A/N: OOPS! I split these two chapters in half! SUMIMASEN!
Well, THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! Yes I have updated two days earlier than usual. I have decided to leave Shattered Clay as a one-shot because, well I NEVER IMAGINED IT TO BE A THREE-SHOT! I just can't see Deidara with Sakura, Sumimasen everyone who was looking forward to it...
Special Thanks to BloodxKanji for completing the answer! you get 5 points and a virtual cookie!
Standard Disclaimer
Chapter 10
Part 2: Stranger/Friend
"JUUGO!" screamed Hinata. She quickly wrapped her dainty arms around the tall man's middle. Kurodu went up to his uncle and together they watched the reunion.
Gaara was in his pensive state. He turned to Kurodu, and asked him, "Do you trust this man, Kurodu?"
His reply was fast. "He did help me, oji-san."
"True." Even though Kurodu reassured him, he still felt a pang of jealousy. Hinata never would fling herself deliberately at him. Frowning, he took Kurodu by the hand.
Kurodu didn't budge. Gaara grew impatient.
"What's wrong, boy?"
Kurodu didn't look at him. "You don't like Juugo-san, do you, Gaara-sama."
Gaara looked at the boy. He's really good at seeing people's reactions.
"Well, I just don't know him so I don't trust him. That's all."
Kurodu frowned at his uncle. For a child, he could easily outfrown Gaara, and that was saying something.
"But you can trust him! He brought me here, didn't he?"
"I just have a few things to consider."
"You just don't like him because he gets along well with Hinata-chan." the boy pouted, as Gaara looked at Hinata and Juugo laughing.
"Huh?"
"Never mind.." muttered the boy, as he led Gaara back to the Tower.
"You've changed, Hinata-chan!" exclaimed Juugo, looking at Hinata. The girl blushed.
"It seems that you're shrinking, Juugo-kun.." she smiled at him. Juugo's heart pounded twice.
He looked at the Hyuuga's happy face. She did look different. In fact, she was so beautiful that it hurt Juugo to look at her.
"What brings you here to Suna?" she asked, not noticing how Juugo's eyes averted her face.
"I'm trying to find work here. I need to get my life back on track. Ever since..." he stopped, forcing himself to look at Hinata.
The girl had a huge fake smile plastered on her face.
"..well you know, anyways I need a good job." he finished lamely.
"Oh, well since you're good with birds, Juugo-kun, I think you should work with Suna's bird messengers! Wouldn't that be fun!" Hinata smiled a genuine smile.
"Hmm. I could."
"Well, let's get you all settled in." exclaimed Hinata, grabbing Juugo's hand.
Gaara looked at the sky from his desk. He scanned the horizon, pondering about things that recently changed his life.
Hinata.
Secrets from Konoha.
Hinata.
The elders.
Hinata.
Naruto.
Hina-hime...
...
"Why can't I stop thinking about her?" he roared, slamming his fist on the table. "Everything I do makes me think of her...what is this feeling..."
He clutched protectively around his heart.
Can I let her in?
Can I accept her past?...
...Am I the one for her?..
"I've always thought of Hinata as my savior. Now she's just confusing me..."
Do I like that she's confusing me? he thought to himself.
Do I like that she always smiles at me?
Do I enjoy the fact that she blushes when I speak to her, touch her, or even look at her?
He looked angrily around the room. His eyes trailed over to the chakra channel that was perched on top of a shelf.
I might've lost my hime that day... He reminisced angrily.
He glanced up at the horizon. The sunset gleamed dark red, and the wind was making circles around the dunes. The clouds had highlights of red and black in them.
Oh Kami, there's gonna be a sandstorm! He rushed out to make an emergency message.
Neji ran as fast as he could. He could feel the sand moving beneath his toes.
"What is this weather?" he wondered out loud. Either way I don't want to find out!
He rushed through the hard ground, and he ran through the gates of Suna, ignoring the numerous guards who were yelling at him.
He used his kaiten to ward them off.
Knowing that the man was a lost cause, the guards looked back, only to see a massive wall of sand coming towards them.
It's too late!
He looked over to the east. The storm was brewing.
Using almost all of his chakra, he conjured tons of sand from the west, and spread it over Suna like a protective layer.
Hinata ran after Juugo. "What are you doing, Juugo-kun?" she cried.
Juugo was running faster than her by a long shot. "Hurry up, Hinata-chan!" he yelled hoarsely. "There's a sandstorm!"
Sure enough, Hinata glanced back to see sand swirling from every direction.
Juugo saw that Hinata was stopping.
"Here Hinata! Climb on my back!"
"What?"
"JUST DO IT!" he growled. Hinata obeyed. He focused all of his chakra to the feet, and they zoomed away.
I'm done for, I'm done for, I'm...
Running up the stairs, he opened the nearest door he could find, where he saw Kankuro listening to music on his iPod. It was apparent that he had been singing before Neji burst in.
Kankuro stared at him. "Um..that's random. When did you get here? Are you related to Hinata in some way?"
Neji grabbed him, and he took off the headset and stated, "There's a massive sandstorm, in case you haven't noticed!"
The puppetmaster looked at the west window. "Uh..Is this an episode of Punk'd?"
"IDIOT!" screeched Neji in a most un-Neji-like manner, and he yanked at Kankuro's arm, making the puppeteer shout an "Ow! BAKA!" in shock.
"OKAY OKAY! I GET IT, MAN! JEEZ!" he whined, picking up his prized puppet and heading out the door, lead by a fuming Neji.
Kurodu ran inside the house. "KAA-CHAN!" he screamed.
Temari, Karin and Suigetsu ran down the stairs to greet him.
"Kurodu! Never do that again, please, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" Temari cried.
"I'm fine Mum, I'm fine." He quickly grabbed his mother's attention to the massive storm gathering. "There's a sandstorm and Hinata-chan's outside!"
Gaara blinked a bead of sweat from his eye. Soon all of Sunagakure would be covered in a protective layer against the oncoming onslaught of sand.
Villagers from all over were in awe. This was the second time in history that their Godaime Kazekage had to create such a barrier.
All of Suna braced themselves for the storm.
Kankuro and Neji joined Gaara. Neji was amazed at Gaara's chakra abilities. He was about to compliment the Kazekage, when Kankuro hissed in his ear.
"Don't distract him."
Neji glared at Kankuro, and then he shut up.
Soon Temari spotted the trio near the tower. She had brought Suigetsu and Karin over to the scene, along with Shikamaru, who left the kids with the Nara's grandmother.
"What's going on?" Temari mouthed to Kankuro. Suigetsu and Karin looked at each other, fearful of what was to come.
Juugo looked back at the oncoming storm. The sky darkened, as if to torment the duo.
"Juugo-kun, what's happening? I can't look." cried Hinata. She could hear the storm gathering around her.
Reassuring himself more than the girl, he responded. "We'll make it, we'll make it..." he repeated it like a mantra. Pretty soon, it occupied his thoughts.
He could feel his chakra fading away. He lost so much of it from running. He could see the Kazekage Tower looming in the distance, like a beacon of light for the two of them. Ignoring the pain and the heaviness of his feet, he managed to give out one mad dash towards the building before his legs gave way. They landed a few feet from the building. Juugo was unconscious from the heavy chakra loss.
Unfortunately for the two of them, they weren't recognized by the kage siblings.
Gaara sweated profusely as he tried to finish the barrier. He swooned under the pressure. No! Not like last time! Don't let it end like last time! he screamed inside his head. And like last time, he used all of his chakra to transport the sand back to the west of Suna.
He saw the blurry figures of Kankuro, Temari, Shikamaru, Suigetsu and Karin look at him in shock before he collapsed.
No!
Temari! he lifted his hand unconsciously. Help me...anyone...
...
no...
...
...sandst..orm.....
...
...
...
Hinata....where's Hinata?.....
...
...
His consciousness drifted into a dusty, cracked ground, just like in the countless number of dreams he had. And just like his dreams, the loneliness was there.
He looked at the white sky, searching for a sign of life. He glared at the dusty, cracked earth. He felt a slight tinge, a slight twist of a migraine starting in his head.
Then that was the part where the pain came.
Hinata focused her eyes at the land before her. She landed on top of Juugo. In a normal situation, this would make the Hyuuga's cheeks flush into a shade of red unknown to mankind, but as this was an emergency, she concentrated on activating her Byakugan.
She hoisted Juugo's body on her frail back. Focusing all of her chakra to her spine, she ran inside the tower to get help.
"Gaara!" screamed Temari. She started to come towards the man, but Shikamaru held her back.
Never before had Temari lost her mind like this. "Shh dear, everything's alright..." reassured Shikamaru. Temari grabbed his jonin vest and started crying on it.
Kankuro tried to recreate the seals like the last time, but Gaara was in a disastrous state. He settled on containing his brother.
"Help me, don't just stand there!" he yelled at Karin and Suigetsu. They immediately went to his side.
Suigetsu grinned a you're-the-boss grin. "Okay, mon capitaine. Tell us what to do."
"I need your help for this seal. Karin, come to my right. Suigetsu come to my left. We're creating a jutsu barrier for Gaara. Hopefully it will contain him."
Both of them nodded their understanding, and positioned themselves for the jutsu.
"AAAAAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH" yelled Gaara as the demon inside of him started taking control.
"So, Gaara. What should we do?? kukukuku....." Gaara winced in pain as he heard his demon side speak.
Chosing to ignore the throbbing pain in his left side, Gaara muttered. "Go away, mother."
The Tanuki started laughing shrilly, the creature's voice echoed across the dry ground. "My own host, telling me what to do? This is unheard of. Tell me, who is this "Hinata" that invades your mind permanently right now?"
Gaara looked at his hands in shock. Oh Kami, I'm bleeding...
The jinchuuriki read his thoughts. "Heh, squirt. Tell me about her, or I'll make you bleed till you drown in it. Spit it."
So this is a suicide mission for this jinchuuriki, eh? thought Gaara. "You're an idiot. If I die, you die."
"And if you die, Hinata's heart dies. Or has she fallen for this "Juugo" character yet?"
"Shut up."
"Make me."
Gaara clenched his teeth in anger. "Listen idiot. You have feelings for the girl, so quit trying to run away from them. Whup Juugo's ass, and go and have fun with Hinata. Hope you have lots of children with her."
"BAKA! I don't think of Hinata that way."
"What if you do?"
Gaara stared at the blankscape as the pain started to go away. He felt a hand on his shoulder.
"H-hinata?"
"It's not working!" cried Suigetsu, arm ripening from the chakra.
Karin looked down at the Kazekage. He was still once again, unmoving, as if he was one of the undead.
"T-temari, K-kankuro," she began. The siblings whipped around as Karin called out to them, her back turned in their direction.
"I th-think he's gone."
Managing to find a nurse at hand, she let her take Juugo and ran down the stairs, only to find Suigetsu, Karin, Temari and Shikamaru kneeling beside a figure, their backs turned. Temari was crying on Shikamaru's shoulder. Neji, who looked back, saw her, and slowly rubbed the tears from his eyes.
Hinata blinked as she got closer. She didn't wonder why her cousin was there, but the fact remained that Neji was crying. She didn't like the feel of this at all.
The noise of the sandstorm died down, as the sand poured around like gentle rain. The sun shone on the object the group was staring at, giving Hinata a detailed view.
"G-gaara?"
Pushing past her cousin, she knelt in front of Gaara, pressing a hand on his shoulder. She shook him hard, yet gentle.
"Gaara, you have to wake up! WAKE UP!" she screamed, tears slowly falling like rain onto the redhaired man.
"What did you say, Hina-hime?" asked a curious Gaara. He looked around the barren desert, searching for a pale-eyed girl.
Hinata was crying. "You have to wake up, Gaara. Everyone's here for you. If you go now..." she said.
Through the pearly irises, Gaara searched and found liquid falling from them.
"No! Don't cry...." He reached out to catch her tears, but he wasn't able to touch her. What's happening?
"Gaara....I need you...More than ever right now..." she sobbed hysterically, collapsing on his chest.
"Hinata..." said Temari softly, rubbing her nose.
She continued to sob even harder.
"Hinata, Gaara's-"
"NO HE ISN'T"
"Th-that's n-not-"
"Hinata," said a deeper voice. She looked around frantically, not noticing that the voice came from below.
"It's me."
THAT'S ALL I HAVE TO SAY! And yes I know that I haven't really read it all thoroughly. I just don't have the time. -_-'
I can assure you that chapter 11 will shock you people even more.....kukukuku.....
(hint hint Ncouaghcrouguhctougho) if you managed to decode it, you win a prize! (5 pts)
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