Here's another chapter! I hope you did not have to wait too long. On with the fic. R&R!!!

Chapter 10: Just a Smidgen

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Hinata sprinted through the trees after Deidara until they reached a small clearing with a tent. From where she was, she saw Deidara's hands move rapidly with a hand sign and then stopped abruptly, turning in her direction. Hinata slowed her pace, wondering why he had stopped that way. But before she could think on it, as she walked towards him, she was knocked back on her rear but not without a good shock as well that left her skin stinging.

"This is our barrier, yeah," said Deidara, through the invisible wall. His voice was oddly muffled. "I just set it lower so that you could see and hear me, along with the fact that it did not electrocute you. I also disabled the Genjutsu and bombs here as well and you can hear me because I lowered the sound proof barrier."

Hinata looked at him as he talked, still on the floor. She imagined she would have been a soppy blood mess had not for Deidara.

"The hand seal I made just now allowed me to pass through without problems. I want you to watch carefully, yeah? I'll show you the hand seal only twice and if you don't learn it, you'll go home tonight. When you come back tomorrow, I will show you once and if you don't get it, you are not ready. Understand, yeah?"

Hinata nodded.

"Good."

Without giving Hinata a warning that he was starting, Deidara made the hand seals so quickly that it made hinata's eyes cross and she blinked heavily to rid herself of the blurry, double vision.

"You didn't catch that, did you?" asked Deidara, smirking. "We'll work on that sight of yours later."

He readied his hands for the seal once again. "This time I'll do it slower."

It was not like his 'slower' pace with the seals helped Hinata, but she managed to see them.

"Your turn."

Hinata tried the seal and walked towards the 'wall' only to be knocked flat again with another shock.

Deidara sighed. "Come now, I know your sight and memory has got to be better than that," said Deidara, as he smirked even more. "Try again. And you better get it within three tries or it's no training tonight."

Hinata used up all of her tries and just managed to get the seal right on the last try and was able to cross the barrier. As soon as she passed through, Deidara did another round of rapid seals and now being inside, she saw the wall of chakra that was invisible from the outside.

"Now that you're here," said Deidara, as he began to walk away. "We will begin."

Deidara then unwrapped bandages from his hands that Hinata had not noticed before that moment and to her surprise and amazement, his palms had mouths. Hinata's eyes widened as she remembered when her muffled her at the river with his hands. It was a good thing he had the bandages then. Maybe that's why he had them on in the first place.

"What are those?" asked Hinata, raising an accusing finger.

"Hands?" said Deidara, as he held out his hands palm up to her for her to see just a slit in both. "It's not polite to point."

"I-I just saw teeth and I know that's not normal."

Deidara laughed lightly as he threw the bandages near the tent. "Oh so you notice that but you couldn't read a hand seal, yeah?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

Hinata was thoroughly embarrassed. She had not meant to pry. "Gomen."

Deidara walked towards her and ruffles her hair, leaving his hand there. "My hands are part of my weapon," said Deidara, as he removed his hand, only he tugged on hinata's hair in the process.

"Itai, what was that for?" asked Hinata. She really should not be so familiar with the stranger but it was hard not to be.

Deidara looked at his palm to see the hand there chewing a few strands of hair. "Sorry about that." With his other hands he tugged the hair away. "Let's begin shall we?"

With that, he reached into his pocket and pulled out something, holding it out for Hinata to take, pointing at his eyes-well eye.

"Blindfold?" asked Hinata as she took them. "What for?"

"I've realized you depend on your sight too much as can be expected of someone who uses eye techniques, just like your cousin." said Deidara. "Enough talking. Put on the blindfold."

With that, Deidara grabbed a pouch that was next to the bandages he had thrown next to the tent.

He disappeared then in a wisp of smoke.

Hinata looked around frantically, trying to see him and immediately thought about Byakugan when a tiny bird that looked as though it was made out of clay was flung at her from her left. Without pausing, Hinata sent a kunai she had taken out unconsciously sailing in that direction when she heard his voice.

"Kai!"

The bird she had left unnoticed exploded making her jump away from it. It was not harmful, just a wake up call to heighten her senses she assumed.

"Blindfold, Hime," called Deidara, and Hinata realized she still held the cloth.

Hesitantly, she tied the cloth around her eyes and smiled. Who said she had to be completely honest about it? She tied the blindfold loosely around her head, barring most of her vision.

Hinata had not even felt the presence behind her and gasped as she felt a yank on the cloth, pulling her back against his chest.

"No cheating, Hime," Deidara whispered, as he untied the blindfold and retied it tightly, causing the girl to see white dots behind her eyelids. When he was done, he spun her around quickly. "Byakugan won't work, yeah."

He tapped the cloth between her eyes and Hinata felt her eyes sting painfully.

"Ack! What did you do to me?" Hinata hissed. But even ass she said it, the pain was ebbing away.

"You'll know later when you are ready," he said simply.

Hinata pouted. "I am ready all now."

She heard him chuckle. "Not yet, Hime. Stay alert, I won't go easy on you this time." And with that, she knew he was gone, because his chakra was concealed and there was utter silence.

---

Hinata dropped to her knees for the umpteenth time. By hearing alone, she could only tell that a bomb was about to explode by a faint thud or the papery sound of legs scuttling her way.

She had to admit that her hearing had improved greatly in the past two days. She could tell because she had less bruises than the day before and she would have been a heap on the forest floor by now like the first time. Also she had no choice but to get better at her hearing, because burns were not very nice and she had to heal them every night before she went to bed and in the morning she would be sore from the night before.

Let's just say that she learned first hand that prevention was better than cure.

She barely had the time to think about that at the moment though, because she was bombarded by more than twenty mini clay birds and insects as opposed to the one the first night.

Hinata crouched low, straining her ears for any sign that there was another being in the mist of the forest where they were but found nothing except the usual 'Kai' and the booming explosion of Deidara's bombs.

Hinata gasped. There was a slight twitch to her left. Without thinking, she sent shuriken in that direction, hearing a dull thud of them against wood and sighed. She had missed.

"Enough, yeah."

Hinata remained where she was and reached to hold her shoulder which was aching and chapped from her narrow escape of one of the critters that Deidara sent to land there.

"If you keep rubbing it, it'll get worse," came Deidara's voice and he held her hand, Hinata feeling he had the bandages on once again. She had not taken off the blindfold yet.

She was not allowed to take her blindfold off until she reached the river. She had to depend on following the sound of the water.

And so Hinata heard the clapping sound as Deidara made the hand seal to release the barrier.

"See you there."

Hinata sighed, knowing Deidara would be at the river by now as she focused all her senses toward the water. The sound, the smell, the taste on the air until she reached her destination.

Of course, it was not easy the first day. She had bumped into so many trees, she swore she would knock herself into a coma.

Hinata felt Deidara's presence once more and felt him behind her as he untied the bindings and spun her around to face him.

"You did well tonight," he whispered, smiling so sincerely Hinata had no choice but to smile back as she lowered her head bashfully. "See you tomorrow night."

He lifted her chin to look into her eyes. "You still shy, yeah?"

Hinata nodded slightly and averted her eyes.

"Well you'll have to suck it up, Hime because what we've been doing is basic where we come from. You can't be a shy shinobi, ok?"

Hinata took in his words. Deidara was no longer the flirty blond with the failed pickup lines anymore. She sighed then, knowing that what he said was true. She could not be withdrawn if she wanted to make it in the world of ninja.

"Hai."

Itachi watched as Deidara walked towards him. He had been watching the two for the past few days and could definitely see what was going on.

"You are too soft on her, Deidara," said Itachi when Deidara was close enough to the tree that he was in.

Deidara looked up at the stone-faced murderer. Not that he wasn't one himself.

"I know yeah. But if I push any harder she'll break-"

"No. She'll bend," said Itachi, as Deidara jumped onto his branch. "She will get used to it; adjust. She has no choice."

The two leapt into the darkness just then and Deidara decided to break the silence.

"I don't see why I have to wear these bandages," he said, unwrapping the cloths from his hands.

Itachi looked his way, not missing a branch. "I can't have you tonguing the girl."

"Whatever."

It was beyond the time that anyone should be up, but there was Hinata waltzing through the tents to her own. She walked proudly, back straight. She would not betray her stride with a limp. She would not wince as the cold night air bit at her skin because of the shock she had to endure since she forgot a part of the seal.

But as soon as she crawled through the crevice of her tent, she crashed onto her camp bed and saw a piece of paper flutter in the corner of her vision. Rolling over, she took the paper, unfolding it to read the contents.

Hinata,

Have a good night.

Gaara.

Hinata smiled, her eyes twinkling in the light of the lantern. That smile was erased when a thought came to her mind. How did he get the note in her tent when Deidara always cast a jutsu to bar anyone going near?

She would have to ask him that in the future. Hinata stripped of her damp clothing and put on her night shirt. Pulling down the neck of the shirt, Hinata reached to feel the skin on her shoulder and winced. She would not heal it. It was her carelessness that got her the result of the singeing of her now blackened and bruised skin.

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One more day to go and it would be all over.

This was the thought of all genin in the clearing as they listened to Iruka give the mission for the day. Sasuke was leaning on the tree as he listened.

"Today, all of you will learn the art of healing. Since most if not all females here know how to heal, this task might be painful," said Iruka, glaring at Kiba and Naruto who were playing rock-paper-scissors in secret. So they thought.

"You all have to cut each other and heal them back. Of course, it's up to you if the person heals or not. And don't play smart with me. The cuts will be fatal."

"What?!" yelled Kiba, who had just lost the little match he was having. "That's horse shit. You expect us to just let someone kill us?!"

Iruka rolled his eyes. "None of you will die. This exercise is to test your trust and chakra control, also to test your concentration in a deadly situation."

Most of the genin nodded or grunted their approval.

Sasuke sighed, looking away boredom written all over his face. Everything was about trust this, trust that. He knew from his past where the notion could get you. The person you trust the most could easily stab you in the back, knowing all of your secrets and fears would be easy to throw against you.

'Great. I now have to endure someone killing me.'

"Your positions will switch after the person has been healed and they in turn will cut," finished Iruka.

And so he called out partners.

"Neji, Kiba. Sasuke, Ino. Tenten, Chouji…"

The list went on.

Sasuke felt as though he wanted to jump off a cliff at that moment. He was paired with Ino of all people. Sure they had their boyfriends and were not as persistent as they were years before, but that did not mean they were not still willing to dump Naruto or Lee for him. At least he could nearly kill her and get satisfaction for her strangling him in the past.

--

They were all in the clearing now and Sasuke looked around at the different partners with kunai in hand, when he saw who Hinata was paired with. Gaara. For once, Sasuke just wanted to scream in frustration but his thoughts were cut short when he felt his forearm pricked and saw that Ino was hesitating.

"Well?" he said, waiting for her to just stab him and get it over with. "Cut me already."

"But Sasuke-kun," said Ino, trying to somehow seduce the boy in the situation they were in. "I don't want to hurt you." She inched closer.

Sasuke scratched his forehead tiredly. "Look, I don't have time for this, Ino," Sasuke said, as he grabbed her hand, causing her to blush at the contact and positioned her hand over his vein. "Don't make me say it twice."

Hinata looked at Gaara and sighed. "Is there anyway you can take down the defense?" she asked, softly.

Gaara gave her a look of pure disbelief. "Do you honest think I would tell you even if I knew how?" he asked shortly. "I've let you closer than anyone other than my siblings in the past few days. I can't let you any closer."

Hinata looked down ashamed. Not because of what Gaara had just told her, but because somewhere inside, she wanted to be closer to him.

"I want to break your shell," she said after the few moments of silence. "I'm not afraid of you."

There it was. The tiny hint of a smile that caused Hinata to grin from ear to ear just thinking about it.

"I never expected you to be." And he reached out his hand to her. "I can't be cut unless I am at total ease. Meaning, my sand feels no threat whatsoever."

Hinata nodded as she took his hand and moved to carve his skin hesitantly.

Suddenly, there was a flurry of sand encircling Hinata's wrist and bound it tightly. "W-what are you doing?" she stammered.

"I didn't do that. You have to be calm about it. So calm that the sand trusts you with my life because you really mean no harm."

Hinata now understood as the sand released her hand with the kunai. Not only did she have to give the sand her confidence; she also had to believe it would not hurt her.

She closed her eyes and focused, calming her mind.

She was ready.

Gripping the kunai in one hand, Hinata reached out for his own with her other hand and tore his flesh as she looked into his eyes, seeing him wince from the unfamiliar pain as blood trickled from the gash.

"You know," said Gaara softly gazing at nothing in particular. "You are the first person to ever believe in me so deeply that my sand would not stop you. Even I cannot cut myself."

Hinata was shocked that was able to do something that nobody else had dared do and it clearly showed on her face.

"There's no need to be surprised," said Gaara now looking at his hand. "Just heal me."

Hinata then focused her chakra into her hands, causing her hands glow. She used to such chakra control seeing as she used juuken and watched as the gash on Gaara's upper forearm closed, stopping the flow of blood and it was then that she realized he was not staring at his hand anymore, but at her.

She bit her lip shyly and blushed from the intense attention until she was finished and held out her own hand.

"My turn."

Gaara took her arm and held out his own kunai. "Ready?"

Hinata smiled. "Yep."

That did not mean she had not felt the stinging as the kunai pierced her skin as she shut her eyes to avoid seeing herself be cut willingly.

"Show what you just did," said Gaara quietly. "I've noticed it's like when you Hyuga use your juuken."

"It's pretty plain. All you do is focus chakra to your palms with the intention to close something."

Gaara nodded and concentrated on what he was doing as Hinata watched the blood drip from her arm.

With his hands now glowing with chakra, Gaara placed them over the fresh cut and Hinata felt the skin slowly pulling together. The sensation was not at all good what with feeling your flesh dragging itself together again. It was just as bad as ripping it away except for the warmth to calm the feeling as she watched Gaara healing her, his eyes glinting in the glow of his chakra. Maybe Kiba was right. Maybe she did like Gaara, just a smidgen.

"Arigatou," she said when he was done and they both cleaned their arms with a cloth.

Looking around the clearing, Hinata saw that almost everyone was finished.

Everyone except Sasuke, who was trying to heal a gushing Ino.

It was not his fault the girl was annoying him constantly to the point that he just stabbed her in the arm. He focused his chakra, trying with all his might not to just let the girl die from excessive blood loss because she was talking so damn much.

"Would you just shut the frig up?" hissed Sasuke, as he watched his chakra deplete from the fifth time. "You are making it hard to get this right."

Finally, he got the chakra to be stable enough to heal her. He got up and walked away leaning on a tree; he just had to get away from the girl. No suck luck though, because she ran up to him.

"Thanks Sasuke," said Ino, attempting to hug him.

"Move," he said and shoved her away. Really, did girls not realize he was not into clingy, loud, obnoxious and Kami-knows-what-else girls? Ino simply walked away with a 'Next time Sasuke.'

He looked in Hinata's direction, seeing her talking to Gaara quite comfortably and closed his eyes. Lately she was getting very close to him. Closer than he had ever seen anyone get to Gaara and it was bothering him. Maybe he should tell her something about it. Find a way to let her know that he still liked her although she probably did not feel the same way.

It was then that he heard the voice of Iruka calling everyone's attention his way.

I'm glad that none of you will die from loss of blood today," said Iruka smiling. That smile turned into a grin soon however. "Tomorrow you will not be so lucky. I want you all to take the rest of the day off to rest for tomorrow because it will be based on almost everything you've leaned in this past month."

There was an excited murmur throughout the genin just then.

"Good to see you are looking forward to it," Iruka said, scratching his nose. "That's all. You may go."

Hinata sighed in relief. She would have the rest of the day off until her training with…come to think of it, she had never gotten his name. Maybe she would try asking again tonight.

--

The rest of the day passed quickly without event and soon it was nearly time for Hinata to meet the stalker at the river. She was napping for the evening and had just gotten up and stretched, cracking a few joints as she sat up from her camp bed.

It was then that she noticed the note next to her pillow. Picking it up and opening it, her eyes widened as she unintentionally read the name of the sender first.

It was from Sasuke…

Well here you are a spanking new chappie for the reading audience lol. I hope you liked this chapter and I'm sorry about the cliffy but I want to write my Hinata the Vamp chappie as well.

Another thing, I have an incredible idea for another fic but I'm not sure when I'll get started on it. I will probably start it when I'm sure readers enjoy my fics enough so that would be around 200 reviews I think. That should be enough evidence that persons are interested in the fic.

I don't think I have anything else to say so until next week…

Ja ne!

Please review, I love it when you do!