Echoes in the Rain

Disclaimer: I forgot my disclaimer last chapter, but oh well. Does anyone really read these things?

AN: I don't know if there are pianos, but for the sake of my story there are. SasukesGirl56 (don't try and look her up) helped me write this story!

Temari and Kankuro returned to an empty apartment later that night. The super spicy curry rice eating contest had taken longer than had been expected. Kakashi had ended up winning, much to Gai's disappointment. Temari shook her head, dog-like, getting the rain out of her hair. Then, she asked, "Gaara? Are you here?"

Kankuro who was following her, said, "It doesn't look like it. We should check him room though."

"I'll check it," Temari said, walking over to Gaara's room. Opening the door, she viewed the mess inside. Papers and clothes littered the ground. Temari picked up one of the papers and saw that it had to deal with the defensive formations of the shinobis in Sand. So, Temari thought. They gave him homework to do while he's here.

Temari left Gaara's room and walked back into the living room, where Kankuro was wrestling with 'Crow. "He's not there, but his gourd is."

"Well, we know he's not off killing Hyuga. If he was, he would have taken the gourd. He probably is still outside, walking around," Kankuro reasoned.

"You really think that?" Temari was nervous. He was her little brother…

"He's fine. It's Gaara! He can defend himself," Kankuro said bracingly. He was nervous also, but was able to hide it better.

"All right then. I'm going to bed," Temari said, yawning. "What about you?"

"I've got some more work to do with 'Crow."

"Don't stay up too late."

"Who are you, my mother?"

"No; even better: I'm your sister. 'Night," Temari said as she walked to her room and closed the door. Kankuro stayed up for a little while, before falling asleep, right on top of 'Crow.

0oo0oo0oo0oo0

"Gaara! Where have you been?" Temari cried the next morning. Gaara had just walked in the backdoor, soaked.

After a moment, Gaara answered, "I was over by the park."

"What were you doing? Why didn't you come home?" Temari shouted. This was one of the first times that Temari had ever yelled at him instead of Kankuro.

"I was thinking," Gaara said simply. "I forgot to come home."

"You forgot to come home?" Temari said, her voice tense as she stared in disbelief at Gaara. "You forgot?!"

"Temari, lay off, alright? Gaara stayed out the whole night. He's perfectly all right," Kankuro said, walking into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes. Temari's shouting had woken him up.

"It seems that I can't trust either of you. Gaara, you're going to be sticking with me for the rest of our trip," Temari said walking into the kitchen.

"Temari! He's a seventeen-year-old! You can't be baby-sitting him! He's Kazekage!"

"Kankuro, it's ok," Gaara interjected before Temari could retort. Temari smiled and nodded at Gaara.

"Temari, you do realize that you are 'baby-sitting' a seventeen-year-old murderer," Kankuro added, "Sorry, Gaara. No offense was meant."

Gaara just shrugged. He was used to be called a murderer. It really wasn't anything new. The way that Kankuro put it did make it sound a little ridiculous. Temari's response to Kankuro's words was just to shake her head and continue into the kitchen.

"Gaara. Go get changed and then have some breakfast. I have some errands to run," Temari called over her shoulder. Gaara nodded and walked past Kankuro who walked into the kitchen.

Half an hour later, Gaara and Temari were leaving the apartment. Kankuro decided not to venture beyond the safety of the apartment, or so he said. Temari lead the way. First, they stopped at the Hokage's office. Tsunade had papers that Gaara had to look over. They dealt with renewing the peace treating between Sand and Leaf.

As they left her office, Temari asked, "Gaara, what are all those papers in your room about?"

Looking up in surprise, Gaara finally answered, "They're about the defensive system of Sand. I've been working on that for two years or so."

"You have? Is this a result of your kidnapping?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Why didn't you tell me or Kankuro?"

"I don't know. Should I have?"

"It doesn't matter."

They continued walking in silence. Temari broke it when she said that she had to stop and see some friends. Gaara didn't really care. If there were others there, he might be able to forget about Hinata. She still seemed to haunt his thoughts. He needed to find a distraction. Anything would work. Right now, he was watching the rain fall off of the umbrella that Temari was holding.

Their little group got bigger. Before long, Sakura, Ino, and Tenten had joined them. This seemed to have been planned. Gaara listened to them talk in an odd, detached way. Like he wasn't really there.

"Temari! Why is Gaara-sama here?" Tenten asked right off the bat, being rather bold.

"I'm keeping an eye on him. Don't worry, he won't repeat a word of what is said to anyone. Will you, Gaara?"

Gaara nodded and the girls took this as a good answer. At least, it seemed that way to Gaara since they continued talking.

"We just have to go get Hinata and then we've got all the girls," Sakura said.

"Where does she live?" Temari asked.

"On the other side of town," Tenten sighed. When everyone looked at her, she said, "I've walked with Neji and they live in the same house. The Hyuga manor or something like that."

"You could have told us that sooner," Ino said, flipping her hair back.

"Sorry."

"It's not a big deal. Besides, you can show me and Gaara more of Leaf," Temari said, breaking up a potential argument.

So, they walked on. Finally, they got to the manor. Unluckily, Neji was in the front of the house, meditating. As soon as they neared him, he asked, "What are you doing here?"

"We're here for Hinata," Ino answered.

"Why do you want Hinata-sama? And what is he doing here?" Neji asked, pointing at Gaara.

"Temari's keeping an eye on Gaara. And, we want to talk to Hinata obviously," Sakura said. "Girls talk. It's the natural order of things."

"Fine, come in," Neji said, standing up and leading the way into the house.

Of course, Temari and Neji had to get into a fight while they're looking for Hinata. So, Gaara decided that instead of wasting time watching them fight, he would go outside. He really didn't like the house.

Gaara wandered around the rather large house. While trying to retrace his steps, he'd gotten lost. Too bad Temari hadn't let him bring his gourd. Sand was always helpful when the user is lost.

Suddenly, Gaara heard some music. It sounded high and soft. Figuring that he was already pretty lost, he might as well figure out where the music was coming from. Maybe the person playing would know how to get out of the house.

Finally, Gaara came to a door. It was ajar and the music was coming in from there. A dark-haired girl was sitting at a piano playing. Since Gaara was so close, he heard that there were words. The girl sang in a high soprano. The words hung in the air, like pieces of glass that could break if anyone else touched them.

I look into his eyes

And I see all of him

I see his sorrow

And I see his pain

When he looks at me,

Does he see my pain?

Does he see my anger?

Does he see me?

Does he see love?

In the dark,

Swallowed up by guilt,

I see him still,

A demon.

Demon of my past

Demon of my future.

Can he see the true me?

Hidden up by layers

Hidden up by sound.

Invisible to almost all

Even if I'm hiding,

He still sees me.

I am like snow.

He is from a land of sand.

Could we ever be the same?

The girl stopped there. Looking around at the door, she saw Gaara. Gaara saw that it was Hinata. Both of them were frozen in shock. Finally, Gaara broke the awkward silence.

"Temari's looking for you."

"S-she is?"

"Yes."

Blushing ferociously, she walked away from the piano and exited the room. When Gaara didn't move, she asked softly, "A-are you l-lost?"

When Gaara didn't answer, she nodded and looked at the ground. Finally, Hinata said, "F-follow m-me."

Hinata lead the way through the mess of hallways. Finally, they heard shouting. Obviously, it belonged to Temari and Neji. Walking into the main hall, they saw everyone still standing there. They hadn't even moved.

"N-nii-san?" Hinata asked aloud.

"Hinata-sama," Neji said, turning to look at her. "Where were you?"

"In the m-music r-r-room," Hinata stammered out.

"They are here for you," Neji said, gesturing to Temari, Tenten, Ino, and Sakura.

"O-oh," Hinata said, acting surprised.

"Shall we go?" Temari asked pleasantly.

"S-sure."