Chapter 2: It says love

I found out awhile back that Gaara is supposed to be short but has anyone ever noticed that in all the pictures where his with people when he's like the Kazekage he's like a foot taller then them and he stands awkwardly because I think he has to be taller then everyone else (maybe shorter in the beginning though cause he was twelve) so I added in the story later that he is taller then both Neji and Sasuke but that's way later on and not in this chapter yet.

I blinked my eyes open lightly and looked up to see a plain white-washed ceiling above my head. I blinked again and it was still the same ceiling. I noticed I was lying in a bed with a soft maroon blanket and a white pillow. I turned my head and saw a fiery-haired boy sitting on a chair with a ring puzzle in his hands. He spun the rings in all sorts of directions but it seemed that the tangle of rings would never be fixed but then to my surprise the rings clicked and formed one small ring that he had put around his finger. He then noticed that I was awake. (I kind of got the idea for the ring from Eragon when Eragon couldn't solve the puzzle but the elves who were more patient could do it in a matter of minutes. I thought that Gaara was super patient from always meditating so he would be good at the puzzle 3 Gaara).

"Hello," he said in a deep growl of a voice.

"Where am I?" I said sitting up lightly. My jacket was undone but it was covering my breasts and I wore my pink panties. My blue pants and gauze was at the other side of the room. Did I sleep with him?

"You were attacked last night," The red-head said lightly. "I scared them away and noticed that you were unconscious so I brought you here. I didn't want to disturb you so I didn't zip up your jacket or anything like that."

"That was very kind of you," I said lightly standing up. This made the red-head flinch a little. "What's wrong?"

"Your breasts are kind of hanging out of your jacket," he said his eyes looking down at the ring on his finger. I shrugged and grabbed my pants.

"I don't care," I said lightly pulling the pants on. "I'm an erotic dancer for a living. I don't get skittish when you look at my breasts. You can look at them if you like." This seemed to make him flinch again and he didn't look away from the ring. "You aren't from around this area are you?"

"I'm from a desert country called Suna," He said.

"Well here in Konoha at the bad side of town men are shameless flirts," I said. "And total perverts as you saw at the hotel last night. I'm used to this kind of stuff now."

"What's your name?" he asked in a more serious tone.

"I don't normally give out my name to strangers," I said tying the gauze around the bottoms of the pants and my bare skin. "But my nick-name is Lilac. I work at the Sex Kitten down the road from that hotel. You can come check out one of my shows if you want."

"I don't find women taking there clothes off for my money to be something I find enjoyable," the red-head said. "It's a degrading business really. Not much point to it."

"So you've never wanted a woman before?" I said walking over to him seductively, swaying my hips gently. "You've never thought of your body against another?"

"Not in a meaningless way," he said.

"What is your name?" I asked him.

"It's Gaara," he said. Now she was definitely shocked. This couldn't be Gaara of the desert. Sabaku no Gaara. Suna's Kazekage. Why was he even in Konoha? This didn't make any sense.

"But that means…"

"I'm Kazekage," he said. "I've come on business terms with your Hokage Naruto. Mostly terms of agreement between the two countries and all."

"You know Naruto?" I said feeling my cheeks turn a light shade of red. I remembered back in the day when we grew up together. I was always to shy to even talk to him until it was too late. I gave up being a ninja after that and was kicked out of the Hyuuga residence permanently. Then I remembered something else. A red headed boy with dark eyes, a symbol on his forehead, and a sand basin strapped to his back had been in my memories too. "I remember you…"

"Hyuuga Hinata I presume," Gaara said. "When I first saw you I knew that you must have been a Hyuuga from the lilac colour of your clear irises. I just needed some more information to pin-point which one you were."

I couldn't believe this. I haven't seen him in 7 years when I was 16 years old. I then remembered something else about the Kage's. They are loaded and this gave me a quick idea.

"So you figured out my identity I see," I said trying to not look phased at all. "This is a bit of a shock but of course the Kazekage must have intellectual skills above anyone else."

"It's not a matter of intellect but a matter of how you use the brain you were given," Gaara said. "You don't have to be the smartest person to have figured that one out."

"I just remembered something," I said with a quick grin walking over towards him fully unzipping my jacket. "I never thanked you for saving me. While a Kazekage needs his mental skills he also needs to be physically built. I'd love to get my hands under that shirt of yours." I pronounced each syllable seductively swaying my hips temptingly. "I can be a real bad girl." And I gently slid my fingers under his shirt, jacket, and vest. I could feel his body tense from the sudden touch.

"What are you doing?" he asked as I ran my fingers up his chest.

"Thanking you," I said with one of my famous erotic smiles. "You'll find the way I reward can be very pleasurable." I ran my fingers back down his chest and started slipping them under his belt.

"There is no need to thank," he said his body still tensing as I worked my hands lower.

"This is a gift from me to you," I said.

"I don't need any gifts," he said pulling my hands out of his pants.

"Oh but I insist," I said putting his hands under my jacket. "And I am very persistent when giving gifts especially when they benefit me in terms of pleasure as well." I leaned in and gently tugged on his lower lip. He pulled his lips away.

"Everything I do has a meaning behind it," he said gently. "Everything I have ever done has affected my future. Telling you that this won't affect my future in some kind of way is telling you a lie. I base my actions on the good of my people and not on the good of myself. Meaningless touch's is what I felt. If I am ever to have someone close then it will be meaningful. It will be because of love. You are very beautiful but I must go."

"That is a Hyuuga belief," I said a little surprised at what he had just told me. "That love should be the only reason when deciding to get close to someone. That every little action you do has an effect on the future. Your beliefs are based on what I used to believe a long time ago but when you enter the real world it doesn't matter what you believe."

"And why can you not stick to your beliefs?" Gaara asked.

"Because I'm an erotic dancer," I said nonchalantly zipping up my sweater again. "I don't have a choice whether I want to do this or not because it is the only job that I can do. I'm a failure and disappointment to my own clan, a shy girl who has been pushed into a confident scene having to adapt to the way of the culture or be eaten alive, and worst of all I have lost everyone and everything I have ever loved. But why would this matter to you. I'm just a meaningless piece of trash anyways."

Now this had set Gaara a back more then I thought it would.

"You are not meaningless trash," he said. "You are more beautiful then any I have ever met but when you sell your body that makes you meaningless."

"But when I dance around that poll I get noticed," I said feeling a small tear roll down my cheek lightly. "When I sway my hips and smile erotically I know that people are actually paying at least some kind of attention to me."

"But do you really want people only looking at you because of your body?" Gaara asked. "You wouldn't care that every eye that lands on you is a lustful eye. They couldn't care less whether you were killed the next day or not as long as they can watch your body that you've been blessed with."

"Why do you care so much?" I snapped.

"Because I want to," he said on such an intense note that I couldn't say anything more. How could I?

"There isn't a way to get out of what I'm doing until I'm too old for people to even want to see my body anymore," I said lightly. "I was stupid enough not to tell Naruto how I felt until it was too late and I should have stayed with the Hyuuga's showing them what I'm really made of but of course I was too sad and angry because I wasn't noticed and left. I'm so stupid."

I was taken by surprise when I felt strong arms wrap around me. I thought he said he didn't want me or anything like that. I felt warm all around me. Incredible warmth that I had never felt before. I felt his soothing breath on my cheek and for once in my life felt safe from any harm. What a strange feeling. He then pulled away gently.

"You looked like you needed a hug from a friend," he said. "I will always be your friend if you need me. Remember that always."

I looked into his cooling aquamarine eyes that I had once thought were dark but they were light and intense. I felt almost drawn to those eyes like they were calling to me. My eyes wandered up a bit more and landed on the marking on his forehead etched in red.

"It says love," I said lightly almost like a breath.

"A sign of true hatred," he said looking down at the ground his eyes suddenly sad. "A sign that I once loved myself and only myself not caring what happened to anyone else. It's a curse written on my brow and I will bear it till the day I die."

"But it doesn't say love of self," I said. "It says love. Why does it have to be love of self now? It may have meant love of self before but I think it means love of others now. It isn't a curse but a blessing telling all that you possess great love." I lightly touched his forehead with the tips of my fingers to the spot and felt a burning sensation.

"A mark that I do not understand," he said bowing his head lightly.

"I feel strange," I said lightly. "Why did you hug me?"

"Because your eyes showed great sadness and depression," Gaara said lightly. "I wanted to help you by soothing away some of the depression you hold. A hug can be a healing thing when life gets you down."

"But your hug…"

"Hmmm?"

"Nothing," I said lightly turning away from him feeling my cheeks burn bright crimson red. I haven't blushed this red before since Tenten had stolen a pair of Naruto's boxers and hid them on my pillow. "Um how is Naruto anyways?"

"He married my sister," Gaara said and this made me drop my jaw.

"I didn't know that Naruto was even married," I said lightly.

"Well it so happens that when I went to visit him awhile back Temari and Kankuro wanted to come. Temari then started becoming really good friends with Naruto and one thing lead to another. I don't think Temari has ever been happier in her life and with the guy who had saved mine." Gaara seemed actually pretty happy with this arrangement but I had never felt so sad. "What's wrong?" Gaara said noticing the sadness in my eyes almost right away.

"It was a long time ago but I think I was in love with him…" I could feel small tears fall down my cheeks. "But again I will always be the friend that gets hurt. It's pretty basic for me now."

"Your hurt is deep Hinata and where your working right now is making it worse," Gaara said intensely. "You will come and live with me for a while so you can get back on your feet. I can't let you hurt yourself more."

"I don't need some knight in shiny armour to come and rescue me," I snapped angrily. "I have lived off of me myself and I for the past 7 years. I don't need your help."

"Do I really look like some knight in shining armour?" Gaara asked. This made me smile weakly for his look was far from knight in shining armour. He looked more like an emo teenager then anything.

"But you act like one," I said wiping some of the tears off my cheeks.

"Let me help you," he said wiping the rest of the tears off my cheek with his thumb. I could feel my cheeks start burning again and I hoped that he notice the pink colour I had become. "See you look a lot prettier without tears."

"If I agreed to take you up on your offer, and I'm not saying I am, where would I be staying?" I asked looking around at the small apartment that I was in now.

"You would probably come to the Hokage tower with me," Gaara said. "There are five bedrooms in the hall that they preserve for a Kazekage or any other Kage who happens to be visiting at the time."

"Why five rooms?" I asked a little confused.

"Many Kage's bring along people like jonin's with them for protection," Gaara said. "Others sometimes bring woman and men a long to well…keep them occupied…"

"Oh," I said a little surprised at this comment. I hadn't expected that at all.

"So are you coming to the Hokage tower with me then?" he asked.

"But I have a friend whose in the same position as I'm in," I said remembering Tenten. It was weird thinking of her as Tenten for I had always called her bunny ever since we saw each other 4 years back. She had run away because she felt that she wasn't strong enough to even be compared to someone like her team-mate Neji my cousin. She got stuck in the business as well and has never been able to get out of it. "I can't just leave her now when I promised to help her out."

"Then she will come as well," Gaara said without a second thought. I looked at him even more surprised. "I can't just help one of you and not the other. I may look heartless but I'm not as heartless as you seem to think I am."

"I never thought that you were heartless," I said feeling another flow of tears fall down my pale cheeks. "It's just I never thought that anyone could be so kind before. Normally people couldn't care less about a poor little hooker but you. I just don't understand why you care…"

"Shouldn't someone?" he asked. "Why can't I be that caring person?"

"Because you're too perfect," I said the tears really falling down now and I fell on my knees letting the tears fall into my palms.

"Let's just go get your friend and get you out of here," Gaara said lightly putting his hand on my shoulder.

"The Gaara I remember never ever cared not once," I said lightly. "But this Gaara that stands before me is so strange to me. What happened to you Gaara?"

"Once the Shukaku was removed I could read my emotions a lot better," he said. "I knew how things were bad for myself and I also know that the hate that people showed me was something that I had spread myself. I am the only one to blame for people hating me and fearing me because I hated and feared the monster that I was. I had to show people that I'm not a monster and then maybe someday I would believe it myself."

"As far as I know you have shown more love then hate," I said trying to wipe the flow of tears that spilled down my cheeks but I was in to much of a fit of tears.

"Peace, Hinata," he said holding my head up with the tips of his fingers so I was staring straight into his calm eyes. "No more tears. It's time to move on with your life."

This seemed to calm me down a bit more so the tears weren't as strong. He wiped the tears away with his thumb again and helped me up onto my feet.

"By the way there are many people that miss you Hinata," Gaara said with a smirk. "Like your little sister and your cousin. They didn't think you were a failure. Far from actually."

"They miss me?" I said totally surprised. I knew that Hanabi might miss me a little but I thought that Neji would be glad that I was finally out of the picture so he could get into Hiashi's good lists but this was a total shocker.

"A lot more then you seem to think," Gaara said straightening his clothing out. "Lets go get that friend of yours ok?"

I nodded standing up and following him out of the room. I never knew that he would be the boy who truly changed my life.