Changes

Chapter 30: Recovery

"Yoko, sweetie, you're gonna have to stay with Grandpa and Auntie Hanabi, ok?"

Hinata asked as she crouched down to the little girl's level and held one hand with hers. Yoko was understandably upset at hearing that her adoptive father lost his arm during his fight and as result wanted to stay as close to him as possible, but Naruto had to go through a recovery period before he would be in top physical form. Hinata was tasked with watching over him, as if she'd let anyone else do it, until Naruto got completely used to his new arm.

The whole Pain invasion took a massive toll on the village, but it took a bigger toll on the small Uzumaki family. Yoko and Hinata were revived from the dead by Naruto's sheer tenacity in not letting his family be cut down so easily. Yoko didn't seem to be too affected by her sudden death, but there were still very brief moments where she seemed to be thinking heavily about something on her mind, and no one could blame her. She had been killed, met her real family in the afterlife, and was brought back to life by her adoptive father. Hinata was less affected by the whole being killed and being brought back to life, but what really affected her was the fact that she, no matter how brief, left Naruto behind to be alone once again.

Everything he did in the fight was a testament to how badly it affected him. The look in his eyes that she saw when he was viewing the afterlife would undoubtedly keep her up at night until she managed to suppress it deep within her mind. The look in Naruto's eyes was a look of defeat, and hate. They say that the eyes are the window to the soul, and Hinata wholeheartedly agreed. She easily saw into his soul plenty of times, saw the warmth and love that he held for her and Yoko. For his team and friends. But what she saw when Naruto had the rinnegan, was suffocating agony and hate. He had been on the brink of self-destruction and would have probably turned against everything he had fought for if he didn't manage to bring them back, and it terrified her.

Hinata knew Naruto was strong, strong enough to possibly even rival the sannin, but she didn't know what his peak was because Naruto has never pulled out everything he had just to win. It scared her knowing that if not for her and Yoko being brought back to life by Naruto, the blonde might've gone down a dark path in which there would be no return.

"Did I do something wrong?"

Hinata blinked a couple of times before she was brought out of her thoughts. "No sweetie, I just need to focus on helping Naruto-kun. He's very tired and not back to full strength yet, so I have to help him get back to normal."

Yoko sullenly nodded her head before she gave Hinata a tight hug. "Make daddy strong again mommy. He's been a bit sad. I saw him just staring at the wall for a while."

'So she's noticed too? Oh Yoko, what a terrible time for you to become so observant. I'm truly sorry you have to go through this.' Hinata tightened her embrace on the small girl before she nodded her head and spoke softly into the little girl's ear. "I will Yoko. After daddy's better, why don't we go on a vacation?"

That little question brought back the usual excitement and joy that Hinata always saw behind the little girl's eyes. After Hanabi came to pick up the little girl, Hinata made her way back toward the hastily built medical tent that Naruto was being kept in. When she arrived, she peeked through the noren instead of just entering to see what Naruto was doing. Just as Yoko had said, Naruto was staring at his pale white prosthetic.

"Naruto-kun?" She saw Naruto turn to face her while simultaneously putting his arm back down on the bed. Hinata internally sighed a bit before she walked over to his bed and sat down.

"Hey Hinata-chan," Naruto said before giving her a soft and warm smile.

She returned the smile before she placed her hand on top of his pale white arm. "How are you feeling?"