Time for another update! I actually wrote most of this on my cell-phone when I was awake all night staying at a friend's house.
So in this chapter, Gaara and Hitori are starting to realise their feelings for each other, yay!
And we also find out a bit about Hitori's past which will be influencing the story later on ;)
ENJOY!
Disclaimer: I own nothing except this storyline and my OC... Chapter 4 - Scarred
"Three hundred metres until target interception." the female said quietly into her tiny microphone, and the nine other people set to the same frequency responded with an equally quiet sound of acknowledgement. "Two hundred metres......one hundred metres....get ready." she activated her jutsu almost instinctively as they got closer to their target.
The group of ten that made up her team prepared themselves for what would most likely be the most difficult battle of their lives. They were pitted against at least 15-20 shinobi, all of which were listed in the Bingo Book. Every single one of them had been training, analysing, and planning for this day, and it would all come down to the small amount of time that they would be fighting for their lives, their pride and for their village.
It was way too quiet as they silently stalked and jumped through the trees to get sight of their target. The female laid eyes on them and counted 17 shinobi. She couldn't see anything significant about them from this distance, nor could she see any hitai-ite or ANBU tattoos, let alone something that might actually help her figure out what they were capable of.
Just like they trained, she waited for three of the ten shinobi make their way down the trees and get behind the opponents closest to them. They had formed a circle around them, which would hopefully stop them from escaping, but it might also mean that they were trapped as well.
With a stroke of luck, the three team members managed to kill or incapacitate four of the enemy and two of them were starting to make hand seals for their jutsu, going by the plan. The third was protecting them while they were open for that short amount of time, even though it was doubtful that anything would happen but it was enough for a good shinobi to take advantage of.
Two shinobi that were on opposite sides of their circle began drawing kunai and shuriken and started throwing them at the enemy, hoping to get a lucky strike, and take them off guard as well as distract them from dodging the jutsu that two of their comrades were about to use.
Hand seals were completed, names of techniques were said, and the result was a huge katon and futon jutsu that came together to make an even bigger combination technique that tripled it's destructive force. One of the enemy was caught in the jutsu, and another just got away, but was cut by the blades of futon chakra and burnt by the katon. Most of the others scattered to get away from it and some were left vulnerable.
It seemed like they had the upper hand, until hundred of kunai began flying at the seven remaining shinobi who were still perched in the trees, waiting for their moment to strike.
All seven of them dodged the sharp weapons, aside from a few occasional slices to the arms or legs. It took them off guard and distracted them long enough for three of the enemy to each send a huge katon towards the parts of the circle that they were facing and burnt off most of the leaves and branches that were in it's direct path. The chakra-generated fire also seemed to be propelled further and quicker by a futon jutsu that must have been cast in the very middle of the battlefield out of their sight. These guys were clearly just as well prepared as they were.
She heard muttered and hissed curses through the ear-piece and hoped that none of her team were down after she felt some fluctuations in their chakras. When the large katon's dissipated but their vision was still obstructed by flames and smoke, the chakra of the three shinobi that were already down on the ground out of the trees fighting surged, then disappeared completely, which meant only one thing.
They were dead. Just like that.
Pale-grey eyes hidden in shadow widened seeing their bloodied corpses after the smoke cleared, one of which was decapitated and the others were just lacerated so badly that they were barely recognisable.
There were eleven enemy shinobi left, and she momentarily felt proud that her comrades had managed to take out so many of them before they passed. Anger was boiling inside her, threatening to burst, but she squashed it back down and remained calm. She could get angry and upset later.
Four of her team jumped down and began going up against six of the shinobi in taijustu and close range combat, and she could see the glinting of kunai in hand, some that had already been soaked with blood. It seemed that the shinobi were a little weak against hand to hand combat, compared with their wondrous ninjutsu usage that they showed previously and she hoped to take advantage of that the first chance she got.
Knowing that the other two of her remaining comrades were about to stop throwing kunai and shuriken and start using ninjutsu, she unmasked her chakra and let it flow into her extremities in preparation, but didn't drop her jutsu.
All three of them felt the chakra of their four comrades currently fighting surge and drop out one by one and they had the extreme displeasure of seeing their team members being killed brutally, and she heard low growling through the tiny speaker. They collected themselves and exhaled heavily in preparation for their counter attacks.
The other two began making hand seals, and she watched out for them as they did and started making her own seals faster than anyone with a Sharingan could follow. Two huge suiton jutsu came soaring out of nowhere and went charging at their opponents.
"Raiton: Jibashi!" she hissed quietly, and aimed the massive bolts of lightning at the water.
Luckily, it seemed that the enemy wasn't expecting that, and at least three of them were caught in it, and were electrocuted and killed by the combination technique.
The remaining enemy just barely escaped by leaping into the trees, and getting out of the way of the water. They were still outnumbered by the enemy, and the black-haired woman half-sighed, and half-growled quickly before releasing her jutsu and dropping to the ground along with the remaining enemy after the water had passed.
She dropped to one knee and smashed a chakra-laced fist into the ground, which instantly cracked and opened up all around them. It surprised the enemy shinobi that the small girl had so much physical strength and her other two team mates took that opportunity to attack and all three of them inwardly hoped that they could find a way to beat these shinobi...
"Hitori!" Gaara said a little louder and just barely missed her head colliding straight into his as she flew to sit straight up, snapped out of her slumber.
Silvery-grey eyes came slowly into focus after a moment and she turned her head to see Gaara looking at her with concern in his eyes and he watched her as she shook her head a little to try and dispel the memories she had suppressed for so long that had come back to her in a dream.
"Are you okay?" he said with slightly worry and confusion in his voice.
He had heard her through the walls tossing and turning and talking in her sleep. At first he didn't think anything of it since he assumed she was just getting annoyed at not being able to get comfortable and sleep or something like that, but when he heard someone's name that he didn't recognise being said loudly, as if in distress, he decided to go and see if she was alright.
She replied with a single quick nod and a small sound in the back of her throat that was half-way between a 'No' and a 'Hmm'. These memories, and dreams were why she barely slept. She hated reliving that day, that small amount of time in which she lost good friends, all because she had incorrectly gauged the power and strength of their opponent and the level of teamwork and skill they had.
That was why when she actually survived that fight, even though none of her comrades did, she made it so that it would never happen again. She would never screw up a mission. And when she went back to take out the remaining shinobi, she personally killed the ring leader with a flat hand straight through his chest and a dark smirk on her face. Even though she hated killing, hated being so damn good at her job, that moment did give her some sadistic satisfaction.
Still sitting straight up and breathing quickly and deeply, she knew she wouldn't get back to sleep any time soon. Not at least for the next two days until she was that god damn exhausted that she passed out. She briefly thought about just going up to the hospital and keeping herself busy to distract herself, but doing that was probably she dreamt about those events. Because she suppressed them, and tried to forget about it.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Gaara asked quietly, honestly not expecting her to agree, but when she slowly turned her head to look at him with a shockingly open expression and nodded, he gave her a small, sad smile before moving so she could get out of bed.
Without really thinking about it, she got up and walked to the open window and stuck her head out of it. She looked directly upwards, and made a small sound of acknowledgement before climbing out the window, much to Gaara's surprise. He followed her and went out the window as well, and she was already sitting down on the roof with her knees bent and tucked up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them.
He climbed up with the ease and grace of a shinobi and sat next to her. As good as she was at keeping composed and all that, she couldn't hide the slight shaking of her body and the tiny glint of torture in her eyes. For something to effect her this much that she couldn't keep it covered up then it really must be serious. He knew all too well what it was like. They sat in silence, Hitori trying to get the courage to speak, and Gaara just waiting until she was ready.
"I had a dream about the first big mission that I lead. I had been in charge for heaps of ANBU missions since I was a squad leader, but this one was to get back vital information from missing-nin that had stolen it from Konoha shinobi that they had killed. There was twenty of them originally, but the team with the information had killed three of them before they were defeated. It was my job to chose and lead the team that took the rest of them out." her breathing was a little shaky sometimes, but she kept going.
"There was ten of us. I had chosen shinobi because of their chakra natures and skills in re-con and stealth, and we trained using different collaboration jutsu and everything else for at least two weeks before we got sent out. We found them and surrounded them, just as planned. Three of them snuck up on them and managed to get rid of four of them, one of them was only knocked out though. Two of them started making hand seals for the first collaboration jutsu, which was a katon and futon combo and two of other guys started throwing kunai and shuriken so we might catch them off guard and stop them from dodging the jutsu." her pale-grey eyes were closed as she laid down on her back with her arms crossed underneath her head and she told the most painful part of the tale.
"One of the enemy was caught in the jutsu and another only just dodged, but was injured in the process. We were going good until they started flinging hundreds of kunai towards us who were waiting in the trees. Most of us dodged them aside getting a few cuts, but nothing serious. Then, three of them used huge katon jutsu and I'm not sure but I think one of them in the middle used a futon jutsu to make it stronger.....as well as kill the three guys on the ground fighting them at close range." she stopped for a moment, and sighed quietly at the recollection of feeling their chakra rise then stop completely that always made her feel like she was back there again.
"We all saw them, totally mutilated by the jutsu. One of them was even decapitated. It was horrible, even for shinobi standards. There was eleven of them left by that point, and four of the other guys jumped down and started fighting several of them in taijustu while the other two kept throwing weapons at them. Then we saw the four on the ground get killed." she almost choked a little saying 'killed' but she knew that if she stopped she probably wouldn't be able to continue.
"Me and the other two started using our suiton and raiton collaboration jutsu, and three of them were caught, but the others got out of the way by climbing into the trees. When the water passed, we all jumped down, and I remember slamming my fist into the ground and it just starts to get hazy after that. But I do recall seeing my last two comrades get killed, and one of them injected me with something just before he died, but I don't know what it was...then I remember waking up in Konoha's hospital about one week later with this scar."
She lifted up the back of her shirt all the way to show him the huge scar going down from her right shoulder blade to the middle of her back. It was at least 1 centimetre wide, and Gaara didn't doubt that it would have been a wound that would have killed her if she wasn't a medic nin. And her comrade injecting her with something probably had something to do with her survival.
"I have no idea why I survived that fight. By rights I shouldn't have, especially with the wound that caused that huge scar. But I could bet that it was all because my team mate injected me with something that slowed my heart rate and need for oxygen – there fore slowing my bleeding – to a point where it would almost be impossible to tell that I was alive from any non-medically trained shinobi."
There was a comfortable silence between them as Hitori was immersed in her thoughts, and Gaara was immersed in his, thinking over what she'd told him. He was pretty sure that something like that would have most likely been a highly classified mission file, but it wasn't like he planned on telling anyone about it. Hitori might end up telling Temari and Kankuro if she felt it necessary, but he wouldn't speak unless she said he could. He finally figured out what to say, but didn't bother thinking about it too much so he would second guess himself.
"If I told you that it wasn't your fault, would you believe me and accept it?" he asked quietly with faint caution. She turned to open her eyes and give him a small glare that said 'Are you stupid? Of course not'. "You couldn't have possibly guessed that your opponents would have been that powerful, otherwise you would have been able to bring a force large and strong enough to take them down." he reasoned with soft confidence, just wanting her to stop beating herself up over this.
His logic was correct, unfortunately for her. She couldn't have been able to figure out how strong the remaining seventeen were considering that an ANBU cell of four shinobi were able to take out three of them. But there was just that voice in the back of her mind that told her that it was her fault that all her comrades were killed. She was the lone survivor...and why? What had she been injected with? Why the hell had she survived with only that damn scar to show for it?
Even though she could have healed it up so that you could barely see it at all unless you were in the right light, there was something in her mind telling her to leave it there, so she kept it there as remembrance and almost like a tribute to her lost comrades. She didn't know what could have caused such a huge wound that wasn't even healed up properly after a week, .
When she actually woke up out of her almost coma one week later, everyone was so happy and shocked that she was alright to actually tell her what had happened to her. And she was too overwhelmed by actually being alive to think about it too much either.
Either way, Gaara was right. Everyone had told her that it wasn't her fault...Kakashi, Tsunade, even the hospital staff. But she just couldn't get past it. Maybe she would ask Naruto about it when she got back. He knew that it was a massive weight on her shoulders, since they had also talked about it once before. She was sure that he would want to help her get some closure and get past it, as hard as it would be and that the only reason he wouldn't have done so earlier is if he wasn't supposed to.
It was about 2 hours until sunrise, and she was planning on leaving tomorrow for Konoha, but she just couldn't deal with this any longer and decided to ask whether she could leave today. The sooner the better.
"Gaara, is it okay if I leave for Konoha at sunrise?" she asked quietly, sounding quite defeated even though she tried to cover it up a little for the sake of her pride.
"Of course you may. You can even stay a day longer if you feel the need to. I already told the hospital staff not to expect you back until at least after next Sunday, so feel free." he answered her calmly and gave her a small smile to hopefully reassure and relax her.
She returned it, even though her sadness showed through it and they sat there for a few minutes in silence before she sighed quietly and tentatively put her head on his shoulder. Gaara's eyes went wide and he tensed slightly, but instantly melted at the tired look on her face. Not physically tired, but tired from not knowing what happened, tired of the truth being kept from her, tired of not knowing how the hell she survived the fierce and brutal fight.
Gently, he rested his head on top of her as they sat in complete silence and waited until the sun rose. Blacks and blues eventually become reds, oranges and yellows. It was quite a beautiful sight, one that they got a perfect view of from where they sat. A small smile unconsciously appeared on both their faces as the colours of the starting of a new day reflected in turquoise and silvery-grey eyes.
It wasn't even awkward as they slowly got up at the same time, knowing that it was time for Hitori to leave. They slipped back in her room through the window and she started putting things in her pack as Gaara just casually leant up against her wall and watched her. She needed to change, but she didn't really want Gaara to leave the room for that. Quickly, she got her clothes out and put them on the bed and looked at him.
He didn't seem to get it for a moment then it hit him and went to start walking to leave the room but Hitori just held a hand in the air with her pointer finger moving in a circle. He tensed, but turned around and didn't move his eyes from a spot on the wall directly in front of him. She swiftly took off her sleeping clothes and threw her normal shinobi attire on and stuffed the others into her pack and put it on her back. She was ready to go.
The black-haired woman walked over to where Gaara was standing still pointedly staring at the wall. She moved around so she would be in his peripheral vision and he snapped out of his trance and gave her another tiny smile seeing that she looked like she was feeling a little better.
They walked out of the house, and she just assumed that he was going to be stubborn and walk her to the village gates, so she didn't bother bringing it up. Once they got there, she awkwardly hugged him in thanks for listening to her and making her feel better even though he barely did anything and he just as awkwardly returned it, but enjoyed it nonetheless.
"Thanks, Gaara." she said quietly and was about to pull away when she did something she didn't think about. At all.
She went to give him a quick peck on the cheek, but he turned his head towards her at the same time and before either of them could figure it out, their lips made contact. They were both in shock, so they stayed in that position for several more moments before a bird flew past overhead and squawked loudly. Gaara pulled back trying not to make it any more weird for either of them, but there was a shadow of a smile on his face.
Hitori's hair covered her face, and she turned and started walking off before Gaara could snap out of his daze and stop her, and the red-haired Kazekage stayed standing in that same spot until her small black dot disappeared from his sight completely.
Three days later, Hitori arrived outside the gates of Konoha where the Rokudaime Hokage was personally waiting to escort her to his office so they could 'discuss business'. His blue eyes lit up seeing her walking towards him and he gave her one of his shockingly contagious grins that always managed to put a smile on her face, no matter how much she tried to compose herself.
Hitori had let him know when she was a day away from them since she hadn't had time to write back to him and let him know when she was coming back. And she should have expected him to be waiting for her. She shook her head when he raised an arm above his head and started waving excitedly and walked towards her a little.
When she was standing next to him, she went to be formal with him as a subordinate to the Hokage should, but he just hugged her warmly like a friend would.
"Good to see you Hitori-chan!" he said, his melodic and happy voice reverberating through her as he hugged her. They both pulled back and he grinned again before they started walking towards his office. She didn't bother telling him to drop the '-chan', since she actually rather liked that he was so friendly towards her and he was the only person she allowed to use that particular honorific with. If it was anyone else, she'd probably punch them.
They talked about her trip while they strolled up to his office, and Hitori guessed that Naruto wanted to get all of the business stuff out of the way so that they could just hang out and catch up, not as Hokage, or as a Konoha shinobi, but just as good friends who hadn't seen each other in a while.
As soon as they got there, and they sat down on opposite sides of the desk, Naruto taking up the role of Hokage, and Hitori taking up the role of a shinobi at his command. They discussed purely business matters and just like Gaara had reminded her of Naruto all those days ago, she realised now how similar they both were in the way they presented themselves and went about their work. Then as soon as that thought crossed her mind, she remembered the odd goodbye that happened only three days ago. She tensed and her blank expression changed into one of concealed shock and embarrassment. How could she have forgotten about that?
Naruto noticed the change in her demeanour straight away and was quite confused and interested as to why something seemed to get under her skin so much. He doubted that it was something he said or did since they were merely talking over what her job will be and what kind of involvement she will have in certain situations.
Luckily, they were just going through this last file and he told her to push it away until they were done. She willed herself to be calm and cleared her mind of anything other than what the blue-eyed man was saying to her. After they were finished, it was at least 5:30, so it was definitely time to go home. Professional attitudes melted away instantly and Naruto smiled happily as they walked out of the Hokage's office and towards his home. He wasn't a huge fan of having a massive fancy place, and it was quite nice for him to be so low key.
It only took them a matter of minutes to get there and when they walked in the front door, the smell of ramen and everything else that was Naruto wafted into Hitori's nostrils and she faintly shook her head. Even since he was a genin, this side of him hadn't changed at all. Sure, he was more mature and smarter, much more than anyone could have ever realised, and even though he was also more jaded by everything he had seen and been through, he never allowed it to change who he was. Never allowed it to change that spark of purity he always had in his eyes.
To her, that was the most admirable attribute the Kyubi jinchuriki had. He told her to make herself at home as he got some snacks out for them, and a large bottle of sake to share.
"If I recall correctly, you are still too young to drink, Naruto." she said with a teasing tone as she cracked open the bottle and poured the liquid into two cups that he had set out.
"That may be so, but I work hard all day. So I think I deserve it." he retorted playfully, going along with her little game, but decided to get some payback for her dig. "So, what exactly was it that made you freeze up earlier, hmm?" he couldn't help but enjoy the thoughtful look which turned into dramatic widening of her silvery-grey eyes and the stiffening of her muscles that made it look like she had gone into rigor mortis.
"You can't tell anyone about this...or...I'll-I'll kill you." she choked out in a whisper, glaring daggers at Naruto's smirk at the last part. Even she would get her ass handed to her by the damn toad sage/Kyubi jinchuriki. "It happened when I left Suna. I kind of told Gaara about what happened on 'that' mission after I had a dream about it...I decided I wanted to leave then for reasons that we will be discussing later. We said goodbye and just gave him a casual hug to thank him for listening, and well...I'm still not sure how it happened...but...w-we kissed...I think..." she whispered with blatant shock in her tone that she didn't bother to or couldn't hide.
Naruto's eyes were as wide as saucers and his jaw dropped at the news. Even a small, low gasp escaped him. He certainly hadn't expected that one. For all he knew, Gaara hadn't really even started to notice girls yet. Apparently he was wrong. "...wow..." was all he could muster until he inhaled and exhaled deeply. "Does he like you or something?" the blond asked, still in shock.
She mock glared at him before replying. "Do you really think I would know if he liked me? Although, he was acting a little odd around me sometimes..." she mused and put a finger on her chin in thought.
"Like how?" Naruto asked, wondering how the hell Gaara would act if he had a crush on someone.
"Well, he seemed a little on edge around me, and he did compliment me once when I was wearing my new kimono. Would that mean he likes me?" she asked, since she was absolutely clueless in these matters. Naruto thought it over for a moment, and it sounded about right to him.
"Sounds like it to me. What about you though?" he replied, not being able to hide the smile on his face any more.
"I don't know. I don't even know what it feels like to like someone."
"Well, you think about it while you're here. Maybe you'll know by the time you leave."
She nodded faintly in agreement and drained her cup before setting it down on the table and refilling it.
Until the early hours of the morning, they talked about anything and everything, just thoroughly enjoying each other's company. Hitori had already decided not to bring up the reason why she came back earlier until the day she was leaving so she could enjoy the time she spent here before heading back to Suna.
The pale-skinned woman told him what happened with the rogue shinobi that had stolen her new katana, saving Ashinami's life, working at the hospital, living at Gaara's, and about her day out with Temari and her night out with Kankuro.
Naruto noticed that she seemed to like Temari, Kankuro and Gaara and that the woman felt comfortable there, something that was rare for a shinobi to feel inside another hidden village, allied or not, especially one like her who didn't ever really feel 'at home' no matter where she was. He also noticed that she hadn't brought up why she mentioned 'that' mission before and chose that he wouldn't bring it up with her unless she was going to leave without talking to him about it.
They continued to talk until it was nearly 2am, and they both decided to call it a night and get some sleep. He already had a bed set up in his guest room and they said goodnight before going to their rooms, changing into something more comfortable to sleep in, sliding under the covers, shutting their eyes and eventually falling asleep.
The next morning, Hitori woke to the smell of breakfast being cooked. She got up and walked out of her room to the kitchen/dining room and smiled sheepishly at Naruto making something other than ramen to eat and joked about finding it funny that the Hokage himself was cooking for someone else. While he cooked, she set up the table and helped him serve it up and they sat down at the small table and made small talk as they ate happily.
Naruto went off to work after he got ready and Hitori went over to her place to collect up some her things that she wanted to take back to Suna with her. She stored most of it in scrolls, not wanting to carry around more things than were necessary in her pack. There was only some clothes, weapons and training supplies, medical supplies and other random things stored in the three small scrolls and she placed them in her back pocket before heading over to the hospital to get some medicinal plants and herbs that Suna was low on.
Konoha had the best growing conditions for most of the commonly used ones, so they usually had a constant supply of them in storage. She walked through the hospital, talking with some of the medical staff about where she had been and about what she was teaching the Suna medics.
When she got to the storage room, Sakura, who was now the head medic for the hospital and the only medic to have ever surpassed the Godaime Hokage and Sannin, Tsunade, was in there mixing up something at the large table in the middle of the room. The pink-haired woman greeted her happily and told her that she was glad to hear about her helping out at Suna's hospital. Hitori told her about what she was planning on doing to help them become more skilled and efficient medics and Sakura agreed with her, as well as making some helpful suggestions.
They always had a lot of respect for one another as medics and shinobi, and it was good for them to talk for a while and catch up a little as Hitori took out some of the stored plants and herbs and put some of them aside so that she could come and grab them before she left. She helped Sakura make various medicines that they were running low in to give her a hand since she had quite a long list and just to pass the time.
After a while, they bid each other goodbye and Hitori left, intending to head back to Naruto's place and get a little more rest. She could just go back to her place, but chances were that she wouldn't wake up for a while, so it would be easier in the case that Naruto finished early, which would be quite likely. As much as he enjoyed his job, he probably wasn't overly interested in staying at work while she was only here for another two days.
She used the key he had given her this morning to get in and laid down on her temporary bed before gradually falling into a light sleep.
It was the middle of the day and Gaara already wanted to go home. The unexpected goodbye with Hitori had been on his mind ever since she left two days ago and he rather missed having her around. In such a short time, it had become normal for her to have breakfast with him and his two older siblings and the occasional lunch or dinner when she could get away from the hospital.
Kankuro had also been bummed out about her being gone because he had no one to drink with at midnight when he couldn't sleep. And Temari missed having her equally short-tempered female friend around – no matter how much she hid it – that enjoyed just hanging out and giving her puppeteer brother a hard time. Gaara missed her random visits to update him on Ashinami's condition and what she'd been doing in the hospital all day. Well, he just missed her in general.
It was an odd feeling for him to have and he wasn't sure if he liked it or not, but now he was able to realise how much he actually cared for her. Maybe this was what Temari had referred to as 'liking' someone.
He knew that deep down, he truly desired to be accepted and loved for who he was, and even though he had got that from his family and from Suna, he couldn't deny that there was still something about Hitori that seemed to fill the void he felt everyday. She had quite an effect on him just from being in the same room. And when they had – however accidentally – kissed, he had rather enjoyed that moment of having her be that close to him. The red-head wanted to experience it again and again. He still did, even more now that he knew he couldn't.
Even though he still didn't understand all this emotional stuff, and he probably never would, he was smart enough to know that he clearly felt these things for a reason, but he wanted to be able to feel loved by someone who didn't have a reason to. He felt love from his siblings, but they were his family. He felt love from the citizens of his village, but he had saved them, and sacrificed himself so that they would be safe, so it was only natural that they loved him for that.
Suddenly, there was a knock on his office door, and as he granted the person entry, he mentally noted to discuss this with his siblings tonight at dinner. But for now, he had another idea...
"Thanks, Gaara." she said quietly and was about to pull away when she did something she didn't think about. At all.
She went to give him a quick peck on the cheek, but he turned his head towards her at the same time and before either of them could figure it out, their lips made contact.
-
Hitori woke with a start and was a little confused about where she was until she recalled that the memory she had dreamed about was when she had left for Konoha, and that she was currently staying in Naruto's guest room. It seemed that he had just come home, and was whinging about something that had happened today.
He popped his head in her room and smiled apologetically at the sight of her glaring at him since he woke her up.
"Ah, sorry for waking you. And even though I'd love for you the be rested up so we can stay up all night talking again, there's something you better come and see." he said with a tone that just made her almost shake with curiosity and anticipation.
She jumped out of bed and walked out to where Naruto was in the living room and followed the single down ward tilt of his head to see a letter with familiar handwriting on it sitting on the coffee table. A single black eyebrow raised fractionally, but she picked up the letter to notice it was from Gaara, which both increased and decreased her curiosity.
"Am I supposed to read this? He probably just wanted to know whether I got here safely." she stated confidently and looked over to Naruto, who's knowing smirk invited her to read the letter...and be proven dead wrong.
Naruto,
This may be very odd to hear from me, but I believe that you may be able to assist me in shedding some light on my situation. I think that I may have romantic feelings for Hitori that seem to be growing in intensity, especially now that she is gone.
It seems that I am the one who acts out of character more often in her presence but since we kissed the other day as she was leaving, now I am not so sure.
I would like to ask for your advice on what I should do since you know her better than I do.
I feel compelled to inform her of my feelings, but I do not think that I have the courage to reveal something like that to her since I do not know of her feelings towards me.
I hope you and Konoha are doing well and thank you in advance.
Gaara.
The usual blank expression that the black-haired woman wore everyday, was replaced by utter bewilderment, even as she sat down on the closest couch and put the letter back on the table. This was definitely not was she was expecting to read.
She knew that Gaara trusted and believed in Naruto, and thought very highly of him, so it shouldn't be so surprisingly for him to have confided in Naruto about it. But it was more the thought that now she actually knew for sure why he was a little different around her and why he complimented her the other day. Now that she thought about it, she had been acting a little differently around him sometimes as well.
Like when she had kept her hand gently cupping his face, ever after she finished healing his lip. Or when she had rested her head on his shoulder as they watched the sunrise the morning that she left. Not to mention the goodbye, which was the real feather in her metaphorical cap.
Did that mean that she liked him too? Maybe all these things that she had been doing that she wouldn't do around anyone else meant that she did. And what should she do if she did like him? Didn't people get married and all that when they loved each other?
"You are so clueless, Hitori-chan!" Naruto said loudly and doubled over with laughter. She looked over at him with a glare that she couldn't quite muster the strength behind since it was damn true.
She really was clueless.
Sure, she could lead missions, analyse an opponents strength and techniques, come up with battle strategies, heal wounds and illness, make complex poisons and their even more complex antidote counter parts. But this kind of stuff? Hopeless. Absolutely hopeless.
When she became a shinobi, she vowed not to let anything distract her from her purpose and from doing her job. There was never any sort of romance in her life at all. Ever. She had been asked to hang out with several different males, but she never thought anything more of it up until now. The grey-eyed woman recalled the slightly affectionate with a hint of curiousness expression that Gaara had when he complimented her, and she realised that she had seen that look so many times before.
Ashinami had given her a similar look when she had gone to check on him several times in the hospital, even a few of the male medics and patients in Suna, as well as a few passing shinobi.
Unexpected things happening seemed to be quite the phase at the moment, and it took her a few moments to collect herself and she noticed that Naruto was still laughing. She glared at him again, with a lot more strength this time, and he muttered an apology while averting his blue orbs from her cold grey ones.
"This is so not funny. I don't know why you are laughing!" she hissed quietly and heard him snort briefly before containing himself. She continued to glare at him, and when he made eye contact with her again, he started laughing again.
"But you're just so confused by it all, and it's just funny to see you taken so off guard!" he choked out between chuckles. He smiled when Hitori shook her head and rolled her eyes, even though she had a small smirk on her face.
"I guess you've got a point. But still, what the hell am I going to do?" Hitori replied with a still slightly bewildered tone. She looked up at the blond and he took a deep breath and sat down next to her. She leant back into the couch and he put a friendly arm over her shoulder and pulled her closer to him.
"We'll figure it out. Don't get too worked up over it, kay?" he said calmly, tightened his grip on her affectionately and smiled down at her confused face. She nodded and put her head on his shoulder and sighed low and long.
It seemed like Naruto was going to have a lot of work to do over the next few days. And definitely not Hokage work. He had taken the next two days off so he could just relax while Hitori was here, and he knew that she would probably hate being put through this, but it would help so she'd just have to suck it up and learn as much as she could before she went back.
Gaara, Temari and Kankuro were sitting at the dinner table enjoying a nice meal. They didn't get to enjoy such a thing nearly often enough, and the only thing missing now was the small black-haired woman who had come into their lives only days ago because she was tracking shinobi that had stole her brand new katana before she had even laid eyes on it.
She had now been away for four whole days and they all missed her. Even though they had only known her for not even three weeks, she had become quite a normal part of their daily life, and it felt odd that she wasn't around all of a sudden, especially one day earlier than was planned.
Temari and Kankuro both had a feeling that Gaara knew something that they didn't about her and why she decided to leave earlier, but they both knew that if it was something he could talk about, that he would have told them about it. So, therefore they had both not bothered to ask about it, or even act like they cared just to make it easier for their brother, who had enough on his plate already. He had his first crush who was actually helping out at their hospital and being a physical link between their hidden villages, as well as his normal Kazekage work to deal with.
Usually having a lot of work to do never bothered the red-head, but all these new feelings that were coming to the surface after being repressed to the point where they didn't exist in his mind at all, were definitely making things difficult. He was quite sure he liked Hitori, and even if he had no idea what to make of it all, he would just have to wait for Naruto's reply and hope that the jinchuriki Hokage would be able to help him out...
Naruto woke the next day at about 9am, thoroughly enjoying his sleep in. He heard Hitori walking around, not being surprised that she hadn't slept. They had stayed up until midnight the previous night, just talking, joking, laughing and enjoying their time to hang out.
And to think that their close friendship had come out of nothing more than him noticing a small jaw clench from her when he was assigning her a mission. Hitori never bothered treating him any differently because of his position as Hokage, or because of the malicious nine-tailed fox that had been sealed inside him since he was a child. He really appreciated that. They had so much respect for one another, and what they'd been through in their life time.
He was really happy at the idea of Hitori maybe finding someone to be happy with in Gaara, but the blond also knew that he would have to give her a nice big push in the right direction for that to happen, Gaara as well. Without her knowing, he had already replied to Gaara as soon as they both went off to bed the previous night and had sent it already. He had actually gotten a great idea for how to help her, even though she probably wouldn't be too fussed on it.
Yawning loudly and stretching his arms above his head, he got up out of bed and wandered out to see Hitori laying down on the couch reading a book that she had found on his book shelf that was in his study. She smiled and they greeted each other and talked about the book and what they were having for breakfast for a few minutes before he finally decided to spring it on her.
"Hey Hitori-chan. I've figured out how to help you." he stated with a faintly mysterious tone, and grinned when she looked at him with an eyebrow raised in question.
"And how are you going to do that, Naruto?" Hitori replied her silver eyes focusing on his face, looking for any signs of what he had in mind.
"I'm going to teach you about romance." he said simply and puffed his chest out with pride. It took a moment for Hitori to collect herself.
"....WHAT?!"
Woohoo! Hitori is finally coming to her senses! She's a silly one XD
I'm not a huuuuugge fan of Naruto's character, but I certainly do like him, and I just think that the dynamics of his friendship with Hitori are awesome.
He really seems like the kind of person that I would love to hang out with, so hopefully you all feel the same and like my version of him all grown up!
Just in case you didn't realise, when Gaara is first introduced in the chapter, there was a little backwards time skip.
If it's a little too vague or confusing, let me know and I'll try and change it up a bit to make it more clear.
Til next time! :D
P.S. Vote in the poll on my profile page!
Chapter glossary -
1. Katon - Fire Release
2. Futon - Wind Release
3. Suiton - Water Release
4. Raiton: Jibashi - Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder (Coolest name for a jutsu...like ever)