The sun was sinking by the time Gaara reappeared. Kankurou had trudged around the village all day looking for him, and every stray gust of wind that rustled his robe convinced him further that he was being played with.
Gaara, naturally, had no interest in teasing Kankurou. He was high above the village, looking down from the mountain it was built against, out of sight behind the carving of the Third Hokage's shock of hair. The mountain was sandstone, and he had nearly laughed out loud at the irony of that. It had gone out of its way to make his climb easy.
There was a chamber inside the mountain, he knew. The sand told him. He could slip inside and despoil it right now, moving past the heavy steel doors he had discovered and tearing into the food and fresh water supply. He had heard enough of the conversations between Baki and Kankurou to guess at Orochimaru's plan, and the fortifications in place on this room identified it immediately as a defensive bunker. He should probably tell them about the chamber, he supposed. But he wouldn't. Gaara didn't feel like it, and no-one could make him.
At sunset, it wasn't loneliness that led him back to his teammates. It wasn't even Hinata. It was simple hunger. Gaara had never missed a meal in his life; like the mountain, people went out of their way to keep him relatively happy.
He caught up with Kankurou just as his brother was ready to give up the search. Kankurou didn't even notice his arrival, standing outside a fast-food restaurant and staring wistfully inside. He couldn't abandon his search, he knew, or Baki would punish him. But he would tear himself away from the heavenly smell in just a moment...
"Kankurou. Coming?"
The voice grabbed his attention immediately, and he flinched. Gaara, of course; no one else could appear that silently. He turned to face his pint-sized brother, standing as he always did with his arms crossed.
"Where have you been?" Kankurou asked, trying to keep his rising temper under control. Gaara didn't care that they were out in the open, he would kill him without a batting an eyelid.
"Busy," Gaara told him promptly. "Come back to the Hyuuga house."
"You--!" Breathing hard, Kankurou forced himself to remain calm. "Hai, Gaara. Let's go quickly."
They hadn't walked for more than five minutes before Gaara stopped. Kankurou took a few more steps, then turned back to him.
"What is it now, Gaara?" he asked wearily. "I want to get back."
"You want to kill me, don't you?" Gaara asked him seriously, staring hard at his older brother.
"What? Why do you ask?" Kankurou replied guardedly. This was a dangerous conversation if ever they had one!
"Answer me," Gaara ordered. There was a long moment.
"No," Kankurou sighed eventually, to Gaara's surprise. "I don't want to kill you, Gaara. I'm jealous of you, but I don't want to kill you. Let's keep walking."
Gaara didn't speak for the rest of the walk, uncharacteristically thoughtful. Kankurou's admission hadn't brought the tall Sand-nin any epiphany; if anything, he was even angrier at Gaara for forcing him to look inside himself.
One day, Kankurou vowed, glancing fleetingly at his brother, not daring to stare and resenting it. One day, we will sort this once and for all. But not yet. I'm not ready yet.
Temari spotted them coming back from the window she had sat next to all day. As scared as she was of Gaara's wild nature, her concern for him as her brother ran deeper still. Baki also saw the pair, watching from the garden where he sat in discussion with Hiashi Hyuuga.
Hinata, too, watched their arrival from the balcony of the bedroom; she had been asleep when Gaara left and spent the day almost as worried as Temari. A relieved smile touched her lips as she stared down at the two Sand-nins. Gaara glanced up at her window and she waved back, but he made no sign that he had seen her, lowering his head quickly and entering the house proper. Hinata drew her hand down, confused and a little hurt, but dismissed it. He probably hadn't even seen her up here.
"I found him Temari-chan," Kankurou grunted to Temari when she met them at the entrance. She didn't even glance at him, focusing on Gaara with a relieved expression.
"Gaara, we've been so worried about you," she told him. "You're acting so strange lately. What's wrong?"
Gaara's cold stare rocked her back, reminded her definitively that she didn't have any right to question him. "Nothing that concerns you," he said firmly. "I am hungry."
"Hai, Gaara," she sighed, not really minding his ominous words. Temari was used to Gaara's attitude; he couldn't help it, after all. Flashing Kankurou a tolerant smile, she followed Gaara as he stepped past her, leaving the robed Sand-nin alone in the doorway.
Kankurou grit his teeth. "One more I owe you, Gaara," he whispered at his brother's back. Taking his little sister's love from him was, even more than his promise to their mother, the unforgivable reason he hated Gaara.
Kankurou shook his head, making his way more slowly into the Hyuuga house and heading towards the communal dining room.
Formal, of course. The Hyuuga could be formal in their sleep. Kankurou entertained a brief fantasy of two old, wizened Hyuuga twins, unborn in their mother's womb after a lifetime, each saying, "After you." "Oh, no, after you." He smirked at the idea, but it wouldn't surprise him with this family... the smile stayed on his face, even widened as Gaara brushed past him without looking at the taller Shinobi, a bowl of teriyaki in his hands.
Hinata watched him leave, feeling helpless. Gaara hadn't responded at all when she spoke to him. He hadn't even threatened to kill her, and had simply taken his food to his room when she approached him. What was going on?
Temari and Kankurou noticed her downcast expression as their brother left. They had been keeping a close eye on the Hyuuga girl since she had stuck up for Gaara, but hadn't agreed whether her influence was a good or bad thing. Kankurou suspected that she was the cause of Gaara's recent erratic behaviour, but Temari wasn't so sure. The simple fact that Hinata had spent hours at a time in Gaara's company, apparently without being harmed aside from the training field incident, told them both that whatever the details, something very strange was going between the young Shinobi.
Kankurou glanced resentfully towards the head table, where Baki had formed an ironically firm friendship with Hiashi Hyuuga. Had he been paying attention to his students, this situation might not have come up. "I'm going to talk to her," he said abruptly, standing up and taking a step towards Hinata.
"No, I'll do it," Temari disagreed immediately, also rising. "You'll just scare her."
"Better scared than dead, and inviting revenge from this house," Kankurou reminded her grimly, but nodded his accord. "Tell her to stay away from him."
Temari also nodded slowly. "I wonder if she'll even realise I'm doing this for her own safety?" She crossed the room to where Hinata knelt with the younger Hyuuga children.
"Good evening, Hinata-san," she greeted her, kneeling at her side. "How are you?" Temari had to make a conscious effort to smile at the Hyuuga girl. Her automatic distrust of strangers usually made her come across as cold, but this one's vulnerability would push her away harshness away. She didn't even like Hinata, but supposed that she had a duty to protect their hosts. She could pretend for one night, after all.
The younger Shinobi visibly flinched at the unexpected arrival. "G... good, arigatou gozaimasu, Temari-san..." Her voice trailed off at the end of her sentences, making her words hard to catch.
"Hinata-san, I won't waste your time," Temari told her directly, doing well to hide her irritation. "I need to speak to you about Gaara."
With her gasp, Hinata's eyes flew involuntarily to Temari's face. She looked down immediately, flushing in shame. "H—hai? What is it?"
Her reaction had already answered Temari's question. "Stay away from him," she said without preamble. She had meant to be nice, but Hinata's docility grated her nerves. "He's very dangerous. He doesn't need you to make him happy." Hinata's face fell, but Temari didn't stop. "I don't know what you believe about him, but you're wrong. You can't redeem him, you can't make him see the error of his ways. He doesn't understand that there is an error."
Hinata interrupted, for one of the first times in her life. "Does he understand love?" She gave a little gasp of surprise at her own audacity and hung her head, expecting to be punished.
Temari actually had to stop and think about the words, and what the Hyuuga girl meant. The hard lines of her face softened as a sense of empathy for Hinata's plight filled her. The two Shinobi were nothing alike, but maybe their situations weren't so different. On an impulse, she reached over and took Hinata's hand. "Sometimes," Temari told her amazed face gently. "Sometimes I think he does. But only sometimes, and you're a baka if you think it would stop him. He kills without the slightest guilt." With that, she rose to her feet. "I don't like you, Hinata-san," she said candidly. "But you care about Gaara, and so do I. We're a rare species, and in that, we're the same." She offered Hinata a heartfelt smile, and returned to Kankurou's side.
"What did she say?" he asked her, obviously perturbed at what he had seen.
"She loves him," Temari told him absently, staring at Hinata's back. She looked away, shaking her head. "Baka. It will end in tears."
Kankurou's voice was grim. "Or blood..."
"Knowing Gaara, probably both."
Gaara sat in his room, his half-eaten meal long forgotten, trying to organise his thoughts. What was happening to him? It was the sleep that must have done this, the dreams, the unfamiliar ghostly images that had danced through his mind. And the dream he thought he was living through Hinata, before he realised how close he had been to killing her, twice.
The thought of snapping that ivory neck appalled him, revolted him for some reason he didn't understand. It wasn't the act itself, he still burned to validate his existence in blood. Being the instrument, though, being the one to make the decision to end all that was Hinata...
For the first time in his life, Gaara doubted himself.
A knock on the door shook him from his thoughts. Again, it was only a single knock, and he wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't been alone in the room. He stayed seated, knowing who it was and having no desire to face her just now.
There was a long pause, and then another knock. It began with the single, quiet knock, but was immediately followed by louder taps, gaining force and confidence as they went on. Gaara's head came up quickly; maybe it wasn't Hinata? He rose and crossed the room, inching the door open.
Sure enough, Hinata stood outside, half-turned as if she had been about to give up and leave. "G—Gaara-kun!" She was surprised that he had even opened the door, but rushed on, not wanting to miss her chance. "I wanted... I wanted to talk to you. Can I... stay with you tonight?" Her hands twisted around each other unconsciously. She noticed them suddenly and thrust them into her pockets, embarrassed.
He didn't know how to describe it, but he was touched at her being here, amazed that she had found the courage before her usual helplessness to make a decisive act.
How could he turn her away when she had gone against her nature to come here?
"Gaara-kun?" Hinata's nervousness was increasing with every moment he failed to answer. "Onegai... can I... stay with you?"
Send her away. Or bring her in, and give her to me
Never!
Listen to me, my little one. Shukaku's mental voice was gentle, catching Gaara off-guard. I act only to protect you. If you don't believe, speak to her and hear the truth of my words
There was no debate. Gaara sighed, and pushed the door open wide to admit her. "Hai. Come in, Hinata-chan. You are welcome here."
A/N: I'm confused about some people's reviews. I do appreciate the feedback very much, but can you be more specific? First there wasn't enough romance, now there's too much... can you please provide some suggestions and tell me exactly what didn't work? General criticism alone won't help me improve.
Granted this chapter was a little boring and soap-operish. It was necessary, although probably more drawn-out than it needed to be. I'll revise before I post it, so maybe it'll turn out better then. Feedback more than welcome.
Next one'll be up before the weekend (I'm heading home). I'm stuck on Baki-sensei... can anyone give me advice on his characterisation?)
Chapter 12- a rather short angst chapter as Hinata, Gaara and Shukaku sort out their intertwined relationships. The plot tightens; finished in seventeen chapters if I stick to my plans. Last three chapters are planned out. Can't wait to wrap this up, the wrenching ending's FUN... want to move on with new appreciation of the Hyuuga and Gaara. And Temari. Meeeeeow!
Charm
