Disclaimer; I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters.

Helloooo! I'm hoping to make a nice big story for this one before I decide to do other things, at first it will be slightly implied Naruto x Hinata, but most stories with her aim at that ANYWAY to begin with haha, so why not join in with the fuss of it all? My focus right now is Gaara x Hinata (which will be happening a little further into the chapters, first couple of chapters focus on mainly Hinata) it will be set where the age range for the teams is around 24 years old. I'm a little rusty with my Naruto stuff right now so please try and tolerate the sloppyness. I'm not aiming for much of a fighting typed story, but mainly a sit back and relax story.

I'm not sure how great it will be or how much attention it will get since I don't generally see a lot of attention for this pairing, and given I've never attempted a full on, decent chapter sized, story before but I'm going to give it a try anyway :) it'll help me shape myself up.

BUT ANYWAY! Please, enjoy!

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Strange Magic

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Chapter One - Invitation

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Today had to be one of the most beautiful days she had ever seen; the sun was just starting to rise and the morning glow was a beautiful rosey/golden tint staining the sky and few clouds that float overhead slowly. As the sky grew bluer and bluer by the passing minutes she would find herself making her way towards Ichiraku's ramen shop to meet with Naruto. She had been told by the hyperactive blond to meet him there when the sun rose, saying there had been something planned for her... you know... since today is infact her twentyfourth birthday. She smiled to herself as she made her way to the ramen shop, which at this time was still closed and wouldn't be open for another 2 hours yet; most of Konoha was still asleep actually. She wondered to herself... just WHAT does Naruto want her to meet him for at such and early time? Maybe it will be something she had always dreamed about... even if it wasn't for that... but one could only hope, right? Regardless, she would continue to smile lightly to herself as she walked with such grace and gentle steps, hair flowing behind her lightly in the cool morning breeze of what is the last days of Summer for the Fire Nation, even now some trees had began slowly changing colors. She would turn the corner and start walking down the street to the ramen shop, she couldn't see Naruto waiting; today she had decided to be there early on purpose, excited to know what it is he wanted. She would stop by the shop and wait, silently gazing up into the sky with those impressive, Byakugan weilding eyes which always seemed to be a pale, almost white, lavender shade with an almost unseeable pupil. Even without her Byakugan activated, she could hear and sense the people around her, the people who had just started waking from their homes as the birds sang away to their merry little selves. There was one she sensed that stuck out from the rest, and she turned in time to see the hyperactive blond running down the street with a big grin "HINATAAAAA!" he called, making the poor girl squeak and burn bright red as he would throw his arms around her in a big hug "happy birthday, Hinata!" he said loudly, earning disgruntled sounds from all around at his rude loudness this early in the morning.

Hinata prods her index fingers together and tipped her feet inwards at the toetips, slightly toeing at the ground with her sandal in that adorable, shy manner she had always given with her face cast down to hide the growing blush "I-I u-um... th-thank y-you Naruto" she mumbled shyly and the male just giggled humorously as he pulled away from the almost dying, of shyness, Hinata; who would instantly glance up at his smiling face shyly as she continued to fidget "Naruto, must you almost kill the poor girl every time you greet her?" Saklura questions with a huff as she and Sasuke arrive, the tall dark male would just remain silent as usual as Sakura gave Hinata a hug "happy birthday" she said, both smiling at each other. Hinata knew in her heart that Naruto still liked Sakura, a lot, even though he knew the pink haired woman crushed madly for Sasuke who never really showed her much interest; and still didn't... sort of. He did hang around with her more lately, which was certainly new. Naruto had been trying so very hard lately to figure out just what's going on between the two of them and it had often lead to the blond running for his life with a VERY angry Sakura within inches of grabbing his head with a fist glowing with chakra, prepared for what will be a deathly blow... but today she was cheerful, and Naruto wasn't intent on prying as much info as he could. Right now they were only focused on the fidgeting Hinata "s-so um... wh-why did you w-want to meet me h-here?" she asks shyly and both Sakura and Naruto grin, and the blond would suddenly move forewards and pick Hinata up over his shoulder as the black haired woman squealed rather loudly in surprise; almost passing out as Naruto would jog down the street with her while Sakura sighs and follows, Sasuke following right at her side. Hinata wouldn't have been able to get any redder even if she tried at this point, powerless agains't him due to her blasted shyness as her heart raced frantically to the point it could burst right from her chest any moment.

They would be going passed the streets like a speeding bullet as they take her to the large park area. It had just been finished and had been made into a nice relaxation area of the village. Last year a large bomb had gone off in this area and layed waste to everything in the area it's radius hit. Seeing that there was nothing they could really do for the area, house wise, the Hokage had decided it will be turned into both a memorial, and relaxation park. It had tables and benches dotted about and flower patches full of vivid and beautiful flowers and a beautiful marble memorial statue in the middle with the names of the residents that were in this area... it was a hard loss for the entire village. The culprit had been found not long after; being punished severely for his crime and was now locked away where no one could see him and under constant guard along with many other criminals; no one other than the Hokage knew where this place was... As they arrive, Naruto would put the almost brainfried Hinata down on a bench and grins "ALRIGHT! WE'RE HERE!" he calls out and Hinata would be shaken from her stupor by being almost scared half to death as her team members jump out of hiding and yell surprise at her, and when Akamaru pounced on her and slobbered all over her face while his tail wagged madly, leaving poor Kiba having a hard time pulling the large canine off even though Hinata was giggling under the mass of slobbering fur as he drowns her with doggy loving goodness galore with wet sloppy kisses "AKAMARUUU" Kiba yells, but the canine would only pant with a big grin as his tongue hangs from the side of his mouth. Hinata would giggle again and crawl from under the dog and just hug into his neck as other teams were starting to arrive to greet, and share happy birthdays, to the Hyuuga. Looks like Naruto decided to plan and give her a surprise birthday party since she was out on mission last year... by the time she had returned it was far too late to celebrate; but she did get a nice welcome home party. That mission had been rough, everyone had through she was dead for she had not returned for over 7 months without a letter to the Hokage to update her, they had even sent search parties to where she was assumed to be at the time but said they found nothing; not even a trace of her but when she had returned she had explained that her mission had taken her far beyond the area of the mission and she had no time to write a letter; even if she did she would have had no way to deliver it.

Her return had been such a joyous day, she had never had so much attention in her life by everyone that she saw as her friends, but that was months back and today is today; she smiles sweetly as she looks around at all the smiles her friends were giving her as they all came to her and gave her some very needed attention and she was feeling so overwhelmed with love that she almost burst into joyful tears from it all, but that would quickly be controlled when their sensei's arrived into the mixture and when Kurenai appeared she would almost throw herself on the woman and hug into her tightly. The woman chuckled and hugs her back and also greets her other students who were equally as happy to see her. She had returned from her mission just the other night but they didn;t know that. As the large group started to chatter away it came to the time where they would all start going to the fast food places and the ramen shop to get something to eat as afternoon had fast made it's arrival. Most of the groups would stay around and chat with Hinata and each other for a few hours before they would have to go; either getting ready for missions, to go training, or simply just to return home to bed as some of them hadn't long ago returned home from missions. Eventually due to this, it would only be Team 7 and Team 8 left with each other; and what better way to spend that time than at the hotsprings? They had gotten themselves a shared pool and all would be settled into the hot waters in swimwear the building provided. Although the swimwear wasn't exactly the most best no one seemed to really care, since they were more happy just having fun or trying to keep Akamaru from splashing all the water out of their spring. They would stay here for a little while before they decided it would be fun to go for an alcoholic drinking session to celebrate even more but it was mainly Naruto and Kiba challenging each other on who could drink the most; but everyone would go along with it because really: it would be hilarious to see them trying to walk in straight lines while doing other stupid things to be better than the other.

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They had been at the bar for a few hours now and already Kiba and Naruto had somehow managed to get Sakura to join in for an hour, but she's a high leveled MEDIC; she would easily be able to get rid of the alcohol in her system if she thought she was pushing it too much. It was still amusing to watch either way as Kiba was standing on one foot with a finger on his nose while the other hand held the other foot behind him and Naruto was doing the same. Both were rather tipsy right now and luckily their silly little challenges kept them from getting too drunk way too fast, right now the challenge was this: first one to grab their shot glass loses, and considering their choice of drink was a rather tasty one; their temptations were very high. Thin lines of sweat would lace their foreheads as they fight their urge for the tasty shot started becoming very overpowering. Everyone would watch them closely, seeing who would lose this round, even Shino was almost at the edge of his seat in anticipation. Eventually, Kiba would be the one to lose as he almost pounced the shot glass and drank it down quickly. He'd growl, annoyed before challenging the Blond to the next one; ten shots in a line without break. Kiba would smirk darkly and chuckle as Naruto stared at him, as if not believeing what he just heard. The poor blond had trouble managing five in a row, but ten!? Kurenai would just find the entire thing funny, she was the only sensei here right now, Kakashi wasn't anywhere near Konoha currently; he was out on mission over at the Rain Country. Hinata would just watch Naruto and cheer him on "you can do it, Naruto!" she called, both she and Sakura were caught up in the heat of the moment "POUND HIM INTO THE GROUND, KIBA!" she yells, fists going up in the air as she cheered with the Hyuuga. Kurenai laughed at the expressions on the faces of the two men; surely it should be Sakura cheering Naruto and Hinata cheering Kiba... but it would only make Naruto try even harder, because he didn't want to lose to Kiba; especially when his crush is cheering for the dog owner and not the hyperactive blond. Sasuke would be watching boredly, sat a few seats away from Sakura. He didn't have much interest in this silly game of drink, if anything he looked like he didn't even want to be here; but he'd tolerate it for now at least, and Shino had began to lose interest as well and sat there almost lifelessly as he stared at nothing.

After a few hours more; Kiba was the one that won this time and he'd walked out of the bar while stumbling around with his head held high and a large, smug smile plastering his face at the fact he won the game this time. Akamaru would force his owner onto his back so he wouldn't stumble everywhere and end up hurting himself or someone else in the process and Naruto staggered out not long after. Kurenai, only slightly tipsy, would give her farewells to them and tell them she's going home before she walked away from them. Sakura chuckled as she watched the two drunken men argue with each other with nothing but slurring words, and Hinata would giggle at Sakura's side at the funny sight. They would lazily wave goodbye to Hinata, Sakura, Sasuke and Shino as they leave the group behind; most likely heading to the comforts of their own homes and beds. Judging by the time, and considering how long a day it's actually been, the sun was already setting and Hinata thought to herself that time sure did fly when you're having fun. She enjoyed her day today, even though Naruto and Kiba spent most of their own time challenging each other with drinking game after drinking game with a variety of silly, and funny, minigames to go along with it. Shine would say his farewells and leave soon after Kurenai did, leaving Sakura and Sasuke to part ways with Hinata not long after. They would walk the Hyuuga to her home first of course before lurking off down the street together; who knows where they were going? Only them two alone did. Hinata sighs to herself and smiles warmly at the good feeling she still has from today, then looks to the doormat of the front of the home to see a parcel there with her name written on it. It looks like it came from Suna. She would pick up the parcel and enter her home, placing the parcel in her room before going back downstairs to join her family for the second part of her birthday. Her family had arranged a special gathering and dinner, with a small party afterwards. She would stay with them for a few hours to enjoy their company and their cheerful partying with her as they all gave her a gift each. The gifts would all be something precious and something only given between the family, something she would cherish forever.

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Each gift she had been given would be placed neatly on the shelf in her room as she now started to change out of todays clothes and slipped into something more comfortable as she got ready for bed. She would put the parcel on her bed and open it carefully. Inside would be a letter with Temari's handwiting on it saying Hinata, and underneath would be some desert suited clothes and also three different ornaments; Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara had sent her a pretty ornament each. Seeing as Gaara's closest friend is Naruto, he had also had time to get to know Hinata and all the others as well, though he may not exactly be very close to Hinata right now he still made sure that she would at least get something for her birthday this year. Kankuro and Temari had thought the same but Temari sent her desert clothing? Hinata was confused by that as she examines the pretty sculptured ornaments; Temari sent a hand crafted desert songbird, Hinata always found their melody to beautiful. Kankuro sent a glass ornament of the puppet that she liked, it was a new one he had made at the time and it didn't look as scary as his other puppets, it was shaped like a cute animal; yet it was just as lethal as his other ones; carrying a lethal neurotoxin with it. The ornament wouldn't have that inside it though obviously. Hinata smiles some as she picked up the one Gaara sent; this one wasn't really an ornament; it was a Desert Quartz that was shaped like a Kunai. The pretty gem was very well cut and polished, and was actually extremely sharp, having been crafted into a weapon for her. It would feel a little heavy but thanks to her strength it wouldn't feel overly heavy and she examines every inch of the beautiful kunai before placing her gifts on the shelf with the rest of her ornaments before sitting on the bed to open the letter that Temari had written for her.

"Dear Hinata, Temari here!

I know this may be kinda sudden but; who cares? Look, we know it's your birthday and chances are this will arrive to you either before, during, or after that so all in all; happy birthday Hinata. Now, what I'm getting at here is that maybe, just maybe, you'd like to come to Suna for a month or two and just have a nice little vacation in a home away from home and I'd be very happy if you could come on over. We have this new massage girl in and she's completely amazing, I'll get you a free massage with any scented oils you'd like! Plus I'd like to ask if you would like to be a training partner with my little brother too while you're here, he's been getting out of whack with training a little too much lately with being Kazekage and all and I think it would be nice for him to just break free and get some sparring in here and there. Kankuro's sessions are getting esy too old, even mine are as well. He knows what to expect but he won't know how to judge you fully, I think it will be fun!

Gaara thought hard on what to send you as well, he told us that he was sending you that lovely looking kunai both as a gift, and an aid in your future battles. Our crafter said it will never blunt, chip or even break so that's great, right?! He said he decided on that because you're good friends to Naruto and to him; a close friend of Naruto is a friend to him and he wanted to make sure you had a good chance by having a really good weapon. Kankuro sent the glass figure of the cute little puppet he made because he knows just how much you like it, and me? I sent the ornament of the bird because I noticed that you'd always smile and stare off into space whenever they sang.

I heard Shikamaru's going to come here for a vacation on the 30th so why not tag along with him? I sent you that lovely set you liked the look of too. Just have a good think about it okay? Great! See you soon! Hopefully..."

The 30th... That was two days away, with the third day being the day of departure! Hinata sat there and thought to herself... Should she? It would be nice to have a vacation... she hadn't had a vacation away from konoha for some years now and she felt her emotions itch strongly, maybe it would be good to just get away for a little while... and if Shikamaru's going; at least she wouldn't have to travel alone. She would think hard to herself as she pulls out a beautiful, lavender and white desert set. The top wasn't very revieling but showed off mostly the arms and belly area and would help support her chest perfectly during training or any activity requiring a lot of movement. There would be a pretty ribbon on the back of the neck of it which in turn acts as the tops straps to keep it up. The lower clothing of the set would be similar to shorts, reaching to just above the knees with a light, slightly see through drape around the belt. She found this set very pretty and she would happily wear it in Suna, the heat there would be too much with her usual work clothes and usual home wear. She sighs to herself and puts it away, standing from the bed and placing the box out of the way for the night before she would crawl into bed and settle down for the night, soon falling into a peaceful slumber.

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2 Days before departure...

Hinata had woken early that day to go and talk with the Hokage, having taken the letter with her as proof for her reasons of requesting to talk to her. She would be waiting outside the Hokage's office door, right now Rock Lee and TenTen had been called in for an urgent mission so Hinata currently had to wait. The corridor was as tight as always, not much swinging space, but that was alright; the dulling paint of the walls were even duller after the many years, far duller than what she remembered... Her lavender eyes would scan her surroundings as she waited patiently for her turn with the deadly woman just behind those doors and her eyes would settle on the paintings hanging from the walls in few places, the one she saw must have been new; it was of a beautiful lake in the mountains full of many wild flowers and some Cherry Blossoms dotted around it surrounded by mountain tops that would form around the area of the summit with a gorgeous sunset colored sky in the backround. It looked almost magical and she wondered; is there really a place that looks like this? That would really be something... Her attention drifted off into her own thoughts, it surely would be nice to see something so beautiful... maybe sharing it with your lover would make it even more special and magical, she would smile to herself as her thoughts ran wild with their desires until the door opening signalled she was now able to talk to the Hokage, seeing Lee and Tenten walk out and off; they looked annoyed... probably not wanting to go back out on mission after having returned home not that long ago "come in" the woman's voice rang out as her fingers massage her temples "what is it, Hinata? It's unusual for you to want to come and see me" Tsunade said, looking up at the woman with a cool stare "I-I um... w-well I had a letter in a parcel fro-" "ah, you recieved the gift" Tsunade cut in and Hinata nods, passing her the letter so she could read the request "so, they want you to stay at Suna for a couple of months... Are you sure you'd like to?" Tsunade questions, looking up at her and Hinata fidgets "y-yes.." she mumbled shyly "i-it's been a while since I h-had a vacation... c-can I, Lady Tsunade?" she asks, giving the woman an adorable, shy glance in an almost puppy like way she she cups her hands behind her back while toeing at the ground with her sandal. Tsunade stared at her as if she were going to fly off or something but sighs "alright... but I urge you go when Shikamaru does. I don;t like the idea of you travelling all the way out there on your lonesome... at least with Shikamaru with you it will be better, seeing as both of you can watch over each other" she said, handing the letter back to Hinata and she gave a bow "th-thank you!" Hinata said, being dismissed and she would almost skip out of the room in joy.

She needed this vacation, she needed to get out and see the world again. How bad could it be? Come on... Not like anything big is going to change during this time away, right? Well; that's what she thought anyway as she walked down the streets. Little did she know that this vacation would actually make a very large change in her life, and everyone elses considering how well they knew her, but no one would even know that for a long while yet. This vacation would hit like a tonne of bricks when the realisation of what was going to happen would hit, the way it will go will depend on th persons involved as well but really... it would be somewhat amazing. As she walked down the street, she would eye her scenery and the peoples faces, wanting to get a reminder of what she'll be returning to eventually. The lively morning streets of Konoha would bring her joy as she walked onwards back to her home, she needed to start preparing. Nearby she would hear Chouji being screamed at by Ino who seemed to be in a VERY bad mood right now, Shikamaru? He wasn't with them right now, he was most likely lazing around in a tree somewhere considering everything was such a drag to him. She'd just try and find him later so she could tell him that she'll be going to Suna with him, whether he liked it or not...

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It was now noon and Hinata was now at Ichiraku's ramen shop with Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke. They had finished finished their bowls while Naruto was on something like his twentyeth... he slurps away to himself in delight while Sasuke stayed silent and Sakura talked with Hinata "how long will you be gone for?" Sakura asks, having just been told she'll be going to Suna for a vacation "u-um... I'm not fully s-sure, maybe a couple of months" Hinata said and Sakura just smiles "it sounds like it'll be fun, about time you got yourself a vacation rights! All I ask is that you be safe out there" Sakura said and Hinata nods, fidgetting again "Temari wants me to go vist" she said and Naruto looks up "WHAAAAAAAAAT!? You're gonna be getting to see Gaara?! Aww... You're so lucky... I haven't been able to go say hi to him for a while! You better say hi for me" he said with a bright smile "you will... right?" he asks. Hinata blushed slightly at being noticed but nods "I-I-I w-will" she chokes out, and Naruto would grin bright and wide before going back to slurping his ramen with the usual noise before holding his bowl out "another one please!" he said, Ichiraku would shake his head and chuckle, taking the bowl and serving him yet another round of ramen. He didn't mind so much; Naruto is a very well paying customer and always has been after all. Sakura and Hinata would chat with each other, chuckling and giggling about things; often gaining Naruto's and Sasuke's attentions from whispers the men wouldn't be able to hear. Sasuke would be starting to rest his elbows on the counter and join his fingers infront of his mouth as he thought, listening to the women closely to try and figure out what they're saying while Naruto would be less so obvious, which only made the pair of giggling women become more quieter with their voices . Then Naruto would start prying on Sasuke's personal happenings, he was determined to know why he insisted on hanging around Sakura a lot more lately and the mysterious man just wouldn't spill the truth; he just ignores the hyperactive blond instead. Ichiraku would smile in amusement at Naruto's relentless attitude.

Sasuke would eventually become annoyed enough to state that he would be back later before standing and walking off from the shop, not long after Sakura and Hinata had decided to just spend time away from males and find Ino to drag along with them for a women's only bathe at the private springs. The rest of the day would be spend with just thr three of them, right up until the sun had began to set.

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The next day went slowly, most of it was spent looking for Shikamaru which would be found at the training grounds. When he was confronted and told by Hinata that she'd be going with him all he could do was give a loud sigh and eventually say "alright". That man... could he ever show more than just an annoyed attitude? Honestly...

Hinata would spend the rest of her time just packing what she needed; the desert set, nightclothes, spare clothes to change into when others were being washed. she would pack all her necessities along with whatever spare weapons that would prove useful to her, even being sure to go to the hospital earlier that day to find Sakura so that she could get hold of some medicines and healing ointments incase they ran into unwanted trouble along the way and became wounded. As the second day came to an end Hinata would be waking up early to her alarm, having had to set it to an earlier time today due to needing to be ready and waiting for Shikamaru. She would yawn and stretch, forcing herself out of bed and taking a chance to have a nice warm shower before she'd get dressed in her shinobi outfit. sitting infront of the chest of drawers which had a magnificent mirror attached to it, brushing her hair through and just making sure she had everything she needed; belt pouches, kunai, chakra pills, so on so on. She pulled the hiking backpack onto her shoulder and walks for the door before stopping and looking to her shelf "..." she thought for a few moments before reaching up and taking the beautiful kunai she had been given, hiding it away where she could access it within an instant if she needed to, before leaving the room and then the house.

She would walk down the slightly dark, quiet streets as the village slept soundly through the early hours of the slightly chilly morning. She would instantly head for the village gates, but it looked like Shikamaru would have just arrived moments before she did with the gatekeeper. He would open the gate for them to leave, waving as they parted from the village as the large doors closed behind them "alright... here's my rules... we travel most the day and sleep for a few hours at night. Between this time we will only stop to refresh ourselves when needed before continuing onwards" Shikamaru started as they jump to the trees and started to make their way on the path towards Suna "we wake early. If we keep this at a constant we'll be there in under two days. Got it?" he added and Hinata nodded silently, focusing on her path ahead as they leap through the trees with complete ease, lavender eyes watching the scenery rush by excitedly.

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Okay, there's chapter one. I hope it's good... Chapter two will focus on their travel to Suna, and also focussing on their struggle into the desert. I'm not sure how big these chapters will be but I'm surely going to give it a try to at least make it interesting for you all.

Anyway, chapter two in the makings!