Hey guys, in regards to last chapter I hope none of you were offended by the death of Karin. I just didn't want to kill any other female characters because she is by far the worst ninja out of all of them… All she can do is sense chakra very well and sort of heal but other than that she is annoying, perverted and constantly forces herself onto Sasuke. At first I really didn't like Sakura because she was weak and let the boys in her team do everything for her but since shippuden she has really become a strong character and is no longer obsessed with Sasuke. And Hinata… She is just way to cute and sweet to be a ninja in the first place however she is still strong and a lot stronger than Karin.
Anyway I just wanted to explain my reasons for killing off Karin, (rather Karin than TenTen in my opinion) I hope none of you were fans Enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 14
Gaara woke up in the morning and opened his turquoise eyes, he wasn't the least bit groggy like he expected to be after 'sleeping' and he was glad about it. It would be really bad if there was an attack on him and he woke up groggy and unaware. He blinked his eyes in surprise and lifted a few strands of Hinata's hairs between his fingers. 'I could have sworn it was a lot shorter than this when we went to bed last night,' he thought, his 'eyebrows' crinkling in confusion.
Her hair was now down to the top of her shoulder blades, at least an inch longer than the night before. He was lying with one arm under her neck, the other was around her waist when he was sleeping and her back pressed to his stomach. He wasn't completely sure but he didn't think hair was supposed to grow nearly this fast.
He did like his women to have long hair but he didn't want another case of Rapunzel, a young demon girl named after a fairy tale because her hair would grow an inch every night and had to be cut every week so that she could actually move around. He sighed and pulled himself into a sitting position, pulling the still sleeping Hinata up with him.
"Wake up, pet," he said, softly shaking her shoulders. She grumbled unhappily and sleepily blinked her opal eyes open.
"Mmmm?" she asked, rubbing her eyes with her hands and looking up at Gaara curiously.
"Has your hair always been this length," He asked, lifting a lock of her hair up to eye level. Her eyes widened and she took the strand from Gaara and pulled it down to see the length.
"Eh?!" She squeaked, her eyes wide with horror.
"No? I thought not, any idea why it's growing at such a fast rate?" He asked, refraining from chuckling at her reaction. She shook her head and lowered her eyes to the bed; usually she would be happy that her hair is growing back to its original length, the length it used to be before her father spitefully cut it short. She would be happy if it wasn't at such a fast pace. What if it never stopped growing?
'Maybe it really is from his wish,' she thought to herself, poking her fingers nervously.
"Which wish?" He asked, rudely listening in on her thoughts, again. She mentally scowled at him and he just chuckled.
"T-the first o-one," she said, looking up at him to see if he understood what she was meaning.
Gaara sighed, he should have realised there would be a side effect; magic was never exactly as it seemed. He would have to make a potion to stop her hair from growing like that… After it was at a length he liked. He smirked and stood up from the bed, leaving Hinata there.
"Don't worry about your hair, I know how to fix it," he said, opening his cupboard and pulling out the clothing he was going to wear. He heard her roll to face the other direction and couldn't help but crack a rare smile. So innocent.
He pulled on his usual black pants and t-shirt and walked to the door, stopping when he reached for the handle.
"Don't ever say a word about the men you met yesterday or where you found them." He said threateningly, it was too important that the Akatsuki stayed a secret.
"H-Hai," She replied, not sure who she would tell anyway, the only friends she had here were Ino and Sakura and she wasn't even sure she was allowed to speak to them.
"You can still leave the room but don't get lost again," He said before thinking about something.
He walked to the other side of the room and pulled the collar of the hook it was hanging on. Hinata visibly winced and looked up at him fearfully.
"Just trust me, okay," He cooed at her, trying to make her calm down. She nodded at him and sat up with her legs over the end of the bed.
Gaara walked to her and clipped the collar around her neck, waiting for a few minutes. Hinata poked her fingers awkwardly, wondering what he was doing. He unclipped the collar and pulled it off quickly, not allowing the demonic seal to withdraw into the collar.
"There, now I will be able to find you, wherever you go," He said, rubbing her fluffy ears, amused by her relieved expression. She really disliked that collar, it was obvious.
Gaara had to admit that he liked the look of her seal; it was like having his name tattooed on her except it was a lot more attractive looking. It was a basically a black ring of elegant demonic calligraphy that circled her neck intricately and allowed him to feel her again, like the link between them had been reconnected.
Gaara left the room to go and find his brother, hoping he could offload his work into Kankuro's capable hands. He walked down the corridor and to the left, stopping outside a door. Strange noises could be heard from inside, a mixture of moaning and grunts. He scowled, his brother was even more of a sexual predator than he was, it was hard to come here at any time of the day and actually find him alone.
He growled and flung the door open, earning a girly squeal from the 'guest' and a large grin from Kankuro, who seemed unperturbed by the lack of privacy.
"Gaara! What brings you to my humble abode?" He teased, the girl just looking at him in disbelief.
"I hope I didn't interrupt anything," He said dully, already knowing that he definitely did. Kankuro chuckled and climbed out of the bed completely nude before pulling on a pair of boxer shorts. The unknown girl huddled awkwardly under the blanket; her face flushed a deep crimson.
Kankuro walked out the door and closed it behind him, not allowing the cleaning girl in his bed to hear any important information.
"So what do you need," he asked, stretching an arm above his head. It was unusual for Gaara to seek him out unless he had a mission or another task for him to do.
"I wanted to ask you to take over for me for a couple of weeks, I need a break," Gaara replied, kneading his temples in an attempt to prevent the oncoming headache.
"Are you kidding? I was in your library yesterday after you killed that girl and I saw the piles of paperwork on the desk. There is no way I'm sorting through that crap!" He protested, folding his arms across his chest.
Gaara scowled, he was the youngest child of the three but the kingdom was handed down to him because he was the strongest. His brother's wings were a dark grey, unlike his which resembled the black of a raven, the darker the wings, the more powerful you were said to be.
Kankuro was slightly shorter than himself and well built, his hair was similar in length to his except it was light brown in colour. Kankuro liked to paint his face when he went out on missions but while he was in the castle he refrained from doing so, mostly due to Temari's constant pestering.
Gaara glared at him and folded his arms across his chest, this was more or less the response he expected, his brother always had been a lazy arse.
"What do you want," Gaara stated glaring, already knowing he would want something for it.
"I want access to the human realm, I don't see why you never let me go there," Kankuro replied, frowning.
Gaara sighed; he didn't want any more of his family to be stolen from him by those worthless humans. However Kankuro was strong and always aware; surprisingly enough considering what he did most of the day. Or should I say who he did?
"Fine, but be careful," Gaara said, a slight bit of concern lacing his voice. Kankuro widened his eyes in surprise. That was why Gaara wouldn't let him go? Because he was worried about him? Kankuro grinned and pulled out his tongue at Gaara.
"So you do care, ey brother?" He teased; Gaara just scowled again and looked away in embarrassment.
"Fine I will help you out, but only for 2 weeks," He said, grinning before he returned to his room and the noises started again. Gaara groaned inwardly and continued down the hallway to his private library to check that nothing had been touched and that the mess was gone.
Hinata stood in the bathroom and stared in the mirror at her neck, she was wondering if she touched it, would Gaara get mad at her. She knew it was there but she just had to see, was it soft, did it feel like skin? Was it just a tattoo or did it have a different texture.
She sighed and walked away from the mirror, preventing herself from even the slightest touch. She was dressed in a similar kimono to yesterday except this one was violet in colour and had little white petals that seemed to be blowing of the right side of it. It was beautiful.
She was hoping Gaara was right about her hair, she didn't want it going down to her ankles or even past her ankles. Believe it or not, having hair that length is seriously heavy and causes horrible headaches.
She got to the room and found two plates left on the dresser for her, one was full of meat and the other had pastries, fruit, bread and various cheeses on it. A girl stood outside the door, she had long brown hair and kind chocolate brown eyes and she was wearing an apron.
"Hi, I saw you take the same kinds of foods yesterday so I thought you might want the same for breakfast," She said smiling, her eyes sparkling like stars.
"Hi, thank you for the food! That's v-very kind of you, my name is Hinata." She said, calmed by the kindness of the girl. She would usually be a lot shyer than this.
"I'm TenTen," The girl said, tying her hair back up into buns.
"I work in the kitchen, I really must get back now though, it was nice meeting you Hinata-chan!" The girl said, before walking down the corridor. Hinata sighed and shut the door, 'she was nice' she thought to herself as she sat of the bed. She placed the plate of meat next to her and ate her own plate, humming in delight.
Kaida looked curiously at the food before pouncing forward and digging his face into the meal, Hinata giggled and scratched his back with her one hand, his scales were cool but she could feel the heat from his core radiating throughout his body. She wondered whether he could breathe fire, like all the legends she had heard.
As if answering her, the dragon let out a large burp and a fair amount of smoke erupted from his mouth. She blinked in surprise but continued to stroke him, she was no longer scared of him, and he absolutely adored her after all.
"Can I ask you to please stay in here today?" She asked, giving him a pleading look.
"I'll be fine really!" she said, trying to convince him after she saw the uncertain look on his face. He gave her a look of understanding and curled up on the already made bed.
"Stay out of sight and don't trust anyone but the man that was with us last night, okay?" She said, already knowing he could understand what she said. He made a small yelp in response to her question and put his head down on his front legs.
She got up and walked out the door, closing it behind her. She knew where to go more or less, she was paying attention when she walked to Kiba's room the first time and knew when Sasuke's and Naruto's rooms were in regards to that.
So much for knowing where she was going. She sighed and knocked politely on a nearby door, she was going to ask for directions, again. The door opened almost immediately after she knocked and she stared into eyes that almost mirrored hers. She blinked in surprise and took a step back. 'A Hyuuga?' she thought to herself.
"You? I thought I was the last Hyuuga after the massacre," He said stoically, eying her up and down. She looked familiar and she had... The mark.
"M-massacre?" She squeaked, covering her mouth with her hand in shock. He eyed her sceptically but invited her inside anyway.
He realised he had seen her portrait on the wall in the main compound when it was still there.
"Hinata, was it? My name is Neji," He said, folding his arms over his chest, wasn't she supposed to be trapped in a lamp or something? That was none of his business though.
"The Hyuugas were discovered as being part demon and were hunted down by a mob of villagers, I was not in the compound at the time," He said, pain burning in his eyes.
She covered her mouth again and backed away. That was so horrible, sure her family had never been particularly nice to her, but maybe that had changed over the years.
"I-I'm sorry! I h-have only j-just b-been r-released from m-my confinement," she mumbled, frowning as she thought again about every one of her family member lying in their own blood.
"It happened when I was only six," He said, gritting his teeth as he thought about it. Even though he wouldn't show it, he was glad he wasn't alone anymore.
She poked her fingers together awkwardly; as she watched him, she was thinking that she should maybe knock on a different door and ask for directions.
"Did you need something?" He asked suddenly, as if hearing her thought. She sighed, was she that easy to read?
"I was just a b-bit lost; I was w-wondering where Naruto-san's room was?" She asked hopefully. He frowned and walked to the door.
"Oh that moron's room is right down the corridor and to the left, the fifth door down." He said, folding his arms over his chest. He didn't see why she wanted to see him anyway; he was much more interesting than that idiot.
"T-thanks," She said, smiling at him before walking down the corridor. She really wanted to check on the girls, especially Sakura after what she saw yesterday.
She arrived outside Naruto's door and knocked. She heard Naruto coming to the door with loud, almost obnoxiously loud, steps. He opened the door and looked down at her.
"Oh Hinata-chan, what are you doing here?" He asked, grinning at her.
"I j-just w-wanted to s-see I-Ino-san, if that's o-ok?" She asked pleadingly, unable to see past Naruto's frame in the doorway.
"I guess," he shrugged and led her inside his relatively large room, she was glad to finally see some colour in someone's room. His bed was a navy blue and he had a lighter blue carpet lining the floor.
Ino sat nervously on the bed, wearing a different shirt of Naruto's today and smelling just like him. Her hair was down and her bangs covered one of her eyes. She looked sulky until she noticed Hinata and practically glomped her to the ground.
"Hinata!" she squealed happily, Naruto chuckled from behind them and Ino reluctantly pulled herself away from Hinata to look up at Naruto. Hinata saw an empty plate on the dresser and was relieved to see that Naruto at least realised that Humans needed food too.
Hinata felt too awkward to ask Ino what was going on with Naruto listening so she just smiled shyly and turned to leave. After all, Ino wasn't the girl she was worried about. Ino grabbed her sleeve and looked at her pleadingly.
"Please make sure Sakura is okay," she whispered her voice quivering as she thought of her sister. Hinata nodded and thought about how frightening this situation must be for them, the least she could do is assure each sister that the other one was okay.
"Don't worry Ino-san, she was f-fine when I saw her y-yesterday," she mumbled, touching Ino's arm comfortingly. Ino nodded and returned to sitting on the bed, Hinata noticed Naruto was watching her every move. She left the room and walked across the hall and was surprised to hear talking behind the door.
She knocked, not wanting to seem like she was eves dropping, the door was opened by Sasuke and Sakura ran out past Sasuke and straight across the hall. Hinata blinked and when she opened her eyes again she had to do a double take.
Sakura was no longer behind her and running and was now trapped in Sasuke's arm. One arm was wrapped tightly around her arms and waist and the other was clamped over her mouth.
Sasuke glanced down at Hinata and smirked at her dumbfounded expression, he knew he was fast but he always liked being acknowledged for it.
"Hinata-san, what brings you here?" He asked, his voice sounding rather sinister in her opinion. She winced slightly and looked at Sakura who had stopped struggling and was looking at her hopefully with her large forest green eyes.
Hinata looked up into Sasuke's onyx eyes and gestured towards Sakura with a dainty finger. Sasuke scoffed; of course she would never just want to visit him.
"Well, as you can see she is fine," he said stoically, tightening his hold on Sakura who started to squirm uncomfortably.
"H-has she e-eaten?" She asked, cursing her own bravery and hoping he wouldn't be offended by the question. Sasuke only sighed and released his hand from Sakura's mouth before dragging her into his room and gesturing for Hinata to enter. She did and got nervous when Sasuke locked the door behind them after he threw Sakura into her pile of blankets.
Sakura glared at him but refrained from saying anything, considering the last time she started shouting at him he trapped her in her own mind for hours. She sulkily pulled her knees to her chest and leaned against the wall, all she wanted to do was see her sister.
Hinata spotted the half eaten plate of food close to the blankets and was relieved that he at least thought to feed her. She was dressed in the same clothes but her pink hair was wet from showering, she probably refused to wear any of Sasuke's clothing.
Hinata went and sat down next to her, closing her in a comforting hug which she returned. 'It must be hard for Ino and Sakura who are used to being free to do what they want to be thrown into this situation,' she thought to herself.
"Don't worry about me Hinata, I will be fine, I just wanted to see my sister," She said, smiling sadly at Hinata.
"Ino-san i-is f-fine, so d-don't w-worry Sakura-san," She said assuringly and smiled warmly at Sakura who couldn't help but be soothed by it. She stood and was going to leave again, deciding that both girls were still okay. Once at the door she looked expectantly at Sasuke who proceeded to unlock the door, glaring threateningly at Sakura who defiantly glared back.
"S-Sasuke-san, I r-really think y- you should l-let her see Ino-san, they c-can't do anything y-you know. I'm sure s-she will be m-more co-operative too." Hinata suggested, smiling at Sasuke who seemed to be considering it as he closed and locked the door again.
Hinata was at a loss of what to do now; she didn't know where Gaara went and didn't want to be alone and bored in the room. She wondered down the hallway and took random turns here and there. As she was turning she bumped straight into someone, who folded their arms over their chest and stared and her unnervingly.
She brushed it off and pulled herself up, only then taking the time to see who she had bumped into, the man looked down at her and she instantly recognised him. Oh crap she thought as she was grabbed and lifted off the ground.
"Yay, Tobi found you!" he squealed happily and he dragged the flailing Hinata down the hall.
Hey guys, I hope you like these relatively long chapters I am writing, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I updated early because of the lovely reviews I got! Thanks to all of you who have reviewed. I'm not sure if we are required to have a disclaimer, I forget.
I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. If I did it would not be an anime suitable for children
Please Review for me?