Chapter Six

Gaara caught Hinata as she slumped over in a dead faint. Okay, maybe that worked a little too well.

He glanced around for somewhere to put her and, remembering Naruto's advice, tucked her under his arm. He watched her for a moment as her cheek settled limply onto his collar bone.

She was… interesting. She had only become more determined when he had indirectly threatened her but mention something vaguely intimate and she was gone, though not in a good way.

A hand came up to grasp his shirt and, like a switch had been thrown, the sensation ripped it's way violently across his skin.

"Touch."

His pulse throbbed beneath his skin as he glanced at her dazed. He hadn't realized . . . He had known he would touch her, that was controllable and calculated. He had also known that she would touch him back but he hadn't realized she would touch him back!

People didn't touch him, they didn't dare. He wasn't used to it. He had no barrier against it.

He cursed Naruto for making him take off his sand armor that morning.

She murmured and adjusted her head on his chest.

He closed his eyes as his arm unconsciously tightened around her and just let the sensation travel against his hypersensitive skin.

He never let people this close to him and he . . .

He shuddered a little unable to completely control his body.

. . . He was . . .

His eyes snapped open and he eyed her with a new awareness. This . . . These sensations were a weakness. He had been deprived the touch of another human being for as long as he could remember. First by general consensus to avoid the monster and then by personal choice. He didn't trust people and the ones he did trust didn't touch him for respect or habit. Even his Uncle Yashamaru . . . Only touched him when absolutely necessary and that was a long time ago.

Only Naruto had dared to break that particular taboo and, by then, he had already developed his sand armor so he didn't really feel it.

His brow lowered into a frown as he regarded the slowly reviving girl.

He could easily become addicted to this . . . To her . . . To anyone who was brave enough to risk his temper.

This was unacceptable.

Her eyes fluttered open and she blushed as she pulled away with a quick apology.

He didn't let her get far and pulled her right back to his side, "Naruto expects us to touch," he watched her carefully, "Do you object to it?"

She shook her head but moved his arm away from her, "I'm sure he didn't mean all the time."

"Do you object to it or me?" He asked point blank.

"I don't object," she shielded when he reached for her, "But I think we should start slowly."

He watched her, "What can I touch?"

"My hand," she paused as her hand was snagged, "to start."

He hummed to himself and he intertwined their fingers. He nodded to himself and then continued to eat with one hand.

"Um, Gaara," she squeaked.

He turned to her.

"I need my hand," she pulled lightly.

He regarded their joined hands and released her.

Yes, this was the perfect opportunity to get over touch. He would not allow himself to be crippled by such a small thing. He also had the odd benefit of being able to trust her.

For while she was a foreign ninja, she was not a threat for the simple fact her goals lie elsewhere. She was using him as a way to get closer to Naruto and he was using her to make Naruto happy, eventually, and if he was to get something out of it . . . Well, it was a definite plus all around.

"Gaara," she spoke and interrupted his train of thought, "I want to make this arrangement as easy as possible."

She lifted her pale eyes to meet his and he waited completely focused on her words.

"S-So," she paused to gather her resolve, "I would prefer to leave any matter of threats out of this juncture. If you do not wish to carry out your own plan then simply say so and we will do something else or part ways completely."

Her look of mild reproach had the edges of Gaara's mouth pulling up faintly in amusement.

"Very well," he acknowledged.

They finished breakfast without further incident. He paid and he took her hand to escort her out.

"Thank you for breakfast," she smiled, though it was a bit uncertain at the edges.

"When can I see you again," he brought her hand to his chest and enfolded it with both of his hands, "Naruto said we should spend as much time together as possible."

Shivers ran across her skin as he began to stroke her hand, "I won't be able to see you tomorrow. I have to train with my team."

He inclined his head in understanding.

"We'll spend the day together and discuss strategy," he met her eyes, "We need a solid plan to follow. Naruto is unpredictable so we'll need to cover all eventualities."

"Okay-" she squeaked as she was drawn into the most encompassing hug of her life! She froze with her eyes wide with surprise as she felt him tremble a bit and then she was released.

His chest heaved as he wrapped his arms around himself and settled wild eyes on her. He shut them and the dark circles around his eyes became a thick dark line against his pale flushed skin.

"Gaara?" She reached out to him only for him to pull away.

"Too soon," he opened his eyes to bore into her own, "I will conquer this." He swept away with the parting words, "We will meet at the same time."

She could only watch as he walked away and wonder just what she had gotten herself into with him.

Gaara walked away preoccupied with the almost ghostlike feeling of the hug. He could still feel her as if his body was refusing to let go of the sensation. Definitely too soon for full body contact-

"No wonder you guys were having problems," Naruto shook his head.

Gaara acknowledged his existence with a nod. He couldn't persuade his friend to stop spying on him so he had gotten the blond to do it from a larger distance than ten feet.

"What do you mean?" He frowned, he hadn't done anything he deemed inappropriate. He had even followed Naruto's rules so why the comment?

"You were all over her, Gaara," Naruto was incredulous, "You scared her!"

"I cannot help it if people are scared of me," Gaara's arms came up to cross against his chest defensively.

Sensitive! Naruto rolled his eyes, "Gaara, she's not scared of you. She's scared of the fact that you're a guy and she's a girl and you were all over her."

The redhead's forehead creased with confusion though his expression opened up a little.

"She was scared because I'm male," he rolled the thought around his head, "Are you certain? How does she expect to date if she has this type of phobia?"

"No, no, it's not a phobia," Naruto waved his hands back and forth, "It's a girl thing."

Gaara just regarded his friend completely lost, "Thing?"

"Yeah, thing," Naruto nodded to himself, "Hinata's shy around guys. Sometimes all I have to do is smile at her and she blushes."

Green eyes leveled on his friend, she blushes because she likes you. Still, she did seem to blush when she was uncomfortable, too, so maybe he wasn't so far off base.

"All girls get uncomfortable," the blond continued, "especially if you move too fast. They just have different ways of dealing with it. Hinata blushes and sometimes faints. Ino flirts back until she makes the guy uncomfortable and then backs off. Sakura . . . Well, Sakura hits."

The last was said with a sheepish grin while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Temari issues death threats," Gaara was beginning to see the parallels.

"Exactly," Naruto beamed with pleasure that the other boy was finally getting it, "Before you can hug a girl like you just did, you have to do the friend hug, the half embrace, and the barely there hug."

Blank green eyes met blue.

"Before you can throw your arm around a girl and expect her to stay there you have to . . . You have to work up to it," he frowned as he searched for the right words, "First, you have to just sit a normal distance away. Then, you sit a little closer, and a little closer until suddenly you're right next to her. You know, brushing elbows close."

"Then the arm?" Gaara inquired.

"No, then you sit like this for maybe two or three dates so she gets comfortable to you being so close. Then you hold her hand-"

"She said she needed that hand to eat," he interrupted crossly.

"Then sit on the other side, Gaara," he snapped.

Gaara glared.

"Anyway, after all that, then hopefully you've gained enough of her trust, you can put your arm around her. If you do it too soon then you might scare her away."

Gaara mulled this over skeptically, "So, in effect, you're saying I should treat her as I would a wild animal I hope to tame."

Naruto opened his mouth to dispute the claim and then closed it thoughtfully.

"I guess it's about the same idea, yeah," he nodded, fully confident in his advise.

The Kazekage nodded, the blond's words had struck a cord within him. He had often wondered at his sister's animalistic rages. He would never have figured the reason behind them was that she was uncomfortable and was dealing with it the only way she knew how. In a way, he felt closer to her, for he, too, had instinctive responses to people that he, for the longest time, had no control over. No wonder she had always stood next to him and was concerned for him when he was younger.

He should share this insight with Kankuro so he, too, would have a better understanding of their sister.

No, on second thought, he should keep this information to himself. One never knew when it might come in handy.

Still, it was going to put a damper on his plans to get over his body's desire of touch. Maybe if he made his intentions clear to the Hyuuga then she would allow him to skip the transition period and leap right into consensual touching.

"So you see," Naruto smoothed his hand over some air, "You have to go slow."

Gaara nodded his agreement and met his eyes quite honestly, "Thank you, Naruto."

Naruto shrugged off his thanks, "That's what friends are for, Gaara."

They shared a brief smile, a slight uplifting of lips for the redhead and a full on grin from the blond.

"Why don't we get some training in before lunch and then we can go for ramen?"

Gaara inclined his head and they were off.

End of Chapter Six

AN: Thank you for all your kind words. They brighten my day as nothing else can. Michelle