Chapter XIII.
Title : Chaos.
Flashback :
"Get out of my office." Gaara made his way towards Shinomiya, dangerously, while he clenched his jaw to the point of hurting himself. He did not expect anything to go the way things were going at the moment, for all he wanted was for his wife to just cheer up. How things had gone so horribly downhill within a matter of minutes, Gaara could not fathom. It was true that he was annoyed at his wife's preference of spending time with others, besides himself. But it was only human nature was it not? The husband could ask his wife for some time too, could he not?
"Are you hurt anywhere, hime?" Shinomiya Hayato was concerned, for the woman in the drab Suna office. He had, undeniably intruded inside a rather hostile atmosphere, but he did not care much. He did not care that he was crossing paths with The Kazekage. If he hurt her in any way….
Gaara Sabaku, however, was not having any of it. In his opinion, a stranger cannot just barge inside a room without even having the decency to knock – especially when he is aware that the Kage was busy. Besides, how dare this intruder call his wife by that name?
Hime. It meant Princess or Demoiselle.
It was appalling that this man, a mere newcomer in the Kage's own lair, bore no shame in calling his wife, princess, in the Kage's very presence. And it annoyed Gaara, the word impaled in his mind like a dull sword which seemed to cause displeasure with every passing minute.
Gaara clenched, and unclenched his fists slowly but out of eyesight.
Hinata, too was surprised of the man's manner of talking in front of her wed. She was aware of the nick name that Shinomiya had kept for her, back in her younger days when she had a close relation with the Hayato man, but she did not think that he would call her by that name after so many years. It was like time had not passed for him; As if, he did not acknowledge that she was wedded to someone else. Nevertheless, she shook her head quickly, while subconsciously brushing her lips with the bruised hand.
She recalled how minutes earlier, Gaara had made an effort to appease her inspite of the glum news of her friends leaving the next morning. It was true that he had not used the most effective techniques what with nearly leaving a mark on her wrist, from the time he held her wrist ever so tightly, but she felt sympathy for him. The man was just trying to kiss her, and wanted some of her time, which she had not been really doing as of recent. To be fair, it was pretty much her fault for neglecting her husband so much.
But, to use force? How effective was that?
"That is not her name." The redhead man, spat at the speaker of the voice whilst the glare simply got darker. He would not physically do anything unless he was provoked, but as of recent it was getting impossible to abstain from choking this man with sand, or maybe smash the man's skull against the wall. Maybe just a little bit, till the poor man's forehead was caked with blood?
How long, the redheaded Kage stood with his fist clenched and eyes narrowed down to slits, he could not remember. He remembered the One Tailed Demon, screaming at him from within though; He remembered how the Shukaku was chanting 'blood' about a hundred times a minute, and it greatly caused a headache. One second, the man was standing intact, with his wife standing behind him in fear, and Shinomiya on the other end of the room, looking just as defiant; and the next minute, Gaara was holding his head, and had slowly begun to kneel on the floor while screaming at the Shukaku to stop with its monstrous demands.
Hinata was quick to act, and upon kneeling down with him, instantly cradled her husband's now vulnerable form, and wiped some of the blood that had seemingly started dripping from his forehead. She was perplexed and worried at the same time. Where did the blood come from? She had not seen any gash or cut on his forehead, just moments ago. But she was aware of the fact that she had not seen Gaara like this, before. It scared her to the very core, especially when upon skin contact, Gaara – or the person in her husband's place-, shot his eyes open and glared up at her with something that Hinata could not forget.
It was not something she could really put together in a word, per se. But it all amounted to something sinister and she grew extremely nervous upon realizing that it was her, that he seemingly targeted.
"S-S-Shinomiya, g-get Sakura here right n-now!" She cried at the now, statue of a man with silver hair, and upon seeing that he made no sudden movements, she turned to scream at him for the second time, only to realize that the man was just as scared as she was. He froze in his place, as if he were in shock, but soon enough got back to his senses when he was pushed by two other people entering the room, now filled with chaos.
Just as they entered, Shinomiya ran off calling for the medical ninja in a rather shrill voice, whilst the two Sabaku siblings instantly knelt beside their youngest brother with an unreadable expression. Temari was the first to speak though. "Did he harm you?" she asked, rather calmly despite the situation, which only grew more chaotic with Gaara moaning something gibberish about Yashamaru, his uncle. He had, at one point, started screaming and, Hinata had noted how his voice had changed dramatically as if he were bearing two larynxes instead of one.
She had even noted, how his nails were suddenly growing visibly sharp, and claw-like. That was when she started getting really scared.
"N-No, he was fine just m-moments ago, T-Temari-san!" Hinata cried out in impatience, for she was wondering why the fuck Shinomiya was taking so long to fetch Sakura. "G-Gaara, you're going to be o-okay..." this bit, she whispered down to her husband, who although had stopped moaning in pain, now just lay limp in his wife's arms. One could easily mistake him for being motionless, was it not for his slow breathing.
Gasping at this new development, the Suna mistress stared at Temari, who clearly knew what was happening. Maybe, it was not the first time this happened to the Kage? Why wouldn't she just tell Hinata?
"This is not a good sign, Lady Hinata you need to step away." Kankuro spoke quietly, as he himself, inched away from the lifeless form of his brother. Surely, he knew what this meant, and the fact that both the siblings wore expressions of fear meant that something big could happen. Yet, Hinata did not have the heart to just leave a human being- let alone her husband-, in such a pitiful condition. The man's already pale skin looked visibly whiter and pastier.
"I-I can't leave him like t-this, K-Kankuro san!" the woman with pale eyes cried out in defiance, despite her fear. She was determined not to leave the man's sight, if not anything but for humanity's sake.
Where had the others disappeared off to, anyway?
"Why is h-he so c-cold?!" she cried again, this time out of desperation. It was not the fact that she could not live without him, but she simply could not have a completely healthy, fit man suddenly turn into a lifeless body in front of her. It seemed sinister to even think such a thought of just leaving him like that. She had to try and get him some help, at the very least.
And so she did. The woman carefully placed her husband's head on the crimson carpet of the office, and stumbled to the desk where an intercom like phone laid, waiting to be used.
With a sudden air of determination, Hinata dialled the only key that was understandable to her, and at once she heard a crackle from the other end, followed by a man's deep voice filled with curiosity. She realised it was pretty late into the night, and that the servants probably were not expecting a phone call at this time of the night. "Milord?" the man spoke, rather sleepily.
Hinata watched as Sakura Haruno, finally rushed inside the room along with the full group of Konohagakure ninjas, their expressions all grave and serious. Naruto was the first to kneel down beside the lifeless form of the Kage, whilst the sand siblings rushed out together to fetch more servants, who in turn would call the Suna doctor.
"Something has h-happened to Lord G-Gaara," she trembled as she spoke, but to her surprise, Hinata hardly stuttered- she felt authority and responsibility take over her form, as she continued in a more urgent voice, "Call for the village doctor, and bring some w-water. Now." She slammed the phone down and rushed back to her husband whose breathing, she noticed, only got more slow.
Sakura quickly checked the man's wrist and jugular for pulse, and upon not receiving positive report, laid an eerily glowing palm on his forehead. Hinata watched in awe, whilst the pink haired medic mumbled something gibberish before opening her eyes and shaking her head. "He rejected." She whispered, to the blond haired ninja, whose concerned expression suddenly brightened visibly, "You're not kidding are you?" he asked, just to be sure he heard right.
The woman shook her head.
"R-Rejected what? I-Is he alright, S-Sakura?" Hinata was confused more than ever now, and wondered why Naruto was so happy all of a sudden. A human being was barely alive and this man was happy about it? Was he stupid?
"He rejected the Shukaku from taking over his body," Sakura started, rather irritated than considerate, for she was trying to concentrate on the limp man's heartbeat report, but sighed softly and glanced at her beau, who was only too happy to explain for her. "Hinata, don't you get it? He stopped the demon from taking control!" he beamed, his teeth flashing too brightly for his good.
"B-But will he…" The poor woman started, rather confused than happy about this bit of information. Why would that matter right now? Isn't the man in mortal peril right now? He was barely breathing anyway. There would be time to celebrate his protest later, when she was sure he would be alive.
"Live? Of course, Hinata!" Naruto finished for the pale eyed woman, who visibly lightened up and sighed in relief. At least, he would live. She wished she could have saved her mother too, and she would do anything in her power to bring her back to life. She was guilty too, and henceforth, made a promise to herself that she would try everything necessary to keep a human being from dying in front of her eyes. She did not want to relive that a second time.
Besides, she wondered what life would be if her husband suddenly died on her. She shuddered at the thought.
Just then, two things happened. First, the servants all came rushing inside along with Temari and Kankuro leading the way. They were quick to carry the Kage away in an emergency ambulance that was waiting downstairs.
Second, the body they were carrying on the makeshift medical bed, seemingly started stirring. Breathing became more even, and stable.
He will live.
A/N :
Okay so yeah I've been gone for MONTHS. I basically abandoned this anyway since I had other stuff to do in real. I've just completed a really rough semester in college, dealing with a continuous health problem, AND TOTALLY GOING FOR A VACAY TO THAILAND NEXT MONTH.
So so sorry for not updating in such a long time, guys. Trust me I miss you! Please forgive me and have mercy on me pls lol.
And I know this chapter is a tad bit dramatic than the others, but I figured why not give some drama and chaos? Makes the romance all the more better. Don't worry the upcoming chapters WILL be better, and EEEEE, more moments between Gaara and Hinata (*spoiler alert*)
That is, if you guys are still willing to read this fanfic.
I hope you guys liked this chapterrr!
p.s, anyone of you from Thailand? I'm not creepy I swear lol
p.p.s : please review and like/follow my story! Love youuu! 3