Madara eyed Hinata oddly, he wasn't sure why she had practically made him her live in man servant for the next two and a half weeks. He could tell there was something up, but it wasn't very obvious. She wasn't going to tell him yet, but he was going to find out what it was and he was going to make sure it was going to be her that explained it to him. He couldn't help the smile that crossed his lips as he watched her skip around her room with a grin on her face as she sang. She was getting ready for their last day of the college semester, brilliance in it's own right. He was getting sick of being in the same place every day with people he had never met.

"I had a dream so big and loud, I jumped so high I touched the clouds. I stretched my hands out to the sky. We danced with monsters through the night. I'm never gonna look back I'm never gonna give it up no! Please don't wake me now." She sang cheerfully skipping as she gathered her things. "This is gonna be the best day of my life." She sang happily and he chuckled. He walked in and sang with her. "I howled at the moon with my friends and then the sun came crashing in." he sang and she beamed at him as she skipped out her door. She was really excited and it made him excited to know she was excited. He followed her out, her bag in his arms.

She slid into the driver's seat of her impala and he placed her things in the back and he saw that mada bear was wrapped up all nice and cozy in the back. A smirk crossed his lips as he reached and brushed his fingers over the bear's ears. She carried the bear with her everywhere? That was interesting. He placed her things down and walked around to the front of her impala. "Are you gonna get in or stand out there all day?" she asked with a smile.

"I would much rather stay here." He sighed and she laughed lightly. "I know, but you registered for classes, albeit very late... but none the less the teachers wanted to send us all off with a friendly farewell. The majority of us have already completed the required classes and have to transfer to bigger, better schools for our other classes." She said and he nodded, he understood fully. He blinked and as an after thought, wondered if she was one of those who had to transfer as well... he shook his head and got in the car with her.

She smiled and continued to hum as she started her car. She pulled out of her driveway and headed down the road towards town, she turned off on another road that was so very familiar to her. She stopped at the four way intersection, as the light was red, and she smiled. "So, what are your plans, now that you have officially graduated from high school?" a familiar voice asked and she blinked. "What?" she asked, turning to face Madara, who's image flickered to show Neji sitting in the passenger seat beside her before flickering back to Madara.

"Your plans... you just graduated from high school Hinata... you have to have college plans of some sort." Neji's voice echoed from Madara's mouth, only for Madara's image to flicker to Neji's and stay. she blinked and rubbed her eyes. "I do have plans... I'm already in college..." she said with a furrow of the brows and Neji's image smiled slightly. "Good... I'm glad you have plans. Culinary arts I presume?" he asked and she frowned.

"Yes... Neji... you already know this..." she said and her words were slightly warbled to her own ears as the images around her flickered out of view only to reappear differently. The sun was low in the sky, symbolizing late afternoon, Neji was dressed in an expensive looking suit now, instead of the outfit Madara had been wearing. Her head was beginning to hurt as her own outfit flickered and she realized she was wearing her cap and gown from graduation.

The expensive purple material was smooth under her fingertips. The light turned green and she shifted her little blue bug out of neutral, she pulled forwards and a screeching of tires caught her ears. A chill flew down her spine and her eyes went wide as she turned her head to see a much larger vehicle speeding towards them, the vehicle appeared to smash on the brakes; but to no avail as a scream ripped from her throat and the truck smashed into the little blue bug.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion as her car was thrown across the intersection, only stopping after it rolled over twice. She was grateful that she'd had her seatbelt on at that moment, but that didn't stop the pain. Her forehead smacked the windshield and it cracked. When the car stopped rolling, her hazy eyes drifted over to Neji, who had blood trickling from between his lips and out of his nose. "N-Neji-nii..." she managed to croak, but she received no answer from him.

She felt the warm tears trail down over her cheeks, but she couldn't move; they were upside down and she was in pain. Neji appeared to be unconscious, she hoped with all her heart he was alright. Her eyelids drooped and everything began to go dark, but she managed to hear the wailing of sirens in the distance, help was on its way... her eyes drifted shut one last time and her head lolled over to the side. Her last thought being of 'What on earth is going on with my head... this is not what happened that night at all...'

What felt like hours later, her eyes fluttered open and she was surrounded by white walls on every side and the smell of sterile objects... She tried to sit up but found she was unable to do so, due to the sheer amount of wires and tubes attached to her. She tried to swallow, but her throat was dry and there was a tube blocking her airway. She whimpered as she frantically pulled the tube from her throat and the wires from her arms. She saw three needles in her arms.

With shaky fingers she reached for the first one, pulling it out delicately she moved to the second and the third and did the same with those. She looked closely at her trembling fingers, then up at the doorway; where a single nurse had run in and was currently gaping at her with wide eyes. She looked upon Hinata in utter disbelief... "Ex-excuse m-me..." Hinata attempted to croak but her throat was still excessively dry.

"You... you were never supposed to actually wake up..." the nurse stammered. "You had severe brain damage... the reports... the... You... are a miracle..." she said and Hinata furrowed her brows. "I don't understand..." Hinata rasped after the nurse had given Hinata her unopened bottle of water that she was going to drink with her lunch. "Three years ago... you were in an accident. It was not even an hour after your high school graduation, so I've heard..." the nurse said and Hinata's lip trembled.

"No... I... I can't believe this..." she stammered and the nurse frowned. "Your friends came in here every day... there wasn't a moment when you were alone..." she said and Hinata blinked in surprise and tears built up in her eyes. "They would share their stories with you, tell you about how they were doing... some even came to apologize to you. Your father never wanted to leave your side, and despite all the advice the doctors gave him on how to let you go painlessly, he held on... awaiting the day you would wake..." the nurse said and Hinata hunched over and began sobbing.

"S-so everything... was just a dream?" Hinata sobbed. The nurse looked over at her in surprise. "It is not uncommon for people in comas to dream everything that they are being told. You must have inserted yourself into it instead of it being them... I'm going to let you ponder on your thoughts, I have to inform your father of your awakening and get someone in here to help you get fed properly, alright dear?" the nurse said and Hinata nodded.

"Thank you..." Hinata said then when the woman was gone... she allowed her thoughts to wander, trying to piece together everything that she remembered from when she was supposedly in the coma and relate it to people she knew. When she was sure she had the majority of it figured out, she dwelled upon it and thought about how each person would have said it. She wiped her eyes and resisted the overwhelming urge to cry once more.

Two voices rang through her mind, and her eyes went wide. "Forgive us, Hinata..." one voice said sadly, she picked it out as Ino's voice. "We know how you must have felt all those years..." another female voice said, and Hinata picked it out as Sakura's. "We bullied you and put you down day after day... we can never fully apologize, because now we know how you feel." Ino said. "Ino and I just started our second semester in nursing school... there are two girls there who treat us like we treated you." Sakura said and Ino's voice sighed.

"Tayuya and Karin. Tayuya beat me down on the very first day, stole my med surg. books then took my phone and smashed it. Karin beat me down because I tried to stand up to her..." Ino said. "Karin smashed my face into the snack machines at the campus more times than not. This was all over Sasuke too, I've gotten over that foolish crush as well, but she didn't seem to realize this..." Sakura said and then Ino spoke once more. "We could continue to apologize to you day after day, but with you lying there... it does nothing. When you finally wake up... come see us." Ino said then Sakura spoke, Hinata could hear the saddened smile that she held as she spoke.

"Because the both of us know that you will. You WILL wake up. Others might give up hope on it... but we will never give up on you... you withstood our abuse year after year, yet you still held yourself high... you still walked around with a smile, brightening everyone else's day. We know just how strong you are and we know that you will get better. You will get off this hospital bed... and you will... and we mean you WILL. There is no doubt about it! you're so much stronger than we could ever be... so... we believe in you... so please... get up..." Sakura's voice sobbed.

"We need you to get off of this bed Hinata... we need you to... we want to show you that we've changed... and we have changed because of you... so please... show us just how strong you are..." Ino said, her voice cracking with sadness as she spoke.

When their voices quieted down in her mind, Hinata felt the tears streak down over her cheeks. "I did it... I woke up... thank you... thank you for believing in me..." Hinata sobbed lightly, she understood that the two girls meant well, and once she was out of this horrid bed, she would grant them a visit. She promised them this... she would show them that she was as strong as they had said she was, because she refused to let them down.

Hinata wiped her eyes and pondered upon her thoughts once more. She could certainly put certain things and actions with each person she knew, but there was a lot she didn't understand... childish laughter echoed in her mind and she relished the feeling of hearing her sister's laugh.

"Hinata-nee! I've come to visit again! You're still lovely as ever my lilac lady!" her sister laughed, but the pain in her voice was not unnoticed. "Father couldn't make it today... he had to... set up some things..." Hanabi sighed and the sound of a snort made Hanabi seem to smile. "Your bubble buggy is down for the count though... they have been working on that little car since this... incident happened... it's been six months now... are you going to come back to us?" Hanabi's voice dulled out and she sighed.

"Who am I kidding... of course you will. You always snap back from things, you always do... even after the first wreck. You weren't in the hospital for even a week before you were back out on your feet." Hanabi said and then she sounded like she was shuffling around with something. "You're so strong nee-chan... you've always been so strong. You're this benevolent force whisking around sweeping guys off their feet and I wish I could be like you." Hanabi's voice droned out sadly, yet with a prideful tone to it. the sound of the door closing echoed around the room.

Soon enough, the sound of the door opening once more filled the room. "Hinata-nee... they are telling father you're not going to wake up..." Hanabi's voice was thick with sorrow and tears. "They saw that if father doesn't take you off life support he is going to go into debt and we will lose everything." Hanabi sobbed loudly. "They don't think you are worth the money... they don't know you! They never even met you!" Hanabi yelled tears threatening to choke out the sound of her voice.

"You are worth more than every penny, every cent of every dollar, any amount of cash you could ever hope to ever find the amount of. You're worth more than every single dollar on the face of this earth Hinata! No one could ever put a price on you... not a mansion, not a million dollars, not even the most advanced of technology could match your worth. Not even every fancy car on the face of the earth, with every single dollar, or every fancy mansion could ever match your worth..." Hanabi sobbed before she sniffled and held back a pained cry.

"I want my sister back! That's all I could ever want! I don't care if we lose everything that was ever in our name... I just want to see your smile when I get home from school every day... I want to see that scolding look that only I can rise from you when I do something wrong... I want to taste your delicious lunches, the tea you make so perfectly... I want you home... I would sell the world... if it would bring you back to us... daddy misses you so much... he is so depressed... I think even the sun, moon, and stars have lost some of their glow... all because you aren't here to brighten the world with your loving smiles..." Hanabi sobbed, her sobs were muffled by her hands at this point.

"Please... I'm begging you with everything that is anything... please wake up... I can't survive without you..."

Hinata's shoulders were shaking and she had her hands firmly planted over her mouth to attempt to kill her sobs. Had she been selfish in some way? Was that why she had made everyone she knew suffer as they had? Was it because she had done something wrong in the eyes of the Kami? Had she done something so awful that everyone she knew was suffering and dying inside? If she was the reason behind all of their pain... she hoped the Kami would allow her to seek forgiveness and try and fix all that she had broken.

"We came to see you yesterday as well hopeful for some sort of change... but you were still not awake..." another voice echoed around the nearly empty room... but she could tell that this voice was not going to be the only one... it was Kiba after all and Kiba always had Shino by his side. "We worry about you day in and day out." Kiba said, a small sniffle following his words. "We have begun our third year of college, Hinata..." Shino said simply. "I've gone into applied science and video game designs courses... I hope you would be proud... although that's stupid to even think..." Kiba sighed.

"We KNOW you will be proud... when you wake up we are going to show off all the cool things I've helped design and Shino will show you his new computer programming." Kiba said, his voice sad but exuberant still. "It's very complex in makeup... but in foresight... I will not explain into detail. Because as you are... you would not be concerned with such trivial things... we need you to come back." Shino said softly. "I couldn't word it better... Akamaru is going grey in the face! He's white! So I don't understand it in the slightest! I doubt you could explain it either Hinata-chan! It's just one of those things because not even Mr. genius himself can figure it out!" Kiba laughed, but the tears were audible in his voice.

"We miss you... Hana has opened a bar... mom works there too. I personally think it is to get an employee discount, haha." He laughed. "Things just aren't the same without you though, Hinata... the world has become a dull place since you've been here. These walls surrounding you in haunting white, it makes you think of death..." Shino murmured offhandedly and Kiba growled. "Hey idiot! This is Hinata we are talking about! Don't say things like that in here!" Kiba yelled.

Their voices drowned out and Hinata had shoved her face in the pillow, embracing it to grieve into. The voices came one after another, not even giving her a moment to catch her breath anymore.

"I wish you could have seen it Hinata..." Kurenai's voice echoed around in the nearly empty room. "I have a son now, his name is Daisuke...he's a warrior like his father..." her voice echoed around lovingly. "Asuma returned from his post this last year... he was surprised and saddened to hear that you were in the hospital. He wishes that you could meet our son, you are his godmother after all." The wink in her voice made it feel comforting. "I really hope you do much better and wake up soon... you've had two birthdays and your next is coming up soon... you will be twenty one... a beautiful young woman shouldn't be cooped up in here sleeping all the time you know..."

"You should be out and about, flirting with that guy you met when you were fifteen." Kurenai released a small laugh. "You always were so endeared with the boy. He seems to miss you, you know... the biggest buyer of his cinnamon rolls has suddenly vanished and his income has dropped significantly." Another laugh escaped the woman's lips, although saddened, it was a genuine laugh. "Please wake up... we all need you. You're our strength Hinata... and right now... we are all trying to be your strength."

Kurenai's voice droned away and a small saddened smile crossed over her lips as the next set of voices crowded themselves in the small room.

"Hinata-chan... you look so sad in here..." Temari's voice crowed sadly. "You're missing all the fun and games! Wake up lady! We need you to liven things up! Gaara still can't sing and we need you so you can sing for us and not kill cats or our ears!" Kankuro's voice came loudly, only for a resounding punch to be heard as well. "Hinata... we all miss you dearly... please wake up..." Naruto's voice rang out. "Hell, even Gaara misses you! You've made an impact on everyone you ever passed by!" Naruto said loudly.

"Some more than others... being as why the akatsuki even left you some gifts. They respect you, you know... for taking the hit that was for me..." Naruto said, his voice dulling out some. "Yeah... they were being black mailed into it and they wanted to show their appreciation for you getting them out of all the trouble that they had caused. Your kind heart has no limits and we all need your kindness to come back..."Gaara said softly and the crunching of chips echoed around the room.

"Yeah Hinata! We need you! You showed me that I can still eat all that I want and not get fat!" Choji's voice came out loudly and laughter soon followed. "How troublesome... but he is right though... you have all shown us that we need you to survive... so do us all a favor and come back soon so Lee, Ten-ten, Temari, and Choji don't kill us off with their antics, you seem to calm them down." Shikamaru's voice came out in an exasperated sigh.

A chorus of "Hey!" escaped said people's mouths and laughter ensued once more.

Hinata couldn't help but smile, all of her friends seemed to believe in her still. Despite all this time... they still rooted for her. All of them were counting on her to get up and out of this hospital, so who was she to disappoint? A small smile tugged at her lips, but the smile became confusion when another voice entered her mind. This was one voice that she couldn't quite place but she figured that once he finished speaking she would figure out who he was.

"I know you don't know me... but... I would beg forgiveness from you... I have come by every day for three years now... just to check up on you... I would tell you about my day then wonder what you would be thinking... you always had this sincere smile on your lips whenever I would come by. I hope whatever you're dreaming about is exquisite... just because... you don't deserve to be lying here in this hospital bed... these white walls as your prison..." he said and sighed.

"I'm going to tell you all about everything that has happened since you came here..." he said softly. "My brother... he was the cause of this... it was an accident... but his fault none the less. He should have been more careful..." he sighed, but he sounded like he was forcing back tears. "I went to school, I've just received my teaching degree. I can begin teaching up at the college campus now, if you still knew me... I would hope you would be so proud. I've been paying for a lot of your hospital treatments, because I feel as if I am indebted to you because of my younger brother." He said sadly.

"There were losses on both sides that night... my younger brother..." he said and it sounded as if the tears had been set free. "He caused this all... I'm so sorry... I'm so very sorry... nothing can every take that away... I'm so sorry miss Hyuuga... your family has lost so much already... it was such a shock to learn that my brother was lost... I fought so hard to keep him out of trouble... but he was a troublesome one... he followed the wrong crowd. And then he cost you so much more..." He sobbed, his pain showed in every word he spoke.

"We played together as children, you know... you may not remember... but... you lived down the street and my father decided that he liked your dad so he let us play as children... we occasionally and two other boys that would come over as well... but... they seem to have forgotten you as well..."he said then his voice paused. He sniffled then began talking once more. "one of those boys... the older brother... his father passed on their shop to him... he had been running it so well up until recently... something seems to have very much upset him... the other, the younger brother... he went off to start his own business... he supports his older brother in everything he does. His older brother sees him as more important than his own life... I swear he would give up his life to save his younger brother..." he said softly, but his voice held a pride.

"My other younger brother... he got his teaching degree as well, he teaches mechanics and car design stuff. He has both an impala and a jeep. Winchester and rumble buggy are their names..." you could hear the smile in his voice. "He takes so much pride in Winchester... he said he had once met a young woman with a severe fascination with supernatural, one that rivalled his... only later did I figure out Tobirama had already met you..." he chuckled softly.

"I've come by here so much... that I've become a mental patient they say... it makes me laugh you know... they think I'm crazy. I don't know who you are now... but when I was younger... I knew you were a delicate flower who's main objective was to keep the smiles on the faces of every other person in the room, even if you were sobbing in a corner by yourself. You're a wonderful person, even if the image I have of you is over ten years old... I believe that people never change... so please... I'm begging you..." he said and a saddened smile found its way into his voice.

"Wake up, and grace the world with the ethereal radiance that is you." He said.

Hinata smiled softly and nodded to herself, she was going to do as everyone had begged and pleaded of her. She tossed one leg off over the side of the hospital bed and she shoved herself forwards with weak arms. The cold tile floor froze her toes and a smile crossed her lips at the feeling, there was also the tingling sensation of dead feet which made her giggle. It was that feeling you got when a limb had gone to sleep and felt just slightly off of pin prickles running across the skin.

The moment she shoved herself away from the bed and her hospital gown fluttered behind her, a chorus of "Please wake up." Echoed around her. "I'm going to show you all my strength..." she said and she walked over to her in room closet, clean clothes sat in neatly folded piles on the top shelf. Using the handrails to keep her stable, she pulled on her undergarments and an actual pair of pants for the first time in nearly three years.

The feeling of accomplishment doing this gave her, filled her senses and was like an eternal euphoria. That was... until his words echoed in his mind once more... then it all came crashing down when she saw the object in her line of sight. "There were fatalities on both sides that afternoon... one from my side, and one from yours..." "One from my side..." she said and tears filled her eyes as she pulled her old khaki fur jacket on her arms.

"Neji-nii..." she sobbed into the fluffy sleeves of her coat as she slipped down onto her knees in the middle of the floor. Images from that night flashed through her mind. Neji Had only looked unconscious... but he had taken the direct hit. Hinata held herself tightly as she managed to scoot closer to the wall as she propped herself up against it as she sobbed. "Forgive me Neji-nii..." she sobbed as she held herself even tighter.

Her eyes hurt and so did her heart. She reached up and grabbed the small box atop the cabinet that had once held her clothes. She opened it and it held a note.

"I'm so proud of you Hinata. You graduated second to none from high school... valedictorian... that's quite the feat... so, in honor of your accomplishment, I have gotten you this very nice necklace. I had seen it and thought you would absolutely love it... it's a nice calming amethyst color... and it's like that jewel from the game you always like to play... devil may cry, was it? anyways... I thought it would be a nice gift for you... don't you dare ask about the price either, because whether or not it was expensive is my secret and mine alone... you deserve this... never forget that.."

Hinata gripped the amulet tightly to her chest, knowing that since it was from Neji, it was supposed to be more expensive than he would have liked to have ever mentioned. Her tears fell faster and she stood, forcing herself to guide along the hand rails. She tucked the note back inside the box and tucked the box into her pocket, resting the necklace in it's place around her neck. She was about to force her way out of the room when a shimmer caught her eye.

She turned around and saw her graduation picture, the one she had taken with Neji. She breezed across the room and snatched it up, holding it tightly to her chest before she fluttered out of the room, breezing right past the nurse's assistant that held her lunch in her hands. The woman didn't even notice that Hinata had escaped until she had turned around and noticed that the room was a mess and that she was gone. She ran right back out of the room and yelled for the other nurses to help her look.

Hinata couldn't find her smile as she strolled swiftly down the hallways trying to escape. She bumped into someone and her heart skipped a beat in fear as the picture of Neji flew from her grasp. She lunged to catch it but right before it could hit the floor, someone else caught it. Her lip trembled and she reached for said picture. She caught eyes with the person who had caught it and her throat squeezed shut tightly as a fresh onset of tears threatened to escape.

"You're awake..." his voice came out in shock. "P-please... Hashirama... can I have the picture back? It's all I have left of him... it's the last picture I will ever take with him... he's gone..." she said, her voice trembling as the tears broke free. "It's all I have left of Neji-nii..." Hinata sobbed loudly and Hashirama's face fell. He handed her the photo back and embraced her tightly. "Please... please calm down... so I can explain..." he said softly and her sobs softened.

"When I said that both sides suffered losses... I meant that my family lost Itama... and Kawarama as well because of Itama's recklessness... but the loss on your side... your uncle... he had an aneurysm because of the shock of the accident... he worried himself to death over you and your cousin..." Hashirama said and Hinata froze, her tears slowed somewhat... but she was still hurt by the loss of her uncle... they hadn't been extremely close... but... he had been family.

"S-so... Neji-nii?" she asked and he offered a small smile. "Hinata!" his voice echoed down the hall of the hospital. Rapid footsteps and Hanabi's sobs caught her ears. Hashirama stepped away from her only for her father to grab her up into a hug and hit the floor on his knees with her in his embrace. "F-father... Neji-nii... Hanabi-nee..." Hinata managed and clutched her father tightly as she broke down into tears once more, her tears turning into pained wails that caused Neji and Hanabi to hit their knees as well and embrace her as well.

"We never gave up on you... not once. Not even for a second!" her father sobbed and she tried to stop her wails, but she couldn't... it was overwhelming. "I thought... I thought I had lost Neji nii... when I woke and all I could find were things he had left for me... I was so scared... I'm so sorry!" Hinata sobbed and Neji embraced her tightly through her father's grip. "I can't die Hinata... I'm invincible..." he laughed through his tears.

"Don't you ever worry us like that ever again!" Hanabi yelled and Hinata choked out a laugh. "No... never again... I promise..."

:-:-:-:-:-:

They took Hinata straight home, not even stopping for anything trivial. Hinata's stomach growled and Neji laughed. "Seems you ducked out away from the orderlies right before they were going to feed you huh?" he asked and she blushed and fiddled with her fingers. "I didn't know they were ever going to show up... they had taken so long already..." she said softly and her father chuckled. "The shock of you coming out of the coma after nearly three years was weighing down on them." Her father said with a smile.

"They didn't think you were going to come out of it. they said that keeping you alive would-" her father began but Hinata laughed and finished for him. "Break the bank, huh?" she asked and he nodded. "But you're a fighter, you always pull through." He said and she smiled. "I always believed in you..." he said and she smiled, although her heart was aching... she wanted nothing more than to break down and cry again, but they were trying to make her feel at home again, so she wasn't going to.

"You're so strong Hinata, it's a miracle they didn't sue us." Neji chuckled. "Reckless flaunting of money would be what they would have called it because they probably would have given up and quit spending money." her father snorted. "They don't know us Hyuuga, so they don't know the strength we hold." Neji laughed and Hinata smiled brightly. "Always, nothing holds us down." She said and Hanabi grinned. "Well, Hinata-chan... you've been in a coma for three years just about... so what is your main desire as of this very moment, food wise?" Hanabi asked and Hinata blushed at the stares she was getting from her father and cousin.

"I want... cinnamon rolls." She said and grins broke out over each of their faces. "And so it begins again." They laughed and she blushed. Hanabi grinned and grabbed the car keys, grabbing Hinata by her sleeve and practically dragging her out of the front door. Their father and cousin following soon after. Hinata smiled as she slid into the passenger side front seat, Neji and Hanabi slid in the back and her father sighed contentedly.

"You don't mind making a few stops on the way back do you?" her father asked and she shook her head. "Not at all, I'm glad to not have to be staring at those four white walls anymore." She said and her father chuckled. "A prison of white, as Hashirama had said." He repeated and she nodded with a smile. They pulled up to the Uchiha bakery and she steeled her nerves. Her father and sister laughed at her as she prepared herself.

"Something odd happen in that dream of yours?" her father asked with a small smile. "Well, I'm hoping that what relationship vibes I was getting from my mind, were just Naruto and Sakura and their oddball relationship. The punching and rude comments seems more like Sakura towards Naruto than it would ever fit for me." Hinata laughed lightly and her father chuckled. "No doubt about that one..." he chuckled and she smiled.

:-:-:-:-:

He released a deep sigh as he fiddled with the bags for the doughy treats up near the front counter, from the table he was seated at. The blonde girl, he finally learned her name; although it had taken six years to do so, Samui, watched him with infatuated eyes. She had been in this little establishment since his father owned it. He never really liked her, but she seemed to really be infatuated with him, he repressed a disgusted shiver at this. The woman was three years older than him, in his eyes... older women weren't very appealing.

Especially older women who use their paychecks every week to get plastic surgery, her favorite was boob jobs. Now, like any man, he loved boobs... but not the 'smother you to death because they are so huge that they could break the lady's back' huge... that was ridiculous... he rolled his eyes and propped his head on his fist after he propped his elbow on the table closest to the doorway. He sighed and was tempted to kick his feet up onto the table in front of him until he heard a car engine stop.

He raised a brow and leaned his head back to see a highly expensive car pull to a stop in front of his store. He raised a brow as he watched a familiar face step out of the back of the car, then open the front passenger side door and pull someone out. He blinked a few times in confusion before the door chimed open and Samui began to talk. "I'm sorry but you will have to come back later, we are on break right now." She said and his brow twitched in annoyance.

"Samui shut the fuck up." He grumbled and stood, stretching as he did so. He smirked at the appalled look the blonde woman was giving him. "That's the nicest way I could think of saying it, considering it is you... cougar..." he grumbled and she threw a bag of donuts at him which he leaned back out of the way of swiftly. Neji chuckled at the interaction between the two. Hinata seemed confused, this was definitely not the Madara that had been described to her...

'Well... maybe it was...' she thought when he sent a smirk her way as he leaned atop the counter. "So..." he began and Neji watched him and Hinata closely. "I heard from a dear friend of mine you were in the hospital, twerp." He said and she puffed out her cheeks, yup this was Madara... "Yes... I've been in a coma for three years almost... from what I've been told... its almost graduation time again..." she sighed wistfully.

He nodded. "Yeah..." he said and offered her a smirk. "So, the usual?" he asked and she nodded. "Good deal..." he said and walked around into the back of the store. Samui glared at the young woman before her, but then her glare vanished when she sighed and sat back in her rotating chair, understanding that she couldn't blame the young woman for her lack of mutual attraction with Madara. "Thank you for the flowers, Samui-chan." Hinata said and the blonde blushed in surprise.

"You know about that? I thought they threw out the flowers after a while..." she sighed and Hinata smiled. "They do, they just gathered all the get well soon cards for me and put them in a keep sakes box." Hinata said and the blonde smiled. "Hey Madara, you hear that?! Even Hinata remembered my name! took you six years ya bastard!" she yelled back into the kitchen and Madara's laughter echoed from within.

Hinata smiled and Samui laughed lightly. "See, not even in a place three minutes and already you've brightened it up." A familiar voice chuckled from behind her. "Hashirama!" she said and he smiled at her lightly. "I'm glad to see you're doing well still since your escape an hour ago." He chuckled and Samui blinked at Hinata. "Escape?" she asked and Neji chuckled. "She tried to make a break for it after she woke up, of course I would too... but no one was expecting her to run for it." Neji chuckled and Samui laughed.

"Ah, the Hyuuga escape artists huh?" she asked and Hinata smiled with an ever present blush on her cheeks. Madara walked out from the kitchen with a smirk on his lips. "You have about a two minute wait, is that fine?" he asked and she nodded. He raised a brow at Neji, who would have vanished from sight years ago. "What, no I'm going to such and such place, my girlfriend will bring your car type Houdini escape plan?" he asked and Neji chuckled.

"No, not this time. There's no bubble buggy to drop off or a girlfriend to bring it." Neji laughed and Madara chuckled. With a shake of the head, a buzzer went off in the back room and Madara wandered back into the back room. He appeared moments later with two different containers. One was a box, which held her cinnamon rolls, and a small bag which released a mouthwatering smell. "I ask one simple thing... take this to my brother." He said and she smiled and nodded. She reached for her purse, but Madara snorted.

"Don't you dare. Now scat, you will not drop a single penny here today. Despite all odds, you pulled through. That's enough payment ya little twerp." He snapped and she blushed, what a rude way of being nice. Hashirama sighed and shook his head. "You're a nitwit you know that..." Hashirama sighed and a wicked smirk crossed Madara's lips. "Would you like to pay for Bunny's stuff?" he asked and Hashirama furrowed his brows at his darker haired friend. "You wouldn't." he challenged.

"Oh I would." Madara said and Hinata giggled. "Thank you, Madara-kun... Hashirama-kun..." she said and turned away from them. "Yeah whatever bunny... I have my motives for being nice..." he snapped and she laughed again as she walked out of the shop, where from the reflection of the windshield of her father's car... she could see Madara and Hashirama yell something at one another before Madara jumped over the counter at Hashirama, who pulled him into a chokehold with a humored grin.

She slipped into the front seat and smiled at her father. "So, we headed for Izuna's now?" he asked and she blinked but nodded, wondering how her father could have known they were supposed to be headed over there. she shrugged it off and buckled herself in. They backed out of the parking lot and made their way over to Izuna's little shop. When they pulled into the parking lot there, there were no lights on and the majority of the blinds were down. There wasn't a single car in the parking lot and Hinata furrowed her brows.

It was still early in the day so she didn't understand it in the slightest. The place looked nothing like what she had seen in her minds' eye, but she supposed that was normal. She smiled and slid out of the car, as did her father and sister this time. Neji pulled the door to the shop open for her and she walked through, thanking him as she did so. She had barely gotten around the corner when the lights clicked on and a group at the end of the row of tables yelled out 'surprise' and 'welcome back!'.

Hinata's eyes watered and her hands found their way to her mouth to stifle her gasp of surprise. Naruto, Temari, Ino, Sakura, Tenten, Choji, Shikamaru, Izuna, Sasuke, Itachi, Konan, Pein, Kiba, Shino, Tsume, Shibi, Tajima, Aurora, Butsuma, Gaara, Kankuro, Lee, Kurenai, Asuma, and their son Daisuke, were all standing there. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Hinata-chan... we all missed you." Naruto laughed loudly.

Hinata broke out in tears just then and Naruto began to panic. "U-uh... Hinata-chan? Did I say something to upset you?" he asked and she shook her head as she bit her lip and hobbled over to hug him, then Shino, then Kiba, then the rest of them filed through and forced hugs on her. "Thank you... thank you so much..." she sobbed and they all smiled at her. "You're family! How could we not come see you! It was a surprise, and if we had known earlier, all of us would have brought welcome back gifts... but as you know... we had an hour's notice!" Tsume laughed and Shibi aburame chuckled in agreement.

Izuna, Tajima, and Aurora smiled at her as well. "And you know we could never forget our favorite little sweet loving Hyuuga girl." Aurora said with a bright smile. "I am here to ask forgiveness..." Butsuma said and Hinata frowned at him. She shook her head before she spoke. "All is well... do not seek forgiveness from me... I am sorry for your loss... Itama... was a troubled young man... I don't blame him, or you." Hinata said and Butsuma was caught off guard.

"You almost-" he began but she smiled and shook her head. "But I didn't lose my life did I? I pulled through and all I want is for everyone to smile again..." she said and Butsuma nodded. "I understand... thank you, Hinata..." he said with a smile and she smiled right back at him, she was a forgiving soul after all... she only wanted to see all those around her smile, even if she were crying alone, just as Hashirama had said to him that night.