Reborn as Sakura and Hinata: Lost in the Wind

A Return to Normalcy

I strolled through town carefreely, arm in arm with Hinata. I actually felt pretty good. She seemed much less stressed, we both were looking cute in the outfits we had put together, and I had made some progress in my seal studies.

"Thank you so much again for letting us stay with you," Hina said genuinely. I gave her a playful little tug.

"Hey, zom-bae, I told you to stop thanking me!" she chuckled a little.

"So is that nickname sticking?" I pointedly gestured at her completely black and grey outfit.

"Yeah it is!" I decided to be a little more serious, "but really, it's no big deal, I'm worried about you actually. Having you stay in my house isn't a problem."

"Well, thank-" she gave a small laugh, "I appreciate it."

"Yeah, I mean, my mom wasn't too happy that Neji had stayed in my room, but that's basically the extent of my problems."

"I know it wasn't ideal or anything..."

"Girl, it wasn't even close to ideal."

We arrived at the tea shop, and Hinata paused outside the door.

"Ino and Tenten are gonna ask questions," she explained nervously. I gave her a supportive pat on the head.

"I'll help you explain. You've done nothing wrong. You'll be fine." She nodded in response, and we walked in.

Tenten and Ino had already gotten us a table. They waved excitedly at us as we sat down.

"Look what I see," Ino cooed, "a couple of cuties!"

"You both look great!" Tenten agreed.

"You're wearing the bracelet." Hina smiled and pointed at Ino's wrist to a thin silver bracelet.

"Yeah, you were right, I love this one!" Ino's eyes softened as she leaned forward, "how are you, Hina?"

"I..." she looked down at her hands, "I'm sorry about the other day... I"

"She's no longer a Hyuga," I stated bluntly. Both Ino and Tenten stared at us in shock.

"What!" Tenten looked to Hinata, "How? Why? What happened?"

"Neji isn't either. Long story short Hiashi's a dick and hurt Neji badly enough for Hina to stand up for him and leave."

"Is Neji okay?" Tenten insisted.

"Yes," Hina soothed, "he's fine. We'll be buying an apartment soon, but, for now, we are living with Sakura."

"Well that's a relief." Tenten relaxed.

"That... is really terrible," Ino placed her hand over Hina's, "I'm really sorry."

"Hey, my house isn't that bad!" I cried indignantly.

"No, not that!" Ino shushed.

"What happened happened." Hina shrugged, "All that matters is that we're both relatively safe."

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Ino insisted.

"Yeah, we have plans and all that. And the clan probably won't do too much to track us down in the middle of the village." she sighed, "They probably don't see us as a threat. As far as they're concerned, Neji's just a branch member, and I'm a failure."

"You're not a failure though," Tenten said indignantly.

"I know, I know, that's just how they see me, and it's probably best they keep it that way." She sighed deeply, "can we move on?"