Author's notes: Normally I am only a two-page writer at a time but I'm going to try and improve on my writing skills and write longer with more descriptions. I hope to be able to paint a clear enough picture for you people to see the world as I am thinking it. If that makes sense? I hope people read and review because it helps me very much with my writing skills. I'm open to constructive criticism but please no flames unless it really deserves it. Thanks.
Hinata fidgeted nervously, she barely heard Neji's orders on how to attack Gaara since her mind was too pre-occupied. Suddenly she felt the sun go out and she looked up in shock. Neji stood in front of her towering over her. The sun had not gone out as she thought; it was just Neji's tall frame blocking out the harsh sun's rays. He was frowning slightly as he waited for her to return his gaze.
"Ne-ji-kun?" She finally managed to stammer out.
"Where you listening to a word I just said Hinata?" Neji asked folding his arms irritably. "This girl is so annoying!" He thought to himself. "Really, does she hold any purpose?" His patience was beginning to wear thin; the heat did not help either.
"Um, well, that is," Hinata tried to come up with a witty answer but her mind was a complete blank. Neji sighed frustrated at the cowering girl in front of him.
"This is your job Hinata; we want you to go talk to Gaara! If he refuses to come quietly we will back you up and bring him in with force. Do you understand? It really isn't that hard!" Neji snapped not noticing the colour drain out of Hinata's face.
"Me? Go speak to...to...Gaara?!" Hinata froze, she felt as if Neji had just issued a death penalty on her. If Gaara attacked her, what would she do? But seeing as no one was coming to her aid and Neji was waiting for her reply, Hinata just nodded. It was at this moment she realised with a heavy heart, that she was not any use to the ninjas on this team. After all, why would they send her to certain doom if she were of any use? Thinking of this she struggled against the wind to the sand storm in the centre of the desert that was Gaara. It appeared to be the centre of the desert anyway; it was really hard to tell since the desert seemed to stretch on endlessly.
Clinging her white hoody closely to her shaking body she squinted her eyes. Sand swept past her viciously cutting her skin. How was she ever going to get close to Gaara like this?
"I know!" She thought to herself gleefully. She stopped placing her hands together in chakra signs.
Further back where Neji and the team where waiting, Neji sighed loudly. "Why has she only just thought of that?! Why did she think we choose her for this part in the first place?" He angrily muttered at the slowness of his cousin. "Do I have to spell everything out for her?" He thought miserably. Neji was definitely not one for the hot weather the other teammates noted; it seemed to make his temper even more prominent than normal.
"Protection of the eight trigrams sixty four palms!" Hinata said preparing herself as she began to move her hands at quick speed. At this top speed she was able to keep the piercing sand away from her face. "Byakugan!" She next said allowing her to see through the sand to where Gaara was sat hunched in the centre. Ignoring her sickening feeling as she got closer and closer to Gaara; Hinata bravely strode forward. Stopping twenty paces away from him she called out, happy to hear that her voice was not shaking.
"Gaara-kun? As a member of the Konoha squad we request that you come back with us to Konoha! Gaara-kun? Can you hear me??" She shouted though her voice was pitiful against the fiery sound of the wind swept sand. Her whole body froze as she noticed Gaara beginning to turn around. Gaara's eyes were completely white indicating that his demon was in complete control of his body.
"Just-one-more! One more!!" Gaara croaked out, his voice hoarse. Suddenly he lunged at Hinata; his demon's thirst for blood urging him forward. Hinata screamed in fear.
"Why won't my feet work?!" She frantically willed herself to move. Seconds later Hinata felt a sweeping feeling in her stomach as she realised that she was flying through the air. Actually, she was not to know since she had passed out, but Akamaru had her in his mouth and had grabbed her away from Gaara's reaching grasp.
"Woof!" Akamaru dropped Hinata at Kiba's feet who hurriedly scoped Hinata up and nodded to Neji to begin part two of their dangerous plan.
Neji hurriedly sprung into action with Naruto' s shadow clones. Using his eight trigrams empty palm attack; Neji issued a palm thrust at Gaara while expelling a large amount of chakra. This caused Gaara to go flying backwards, where Naruto's clones quickly leapt on him tying him down with strong chakra-binding rope. Normally this would not have been enough to constrain Gaara, but Gaara was already worn out from his over-use of his demon and his chakra was well spent. With a snap punch from Naruto; Gaara blacked out.
"Good" Neji said congratulating his team. "How is Hinata?" He turned to Kiba who had Hinata wrapped in his coat and was holding her close to his body protectively.
"Fine" Kiba replied. "No thanks to you." He inwardly thought but he didn't dare say it out loud. Even the bravest of ninjas would be stupid to get on the wrong side of Neji.
"No thanks to you!" Naruto chimed in, voicing Kiba's thoughts exactly. Kiba inwardly cursed. Neji turned to Naruto; his eyebrow raised.
"Excuse me?" He asked. "She is just a part of this team as anyone else here. She can risk her life just as much as you or me. And you would do well to notice that Hokage favourite." Neji taunted.
Naruto flinched; it was touchy subject that the Hokage always seemed to favourite him over anyone else. Indeed, he would not have been a cheunin if Tsunade-sama had not taken pity on him and allowed him to pass the exam.
"Now-now you two" Kiba hurriedly intervened seeing as Naruto looked like he was about to punch Neji. "We should hurry and get Gaara back before he wakes up." He suggested. Everyone looked over at Gaara who looked a lot less threatening now that he was asleep and tied up. Neji nodded and both him and Naruto went to grab either side of him, being very careful not to wake him up.
As one team they bounded off across the desert, though whether they were acting much like a team is another question entirely. Before they knew it they have reached the outskirts of Konoha. And not a moment too soon either; all of them, though they would never admit it, were completely tired. Dust strained their clothes and hair, it took all their remaining stamina just to drag their feet along let alone carry Hinata and Gaara. When people heard of their arrival they immediately went indoors not wanting to be anywhere near the legendary serial killer known as Gaara. It was not the homecoming that the team had been hoping for. No welcome; just empty streets with litter floating past in the soft gentle breeze; quite a different wind to the one that swept the desert. This one was more peaceful and soothed the tired Konoha ninjas. With it came the soft smell of pink Sakura's petals that were abundant at this time of the year. Passing the ramen store a rich smell of noodles passed the ninjas making them realise just how hungry they were. But time for that would come later; the Hokage was strict and would not be happy if they had stopped for food on the way back.
With weary bodies they dragged themselves to the Hokage's room, ignoring the looks on the guards faces as they noticed Gaara's limp body. Knocking softly before entering; Neji bowed low then continued to drag Gaara's body in. Naruto followed Neji's example. Tsunade; being quick witted didn't take long to notice that something was not right.
"Where are your other two team mates? Kiba and Hinata?" She barked out causing Neji to flinch slightly.
"What if Gaara woke up?" He thought to himself but instead he said out loud; "Kiba took Hinata to the hospital; she fainted earlier. I presume he is still with her."
"Presume? You are a team leader! You shouldn't presume anything, everything you know should be hard cold facts!" She snapped. She had gotten a lot of angry letters earlier from neighbouring villages complaining about Gaara's killing spree asking what she was going to do about it. She really didn't know why it was her problem; Gaara after all belonged to the Sand Village and not her once peaceful town of Konoha. Inwardly she sighed as Neji apologised politely with another bow.
"So we have Gaara here then? Part B can start. Removal of Gaara's demon." The Hokage stated ignoring the shocked looks from Naruto and Neji.
"But that may kill him if you remove his demon? Correct me if I'm wrong, but since Gaara's demon has been with him so long isn't 'it' entwined with Gaara's own soul? Removing the demon could results in serious harm for Gaara, even death! Plus, what would you do with the demon once it's removed?" Neji voiced his feelings.
The Hokage put down her ink pen that she was using to sign some of the documents from the Sand village that gave her permission to do with Gaara what she willed. Even Gaara's own home town didn't want Gaara anymore. She had no idea what his family views were on the matter but she was sure that even if they did object they would have no say in the matter. She knew that their KazeKage was a stern leader. She surveyed her cheunins tiredly.
"We don't have much choice. And why would it matter if he died? He has killed countless people before! No, my matter is final on this! We will try to seal up his demon and if that doesn't work we will most definitely remove it." She said. "Take him to the sealing room. Make sure no sharp objects are in there and that he cannot escape. I will be with him shortly. In the meantime, I suggest you two get some rest; you both look a state." The Hokage spoke bluntly, waving her hand indicating that they both could leave.
Neji and Naruto tiredly dragged Gaara to the sealing room, neither really caring if Gaara banged his head along the floor on the way. Sighing Neji lifted the heavy bolt on the door to the room locking Gaara firmly in. His mind was filled with worrying thoughts about Gaara's demon being loose in Konoha but his body was having none of it. If he didn't eat soon, and more importantly sleep, he would surely crash out. Watching Naruto bound off in what appeared to be the direction of the ramen store, Neji headed off in the opposite direction towards the hospital.
"The Hokage is right." He thought miserably to himself. "I must check up on Hinata and Kiba first before I worry about myself. It is my duty as a team leader!" He began dragging himself towards the Konoha Hospital. His head pounded, as people who now felt safe that Gaara was locked up, left their homes and went about their business noisily or so it appeared to him.
The sun was now low in the sky indicating that it was late evening. The wind was slightly softer than before caressing Neji's tired body almost like a lover. Not that Neji would know what it was like to be caressed by a lover; he hadn't reached that part in life yet. The stones beneath his feet crackled; protesting at him dragging himself through them. Little red fireflies glowed around his head; even though it was still fairly early it had grown dark suddenly. He could almost make out tiny little pinpricks of stars above his head. Very faint though since the sun was still shining stubbornly. Finally, Neji reached the hospital. He opened the white framed doors; winching slightly as he realised that the sand earlier had taken the first layer of skin off of his hands leaving a painful red sore behind.
"Hinata Hyuuga's room please?" Neji asked the blonde haired women behind the hospital counter who was busy typing while listening to someone on the phone. She had her head tilted to keep the phone on her neck. Neji thought she looked a bit stupid trying to do two things at once but he didn't complain.
"Room thirty two. Follow the yellow arrows on the floor, they will lead you to the department she is in." She answered quickly before going back to her phone call. "Sorry about that Sir." Neji head her say down the phone as he followed the yellow arrows. He held his head between his hands, looking down in confusion at the clean white floor.
"Is it just me or are the arrows blending together?" He thought as the room began to sway around him.
"Hey? Are you all right? Hey!" A medical ninja who was luckily passing by at the time dropped the equipment he was carrying and lunged forward to catch Neji who had fallen into a faint. "Better get you to the medic room." The guy muttered as he slung Neji into a fireman lift.
Neji awoke two hours later with a pounding headache. Stretching carefully because his muscles were screaming in agony, he looked around. The bed to the left of him still held Hinata who still had not come round yet. Kiba stood by her bedside nervously; he looked up when he realised that Neji had come to.
"Are you ok Neji?" He asked, though his eyes didn't leave Hinata's sleeping body. Neji struggled into a sitting position.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Must have blacked out. Guess I was more messed up than I thought." He replied. Kiba nodded in answer, not really paying much attention to Neji. A plump older women wearing the medical gown that all medical nins were instructed to wear walked in. Noticing Neji was up she smiled warmly.
"Up already? That's good news!" She spoke handing Neji a cup of what looked like green sludge. Neji tasted it doubtfully and almost instantly a wave of warmth spread through his body. He hurriedly slurped up the rest, ignoring the bitter taste it had. The old women nodded her head in approval.
"Took me ages to get that down the poor girl over there. Really didn't like it." She said conversationally. "Went straight back to sleep after, the poor thing." She clucked as she pulled the bed sheets closer around Hinata earning an annoyed look from Kiba who felt that he should be the one doing that.
"Naa-ru-to- kun?" Hinata murmured in her sleep.
"No me dear, just little old me." The women smiled. "This Naruto her boyfriend or something? She has been saying his name a lot!" She asked causing Kiba to fidget irritably.
"No! He isn't!" He angrily snapped. The women fluttered her hands.
"Oh, of course not dearie! When she wakes up and sees you I'm sure she will realise you are the one for her!" She said reassuringly. Neji smirked and Kiba glared at him threatening. "But you better follow your cousin's example and get some sleep!" She turned to Neji who sulkily laid back down. He was not really in the mood for arguing and before he knew it he was fast asleep.