And Naruto doesn't belong to me. I'm over my virus!!! YAY!! You guyz are so going to kill me at the end. I can tell that there is going to be some harsh words on the reviews I'm going to get.

Chapter 7

Shikamaru was clumsy, and Hinata knew his heart wasn't into it, but he made it quite a show. Hinata stood shocked, wondering whether she ought to push him away, but it didn't matter. In the next heartbeat, Shikamaru was lurching away with both hands clutching his chest. He hit the rail and slid down to an awkward sitting position, panting. Hinata lunged toward him and then hesitated. What was she supposed to do? Check for a pulse? Take his temperature?

Under his tunic, the grubby shirt was flowing with blood. Gouts of it. Shikamaru gasped in shallow breaths, color gone to a pale to an unsettling green. All around them, sailors were groaning and slumped, fighting away the groans of pain.

"What did you do?" Hinata cried. She clutched on his lapels and shook him.

"Oh my God, what is this? What's happening?"

"Proof." Shikamaru said, white to the lips.

"Proof he loves you. Find a way, lass. Don't let him put you off the ship before you do. Break the curse. It's all on you now."

Gaara was on the quarterdeck, clutching the rail. Hinata saw his knees bend and then straighten with what must surely be a superhuman effort. When his voice came, it sounded angry and ragged.

"If you want the woman, Shikamaru, take her below and ride her proper. Get out of my sight, the both of you!"

Hinata bolted up, furious and wild.

"You're unbelievable bastard!" She cried. "He's your friend!"

Gaara jumped down from the quarterdeck and stalked toward her, sinuous as a cat. If he was hurting, which he was since Shikamaru was still white on the lips, he was hiding it under a mask of pure fury.

"Woman, if you fancy rough trade with my crew, there should be a lottery. Wouldn't want anybody saying it wasn't fair."

Shikamaru wanted to provoke a reaction…he certainly succeeded. Hinata cast a tormented look at Shikamaru, who was trying to say something. She read his lips in the moonlight. Finish it.

Gaara still stalked towards her but she dodged him, charged through the black door and down the narrow passage. She burst into her tiny cabin and slammed the door. Then slammed it again just for the catharsis of it.

"He's trying to save you!" She shouted. SLAM.

"You don't deserve him, you black-hearted, cold-blooded-"

"Bastard." Gaara finished, cool and low, and caught the door on its last slam.

"I did hear you the first time. Mistress Uzumaki-" "I'M NOT MARRIED!"

Hinata shouted, at the end of her patience.

"You know, curse or no curse, I'll bet you've always been like this. A cold-blooded, vile little leech, feeding off of others. That's what a pirate is, a parasite-"

"You seem drawn to parasites," Gaara observed, and set his shoulder against the doorway.

"Young Master Uzumaki, for instance. But then, he must have other talents you enjoy."

Hinata felt a blush burn across her face and down her throat.

"I haven't. Not that it's any of your business!"

"Indeed not. Nor would I care."

"Yeah, well, you cared just now, didn't you? When Shikamaru had his tongue in my mouth?"

Hinata wanted to take that back, but it was too late. Gaara was raising that famously no brow at her, intending to lock all of his anger and jealousy and emotion inside. Hinata then stepped very close to him, almost touching him.

"You cared. You damn well care right now, too."

Gaara didn't move back. Each breath she took narrowed the gap between their bodies to an inch. A bare whisper of a touch. Oh yeah, he was in pain. She could see it flickering in his eyes. There was fresh blood staining his shirt, she heard the slow patter of drops as they splashed on the leather of his boots.

"You're killing us," he said. "You're as much as a witch as that sea hag we put over the side."

"I certainly hope I am, because I curse you, too! I curse you to have what you want. Go on, condemn yourself to feel nothing, NOTHING, forever-"

Gaara captured her face between his hands and stared at her pupiless eyes.

"Too late to feel nothing. Whether you're a witch or a saint, I don't know, but you're…inside me-"

His knees gave way, and hit the deck, gasping. Hinata followed him down and caught him as he swayed.

"I'm not a witch. I'm definitely not a saint. I'm just…a dreamer. That's why I said yes to Naruto. Because…it was a dream come true."

"Shikamaru's a dreamer, he thinks…it will all end well…but…"

His breath caught hard. There was blood pouring out of the wound under his shirt, not just a trickle, but a flood. He was dying, and it was because of her.

"I'm not a dreamer, Hinata."

Hinata braced him on her lap, stroking his hair. It was all too hard. Too much. She didn't want her heart to come apart like this again. He was bleeding, great gouts of it flooding hot across her lap. Time was running out. His ocean eyes opened, wild and beautiful and full of warmth. Full of life.

"Shikamaru tried to stop me, you know. She begged for mercy, but I wouldn't hear her. I made myself cold, so cold, and I watched the sharks…"

"Gaara, stop it; just…look, I know what to do. I'll go. I'll take a boat and leave-"

"You should have gone before you smiled."

"Gaara…"

His eyes stayed open, but the pupils slowly relaxed, his eyes turning to a pastel teal. A dead ocean. Hinata felt unnaturally calm. Everything seemed so bright, so sharp, so still. His red hair curled around her fingers, warm and intimate.

"You have to live," she told him. "It doesn't end this way. You have to live."

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Do you hate me now? It's not the end. I like happy endings, so hit that review button and tell me what you think. ( x )/