Arranged
Chapter 6: Evaluations
It was well into the night now. The party had been going on for a few hours and everyone was having a pretty good time. Although it was painfully obvious that Temari was avoiding Sakura and any possible questions about Gaara at any cost. The pink-haired nin tried to busy herself with conversations between Tsunade, Kakashi and Shizune. Temari stuck by Shikamaru's side while Naruto ranted to them continuously about his Hokage training. The rest stayed huddled in one large group to the back. They soon found themselves discussing and evaluating the hot topic of the night; Sakura's betrothal to the infamous Sabaku no Gaara.
Ino came out of the blue with the first comment "Hmmm, three months." This earned her odd looks. She noticed and just kept a slightly unamussed face "How long do you guys think?"
Ten Ten scratched her head "Eh? What are you talking about Ino-san?"
The blonde kunoichi snorted "How long the marriage is going to last, of course!" But everybody stayed silent "Come on! You guys are honestly going to tell me you never thought about it?!"
"Ino-san" Hinata started shly "D-doesn't it seem a bit rude to talk about s-such things. We have no idea what the future holds in store for Sakura-kun and Gaara-sama."
Ino waved a hand dismissively "Ma, ma! You worry too much Hinata-hime." She grinned and held up her index finger in an as-a-matter-of-fact manner "What Sakura doesn't know can't hurt her, right?" Ten Ten shrugged "Guess not. But there a lot of factors to consider. I mean, will he be kind to her? Will he be able to learn to love her? There's just too much there to decide yet."
"What does it matter?" Neji asked bluntly "If any of them have any hope of defending their honor, they'll do what's expected." The brunnette snorted, to which the Hyuuga prodigy shot a stern glare. Ten Ten smirked "Oh please Neji. You're so blowing that out your ass! If honor meant that much to you, you wouldn't have directly disobeyed Hizashi-sama by going out with me." Neji just looked away out of embarrasment while his girlfriend playfully elbowed him in the chest.
"I THINK THEY WILL MAKE A SPLENDID COUPLE!" Lee proclaimed with an air of confidence "NOTHING CAN...!"
Sai cut in, "What if one of them strays?" A small silence over took the group. Lee's eye twitched and a vein popped up on his head "E-EXCUSE ME SAI-SAN?" The root shinobi just shrugged casually. "It seems probable. Kazekage-sama isn't the most emotional male. And with Ugly-san's short temperment and subseptability to emotions, they just don't seem compatable."
Kiba sighed "Even if tin-man over here has got a point, Sakura has toughened up considerably over these last few years. Besides the fact that that bastard Gaara doesn't give up so easily. And like Neji said, they're both the type to go along with this out of respect for their villages." Shino nodded "Kiba-san does have a point. Besides, people and situations have a way of being manipulated."
"It's not just that." Hinata crossed her arms in thought, which was way out of her character. Everyone listened intently. "There will also be the intimate times, where they hold one another. The happy times where they look into one another's eyes and find hope. The times they kiss and revel in the taste of one another." The fragile Hyuuga unfolded her arms and put both hands on either of her cheeks. "There are things that happen between a man and a woman...that make everything else seem of less importance."
Silence.
"H-Hinata-sama" Neji stuttered with a horrified expression. Ironically, everyone had stopped dead in their tracks with expressions of shock and horror. Surely, the innocent little Hyuuga Hinata must be referring to something other than what they were thinking. But with that last statement, they weren't so sure.
Ino and Ten Ten glided onto either side of Hinata. They put their arms around her shoulders, all while trying futilely to stifle their snickers. "Geez, who knew Hina-hime could be such a perv." Ino teased earning a tomatoe-like complextion from Hinata. "Yeah" Ten Ten chimmed in "Has Naruto-kun showed you any of those 'positions' lately?"
Hinata shook her head furiously out of embarrasment "Wha...?! No...I mean...yeah but...I was just trying to...ah!"
Sai snorted "Oh please. How could Dickless satisfy Hinata-san?" Everyone was, once again, silent. Neji and Sai were now involved in a glaring match while the two kunoichi tried to keep Hinata from fainting out of humiliation. Kiba just shrugged "Well, I'm going to give them a month until they reach complications. What about you Shino-san?" Somehow the change of topic returned everyone to normal and back to the previous question. Could the couple last? And for how long?
Shino shifted his glasses up the bridge of his nose "Hmmm. Statistically, I'd say two months. But as...ahem, Hinata-san put it...There are many variables, so I'll reserve my judgement."
Ino whined "Nani?! But I want know!" However, the blonde kunoichi soon sighed in defeat. "Oh well. I don't think this was a good idea at all! I mean, men can't change. Not really." Ten Ten giggled and linked her arm through Neji's "I think you might be wrong about that Ino-chan."
As everyone began to get off the topic, one quiet root ninja calmly slipped away from the crowd. The only one who noticed was the bashful Hyuuga heiress. She excused herself and followed Sai to a spot under the cherry blossom tree. Her foot steps were quiet and tempered but not enough so to go unrecognized.
"Hinata-san, you're missing the party."
She sighed softly "Hai, but...may I sit down with you for a minute?"
Reluctantly, he nodded. She sat a few inches away and looked up at the night sky. "I-it's been a while since we've been alone together, ne Sai-san?"
He innerly cringed at the suffix she put after his name.
He huffed and glared at the ground. "Sai.", he said.
Hinata looked at him with a bit of a confused expression "Gomen?" He looked into her milky orbs with his own onyx pools. "Please don't use a suffix at the end of my name. Otherwise, don't talk to me at all." His last words were laced with venom, which made the midnight-haired kunoichi glanced downward. The shinobi next to her suddenly felt a horrible knot in his stomach. He placed a hand over hers. Hinata blushed brightly and looked at him. He looked off the other way into space.
"Why did you come here?" Sai questioned.
"W-well, everyone was going to be here so I..."
"Not at the party. I meant sitting here with me. Don't you think Dickless might get...suspicious?"
Hinata shook her head, strands of her deep purple hair falling into her face. "Iie. He doesn't know about that." She decided to quickly change the subject. "A-are you upset about Sakura leaving? I-I know you two were close and..."
"She's like an annoying, ugly baby sister who won't shut up." The root nin looked over with a new found interest "You haven't told him." The Hyuuga heiress decided to look anywhere but into his eyes "Th-there's nothing to tell. We were young. W-we were on a mission. Th-that was it." The shinobi beside her arked an eyebrow "That was it? You act as if it meant nothing to you."
The kunoichi suddenly began to get up and brush off the grass from her knees. "No Sai, it meant nothing to you."
She began to walk away when she felt herself shoved against the rather large trunk of the cherry blossom tree. Frightened, tears began to fall down her lily-white cheeks as she stared into boaring black orbs. The two nin were strategically placed so that the other party-goers could not see.
"If you think that night meant nothing to me Hinata...then you really aren't too bright." He held her chin so that they looked at one another
"Aishiteru." He whispered for only her to hear.
He was about to kiss her when she turned her head away roughly.
"Why?! Why are you doing this to me?!"
He glanced downward at the ground, but not really staring at anything "Do you not love me?" She looked at him angrily and tearfully as he met her stare with an impassive face.
"You know I do. I always have. But I'm with Naruto now."
He looked at her and was taken by surprise when she leaned into him. A natural impulse made the young man wrap his arms around the frail and beautiful form pressed against him. He inhaled her scent as she cried against his shoulder. "Y-y-you never told me before tonight. You n-never even talked to me afterwards. An-and I always...I mean I-I thought..."
He pulled away enough to look at her face, now puffy from tears "Hinata...you didn't think...?" He stopped himself and pulled her close once more, placing loving kisses at the crown of her head. He whispered cooingly into her ear "If anything ever happens...I'll always be here." She nodded softly against his chest and huffed out an 'arigatou'.
Sakura noticed her two friends come out from behind the tree. She smiled sadly. She was the only one that Hinata had confided in. She had confronted Sai about it but as usual he told her not to medal in his personal affairs...or at least the few that he had. She snorted So much like Sasuke. But she had to give Sai credit. Sasuke had never wanted love. He never searched for it. And even when it was handed to him on a silver platter, he stomped all over it. He was cold, just like he wanted. Sai on the other hand wanted to explore his emotions. He wanted to find love. And he did, in Hinata. But a one night stand on a mission does not a romance make. He had thought that physical love was enough. But tonight, he had expressed what he truely felt for the Hyuuga flower. Sakura couldn't help but notice the bitter-sweet taste in her mouth. She was proud of Sai and now, if Hinata returned his feelings, their love could blossom. However, someone would be hurt. And that someone might end up to be Naruto. Or, if taken in the other direction, the beautiful flower could live an honorable life as the Hokage's wife. She would hopefully have many children. But she would die faster on the inside than she did on the out. And as for Sai, a stone would remain a stone.
It pissed her off a bit that her friend would be so oblivious to Hinata's struggle. But that was Naruto, 'number one knuckle-headed ninja'. In the end, she thought, Hinata and Sai are better off together. Naruto should have gotten involved with someone loud like Ino or Temari. Maybe even someone outside the Rookies or our friends. But what else was to be expected of Hinata when she felt betrayed and her childhood crush came to her 'rescue'. It was a complicated and unneeded situation. That much was certain. Unfortunately, Sakura wouldn't be around to help things along. She had her own marriage to worry about.
And now on top of everything else, she had to prove that she wasn't weak. What the fuck had she been doing for the last few years?! First Sasuke and now Gaara? It was a mess. But she figured she had no other option. She looked up at the night sky, dazed and exasperated. But it hit her, perhaps Gaara was like Sai. Maybe he could fill the place in her heart that Sasuke had left festuring and forever expanding. Even during their gennin days, he had never really taken it anyways. And it sure as hell wasn't reserved for him at this point.
He's changed, Shizune said.
Wants children, Temari mentioned.
Sabaku no Gaara was like Root Ninja Sai. He wanted change. He wanted love. And she would give it to him! Why the hell not? She wasn't one to judge. At least not yet, not until she got to know him. Hell, they might even fall head over heels for each other the second she walked through those gates. Once she came back to Earth, her jade orbs shined with a new resolution.
Sabaku no Gaara, you will be loved!
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AUTHOR'S NOTES:
I'm actually pleased with how this chapter turned out. Although the whole scene with Hinata and Sai might have been distracting, I couldn't help myself :)
Maybe it was a little bit predictable that Sakura would know about the whole thing though, I don't know. But overall, I'm gonna say that this is my favorite chapter so far.
R & R,
Jocelyne
P.S. Kudos to anyone who caught the "Tin Man" reference from Wizard of Oz, as well as the inspiration for Hinata's line from A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennesse Williams; (I highly recommend reading it). The line in question is: 'There are things that happen between a man and a woman...that make everything else seem of less importance'.
