Chapter 14 time people! I hope you're all ready for some HUGE GaaHina stuff, the return of some fav sand characters, and everyone's favorite dynamic duo!
Lee: YAYAYAY! Youth!
Gaara stood on the balcony of the house they had been ordered to watch as a mission. A dumb mission mind you, since it was d-rank, and he was the Kazekage and Hinata was a jounin. Hinata…he had been very rude earlier. He wanted to go apologize to her, but that wasn't something he was particularly good at. He only ever apologized to his siblings when he snapped at them to jounin he bumped into by accident back in the village, or to Baki, when he lost his temper and got short with his old sensei. He shook his head wearily.
He couldn't figure out how to apologize. He had told her, that she should just got to Tsunada and ask her if she could marry Naruto instead of him. Stupid…it's not like she even wants to marry you! Ugh…that was true as well; it was an arranged marriage after all. How could he be so stupid to think that she actually wanted to marry him?
He was Sabaku no Gaara. The Kazekage of the hidden village in the sand, from the Land of Wind. The previous host for the Shukaku sand demon. The blood thirsty murderer who had killed thousands before he even reached puberty! Sure all of the girls in the village swooned over him, but…but they didn't know what he used to be. They didn't know how much blood had been spilled at his hands, just because he felt like it. Hinata knew…and because of that…
"G-Gaara?"
The Kazekage opened his eyes and looked around. Hinata was standing at the doorway to the balcony, her long hair blowing in the cool night air. She looked at him with those cool silver eyes.
"Hinata," he said, turning to face her.
She closed her eyes, and walked up to him. She stopped beside him, and looked up at the quarter moon, "I…I'd like you to tell me something, Gaara." She said quietly.
"…?"
She turned to look at him, her eyes hard, "tell me how you got that bruise on your face, and I want the truth! I…I can't believe that you fell, you of all people. Really…" She huffed and looked away, "how dense do you think I am?"
Gaara blinked, surprised by her sudden change of attitude. He sighed, "Alright…I'll tell you the real truth…"
She glanced at him.
Gaara frowned, "Naruto did it," he said quietly, not looking at her, "he cornered me one night, and punched me. He was angry…"
"Why?"
"….I don't know," he lied.
"I see…" Hinata's lips tightened, "Gaara…do you…hate me?"
Gaara turned to face her, his eyes wide, "What?" he said, in barely a whisper. He couldn't believe what he had just herd her say!
"I mean…" She tightened the grip on the railing, "What you did earlier, and what you said about Naruto-kun…and me…I just…" Gaara saw tears gathering in her eyes again.
He grimaced, "Just…don't cry anymore," It was more of a command then a request. Gaara wasn't good at this type of thing. Gheez, where was Temari when you needed her! Back at the leaf village…shit. "I…I don't hate you, I just…" he was at a loss for words.
"Listen, just stop crying! I'm not good at this stuff!" it was hard for him to admit it, but it was true. He shook his sleeve down paste his hand, and whipped her tears away with the cuff of it, avoiding eye contact as he did so. "Just…stop it."
Hinata looked at him, her tear filled eyes glistening in the moonlight. She never thought that someone as cores as Gaara, would be so gentle. Then she remembered the night that her father had invited him over for dinner, and she had gotten the splinter in her finger.
"It's late," he mumbled, "We should get to bed." He turned to leave, his eyes closed.
"Gaara?"
He stopped, and glanced wearily at her.
Hinata walked up to him and quickly wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder. "Thank you…" she whispered, her voice slightly muffled by his cloths. As soon as she had done it, she had released him, and ran into her own room, shutting the door quickly.
Gaara stood there in shocked silence, his green eyes were wider then they had ever been. He was afraid they might explode. After a slight hesitation, he turned and walked into his room, shutting the door behind him. He blinked in confusion. "What was that just now?" He muttered to himself. Duh, she hugged you, idiot. "I know that…but why?" Who knew girls reacted so strongly to just kindness!
He sat down on the bed and shook his head in exasperation. He didn't understand girls, but he did know that Shikamaru gave Temari flowers sometimes. Whenever she did, she didn't act like herself. She got all bubbly, smiley, and would hug him and Kankuro all the time, and tell them that she loved them. That was definitely not what Temari did on a regular basis! Hm...flowers...
Is that all that girls wanted from boys? Flowers and those hugs? What else did they want from guys? He had seen Temari and Shikamaru kissing before…oh no…was he expected to kiss Hinata!? Of course you idiot, that's the point. He shook his head and lie down on the bed, arms behind his head. He glared at the ceiling, thinking one single thing.
What do girls like?
"Baki-sama!"
Baki turned around to see Matsuri running up to him, her face looking flustered from running so quickly at the high point of the sun. She looked completely out of breath.
"What is it Matsuri?" He asked the girl. He respected her, for she was the only one besides Gaara who could control sand. She was Gaara's student after all. Sure she wasn't as skilled as the Kazekage himself, but she did have talent.
"This message just arrived from the head elder sir!" she said, handing him a sheet of paper, "it is concerning the marriage between Gaara-sama and Hinata-san!"
He frowned, and scanned the sheet briefly. It was just an overview, saying that the head elder himself was attending, along with all of the other kages of the other villages. Ok…WHAT!? He stared at in shock.
"Is…something wrong Baki-sama?" Asked Matsuri, raising her eyebrows curiously.
"D-did you read this?" he asked.
She shook her head.
"The head elder himself and all of the other Kages from the various villages will be attending the wedding, as well as lots of feudal lords!" he almost shouted.
"Wow really?" Asked Matsuri, her black eyes wide.
"This is nothing to be impressed about!" Snapped Baki, "Oh this isn't good," he bit his thumb. With Gaara away, there was no on else he could tell except for… "Matsuri, follow me!" he ordered.
"Uh, yes sir."
He led her out of the village, and up a very high canyon where it was windier then Matsuri had ever seen before. This wind matched the velocity of Temari-san's wind jutsus! Baki led her to a large door, which she stared at with fascination. He knocked three times on the hard medal, and pushed the door open.
Inside seemed to be a smaller sand village, but much cleaner. It was made of white marble stone, with a pond in the middle. An elderly man sat at one end of the pond, a fishing rod in his wrinkly hands. Matsuri recognized him at once.
"Ebisu-jiisama!" She gasped aloud, and Baki clapped his hand over her mouth.
Ebisu looked up at the two newcomers, "oh, Baki! Is that you?"
"It is Ebisu-sama," Said Baki nodding, "Along with Matsuri, head of the anbu recovery squad."
Matsuri bowed.
"Ah yes," said Ebisu nodding, "The little girl that was there that time the Konoha ninja helped save Gaara-san."
"Little…" She muttered, and Baki covered her mouth again.
"Well?" Said Ebisu, standing, "What is it, Baki?"
The jounin held out the piece of paper to the elder, "The head elder and all of the other kages are coming down to the leaf village for the marriage between Gaara-sama and Hinata-san." He explained. This worried him…if all the kages were coming, it meant the Mizukage included. For some reason or another, the Mizukage-sama despised Gaara. Temari had come up with an idea that both Gaara and Kankuro agreed on. She had looked into the Mizukage's profile, and found out that he became kage at age forty, while Gaara became Kazekage at age fifteen. She had come to the conclusion, that the Mizukage was jealous of Gaara's younger age. It seemed like a reasonable answer, since Gaara was the youngest kage out of all of them.
Ebisu read over the paper, his long eyebrows rising with interest, "Oh, is that so?" He gave the paper back to Baki and headed toward the door, "Come with me you two. I think I'll attend the wedding as well, but there's something I have to do first."
Baki and Matsuri exchanged a glance, before following him.
It took Matsuri a moment before she realized that Ebisu had led them to the cemetery. She looked up at Baki, who had his visible eye closed. She turned to see Ebisu stopping at a grave.
"I'm going to the leaf village nee-chan," He said, placing his hand on the grave, "Gaara-san's getting married. You remember him right? I'll be sure to tell him that you said hello."
Matsuri felt sorry for him. Chiyo-sama was Ebisu-sama's sister, and had been the person who gave her life to bring back Gaara. Everyone in the village visited this grave often, but none more so then Gaara. Once when she had returned from a mission, she had seen her old sensei sitting at the grave, and he seemed to be having a light cup of sake. She sighed.
"Well," said Ebisu turning around to face them, "I'm ready to go!"
"Uh, now, Ebisu-sama?" said Baki, looking taken aback.
Ebisu nodded, "Yes! It will take us three days to get there anyway. I put Sanada in charge for the time being."
Matsuri looked up at Baki, who nodded. The two older men walked of, talking quietly. Matsuri began to follow, but stopped. She turned to the grave, bowed, then hurried after Baki and Ebisu.
Hinata pulled open the curtains as sunlight leaked into her bedroom. She opened the window and took a breath of fresh air, before letting out a joyful sigh. She felt oddly happy today, but she didn't exactly know why. Oh well!
She left the room; hair tied in a high placed ponytail, and walked over to the balcony. She spotted Gaara sitting in a tree down in the courtyard, making random designs in the air with his sand. She gave a small smile. She'd talk to him later.
She walked downstairs to make herself breakfast, before seeing a bowel of rice set out on the table. Gaara. "Hm…" She sat down at the table, studying the eggs curiously.
Kankuro had refused to cook whenever Temari asked him to, and Temari's cooking was well…ghastly. She had never tried anything that Gaara had made by himself.
She took a bight cautiously, and her eyes brightened. This wasn't half bad; it wasn't perfect, but not bad! Apparently cooking was the specialty of the fiercest sand sibling. She couldn't help but chuckle.
She finished up the bowel of rise, and put it in the sink. She washed it quickly, and decided to go for a walk. She wouldn't talk to Gaara yet…knowing him, he was thinking about last night, as was she.
She blushed slightly about hugging him, and wondered how he had felt about it. She had felt…well, she couldn't really describe it.
The sun shone down onto the bright emerald grass as Hinata walked along through the fields. She climbed up one of the hills and sat down, staring out at the waterfalls. It was simply too beautiful to bear! The sparkling water lapped gently against the shore, as dragonflies danced together at its surface.
Hinata sighed, closing her eyes and lying down in the soft grass. The sunshine warmed her skin, and made her smile brightly. Spring was an amazing season, indeed.
Suddenly, something clonked her on the head. She sat up in surprise and looked around. She realized that she had been resting near a peach tree, and one of the peaches had fallen of the branches and right onto her forehead.
She picked up the vibrant colored fruit, and felt it. The skin was soft, as it should be. There were no brown spots, which meant that it was perfectly ripe. A little bight wouldn't hurt; it didn't seem to be poison.
She took a cautious bit, and smiled. It was perfectly juicy and oh so delicious! She had never tasted a peach like this one before!
"That particular type of peach is known as the love fruit!"
Hinata jumped and looked around to see and old woman walking toward her, leaning on a cane.
"O-oh!" she said, standing, "I'm sorry! Is this your p-peach tree? I didn't know anyone l-lived around here!"
"No, no child!" Said the woman, sitting down. She motioned for Hinata to sit beside her, "I'm just a traveler, but I have seen that type of peach before. They say that if you eat this fruit, and then the person you love eats it, the both of you will fall in love immediately!"
"Really?" Hinata looked in fascination at the little fruit in her hands. She blinked.
The old woman nodded, yes my child," She looked into the distance, smiling, "is that your lover?" She asked.
Hinata looked to where she was pointing, and saw Gaara sitting in the same tree she had seen him in earlier. She jumped so much that she dropped the fruit, "N-no!" She cried blushing, "I m-mean, I marrying h-him, but…but it's an arranged marriage."
"Ah chills," Said the old woman, "Love can blossom wherever or whoever you are. It doesn't matter if it's an arranged marriage. Who knows! Some people find them selves in love with their arranged fiancé or bride," She smiled.
Hinata frowned, "But…"
The old woman stood, "Either the fruit can make you fall in love to make the marriage happier," She said, "or…you fall in love according to your own heart's words." She turned and began to walk of. "Always listen to your heart my child!" She called over her shoulder.
"Didja here that Lee?" Whispered Shikamaru smirking, "That peach can make people fall in love!"
"Amazing!" cried Lee, "But shouldn't people fall in love only if they want to? I mean, that is what the springtime flower of youth and love is all about!" Dramatic tears began to fall out of his black eyes.
Shikamaru shook his head, "You idiot, we were ordered to make Hinata and Gaara fall in love at all costs! If that means making them both eat that peach at the same time, then so be it! Now we just need to find a way to make Gaara eat one…"
"We could give it to him!" Suggested Lee.
Shikamaru frowned and looked around at his comrade, "Lee…we were told not to let Gaara and Hinata find out about us, right?"
"Right."
"Then, how the hell can we just give it to Gaara!? He growled.
Lee grinned, "Transformation jutsu!" he whispered eagerly.
Shikamaru sat there for a minute, before he registered what Lee had said. Yes…yes that could work! They would wait until Hinata was out on a walk or something, and one of them would do a transformation jutsu, turn into Hinata, and make Gaara eat the peach! "Lee, you're brilliant!"
"I am….wait, I am!?"
"Yes!" Said Shikamaru, watching Hinata from his branch in a nearby tree, "transformation jutsu, why didn't I think of it earlier!?"
Lee blushed, still grinning.
"The fruit of love…" Said Shikamaru quietly, "That's how we'll get them together, for sure!"
Finally Lee and Shika have a plan! Let us now cheer!
Cast: YAY!!!!!!
So I was thinking about making either chapter 15 or 16 a little side story just for fun. Give me your opinions on that. I may do it, I may not. It depends on what you, my precious readers, think! Until next update!