(In this Fanfiction... Tsunade is older than Hashirama and Tobirama, for obvious reasons.)

The light overhead was comforting to him, how long had it been since he had seen it? Days? Weeks? How was he supposed to know? He wasn't even fully awake yet. His red eyes slid to gaze around the space he was in. The swishing of water filled his ears and he tried to move, but found he couldn't. He was floating in an aquatic nothingness with darkness all around him. He could hear voices though.

One was one that he hadn't heard before, so he supposed it was the doctor. 'Get his younger brother in here; we need to give him some blood to completely stabilize him. He lost quite a bit during the operation.' The voice said and he thought it over for a moment. He was in the hospital due to his concussion, and they had just finished surgery on him. Was that the reason it had been so long since he had seen any sort of light?

'Don't you let her go, Madara... she's gone through a lot for you, so if you let her go after this I may just have to beat the concussion back into you.' The first voice said, and he assumed that this was the legendary neurosurgeon Tsunade Senju, Tobirama and Hashirama's older cousin. 'Lady Tsunade! You can't do that!' her assistant scolded and he heard the amused snort that was usually followed by a smirk. 'Watch me.'

She said and he heard Hinata giggle, which made the aquatic area around him swish. A smile crossed his lips as he imagined her smile. He felt a warmth surround him and then the light began to dim. He forced his arm up to grasp at the light, but he just continued to sink further and further within the abyss he was held captive. "But... I don't want to sleep anymore... I want to be awake..." he said and reached higher, but it was in vain as he continued to sink. The light slowly faded from sight as he fell further into the immense darkness.

"I don't want to sleep anymore, please..."

:-:-:-:-:

Tsunade had fully explained to Hinata that Madara would be placed in a chemically induced coma, so his brain would have time to heal without exerting itself and possibly making the issue worse. Upon hearing this, Hinata said that if she felt he was out for too long, then she would do everything in her power to wake him up. And then Hinata explained to Tsunade that she didn't want Madara to sit and waste his life away in the bed like she had nearly done.

Tsunade had agreed upon this and had given her the exact instructions on how to wake him up if he were out for far too long. Hinata sighed as she pulled herself from those thoughts and looked at the unconscious man before her. The movement behind his eyelids had ceased, but she knew he was still dreaming. A soft smile worked its way over her lips despite the sad look in her eyes. She was glad he could still breathe on his own, which is rare when someone is in a coma.

She for instance, had to have an oxygen mask on when she woke because they had been slowly preparing to pull the plug on her and she knew it. she supposed the removal of the tube actually helped her in the long run, after all she wouldn't have been able to sneak out of the hospital had she had to choke on the tube she was intubated with. She withheld a small humored laugh, then brushed at a small tuft of ebony hair that had escaped from the side of his bandages.

"You're going to flip your lid when you wake up and you realize your hair is gone..." She whispered, eyeing the bandages on his head, obscuring completely his entire lack of hair. She reached over and caressed his cheek with a small smile. "You're still going to be beautiful either way..." she whispered and a snort was heard from the doorway.

"I see you're spending time with him." Her father noted with an amused glance. She smiled at him from her place curled up next to Madara. "So, are you still going to do that thing later?" He asked and she nodded. "Yeah, I just have a few other places I'm going to stop at first, but I will go get this all done." She said with a smile and he looked at her oddly. "Alright..." he sighed and she smiled.

"So how is Hanabi?" She asked and he sighed. "She's with Izuna, panicking about you, and where you are." He said then sighed once more. "She's only sixteen Hinata... why?" He asked and Hinata released a humored laugh. "He's a good guy father, he won't do anything you don't want him to do and I don't honestly think that he realizes that the reason she is hanging out with him more than usual is because she likes him. I honestly only think it's because he thinks she needs comfort." Hinata explained and her father sighed.

"You know, sometimes you are little to no help at all with these things you little love-struck blueberry. Now I think he's just an oblivious retard." Her father sighed and she rolled her eyes. "You know that's not what I was saying." She sighed and he chuckled. "Yeah, I know... but... shouldn't you be getting out and about. I do believe you have things to do today." He said and she nodded.

She slipped off of the side of the hospital bed and eyed the chair off to the side, where the wad of money had gone the day before and she had made no bother to even try to pick it back up. The surgery had taken a little over twelve hours, which had actually surprised Tsunade. But they managed to stop the bleed, and get the rising fluids to stop building up pressure within his skull.

Hinata slipped to her knees and grabbed the money from beneath the chair, only stopping to think about what exactly she could do with all this money. Her conversation with Hashirama and Izuna had flickered through her thoughts, and before she had even realized it... it was already decided. She grabbed the money and made her way down to the parking garage to find her car.

When she pulled out of the parking garage, she saw three familiar cars lined up right next to the entrance of the garage, but she couldn't be quite sure as to who's they were, because they had only looked familiar to her, without any special sort of tell-tell sign of actually being something she had remembered seeing.

She did however; remember a lot more than she thought she should. From the moment she had returned from seeing Tsunade, she could remember things she had never actually thought had happened, but after an hour of sitting in her car and dwelling on these things, they were welcomed thoughts and memories. This was a nice feeling, seeing as she had been angry at herself for forgetting so many things that everyone else remembered and had deemed really important.

She sighed as she pulled out of the outdoor parking lot of the hospital, her eyes glancing up to catch the window she knew was Madara's. "I will be back later tonight..." she whispered and pulled out to the left, which was going to take her to her first destination. She pulled into Izuna's parking lot and parked next to the door. The moment she had slipped out of the car, he had grabbed her up in a tight embrace.

"Thank you, so much..." He said and she blushed lightly. She glanced over at the window and saw the people within, gossiping and pointing at the two of them like they had never seen anything personal happen before, which she knew they had from what Madara had told her. She resisted a sigh, because this was typical. People are nosy and will gossip about anything they see.

"How are you, Izuna?" She asked and he released her, his lips still trembling slightly. "I'm barely keeping myself stable... I'm so worried about that idiot brother of mine." He managed and she smiled. "How is he?" He asked, being as he hadn't been there for him to return form the surgery. "Tsunade thinks there may be some complications when he wakes, seeing as she thinks there may be some things he may not remember, while others she believes will be just fine." She said and he released a shaky sigh.

"He's snoring." She said and he looked up at her in surprise. "Really? Like actually snoring or..." he began and she released a giggle. "He's actually snoring. Softly, as if he is peaceful right now." She said and he breathed out another shaky sigh, only to spot her cat eared hat. "You didn't." He began and she clutched the hat to her head. He gently pried it off of her and grinned like a fool. "You did..."

"You really do love him huh?" He asked with a hint of humor in his tone. She blushed and nodded rapidly, causing him to hug her once more. "My father called me a love struck blueberry today..." She said and he chuckled, his laughter shaking her form and creating a subtle warmth in her chest. "I suppose so..." He said as he released her from his embrace.

"You have no idea how much you mean to people." He mused and she glanced up at him curiously. "You do everything you can for people, and without realizing it... you leave such a huge impact on everyone around you. Thank you..." He said as Hanabi ran out of the shop and saw her. "Hey Izuna... That lady is saying you got her order wrong again." She sighed and Hinata laughed lightly. "Izuna never gets orders wrong." Hinata said and Hanabi nodded, smiling at her older sister. "Oh I know, that's why I'm going to go say she's full of it." Hanabi said and turned towards the shop but Izuna grabbed her by the wrist and held her in place.

"Well, there in no way will be anyone telling anyone what they may, or may not be full of. Not in my shop anyways, you can do it when she walks out." Izuna said and Hanabi had a familiar glint in her eyes. "Naruto and Konohamaru?" She asked and Izuna nodded with a sigh before waving Hinata off and heading back inside to deal with the boisterous lady that yelled at him the moment he had walked back into the store.

Hanabi was propped up against the doorway, her features excited, like a cat waiting for the mouse to come back out from its hiding place. "Don't be too mean to the lady now, Hanabi. Say it Hyuuga style, or Neji will have a heart attack." Hinata said as she turned and made her way to her car and satin the front seat with the window cracked lightly so she could hear Hanabi speak.

The woman walked out and Hanabi stepped out in front of her. "Hey, lady." She called and the woman glowered down at her. "Did you know that the customer is not always right?" She asked, confusing the large woman. "What do you mean?" She asked and a smirk crossed Hanabi's lips. "Well, you see the customer is only right if it is said in a polite manner, and there is actually an issue." Hanabi began in a matter of fact tone.

"But, you see... if the customer is just being a bitch, then... the customer is in no way right." Hanabi said and the woman looked at her appalled. "Listen, lady... the only times you were yelling something was wrong were when I came in, and when my sister pulled up. You see that girl over there? Her fiancée is in the hospital in a chemically induced coma, and two days ago... they had no idea if he was going to survive the night." Hanabi said and the woman rolled her eyes.

"Aha... see you don't care about that... but you see... Izuna in there? The shop owner? How do you think he would have been... if ... say... my sister's fiancée was his older brother? What if what I just said is the actual truth? What if Madara Uchiha would have died?" Hanabi asked and the woman stared at her wide eyed. "Yeah... that's what I thought... so before you go about thinking that everyone in this world is at your beck and call... use that tiny little brain of yours and get a clue. The world in no way revolves around you and your little issue of 'my coffee was one sugar grain too sweet', alright lady" she asked and the woman snorted.

"Like I care." She snapped and Hinata sighed. "You should, because I know where you work, and I know exactly how much could buy you out. Or maybe you don't recognize me as the daughter of the leader of the Hyuuga Corporation." Hanabi said with a wicked smirk. Then she pointed at Hinata. "That girl there has enough money in her pocket to buy you out right now... so don't push it." Hanabi said and the woman dumped her now cold coffee on Hanabi's head. "Hey!" Hanabi snarled but Hinata shook her head.

"Not what I meant Hanabi... and half of that I bet you pulled right out of your butt, didn't you?" Hinata asked and Hanabi gave her an appalled look. "Ok, listen here... I could have mauled her with my cat like reflexes, but you said verbal. Verbal got me coffee on my head." Hanabi yelled at her but Hinata laughed lightly.

"No, a couple of the things you said got you coffee on your head." Hinata said with a laugh, but shook her head and pointed at the door, where Izuna stood with a towel. "I would recommend you not bother the naggy patrons..." he sighed and Hanabi sputtered her words. "The lady does it every week. She'll be back next Friday." He sighed and Hanabi sighed.

Hinata shook her head, watched the two go into his shop, then pulled away from the parking lot, only to see the chubby woman get into her car with a 'hmph'. Hinata raised a brow at the bumper sticker that said 'World's best Mom', and accidentally snorted out loud, which caused the woman to glare at her. "And, rich girl, what is so funny?" The woman snarled. Hinata looked at her and frowned.

"Nothing but you, fat ass, move along." A familiar voice cut in and Hinata looked over to see Hidan carrying a tray of coffees. She counted them up and smiled, there was most likely one for each of the akatsuki. The woman huffed and squealed her tires as she sped from the parking lot. "Man, how rude can you get?" Hidan grumbled as he watched the woman speed away. Hinata sighed and shook her head lightly. "You and Hanabi must both hate that lady." She sighed and Hidan shrugged. "Who wouldn't, she's always bitching about one thing or another, and it gets on everyone's nerves." He grumbled, then looked at her in confusion. "Wait a minute, why are you here? Shouldn't you be snuggled up with your boyfriend?" He asked and she sighed.

"No not today, there is a lot I'm trying to get done, just so when he does finally wake... He won't have much to worry about." She said and Hidan nodded, fluffed her hair, and carried on his way. "See ya later, Blueberry." He said with a swift one handed wave and tottered off to some random car and plopped inside. "Carry on." He said as he nodded at her and rolled up the window to the car. She smiled and made her way to the main street. She pulled into the red cloud parking lot and parked her car with a small smile on her lips.

She trotted up to the counter, not minding the looks she was getting from the other women in the shop, Samui was the one she was here to see either way. "Hey Taji!" Samui called and a flour covered Tajima shoved the door open with the toe of his shoe. "AH! My dear! Good to see you." He said and hugged her tightly. "Hey." She greeted and hugged him back. " I have a question for you." Hinata began and all of the people within the small shop were watching her at this point.

"I'm going around and buying a few things today, so I will need a job when I'm finished, so I was wondering if I could work here." She said and Samui grabbed her hands and jumped up and down repeatedly. "Yes, yes! Definitely you can work here!" Samui said and the women surrounding them began clucking like hens, saying they wanted to work there too. "Sorry ladies, but I'm going to have to decline." Tajima said and they eyed him curiously. "You see this little bunny? This is Madara's girlfriend, so she gets special treatment." Samui said and they grumbled out their disappointment.

"But... she's..." "But, nothing! Yes, she has really boyishly short hair, and is quiet... but that does not give you the right to belittle her. So if you think you are going to belittle her, leave." Samui said and Hinata smiled at her. "I highly doubt any of you would ever love anyone enough to shave off your hair for them." Tajima said and the women all blinked at him. "Madara's hair is gone... and I know he will be upset when he finally wakes up and sees that it is gone, so I didn't think he should be alone." Hinata said with a smile and the women cooed their aww's and how sweets at her. "See, this is why we love our little Hinata!" Samui chirped and ruffled Hinata's hair.

"Did I ever tell you how I met Madara's mother?" Tajima asked suddenly and Hinata looked over at him in confusion." No sir..." She replied and he sighed with a nostalgic tone. "Well, you see... we met in culinary school." He said and Hinata smiled slightly. "I just thought she was the most beautiful girl I had ever met. But... I never had the guts to talk to her until we ended up paired together for an assignment." He said and Hinata cocked her head to the side, she couldn't picture the talkative Uchiha as ever being shy. "Ah, now you see... I know that look. I was not shy." He said and Hinata offered an apologetic smile.

"Ah, forgive me. What was it then?" she asked and he coughed his response into his hand. Hinata blinked at him in confusion, but Samui gave him a look of annoyance. "If you say that in front of Aurora she will slaughter you and you know it." Samui hissed softly and Tajima chuckled. "I'm sorry I didn't understand..." Hinata said sheepishly and Tajima chuckled. "Basically dear, she had resting bitch face. Terrible syndrome that is." He chuckled and Hinata gave him a confused look.

"Uh... well to say it bluntly, she was beautiful, and as beautiful as she was and is... her face just held an attitude that put people off. Needless to say when I was partnered with her, I was nervous, I mean I honestly didn't know whether she was nice or what... but as you can clearly tell, expressions can be deceiving because I married the woman and wouldn't go one day without her." He chuckled and Hinata's eyes sparkled.

"That's so cute Taji!" Hinata spouted with a sly little gleam in her eyes. Tajima huffed at her and dropped a bag of cinnamon rolls on the counter before her. "Now, out. Before I change my mind on letting you work here." Tajima jested with a wink and Hinata giggled as she waved at Samui and Tajima. She strolled out of the shop with a little smile on her lips. She loved these people with all her heart.

That smile vanished when a certain thought had popped into her mind. "I almost didn't even give him a chance..." she whispered and clutched the small bag tightly. Her lips began to tremble as she tried to picture her life without him... it hurt, it truly hurt her. Not just mentally, it hurt her physically. She bit her lip and made her way to her car. She slipped in and didn't even make it a mile down the road before she had to pull over in an old parking lot.

She folded down the sun visor and grasped the picture she had stashed away there. The look on his face... it was so confused. She smiled at the picture as she sniffled, her lips beginning to tremble once more. He looked as if he never expected her to be so close to him. She had almost not let him in, when in reality he had been the one distancing himself from her because he thought she was too good for him.

Butterflies fluttered through her form as she thought about the warmth that had resonated off of him when she had hugged him. That memory of her graduation was distant, but the feeling lingered and made her heart flutter. She remembered giving him her graduation cap and the look of pure joy that had lingered in his eyes. That was the happiest she had ever seen him in her life before the accident. She felt terrible because she didn't realize he had only wanted to be close to her...

A tap on her window made her jump and she looked up and wiped her tears away quickly before she rolled down her window. "Are you alright?" a small smile crossed her lips. "I'm fine... I promise." She whispered and those amethyst eyes narrowed at her. "Now I know that's a damn lie. Open the passenger door." He demanded and she unlocked it. He slipped into the passenger seat and crossed his arms as he gave her a look.

"What's your deal?" he asked and she rubbed her eyes once more. "I feel terrible... I just can't get the thought of how I almost didn't let Madara in out of my head." She whispered. "Ah. Don't be such a baby. We all know he would have bothered you until you gave him a chance anyways." Hidan said with a smirk and Hinata glanced down at the picture in her hands.

"You see the man in that picture there? That's the look of a man who has just gotten everything he ever could have wanted. And in all actuality, we all figured that you were actually all he ever wanted in life. Doesn't mean he had to have you by his side romantically, I think he would have been content just being your friend, hell. I think he would have been perfectly content having you swoop in his shop every day and toss him a smile." Hidan said, not once making eye contact with her.

"I honestly believe that he would have lived a perfectly content life with just you saying a single word to him once a day. Don't down yourself for something you didn't even know of because you wouldn't have had any control over it either way." Hidan said, finally turning to look her in the eye. "You being in that accident... that was his turning point." Hidan said and Hinata blinked and stared at him in confusion.

"The moment you got into the accident, his life changed drastically." Hidan said as he fumbled with the lid of his drink. His eyes were locked on the leaves that were blowing in the wind ever so softly, the branches barely even swaying in the gust. "How so?" she asked and a small smile crossed his lips. "Madara had fallen into a deep state of depression when you had the accident. It was almost like he had completely shut down. It was saddening to see him like that, but when he realized that you may not wake... he spent all his time with you... just so he could say he tried, even if you never knew." Hidan said and Hinata rubbed her fingers across the picture in her grasp.

"But..." she began as she looked over at him, his eyes held a look of serenity she'd never seen there... it was usually humor, anger, or as of recent... sadness residing there. "Hinata... I am going to be completely honest with you..." Hidan began once more and she watched him carefully as he set his drink in his lap. "This may sound somewhat demented... but... you may think I am a terrible person for saying this..." he sighed as he ran his now free hand through his hair.

"I believe..." he began but he looked her in the eyes and a sorrow fell into his eyes. "Please don't hate me." he whispered and she offered him a small reassuring smile. "I promise you I will never hate you." She said and he nodded, but remained silent. He fisted his free hand in his lap and released the breath he had been holding. "I honestly believe that him seeing that wreck, and from what I heard recently, pulling you out of that car... I think that was the kick in the ass he needed to grow up." He said and her eyes softened a bit. "I think that because he saw you that way, he very much valued your life and that was most likely the moment he realized exactly how much you meant to him." Hidan said and Hinata looked down at the picture in her grasp.

The man in the picture was smiling, but behind that smile she'd seen his doubt. She had seen his doubt so clearly in the video Konan had recorded of her graduation. Hinata's lips became downturned and Hidan frowned as well. "Damn... that didn't quite come out wrong, but it makes me feel like shit either way." He sighed, then rubbed his forehead. "My reasoning for thinking this is because he was on a downward spiral, not saying that his bill neglect wasn't a downward spiral... but compared to what he was doing before. Yeah... when the wreck happened, it was as if he were no longer physically there." Hidan said and Hinata moved her seat back so she could pull her legs up and cross them in her seat.

"So he was in shock, in a way?" she asked and he rocked his head in an iffy manner. "You could say that... you see, before you started trying to actually talk to him his personality was what you could describe as a self-destruct personality. That fact had nothing to do with you I damn well promise that. It was actually mine and Konan's fault. We watched him settle into that self destruct personality and we didn't know how to stop it. He began descending after his two younger brothers passed... and then you jumped into the fight with me, Konan, Pein, and Naruto..." Hidan sighed and Hinata placed her hand on his shoulder and when he looked over at her, she was smiling brilliantly at him.

He opened his mouth to speak but she shook her head, the smile still lingering. "No more. No more anger, no more struggling on the past. I never want you to think about those days again." She said and he nodded. "If you have to think about those days, think of how flustered Madara probably was after I asked him to go to my graduation." She said and Hidan chuckled. "And keep this thought, what would he have looked like had I asked him to prom?" she asked and Hidan grinned.

"No more hurting." She said and he shook his head with an amused smile. "No more talk of the bad parts of our past, got it." he said and she smiled. "I'm sure that if Madara wants anyone telling me of his self-destructive days, he would want to be the one to explain it." she said and Hidan nodded. "Uh, yeah... I guess I shouldn't be blurting out people's business like that." He laughed and she smiled at him. He looked down at his phone and realized there were eight missed calls.

"Now, I have to get going, and I believe you do too. Be careful, Hinata. I'll see you later, just know I'm here even if I'm an ass..." he said and she smiled and waved him away. She watched him run to his car and she shook her head. By the look of fear on his face it was probably Konan asking about her coffee. Hinata smiled to herself and placed the picture back in the visor.

She started her car once more and pulled her seat forwards once more. She knew exactly where she needed to go now.

:-:-:-:

He sighed as he wiped his hands on his baggy greasy jeans. He completely ignored the grease rag that was in his back pocket, he figured it would just smear the grease on his hands around more. The ebony colored mustang before him made a frown cross his features. He didn't want to have to sell the car, it wasn't fair to the kid... but he needed the money. It wasn't cheap to continually fix this car after the kid ran the engine ragged year after year.

He sat in the driver's seat and leaned the backrest back a bit so he could sit comfortably. Despite the kid running the engine haywire, he was sure to keep the rest of it in pristine condition. There wasn't a single scratch in the ebony paint, nor was there a single stain on the deep grey seats. He readjusted the mirrors only for him to see his brother grinning from the rear view mirror.

"Heya bro!" the younger male greeted and Ai could hardly contain the small smile that crossed his lips. "Bee, nice of you to visit." Ai said and Bee grinned. "Betcha weren't expecting me huh?" he asked and Ai shook his head. "I thought you were still overseas in your exchange student program." Ai said as he slipped from the car. "Nah man. Too cold over there! I was freezing my-" "Alright bee, none of that." Cee laughed as he entered the shop. The exuberant man rolled his eyes with a grin.

Cee's eyes landed on the mustang and he cocked his head in interest. "Someone has been taking great care of that..." he said and Ai sighed as he looked back at the car. "Not the engine. He's blown the transmission twice since he's had it. That's actually why it's here now." He sighed and Cee frowned. "Nice paint job though." He said and Ai nodded. "He's kept it in great condition." Ai said as he slipped back into the driver's seat and leaned to pop open the glove box.

"You seem disappointed, Ai." Cee said and Ai halted his rifling through the papers in the glove box to sigh deeply. "I am, very much so. The car right here, it was Madara's. Something happened and he began missing payments and then he blew the transmission... I fixed the transmission, but I can't let him have the car back. I had to pay to fix the car myself so I'm going to have to end up selling it." Ai sighed as he furrowed his brow and pulled a framed object out of the glove box.

"He was living in his car." Ai said and Cee frowned, Bee had no exuberant reply to this either. "Damn... I wonder what happened. Isn't he the kid who runs the bakery in town?" Cee asked and AI nodded. "Yeah, turns out that was the only thing he still had in his name." he sighed as he looked at the framed object in his hands. A soft knocking was heard on the front door of the shop and Ai looked up from the picture, only to glance at Cee and motion for the blonde to answer the door. As soon as he did, Ai looked up and had to shake his head, look back to the object in his grasp, then back up.

He released a stressed yet amused chuckle as he rubbed his temple with his free hand. Killer bee watched him in interest, while Cee stammered his response to the girl, asking her to forgive him for taking so long to unlock the door. "Cee quit fumbling over your words and let the lady come over here; I have an idea as to why she is here." Ai chuckled and stood. "U-uh... Yeah... sorry." Cee fumbled and she giggled lightly. "It's no problem really." She said softly and Cee smiled.

Ai extended a hand to her, then realized he still had grease on it, but before he could pull it away she had already grasped it to shake it lightly. "I'm Ai." He greeted. "Hinata." She replied with a small smile then looked at her now dirty hand in confusion. "Sorry." He chuckled and handed her a soapy rag so she could clean her hand. "It's ok." She said and looked at the car with saddened eyes. "You came for the car." He said and she looked at him with an every saddening look. "I thought about it. I thought about paying it off for him... but..." she began and he frowned.

"He can't afford it?" Cee asked and Hinata shook her head. "He can't, but I can. I'm just not sure if I should. I know he would want his car back, but..."she began and the three men looked at her in curiosity. "But if he never wakes up... I don't want to have his car sitting in my father's garage as a painful memory." She whispered, but Ai moved and motioned for her to sit in the car. "I want you to sit in here, and think. I want you to be sure you are making the right decision, and if you could explain to me what happened to the kid I would be grateful. But you don't have to do that yet." Ai said and motioned for Cee and Killer bee to follow him to the office.

Hinata slipped into the driver's side seat and closed the door behind her. She closed her eyes and relaxed within the seat. She could still smell that familiar scent of the bakery that seemed to have become embedded in his DNA lingering in the fabric of the seat. Then there was the smell of his cologne, it wasn't as strong as the pastry smell, but it lingered as well. It was a deep masculine smell, not overpowering like most... but it was a subtle force that brought warmth to her chest.

She felt that familiar pain in the back of her eyes and she bit her lip. Madara had since lost his subtle scent, and had gained that god awful scent of sterile gloves and surgical gloves. She put her head in her hands and tried her best not to cry. His car smelled exactly like him and it hurt so much. It was such an awful feeling and she hated it. She straightened herself up and rubbed her eyes as she sniffed lightly. She grasped the steering wheel tightly and inhaled the familiar smell once more, and the only thing she could picture was his smiling face.

She stepped out of the car and Ai made his way back over to her. He opened his mouth to speak, but she offered him a smile even though her eyes still glistened with unshed tears. He frowned and she took a deep breath. "Madara is in a chemically induced coma. I just got out of my coma three months ago. Even though that my wakening after so many years was a fluke, I am still going to hope and pray that he comes out of his. How much." When she spoke it wasn't a question, it was a statement. She was going to pay whatever number he asked of her.

"Ma'am." He began but she stared up at him with those glistening eyes and he frowned and rubbed the back of his neck. "I will sell you the car for ten grand, and I will help take care of it at a discounted price as well." He said and she watched him with saddened eyes. "How much does he actually owe on the car?" she asked and Cee crossed his arms over his chest and looked away.

"Twenty five." AI said and Hinata nodded. "Thousand." It wasn't a question, she knew that's how much it actually was. He didn't have to verbally say anything else, his posture said everything. "You rebuilt it from the ground up right? You took the body of an older mustang and built all the nice things and engine into it." she said as she looked at the car. "Yes." Then it is worth it. Every penny." She said and he frowned. "No." Ai said and Hinata looked at him in confusion.

"You need that extra fifteen to help him with his hospital bills. I promise, I'm not going to be hurting if I don't get it." he said and she frowned, but walked back to her car and pulled a stack of hundreds from her briefcase. She handed it to him and turned to the car and she placed her hand on the door of the mustang. "It's worth it, every single little penny." She whispered with a small smile as Ai watched her pat the top of the car once more.

"You gave me fifteen." He called after her as she made her way back to her car. "I know." She said and he sighed as he watched her go. "She's going to end up giving you that other ten, I can feel it." Cee said and Ai shook his head and rubbed his eyes. "She's stubborn. She might look like a frail little woman, but she seems to be the type to stand her ground. I can see why Madara did what he did now." He sighed and Killer bee grinned as he walked back in with both a soda and a banded stack of hundreds.

"Now what did I tell you. She's sneaky." Ai chuckled as he set the picture back in the car, except he set it on the center of the dash, which was most likely not where Madara would set it; but he figured the young lady hadn't seen it and he figured that she would very much enjoy it when she did come to get the mustang. "You picked a damn fine young woman, Madara." Ai said as he shut the door, stopping to take one last glance at the picture.

It was of her, but she had much longer hair and she was snuggled into Madara's side, they looked to be at a lake or a river from what he could tell, and she was fast asleep. From the angle it looked like someone else had taken the picture, rather than Madara. Ai smiled as he sat on his padded bench and kicked up his feet, he had never seen the kid have such a gentle look in his eyes. Usually he had some scheme planned, and you could always tell.

"Cee! Put up the closed sign, I'm shutting her down early today. I'm going to need my rest for when the Uchiha show up." He sighed and rubbed his eyes, remembering the last time he had encountered Izuna because of that damnable mustang.

:-:-:-:

Hinata pulled up to the address that Izuna had given her and she looked at the small building. "This isn't an apartment..." she said softly as she made her way to the front door and knocked. It took a minute, but an older man with long white hair opened the door. "Hm? Hello, how are you today... miss?" he greeted and she smiled and held a hand out to him. He shook her hand and opened the door up even wider.

"I've seen you before somewhere..." he muttered and she smiled as a familiar squawk was heard and then a thump. "Hinata! You've come to visit me!" the blonde yelled and Hinata laughed lightly. "Hey Naruto. How are you today?" she asked and he grinned and engulfed her in a hug, knocking the white haired man out of the way. "Did Tsunade-baa help Madara? Is he going to be alright? Why are you here?"

The blonde continued to pelt her with questions, but all she could do was smile softly at him. "Naruto you fool, if you give her some space to breathe maybe she will answer some questions." The man said and Naruto blushed. "Sorry Hinata." Naruto apologized with a sheepish grin and Hinata smiled. "Now I know where I have seen you. Naruto has pictures with you on his dresser." He said then crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm Jiraiya, and obviously you're the girl who spent time in the hospital because he couldn't leave Nagato alone." Jiraiya sighed at the last part, but Naruto gave him a dirty look.

"Look, Pein and Konan are fine alright? I just hated the guy cause he was getting them in a bunch of trouble and they didn't see it. Those are my siblings." Naruto pouted and looked away from Jiraiya. "Nagato was your second cousin." Jiraiya argued back and Naruto narrowed his eyes and stuck his tongue out at the older man. "But he was a douche and you know he was bad for Pein and Konan, you knew he was trouble and yet you still brought him here." Naruto muttered and Jiraiya knocked him over the head. "I thought I could help him dammit." Jiraiya growled and Hinata laughed lightly at the look on Naruto's face.

"Ahem, anyways, thank you again. Uh... what was it that you needed?" Jiraiya asked with an embarrassed smile. "I came to pay Madara's debt to you." She said and he frowned at her. "Hinata, no." he said and she blinked up at him. "Naruto said he was in the hospital, had brain surgery... I can't." Jiraiya said and Naruto frowned. "His debt has already been paid, Hinata." Naruto said and Hinata blinked in confusion.

"What?"

Naruto and Jiraiya exchanged looks and then looked back at her. "You didn't know?" Naruto asked and Hinata furrowed her brows. Naruto sighed and shook his head. "Ai brought over ten grand and said it was to pay off Madara's debt, and to hold his apartment for him for the next three years..." Jiraiya said and Naruto smiled sheepishly. "He said it was from you..."

Hinata puffed out her cheeks and sent a dirty look out towards the driveway, where there were very distinct tire tracks. "He rode the motorcycle here. Didn't he?" she asked and Jiraiya chuckled. "Yeah..." "I paid the full twenty five so Madara wouldn't owe anything at all on the mustang, but he denies it anyways." She sighed and looked at the briefcase in her grasp. "How much do you still have?" Naruto asked and Hinata looked at him in confusion.

"She is not going to buy you a fox farm, Naruto. Don't even ask." Jiraiya snapped and Hinata laughed at Naruto's horrified look. "That wasn't even what I meant!" he snapped and Hinata smiled at him. "What I meant is that Madara had to pawn a lot of his things so he could keep the store." Naruto said and Hinata smiled. "That was the only reason Ai got here first. I already got his things. I put twenty in his savings account, and twenty in my own. I have fifty left." She said and Naruto blinked in confusion.

"What did you expect to pay off here with fifty dollars?" Naruto asked and Hinata's lips trembled in amusement. Her eyes were shining brightly with mirth but she was trying not to laugh. Jiraiya on the other hand snorted and shook his head. "She means fifty thousand, moron." He said and realization dawned on the blonde. His head dropped and he gave her an apologetic look.

"It's fine Naruto, I think we all have those days." She said and Naruto mumbled as he made his way back into the house. "I suppose the rest will go towards his hospital bills..." she whispered as she looked at the case in her hand. "Good luck Hinata." Jiraiya said and waved her off. She made her way back to her car and looked back to Jiraiya's home and then it dawned on her why it was so familiar.

This was where she and her father had brought Pein and Konan after bailing them out. She'd had her waist wrapped in heavy bandages, and really shouldn't have been out and about... but she had been determined to help them. She was ecstatic about who they had become, and even back then she didn't think they had been that bad. They had obviously been led down the wrong path by their red haired friend.

Her smile vanished and she frowned.

She hadn't heard his name uttered since she had woken up from her coma, she supposed it was because no one wanted to remember those awful times. She was curious however, what exactly had happened to him. She pulled out her phone and sent Naruto a text. In reply he sent an address. She smiled and entered the address into the gps on her phone. She pulled out of the long driveway and followed the directions. When she arrived at the destination, her heart clenched. This wasn't what she thought it was going to be at all.

A cemetery.

'He's at this address...'

That was the first message, but a second one had arrived soon after and she hadn't read it.

'He overdosed two years ago. Not to speak ill of the dead, but you see why I thought he was trouble?'

A sad smile crossed her lips. "Yeah, I see it Naruto." She whispered. "I was only curious... curious to see what had become of everyone. I suppose some things I just don't wish to know..."

:-:-:-:

When she returned to the hospital, along with the cars she had seen earlier that morning, there were a few more. One was in her favorite spot, but that was ok. It was bad to have a favorite spot in a hospital parking lot. She smiled and made her way to the elevator that led to the hospital lobby. When she made it to the neurology ward, it was relatively quiet except for the nurses moving up and down the hallways.

She made it to Madara's room and the lights were dimmed, she could tell this without even entering the room. She peered into the doorway only to see bodies all over the place. A smile crossed her lips as she looked around the room. Konan and Pein were in one of the hospital chairs that pulled out to a bed. Konan was laying comfortably against Pein, who was sleeping in a sitting position with his back against the wall. Hidan was sleeping in the floor with his back against the chair Sasori was in. Deidara was sleeping like Hidan was, except he was leaned up against the other side of Sasori's chair. Kisame and Obito were sleeping back to back on one of the pull out couches. Sasuke, Aurora, and Tajima were sleeping in chairs scattered about the room.

Itachi was in the room as well, but he was only here to drop off some things for his brother. Itachi stopped on his way out and hugged her softly, then made his way out without disturbing a single soul. The only sounds heard were the beeping of the machines, the light snores of the sleeping people scattered about the room, and the flipping of pages in a book. She glanced across the room to the chair by the window and saw Kakuzu there, reading silently.

He offered her a wave and she stepped around all the sleeping people to get to him. "Sorry about the mess." He whispered, his soft tone full of humor. "its fine, I promise." She whispered back and he offered a small smile. "We did however, save you the best seat in the house." He said and motioned towards the hospital bed where there was just enough space for her to lay comfortably, but it looked like Izuna had been there. She looked to Kakuzu for confirmation of the Izuna theory and he nodded with a chuckle.

She smiled and dusted the flour off of the sheets. That, was exactly how she knew Izuna had been there.

:-:-:-:

The light had begun to return, pulling him out of yet another nightmare. The same nightmare played on repeat. It was of the crash. The worst night of his life. Each time it played it was different, however. Sometimes the truck would swerve to avoid her, sometimes the truck completely decimated the car, sometimes the car caught fire before he could save them, and sometimes it went exactly how it actually had... except no matter what happened, it didn't matter if he had gotten her out of the car or not, the end result was always the same.

She always died. Sometimes she died in the crash, every other time she died in his arms. What kind of hell was this? What had he done that was so terrible to warrant these nightmares? Before the light had started to pull him out of the nightmare, he had managed to pull her from the car but she had died in his arms but not before whispering something to him. He couldn't make it out, but it sounded mean.

All he could place it sounding like was: This should have been you.

However the light had begun flooding straight back through and he felt calm once more. The light had now begun to dim away but he was still content because the nightmares had been run away by the warmth resonating around him. There had been the warmth surrounding him before, but it hadn't been like this... it hadn't been so close and so overpowering. The subtle warmth that had taunted him from all sides had lessened the reality of the nightmares, but it hadn't wiped them out like this warmth had.

This warmth surrounded his entire being and held an ethereal light. He doubted he had ever felt so content in his entire life. The warmth had started resonating from his right side and then had slowly spread over him. He had absolutely no idea what this was, but the warmth was comforting and the scent that came with it was one he knew well. It smelled of a garden blooming in the spring with all sorts of flowers. The two scents he could pick out the clearest were lavender and lilac.

It smelled just like her and this made him genuinely happy. The version of him that his mind's eye saw had appeared once more. The ten year old version of him waved at the version of him at his current age. He stepped forwards and the ground rippled beneath his feet, just as it had done with his younger version. "She smells like my favorite flower!" the younger version chirped and lilacs sprung up from all over the place, followed by lavender and a variety of other flowers.

"You know she's here..." the younger version of him said with a grin and he couldn't help the tremble of his lips. "She's always going to be here." His younger version said and he nodded. "I know..." he whispered. "I know..." he whispered once more as the younger version of him grinned even wider, running his fingers over the flowers around him. Madara looked around at the flowers and touched a particularly pretty white one that had hints of purple in it.

"She knows what we did for her." The younger version said as he picked a flower and smelled it with a small smile. "What do you mean she knows? What does she know?" Madara asked his younger self, whose smile softened. "You know exactly what she knows." He said and tossed the flower up into the air. When the flower landed on the surface of the water before him, he bent down to pick it up. When he stood once more, the flowers were all gone and so had the younger version of himself.

"You were never supposed to know..." he whispered as he fell to his knees. He watched as the lilac melted away in his grasp and rain had begun falling in the dark void around him. The voice of his younger self echoed around him, but the words didn't make the pain go away. "She doesn't care that you saved her."

"But she knows, and she's never going to think of me the same." He whispered, but that warmth returned and this time it lit up his soul as it spread throughout him. He couldn't help but relax once the warmth overcame him once more.

"She's worried about you." His younger self said.

"I know..."

:-:-:-:

Hinata had crawled up next to him and had almost drifted off to sleep when something dripped onto her cheek. She sat up and removed the oxygen mask from Madara's face, only to see that tears were falling from his closed eyes. Her hands began to tremble and tears pricked at the back of her eyes. "Why are you crying?" she whispered and she smoothed the tears away from his cheeks.

"I'm here..." she whispered as she continued to wipe them away. "Please don't cry..." she whispered as her own tears fell from her eyes, a soft smile on her lips as she pressed them to his forehead. "It's going to be ok..." she whispered as she ran her fingers over his cheeks to smooth away any tears. "Everything will be just fine once you come back to us..." she whispered as his tears began to stop.

She placed the oxygen mask back over his mouth and she wiped at her eyes. "You just need to come back to me soon." She whispered as she entwined her fingers with his, being sure not to move his I.V.

Alright! Finally a new update! I know right? I am so dreadfully sorry for the wait, and I am hoping that you will not have to wait so long for updates on the rest. I mean, I did finally graduate from college, so that must be something to squeal about. OMGERD she is out of college and doesn't have a job yet, the potential updates omgerd. Anyways, I am going to try my best to make as many updates come out before I either go back into school for my bachelors, or I try and find a job in the place I hope to be moving at the beginning of next year.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this and I hope you will enjoy the coming chapters as well!