted no time recounting the events that led to Naruto's return. From beginning when he had first arrived in his demonic form, about how he had acted strangely before mentioning finally getting possession of Naruto's body. The thought of telling them of Naruto calling her "the girl from his dream" had crossed her mind, but she decided it wasn't pertinent information. Her blush gave her away but thankfully, no one had questioned her about it. It was about the time she got to telling them about Naruto launching a Biju Bomb at her that they had to stop her.

"He what?!" Yamato thought his heart was about to burst out of his chest.

"I-It's not that serious," she managed to squeak out, but couldn't put confidence behind her statement.

"NOT THAT SERIOUS?!"

"Calm down, Yamato, let the girl finish," Jiraiya said, nodding his head for Hinata to continue.

"Thank you, Master Jiraiya. As I was saying, Naruto attacked me with a Biju Bomb, but I quickly substituted with a log and hid behind a sturdy tree before it exploded. After that, I used my Byakugan to find him again and confronted him one last time. I think…" she paused, considering her next words. Her sensei waited patiently to continue. "I think my words were beginning to reach Naruto, so this time, I held him down as I tried to speak to him. For a while, he resisted until…"

This time, Hinata lit up like a campfire and was staring down at her hands that remained at her lap. The three conscious males blinked at her strange action.

"Until what?" this time, Jiraiya was beginning to get impatient.

"W-Well… I…" Hinata shook her head, her head feeling a bit hazy from trying to retell the events. "I-I told him how much he meant to… m-me… Before I knew it, he collapsed, and his chakra exploded out of him. I crawled over to him when it died down and it wasn't too long after that, you three showed up." A sudden weight lifted off Hinata's shoulders, glad to have gone passed the embarrassing part and getting their eyes off her. The two older males were soon lost in thought, digesting everything the girl had just told them. It was all very strange to them but considering this was Naruto, they had learned to expect these sorts of things from the walking disaster. Gaara was wondering what she meant by telling him how she felt. Had s he confessed? After a second thought, he shook his head, losing interest.

"So what now, sensei?" Gaara asked.

"Now that that's over with, we just wait for Naruto to wake up, and once he's able to move, we can head back to the village. The Hokage will definitely want to hear about all of this."

Before long, only Hinata and Naruto remained in the room, with the blond still unconscious. Hinata didn't know how much longer she could stand not being able to talk to Naruto again. His kidnapping hadn't been more than a day, and yet to her, it felt as if she hadn't spoken to him in months. She yearned to hear his laugh again, to feel her heart thump against her chest at the merry sound. She sighed, moving to stand. She hadn't realized how hungry she was until now. Maybe she could find someone to show her to the cafeteria.

Itachi had not said a word since he recovered Kisame. He was upset that his partner had let their target get away. He knew he should've gotten up to help control Naruto but he had assumed Kisame's brute strength would be enough. How foolish that decision had been.

"Come on Itachi, I said I was sorry," the juvenile tone coloring Kisame's voice was beginning to grind on Itachi's nerves. He was in no mood to play stupid games with his idiotic partner. "You can't ignore me forever. Eventually, you'll have to talk to me again."

"Continue to annoy me, Kisame, and Leader will be the least of your worries," to emphasize his threat, Itachi glared at him with his Mangekyou Sharingan spinning with dizzying speeds. However, the half fish man only grinned at the fun his partner's words brought to Kisame's twisted mind. His mirth was soon wiped from him when thoughts of his fight with the Nine-Tails' brat came to the forefront of his thoughts. It irritated him that he had allowed himself to drop his defenses and get caught off guard like that. If he had taken the little shit seriously, it would be the brat with his arms missing instead of the ass-chewing awaiting Kisame.

"If I had grabbed Samehada sooner, that punk wouldn't have stood a chance," he said, putting a hand to his cheek, rubbing it as a phantom pain came to him. Still, he had to give it to Naruto, he had a solid right kick.

"Let us not waste anymore time. Leader is waiting for us." With that, the two Akatsuki members disappeared into the morning with no trace of their presence.

Day soon turned into night as the team from the Leaf Village waited for their unconscious member to wake up. Gaara and Yamato were getting impatient, wanting to leave as soon as possible. Yamato even had to stop Gaara from barging in the room and slap the teen to consciousness. Hinata sat on her bed, her hands on her lap and her eyes fixated on them. But she wasn't paying any attention to them, her mind had wandered off to thoughts of home. Briefly, she wondered how her friends were doing in their Chūnin Exams, but decided that she'd only worry herself if she thought on it for too long. She was sure that they were more than halfway done and would pass with no issues.

Her eyes soon found their way over to Naruto and noticed that the blond teen had a small smile on his face. Her cheeks became colored with a light pink and a smile of her own crept up to her lips. He was so cute, the way he had cuddled into his covers and just looked to content with where he was. It reminded Hinata of how Naruto used to look when they slept together.

Her smile soon became mirthless, missing those times when she was closest to him. As they were now, they were almost like best friends, except, Hinata had been somewhat distant with him. But not anymore! As soon as Naruto was feeling better, she would make sure to be less cold to him and more inviting. She had to move pass what happened in the Hidden Waterfall Village. She was stronger than that, she pretty much didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

"Na…ta…" Hinata blinked and watched Naruto closely, wondering if she had imagined it. She moved to sit at the edge of her bed and slowly stood. His head moved from side to side before he let out a big yawn. His eyes scrunched tightly and Hinata could tell his eyes were moving under his lids. Her breath lodged itself into her throat and she did not dare move, less she wake herself up from a wonderful dream.

His cerulean eyes steadily opened, and they remained on the ceiling, focusing on the white, tiled ceiling with odd interest. A silly smile surfaced and Hinata thought he had mumbled something about dark sewers. Soon, the sight of him being awake and the sound of his voice were beginning to be too much for Hinata. She took a step forward, holding her hands together at her chest.

"Naruto," her voice had left her, and her words came out in a wheezy squeak. Naruto didn't turn his head, his eyes shifted to the left slightly and they widened momentarily before his trademark goofy smile returned, with his eyes closed.

"Nata…" Naruto brought his arms up in a plead of a hug. "I'm back." His voice sounded hoarse, but it was the Naruto she knew. She gave his words little thought as she took a hesitant first step before almost leaping into his arms.

"Naruto!" she squealed as she buried her face in his face. The air in his lungs was forced out of him in a quick sigh but once he gathered his wits, he wrapped Hinata in his arms. He felt his shirt start to get moist, but he decidedly ignored it in favor of taking in Hinata's scent. "Naruto… I missed you…"

Naruto let out a low chuckle. "I did, too, Nata. But I'm back now, and I won't be going anywhere for a long time," he said, bringing happiness to Hinata. The blunette cuddled against the blond's chest, enjoying the warmth it brought her in her heart. Oddly enough, something was starting to tickle her nose and she tried to bury herself further into Naruto to get away. She snuck a peak to see the offending object, surprised to see a golden tail with a white tip.

"Na-Na-Na-NA!" Hinata stuttered, bringing a finger up to point at the tail. Naruto bellowed as eight more appeared from under the covers and began to tickle Hinata. She fought down her giggles but it wasn't long before they came out. It was music to Naruto's ears; it was something he missed the most.

"I told you I was back, Nata, and my tails are no exception," he eventually stopped his attack on Hinata's sides, to let her breathe and to rest, he was still a bit tired. When Hinata was able to breathe properly again, she looked up at him and noticed that his fox ears returned as well. Her eyes focused in on his fuzzy ears and Naruto felt his instincts spike. He felt like a predator was staring at their first meal. "N-Now, Nata… Don't do anything rash!"

"That's funny, coming from you. Naruto," when she finished speaking, that was when Hinata struck.

A nurse on duty was making her usual rounds on the second level of the hospital. She checked her list and saw that Naruto Uzumaki was next. It would just be a regular checkup, the boy would probably be cleared to leave once he was awake. It didn't take long for her to reach his room and she took a second to compose herself, tired from her day's activities.

"Wait, Nata! Not so hard." She heard a male's voice say. She figured that was her patient's voice, she was glad he was awake. Then she heard a more feminine giggle.

"I'm not doing it hard. I'm doing it the way you've always liked it." The nurse had to stop herself from interpreting that wrong. They were only thirteen, they wouldn't be doing something like… like that. Right?

"Well, it's been a while since you last touched it, y'know? It's a little more sensitive than you remember!"

She couldn't help the blush that came over her cheeks.

"Well, hello little missy," a voice called out behind her. She jumped at its suddenness but kept from squealing. She turned to see Jiraiya smiling creepily at her. "Is the brat awake?"

"Uhm… well," her blush deepened at the memory of the conversation in the room.

"Please don't, Nata."

"I'll be all right, Naruto, I promise."

"Nata, please. Stop…"

"But… why? Didn't you want this?"

"…at least… loosen your grip a bit."

A perverted grin came to Jiraiya as he let out a matching giggle. 'Atta boy, Naruto!'

"So that's what's going on…" the nurse deadpanned at Jiraiya.

"Why are you waiting at the door? Just go in," Gaara said, appearing across from Jiraiya and the nurse.

"SHH!" Jiraiya and the nurse put their index finger on their lips, causing Gaara to raise a nonexistent eyebrow.

"Why?" The Sannin's hand snapped up and clamped the Jinchūriki's mouth shut, leading to a struggle between the Sannin and the teen.

Naruto moaned under Hinata's delicate fingers; he had forgotten just how talented her hands were. He was putty in Hinata's expert hands, not putting up much of a fight, even if he wanted to.

Hinata just smiled cutely as he massaged the one spot that she knew Naruto absolutely loved to be rubbed. Even though his ears twitched, it was no problem for Hinata to keep her kneading going with no interruption.

The nurse watched in annoyance as the two males in front of her continued their little wrestling bout, getting louder and louder in the passing seconds.

"You two are like little brats!" she whispered harshly, but it had no effect on the two.

"Hey guys, is Naruto up yet?" Yamato said, coming up behind Jiraiya and Gaara. The nurse glared at him, immediately getting Yamato's attention.

"You three! Can't you learn to be more considerate?!" She moved and soon at Jiraiya and Yamato by the ears, with Jiraiya holding on to Gaara's foot as he dragged the redhead on the floor. It was comical to the nurses to watch two grown men disciplined like small children.

Eventually, Naruto found his head laying on Hinata's lap, with her fingers gently combing through his hair. He felt so at peace, even when he was younger, when they both relaxed just like this, he had never felt so calm. He opened his eyes and looked up, not surprised to see Hinata with her eyes closed but a delighted smile on her lips. He laughed, his eyes crinkling from his action.

"You look happy, y'know." He said, snapping Hinata out of her thoughts. She blinked before giggling and hiding it behind a hand.

"I suppose I do," she gasped in surprise when Naruto pulled her hand down.

"Don't hide your smile, I like seeing it." Hinata blushed a deep red but her smile returned in kind. A thought suddenly crossed her mind and she adopted a serious expression.

"Naruto."

"Hm?"

"How did you get your memories back?"

Naruto hummed as one of his tails began caressing his chin in thought. Hinata giggled at his silliness.

"I don't exactly know," he said with a pause, considering his next words. "I just… felt separated, y'know? A part of me was in a dark place, and I couldn't find it, no matter how hard I looked. But…" he paused and beamed at Hinata. "But I think… when you called out to me, the missing piece woke up and came back."

Hinata smiled at his retelling. "I'm glad you're back. Oh, what was that explosion of chakra?"

"Maybe… maybe it was from my fight with… myself?" Naruto looked away, as if to look for the answer at the ceiling. "For a while, I felt at odds with myself. Like, a part of me tried to be the dominate one and make the other submit. But…"

"But?"

"…I think, in the end, they decided to come back together, because they knew you wouldn't be happy if I was fighting with myself." Naruto blinked and then looked curiously at Hinata. "Does that make sense?"

Hinata giggled once more before nodding. "It does."

Naruto smiled. "Good, because it doesn't to me." He wrapped Hinata in a hug with his tails and laughed when he felt Hinata rub her cheek against his tails. Naruto watched her intently for a while before staring up, feeling his heart swell with happiness.

It was good to be back.

Hopefully, this more fluffy chapter was to your liking. I know Dragon Man 180 will since he made a convincing argument to do it...

Still, the next chapter will be another slow paced chapter before I throw them back into the fire... I have something big planned...

As for the remainder of the Konoha 12... well, let's just say it might end up going down to Konoha 11...

Until next time...