A Different Kind Of Journey 7 Arc 1: Small Reunions Part 1

I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto Does.

Author's note: Hey there Readers! I'm back with a new chapter! This one is bit short. Hope you guys enjoy.

Also regarding about the previous chapter, I decided to add a few additions and few edits to improve the chapter.

Alpha Reader: Vapor0907 and fiddlestickz

Arc 1: Small Reunions

Himawari felt dizzy and tired. She was disoriented, and not sure what to do right now. When she woke up in a random wagon, she wondered where she was until the psychological effect of waking up in a strange place took over. Nevertheless, she attempted to escape.

She now had found herself in a place that she didn't recognize, wandering along streets that she had not seen before.

"Where am I?" She muttered and kept asking herself. Where was she exactly? She did not know what to do right now or what to think right now. She was lost, like a little girl.

She was walking for a long time and didn't knew where to go to the point that she had took herself into different areas of this big village. Until she stumbled upon an area which looked to be a like a community.

There was a big house that she saw, and she became bewildered. Wondering, what kind of place this is? It was beautiful and yet so familiar, but so different.

She noticed a big, shady tree at a playground nearby. She stumbled to it, barely managing to walk anymore. She felt ever dizzier, and her vision got blurrier. She sighed in relief before collapsing to the ground, unconscious. The leaves from the tree twirled in the air as they fell and coated the girl's hair, that already had a small sunflower tucked in it. A few other leaves fell from one of the branches..

For Himawari, She did not know that she was in for a surprise. The big house that was near the playground and tree had a sign on it which read to be none other than the famous Hyuuga Compound.

(MEANWHILE)
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Neji groaned. He still couldn't believe it.

Apparently, he was going to be involved in one of his team's 'youthful' team-building games again. All organized by, of course, Might Guy, their very eccentric sensei who practically worships speed and stamina.

He didn't want to do it. Sure, he had partic.i.p.ated in previous games, but how long are they going to continue this? Is this going to be annual thing from now on? He hoped not.

Sometimes this team was overwhelming to Neji, but at the time he joined, he didn't have much of a choice. There simply weren't that many options available at the time. Team Guy formed a year before the other main Konoha teams came into existence.

Team Guy specialize in close-quarters combat, making it much more physically demanding to train than other teams. However, because of this, each of the members are highly skilled in taijutsu or some form similar.

Their team was regarded as one of the most respected teams in the village, earning their t.i.tle with each consecutive successful mission.

Neji was lucky to have such dedicated teammates, such as Rock Lee, who was a legendary user of taijutsu, and Tenten, an incredible weapons expert.

He was incredibly proud of his team. Each member has worked hard to earn their spot.

All that being said, their enthusiasm — specifically two particular people's enthusiasm — could be a bit... excessive. These constant activities and the over-the-top trainings games, like the one going on right now, seemed extremely unnecessary to Neji.

For this game, Guy-sensei a.s.sembled a large flock of chickens, which were to be released in the training field. They had to chase the feathered demons, and return them to their cages in a matter of minutes.

Lee determinedly decided that if he couldn't do it, which he undoubtably can, he'd run 3000 laps around the village; which sounds ridiculous, but then again, this is Lee we're talking about here. This isn't the most outrageous challenge he has issued on himself.

The whole game, Neji thought, was an absolutely absurd idea, but he didn't have much of a choice other to trust his sensei.

Even though he would much prefer to be home, tending to his garden right now, he was committed to his team, and would remain loyal to it. Neji has never missed a team meeting, and wasn't planning on breaking his record.

A feat Lee hasn't even managed to do. But, to Lee's credit, being in the hospital was a pretty reasonable reason to miss out on training.

Neji sighed quietly to himself. This was going to be a long day, wasn't it? Maybe he should take his bushy-browed teammate's advice.

"Be youthful and enjoy every single activity to the fullest!" Lee had told him.

A very 'youthful' piece of advice, indeed.

After hours of catching chickens, Neji collapsed onto the nearby bench, trying to catch his breath. He looked as if someone had dumped three buckets of water on him. Much to Neji's embarra.s.sment, his teammates were not nearly as sweaty as he was, nearly dry in fact.

After two grueling hours of catching chickens, Neji found himself feeling defeated and mildly embarra.s.sed. He had hoped he would never meet an animal as evil as Tora, but those demonic clucking beasts came in as a close second to that devil cat.

Some of the d.a.m.n birds even tried surprising him by pulling disgusting pranks on him. Like throwing their own eggs at him, or purposely leading him into a mud puddle, and laughed when he fell on his face. He wanted nothing more than a hot shower.

The brown-haired Hyuuga looked up, watching the rest of his team still trying to round up the feathered demons. Of course, Rock Lee was in great shape, and didn't look tired at all. Tenten remained calm and relaxed as she continued to set up traps, which lured the chickens back into the cage.

Neji's eyes darted over to his sensei who, like him, was watching the whole training scene before them unfold. Their sensei was trying to motivate them by yelling out inspiring quotes, which mostly included the words "Faster" and "Speed".

The brown-haired Hyuuga looked down at the ground. He just couldn't do it anymore. He wasn't use to this kind of training. All he needed right now was a drink of water, but Lee had knocked it over by accident.

"d.a.m.n it, Lee." He muttered quietly to himself. He really liked his team, but sometimes his teammate's lack of awareness really got on his nerves.

(Interview)

" For those people, who don't know me yet, I'm Neji Hyuuga, Neji for short and I wasn't expecting my life to be like this. Yet, I'm still here which is weird."

-Neji

Just as Neji began to close his eyes, he noticed the silhouette of a girl walking towards him. A few seconds later, the girl's familiar voice interrupted his rest.

The brown-haired Hyuuga looked up and saw a girl, maybe in her teens. She had short black hair, which framed her face in an asymmetrical bob with the front bangs reaching just below her chin.

"Hanabi?" Neji muttered groggily. She looked blurry and unrecognizable to him due to his exhaustion, but he was able to recognize her voice.

When his vision began to clear, he was able to see his younger cousin more clearly. She wore a slightly modified version of her usual outfit. Wearing a tan vest-jacket, and white wristbands on both hands. She wore shin.o.bi sandals with white bands tied around her ankles.

"What's up, cousin?" The young girl greeted him with a pleasant smile.

Neji rubbed his forehead. Shouldn't she be training right now? Or have better something to do, rather than seeing him in this pitiful state? He didn't want her to see him like this. Just as he was about to ask her what she was doing here, she beat him to it.

"I figured that I should bring you something to drink," Hanabi explained. She took out two water bottles from the plastic bag she was carrying.

She a.s.sumed her older cousin would be breaking his back trying to catch chickens today. Hanabi handed a full water bottle over to her big cousin, who can barely even reach the bottle with his hands.

As soon as Neji grabbed the bottle of water, he hastily opened the bottle and put it in his mouth. He chugged the bottle without any reserves, very unusual from how he normally drinks. But now, he didn't care about other people looking at him, he was just so d.a.m.n thirsty.

Hanabi rolled her eyes at her cousin. She wasn't sure what to do after her training, so she had come to check up on him, and see if he was doing well. Upon looking at him, it was obvious he was not well.

"You know what, Neji? I think you owe me some ice cream after this." She spoke with a smirk.

"Why should I have to pay? You're the only one who wants ice cream," Neji sighed.

"Well, I did buy you some water. It's only fair that you buy me something in return," Hanabi said innocently. Neji shook his head, like he couldn't believe he was actually agreeing to this.

"Alright, fine. I'll buy you some after training is over." He gave in.

"Hooray!" Hanabi cheered victoriously, "Thanks a bunch, Neji!"

When the training-game ended after what felt like weeks, Neji was grateful. He was finally allowed the freedom of going home.

Of course, not without buying some ice cream for his manipulative little cousin. But, truth to be told, this was the first time Hanabi invited him to go get ice cream with her, so he was a little more than willing to give in to her demands so he could spend a little time with her.

(Interview)

" h.e.l.lo there! My name is Hanabi Hyuuga and I'm Neji's cousin. My life right now is perfect since I got a nice cousin, who'll treat me for some nice cold ice cream" (Chuckles and gives a peace sign)

-Hanabi

"You've got to be kidding me." (Sighs and Shakes his head)

-Neji

(MEANWHILE)

Boruto scratched the back of his head, staring at the wagon disbelievingly. How the heck did his little sister wake up and escape? She was obviously unconscious just a few minutes earlier. The whole thing was confusing, and they didn't have time to deal with this.

Sarada had deduced that the young Uzumaki girl had somehow woken up disorientated and confused. Scared and alone, she escaped, and most likely was lost. Her theory made the most sense to everyone.

Inari and Tazuna were also worried. They didn't know who she was, but they decided to stay and a.s.sist them on finding the missing girl.

"Boruto, can you create shadow clones? Have your Chakra levels recovered?" Sarada asked. To which Boruto nodded.

"Yeah, I think so," Forming a familiar handsign, three copies of himself appeared in front of them moments later via a puff of smoke.

The blonde instructed the clones to search for Himawari in the vast village. The clones nodded, and they headed off in every direction.

For Boruto and Sarada, they proceeded to search for the missing girl by foot. Sarada used her Sharingan to track her down as soon as possible. The village was a big place. It would not be easy to find Himawari

(DISCOVERY)

"Yum! I really missed eating ice cream!" Hanabi commented whilst turning the cone around, looking for the best bite to take.

She's usually stuck in the house or at training grounds all day, and was sick of it. Some days she skipped cla.s.ses just to have a moment of fun like this.

After buying the ice cream at the local convenience store, the two Hyuugas headed for the local park which wasn't too far away.

While strolling around the park near the Hyuuga compound, the two decided to spend the time talking and eating.

"So, how's training so far?" Neji asked. Hanabi was taking special training lessons with her father, Hiashi.

"Same old stuff," She simply said with a shrug. Her father loved to follow tradition.

He was a very strict person, who was brought up from a strict upbringing, whose father was also raised strictly, and so on. It was a generational tradition of the Hyuuga clan.

Honestly, Hanabi was becoming exhausted of the traditional upbringing in their family. She was always forced to act as a different person around her family, and she can only truly be herself with her friends or with Neji.

"Well, I guess he won't be changing any time soon." He casually commented as licked his ice cream. There was very little chance Hiashi would ever change anything, especially anything regarding his personality.

He still remembered how the very strict upbringing had affected his elder cousin, instead of motivating her, it only served to degrade her confidence. Neji and Hanabi were witnesses.

Neji expression fell at the memory. He still blamed himself for being ignorant and careless towards Hinata when they were still kids.

Despite their controversial family issues, he was given an opportunity to establish a relationship with his older cousin when they were younger, but he didn't take it. Thanks to a certain blonde named 'Naruto', he realized his error. But no matter how much he wanted to, he can't go back in time and change his past behavior.

Meanwhile, Hanabi had noticed her cousin's troubled expression.

"Hey, what's wrong?" The brown-haired Hyuuga just kept silent.

"Is it about my big sister?" Hanabi hesitantly asked.

She had already come to that conclusion before asking, but had difficulting forcing the words out. Neji could only nod shamefully.

The short black-haired girl sighed, "I know what it feels like, I stopped believing in her. It's my fault, too."

There was once a time when both siblings were best friends. Hanabi had looked up to her, and was inspired by her.

However, things began to change when their mother died. As time pa.s.sed, and both girls had to face the harsh reality of life, their relationship began to dwindle away piece by piece.

The pressure of becoming heiress took a toll on Hinata, affecting her confidence greatly. At the time, Hanabi has thought her sister was unfit for the role. She had thought she was too weak to lead.

Hanabi turned her head down, she was wrong. Now, she was just trying to make it up to her older sister. She regretted not being there for her during the difficult times they suffered through.

She then looked back up, and took a deep breath.

"If we could just go back, and change how we acted. Things would be so different. Who knows, she could've been right here enjoying ice cream with us," The brown-haired Hyuuga said, speaking his thoughts aloud.

Hanabi turned to her big cousin, "Well, I guess you're right, but we can't control time. We just have to deal with the outcome."

"If we can't, then we just have to make it up to her." Neji suggested with a smile. He paused before he spoke again, turning serious.

"If I had the chance to tell her now, I would tell her that I would protect her till the end," He said determinedly.

"Even if it costed me my life." He added solemnly, creating suspense in the air. Hanabi gave her big cousin a surprised, amused look.

"Are you sure of what you are saying?" She asked, to which the latter nodded.

Hanabi stared at him, wondering why he was so determined to protect his older cousin. Was this his way of making it up to her?

"Well, if you say so," Hanabi said with shrug, "I just want to fix our relationship. Maybe we can be as close as we were when we were younger, or have some semblance of what we used to have, anyway. I want to help Hinata get back on top."

She had resolved in her mind to show to her big sister how sorry she was, and that she was willing to help her for the rest of her life.

A serene quietness took over them yet again. Both in deep thoughts before Neji broke the silence.

"Speaking of Hinata, how is she?

"Well, I'm not really sure. All I know is she has been very busy lately. I think she's really focusing on her own team and stuff." Hanabi explained. Due to both sisters' training, they didn't have a lot of time to spend together to catch up on each other's lives.

"If I can recall, I think she went out this morning to the training grounds. She said she wanted to work on a jutsu that she's developing." She added.

Hinata was developing a jutsu? What kind? How would it work? Why hadn't she come to him for help?

Neji was a little bit shocked to hear that statement. Hinata would always come up to him for help, mostly regarding on the new Techniques being developed and He would really help her on that. He also felt sadness growing inside of him.

"Well, only one way to find out." Hanab simply said as she licked her ice cream.

They simply just had to ask her themselves if they wanted to know the reason.

For the remainder of their time in the park they sat in comfortable silence. Neither said a word, they merely kept each other's company. They enjoyed the soft breeze in the air, and the relaxing atmosphere.

When it was finally time to leave, the two took a shortcut located in the park. Luckily for them, it was Friday, so they didn't have to do anything other than relax and enjoy the rest of their day.

(Interview)

"We both wanted to fix that family connection between us and my big sister. We were sick of this family feud and we wanted to change things for the better."

-Hanabi

As they headed home, they stumbled upon a certain small field near the compound, which had a playground area, and a large tree. It was where they used to play when they were kids.

"Hey, I remember this place!" Hanabi cheered exicitedly.

She immediately ran over to the swing set. After taking a seat, she started pumping her legs back and forth, each time going up higher and higher. She had forgotten how much fun swinging was. Hanabi laughed. Feeling like a kid again felt wonderful, so she was going to enjoy this moment for as long as she could.

"Hey, Neji! Wanna play?" Hanabi jokingly asked.

When he didn't respond, Hanabi gave him a confused look. The brown-haired Hyuuga was distracted by something else.

Hanabi looked in the direction he was staring in, and saw what appeared to be a girl laying on the ground near the tree. Shocked by the sight, the Hyuuga girl's eyes widened, and she rushed towards the unconscious girl.

Neji followed his cousin close behind. When they got there, Hanabi quickly checked to see if she was okay. She confirmed she was completely unconscious, but sustained injuries, in the form of small cuts and bruises.

Neji slid to his knees and gently picked up the girl's upper body into his arms. She was definitely unconscious and seemingly having pa.s.sed out exactly under the tree. His fingers brushing her lavender-colored hair out of her face, he and Hanabi examined her face further. She had notable two whisker marks on each cheek, but overall her face was pretty cute. Her cheeks were puffed a little as she breathed slowly. Hanabi crouched down next to him and pulled out a handkerchief, wiping the filth off the girl's face with it. She examined the body of the girl and noticed the many bruises and cuts on her arms and legs.

"Should we take her to the hospital?" Neji asked.

"Yeah, definitely!." Hanabi said in agreement. These was a serious matter. They weren't medical professionals but based from what they are seeing right now, they needed to take mystery girl to the hospital.

Neji carried the unconscious girl slowly on his back as to not to injure her further, and the two headed to their destination.

Hanabi couldn't help but stare at the girl. She looked eerily familiar, and wondered if they met before. Surprised, Neji agreed, it felt like he had known this girl for a long time, despite having just seen her.

(Interview)

"When we stumbled upon this injured girl, there was this strange feeling of concern and worry that overtook us.

Neji

"It's like somehow we've met this girl before, even though, it was the first time that we saw her lying under that lone tree.

-Hanabi

(MEANWHILE)

What was expected to be an uneventful day, turned into an absolute nightmare for Boruto and Sarada. They've searched high and low for Himawari, who had vanished from the wagon they had left her in.

The two were deeply worried. Sarada, while not in any way related to Himawari, cared for the younger girl like a sister. However, her worries could not come anywhere near to what Boruto was feeling as Himawari's older brother.

It has been almost an hour. The two have broken into a sweat, and occasionally tears, many times during their search. In fact, the blonde at times thought he would never find his younger sister in the enormous village. But he stayed determined. He would not give up, no matter what happened, until he found her.

Sarada, on the other hand, tried to reason out what may have happened to the young Uzumaki girl. There were many potential answers, but she had limited herself to the two most plausible ones. Deciding to share her thoughts, she turned to face the blonde.

"Boruto," she called. The Uzumaki shot her a look full of stress. Focus, concentration, and thinly veiled anxiousness were present across his features.

"What is it, Saradchan?" He asked.

On the street they were searching on, it was becoming more and more crowded the longer they stood. It was becoming difficult to move. It wasn't long before they were surrounded by a sea of people.

"I think I know where Himawari is," Sarada explained loudly, trying to talk over the crowd, but was suddenly cut off by the arrival of Imari and Tazuna.

"Bolt-san! Saradsan!" Inari exclaimed, as he and his grandfather arrived at the scene.

"Have you found your little sister yet?" Tazuna asked the blonde, to which Boruto only sadly shook his head.

"No, sir... we're still searching for her," he said, exhaustion present in his voice.

"I'm very sorry. I just parked the wagon and horse at the right place for a while," Tazuna sighed.

"Since the appointment starts later in the afternoon, we can still help you fellas on the search for your sister," Tazuna explained.

Speechless, Boruto could only nod. He quickly snapped to reality, and straightened up with a serious expression.

"Thank you, sir," he sincerely thanked the old man.

"Don't worry! We'll help find your sister!" Inari added cheerfully. The young boy was ready for another adventure, fueled by the two bowls of ramen he had eaten not too long ago.

Sarada decided it was time to finish what she was saying to the blonde, before he became distracted.

"Boruto," she called again, gaining his attention.

"There are two possible places Himawari could be right now," Sarada informed everyone before continuing.

"Since she was very disoriented, it is very likely she collapsed, which could've been anywhere, but—".

"It's likely someone took her," Boruto finished. He knew how his Uchiha teammate's mind worked and theorized. He put his full trust in her.

"...or maybe someone with a good heart took her to the hospital," Tazuna added, "I'm not sure, but it's just my belief that there are good people out there who'd do the right thing."

Boruto and Sarada glanced over at each other, then returned their gaze to the old man. After a moment, the two of them nodded in agreement.

"You might be right, sir. We need to get to the hospital as fast as possible," Boruto said.

The group of four proceeded to one of the major hospitals of the village they had spotted several hours ago,

'Konoha General Hospital'.

"Your taking advice from this old geezer?" Inari snickered, loud enough for Tazuna to hear him.

The older man comically smacked his grandson on the back of the head. The boy gave a surprised look.

"Oh come on, Gramps! What'd you do that for?" Inari whined as he rubbed the sore spot.

"I'm too young to be an old geezer, young man!" He chuckled in reply. Despite being in his 50s, Tazuna held tightly onto the belief you were only as old as you feel.

As they were walking to the hospital, Boruto sensed his connection with his clones begin to dwindle. Slowly, their chakra disappeared one at a time. What the heck happened to them?

Unbeknownst to the blonde, while they were searching, the streets began to increasingly become more and more crowded, forcing the clones to split up in hopes to finding the lavender-haired girl faster.

At first, it seemed their searches were going to be fairly uneventful, but fate had different plans for the clones. The shadow clones were defeated by simple day-to-day mistakes.

The first clone was destroyed by its recklessness whilst running from street to street. It had slipped on a banana peel, which led to him falling into a lamppost.

The second clone witnessed the first clone's stupidity, and accidentally popped itself when it facepalmed too hard.

The last clone, however, remained safe, as it stayed calm and used his brain to traverse each street safely. After hours, he finally sensed a familiar chakra signature in a place in an area in which he had just arrived.

Suddenly, Boruto stopped. He received the memories of his clone. Two people were with Himawari. Himawari was unconscious. His eyes widened, worries filling his head.

'Who were these people?' He thought. Are they to be trusted?

Though he'd like to think whoever found his little sister would be a good-hearted person, he couldn't be sure yet he could only hope that it was.

Sarada noticed how troubled the blonde looked and concern has caught up with her too.

"Hey, are you alright?" She asked.

Boruto snapped out of his thoughts. He turned to the raven haired teen and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm okay, Saradchan. One of the clones finally managed to track down Himchan's whereabouts."

Sarada eyes widened in surprised.

"Really? Where?! " She excitedly asked. She hoped her theory was correct.

"She's in the hospital with two other unidentified people," the blonde simply replied. Having no knowledge of who these people were, he didn't know exactly how to feel.

"Someone found the girl?" Tazuna asked from the back. He also hoped that his theory was correct.

Sarada turned to the old man and nodded.

"Yes, Gigi. It seems that someone had actually found her, and took her into the hospital," she explained. Tazuna took a deep breath and nodded.

"Good to hear that!" His hopes have come true. He really hoped that the person who found her would be showered with blessing.

Boruto didn't care. As long as his sister was alright, it didn't matter. If she were to get hurt, he knew he wouldn't be able to forgive himself. He was very protective of his younger sister, and silently vowed to himself he wouldn't let this happen again.

(Interview)

"I really didn't expect the stress level to be that high. I was really in panic, and I started to blame myself for letting his happened again.

-Boruto

(MEANWHILE)

The two Hyuuga's were surprised by how many people were in the hospital. Most of them were patients looking for a checkup, or prescriptions medicines.

Hanabi hated this part of the hospital. Not only did someone have to sit in the waiting room if they were seriously injured, but they'd be forced to watch the chaos in the emergency room. People were suffering from heart attacks, strokes, and people getting themselves into life or death situations.

Hospitals brought up a lot of bad memories for Hanabi ever since her mother died of an unknown illness. Neji didn't care for hospitals either.

"Who should we talk to?" Neji asked, surveying his surroundings. Most of the staff were running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

"I don't know. The clerk isn't even here to help," Hanabi sighed. It was a busy time of day to go to the emergency room. She heard from several the hospital staff was low today, but she ignored them.

Luckily, Neji spotted a familiar pink-haired girl a few distances away from them.

"I think I know her," he muttered to himself. It only took a moment until he finally recognized her as none other than the pink-haired member of Team 7.

"Sakura!" Neji shouted.

"Sakura?! As in Sakura Haruno?" Hanabi asked.

Neji nodded. "Yeah, She's the Sakura Haruno alright."

Sakura!" He called out the pink-haired medic's name. Ever since Sakura became an apprentice under Tsunade, she'd been taking shifts in the hospital and helping doctors and nurses while learning how to take care of different kinds of injuries and diseases. She was the only Team 7 member still in the village. The other two were either on a training trip or a hunt for power with a man that may or may not be a pedophile. He had to give her props for still staying in the village and not going off on some vendetta of her own. G.o.d knows she had her reasons to do so, as well.

Sakura made her way to Neji with a pleasant expression on her face, though it soon disappeared when she noticed the unconscious girl in his arms. She beckoned for a staff member to attend to them immediately.

"What happened?" Sakura asked.

"Hanabi and I found her on our way back to the compound," Neji explained as calmly as he could. "She was lying unconscious under a tree in the playground behind the clan compound. She seemed injured, so I brought her here.

Sakura nodded, as the gurney arrived onto the scene. She beckoned the brown-haired ninja to place the unconscious girl on the bed, to which he did.

"What's her name?" Sakura asked. She needed a name for the girl, or else her name would simply be 'Unknown'.

Neji and Hanabi did not know who this girl was, her name, or anything about her background, but in a certain twist, both of them noticed a sunflower attached on the girl's head.

(Interview)

"We couldn't think of a name for the girl but when we saw the sunflower on her head, It instantly clicked into our minds that "Himawari" would be a fitting name for her.

-Neji

"Himawari!" Both exclaimed, much to the pink haired girl's surprised.

"Alright then," she said, nodding, as she wrote the name on the Patient Information form.

Sakura directed some of the staff to take the girl, now known as Himawari, to have a full routine checkup in the hospital room. She was going to take great strides to ensure the young girl's health.

She informed the two to go into the waiting area until further announcements were made.

Neji and Hanabi followed the Haruno's instructions, and sat down. Both remained silent, as they thought over what had happened.

"Himawari," they had said. At the same time no less. Why? Neither decided it was a good time to talk about what what had just happened.

"Neji," Hanabi sighed, "Do you think she'll be okay?"

Neji could only give his young cousin a sad smile.

"I hope so," he replied quietly. He tried to hide his face. Strangely, he felt sorrow. It felt as if the young girl was truly a part of them, and wasn't a complete stranger.

A small tear fell from the brown-haired Hyuuga's eyes. He didn't know what had gotten into himself. How pathetic he was acting right now was almost laughable. Though, he didn't feel like laughing. He felt proud of himself, strangely enough.

Hanabi didn't notice her cousin's emotional state, rather, she was too busy caught up in her own thoughts. The young girl had to be related to them, she had decided. She looked too much like a Hyuuga. Not to mention, the strange connection they had with her. It felt like she was friends with this young girl, in another life, perhaps.

The two Hyuuga's sat thoughtfully in their seats, awaiting news of the young girl, which was on their minds.

The silence was broken, when Hanabi stood from her seat. She reached into her pocket and drew her wallet out.

"What are you doing?" Neji asked.

"I'm checking to see if I have enough money to buy us some snacks and drinks for us, and for Himawari, too," she explained, not even realizing she mentioned the girl's name.

Neji nodded, oblivious to the fact as well. "Alright. I'll stay here," he replied.

Hanabi flashed a smile at him, and proceeded to go to a store nearest to the hospital.

Boruto and his crew finally arrived at the hospital. It had them taken forever to get there, and the journey was not easy in the slightest. Navigating through the drunken crowd of the festival made it near impossible, but at last, they finally made it.

Since the crowd at the hospital died down, the group made it to the front desk clerk easily.

"Excuse me, ma'am. Have you seen a lavender-haired girl here?" Boruto asked. He was exhausted from searching. He was hoping he'd find her here.

The hospital clerk raised an eyebrow at his strange question.

"You mean the girl was a patient here?" She asked suspiciously.

Boruto nodded tiredly, oblivious to her questioning look, "Yes, ma'am."

The hospital clerk, without taking her eyes off them, proceeded to check the record books for the patient.

"What's her name?" She asked, thumbing through the files.

"Himawari," the teenage blonde said, loud enough for Neji to hear. The brown-haired Hyuuga looked up at the sound of the name being spoken, eyes wide with realization.

"Himawari...? I think..." she spoke, surprised the boy actually knew the patient's name, "ah, here it is."

The blonde's eyes lit up in relief as he began to asked and beg the clerk." Is it alright if you could take us to her?" He asked desperately." Please, I really need to see my little sister Ma'am!" Boruto was in a state of hurry that he had forgotten to calm himself down.

By the time Neji reached them, He stood up firm, and went over directly to the blonde and his friends to confront them. Based on his observation, there were four of them. One was the blonde himself who was wearing a black jacket with a hood attached t, covering a white t shirt inside and black pants, the other was a raven haired young lady, with a red gla.s.ses donning a somewhat old red attire, and lastly an old man and his grandson, who seemed to be carpenters.

"Excuse me, did you say Himawari?" Neji asked, gaining their attention immediately. The teenager turned his gaze towards him, surprised.

"Yes, Himawari. She is my sister," He explained with a little bit of desperation in this voice.

He gave him a quick glance before going back to scanning the lobby like his partner. Before snapping his gaze back to Neji like a rocket, his face revealing shock. Now that he was finally looking at Neji, the brown-haired Hyūga was able to see the boy's full face. He had two white patches covering his cheeks, and a lone scar stretching from right under his eyebrow down to his cheek, right across the boy's right eye. His left one though, it was a blue Neji had seen only once elsewhere. Though maybe a tad bluer than what Neji knew. It seemed like the boy was evaluating Neji just like Neji was him. As the boy straightened up, his hoodie came off, revealing a mop of spiky golden hair. Neji's face showed pure shock. The boy, who seemed around his age, looked exactly like Naruto! Well, minus the scar and patches.

(Interview)

"When I saw the kid, it kind of surprised me, because I thought I was looking at Naruto, although, He really looked like him. So I had to be sure if this guy was really telling the truth.

-Neji

"With all due respect, sir, I need to see her now. I want to know if she's alright," Boruto explained, trying to get pa.s.sed the brunette. Unfortunately, He wouldn't move.

"Please, sir, I really need to see her," Boruto said. He didn't want to cause any trouble, but this person was going to force him to do something if he didn't move.

After several attempts of begging from the blonde, and rounds of explanations from the others, Neji finally sighed in resignation. At last, he saw truth in the teenager's eyes.

"What's your name, at least?" Neji asked.

"My name is Bolt," Boruto said, forcing himself to calm down.

From serious and wary, in a split second, Neji's face suddenly lit up, and he smiled. He raised his hand to shake the blonde's hand, surprising the boy once again.

"Nice to meet you, Bolt. I am Neji Hyuuga," He introduced himself.

Boruto nearly fainted at the sound of his words, instead, settling for gaping like a fish out of water. No way! This was his mother's cousin, Uncle Neji. Was this a ghost in front of him? According to what he knows, his uncle is supposed to be dead!

(Interview)

"I really thought I was staring at a ghost, yet it wasn't ghost, it was a warm-blooded human and It was My late Uncle Neji."

-Boruto

The Hyuuga stared at him, brows furrowing at his strong reaction. Seeing as the blonde wouldn't take his hand, he lowered it awkwardly.

Right about the same time, Hanabi returned, plastic bag of snacks and drinks in hand. When Hanabi saw her older cousin talking to the blonde, confusion immediately overtook her.

Her cousin was standing next to a teenage blonde, who was accompanied by a raven-haired girl with red gla.s.ses, an older man, and a boy in his early teens. Yet, all of them remained silent, none talking to each other, just staring.

She took a few steps towards them, but none of them noticed her. Finally, she broke the awkward silence.

"What the heck is going on here?"

CHAPTER END

AN: Thank you very much for reading the chapter:)