64 - Loose Ends

After the war, Koto Okami was one more person who woke up in the hospital. She could feel the pressure of bandages on her, as well as a dull pain. The mechanical beeps of hospital machinery echoed around the room.

"Okami-san, you're awake," one medic-nin said, standing up from her chair.

Koto opened her mouth to ask what happened, but no sound came out.

The medic shook her head apologetically. "My apologies, Okami-san, I don't think you'll be able to use your voice in the future, or at least not heavily."

Koto's eyes fell, one thought shooting through her head. Thankfully, the medic caught onto her unspoken question. "I do believe you'll still be able to play your harmonica."

The Anbu breathed a sigh of relief, nodding in thanks.

Zansha Sora sat alone at home, sipping a cup of tea. She rarely went out after retiring as a ninja, especially after both her children became shinobi as well.

"Mom, we're back," Mitsuka sang, poking her head into the dark room. Naku followed suit, hanging his cape up on the hanger.

The light brown haired woman nodded, not lifting her eyes from the cup of tea. She continued to stir the green liquid.

"We saw Aunt Kazami."

Zansha looked up for once with wide eyes, her hand stirring her tea faltering slightly. "You saw... Kaza-nee?"

"Edo Tensei," Naku confirmed. "We sort of had to beat her up, though."

Zansha's gaze fell, but she shook her head. "It's fine. You two stay safe."

Mitsuka beamed, already heading back towards the door. "Don't worry, we will. You should get some sunlight too, mom!"

The brown haired woman didn't try to stand up, instead returning to stirring and sipping her tea. "Maybe I will."

"Kyoki-sama, you're back."

The olive haired woman only nodded in response to Hametsu as she stepped back into the Shiomiru Estate, on the outskirts of Shimogakure. Technically their clan wasn't a part of Shimo, it was more like an alliance, where Shimogakure offered them land to stay on.

"I'm glad you made it out of the war unharmed."

Kyoki once again nodded. "Yes."

The clan head took a seat at a table, heating up a pot of tea. "I'm getting old, perhaps I should retire soon."

"Yes, Kyoki-sama."

"If I do, then that would make you the head of the Shiomiru Clan."

It's not like Hametsu was particularly special. He was skilled, yes, but just that and nothing more.

"Yes, Kyoki sama."

Hiashi Hyuga, followed by a nervous Hinata, stepped into Neji's hospital room.

Thanks to Miyabi, the young Hyuga was alive. He wasn't in the best condition, but it only took time to heal. The healer herself sat beside the hospital bed, currently not doing anything in particular.

"Good day, Hiashi-san," she greeted coolly.

"Good day, Hoshino-san," the Hyuga replied.

"U-um," Hinata stepped forward, glancing between the two adults. "Is Neji nii-san okay?"

"Don't worry. It'll take a while, but he should make it through alright." Miyabi gave the girl a reassuring smile, causing the dark haired girl to breathe a visible sigh of relief. "Ah, but Hiashi-san, I need to warn you about something."

"And that is?"

"See, as a side effect of Rejuvenating Glow, my ability also happens to remove any curse marks, including the Caged Bird Seal," Miyabi explained, her expression completely friendly. "I would appreciate it if you let the boy live freely."

Doctors are scary.

"I... have been taught the wrongs of my ways many times," Hiashi responded unflinchingly. "I can't hope to be fully forgiven, but I will try to be more fair to the side branch. You have my assurances, Hoshino-san."

"Wonderful."

"Man, is the Tsuchikage never going to assign us to a new team?" Tsuretsu complained, chewing her cinnamon sandwich. "There's still only us two."

"I don't know," Tomo responded flatly.

"Ugh, this sucks. I can't even go on any serious missions without a full team," the brown haired girl complained. "I think the Tsuchikage forgot we existed. He's too old."

"That's not nice."

"I'm not nice."

"You usually are, so that doesn't make sense."

Tsuretsu proceeded to inhale her sandwich while talking about something along the lines of turtles and lettuce being more related than turtles and lizards, which Tomo didn't exactly understand.

"Mom, dad, I'm back from the war." Itera stomped into the living room, dropping her supplies on the couch.

"That's nice." The two older civilians did not look up from their lunch.

"I was on duty then so I ended up earning a lot of money."

"That's nice."

"I'm moving out, by the way. And I'm buying a replacement for my five year old pink plastic binoculars."

"That's nice."

"You two suck."

"That's nice."

Hane was glad to be back in a familiar environment. War really wasn't his forte.

The medic sat cross-legged in his room, sorting through his supplies and quietly humming some unknown tune. It was much nicer this way.

'I wonder how Yozora and Tsuretsu and Tomo are doing,' he mused to himself, glancing out the window at the sandy terrain of Sunagakure. 'Maybe I should expand my horizons a bit. After all, Haikei and Itera can protect me.'

Kai swung her swords at one rock, splitting it in half. She quickly cut down a second, then a third, before wiping a bead of sweat off her forehead.

"The war is over now, maybe you should tone down the training a bit," Modoru suggested from his seat on a log, watching his teammate train. Jimen, who sat a few meters away from him on another log, shook his head urgently at the black haired boy.

"Suggest something like that again and you can be my next training dummy," the black haired girl hissed.

"Right, right, just a suggestion."

Manga, sushi, cats. Occasional missions.

Things were significantly calmer for Fuyuka with the war over. It was nice to spend her days alone in her room, curled up with her cats, a plate of salmon sushi and a volume of Bleach she had already read hundreds of times before.

Things were almost the same as before. Sasuke left the village again, this time just to travel and see the world. It sounds sort of emo, but this is the number one emo annoying Uchiha bitch.

Naruto seemed to be finally noticing Hinata, which was good because that boy is dense. Poor Hinata. Also, Fuyuka was pretty sure she caught Ino staring at Sai a few times. And let's not forget Shikamaru and Temari, people have been speculating about them since back in the chunin exams when everyone was genin.

Almost all their friends had gotten out unharmed, apart from Guy-sensei, who was now stuck in a wheelchair (not that that'll stop his endless youth rants). Thanks to Miyabi, Neji was healing up too. Tenten, Lee and Hinata have all been frequent visitors to him.

Maybe things will finally cool down for good. True, Fuyuka wanted in on some action. On the other hand, it was nice to have a break for once.

It was over.