"It is such a secret place, the land of tears." -Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Thinking

They are all the fucking same! I wish that rain would literally wash away my existence, none of that metaphorical bullshit. Nobody wants a monster like me around. Even Naruto, the only person closest to understanding me, still hates me. I see it in all of their eyes. They are afraid of me so they push me away and enjoy my pain, but I won't let them see. Right? We won't let them in. They can't hurt us we are invincible.

YOU SHOULD KILL THEM ALL. THEY HURT YOU AND HAVE NEVER REALLY CARED FOR YOU.

Yes, that would be something. Paint everything RED – he had a crazed look in his eyes – everything will be red and filled with love. He laughed his demented laugh as his face distorted into a wicked grin.

The read head wiped his head around as he heard the sound of footsteps approaching, broken from his thoughts. Someone was running frantically his way. Have they already noticed I am missing? He wondered but dismissed the thought as soon as he saw her run into a nearby cave. He was near enough to hear her panting but far enough to not be seen and he cared not why the girl was running.

KILL HER FIRST! WHY NOT? But Gaara had calmed down. He had left the others because he felt his other personality ready to resurface and he did not wish for others to see him in this state. He knew that if they saw his twisted other persona they would only later say: I knew it!

It began to rain but he did not notice as the water soaked his body. He felt little these days. He sometimes felt like he was living so one else's life or that he was already dead and other times he felt mechanical like a robot.

Gaara heard the conversation between the girl and Sasuke. He was immediately interested in her thought process. This was new to him and wandered what the girl would think of him, the 'monster.' Surely he would have noticed her sooner. He decides to make his presence known.

With Hinata and Sasuke:

They sat in silence as they watched the gathered water fall from the trees onto the now soiled land. They silence was comforting for both as they watched one of nature's cycles. Both their mind filled with questions and expectations.

It was easier for her to talk to a stranger considering she would probably never talk to him again and he could judge her but it would not affect her life; however, this thought also made her sad. This stranger whom now knew her deepest thought would not be in her life for long, for they lived to far apart. She would not be able to feel so liberated as she did at that moment.

The light drizzle was light a soft murmur in the back ground killing the complete silence. It was peaceful here and they both shared in this intimate comfortable silence.

He had never known someone so… interesting. This girl reminded him so much of Itachi. It was quiet strange really, Itachi was strong – this girl was weak, he was handsome – this girl was plain, and Itachi would shine above all others – yet this quiet girl was able to think like him and understand life in a level Sasuke thought only Itachi could achieve.

Splat. Splat. Splat. Sasuke heard that someone had been near their hiding spot and knew they heard the girl talk, before he could direct her attention elsewhere, said person steeped out form the shadows of the trees.

"G-g-gaara-san!" Hinata stuttered in surprise and worry that he might have heard her and Sasuke was secretly pleased that she did not stutter in his presence, it appeared that Sasuke was the exception. Gaara stared at her for a while then turned slowly to Sasuke for a second before resuming is intense gaze on the startled girl.

"Girl, what does it mean to be human to you? What makes a real monster?" She stared at him in shock. Her eyes saddened at his twisted smile, he must be in pain.

She gazed at her shoes without meeting his eyes and when he was about to snap at her she spoke.

"Humanity? Well humans can be monsters (He knew this all too well). There are some things in this world that are much worse than murder… Unfortunately humans are sick and twisted and that will be seen EVERYWHERE. It is sad to know that the ones to suffer the most are the defenseless and innocent children in our world as their innocence is stripped away from them.

"However, we have, I believe, as much good in use as we do bad. Good deeds are slow to make an impact because they work to fix the root of the problem and not everything is a quick fix. Bad deeds are like drugs. They may stop the problem for a moment but will only really be masking the problem.

"Like when a poor man steals. He might be able to feed his family and pay the rent but how long will that last till he has to do it again, and if he goes to jail who will care for his family, and how will he help them form a cage?

"Monsters on the other hand, have no concern for others… but even the cruelest monster was once human so deeply wounded that he fights the only way he knows how, with violence and pain" Hinata took a deep breath and Gaara fell to his knees.

Never in his life had he felt more at peace. This girl, who was she? She had addressed correctly his deepest fears and had soothed hurt that had left a deep scar from many years of abuse and hurt.

Sasuke stared at the two as Hinata approached Gaara and hugged him and he laid his head on her shoulder in a sign of mutual understanding. Sasuke did not… like this but he was unsure why…. There was no logical explanation to this…feeling?

He felt left out. This was something between humans as the girl cried for humanity and the boy cried as he was finally able to some compassion without strings attached.

"Hinata? Gaara? WHERE ARE YOU?" They all heard Kakashi yell form within the cave. Gaara and Hinata drew apart fast. Hinata was blushing deeply as Gaara collected himself. He had shown weakness but strangely enough he was overjoyed by the idea.

Gaara left the cave in search of Kakashi as Hinata turned to Sasuke and saw his confused and irritated expression. His usually blank face was twisted up and she moved her hand to place it only face when he looked up at her. She shrinked back as his intense stare and blushed furiously.

"You should go. They are looking for you. Humans should stay with humans." With those parting words he ran deep within the cave.

Hinata shrieked as a hand was placed on her shoulder and loosened up once she noticed it was Kakashi with Gaara in tow. "Come now Hinata-chan. We must get back to camp. Everyone is worried." She nodded as she walked beside Gaara. They shared a comfortable silence.

All in the camp stated in shock as they saw the always alone Gaara sit next to Hinata during dinner and were equally shocked to see her give him a sly smile.

They ate in silence and would briefly share a comment. There were whispers all around them. Gaara wondered if he had done the right thing to sit next to her.

What is she doesn't want me here but is too nice or scared to say anything…? Gaara glanced at Hinata and noticed she did not look scared just a little wary.

"Something bothering you Hinata-san?" He asked her politely.

"N-no. G-gaara-s-s-san. The s-s-stares are j-just m-m-making me a little un-c-c-comfortable." She said shyly as she peeked at his from the safety of her hair. She hated the attention.

"I'm sorry about that…" She noticed his glum expression and regretted her words.

"It is not your fault." And they both knew she meant more than the stares as she said that without a stutter and looked determined. He smiled at her and nodded.

At the corner of the room blue eyes watched them worried.

Though the window there was a dark figure watching the two as well as they interacted and talked. He was not pleased. Not pleased at all.

Sorry for the lateness! If anyone is still interested in this story... I AM SOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY T-T