Time for chapter nine!
Gaara: Ne…you're posting so much in one weekend, don't your finger hurt yet?
Udah…not really…
Gaara: That's surprising…
"G-Gaara! What happened to you!?" Temari stood from her spot on the couch as her youngest brother entered the apartment. Kankuro stared at him, his eyes wide.
"What?" Muttered Gaara, walking into the room.
"Your face!" Said Temari, rushing up to him, "You've got a big bruise on your face!" Kankuro stared at him, his mouth open.
"Oh that…" He shrugged, "It's nothing."
"Don't lie to me," Temari hissed dangerously, "Just listen to me for once Gaara. Just tell me what the hell happened to you!"
Gaara sighed and looked out the window. The sun was just beginning to rise, and he hadn't gotten any sleep at all. "I'm tired Temari. I'll tell you later," He said, walking around her. He was stopped half way, by someone grabbing his shoulder.
Temari pulled him around to face her, holding his shoulders firm, "Gaara, you WILL tell me what happened, then you can get some sleep! I'm your big sister, so do what I say for once! I care about you, so just tell me what happened to your damn face already!" She glared at him, malice in her eyes.
Gaara looked over at Kankuro, who gave a small half nod, half shrug. Both knew that an unhappy Temari, was not a friendly Temari.
"Ok, I'll tell you," He said after a moment.
Temari released his shoulders and put her hands on her hips. "Come sit down," She said quietly, "I'm all ears."
"N-Naruto did that!?" Gasped Kankuro, staring at Gaara.
Gaara nodded from his seat on the couch beside Temari, "Yeah. He got pretty angry at me, and used Rasengan."
"Then why aren't you…"
"Dead?" Gaara closed his eyes, "Jiraya-sama was able to stop Naruto before the Rasengan made contact with my body."
"That's…." Temari shook her head, leaning back, "Naruto actually attacked you…" She placed her hand on Gaara's red hair is disbelief.
"But I'm fine," He said simply, "It's just a bruise."
"It could have been worst Tem," Said Kankuro, sitting up in his armchair, "Gaara could be dead right now."
"Thanks Kankuro…" Gaara growled. He stood and yawned, "Well…I'm going to get some sleep. Try and keep it down." He turned away from them, and walked into the room he shared with Kankuro, shutting the door behind him.
Temari shook her head, "This is just insane Kankuro. First we find out that it's Hinata Gaara has to marry, then Naruto almost kills Gaara. Can this get any worst?"
Kankuro smirked.
Temari frowned, "Just don't answer that question."
He snickered, "You totally set me up for that one Temari. If I wasn't scared that you'd kill me, I'd go on with it!"
"Smart choice," She hissed.
"So," He said, taking a sip of water, "Why do you think Naruto attacked Gaara?"
"Jealous maybe?"
"Is Naruto the jealous type?"
"Hell yah!" Snapped Temari, "Sakura told me he always used to be jealous of Sasuke, whenever Sakura fantasized over him. He's definitely the jealous type."
"But why?" Asked Kankuro, "He doesn't like Hinata, does he?"
Temari shrugged. "But I do know one thing."
"What's that?"
She smirked, "Things are starting to get interesting!"
"I'm going out!" Hinata called, shutting the door of the Hyugga clan main hall. She brushed her hair back from her face, and looked up at the sky. It was a perfectly nice day. The sky was a beautiful sea blue, and there wasn't a cloud in sight. The villagers were walking around as normal, laughing, talking, and having fun. Hinata smiled, and walked of into the crowds of people.
She walked for awhile, admiring some of the lovely jewelry for sale, the nice smells of the bakery. The leaf village was such a splendid place to live. The sights, smells, and sounds made it all worth it.
"Hey, Hinata!"
Hinata looked up to see Temari leaning out of an upper window. She Kunoichie blonde hair was down from it's normal four ponytails. She waved.
"Hey, wanna come in for some tea?" She called.
"I-Is it okay?" Asked Hinata.
"You dumbass," Said Temari grinning, "Of course it's ok! We're on the fourth floor. Come on up!" She retreated into the window.
Hinata figured that for Temari, dumbass meant friend. The fierce girl was from the sand village after all, and there, they were much more violent, even with friendships. She entered the apartment and walked up the stairs to the fourth floor. She knocked.
Temari opened the door and smiled, "Hey! Welcome to Viva la Suna siblings!" She bowed and made a dramatic gesture into the small apartment.
Hinata giggled.
She entered the apartment, and looked around curiously. It was kind of messy, but not as messy as Naruto's home. Not that Hinata had ever been in it, she had just seen the inside of it from the window.
"I'll fix some tea then," Said Temari, walking away into another room. "Go ahead and make yourself at home!" She called.
Hinata walked around and sat down hesitantly on the couch beside Kankuro. He looked at her and smiled.
"Hey Hina, how's it going?" He asked.
"H-Hina?"
"It's short for Hinata," He said smirking, "I made you a nick name, like I call Temari Tem, and she calls me Kanky."
"O-oh."
Hinata looked around, "W-where's Gaara?" She asked.
"He's asleep," Muttered Kankuro shrugging, "he stayed up kind of um…late last night doing…doing stuff, yah know?"
"Oh…" Hinata shrugged.
She looked up, her silver eyes scanning the small apartment. On a table right next to the couch, were a few photographs in glass frames. The first, was of Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari together in the sand village. Gaara was wearing his Kazekage cloths, a small smile on his face. Kankuro was grinning stupidly, while Temari was giving Gaara bunny ears. The second, was a picture of a much younger Gaara with two older men. One looked amazingly similar to Gaara, and the other had violet eyes, and Temari's hair. In the last photograph, there was a beautiful woman with violet eyes and light brown hair.
Hinata picked up the picture of Gaara and the two men. He looked about five in this picture, and had a huge smile on his chubby face. The Kazekage hat was covering his bright red hair, and the veil fell down past his shoulder. The blonde haired man was smiling fondly down at Gaara, while the other stared ahead. "Who are these men?" She asked Kankuro.
"Ah," He reached over and pointed to the blonde man, "That's our Uncle Yashamaru, and the other guy is the Fourth Kazekage, our father."
"F-Father?"
"Yeah."
Hinata looked back at the picture. It did make sense that the one man would be their father. He looked amazingly like Kankuro, but the only similarity between him and Gaara, were the eyes and hair. She looked at the picture of the woman, "Then that's…"
Kankuro nodded, "Our mom."
The corners of Hinata's mouth twitched. The woman, Gaara's mother, did look surprisingly like the redhead, in the facial features. "Do they all know you're here?"
"If their ghosts saw us…" Muttered Kankuro.
"H-huh?" Hinata looked at him, frowning, "What do you mean?"
Kankuro sighed and turned to face her, "All three of them are dead," He said bluntly, "Our mother died giving birth to Gaara, our father was murdered by Orochimaru, and our uncle…" He paused, "I don't know how he died." He lied.
Hinata stared at him, "S-so you guys are orphans?"
He nodded slowly, "yeah…but it's not bad yah know. Our dad was a basted, so that's something gained." He shrugged, "Our mom was nice but…but not having parents' means no one can boss you around! Though Temari does plenty of that."
Hinata looked at her feet, "Still…I couldn't imagine not having a father or mother." She glanced up at him.
"We all hated our father," He muttered, "So none of us really gave a damn when he died…when our mother died, we were all to young to understand. When our uncle died…well, that was around the time Gaara shut everyone out, and got his love kanji thing." He tapped his own forehead.
"Really?"
"Who wants tea?" Asked Temari, walking in with a tea tray. She sat it on the coffee table and sat in an armchair across from the others. Her green eyes rested on the pictures for a moment, before looking over at Hinata. "Hinata, can you take this cup to Gaara? The lazy bum is probably still asleep, and I forgot to give him a cup."
"Uh…s-sure…" Said Hinata, standing. She took the cup from Temari, and headed to the door Temari pointed out. She opened it slowly and peeked in.
Temari was right, Gaara was still asleep. The window blinds were drawn shut, leaving the room dimly lit. The Kazekage was fast asleep, his eyes twitching in a dream about something.
Hinata walked in cautiously, and placed the cup of tea on the bedside table. She paused, looking down at Gaara. She noticed a huge bruise on the side of his face, and her eyes widened. She leaned forward to get a better look.
The bruise was swelled up pretty badly, and the coloration was that of brown and purple. It didn't look like anything to bad, so that was good. Hinata didn't even realize what she had done till she had done it. Her hand seemed to act of it's own accord. It stretched out and gently touched the bruise. Gaara flinched, then his sleeping face seemed to relax. Hinata stared at him for a moment, then blinked.
She drew back her hand to her chest, eyes wide. If Gaara woke up, he'd probably be angry. As quietly as she could, Hinata backed out of the room, shutting the door gently as she did so.
"What took you so long Hinata?" Asked Temari, looking up from a book she had started to read.
"I um…n-nothing…" Said Hinata, sitting down beside Kankuro.
"Tch, it was so close that time…" Muttered Baki, sitting on the roof beside Kakashi. "Hinata-chan actually touched the bruise that Naruto-kun gave Gaara…then she left." He rubbed his head.
Kakashi sighed, looking up from his Iccha Iccha Paradise book, "We've got to get them closer to each other another way then…preferably when Gaara-kun is awake?"
"Tch," Baki looked away from him, "It's not my fault he's tired."
"Hm…" Kakashi looked back at his book and giggled.
"Would you put that perverted piece of crap away?" Growled Baki angrily.
Kakashi snapped the book shut, his visible eye narrowing, "Don't diss the book, Baki-san," He said dangerously.
Baki just muttered something under his breath.
"Anyway," Said Kakashi, "If we want Gaara-kun and Hinata to fall in love, we need to put them together, in a romantic setting. No disturbances at all, especially no Naruto."
"By the way, what did you find out while tailing Naruto-kun?"
Kakashi sighed, "Well, he was unusually quiet all day. He didn't even talk to Sakura and Sai when they came by his house to visit him," He glanced at Baki, "I think he's still fumed about the other night."
Baki nodded.
"Anyway, I have a question for you."
Baki looked at him, "What?"
"Why did you say that it wouldn't be pretty if Gaara-kun found out?" Kakashi asked, "Sure the kid has a short temper, but…"
"Gaara doesn't take kindly to people following him," Baki explained, "Ever since…well, ever since his father started to send out assassins after him."
"Ugh…" Kakashi stared at him.
Baki sighed, "Ever since the first one, Gaara's uncle Yashamaru. Gaara had always been weary about people following him. I think it scares him a little, even though he doesn't show it or say it at all."
"Then how can you tell?"
"By the way he acts," Said Baki, "It's plain obvious. His eyes go the color of jade, instead of bright green. He grows even more quiet then normal, and his sand gets more violent." He paused, resting his hands on the roof's paneling, "He'll kill whoever's following him, when he's like that. He sort of zones out."
"You seem to know a lot about him Baki-san."
"Tuh," Baki looked at Kakashi, "What do you expect? I practically raised him, Temari, and Kankuro. I've been their sensei sine they were all old enough to talk."
"I see…"
"Well," Said Baki standing, "I guess we have some planning to do, eh?"
Kakashi put his book in his bag, and stood as well, "yeah. If we don't make those two fall in love, Tsunada-sama will break our necks."
"Is she really that scary?"
"Oh yeah."
"No wonder she and Gaara get along well."
The silver haired jounin chuckled softly. Both leapt of the roof, toward the training zone.
"I should be leaving now," Said Hinata, walking toward the door, "Thank you for the tea," She added, bowing.
"No prob," Said Temari grinning, "Stop by anytime you like, Kay?"
"Yes, thank you!"
Hinata left the apartment, her hair hanging over her left shoulder. She stroked it softly, lost in her own thoughts. She couldn't imagine being an orphan. Naruto was an orphan, but he never acted really depressed about it, not anymore. Kankuro and Temari didn't really seem to mind, but Gaara…was that why he was so quiet and shut of? Was he…lonely?
Hinata had been so lost in thought, she didn't see the crate in front of her. She tripped over it, landing with a thud on the ground. She leapt to her feet, eyes wide, "W-what hit me?" She asked, looking around.
She stood, brushing the dust from her fall off her cloths. She shook her head, trying to regain her composure. "T-that was embarrassing…"
After a moment of trying to calm herself down, Hinata finally ran back towards her home, head up and clear, not wanting to trip over anything again. Her head was so full of thoughts…she was so confused…but she knew one thing….
"Eh….you're going to what?" Asked Neji, staring at Hinata.
"I….I'm making it my mission to find out more about Gaara," She told him, her eyes determined, "I'm going to try to open him up some more!"
Neji blinked.
"I…" Hinata sighed and looked at her hands folded in her lap, "I want to find out more about him…"
After a moment, Neji nodded, "That's a good idea."
Hinata looked up at him, "r-really?"
Neji gave a small smile, "yes. You really should get to know him better."
Hinata smiled, and for the second time that day, her body acted on pure instinct. She quickly embraced her cousin, and then rushed out of the room.
Neji sat there, slightly stunned. He had never been hugged by Hinata before…since they had never had a perfect family relationship. He closed his eyes, and smiled. "Good luck, Hinata-sama."
Ugah….it's past midnight, and I've been typing all day…so…Baki and Kakashi r now the dynamic duo, who have set their goal on getting Gaara and Hinata to fall in love. Hinata's goal is to find more out about Gaara, and Kankuro's goal is to find the cheapest purple makeup when he goes shopping.
Kankuro: H-hey! –Blushes-
-Ignores-