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

Good Enough

"So, you ready to be an uncle?"

Giving Izumi only a brief glance, I tried not to sigh at how he was almost bouncing with excitement, "Why do you keep bringing that up? She isn't due yet."

"But soon!" He made a grand gesture with the arm that wasn't currently linked with mine, lowering his hand with an unimpressed frown, "She's very far along, y'know? You all can't keep pretending like the baby's never going to come. It's like a month at most."

"Okay, okay!" I held up a hand, "I know, it's just..."

"You're nervous." He smirked, leaning against me and shoving his face closer to mine.

I tried to lean away, "Why would I be nervous?"
"Nervous!" He chirped, lowering himself and hugging my arm, "You don't have to be embarrassed about it or anything, it's normal to be worried about babies and birth and all that stuff. It's scary, but Hinata's Hinata and she's going to be fine."

"You make it sound so simple." I smiled despite myself, raising my other hand to hold the one on my arm. To be honest, it was an easy enough fact to ignore for most of her pregnancy because Hinata simply was perhaps one of the most unbothered pregnant women to ever exist. Besides her apparent morning sickness episodes if Kiba's retellings were to be believed, she'd taken her new state along with every other role in her life with all of the grace one would expect from her. Now, though, it was becoming much more difficult to forget when she looked so heavily pregnant, was relying on Akamaru more for walking, and overall seemed more tired. I tried to brush away those worries, "You sound like you have some experience."

"Um..." Izumi tilted his head as he thought it over, "I mean, in my clan it's just kind of normal that everyone helps with everyone's kids. So, I guess I have some experience helping the mothers while they're pregnant and babysitting and all that."

"I suppose that explains why you were so keen to help Hinata then." I noted; maybe it gave him a sense of purpose or something like that, maybe it was a reminder of home.

"Or," He smiled somewhere between shyness and teasing, "I was trying to get closer to her so that she'd like me... and maybe it gave me an excuse to be around Kiba more." Well, I suppose that made enough sense too.

I let out a light laugh, "Your motives are so simple sometimes."

"You're over at their house all the time too!" He pouted, turning away from me pointedly, "We can just pretend you're also not trying to spend time with Kiba!"

"Wh-what!?" Despite my efforts to remain straight-faced as that assumption wasn't entirely correct, I could feel my face heating a little at the accusation, "I'm her brother, of course I'd be at their house helping her!"

"Uh huh, sure." He rolled his eyes, still turned away for a moment before he smiled at me and laughed, "You're a good brother. It's sweet how much you're trying to help them." I felt a little saddened by his genuine tone, no doubt there was a part of him that thought of himself as a failure to his family for leaving. For someone so naturally inclined to care, it must've been difficult.

"I have to admit," I rubbed the back of his hand with my thumb, "I didn't think I'd be so involved with the clan again... for a long time there was nothing more that I wanted then to leave them behind and forget them."

Izumi sighed softly, gazing up into the sky above the bordering rooftops as if there was something he could see beyond them, "I guess things have a way of changing. You certainly have since you've been back," he turned back to me with another smile, "In a good way of course."

"I can't have changed too much." I admitted, returning his smile, "I still can't say no to either of them, but I didn't expect Hanabi to have already taken so much responsibility, or for the clan to be so..."