Reborn as Sakura and Hinata: Lost in the Wind (Part 2)

In Safe Arms

I was back, back where I belonged, and it felt great.

That immense sense of loss that had been weighing me down for so long, that aimless hopelessness that made everything feel pointless and like I wasn't worth anything was being pushed out and replaced by self-worth again. Here I mattered, I could actually do things to help people who I cared about and who cared about me. I had a job, a really cool job, a really important job, and I had skills that made me special and were useful.

Maybe I had been too greedy in my past life, too self-important. I had wanted to make myself different so badly. I wanted to make myself significant, make a name for myself, but how likely was that to actually happen? I guess it was impossible now.

But I had a name here, Sakura Haruno, and everyone knew it. I wasn't Katie Armstrong anymore, doomed college dropout without friends and with parents who didn't love her. Was it crazy for me to have given up that life for this one? Had I made the wrong choice somehow? There was still this feeling of discomfort deep within my chest, like something was wrong, that something was wrong with me, but I guess that should have been expected given that I'd literally killed myself.

I had abandoned Alma, Aaron, and Beth's family... right after they had just lost Beth too, but I also lost Beth, and that wasn't a reality I was willing to accept. Even then, I still missed them, even if Aaron made me feel like I was less than worthless at times.

But hearing the sound of the water running in the bathroom as Hina started a bath, and knowing that she was real and with me still... it was slowly shoving out that feeling of discomfort with wholeness.

If only I could breathe.

That wasn't to say that holding Kiba like this didn't also help in making that pesky feeling of uselessness go away, the fact that so many people besides Hinata were so devastated by what happened made me feel both really sad that I put them through that pain and happy that I meant that much to them, but, well, he was heavy, and I was small.

I stretched my arms behind my head, attempting to get some of the stiffness that locked my joints up released. Satisfied with what little I could do, I buried my hands into the head of hair that was currently on my chest. He made a nearly silent hum at that, tilting his head a little more into my hands, and I couldn't help but smile, he was too cute sometimes.

The door to the room opened, Sasuke stepping in with a yawn and stretching, "Morning."

"You walked in pretty confidently." I noted, "Playing a dangerous game."

He blinked groggily, frowning, "Like anything unsightly would be going on at this time in the morning."

"You never know." I replied airily, "You seem so sure we're a threesome after all."

He scoffed, gesturing to the bed, "Like that moron has the energy to do anything right now." he shut the door behind him, "How are you feeling, by the way?"

"I can't breathe." I grumbled, trying to shift Kiba to prove my point.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "You chose that position."

"Because the other ways made me too warm!" I defended, "This was the best option!"

Kiba, despite seeming to in the hospital, didn't actually end up sleeping until we had returned to his and Hina's house, and, even then, was way too reluctant to, like I was going to spontaneously die or something... well, I guess that fear wasn't too unfounded now. But, regardless, he needed to sleep, and the only way he'd calm down enough to do so is if I was in his arms somehow. The 'best option' that I had come up with so that I didn't die of heat stroke was to have his head resting on my chest, most likely so he could listen to make sure my heart was still beating. Akamaru, in a similar fashion, had his head propped on Kiba's side as if to monitor him, and, while I enjoyed having a dog at arms reach, it didn't do anything to help the weight against me or the warmth.