Yachiru-san: Editing…7/13/08
Yay! We're finally in chapter 4! (By the way this chapter is a little longer than chapters 2 and 3.) I love this chapter! By the way I also love Rock Lee! (Even though he has those eyebrows.)
Y: Next chapter! Ikzoh!
Lee: Yosh! I'm finally in this chapter!
Y: Lee, do you want to do the disclaimer?
L: (attacks random kumo ninja) Konoha Dai Senpu!
Y: Lee!
L: Sumeimasen. I was just using my power of youth!
Y: Yeah...whatever...please do the disclaimer...everyone's waiting...
L: Hai! (Salutes)
Gaara: Can we get this over with already?
Y: Where'd you come from?
G: (sweatdrop)
L: Yachiru-san does not own Naruto in any way only this story! (nice guy pose)
G: Yeah, I'm sure glad as hell she doesn't otherwise I'd be some mushy romance character. (Dark emo voice)
L: (taps finger on chin) Hai. I could actually begin to see that.
Y: (falls over laughing)
G: Urusei. (death glare)
(Mutters to himself: Why don't I just kill you both?)
Song: Just One
Artist: Hoobastank
Chapter 4
A day later the two shinobi set out. They were actually quite similar despite their broad differences. Hinata was a shy kunoichi, eighteen years old and carried the medical ninja supplies over her shoulder along with some food she kept in her bag. Hinata was of medium height and had long indigo hair and pretty lavender eyes. She was still a Chuunin in training. Gaara was Kazekage and also eighteen years old, and he carried a gourd of sand strapped to his back and across his chest. He was taller than Hinata with bright red hair and ice blue eyes. Despite their many differences, both knew the meaning of loneliness.
It was starting to warm up. They had been traveling for two hours and were dead tired. The pair had just hiked through the canyons. They were trying to get back to Sunagakure – which unexpectedly went under attack last night.
"Hinata-san, Daijobu deska?" Gaara asked her. The redhead didn't expect her to be out of breath all ready.
"Umm...I...I, huff huff...I'm okay." Hinata said and flushed pink. For some reason she actually liked being around him, although this hiking was making her legs sore. Fortunately, Gaara had been able to partially heal it, so it wasn't so sore anymore. It sure had been convenient that she had been out that night collecting medicinal herbs. Boy, they sure came in handy.
--
Meanwhile, in the Village Hidden in Cloud shinobi spies prepared to go after the surviving Kazekage. He wasn't supposed to have made it, but an eyewitnesser reported that the Raikage had indeed been defeated and killed by the eighteen year old Kazekage.
"Ksoh!" One of the Jounin cursed. "Without the Raikage we don't have any back-up plans!"
This secret meeting took place under ground. Sunagakure at the moment was busy pushing the enemy out of their village. They had a little help from the Leaf of course.
"Twenty-five down! Twenty left to go!" Gai shouted as he felled yet another shinobi. "How many did you defeat Lee?" Gai asked his pupil.
"Twenty with my Omoto Renge, but I'll try harder, Gai-sensei!" Lee responded with a thumbs up.
"Alright, Neji-kun which direction are they hiding?" Tenten asked her teammate.
"Byakugan!" Neji shouted. "There are five hiding to your right and three behind you."
Tenten launched her time bomb and within three minutes the enemy shinobi were blown up...er defeated.
"Perhaps we should find more enemy shinobi?" Tenten asked Neji.
He nodded in approval. "Taking them down will be easy since we already know what type of attacks they will launch. Tenten, Ikzoh."
Tenten followed him. "But, I'm worried. Do you think Lee-kun will be alright?" She asked with a hint of worry in her voice. Either Lee got on her nerves or she was worried about him. Tenten always acted like an older sister to Lee, looking out for him and scolding him too.
"Lee will be fine. I'm sure him and Gai-sensei are having some sort of contest of 'who can beat the most ninja'." Neji said with a sweatdrop. "How they never fail to amuse themselves, I'll never understand." Neji sighed and shook his head.
Tenten smiled. The two Konoha ninja leapt from roof to roof.
"Quiet down!" An elder from Kumogakure said. "Don't forget! We have that rogue ninja, Aoi from the Mist, remember? He will find those bastards and kill them."
Gaara and Hinata didn't know what was waiting in store for them.
--
A twenty-three year old man surveyed the terrain. He shielded his eyes from the sun, after all where he came from it was always cloudy. His spiky, shoulder-length green hair was tied back with a hitaite that had the mist symbol on it. His name was Aoi and his job was to annihilate the Kazekage. (Yachiru: Remember from the fillers 103-104? I brought him back to life:) He didn't care who he killed – he was a rogue ninja after all. Part of him desired revenge. He had fought Naruto a while back and was defeated. Aoi had managed to almost kill Sasuke and beat Sakura. After Naruto had launched his Rasengan, Aoi had fallen down a steep cliff and was though to be dead, when a strange shinobi had rescued him using some type of pressure-holding, cloud-forming jutsu. It wasn't long before Aoi teamed up with Kumogakure and started to do the Raikage's bidding.
Konohagakure, the country to which 'those brats' belonged to (and him too, formerly) was aiding Sunagakure. He also had heard from secret intelligence that Naruto, the brat who had almost killed him was maintaining a close alliance with the Kazekage.
Oh well, the least I can do is send him into another dimension. He thought.
"I'm so sweet sometimes." He smirked. Revenge was going to be highly satisfactory, not to mention that large portion of money that Kumo had promised. Being a rogue ninja was so simple, work for someone powerful, get paid, and then move on to the next job. Plus, he was able to keep up his favorite hobby in check – killing people.
--
Kankuro had just returned from his vacation, knowing little of what had transpired. The war was pretty much over in Sunagakure; however, the enemies were still being pushed back into Kumogakure. Everything had pretty much returned back to normal in the sand village itself.
Kankuro was worried, he didn't quite know what it was, but he couldn't shake the ominous feeling that something terrible and foreboding already happened in his absence.
The twenty year old sand nin (who was currently single) entered the Kage mansion.
"Kankuro-dono!" One of the guards shouted.
"Not right now!" The puppet master shouted back walking straight ahead.
"Demo," one of the sand shinobi ran after him. "It's something important I..." he began before Kankuro cut him off again.
"Whatever it is it can wait."
"Demo..."
"Tell me later," and with that Kankuro strode down an adjoining corridor and continued walking. He wore his traditional puppet master clothes with Karasu slung over his shoulder. He had decided to lose the hat so his spiky brown hair was visible. He actually wasn't wearing the face paint. Kankuro had been in a rush today due to that ominous feeling he still couldn't shake. Out of all the siblings, Kankuro was the only one who bore a strong resemblance to their father, the late Yondaime Kazekage. He reached his destination and placed his hand on the doorknob.
"Demo, Kankuro-dono..." The guard begged trailing right behind him.
"Gaara, I'm coming in." Kankuro announced before opening the door to the Kazekage's office. "Gaara?" Kankuro asked looking at an empty office – that is one with no Gaara in it. It looked like his younger brother had been in middle of working. There were papers strewn on the desk and half finished scrolls, a few books and some ink. The windows were closed, except for one which Kankuro shut himself.
"Gaara?" He asked again in disbelief. If this were some type of joke – well it sure wasn't funny. Kankuro was really worried about his younger brother now. "Where's Gaara?" He demanded turning on the stumbling guard.
"Kankuro-dono while you were gone the village went under attack and well it seems the enemy, Kumogakure-no-sato that is…umm went after Kazekage-sama." He finished sheepishly.
"Nandayo?!" Kankuro shouted.
"It looks to us like they want to capture Kazekage-sama. Apparently the Raikage has fought him. That is all we know as of now. Two days have elapsed and we still have not heard anything else." Another shinobi guard finished for him.
"I can't believe this, Ksoh!" Kankuro cursed sinking into a nearby chair head in hands. "I'm gone for a week and when I come back all hell breaks loose." He looked up with a weak smile. "Well, it seems that I need to have a talk with the council," something which he enjoyed least in the world. He stood up and sighed running a hand through his spiky brown hair.
"So, he was chased and then battled the Raikage?" Kankuro inquired while seated at a large round table with a dozen or so council members.
"Yes," replied an elder named Hanzo. "All we know is that the Raikage himself has been holding an unknown grudge against Suna for a long time and has decided as of now to wage war. Don't misunderstand me, we are pushing the enemy back but we are still unaware of what has happened to Kazekage-sama."
"So, he fought the Raikage, and then...?" Kankuro asked Hanzo.
"We don't know anything beyond that." The elder answered him.
"Forgive me Hanzo-jisama, but we do know more." A rather young looking shinobi interrupted who had a sandy-colored ponytail, brown eyes and a Suna hitaite around his neck.
"Yes, Sanji please go on." Hanzo requested.
"We are aware that Kazekage-sama took his gourd with him...evidence enough that he was prepared for something like this to happen and...that one of the Leaf ninja on a mission here to sign the treaty with Godaime Hokage escaped with him too...most notably an ally...from records we know the shinobi's name...a certain kunoichi by the name of Hyuuga Hinata." Sanji finished.
Hanzo then continued. "From this we can conclude that Kazekage-sama is protecting her for that matter and himself as well."
Gaara was protecting a girl? Kankuro thought in disbelief. He remembered the Hyuuga from the Chuunin exams and had seen her recently too, most probably on a mission. She was cute he admitted, although not his 'type' personally. He couldn't help thinking what his younger brother was up to now.
--
Hinata and Gaara camped out for the night. They finally decided to take a break from traveling. Hinata pilfered through her bag, and she and Gaara ate what remaining food was left.
"Tomorrow, we must find Suna or at least a village." Gaara assumed. "We've already run out of food, and there's no telling what the enemy has done so far."
"Ano, Gaara-sama?" Hinata asked.
"Nani?"
"Do-d-do you think that maybe Kumogakure might have sent someone else after us?" Hinata asked trying not to stutter.
"Maybe, but I hope not. Try not to worry about it Hinata-san." Gaara answered.
Hinata sat against a rock wall and wrapped her arms around her knees. It sure is cold at night. She thought. They were really far out in the desert, but she hoped they could get back soon.
"Try to get some sleep, Hinata-san. We have to travel a lot farther and I don't want to have to take anymore breaks." He said quietly while adding more brush to the small bonfire.
Hinata rested her head on her knees. Why is he being so nice to me? It makes me want to… hug him. She thought and then: No, don't think about that. He's Sabaku No Gaara – he doesn't need anyone. She tried to hide her blush and sat up.
"Ano, Gaara-sama, aren't you tired?" Throughout the mere two nights they had been stuck in the desert, Gaara never seemed to sleep. Not even once.
Gaara sat with his back to the wall and one knee up. He solemnly looked ahead.
I have to get back… and quickly. As soon as he heard her voice, he turned to look at her.
"Don't worry about me. I have to be on the look out for enemy shinobi, okay?" He answered her.
"Th-then I'll h-help you and s-stay up too." Hinata replied blushing.
"You don't have to." Gaara said clearly startled. If she's so exhausted, then why is she even staying up? He thought.
The young Hyuuga girl tried to stay awake. It was hard, because her mind kept on wandering off to the cozy bed she slept in at the Kazekage mansion. She wished she were sleeping there now. After a mere thirty minutes, Hinata fell asleep, her head abruptly slumped against Gaara's shoulder.
He turned around at the sudden contact, and felt himself blush. Her head rested gently against his shoulder. He couldn't help noticing how incredibly peaceful she looked asleep.
He didn't really want to admit it, but Hinata was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Her long indigo hair framed her pale features. With her soft, kind lavender eyes and warm smiles, he couldn't stop this feeling from recurring inside of him.
I'm being stupid. He thought and turned his head away from the sleeping girl.
I don't need anything like that. What am I thinking anyway? He ran his hand through a clump of red hair. What am I even thinking?
He briefly closed his eyes and opened them again. Gaara glanced at the sleeping girl, and then turned way suddenly embarrassed. There was that feeling...again.
Gaara pretended not to notice it, but...she was so warm...and she smelled good too (despite the grueling hiking)...and her hair felt so soft against his shoulder. He smiled. He couldn't help it. She was so determined to help him, and yet so...
He couldn't really put it into words...
How he felt about her, that is...
Half an hour later he nodded off, his head down, his hand on his knee...and her head still resting on his shoulder.
For five hours they sat there like that. Just the two of them.
Two lonely people were able to step out of their shells for a while.
Anyways, hope you people like :) I won't be updating for a while. And thanks to all the people who read this! (Reviews are VERY much appreciated. They keep me writing. Oh and thanks to my sister, xyoukaihunterx for help on the Japanese words.
Japanese words:
Correction Ksoh means Damn it not Chikusho.
Oh...and the suffix of dono means "Master or someone of higher up authority" like the Kazekage's older brother.