A/N: Okay everyone! This omake is dedicated to my friend who has it stuck into her head that Gaara should be the father. So here it is! This for all you GaaraxHinata voters and reviewers as well :D
THIS OMAKE IN NO WAY AFFECTS THE MAIN STORYLINE!!!!. GAARA MAY OR MAY NOT STILL BE THE FATHER .
First a word of warning: THIS OMAKE IN NO WAY AFFECTS THE MAIN STORY. GAARA MAY OR MAY NOT STILL BE THE FATHER. Sorry just making sure you understand. Another thing is that there are a lot of OC's in this story because part of it takes place in the future, and I needed them as servants. In her flashbacks, Hoshiakari is about 3 to 4 years old and her brother Kazen is about a year older. Don't worry, Kazen will only be seen in this chapter (Unless Gaara is the father. Then you never know, he might come back ;) ) Oh and so there's no confusion, Hoshiakari flashbacks are actually her memories from the future!
Also, this was a partial rush job, it may not be up to par with the normal story. I'm going to post this here for now, please review if you like it (I don't care if you just show that you're laughing. Remember I don't know if you like it or not if you don't review.).
To all who reviewed chapter 8, I will PMing you all in a few days. Sorry, but the reason is that if the reviews aren't favorable for this one, then I'll might have to remove it and post the real chapter 8 in its place (and probably repost it in a story of its own). The answers to your reviews for chapter 7 and this one will be there as well :).
I also want to apologize for thinking that most of you didn't review chapter 7, something went wrong and didn't send me all the reviews. I'm very sorry for thinking that you had all abandoned me and being cranky.
Okay that's it for now I guess, sorry for the long author's notes " Oh yeah, do you still want the translations at the bottom? If not, then I guess I can stop adding them.
Hoshiakari: Okay everyone remember! AuroraStarPhoenix-san does not own Naruto the anime and manga, only Masashi Kishimoto does. She owns me, but she's not too sure about the OOC's, and she might own my niisan Kazen (even though she pulled his name out of thin air as well). Oh, and her spelling and grammar could use some work.
AuroraStarPhoenix: -.-" I was in a rush okay? Besides he's only going to be in this one chapter.
Hoshiakari: Does that mean I'm really an only child?
AuroraStarPhoenix: maaaybe… I'm not talking XD Anyway everyone, I hope you all enjoy this special chapter, and please don't forget to review!
Special thanks to all my beta readers:)
"normal speech"
"spoken by everyone in the area"
'thoughts'
"thoughts of the other people in response to the previous speaker"
-Hoshiakari flashbacks - (her memories from the future)
-shake- -shake- Hoshiakari opened her bleary eyes and squinted at her vibrating wristwatch. 'ugh, stupid numbers hold still…oh right turn off the alarm first'.
Turning off her alarm revealed 4:30. Careful not to wake her kaasan, she then got up and stretched for a bit when her eyes were caught by the calendar in the corner. Her eyes widened in panic. 'It's VALENTINE'S DAY?!?!? Oh no oh no oh no, I can't believe I forgot!'
Poor Hoshiakari had been so caught up between trying to complete her mission and dodging her aunties and uncles that she had completely forgotten to get her father his present. Since her mother wasn't able to give her tousan the special flower this year, Hoshiakari decided that it was up to her to give him the flower for her. Quickly running around to get dressed, she stopped only to grab two apples, one for breakfast and one for lunch. About to run out the door, she remembered that she had already promised to spend time with her kaasan today. Rummaging around in her bag for a paper and pencil, she began planning her note. 'Let's see if I leave now, then I'll be able to get it by this afternoon.' Finding what she needed, Hoshiakari quickly scribbled down her note:
Dear kaasan,
Gomenasai, I forgot that I was going to be gone on a special mission today. Please don't worry, I'll be back by dinner.
Love,
Hoshiakari
Sliding the door open a bit to her kaasan's bedroom, she placed it on the nearby dresser. Looking down on her watch, she saw that it was already 5:00. 'Oh no! I'm late!' She quickly slammed the door shut and completely missed the gust of wind created by her actions that snatched the note from its place and tossed it to the ground under its former perch.
In the streets of Konoha….
Hoshiakari jumped off a roof and landed softly on the sidewalk. Shouting a quick apology, she swiftly dodged the innocent bystander in front of her and continued running.
"Ah Hoshiakari, I see you're up for an early morning run today. Do you wish to join me in the morning routine of removing the evil humors from our bodies? It will ensure that our flames of youth will continue to burn brightly! (one guess who that is)."
She looked up to see the green clad Jounin jogging alongside her. "Ah! Gai Sensei, Ohayou gozaimasu! Sumimasen, demo I'm very late for a mission right now" she cried as she ran even faster.
Curiosity perked, the green clad Jounin sped up to keep pace with the little girl. "Where are you going? Maybe I, Gai Sensei, the green beast of Konoha can be of assistance?"
"Gomen, but I have to do this on my own." Came the breathless reply. She hated to be rude, but she was really in a rush.
"Hmmm… alright but where, if I may ask, exactly are you going?"
"I gots to get to Akagahara to gets tousan's flower. Ja ne!"
At those words, Hoshiakari rushed out the gates, "Ohaiyou Hagane-san, Izumo-san!"
"Ohaiyou! Hoshi-chan!" The two Chuunin looked at the disappearing white flying cape.
Gai-sensei stopped in his tracks, did his good guy pose with a thumbs-up sign, and revealed a sweat dropping Kotetsu and Izumo in the background. "Gambatte Hoshiakari! Don't let your flames of youth die out!"
Hagane Kotetsu scratched his head messing up his spiky hair and turned to his partner. "What's with the rush?"
"I don't know meeting a boyfriend?" Kamizaki Izumo replied shrugging.
Hagane gave him a disbelieving stare. "She's only a kid!"
'I need to get tousan that flower…' Hoshiakari giggled to herself, she still remembered the first time her kaasan had gotten the flower, and it was the day of her very first mission…
-Hoshiakari flashback-
Young 3-year-old Hoshiakari heard the front door open and saw a worn out Hinata checking the house for any signs of life. Not wanting to be caught for playing hooky when she was suppose to be training, Hoshiakari quickly hid behind one of the curtains that framed the large windows lining the hall. Satisfied that no one was around, the young woman stealthily entered the house trying to conceal a sack under her cloak. 'kaasan?' She watched as her mother quietly went to her room looking around occasionally. 'What is kaasan up to?'
Curiously she was about to follow her kaasan when she overheard the maids entering the hallway, chattering as they worked. She quickly concealed herself again and hoped that the pair would leave soon. The pair had other ideas and began dusting the various decorations as they continued their gossip.
"Did you see what the mistress brought back?"
'They're talkin bout kaasan!' The little girl no longer wanted them to leave; instead, she hoped that they would shed some light on her mother's strange actions.
"I know! I can't believe she would actually do it!"
'Do what?! What did kaasan do?' Dust flew everywhere as the two maids continued their morning chores. The little girl listened attentively from her hiding place.
The other maid shook her head. "Same here, you know that there is a reason that that deadly tradition was banned years ago."
'Deadly?' Hoshiakari didn't like the sound of this.
"I thought they were already over that fight."
'They must mean that little fight kaasan and tousan had the other day.' Although she couldn't really call it that, it was more of a misunderstanding. She remembered how upset her mother was when her father had forgotten to attend Kazen's award ceremony, but they had already made up a few days ago.
"Apparently not if she actually went to get that flower."
'Flower? So that was what's in the sack…'
The other servant giggled. "I know! The Kazekage's going to have a heart attack when he sees that flower!"
Hoshiakari's eyes widened. Was it possible that a flower could give someone a heart attack? Her kaasan was a respected herbalist in Suna, and she kept a green house filled with various exotic plants known for their healing properties. If anyone knew plants, it was her kaasan. However, why would her mother want to give her father a heart attack? Hoshiakari didn't know what a heart attack was, but it didn't sound too good, especially with the word 'attack' attached to it.
"oooooh, the powerful Kazekage defeated by a flower!"
'WHAT!?!?'
"Oh don't be dramatic, Michiko."
Hoshiakari remained glued to her spot as the servants moved on to their next chore. 'Kaasan's going to kill tousan?'
Quickly she ran off to find her brother.
Meanwhile a young boy who could have been mistaken as a younger clone of the Kazekage sat with his back against the stonewall in the training courtyard. Poor little kid was in a bit of a shock himself.
A few moments ago….
Sand gathered in the four year old's tiny hand as he tried to recreate his tousan's third eye. Kazen's concentration was broken as he heard his tousan's name being mention. Sighing at the failed attempted, he tried to ignore the gossiping servants and focused on creating the third eye again.
"Did you hear what happened?"
"I know, the Kazekage's going kill her when he sees the flower! He had specifically forbid her to go."
The half-formed third eye turned into a pile of sand.
"Oh come on Kousuke, he won't really kill her."
"Trust me that man's got a temper."
"Hush Kousuke, you want us to get in trouble." The two men lowered their voices and continued their conversation. Kazen tiptoed closer to the entrance to better spy on the gossipers.
"Yeah… but-" They were interrupted.
"Hey guys did you hear what the Kazekage got?"
"Oh yeah! But hush you know, he wants to keep it a secret until tonight."
"heh heh, she's so going to die when she opens the box."
Kazen sat frozen to his spot. 'Tousan's going to kill Kaasan?' He quickly ran off to find his imouto.
'No, I have to do this by myself, besides, she's just a baby.' Changing his mind, the child began his new mission.
-end Hoshiakari flashback-
"ha ha ha, I can't believe we were actually running around in circles and still couldn't find each other!"
Hoshiakari nimbly dodged a nearly invisible tripwire.
In Konoha….
"Hoshiakari!"
Naruto and Sasuke halted their little fight as they watched Hinata running around worriedly.
Happy to see a friendly face for a change Naruto ran up to meet the indigo haired girl. Sasuke didn't count, his constantly scowling face was enough to make one want to jump off a cliff. "Oi, Hinata-chan! Whatcha looking for?"
Hinata worriedly checked around the training grounds. "Naruto-kun?" For once, the young kunoichi was too worried blush in front of her secret crush. Fear and worry for her daughter filled her eyes. "Have you seen Hoshiakari?"
Still scowling, Sasuke sauntered up to them. "Isn't she on a mission?"
The distressed teen shook her head. "We were suppose to spend today together. She's been missing since this morning."
'Since this morning…' Naruto looked at the sun now high in the sky. 'That means she's been missing for at least………'
"4 hours dobe."
The blond shinobi looked at his best friend, "AH SHUT UP! I knew that and what are you doing reading my mind!"
"Che, I didn't, you're predictable." The raven-haired teen glared back.
Seeing that they were probably not going to be much help, Hinata made to discretely continue her search and leave the two to their argument. She had only taken a few steps when she felt an arm wrap itself around her shoulders. Looking up, she saw the bright smile of her sun.
Giving her his most confident smile, Naruto reassured his friend. "Don't worry Hinata-chan, I promise we'll find her!"
Akagahara….
Hoshiakari made her way to the patch of red clovers careful not to disturb the statue. She would have been here lot faster if she had not accidentally tripped over a wire ended up being chase for over an hour by stampeding African elephants. Hoshiakari shivered as she remembered the sharp gleaming white tusks coming at her. 'What in the world are elephants doing here in the first place?' Dismissing that as just another strange mystery that only adults would know, she continued on her way and allowed her mind to wander back to her first mission…
-continuing Hoshiakari flashback-
'What do I do, okay okay, kaasan must still be angry at tousan for that fight thing a week ago, but I thought they'd already made up.' Hoshiakari had given up looking for her niisan and decided to do the mission on her own. "I call it mission: Saving tousan! Now let's see, all I got do is get the flower from kaasan and make sure that tousan never gets it!" With that, she ran off to her parents' bedroom.
Running down the hall, Kazen had similar thoughts…
"I know, I call it mission: Saving kaasan!" The little boy stopped in his tracks as he wondered how he was going save his precious mother. 'Let's see, what did the man say again…?' Kazen searched his mind trying to remember why his tousan was going to kill his kaasan. "The flow'r! All I have to do is make sure that tousan never sees the flow'r!" The little boy quickly dashed to his parents' bedroom
Once there, Kazen quietly locked the door and searched the room. He then noticed a strange red flower in a corner behind a shelf illuminated by a stray beam of sunlight shining in from the window. It was in a short and round glass vase that was filled with the moist green foam that florists sometimes used to hold the blooms in place. The strange plant looked like an orchid but it was red, and he had never seen a red orchid before. The little boy stared at the small flower. His tousan was going to kill his kaasan just because of this little flower. The adults were strange people if they killed each other over a flower. Grabbing the flower, he was about to run when he heard the doorknob rattle slightly. Panicking, Kazen quickly replaced the flower and dived into the nearest closet.
Hoshiakari tried to open the door with no success. Now she was sure that her kaasan was up to something. 'Kaasan n tousan never locks the door except at night.' Giving the handle another slight jiggle, she debated whether she should go back and get her niisan's help. 'No… that'd take too long. I have to do this on my own'. Oh well, if she could not get into the room by door, then she would just have to go through the window.
Hearing the fading footsteps, Kazen peeked out from his hiding place. Cautiously, he waited a few moments to ensure that the person had really given up and left. He opened the door and froze as he heard more footsteps. However, they faded as quickly as they had come. 'Must have just been a servant.' Satisfied that it was now safe, Kazen slowly opening the closet door and stuck a foot out only to yank it back in again as he heard someone on the roof. 'Aw man!'
Taking a risk, he swiftly sent out a strand of sand to lock the windows and sat back to wait for the new intruder to leave. This little mission was becoming more difficult by the minute. Pouting, the little boy braced his left elbow on his knee, used his palm to prop up his chin and prepared for a long wait in the dark closet. Perhaps, he should have asked his sister for help after all.
The windows rattled as the toddler tried to pry them open. First the doors were locked and now the windows too! There was no doubt, her kaasan was up to something no good.
'Maybe I should warn tousan.' Hoshiakari nibbled on a finger as she pondered over whether to warn her father. Determinedly she shook her head.
'No, if I tell tousan, then kaasan would get in big trauble.' Unsuccessfully trying to open the windows again, Hoshiakari was about to give up when something in the corner caught her eye. Moving closer, she saw the red orchid-looking flower. Ironically, the flower was so close to her that the only thing separating the two was the glass pane of the window.
'Argh, if only this stupid window will open!' Giving the stubborn handle one last pull just in case, Hoshiakari gave up. All she could do was wait and hope that her kaasan or a servant would stop by later and forget to lock the door or something. 'Oh well, at least I know what it looks like, now all I gots to do is get something that looks like it. I know kaasan's greenhouse!'
Excitedly, Hoshiakari went to ransack her kaasan's greenhouse.
Once again, the room was left in silence. A few minutes later, a small mop of unruly red hair popped out of the closet and clear jade eyes scanned the room. Seeing no one around, he made a dash for the flower and ran out the door.
Kazen, hiding in the kitchen was now in a dilemma. 'I guts the flow'r, now what do I do?' He couldn't keep holding onto the flower. If his tousan caught him, then he would be the one dead! Seeing a nearby trashcan, the child quickly threw the condemning evidence in.
'Mission accomplished!' He happily dusted his hands, convinced that he had just saved his beloved kaasan. 'Now I needs to stop tousan from giving kaasan the box.' Yep the work of a four year old was never done.
Five minutes later, the cook's assistant was about to take out the trash when she noticed the crimson red flower. "Oh my! The mistress will be very unhappy if something were to happen to you my lovely!" She picked the rare orchid up, puzzled at why it would be in such a place. Dismissing it as an error by the newly hired maid, she dusted it off carefully and returned it to the mistress's bedroom.
-end Hoshiakari flashback-
"AAAHHH" Hoshiakari was broken out of her thoughts as her body slid down the mountain. She quickly grabbed onto another ledge as the one she held onto crumbled. "Kaasan must either really love tousan or she's suicidal!" This was the third time she nearly fell to the bottom. From the time she had started climbing the cliff, the young sunglass-wearing girl had had to dodge shuriken, kunai, explosive tags, falling rocks and various other projectiles that seem to appear out of nowhere. If it weren't for the thick gloves she was wearing, Hoshiakari was sure that her fingers would be bleeding as well. The little girl was beginning to understand why this particular tradition was now banned. The only thing that kept her going was the thought that her poor tousan wouldn't get his special flower for Valentines Day.
'He'd better appreciate this!' She thought just as she dodged another ball of flaming goo.
In Konoha….
"Naruto-kun, I can't find her anywhere!" Hinata was nearly in tears, it was now 3:30 in the afternoon and still no sign of her daughter. Now, Sakura, Lee, Shino, Kiba, Akamaru, and Gaara had also joined the search.
Naruto patted her shoulder consolingly and smiled with confidence, "Don't worry Hinata-chan we'll find her dattebayo!"
"It would be a lot faster if we could get Neji and the others to help." Sakura pointed out. They had had been searching since mid morning and no one they'd ask had seen the white clad child.
"No we should let them enjoy their dates." Hinata adamantly replied shaking her head, "After all Neji-niisan had spent weeks getting up the courage to ask Tenten-chan out." The kunoichi smiled at how she had to help her cousin ask the question. In the end, Hinata had to do the asking as her normally eloquent cousin was too tongue tied to even stutter out a greeting.
Sakura giggled, "That was nothing, Ino and I had to keep Shikamaru awake long enough to talk to Temari!"
"I know we should ask Gai sensei! He would know!"
Everyone looked at Lee.
"Don't be stupid, why would Gai sensei know where Hoshiakari is?" Kiba retorted before muttering to Shino. "If I saw him so early in the morning, I would've run before he can even smell me!"
Yes, the Inuzuka remembered when he was caught in the early morning hours by the exercise obsessed Jounin last winter. He could barely get up for a week after that 'light early morning' workout. The Jounin's definition of 'light workout' had consisted of first, putting on 100kg of weights on each leg, and swimming 700 laps in Konoha's lake, which happened to be ice cold considering that it was winter. Then sprinting, not jogging, sprinting 500 laps around Konoha, doing 1000 sit ups and pull ups, 100 splits, 900 crunches, running through the forest of death, 250 jumping jacks, and finally doing another 1000 push ups while the Jounin sat on his back yelling at him to keep it up and that his flame of youth was surely burning brightly. 'Light my butt! For a skinny dude, he sure is heavy!'
At that moment, Gai happened to walk by, "What are you wonderful youthful children doing on this fine Valentines Day?"
Lee excitedly replied running up to his favorite sensei, "We are on a mission Gai-sensei."
The bowl cut Jounin looked the teenagers surprised. "Oh you too?"
He was sure that the Hokage had given everyone the day off today.
Everyone looked at him, "Gai-sensei? You know where Hoshiakari is?" Exclaimed Naruto excitedly.
The Jounin nodded before explaining, "That youngun Hoshiakari had a mission today too! She was so excited she was practically flying through the streets"
Gai sensei sighed at the memory, "The fires of youth truly burns brightly in that one…"
Impatiently Naruto, interrupted, "Gai-sensei, did she say where she was going?"
"Oh she said something about getting a flower at Akagahara."
"EEHHHHHH"
Everyone looked at team 7. The three looked as if they were about to faint.
"Naruto-kun?" Hinata looked at her crush worriedly.
Naruto shivered as he remember the last time they had to enter the suicidal death trap where their sensei took his Chuunin exams (from Naruto OVA).
"What is she thinking going there!" Screamed Sakura angrily. "Does she know how dangerous that place is!"
Hinata was getting a very bad feeling about this. The others in the group were now staring at Naruto's team who were frozen in various poses. The blond member's jaw was in a permanent dropped position. Sakura looked as if she was about to pop a couple of veins, and Sasuke's uneasy expression revealed that he would rather be elsewhere.
"What do you mean? Tell us!" Kiba yelled as he began shaking Naruto.
"Akagahara is the forest where Kakashi-sensei took his Chuunin exams." The Uchiha explained.
An ominous feeling entered the atmosphere. Lee turned to his idol, "Is it really that dangerous sensei"
Gai nodded before responding, "That place was banned because of the high mortality rate."
Hinata began to feel lightheaded.
"THEN WHY'D YOU LET HER GO THERE BY HERSELF!!!" Sakura was furious that as a responsible sensei he had allowed the little girl to go into such a dangerous place by herself.
The Jounin shrugged, "She said it was for a mission." His expression turned serious as he continued, "And let it be known that I, Gai sensei, would never stand between such a youthful child and her mission!"
Tears streaming down his face, Lee cheered his sensei on, "Yosh! That is my Gai-sensei!"
Kiba released Naruto and began shaking the unfortunate Chuunin, "HEY WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON!?!?!"
Gaara stood by watching their antics. The sun had already past its highest point and would start to set soon. If they wanted to find the child in time, they would have to hurry up. He leveled a stare at the Uchiha. "How dangerous is it?"
"The whole place is a death trap." Came the blunt reply.
The Hyuuga heiress began to feel faint.
"Yeah, there are so many traps," Naruto interrupted loudly, "one wrong move and you set off a whole bunch of traps like, shuriken, and explosions that could take out half the forest. Not only that it's filled with all these giant bugs, acid ponds, man eating plants, weird animals. It's a hundred times worse than the forest of death! Then there are those weird puppet-like things that no matter how much you kill there always seems to be a hundred more."
-BAM- "Awww, Sakura-chan!" He cried as he nursed the new lump rising from his blond head. "Why'd you do that for?"
His female teammate glared back, "Naruto, stop it you're going to scare Hinata!"
Naruto chuckled sheepishly as realized his blunder, "Oh, heh heh, Gomen Hinata-chan, don't worry, I'm sure Hoshiakari's going to be just fine…".
Naruto watched nervously as he saw the indigo haired teen begin to sway. In his excitement in describing the forest and its dangers, the blond loudmouth had unwittingly filled her mind with images of her daughter being torn to pieces by booby traps and monstrous creatures.
"Hinata-chan? Oi Hinata-chan!" Naruto tried to get her attention by giving her shoulder a gentle shake. His only response as a soft sigh as she fainted into his arms.
"EEEEEHHHHH!?!?!? Hinata-chan I was only joking! HINATAAA!!!!" The poor kunoichi had finally fainted from the imagery and landed in Naruto's arms. The force of her fall had the two teenagers landing on the sidewalk.
"Dobe."
Akagahara…
Panting, Hoshiakari arrived at the lake. 'It's beautiful…' Surrounding the lake was a blanket of white flowers that shone gently in the setting sun.
'Now to get past that leach filled lake…' It was hard to believe that while the lake sparkled invitingly, the wiser ones knew that below the innocent purity lake lived poisonous snakes, and other deadly creatures. The only thing preventing them from escaping the area were the white flowers that created a natural barrier.
'As long as I stay here for now, I'll be fine.'
Plopping herself among the soft white blossoms, she began to ponder a way to traverse the lake safely and continued reminiscing on her first Valentines Day mission…
-continuing Hoshiakari flashback-
Hoshiakari was desperately trying to fan the now dripping red orchid dry. She had looked all over her kaasan's greenhouse and couldn't find a single red flower that could pass as an orchid. Finally, she had settled on dying a common purple one and hoped that it would be enough to fool her kaasan. The only problem was that she had spent the past few hours trying to dye it red and now the darn thing wouldn't dry! Giving up, she grabbed a paper towel to absorb the excess dye. Satisfied with the color, she placed it in a similar vase she had found and ran off to do the switch.
Kazen watched as his imouto ran out of their parent's bedroom carrying a sack. 'imouto…?' Wondering what his little sibling was up to, the boy peered into his parents' bedroom. His jaw dropped as he saw the red flower standing in the glass vase. 'I thought I threw that away!' With a quick check of the corridor, he tiptoed into the room, snatched the flower and ran off.
'Okay, I've tried throwing it away; I guess the only safe place is my room then.'
Kazen just hoped that he could figure out another way of getting of the flower before his tousan found out. Placing the flower on his desk, he rubbed his face in frustration. How the flower got back into the bedroom he couldn't figure it out. Maybe it was a magical flower that liked to cause trouble and that was why his tousan wouldn't let his kaasan go pick it. But if that was the case, then why'd she go get it in the first place? Maybe it was to get back his tousan for that fight last week. Kazen hadn't really mind cause his kaasan was there, and they seemed to have made up afterwards. The boy clutched his red hair, all this thinking was giving him a headache. Deciding that it wouldn't hurt to take a break now that he had the flower, he went out to grab a cookie from the kitchen. About to lock the door, he jumped into the air at the sound of his kaasan.
"Kazen?" Hinata watched her son's fidgeting worriedly, "Daijoubu desu ka. Is something wrong?"
"Ah gomen kaasan. N-nothing's wrong! I-I was just s-sprised that's all! I'm not hiding anything, nope nothn' here!"
Hinata tried to keep her mouth from forming a smile as she noticed her son using his slight body to prevent her from entering his room. 'Hmmm….what is he trying to hide from me?…'
"Ahem, Hinata-sama," Two turned to see the Kazekage's personal assistant bow before continuing. "The Kazekage is looking for you, he wishes to ask you about something."
"Arigatou Mizuki-san, I'll go right now."
The messenger bowed his respects to the two and indicated for them to follow.
Kazen panicked, "Ah, Kaasan! I remember'd Hoshiakari said that she wants to show you som'thn'."
Hinata giggled, "Okay, but first let's go see what your tousan wants…"
"But but she said that it was really important and that you needs to come now."
"-sigh- okay," Hinata turned back to the amused man, "Please tell him that I will be there in a minute."
"As you wish Hinata-sama." Bowing once again, he left to relay her message.
Meanwhile, Kazen had secretly made a sand clone to intercept the servant. As soon as the unsuspecting man rounded the corner, the clone quickly ambushed him. He then tossed the bound and gagged servant into the closet. "Sumimasen, I'll let you out later when it's safe."
"Mmph!!! Mmph!!!" The servant struggled frantically as he saw the child solemnly close the door.
The real Kazen had taken his mother into Hoshiakari's room. "Ano, Kazen where is Hoshiakari?"
Kazen began to mentally sweat and blurted the first excuse that came to mind, "Ah, she probably got tired of waiting and went to get us. Stay right here! I'll go get her." He then ran out of the room to his father's office.
Puzzled, Hinata allowed her eyes to gaze about the room as she waited. Feeling a bit bored, she began sorting the papers on her daughter's desk when something caught her eye. Hinata carefully picked up the flower from her daughter's desk, 'I wonder how this got here…'
Checking to make sure that it was indeed her flower, Hinata took the flower back to her room, making a note to ask her daughter about it later.
"Enter." Gaara looked up to see the servant return from his errand. "Gomenasai Kazekage-sama, Hinata-sama sends her regrets that she is unable to come at the moment. Might I relay the message for you instead?"
Gaara shook his head. "I'll just ask her later. Dismissed."
Out of the Kazekage's hearing range, the servant sighed and in a poof of smoke Kazen returned. "Whew that was close!"
"What was close?"
"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!! Kaasan n-nothing I was just playing hide-n-seek with Hoshiakari and she almost caught me thas all!" Kazen felt as if his heart was about to burst from his chest. This was way too much excitement for a five year old.
Puzzled, Hinata frowned, "But I thought you said that she wanted to show me something."
"Right! She-she just wanted to show you her new ninja trick! Uhhh, I think I hear her coming, quick we have to get out of here!" Kazen then grabbed his bewildered mother and ran down the hall.
-end Hoshiakari flashback-
"Hey put me down you overgrown birdie!" While a Hoshiakari was lost in her memories, a giant hawk and caught sight of her indigo colored hair among the white flowers. Unfortunately, it also thought that she would make a good meal. Thinking quickly, Hoshiakari created two other clones in an effort to weigh the bird down.
"Lemme go! OOOOOH when I get out of this I'm going to make you wish you never saw me! Put me down!"
The girl, still tired from her trip through the forest, felt her clones begin to disappear and was lifted into the air.
About to come up with another plan Hoshiakari felt a jolt as the bird squawked in pain. She twisted her head up to see a large sand spear piercing the left wing. "Gaara-jiisan!"
The bird glared down at the newcomer with hatred. It was about to swooped down when suddenly sand spikes shot up around it, cause the hawk to lose its grip on the prey. Giving an indignant screech the bird retreated.
"AAAAAHHHHH" Hoshiakari braced herself waiting to hit the hard ground below. The ground never came and the feeling of falling was halted. Cracking her eyes open, Hoshiakari looked straight into the Kazekage's eyes. 'Wait…why does everything look brighter?' She felt her face. 'Uh oh…'
Gaara's eyes widen as he continued to stare into another pair of sea green eyes. They could almost have been his own if they had pupils. A closer look revealed that they were not as bluish green as he first thought. 'There's a bit of a lavender tinge in them…'
Speechlessly, he settled, his newfound daughter on her feet.
"Uhhh…." Hoshiakari didn't know what to say. Awkward silence stretched between father and daughter.
"…" Gaara brusquely gave her the sunglasses.
Hoshiakari quickly snatched them and returned them to her face. 'What do I say? I'm gonna be in so much trouble…'
Hoshiakari looked up at her father. The Kazekage stood there with his arms crossed giving her an expecting look. "Uh oh, how'd you find me?"
"Gai sensei."
"OOOOHHHH, that squealer!" Hoshiakari too crossed her arms and stomped her feet before peering back up at him. "Are you here to stop me?"
Gaara shook his head slowly. He still couldn't believe that he was her tousan. "Everyone's looking for you Hoshiakari. Your kaasan is very worried."
Hoshiakari looked up in surprise, "But I wrote a note."
"There was no note."
"Where're the others?" Hoshiakari looked around expecting the others to suddenly pop up.
"We thought it best if fewer people came." Gaara smirked, "Naruto and his team are still fighting the puppets in the clover field."
"Puppets?" She was sure she would have remembered seeing killer puppets on the way here. After all that she had been through today, killer puppets would have been more preferable.
Gaara nodded. "He accidentally toppled a statue over while warning the others not to. It triggered a trap."
Hoshiakari sweat dropped. "Kaasan?"
"She's still climbing the mountain."
Cautiously he knelt down to look her in the eye and removed the sunglasses once more. He ran his thumb under her right eye to reassure himself that he was not imagining things. His light jade eyes looked questioningly into hers as if asking 'are you really my daughter?' Hoshiakari nodded. Accepting it for now, he hesitated before gently placing the sunglasses over her eyes.
Hoshiakari looked sadly at the red orchids on the little island in the middle of the lake.
Gaara followed her line of sight. "Are you trying to gather those flowers?"
"Hai, kaasan always got one for you evry valentines day, but I thought that I would get one for you this year cause she can't" Hoshiakari looked down before continuing. "Kaasan said that if you wanted to show someone that you truly loved them, then you would give them the red orchid on Valentines Day. But now it's almost over."
She watched sadly, as the sun was nearly disappearing over the horizon. Turning back, she started on the long path back down the mountain. "Whoa!" The little girl struggled as she felt her feet abruptly leave the ground. Sand tendrils wrapped themselves around her waist and carried her through the air deposit her gently in Gaara's lap. Looking around, she saw that they were floating on small mound of sand. Happily, she hugged her tousan in thanks as the two flew safely to the desired red orchids. Excitedly, Hoshiakari bent over the side to grab a red flower.
"I guts it! I guts it!" she cried excitedly.
Gaara nodded and used his sand to transport them back to the safety of the white flowers. Leaping off, Hoshiakari turned around and gave the flower to her father. The Kazekage had barely brushed his fingers on its petals when a shout was heard. They looked up to see Hinata running towards them. He quickly move aside as she ran past him, seeing only her daughter. 'Our daughter…'
Feeling strange, he looked down to see a tiny amount of red powder on his fingertips. He quickly bent down to wipe it onto a nearby white flower. For some reason he couldn't stop staring at the Hyuuga heiress. 'Her hair…they have the hues of soft heather…have they always looked as such?' He shook his head trying to get rid of such thoughts 'What is happening to me…'
"Hoshiakari!" Hinata, knelt down before her daughter checking for any injuries. Her gaze fell upon the flower in her daughter's hand. Gasping, Hinata quickly grabbed her daughter's gloved wrist and immediately peeled it off using it as a pouch for the flower. "Hoshiakari! Please tell me you didn't touch its petals!"
Confused the child shook her head, " Iie, kaasan."
Gaara held his hand to his head as he tried to overcome the strange sudden urge grab his future wife and kiss her.
Unaware of the poor guy's inner struggle, Hinata hugged her daughter in relief. "Thank goodness!"
"Kaasan, what's wrong, I thought it was good to give the red orchid on valentines day?"
"Hoshiakari, that wasn't the right red orchid."
"Eeeh?!?! Then what did I grab?"
Hinata was about to explain when she was suddenly grabbed by the arm, "Kazekage-sa-" The rest of her words were cut off by Gaara's mouth.
'NO!!! My first kiss! My first kiss was suppose to be for Naruto-kun!'
Hinata struggled to escape the Sand master's arms. Stubbornly he tightened his arms around her and deepened his kiss. 'No! I must remain loyal to Naruto, Naruto, Naru-who?' Hinata felt her knees weaken.
Hoshiakari quickly slammed her hands over her eyes. "AAAAHHHH MY EYES IT BURNNNNSSSSSS!!!!!!"
-continue Hoshiakari flashback-
Hoshiakari had returned to her room to find the flower missing. Frantically, the toddler began searching all the rooms. Stopping in front of her little brother's room, she peered in to see if he was there and saw the flower sitting on his desk. She quickly rushed in, grabbed the flower and made a break for it.
Meanwhile, Kazen was standing in his parents' room scratching his head puzzled. The flower was really starting to scare him. The little tyke couldn't figure out how the flower had gotten back into his kaasan's room again. He may be only 5 years old but even he knew that flowers didn't walk around or opened doors. 'Well they shouldn't be able to anyway…stupid magic flow'r!'
He warily poked the flower expecting it to jump up on its own and attack him. Sighing at his own silliness, Kazen snatched the flower again, stuffed it into his sack and ran back to his room.
Not wanting to get caught, the red headed boy stole glances behind him in case either of his parents just happened to show up. Unluckily for him, his sister, also having the same idea was currently leaving his room.
As the two ran blindly towards their destinations, they forgot one the basic rules of running. Always keep your eyes to the front.
WHAM!
The two small bodies flew backwards with the force of the impact and landed roughly on the ground. As they landed they both gazed up in horror as the two sacks sailed through the air. Each then took a diving leap to save what they thought was their sack, shouted quick apologies, and quickly dashed to their respective rooms.
Later that evening, Hinata ran around the house fervently searching for her flower. 'I wonder if it is back in Hoshiakari's room...'
Hoshiakari stood frozen as she watched her mother leave her room carrying the red orchid. 'Oh no…' The little girl quickly dashed after her mother.
Meanwhile, Kazen was desperately trying to keep his father from giving the white box to his mother.
"Tousan you can't give it to kaasan!"
Gaara raised an eyebrow, "Why not?"
"Cause cause it's Valentines day that's why!" He cried out.
The little boy watched as his father just shrugged, "That does not matter to me."
'Oh no, tousan must be madder than I thought!' "But but tousan, Kaasan didn't really go there!"
"Go where?" Gaara asked his son.
"The place where she wasn't suppose to go but she went there even though you said she wasn't suppose to go…uh oh" Kazen smack his head at his mistake.
Gaara chuckled "I know now. Now Kazen, you should be getting to bed." Gaara said trying to get his son to sleep.
"But but tousan, Kaasan didn't really mean it!"
Gaara sighed, "Kazen, are you alright?"
He placed a hand on his son's head. "You don't have a fever…but you do look tired. It's past your bedtime. You'll feel better after some sleep." He then gently tucked his son into bed before leaving to search for his wife.
In Hinata's bedroom, Hoshiakari was not having anymore luck than her brother. "Kaasan! Please don't give tousan the flower!"
"Hoshiakari?" Hinata stared blankly at her daughter. "Wha-"
"Tousan didn't really mean what he said last week and he's really sorry for the fight!" Tried the little girl.
"Hoshiakari, what are you talking about." Hinata asked, as she tried to tug the flower back from her daughter.
"Tousan please don't do it!" The two females turned to see Gaara trying to enter the room with Kazen clinging tightly to his left leg.
"Kazen! I thought I had put you to bed!"
It was a comical sight as the two children were trying dragging their parents apart.
"Gaara?" Gaara looked up to see his wife in a tug of war with his daughter. "What is going on here?"
The little girl released the flower causing her kaasan to stumble.
Hoshakari and Kazen simultaneously replied, "I'm trying to save kaasan/tousan!"
The two looked at each other, "What are you talking about?"
Hoshiakari ran to her brother, "I'm trying to keep kaasan from killing tousan!"
"What're you talking about?" Kazen turned to his imouto and flapped his arms wildly. "Tousan's the one trying to kill kaasan!"
"Is not!" The little girl crossed her arms, ready to stand her ground.
Kazen stared at his imouto. Her cape must be on too tight and cutting off air to her tiny head. It was obvious that tousan was going to do the killing. "Is too!!!"
That crash earlier must have rattled something loose in that head of his. After all, she had heard firsthand that kaasan was going to kill tousan. "IS NOT!!!"
"IS TOO!"
Hoshiakari tackled her older sibling, hoping to shake some brain cells back into him. "Is not!"
The Kazekage and his wife stood in stun silence, and watched their two normally sane children trying to strangle one another. "Is too!"
"Enough!" The two froze at their father's voice. Finally becoming impatient, the Kazekage used his sand coffin restrain his two children.
"Now, I want each of you to calmly explain the meaning of this." He continued sternly, while Hinata looked worriedly at her two children.
"Gaara, I think you should let them go first. They can't talk if their mouths are covered." She reasoned gently.
Gaara released them but kept the sand ready in case they decided to pull something. "Kazen you first…"
Ten minutes later, Hinata was hiding her face in her husband's shoulder as she tried to contain her laughter while her husband stood there smirking.
Kazen looked at his kaasan through tear-filled eyes. "Kaasan this isn't funny tousan's going to kill you!"
"Kazen, the servants were probably just joking around, your tousan wouldn't really kill me."
"But but the box!"
Gaara opened the box to reveal a gold heart-shaped locket. On the side was a clasp made of two tiny gemstones an amethyst and light emerald, both encased with a ring of gold.
"Oh" The little boy blushed with embarrassment and suddenly found the rug to be very interesting.
Hoshiakari was still not convinced about her kaasan. "What about the flower?"
"Same here, the flower is harmless. They were just probably saying how surprise he was going to be when he saw it. It's just a saying Hoshiakari." Hinata held the flower to her face and breath in its subtle fragrance. "See, everything's fine."
"Oh." The three year old joined her brother in perusing the decorative rug.
Gaara smiled at his two children. "Now, I see that the two of you have completed your…missions." Hinata couldn't stop a small giggle from escaping her lips.
"However," Gaara continued sternly, "It is now way past your bedtimes. Go to bed."
"Aww, but tousan! We're not tired yet!" Kazen cried. All this excitement had made the two toddlers very hyper.
Gaara smirked, "Fine then I suppose if your kaasan and I do this." He quickly grabbed his wife in for a kiss.
"AAAAHHHHHH MY EYES!!!! …EWWWW, GROOOSSSS!!! STOP STOP, IT BUUURNS!!!"The two children screamed, playing along.
Two pairs of tiny footsteps were heard scrambling out the door.
-end Hoshiakari flashback-
Hoshiakari peeked through her fingers to see if her parents were done kissing yet. 'How can they kiss for so long? Don't they need to breathe or something?' (Yeah I wonder how they do that too.)
Gaara fought down the urge and released his captive. The kunoichi, dimly registered her freedom but was unable to do more than collapse helplessly against her captor.
The two soon regain their composure and Hinata, now with a deep red blush continued her explanation before the small distraction. …
… "So you mean that flow'r was an afrodizzyact?" Hoshiakari asked trying out the new word.
"Uh huh. The aphrodisiac on that flower was the reason for the sudden urge you felt Kazekage-sama" She explained apologetically. "It's alright though, you only lightly touched its petals, and the symptoms don't last long."
"Gomenasai, Gaara-jiisan." Hoshiakari looked down sadly.
'-jiisan…' Gaara preferred it when she called him her father. "No, Arigatoo, Hoshiakari for the gift."
He summoned a larger platform for all of them to ride upon. The Kazekage then wrapped his daughter in his black cloak and sat her in his lap. "It is cold." He explained at Hinata's questioning glance.
The two arrived at the red clover field just as team 7 finished replacing the statue.
Sakura sat on the ground exhausted but happy to see them all safe. "I see you're all okay. Gomen, we would have been there faster if someone hadn't broken the statue in half!" She glared at the culprit who sheepishly scratched his blond hair.
"Heh hey, I guess I didn't know my own strength." Naruto apologized.
"Baka! We had to use Sasuke's chidori to melt the edges so that we could glue it back together again!" She yelled angrily.
Naruto waved her away, "maa maa, at least we got the statue back into its place."
"And whose fault it was in the first place?!"
"A-ano, maybe we should s-stop fighting and get out of here?" Hinata was happy to have her daughter back and didn't want to spend a moment longer in this crazy place.
Happy at the reprieve, Naruto agreed. "Hinata-chan's right. Let's go for some ramen everyone! Gaara, can you take us out of here?"
Gaara silently enlarged the sand island and allowed the others to climb aboard.
"Wooohooo, Ichiraku here we come!"
A/N: Happy Valentines Day everyone! Don't forget to review:D