*CHAPTERS 4 AND 5 HAVE BEEN AMENDED AND CORRECTED TO CREATE A BETTER STORY*
Be my Teddy Bear.
A/N: There are a couple of character's deaths that I have fabricated in this story that do not correlate to the true story… the deaths of the Sand Siblings and Hinata's this chapter is serious in bits, the next ones are more fun!
Thank you for reading this story ! I feel genuinely shocked and happy to see the wonderful reviews and messages you've sent me (Sarcastic Script, don't worry about PM's if it's a problem… I completely understand and send you my love).
A special thank you also goes out to mori13 yes, Hiashi is a very cheeky chappie ^_^), whiteicewolf (great name) and again to Veraozao (I hope I can make this story better).
Wishing you all an amazing day, anoldfan xxx
Chapter Four.
10 MINUTES LATER AT THE HOKAGE'S MANSION …
Gaara decided to use the communal bathroom across the hallway from his room to wash his face and brush his teeth before returning to change his clothes. Again, both of them had slept in their clothes and it made the sleepy red head feel uncomfortable. He grabbed his Diplomat's uniform which was still hung on the outer-side of the white wardrobe for him to wear and then stopped ... what was Hinata going to wear?
Putting the uniform momentarily onto a chair beside the patio doors, he opened the wardrobe. After looking thoroughly amongst the small array of suits and official uniforms, he found the only thing he could posibly deem of as being remotely suitable was the training clothes which he had worn yesterday and had just slept in. Annoyed, he closed the wardrobe and began to pull his black shirt over his head.
Just as this happened, he heard the bathroom door CLICK gently open and he froze, the T-shirt obscuring his face and revealing his navel and chest to the blushing, smiling woman who left the bathroom.
"Kazekage-Sama," His cheeks felt hot as he could hear the amused tone her voice. "I'll just go and …" Turning red herself, she tried hard not to faint as she may have done not so long ago, walking quickly out the bedroom and closing the bedroom door gently. When he heard the door had closed, he sighed sadly. 'What the heck is wrong with my brain?' He thought desperately.
'JUST BE THANKFUL WE DIDN'T START BOTTEM END 1ST, KU KU KU…'
'What the hell was that?" Gaara wondered.
'IT'S ME … OR TO BE MORE ACCURATE … YOU."
'I don't understand…" Taking the shirt and flinging it onto the bed, he walked over to the bed and sat on it. '… Am I talking to myself or something?'
'YES," It answered. 'LET'S JUST SAY THAT I'M A NEWBIE TO YOU AND I'M HERE TO STAY, BABY!'
'You sound like a drunken version of Kankuro to me.' Gaara began to think as the voice in his head even sounded like his big brother after a few too many.
'THAT WOULD MAKE SENSE,' It replied and felt it smile as if Gaara had complimented it. 'LET'S CALL ME KANKY FOR NOW UNTIL WE GET BETTER ACQUANTED.'
'Kanky?' This did make Gaara smile and laugh out loud. 'HA HA HA HA.'
'For a man without a shirt, you're a bit cocky." Kanky retorted and Gaara stopped laughing.
'You're right I better get a move on.' And with that he walked up to the wardrobe and dressed before leaving the room to join Hinata and the others.
AT BREAKFAST…
Hinata was at the counter, helping Sakura and Temari make pancake batter. They spoke with each other admist laughter and smiles. Kankuro had not yet appeared at the dining table and Naruto jumped up from his chair when he saw his friend had joined them.
"Hi stranger," He said to Gaara, indicating for Gaara to sit in the chair next to him. "Come and sit with me for a moment. It's been a while."
Gaara sat quietly beside the number one knuckle head of Konoha and smiled at him softly.
"Sorry for not joining you before. I was angry at my siblings and didn't mean to cause you any problems."
"You did nothing wrong Gaara," Naruto said genuinely. "I just missed not seeing you. Did you sleep okay?"
"Yes." He said, image of the night before racing through his head. Just then, a muttering Kankuro appeared without his puppeteers outfit, wearing only his purple face paint and a black tracksuit. He plopped himself into the chair next to his brother and noticed a small smirk on his brother's face appear.
"What's wrong?" He said, turning to see if there was anything strange behind him. There wasn't. He turned to Gaara, slightly curious and slightly worried. "Gaara, what's up? Do I look stupid or something?"
"No more than usual." He said, smiling. It was so easy to bait his brother and if only Gaara hadn't had been so ill lately, Kankuro would have yelled at him. Bt instead he smiled back.
"Nice brother, very nice to do that to your loving big bother." Kankuro said with fake kindness.
"That's alright… Kanky."
"KANKY? What the hell happened to you last …?" He looked at the chattering women now tossing pancakes, watching Hinata with a big plate darting across the kitchen as she prepared to and successfully caught a tossed pancake from Sakura's frying pan. "Never mind." He said a few moments later as he poured himself a large glass of orange juice from a jug on the table.
"I do not know what you are insinuating… BROTHER," He spat the word 'brother' out with contempt. "But nothing happened between us last night."
"Why was she blushing then when she looked at you just now?" Kankuro queried, a smug smile imprinted on his lips as he took a sip from his glass. "You are oblivious, LITTLE brother." And he emphasised the word 'little' with a mischievous tone to his voice.
"AAhh!" SLAP!
Naruto said as he slapped his hands together loudly as the smell of pancakes permeated through the air and stacks of pancakes were brought to the table by the ladies. Temari gave her brothers their pancakes whilst Sakura brought hers and Naruto's in and Hinata had Temari's and hers. Temari and Sakura quickly gave everyone their plates but before Hinata gave Temari hers, she stopped by the counter and placed two halves of a strawberry on top of the pancakes. She then quickly placed the plate in front of a slightly crimson Temari.
"Strawberries…" Ever since she was a child, she was completely obsessed with this sweet tasting fruit that was almost impossible to obtain in Sunagakure, her village. And now, here she was, about to taste one.
"I'm sorry," Hinata said apologetically and was about to swap her plate for the older girl's when Temari smiled and shook her head. Hinata stopped, slightly puzzled but smiled slightly. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No," The woman in the dark kimono and red sash said uncharacteristically quiet, almost dream-like. "You did something extremely right."
"I'm glad." She said and began to sprinkle a little sugar onto her pancakes and then took half a lemon and squeezed some of its juice onto them as well. Gaara watched her intensely as she added the condiments to her food, almost forgetting to eat his own.
"Gaara-Sama," Sakura said, making Gaara quickly turn to her. "What would you like to eat with you pancakes? We have lots of fruit, butter, honey, maple syrup, golden syrup…"
"I will try what Lady Hinata is having ... please?"
"Of course." Sakura said and nodding her head to Hinata as she smiled, Hinata moved gently over to Gaara to help him and the sugar and lemon to his pile of pancakes.
'CHEEKY COW!' Kanky snarled within Gaara's head. 'Treating her like she's her bloody slave while she sits there and takes all the credit…' Gaara looked at the dark haired woman, still in her white uniform from the night before and noticed she looked tired.
"Hinata-Sama," Gaara said gently, gingerly taking from her hands the lemon and sugar cellar. "You look a little tired. Please sit down…" Hinata smiled politely as she turned to her seat and Gaara nearly hit himself for not even thanking her. "… And thank you." He added.
Hinata's smile turned from polite to genuine and even though she was an expert in masking her true feelings, he felt the difference between the two smiles as much as he could see the difference between the cool, tranquil moon and the warm, bright sun. Adding carefully the additions to his food, he ate his food with relish.
"This ... is … good." He reflected, having almost eaten everything upon his plate. "Hinata-Sama, what made you think of putting these things together?"
"Well," She said, slightly embarrassed as everyone faced her as she spoke. "My mother told me when I was young that you should treat life like you would a pancake…"
"Sorry?" Temari said, completely confused by the symbolism.
"… Even the sourest of things, like lemon juice, can be really good for you. But to make it work, you have to take the time to balance things and sweeten your outlook, like sugar, you will experience the most wonderful things. Eating these," She pointed to half-full plate of food in front of her. "Reminds me of her and the lesson she taught me."
"It's a good lesson." Kankuro said seriously, looking at Hinata with such intensity that she had to avert his gaze.
"Thank you. I think she taught me well."
"What is your mum like?" Temari asked and then noticed Naruto and Sakura were miming 'No' to hear and shaking their heads.
"Sadly, she died. But she was so kind and even though I only knew her until I was 4, I remember her so well. She loved gardens, flowers in particularly. I guess that's why I love…" She saw the sad faces of the Sand Siblings in front of her. "What's wrong?" She asked innocently.
"I am sorry…" Temari said.
"… We didn't know…" Kankuro added.
"… Your mother had died, too." Gaara finished.
"Don't be sorry," She told them, touched by their sentiment. "Though I am sad to hear you know what it feels like to lose a mother. I love talking about her… I haven't been able to in such a long time, not since my sister was little and wanted to know more about her.
"Hinata-Sama…" Gaara said, almost not wanting to ask but feeling close enough to her to be able to. "… How did she… die?"
"It was an accident," She replied quietly, the sunshine smile now a moonlit one. "She was protecting my sister from being kidnapped just after she had been born. She managed to kill the man in question but not without injury to herself…" Her voice trailed as the smile on her face left and eyes become moist as if they were going to shed tears … but they didn't.
"Do you hate your sister?" Gaara asked and Hinata started at him in bewilderment.
"Kami… no. She was my mother's greatest gift. Hanabi is strong, bright, good at debating and certainly has beaten me in a fight many times… she's the perfect Hyuga child, the ideal heir for the Clan and I love her strength."
Gaara didn't know exactly what was so great about this Hanabi and that if it had been his brother or sister who were even unintentionally responsible for his mother's death, he probably would have killed them when he was still possessed by the one-tailed demon.
"Sounds like you are stronger." Gaara admitted, looking the white eyed beauty straight in the eye. She looked at him and saw he was perfectly serious in what he had said. She felt incredibly embarrassed and realised everyone was watching her again … she got so lost in thinking about her mother, she forgot where she was.
"Oh my," She realised suddenly she had no idea just how much time had passed and she must have been so late for work. "I must get going…" Hurriedly she got up and ran to the bedroom to get her bag from the bedside table. The crowd were quiet and not a sound was heard until Hinata's footsteps echoed through the hallway and grew louder as she made her way towards them.
"Thank you for an amazing breakfast. It was nice to be able to speak with you all properly." She quickly bowed and then ran towards the hallway and quietly closed the front door.
"She's a kind woman," Naruto said seriously. "But still as nervous as anything…" He added with a smile.
"You are so wrong." Gaara commented quietly, so quietly only Temari and Kankuro heard him.
"Sakura," Temari said smiling at her friend and host. "We'll clean up in here. Why don't you both go out and have some fun together."
"Datteboyo!" Naruto yelled triumphantly no chores and time alone with wife meant a great start to the day. "Let's go!" He grabbed Sakura's hand and quickly ushered out of the room and out of the house as quickly as he could before the Pinkette could object.
The three sat at the table for a moment; quiet, lost in their own thoughts but knowing they needed to be around each other for that moment. The more they got to know this girl, the more each of them felt not just about her but also about parts of themselves they had neglected. Minutes passed like seconds and slowly, after an unknown amount of time to them, Temari got up and began to pick the empty plates, smiling to herself, pausing for a moment as she came to the half-filled dish Hinata had eaten.
Gaara stared at Temari and quickly pulled the remains of her breakfast along and the table and in front of, picking up her fork and began to take a small bite.
"Gaara!" Temari said, shocked. "That's disgusting, eating another person's unfinnished…" She stopped talking as she saw her brother stare kunai into her eye sockets.
"So is wasting good food." He reasoned in an even tone and picked up his fork again. Taking another piece, he chewed slowly and closing his eyes savoured the taste … he felt the connection to Hinata grow the more he felt the sweet and sour taste on his tongue. He swallowed smoothly and soon the plate was empty. Picking it and putting on top of it some of the dirty glasses, he rinsed them in the sink and then put them into the dishwasher.
Kankuro still sat at the table, thinking of his mother. She had also died trying to protect her child from a man who felt he had to destroy the boy he called a 'thing', a 'monster' ... the child was Gaara, and the murderer of their mother was their father.
Kankuro shook his head, awakening from sad memories of their father isolating Gaara from his sister and him, trying to either turn him into a killing machine or trying to eliminate him himself. He sat up in a start, the anger at his father rising and feeling the need for fresh air and stomped out of the room, thinking of heading to a small bar where he could just be far away from everyone…
"Kankuro?" Asked Temari, leaving the kitchen counter and looking at the table Kankuro had left without saying a word. She sighed. Somehow, she knew what he was thinking. They seemed be able to do that sometimes, have the same thoughts at the same time … but they each dealt with things in different ways. Gaara would bottle it up or crack under the pressure of his problems, Kankuro would disguise it with humour or go off alone whilst she …
'What do I do?' She wondered. 'I … bottle it up and push it down deep inside me… like Gaara or lash out when it's all becomes too much.' It shocked her to think how similar she was to her baby brother.
"You okay, Temari?" Gaara asked.
"I'm fine." She lied.
'I know she is lying,' he thought. "But what can you do? If I force her tell me, it would only make her feel worse.'
'GAARA, LET'S GET OUT OF HERE AND THINK ABOUT WHAT WE SHOULD BE DOING TONIGHT... MY SUGGESTIONS ARE STAR GAZING OR HITTING THE POLE DANCING CLUB. LET ME GUESS WHICH YOU'RE KEEN TO DO...?'
"I'll be taking a walk in the garden." Gaara advised her before leaving the room.
Temari then focused her mind as to what to she should do next and the thought that came to her shocked her. But she did it anyway…