NaruHina: Technical Difficulties

Chapter Forty: Kanai's Village

"Yoshino!," Kanai threw her arms around Shikamaru's mother, "You're okay!"
"I went to the store and some man told us to get to the safe houses," she laughed, "I got sucked up in the wave of people and ended up stuck there for a while."
"Where's Shikamaru?," she questioned.
Kanai pulled back from her and pointed to the living room, "Shh!," she smiled.
Yoshino looked over and saw him laying on the floor with the phone in his hand, asleep like his lazy personality usually had people predict.
"He was waiting for you to call," Otazowa looped her arm around Mrs. Nara's.
She smiled, "He's sweet isn't he?"
"Yep," Kanai turned towards the kitchen, pulling her guardian with her, "So I want to ask you something."
"What is it?," she moved her feet as Kanai urged her.
The orange haired girl hopped onto the counter, "The people who came here, were here for me. Two of them are dead and one is in a holding cell in Tsunade's tower. But the woman, before she died, told me that Nana-sensei was still alive."
"But you said-"
"I know, which is why I want to go back to my old village," she played with her hair, "To see if she's really alive."
"Will you be alright?"
"I will be, but I want Shika to go. I want him to meet the woman who raised me, although I'm afraid they'll hurt him. He's still not recovered, no matter what the doctors say. I know he still needs to rest," she slid off the counter and grabbed her hand, "I want you to make the decision."
"Shouldn't it be up to him?," Yoshino pointed to her son.
She shook her head, "No matter his condition Shika would go with me. It's the way you raised him."
She smiled, "Thank you and if your mind is set on it, I'll think about it."
Kanai nodded and started towards the living room, but Yoshino caught her wrist, pulling her in for a hug, "I wouldn't mind having you as a daughter-in-law," her voice was low and meaningful.
In that instance, Kanai hoped that Shikamaru would be able to go with her. She'd get to show him where she came from, sharing another part of herself.

"Naruto!," Sakura called from outside, "Hey are you and Hinata there?!," she pounded on the door.
Hinata raised her upper body off the mattress and Naruto's arm pushed her chest back to the bed.
"Just let her go," he whispered.
"But she might need something," Hinata furrowed her brow.
Naruto noticed how she felt about leaving Sakura outside and let her get up. Hinata put her feet on the floor and grabbed her knee-length robe from the dresser.
Naruto's wife wrapped her garment around her body and rushed to the front door.
"Naruto!," Sakura hit the door a couple more times.
Hinata got to the fixture and pulled it back, "Morning Sakura."
"Morning Hina-chan," Sakura teased.
Hinata smiled and stepped aside, "Naruto's still sleeping, but you can still come in and wait for him."
"Well, actually I wanted to talk to you," Sakura came in and took her shoes off, "Nice robe by the way."
"Oh," she blushed, "That's a story for a different day. Tell me what's going on."
"Alright," Sakura stepped up and made her way to the Uzumaki's kitchen. The girls sat down at the table and Hinata made sure to keep her legs closed.
"Um, I was just wondering," Sakura laid her elbows on the table, "When did you and Naruto first kiss."
"Oh," Hinata thought back, "It was probably....well, he kissed me, then we slowly became what we are now."
"Really?," the cherry blossom became discouraged, "It was that early?"
"Sakura," Hinata moved closer and laid her hand over her friend's, "Don't worry over these trivial things. When Sasuke feels comfortable kissing you he will."
"But," she whined, "It's so unfair that, even Ino has kissed Choji, but Sasuke won't even mention it."
"I thought I would never- wait...Ino and Choji?," Hinata got an image of her two friends together, which it didn't upset her, it was just a sweet mental picture.
"Yeah, you didn't know that?," Sakura leaned in, "It's been going on for a while."
"Seriously?," Hinata raised an eyebrow, "Nevermind, what I meant was, it'll happen just give it time."
"Time takes too long," she pouted, "But I guess I have no other choice," she sighed, "So, what happened with you?"
Hinata blushed, "Um....last night, Naruto and I decided to start our family," she brought her hand back to her lap.
"Whoa. So you two took it to a whole other level, huh?," she smiled, "Thanks great Hinata. I'm happy for you. Plus who knows, maybe our kids will grow up and become friends like we did."
"Maybe," Hinata grinned back.
"Sakura," Naruto came down the hallway with a pair of sleeping pants on, "What Sasuke is afraid of, is us leaving him behind," the blonde stepped up behind his wife, "Just make sure he knows you won't."
"Naruto," the pinkette stood up, "Do you want a boy or girl?"
He grinned, "Both."
Hinata looked up at him and smiled. Internally she was more than overjoyed that he decided he wanted the same as her.
"You want more than one kid?," Sakura raised her eyebrow, "How would you be able to stand it?!," she laughed.
"I wouldn't have to stand it," he rested his hand on Hinata's shoulder, "If and when I have kids, I'd love them and probably never leave them alone."
"Naruto," Hinata grabbed his hand after noticing the mix of anger and sadness in his voice.
He relaxed a little and remembered that he was talking to his friend, "I guess I just don't want them to be treated like I was."
"They won't be," Sakura smiled, "I can assure that," the pink haired Kunoichi made her way to the door. She put her shoes on, pulled it open, then turned back to face Naruto, "I'm sorry....for what we did to you," she waited a few seconds and got no response, "For how we treated you. Hinata was really the only one who let you dream," she tried to fully laugh, but her tears wouldn't let it happen.
"Sakura," he looked to the floor, "Don't worry about it. In the end, we corrected ourselves."