Konoha Hospital
"Um... Sakura, Shino and I are going to head out," Kiba said to Sakura.
"Hinata, just focus on recovering here. Don't worry about me," Shino said.
"Shino, I don't think she's worried about you," Kiba said, nudging Shino with his elbow and giving him a mischievous grin.
"......."
"I... I am worried about Shino, too. On the day of the finals... I'll be there to cheer you on..." Hinata, ever kind, added to avoid Shino feeling ignored. "You just focus on your training. I'll be fine."
"Let's go, Shino. See ya, Sakura. Bye," Kiba said, and he and Shino left the room.
Now, only Hinata and Sakura were left in the room.
"Shino's usually pretty quiet, but he seems to care about you a lot," Sakura said, picking up an apple and starting to peel it for Hinata. "All the contestants should be training hard right now, but Shino still took the time to come see you."
"Yeah..." Hinata paused, then said, "Shino... he doesn't talk much, but inside, he wants people to pay attention to what he says. He's also a very observant person."
"But he doesn't have much of a presence, so he's often overlooked, haha," Sakura laughed. "But that's perfect for your reconnaissance team, isn't it? Being overlooked is the biggest advantage."
"......." Hinata lowered her head, remaining silent.
"What's wrong...? Are you thinking about Naruto again?" Sakura teased.
Hinata's face immediately turned bright red. "N-No... I just hope... I hope you don't blame Neji-niisan."
It seemed Kiba and Shino had given Hinata a very thorough account, even telling her about the later confrontation between Naruto, Sakura and Neji.
But it made sense. They were all on the same team; of course Kiba and Shino would know about Hinata's feelings. They would naturally explain in detail how Naruto stood up for Hinata.
Sakura cut the peeled apple into pieces, stuck toothpicks in them, and placed them on a plate, which she handed to Hinata.
"Having some fruit after a meal will help you recover. Come on, open wide, ahhhhh~" Sakura held a piece of apple on a toothpick to Hinata's mouth.
Hinata, her face still red, hesitated for a moment before eating it. She looked up at Sakura's smiling face and suddenly felt that Sakura's smile was very warm, like her mother's.
"Actually, I don't really have a strong opinion about Neji. I don't really understand your family's affairs," Sakura said, leaning back and lying down sideways on the other end of Hinata's bed. "I just couldn't stand Neji's assessment of Naruto."
"You probably know, right, Hinata...?" Sakura asked.
"What?" Hinata asked, confused.
"Naruto and I met in our third year, you know that, right? Since you're always watching Naruto," Sakura said, turning her head to look at Hinata from her lying position.
"Mm..." Hinata responded weakly.
"At that time, I saw how lonely Naruto was, how everyone around him was ostracizing him. I didn't think there was anything wrong with him," Sakura paused, then continued, "So that day after school, I told him to come to my house for dinner during the New Year celebration."
"And Naruto was so excited, he even swore to protect me for the rest of his life." Sakura recalled Naruto's happy expression at that time, a faint smile appearing on her face.
"I... I see... That's nice..." Hinata said, sounding a little down.
Sakura saw Hinata's dejected expression and shook her head. "But I don't need him to protect me. He's never been able to beat me in a fight."
"But unexpectedly, Naruto did save me once. He was seriously injured that time, too, you probably know about it, it was when I got hurt," Sakura said.
"Was it during the New Year celebration?" Hinata asked.
"Yeah. Actually, if it weren't for Naruto, I might be dead. Even though I was the top student in the class that year, I was so scared by the enemy ninja that I cried," Sakura said self-deprecatingly.
"That's why I couldn't hold back when Neji mocked Naruto that day," Sakura said. "I owe Naruto my life."
"Is that so... I see..." Hinata's mood was quite low as she listened to Sakura tell the story of her and Naruto.
Sakura found Hinata's reaction a little funny. She wasn't saying all this to show off.
Sakura sometimes felt lonely, too. Although she had many bonds, she lacked true friends to talk to. Sasuke was a problem child himself, and she wasn't interested in talking to him about these things. She could talk to Naruto, but Sakura always felt it was a little strange.
Today, visiting Hinata at the hospital was a perfect opportunity, allowing her to feel like she was talking and communicating with a friend.
"Actually, Naruto cares about you quite a bit," Sakura said, seeing Hinata's downcast expression. "After the preliminaries ended, he asked Kakashi-sensei to train him, just so he could defeat Neji and get revenge for you."
"I know... I know..." Sakura saw that Hinata seemed like she wanted to say something, but Sakura didn't let her. "Saying 'revenge' is a bit of an exaggeration. Naruto wants to prove to Neji that even a 'dead last' can defeat a genius through hard work. I think if Neji loses to Naruto this time, he might change a little."
"Naruto is fighting for you this time," Sakura said, giving Hinata a smile. "So, please find the courage to face your own feelings."
"Th...Thank you, Sakura," Hinata said after a moment of silence.
"Haha, good luck! I'm rooting for you, Hinata. Go for it, for your dreams!" Sakura said to Hinata finally.
"Um... that..." Hinata stammered.
"What do you want to say?" Sakura asked.
"Sakura, what... what is your dream?" Hinata asked.
"My dream...?" Sakura thought for a moment. When Team 7 was first formed, her dream was to open a small snack shop...
"My dream is... world peace," Sakura said thoughtfully and seriously.
Years of being a ninja had changed Sakura's initial dream. If there was world peace, she wouldn't need to work so hard to learn ninjutsu, and she wouldn't have to worry about dying in her next mission.
Sakura deeply missed her previous world. Even if her previous world wasn't perfect, at least she didn't have to live in constant fear of being killed by a ninja.
The ninja world wasn't cool; it was filled with hatred. But in this world, if you didn't become a ninja, you wouldn't even be able to protect yourself. But becoming a ninja meant you might be killed by an enemy ninja at any time.
It was a vicious cycle. You kill to protect yourself, but killing creates new hatred, and new hatred makes you live in constant fear.
Sakura didn't like this world at all, but she had no choice but to go with the flow.
"World peace...?" Hinata stared at Sakura, stunned by her answer. She had thought that a genius like Sakura would dream of becoming a powerful ninja, but Sakura's vision was much grander than she imagined.
"Yes, world peace..." Sakura got up and gave Hinata a radiant smile.
Hinata looked at Sakura's bright smile, and her heart gradually calmed down. She returned a smile to Sakura...
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