Disclaimer: I own it? No way….
Author's Note: My first one-shot…one of my other stories, 'The Color of Love' was originally a one-shot, but it ended up getting too long, sigh hopefully, people will like this one….
Once upon a time...
They've never really been friends, not really enemies either. They've never even spoken to each other in their lives, but then again, one barely speaks to anyone.
They are complete utterly strangers to each other, and they would have stayed that way….
"Good morning Hinata! We're just waiting for Ino pig to come, and then we can go."
Loud-mouthed Sakura waved from across the bar. Hinata was meeting Ino and Sakura at the ramen bar.
It just so happened that Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara were there too. For what reasons, Hinata and Sakura didn't know, and they didn't intend on asking them either.
"Hey look"
Sakura whispered, glancing in the direction of the Sand Siblings,
"A-are those th-th-the Sand S-siblings?"
Hinata asked meekly as Sakura nodded, the Hyyuga took a good look at each person, but took a longer time observing Gaara.
Hinata had heard the tales of the youngest Sand Sibling, the one called Gaara. She had heard of how he 'killed' his mother, and his dreaded childhood.
'That's really sad, what happened to him in the past. He must have felt so lonely…no friends, I would have been his friend! Really! I would! But then again…he might not want to be friends with me…'
AT GAARA'S TABLE WITH GAARA, TEMARI, AND KANKURO…
"Hey, Kankuro, is that the Hyyuga girl?"
Temari tilted her head to the direction of Sakura's table, where she and Hinata were waiting for their other friend. Kankuro nodded,
"I heard that she is almost as powerful as her cousin, except her skills are not yet fully unleashed. And that she has no idea. Pitiful thing, her parents kept everything a secret. Her real strength is yet to be awakened. It might be for the best if we keep away from her. Hanging around her might ruin our reputation. We've spent years trying to build a sturdy background, so that we won't be bothered, and that everybody knows that we're the ones in charge. "
Gaara remained silent as Temari began to chatter away on another subject. Kankuro cut his sister off and switched the subject back to Hinata.
"But on the other hand, she is sort of hot"
Kankuro grinned, wearing the face of a cat ready to strike his prey.
"Kankuro, leave her alone. There are plenty of other girls to choose from. Keep her out of this"
Kankuro stopped smiling,
"I see, you've taken a liking? Well, I won't be any competition don't worry. Little Gaara is finally becoming a man!"
Gaara rolled his eyes, but threatened in a menacing voice,
"If you don't shut up, I'll snap your neck in half, and I'll 'redecorate' Crow for you"
"Alright, no need to get hasty! I'm just saying, but still. If you don't want her, just say the word, I'm prepared to have her at ANY time"
"Save it, Kankuro! You too Gaara, as both of you HAVEN'T noticed, she already left"
Temari could see herself as being the only sensible person at the table. Gaara stood up, almost ready to run after her himself.
"Where did she go?"
Gaara looked around franticly, Temari and Kankuro broke out laughing hysterically. Hinata and Sakura remained as they were, but now they were joined by Ino.
Gaara could feel his temper rising, so he stood up and left, leaving Kankuro to wipe tears from his eyes and Temari to clutch her stomach tightly.
(She was laughing so hard, her stomach started to hurt, trust me, it hurts)
Hinata saw something or someone move from the corner of her eye as she turned her head, to see Gaara looking right back at her.
She blushed and looked away quickly.
Gaara walking out of the shop quickly, his older siblings, still uncontrollable with laughter.
'Who the hell am I kidding? Everyone has always been afraid of me before…how's now any different? She's just like everyone else…'
Hinata thought that Gaara was leaving because he was disturbed by her, so he left.
'What should I do?! Maybe he just doesn't like me very much, but we hardly know each other! Oh, what should I do?! Maybe I could. … no wait, that won't work. What can I do for Gaara sama to notice me?'
THE NEXT DAY IN THE PARK….
Hinata was taking a walk in the park, 'What a beautiful day!'
The shy kunoichi looked around to see if there was any pedestrians or people walking by. There was nobody.
So she spun around happily, laughing and smiling to herself. She was so busy dancing, she didn't notice Gaara taking a seat on a nearby bench.
As Hinata danced and whirled around again, she tripped on a rock, and went flying right into the arms of Gaara.
She looked up, confused, and trying to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. Hinata softly raised a hand and touched his cheek softly, he was real all right!
Gaara grabbed her wrist and held it tightly, as if he wanted to squeeze it and pop it.
"O-ow, y-you're hurting me!"
Hinata tried to sit up with a straight back, but slipped once again and fell onto Gaara's lap.
She blushed and gave a small, 'eep!'
"Smile more" He commanded, Hinata stopped squirming and sort of turned around in her seat,
"Wha- What did y-you s-s-say?"
Gaara remained quiet and looked away so she wouldn't see him blushing.
'Why am I even attracted to this stuttering fool?' Another side of Gaara seemed to reply back
'She's cute, and when she is stuttering, it makes me want to throw my arms around her…
What the hell?! Listen to me talking to myself, what the hell am I talking about?!
I'm talking about Hinata, duh
Whatever! What does she even look for in a guy like me?
Well, yourself. I don't think she'll mind.
I must be losing it, I'm talking to myself.
Well, you're THINKING.
Get out of my head'
"G-gaara kun? Can I p-p-please have my h-hand back? S-s-sorry, b-but it's b-b-bleeding."
Gaara's brain sort of refreshed itself at the world, 'bleeding' and even worse, it came from HINATA!!
He snapped back into reality and looked at his own hand still grasping her hand. And it was true; her hand had really started to bleed.
'Damn…why does she have to be so fragile? My nails aren't that sharp are they?'
Hinata flinched as Gaara brought her bleeding hand up to his mouth. He put his lips to Hinata's small, pale hand. She swallowed hard,
'His lips are…so…soft….'
Gaara sucked up all the spilling blood, just to make sure she wouldn't get an infection or anything. And he spit it out in a bush next to the bench.
He quickly let go of her hand and stood up, trying to ignore Hinata's small yelp as she fell onto the dirt path.
"Ow…"
He was now getting both irritated and a bit curious. Why was it that this dark haired girl so delicate?
Gaara looked down at Hinata, to see her gently massaging her left ankle.
"What happened?" Gaara's question was sort of more of a barking command then a question. Hinata felt like she was standing on the edge of a cliff, and if she fell, the urge to cry would grow.
"I-I twisted m-my a-ank-k-kle…"
Tears burned in her eyes and Gaara sighed exasperatedly, bending down, he took a look at her pants. He couldn't see if anything was wrong, so he pushed the left leg of her pants up.
Hinata started to cringe, but Gaara put one firm hand on her small white leg, he looked at it.
Gaara helped her up and turned his back to her, his knees slightly bent.
"Well? Get on"
"W-w-where are w-w-we going?"
"I'm taking you home, where else? Do you have to stop by the store to get something?"
Gaara asked sarcastically. Hinata obviously didn't see the joke, and shook her head, 'no.' Slowly, she got onto Gaara's back, and he held her legs securely as if to protect her.
'Wow…she's so light, I can barely feel her weight on my back. Hinata is so pure…just like a child; she doesn't know the horrors of the world yet. I want to help her…carry her home every time she twists her ankle, I want to catch her every time she falls, every time she cries, I want to catch her tears, and console her. Then I want to embrace her, and kiss her without stopping…'
"Hinata…"
This surprised the girl, this has got to be the first time Gaara has ever said her name aloud.
"Y-yes G-gaara kun?"
Gaara loved the way she said his name, it was like a bell, and every time she repeated it, it was like she was singing a song.
It was just the way she said it, that made Gaara like his name.
"I…"
He didn't know how to say this, and this was surprisingly scary, coming from the youngest Sand Sibling. Gaara stopped walking.
"I want to show you the world…I want to hug you every time you cry…I…I want to be with you…forever…."
Hinata's eyes quickly widened, was she listening correctly?
And the sight was a little awkward. Even though nobody was around, it was strange, a boy carrying a girl on his back, standing in the park, with their backs to a gorgeous orange sunset.
She closed her eyes, as tears rained down her light pink cheeks. Gaara could feel something wet against his back,
"T-thank you….and y-yes…I…I want us t-to be t-together…."
Hinata plucked up all her courage and gently kissed his neck.
"I would have kissed your cheek…but I kind of can't"
Hinata smiled, proud of herself for not stuttering for the first time in a long time. Gaara looked at the ground and sort of smiled, and continued to walk.
He knew that life was like a continuous path, and that their entire lives will be spent walking down this path, before, Gaara would walk alone on the path, his shadow followed, but they never spoke. Now, Gaara and Hinata would be walking the same path, hand-in-hand, forever….
And they lived happily ever after…..