Chapter Six
Author note: I just noticed something really weird about my fourth chapter. I labeled it chapter three! So now I have two chapter threes! This is really weird, and I have no idea as to why I did that! Oh, well, thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate it. Now here's chapter six. Oh, and I don't own any of the food or drink brands that may be listed, just in case there might be a CEO reading this or something, but I highly doubt that. Also, I have nothing against gays; I just like making Shukaku a jerk. Enjoy!
Well, Sasori and Deidara were back, but they hadn't found anything. The Hyuuga were really good at running away. Poor Sasori had come down off his energy drink high and was now in a state of misery now that he had crashed. He had holed himself up in his room, and hadn't been seen for the better part of six hours, and when Deidara had tried to sneak in he had thrown a kunai right at his head, barely missing him. No ones tried to enter since.
Gaara had been trying to cope with an ever hungry and inquisitive Hinata. After three days of being stuck in bed, she was getting restless, and kept trying to sneak out of his room to do some exploring. His attempts to rein her in were hampered by the fact that she no longer had an IV. It was a good sign, he supposed, it meant that she was getting better, but she could just be so childish! It was very cute, but at times it could be so frustrating! The main cause of his aggravation was that she always disappeared when it was time to take her medicine. He would eventually find her, and she would take the pills with no problem, but as soon as he brought out the syrup she turned into a raging little wild cat, and he had to force feed her the stuff, with great difficulty. She would then be pissed at him for the rest of the day.
But today, he had a plan. As he finally managed to find the missing girl (in Sasori's closet, since Sasori had become quite fond of her.) he had her sitting on the bed, a stubborn, defiant look in her eyes. That look quickly changed to one of curiosity when he offered her a small bite of watermelon. She was delighted.
"Yeah, you like that, don't you, Dove?" she gave an enthusiastic head bob.
"Want more?" another fervent nod. Gaara smiled triumphantly.
"Then take your medicine, including the syrup, without giving me any problems." Her face fell. He handed her the pills, and she took them without any problem, chasing them down with a glass of water. But now came the hard part. She glowered at the syrup, and for a brief moment he thought his plan might fail, but she finally opened her mouth and let him slide the foul stuff in. her mouth closed, and she fought mightily to overcome her disgust and swallow. This included beating her tiny fists on the bed.
After she was done, she glowered at him. 'That was a dirty trick.' Her expression read. He chuckled, and presented her with a mug of herbal tea to cut through the syrup, and then a bowl of watermelon, as promised. This pacified her, and would keep her occupied, for now, at least.
He had to go to a meeting today, and he needed someone to watch her, no telling what she might get into, and besides, it was more for her protection than anything. Sasori and Itachi could be counted on to remain focused, and besides, he needed Kisame and Deidara elsewhere. Deidara was working on a new type of paper bomb, and Kisame was teaching some academy students basic sword play and tiajutsu. Hinata was getting better, but he'd rather have someone on hand in case she had a coughing fit or something. Besides, it'd be good for her to socialize a bit with someone else besides him.
Gaara sighed and prepared to leave.
"Be good for Sasori and Itachi, I'll be home in a few hours. Later, Dove."
She gave him a good bye hug, and he then left her in the capable hands of the two former Akatasuki. Sasori smiled at her, while Itachi looked at Gaara.
"We don't need to give her any medication while you're gone, do we?"
"No, Itachi, just the inhaler, and only if she has a really bad coughing fit, why?"
"I don't want her to bite my fingers off if I try to give her that black crap."
"Ah, good point." With that, Gaara left.
Sasori threw a soft wine colored blanket around her, and then they took her downstairs. He sat her on a black leather chair, while Itachi pulled over two matching chairs, and a small black table.
"Let's play scrabble. It'll be fun, and it won't get anyone worked up."
"I dunno Itachi, Deidara and Kisame can get pretty aggressive when they play anything."
"But they're not here, and they'll never know."
"Mmm, good point." And so began Hinata's introduction to the world of games. They played for quite some time, munching on some sliced apples, when they heard a bang.
"Hellooooo, anybody home? YOOHOOO! I can heeeeaaaar youuuuuu, un!"
"Shit, he's still supposed to be at the lab!"
"What was that you were saying about them never knowing about this?!"
Another bang was heard.
"Oh, man, you would not believe how exhausting those kids are, and I thought sparing with Itachi could be bad, but man, those kids are evil. Oh, hey Ass Man."
"Hey, you hear that? The Chimney calls for you, and your ass begs for more. Hey guys! Well, well, the little humming bird has flown the coup, hasn't she? What are you doing down here with these two losers, un?"
"LOSERS?! DEIDARA, YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S A LOSER! YOU DRESS IN MORE DRAG THAN THAT SNAKE- LICKING OROCHIMARU! AND WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN BY CALLING HINATA A HUMMING BIRD?! YOU'D BETTER NOT CORRUPT HER, YOU LITTLE-"
"Easy, Sasori, Deidara's just mad that he wasn't the one to get to watch her today, and because he has the vocabulary of a two-year-old, that's why he can't win at scrabble."
Few things could set Sasori off like Deidara mocking him, so, naturally, Deidara did it all the time. Itachi could always be counted on to help keep the peace between the, though. For the most part, that is. But when games were involved, it was all out war.
"hey, Little Guppy, what's up? EEEYAAAAH!!! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"
Hinata had just attacked Kisame, smearing peanut butter all over his head. She glared at him defiantly. Itachi then did the unthinkable: he cracked up. He laughed so hard that he couldn't stand, and was left on his ass on the floor. Sasori and Deidara had joined him. Kisame looked at them, obviously pissed.
"What is her problem? Why does she hate me so much? Why doesn't she do this to Sasori?! Or Orochimaru?"
"well, Kisame, Sasori doesn't call her names, and she has never even met Orochimaru, and if I have my way, she never will. Oh, and I don't think she likes being called 'Guppy.'" Itachi said after he collected himself. Sasori nodded sagely.
"dude, you're no sage, why are nodding like that?"
"nodding like what?"
"Like some old mountain dude, you know, like you're some kind of sage or Santa Clause, or a pervert like Jiraiya."
"It's all in your head, Deidara, it's all in your head."
"No it's not! You're-"
"Hey, are you guys gonna play or what?"
"Sure, yeah, un."
"so long as Guppy Girl doesn't go medieval on my ass."
She lunged at him, and he flinched.
"aha! Two for flinching, un!" Deidara smacked him twice on the head.
"gross, un!" he wiped his hands on Kisame's coat. Then they all settled down to play. Itachi spelled out shurikan. Sasori spelled out kunai. Kisame spelled out guppy, Hinata retorted with minnow. Deidara spelled out turd, who was then scolded by Sasori because it wasn't a term in the dictionary. He took back his tiles, and then spelled out butthead. Itachi spelled out ignorant. Sasori retorted to Deidara by putting down moron. Kisame looked at Hinata and put down smallfry, who was chastised by Itachi because it was two words, not one, so he took back small and left fry. Hinata glared at him and put down plankton. Thus the ring of insults continued until Gaara wandered in and found them a few hours later, just as Kisame was putting down troll. He snuck behind Hinata and picked up her tiles, laying them out so that it spelled sushi. That pissed him off.
"You aren't supposed to be helping her, you jerk!" Gaara smirked.
"Then don't pick on her, you hagfish. what happened to your hair?"
"She dumped peanut butter on my head!"
"Yeah, but you called her guppy, un."
"but –"
"You screamed like a girl, too."
"Shut up, Itachi."
"Yeah, we're gonna have to call you sharket from now on."
"Shut up, Sasori."
"Or shark girl. Or nurse, un!" Deidara cracked up.
"Nurse? Deidara, what- oh, I get it, nurse shark. You know what else works? Dog fish."
"Shut up, Sasori! You are such a dick, you, you, dick!"
"You're just mad because mine's bigger than yours," Sasori said calmly.
"Oh yeah?! Well, let's compare sizes, right here, right now!"
Gaara smacked him upside the head, carefully avoiding the peanut butter. "You will do no such thing, not in front of a lady."
"Yeah, where do you get off on ruining her innocence, un?"
"I have to agree with Deidara, stripping in front of her is like stripping in front of a little kid, which is so wrong on so many levels. We already have one pedophile, let's not make it two."
"whoa, Itachi, I never thought I'd hear this. but you're right, especially about the pedophile part. Lucky for the little humming bird that Orochimaru likes boys, right un?"
A general agreement was reached on the subject, even by Kisame, who admitted that they could compare sizes without the little guppy present. Hinata promptly huffed and tried to tackle him, but he was saved by Gaara, who had scooped her up in his arms as soon as she leaped at him. Kisame had screamed in terror anyways.
"Hey you, you haven't even said hi to me yet, and here you are attacking Kisame. Guess that guppy-thing really ticks you off, huh?" Gaara cooed at her, and then he looked at Kisame. "you have no idea how sad you look when you run away from her. You'll face ANBU, Jonin, missing ninja, strange mutants, and other crap, but when it comes to Hinata, you freak out. She's only forty pounds!"
"But she's meeeeaaaaan! She threw peanut butter on my head! And she calls me names on scrabble!"
"Like you don't do the same thing, in fact, you start it."
"No I don't, she started it! She bit me and trapped me in the chimney! See? I still have the band aid!" Kisame proudly displayed his Finding Nemo band aid. Gaara rolled his eyes, and was about to retort, but a knock came from the door. Eviko was heard greeting someone, and Kimimaru walked in.
"I have news on the rebels. They are using Tanzuka Castle as a base, and are planning to launch an offensive."
"Yes, go on."
"Hiashi is with them, along with most of the Hyuuga Clan."
Ooooh! He's back! What will Gaara do? Or more importantly, what will Hinata do? If you want to find out, Read and review!