Chapter Six... ain't you excited?

"So..." began Hinata awkwardly. "What's your favorite type of music?"

She said it and immediately regretted it.

Hinata had asked some pretty dumb questions in her life, and this was definitely one of them. Really, where had that come from? She was absolutely embarrassed. He was probably going to think she was a fool, though.

Gaara seemed to be considering it, though.

"I like... rock music, I suppose. I don't ordinarily listen to music. Do you have a particular favorite?"

"I... I like pretty much anything, it depends on the mood I'm in..."

"Well, what sort of a mood are you in right now?"

"I think... um..."

"You think?"

He gave her a hard, cold stare. His eyes were perfect for that- the eerie blackness around them and the contrast with the icy pupils made for a terrifying gaze. She supposed that this glare was often used against particularly stubborn or unpleasant diplomats. It was no wonder the Kazekage was so feared.

That, and that whole sand-controlling thing. That had to be pretty terrifying.

"I... I don't know!" Alone with the Kazekage, her strength and determination were faltering. He was cold and sort of scary. Although she knew he was good, she still couldn't stand up when pressured and alone. With Temari there yesterday, she'd been fine, but just her and the Kazekage? She was lost when alone.

"Rock, pop, techno, dance, alternative, and probably more... It's not such a hard choice. You don't stand up well to pressure, do you?"

"No!..."

She was seriously about to explode, so he let up. It wouldn't do for Konoha-Suna relations if he accidentally caused the Hyuuga heiress to spontaneously combust of embarrassment.

"Sorry, Lady Hinata. You don't need to be quite so scared of me. I'm really not that terrifying- unlike some people, I don't bite."

Her lips twitched up for just a second, and Gaara triumphed inside. As for Hinata, she was freaking out still- how could someone so polite yet be so terrifying the next second? But he had been funny.

"So, do you have a particular favorite type of music? You don't need to freak out, it's just a question."

"I..." She decided to be decisive. "I like pop music. And dance. Like the CD Kankuro played last night."

Gaara didn't really want to be reminded of his brother's strange taste in music, but he accepted the answer nonetheless.

"That genre is... acceptable. Better than some other types."

"Rock is good, too. I like it."

"Do you have any particular favorite bands? In any genre, I mean."

They both proceeded to name a few, Cascada and various others Gaara had heard of numbering among Hinata's, while Gaara's favorites were dominated by people like Skillet, and various other rock-type bands, with a couple of odd ones like Linkin Park mixed in. They did agree on one thing: Aqua should just go crawl in a corner somewhere and never be allowed within 10 miles of a microphone again. Gaara said this, and smirked when Hinata giggled so much she snorted.

"Oh! Sorry..." She covered her mouth with her hands.

He shrugged, repressing the smirk. "It's fine." Actually, it had been a while since anyone really laughed at what he said. Gaara... didn't joke much.

"My little sister Hanabi likes Aqua, and she plays it all the time. My cousin has threatened more than once to destroy all her CDs and the CD player."

"Temari likes Aqua, too, and I'm not sure if Kankuro does or not..."

Hinata got a strange look on her face. Somewhere between amusement and nervousness.

SLAM

The car door opened, and Temari jumped in. Kankuro pulled his door shut so hard that the entire car shook.

He turned around and glared at Gaara, and Hinata could sense the chakra in Gaara's sand awakening, ready to jump and defend him if necessary.

"What-" Kankuro growled, "were you thinking, giving me the job of stopping the fangirls?"

Hinata could feel major killing intent coming from Kankuro.

She supposed he was being absolutely serious, but somehow found it extremely funny.

"You got fangirl duty?" asked Gaara, surprised. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize Matsuri was out."

"On a mission you gave her!"

"I did?"

"Yeah, you did, and now I'm gonna have to go fix Karasu! Do you know one of them bit me?"

He pulled up his sleeve, upon which a rather deep looking bitemark was evident on his forearm.

Gaara blinked. "Matsuri doesn't get injured, is it that bad?"

"It's because she's one of them! They don't want to hurt one of their own!"

"Matsuri's a fangirl?" Gaara was completely surprised.

Temari turned around, apparently forgetting she was driving at the time. "You haven't noticed? Fool."

She smacked him. So fast that the sand didn't quite make it. Gaara winced. He hadn't expected it.

Temari grinned at Hinata. "I took lessons from Lee. Isn't he great? Shikamaru was a little annoyed. Sure Lee's nerdy, but he's totally nice, don't you think?"

Hinata nodded, amazed.

"So what do you want for lunch?" Temari asked genially.

"Ramen," said Kankuro. Ramen sounded good to Hinata, too.

Gaara shrugged. "Don't care. Just so long as it's good."

"Ramen it is, then," said Temari. "Sorry, Hinata, we haven't got any place here quite as good as Ichiraku's, but we have something close."

They went to a small place that did remind Hinata of Ichiraku's. She picked pork ramen, Kankuro picking chicken. Gaara preferred pork as well, as did Temari.

"I'm original!" said Kankuro, punching the air.

Other than that, no one else really said anything, although Temari did give Gaara a questioning glance. Gaara would tell her later what had happened between him and Hinata, although it really wasn't much.

Once they finished, Gaara had to return to the Kazekage building "to look as though I'm doing something important, I never do, though. Not after about 1:00."

"You might want to write a reply to Tsunade-sama," suggested Hinata.

Gaara nodded. "Yeah, actually, I might. Oh, and I've got to set up your medic-nin seminar. Or something along those lines."

Temari and Kankuro were staring at them curiously.

"What?" asked Gaara coldly. To those who knew him, though- Temari and Kankuro- it was a defensive tone.

Temari shook her head. "Never mind. I might as well go home... Kankuro, you done?"

Kankuro glared at Gaara and subconsciously clutched at his wounded arm. "No."

"Maybe I'll get someone else to do that," said Gaara. "I didn't realize you had to do Matsuri's job. But if she's a fangirl, why don't they hurt her, instead of you? She's the enemy and the rival."

Kankuro thought. "Gaara... have you been losing various items lately?"

"Hm... I did lose a pen and a book. I disliked them both, which is why I didn't worry about it too much. Why do you ask?"

Kankuro nodded sagely.

Temari chuckled.

Gaara looked at them, slightly befuddled.

"Am I... missing something here?"

"I'll just take you back to work now," said Temari cheerfully.

"Temari..." said Gaara in a warning tone.

"Oh, my dear little brother, I think you're much better off not knowing."

Did Gaara have a split personality? Hinata wondered. Was he really just so... blind to everyone? So much like a little kid? Or was he the terrifying Kazekage from before? It was the same voice- with completely different tones and different words and different meanings. Which was the real Gaara?

Could he be... both?

She didn't think she'd really ever know.

When they got back to the office, the Kazekage became... the Kazekage again.

"Hinata. What are you planning on teaching them?"

"I do not know yet, Gaara-sama."

He glared at her, and she wasn't sure why.

"Do you have anything at all in mind?"

She paused. He waited.

"I'd like to see what they know, first. Do you have any medical scrolls around here that I could do some research with?"

"Not here, no, but downstairs... I guess you could go to the library. I needed to make a trip there, anyway. I'll show you where it is."

Reticent as ever, Gaara introduced her to library.

"Here is the medical section."

She nodded and thanked him. He disappeared into a particularly legal-looking section.

Temari and Kankuro left long before they did, in fact it was nighttime when they left. That somehow added to the surreal element of the dark buildings entirely made of sand- or so it seemed on the outside. On the inside, though, as Gaara explained, they were reinforced with metal and a small bit of chakra that through a complicated system stayed in the walls and rarely needed to be replenished.

"Hm... we should get dinner, ne?" asked Gaara when Hinata's stomach growled.

Hinata privately wondered if this was a date. She'd never been on one before because lunch with a cousin didn't count. Naruto, of course, never asked her out. Did he even know she was gone? Did anyone care? She hoped she would receive a letter within the next few days. But would she?

This question, plaguing her throughout the lovely dinner, somehow made her food less delicious and Gaara a little harder to talk to.

She wished very badly that the blonde was the one sitting in front of her. Gaara was quieter. She wondered briefly if he had any inkling that she missed her home.

In fact, Gaara had no idea of the kind. He did, however, have enough experience to know that something was bothering her, and not being the type to pry into the life of a girl who would soon leave, he left it alone. He probably couldn't help anyway.

Hinata thought that she might write a letter home, soon. Perhaps they would let her?

She decided to ask him later.

During the ride home, it was also silent. They were looking opposite directions- her out the window, and Gaara at the road.

Hinata fidgeted, tapping her feet against the floor and shifting constantly.

Gaara drove in a very stoic manner.

Hinata fidgeted more.

Gaara, still stoic, gripped the steering wheel tighter..

Hinata started poking her fingers together.

Gaara slammed the brakes.

"Can you please not do that?"

Hinata jumped.

"Hm?"

"The... finger-poking thing..." he said, words failing him. He was beginning to get a headache. He usually did around this time of night. Her tapping wasn't helping at all. In fact, it was making things worse.

"Oh. Sorry."

She was acting really nervous, Gaara knew that much. He didn't want to pry.

She solved it for him, though, by asking, "Can I send and receive mail?"

Gaara pondered this. It was a random question, and he didn't have an answer prepared. "I'll ask Tsunade about that tomorrow," he said. "I'll look into it."

She relaxed. "Thanks."

And silence fell again.

Filler... sorry. I just need them to talk before they can fall in love, you know. I'm starting to know where this is going. It might take me a while to get there, though... I'm getting bad grades in school.

Matsuri: -glomps Gaara- "I forgot if any of you guys asked..."

Hinata: -raises hand shyly- "... I did..."

Matsuri: "Well, you're still scared of him!" -turns back to readers- "This is probably my Christmahanakwanzakah present to you. Although since I have time, maybe I'll update again before the 25th. So please give me a Christmas present and review!"