Orange, Spirals and Everything Nice

Twenty-Two: Worth The Wait

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters or the setting of the story. They all exclusively belong to Mr. Masashi Kishimoto in all its rights.

The same massive arena filled with thousands of guests from all over the shinobi world... now felt barren and eerie after the festival had officially ended. Hinata was still standing at the center stage with her flashy kimono, in-between her father and the hidden Cloud village's Raikage.

Somehow, things ended up that way after the heiress told her clan that the proud village leader has something to say to them. Although, Hinata had been talking about the topic during every clan assembly she attended for the past few months, no one really bothered to listen.

When she talked about the same thing with her father in private, Hiashi was just as skeptic as the others, but she really couldn't blame them. Because it was a well-known fact that Hyuuga Hinata isn't capable of something of such grand scale.

And her claim involved a Kage at that.
But, maybe after Gaara's intervention with the show a while ago and this present scenario, started to change the clan members' thoughts about her. Hinata clearly felt the immense hostility coming from both sides of the stage which was occupied by the Hyuugas and the Kumo ninjas separately.

"What a pleasant surprise, Raikage-sama." Hinata's grandfather finally broke the silence when he joined the group on stage. "To what favor do we owe you and your ninjas now?" he added sternly.

"Indeed." the Raikage's loud voice boomed as he answered with the same level of seriousness. "But I am the one who owes your clan a favor." he admitted. Then the leader briefly narrated what happened during Hinata's last mission in Kumo, confirming what she had been telling her clan members for months.

The Hyuugas surprisingly listened to the Raikage without any complains. It was a relief but in a strange way, because Hinata wasn't expecting things to go that smoothly. She was almost ready to stop anyone from suddenly initiating a duel in the middle of the story but no violence occurred at all.

"Hinata told me that she wasn't the one who deserves the apology from me nor any of the Kumo ninjas who started any of this." the dark-skinned leader continued. "That I should be apologizing in behalf of my village to everyone who lost a family member... to the Hyuuga clan as a whole."

Then without wasting another moment, the boisterous and proud village leader lowered his head to a ninety-degree bow in front of the most prestigious clan in Konoha. "Please, accept my late apology." the Raikage sincerely said as the rest of the Kumo ninjas knelt down before their leader in support of his gesture.

Hinata held her breath as she discreetly read her father's expressions. She could hear gasps from the female Hyuugas and a few murmurs from the male members but her heart was pounding so loud and fast to even care about it. She was getting more scared as time passes by without seeing any changes in her father's face.

"Hiashi." the blind old leader prompted his son as if he was giving the clan leader a quiet order.

"Thank you, Raikage-sama." Hiashi finally spoke as the Kumo ninjas stood up after their leader lifted up his head to face them once more. "A long time has already passed since our feud started and we have lost so much along the way. But just like how the last great war has given us another chance to start over, we might as well take this opportunity to strengthen the peace we have achieved so desperately."

Everyone was too overwhelmed by the events that they could only watch in awe as the stoic Hyuuga leader started to walk towards the formidable village head and offered his hand as a small smile formed on his lips. The Raikage was a bit taken aback by the gesture but he nonetheless accepted it and both shook hands as a formal sign of acceptance.
It was about time to put the painful past behind them now and start moving forward together.