Destinies Changed, Hearts Changed: Part III

He ran through the darkness silently, barely rustling a leaf on the branches. In his arms he carried a frail girl. Gaara knew he had to bring her to a hospital soon. Hinata's face had been getting paler and paler; no help much from the moonlight on her features either. She gave a low cough. It wasn't much of a cough either—more like a gasp for air. He knew there was something wrong with her since the beginning, but she never mentioned it, and he never asked. She had always tried to hide the fact that she was not well with a smile and he had acted as if he didn't notice what she had been doing earlier—kneeling on the ground with one hand on her chest and the other planted firmly on the ground, to support her upper body from falling down. But he had never mentioned it once to her, that maybe she should go see a doctor. Now it might be too late. Gaara's grasp on the girl tightened and he sped up.

He could've stayed and just finished it up quickly without Hinata ever finding out about the search squad. But it had been them. The boy with the ponytail, he could've been taken out easily. But the other two were Gaara's reason for returning to Hinata and getting her away.

Uzumaki and Uchiha.

He'll always remember those two.

She coughed again, this time her face scrunched up in agony.

//No// He wasn't going to lose her that fast, he was going to find her help.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Neji rushed to the Hokage's office. It was a matter of life or death; he didn't care whether or not he was supposed to be on patrol duty—this was more important.

Flashback

"I don't get it," He had stated firmly, "She was taken cared of, wasn't she?"

"Yes, she was taken right then," Hiashi then turned around refusing to face him for some unknown reason.

"Then why," He stopped, "Then how did this…?"

Hiashi seem to hesitate, as if not wanting to tell his nephew the truth. Neji stood there. He wasn't going to move until he got his answer. His chuunin patrol duty can wait.

"The Hyuuga clan needs a strong leader," Hiashi lowered his voice, "Hanabi qualifies for the title more than Hinata does, but the eldest would be the heiress…Unless, something would to happen to the elder—"

"Then the younger would take over," Neji finished. It was unbelievable. What Hiashi had done.

He clenched his fist, "That was low," No, he wasn't finished, "And to think that I was starting to respect you as the Head of the Hyuuga Clan."

"That was the only way," Hiashi answered icily. He wasn't going to take rudeness from a Branch member, even if Neji was supposedly the strongest in the Clan.

"So you're just going to let her die, huh?"

"I never expected this to happen, if she was to die out there, her Byakugan would not seal up," Hiashi looked at him pointedly, "That's why I need you to retrieve her."

Neji shook violently; his nails were digging into his palms. Hinata didn't deserve it. He was wrong when he had called her a brat of the Main House. She had even been treated worse than he had.

"I'll bring her back," He started to leave, but turning back to face Hiashi one more time to make it clear, "But I'm not going to bring her back here so she can die. She's going to know."

End Flashback

They had lied to her. They had blamed it on him. Blamed it on him on why she could never get well, why she was always coughing up blood. They intervened with her treatment after she was hospitalized. They had told the doctors that it was better if the Hyuuga Clan treated her alone. Truth was, they never did. They had only treated her up to the point where she was able to walk and move about almost normally again, never fully curing her damages. Damages that he had done.

He was going to find her and get her cured for real this time—and clear up her misunderstanding. After the first chuunin exam, she had always been afraid to speak to him. And it had hurt him, to know that what he had done was wrong—and at the same time unable to apologize to her. Her teammates were always there with her, everywhere, and when she was at home; she always stayed in her room. There was never a time he could get her just alone.

Neji arrived at the Hokage's place. Inside were Kiba and Shino—already gathered and were standing beside Tsunade.

"Ah, so we didn't need to call you off duty in the first place." Tsunade was holding a scroll.

"What's going on here?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gaara watched her as she lay on her back, sleeping peacefully. Sleeping with a respirator hooked up to her. He had brought her in last night and the doctors took her right away. Her condition was critical, they had said. They had also inquired him why she had not been treated earlier. Her illness could've been treat earlier—a few years—and it would have healed faster. It would take her awhile to recover now, and he would have to stop her training. She might not like it, but the doctor had told him to keep an eye on her anxiety level, it could disrupt her healing.

He watched as she stirred silently as her eyes blinked a few times, trying to stay open and focused on her surroundings.

//Where…am I?// She tried to move her head to look around. Unbeknownst to her, the drug was taking effect fast again as she felt her eyelids close. //Where's…Gaara?// She tried to open her mouth to say something, but no sound came out. She could hear a quiet humming noise. Then something warm touched her hand. Instinctively she tried to grab it, but only managed to curl her fingers slightly around it. It was a hand. She then heard a familiar voice.

"Go back to sleep."

//Gaara…?// She saw a blurry figure above her. Hinata could make out Gaara's red hair. It calmed her slightly that he was still there, but where was she? Gaara spoke again, this time shifting his fingers so they slipped into hers. She tried to grasped tighter at his hand.

"Sleep."

She obeyed. It wasn't like she had a choice. The drug was getting to her as his voice the second time sounded distorted and faraway. She no longer fought the urge to close her eyes and let sleep consume her once again.

Gaara stood there beside her bed, watching her slip back into her own world as her eyes closed. His fingers were still intertwined with hers and he left it be. He wanted to reach out again and touch her face. But he was scared. She had caught him the last time.

She looked like a porcelain doll—her indigo hair matted at the side of her pale face. Hinata had grown out her hair since the last time he met her. It was no longer short, but now a bit past her shoulders and her bangs were grown out, parted a bit to the side. To say, she was beautiful. But not in the way he had always thought of in the past. He had always thought of his blood rain as beautiful—the crimson color. But now…now, this was different. He didn't know how it was. He just knew that it was different. It felt different. He felt different.

Love, perhaps?

Was this what that Uzumaki boy had been talking about?

It still wasn't clear to him.

Leaning over slightly, he brushed his lips on her cheek. Hinata didn't move. A small smile played on his lips. She didn't need to know. Hinata was his—for the time being as she lay there, holding onto him. He wasn't going to lose her—not to anyone.

~End Part III~

Whew! Took me awhile to get this one up. I've been racking my brains out for my semester finals . and it SUCKED! I was going to take some time off and sleep, but I checked my email [finally] and I got a bunch of reviews O_O, oh and sorry about my grammar _ I'll try to make it better, and I hope some of the stuff in this chapter cleared people's confusion up a bit.

I actually took the time now to READ the instructions on how to load this…and now the formatting works! YAY!

Rune-Rune- well I guess this could become a love triangle. I really have nothing planned and this stuff is all off the top of my head, so if you guys want it to be a love triangle, feel free to suggest who the third person is ^_^ though I don't want Naruto. I don't hate him, but I'm more of a fan of SasuNaru ^^

I want to say thanks to all my other reviewers!

Ame no Megami