Be my Teddy Bear.
A/N: Thank you for continuing to read this story. I would quickly like to thank chellythemadhatter, SarcasticScript (hello my friend ^_^), Veraozao, 12hinata123, xx-butterflyofthenight-xx and Lost-puppyEYES for the extremely supportive reviews. I loved seeing them and hope you enjoy the story as it progresses. In this chapter there may not be as much humour as there will be in the future ones but regardless of this, it does help paint a picture of the people they are now.
With best wishes to you and happy reading, anoldfan xxx
Chapter Two.
THE NEXT MORNING AT THE HOKAGE'S MANSION…
The bright sunshine softened as it permeated through the patio doors and fresh white curtains covering them, making the room bathe gently as it delicately glowed, stretching across the floor and touching delicately the warm red covers and canopy of the king-size four-poster bed.
Hinata felt her abdomen cramp in pain which made her wince again as she stirred slightly from her badly fought for sleep. She tried to stretch her arms but find she could not, as if she was pinned to the bed.
Slowly, she opened her eyes where she looked at the warm red colour of the canopy material. 'This isn't my bed…' She thought and then remembered why she had fought so hard to sleep…. "… This isn't my room which means… I … stayed here all night'. Turning her head to thr right she saw a pair of green pale eyes staring at her suspiciously, almost menacingly.
"AAhh!" She yelped, struggling herself out of the man's arms and falling on the floor with a …
… THUMP!
Hinata cringed as she felt a spasm of pain grip her as she got up off the floor, but tried hard to conceal her discomfort. Gaara now had sat up in the bed, looking at her strangely with his head cocked to one side. Her clothes were crumpled and hair was unkempt and wavy as it hung around her arms.
"Kazekage-Sama," She said trying not to let on just how much pain she was in. "Do you have a bathroom in here?" Though her voice was controlled and even toned, he saw desperation slightly in her eyes. He pointed the left to a door just behind her where she now stood.
"Thanks." She said before sprinting to the door and just managing to not slam the door behind her. Gaara stayed sitting there on the bed, frozen to the spot and completely confused by the situation. 'What happened?' he thought. He looked down and saw he was still wearing his training clothes from yesterday and it certainly looked like the girl slept in her daytime clothes too. 'But wasn't holding her just now?' Gaara shook his head, trying to remember anything that happened at the party but his mind was blank.
CLICK. The bathroom door opened quietly and Hinata sheepishly exited the main bathroom. Her hair was quickly combed through and looked slightly better as she tried to brush some of the wrinkles out of her skirt in front of him.
"I…" She began but already felt lost for words. From where she stood she saw her bag on the bedside table where Kankuro had placed it, beside an alarm clock. She quickly went to the table and looked at the clock, it was 10:20am… 'I did it.' The Kazekage had been able to get at least some sleep and that fact made her smile.
"Kazekage-Sama, I am sorry if I have caused you any embarrassment or problems," She began, her eyes fixed upon him and a small smile on her face which made Gaara's eyes ever so slightly widen in awe at her. "Have a good day and please keep the medicine." She then proceeded to turn to the bedroom door, briskly walk towards it, promptly opened, exited and closed it before running out the house and back home as quickly as she could. 'Thank Kami it's the weekend and I haven't got to go to work until Monday…' she thought in relief along her journey.
Dumbfounded by Hinata's sudden departure, he took a few moments to try and process everything that had just happened. Slowly, Gaara pulled back the soft covers and slid across the silk bed-sheet to the bedside table. He reached for the alarm clock, noting a tiny ceramic pot by its side. He looked at the time … 10:35am. '10:35am? I slept in that late?' He put the clock back down and now picked up the tiny white china jar. It was in the shape of a honey pot and when he unscrewed it to smell its contents, he was pleasantly surprised to find the 'medicine' a sweet smelling white cream. It smelt of flowers and herbs to him. 'Why did she give me this?' He wondered.
Screwing the lid firmly back on, he put it back on the bedside table and headed for the bathroom to wash his teeth and face, with one thing on his mind'I need to find out what happened last night…'
10 MINUTES LATER…
He picked up the white jar before leaving his room and walking down the hallway. After a short while, he reached his best friend's large kitchenette. Kankuro and Naruto were laughing loudly whilst Temari and Sakura were deep in conversation. Everyone smiled and stopped doing what they were doing when Gaara entered the room.
"Good morning Gaara!" Yelled Naruto happily before taking a big bite of eggs and waffle.
"Morning." Said Gaara in a low, quiet voice. He took an empty seat next to his best friend and brother, putting the pretty pot in his hand on the table in front of him. He put onto the plate in front of him a large amount of eggs, salted pork and rice as Sakura placed a glass of apple juice before him. Temari and Kankuro fought hard within themselves the urge to smile more … it had been a long time since they'd seen Gaara eaten anything more than a bread roll… and that was 2 days ago. He took a tentative bite from his fork and nodding, swallowed and took another bite.
For a while everyone ate in a comfortable silence. After Gaara had finished his 3rd helping of food, he neatly put his cutlery on his plate and Naruto looked at his friend's face with a satisfied expression. Gaara's blood shot eyes had gone and even after only one night's sleep, the rings around his eyes seemed lighter and he looked healthier. It was then that Gaara picked up the ceramic jar and started to toy with it in his hands.
"Do you know what happened to me last night?" He asked whist his eyes examined the porcelain object closely.
"You don't remember?" Sakura stated, rather than meant for it to have been a question.
"No." Gaara answered.
"Is she… still here?" Kankuro said, giving a passing look to his sister which showed slight discomfort in his features.
"No," Gaara replied. "She left as soon as she woke up… well, after she'd been to the bathroom."
Kankuro sighed as Temari smiled in reassurance. 'Thank Kami he didn't her.' She thought. Temari cleared her throat as she took it on herself to be the person to attempt to tell her baby brother what had happened the night before.
"Last night at the party you sat down next to Hinata-Chan, as you felt unwell. She rubbed some of that," Temari pointed to the pot in Gaara's hands. "Onto your forehead and a few moments later you fell asleep…"
"I fell asleep?" He said, the sentence feeling unusual in his mouth as he spoke it.
"Yes." She affirmed.
"At the party?"
Yes."
In front of everyone?"
"Yes."
He smiled in disbelief. 'What an embarrassing thing to happen. It can't be true … she's teasing me." He shook his head, trying hard not to laugh but a small "Ku ku ku" escaped his lips.
"I fell asleep? Ku ku ku…"
Temari scowled at her brother with venom. 'Kami! If he doesn't believe me saying this, how in the hell am I going to tell him everything else?'
Gaara looked around the table to see everyone's faces… but they looked serious. 'WAS she telling truth after all?'
"I really feel asleep?"
"Yes." They all said together though not at the same time.
"Oh." He commented.
"On her shoulder." Temari muttered, reaching for her orange juice as a distraction. She was so nervous. Kankuro merely sat back, totally enjoying the situation and thinking'Sometimes, being the middle child rocks!'
"ON her shoulder?" Gaara couldn't help but blink his eyes to make sure he WAS awake and not still dreaming or having some kind of hallucination.
"Yes." She replied, now getting annoyed of the 'Yes' word.
Gaara now focused on the tiny jar, his proof that the girl really existed and carefully unscrewed it again, inhaling its sweet smell and totally lost in his thoughts.
"Gaara-Sama," Sakura said. "May I examine its contents for you right now?" He nodded and handed the jar over to the expert medical-nin, the Head of Konoha Hospital and watched as she sniffed it gently before sighing happily. "She really is an incredible herbalist and pharmacist. It's a natural ointment she specially produced to help patients who suffer from sickness, pain or discomfort. We use it a lot in our hospital. Thank you." She said, handing it back to Gaara who took it back reverently.
"Why would this send me to sleep?" He asked the pink-haired lady and she smiled at the intelligent question.
"It shouldn't." She answered. "It doesn't contain any sleep inducing ingredients but perhaps the fact it smells nice and it removed your discomfort meant you were easier to feel relaxed?" She queried and Gaara nodded as the logical and plausible explanation. Whilst he nodded, he still had a few things on his mind. Well, big things on his mind to be exact as he almost cradled the pot between his hands.
"I don't understand why I would fall asleep so quickly when I did … and on her? And why was she in my bed last night?" He asked softly, his eyes transfixed on the delicate china pot in his hands..
"Well bro," Kankuro started and noticed the large sigh of relief coming from his big sister at not having to carry on her explanation. "Firstly, if anyone gets to a point of exhaustion, they'll fall asleep anywhere and without control. Secondly, she was in your bed with you because you would not let her go?"
"Huh?" He said, nearly dropping the pot and slowly put it gently on the table again. "I was holding her? And I WOULDN't let her go?"
Kankuro nodded. "You see when you slept, you muttered in your sleep that she was 'Ge-Ge'…"
"Ge-Ge?" He said, the name sounding familiar but he couldn't quite recollect it.
"The name of your old teddy bear." Kankuro explained and realisation shot into Gaara's eyes, making them slightly bulge.
"I dreamt about a teddy bear last night…" Gaara said. "… someone tried to take him away but they failed."
"That was me trying to pick you up and off her shoulder," Kankuro added. "But you tried to hit me so I picked the two of you up and put you both in the bed in your room."
"And all of this happened in front of everyone?" Gaara said, the tops of his ears turning pink.
"Yes." Kankuro said, a sad smile plastered on his face.
"You bastard." Gaara said, his eyes changing into an old, familiar look of faint hatred.
"What?" Kankuro said.
"I said you are a bastard." He replied calmly but with hidden aggression.
"Gaara." Temari said, standing up straight at seeing the danger in her brother's eyes.
"You've …" He closed his eyes, totally frustrated at all of them. Grabbing the jar in his hand, he then shot out of the room and went into his bedroom.
"What the hell was that about?" Kankuro asked, looking at the shocked faces of the people around him.
Gaara sat on the bed where she had been sitting, looking tenderly at the jar in his hand. 'They'll make her life a living hell…' he thought, totally worried. He remembered the Chuunin exams and how her brother fought her with the intent of disgracing her every way possible. He recognised so well the look in her cousin's eyes; they were so like his own back then. Intent on destruction, Neji would almost certainly have been at that party as well last night and seen everything, which meant her whole family would know she spent the night with him.
'…I must protect her from this stupid situation and put things right.'