Reborn as Sakura and Hinata: Lost in the Wind

Picking up the Pieces

The sun had barely begun to rise as I woke up inexplicably. I unfurled myself from the fetal position and sat up from my spot on the floor. I glanced over at Neji, who, at the moment, seemed to be just coming out of sleep as well. I stretched as I listened carefully to my surroundings, wondering what woke me up. I was surprisingly alert, but that might have been due to the adrenaline that had refused to leave my veins for around a day now.

Sakura's door suddenly opened.

I stared in horror as the door swung to reveal... a very disheveled Sakura. She looked to the side to turn on the lights when a look of confusion crossed over her. Her eyes moved to meet mine and she gazed at me for a couple of seconds. Her eyes then moved to Neji. Her expression was unreadable. I had no idea where to start.

"Hi," she turned back to me with an indecipherable tone, "what's going on here?"

"I..." I took a deep breath as tears threatened again, Sakura's demeanor instantly changed as she closed the door. Neji sat up quickly at the sound of the door slamming.

"What happened?" She asked with uncharacteristic urgency.

"I- I might have excommunicated myself from my family..." I breathed out, "and dragged Neji with me."

"D-don't..." Neji began to protest, "that's not how it happened." He awkwardly sat up on the edge of the bed, clearly embarrassed by the situation.

"What. Happened." Sakura insisted.

"I got into a little verbal spat with my father," I answered bitterly, "Neji tried to defend me and you can guess how well that went down." I sniffed as I tried to keep control.

"I'm as much to blame as she is." Neji pressed.

"No, you're not," I hissed, "Hiashi activated his caged bird seal, and I lost my temper and disowned him as my father."

"Wait," Sakura looked back at me seriously, "he used the caged bird seal? How did you treat him?"

"Probably not in the best way." I admitted, no point in trying to act all knowledgeable, "stayed with him as much as I could, food, water, pain meds."

"Hina!" she almost shouted, "You should have taken him to a hospital!"
"I didn't know if that was a safe choice!" I shot back indignantly, "I didn't know if my family was going to look there or not!"

"He's lost brain cells!"

"Wh-what!?"

"Yeah! That's what the seal does! That's why it hurts!" she then pointed a finger at Neji, "He could be getting stupider as we speak!"

"Hey," Neji frowned at that comment.

"What are we going to do!?" I finally started breaking down, Sakura's angry mood dissipating quickly, "My dad is going to kill me!"

"He won't, but your grandfather might." Sakura replied grimly. She put a hand to her chin in thought, "as of right now, I want you to get me some sealing supplies so I can begin work on figuring out the caged bird seal."

"Wait," Neji cut in, "You mean you are actually going to try and get rid of it?"
"I mean, yeah," she shrugged, "It's not going to happen any time soon but I need to start now so I can begin working on it."

"I... wow," Neji looked over at me, "You both really are something you know that?" I smiled weakly.

"I suppose you could say that." I looked up at my friend, "Do you mind if I borrow some of your clothes? I've been wearing these since yesterday, and I want to make myself less recognizable."