Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and its characters, only the storyline…

I forgot that for the last few chapters…haha ^^

Destinies Changed, Hearts Changed: Part IV

"RAMEN!"

"Ugh, not again."

"Baka, we can't stop now."

"But you guys!" A blond boy protested as he stopped in front of a ramen bar while his teammates continued walking past and ignored his protest while shoppers stopped and stared at the loudmouthed boy.

The blond's stomach growled as he turned his eyes toward the other two, his blue eyes large and watery, "But…But…I'm hungry…" He gave a little sniff. "Please?" His mouth turned downward into and exaggerated pout. The other two closed their eyes and frowned at him in defeat as they stopped and walked back.

"10 minutes, Naruto," The dark haired boy glared at his companion, "Or we'll drag you on."

"YEAH!"

The third boy gave a defeated sigh as he sat down on the other side of Naruto and laid his head onto the table. "We're never going to get there," he turned and watched Naruto as he broke apart his chopsticks, "How troublesome." He muttered.

~~~

Hinata smiled as she tried on the silver bracelet with a sapphire stone embedded within.

She held out her wrist to him, "Isn't this pretty?"

"Hn." Gaara shrugged.

They had been in the Lightening Country for about a week or so, and Hinata's health had been improving—given the first two days at the hospital.

Hinata took off the bracelet and hung it back on its rack, and moved onto another case to search for more things she could be occupied with.

"You can go if you're bored."

He shrugged again. It wasn't like there was anything else for him to do there. He could have left her in the town stranded after he had brought her to the hospital. But he didn't.

"I'm not making you stay here."

He wanted to though. Gaara glanced at her. Even though they've been together for a few months now, and she wasn't scared of him anymore, he could still tell she was uncomfortable under his gaze.

His head had started to hurt again and he reached up to massage his temple.

Hinata shifted uneasily, turning her face slightly to where he were, "G-Gaara?"

"I'm going back."

She nodded as he disappeared in a cloud of sand, much to the amazement of the other shoppers.

~~~

Gaara had to get as far away from her as he could. He could feel him. It had been too long since he killed. Too long since he had the need to kill. It had been oppressed inside of him the whole time and had been clawing him apart every night.

He stopped on the rooftop of a store as the pain struck through his head. Gaara clutched his head as he tried to fight it off.

Blood

//No// He dropped to his knees as he felt it start to overcome him. Every time it took over him, he felt like he was floating. Kind of like being dead—but couldn't die. There would be nothing around him then.

//No//

He didn't want to go there…not again.

Kill

//Go away// He couldn't let it get loose, Hinata was within its destruction range.

You know you want to

The voice spoke to him.

//Leave me alone//

I can almost taste her blood

His body shook as he felt it start to take over, the sand starting to pour out from the gourd on his back.

So sweet

"No. No…no…"

~~~

Hinata breezed through the shops as she examined the trinkets with amusement, having never seen some of them before. It was noon and she was starting to feel a little hungry. Gaara was probably already back at the hotel and maybe he would be hungry.

//Maybe I should stop by and ask him if he wants to eat…//

She shook that thought away. He clearly seemed like he needed to be alone that morning and she wasn't going to bother him.

//I guess I'll just eat something small…Maybe the sushi bar//

She pushed the door open and made her way through the crowd. There were a lot of stores and restaurants nearby. They had eaten at almost all the places already—much to Gaaras' aggravation of going to places with many people but there was no place to cook in their small room they had rented.

"Another please!"

Her head swung to the right at the ramen bar to the familiar voice. She gave a small gasp as to what she saw there. Three boys were seated in front of a ramen bar—all dressed in the Leaf Village's Chuunin clothing. Green vest and black pants.

//Naruto-kun// Her heart skipped a beat as she took a step back.

To her relief, the boy had not turned around, but instead at that instant, his partner did.

Hinata's eyes widened as the other boy locked gazes with her almost immediately as if he had felt her presence behind them. She quickly turned around as if she did not know him and that it had been a coincidence.

He watched as she turned and ran. The boy jumped off his seat and proceeded to go after her.

"Eey! Wheref ore yooh goinf?" Naruto's mouth was stuffed full of ramen.

"I'll be right back, you stay here." He replied quickly as he sped off in the same direction.

"Bah," The third boy sighed at his luck of ending up with those two as his partners.

"Yooh wanf some, Shikamarof?" Naruto gestured at his almost done bowl of ramen. It was his fifth one for the count.

~~~

Sasuke scanned the crowd—there were way too many people to spot her easily through it. Unlike Ino who was loud and tall or Sakura whose pink hair stood out—Hinata blended in just fine.

He was sure it was her. Even if her hair was a bit longer, and she had worn a black shirt with long black pants instead of her usual jacket and capris. Her forehead protector was gone too, now replaced by a small dark blue ribbon.

He knew those eyes though. It had stood out to him.

Sasuke had figured that even without Naruto and Shikamaru, he should be able to get her. It had not seemed like there was anyone with her, so he had thought it would be fine.

Swiftly, he jumped onto the roof as he followed her trail since the way she ran had no alleyways leading off, so the only direction she could've gone was straight ahead. He spotted her, as she made her way in a frantic manner through the crowds. Sasuke was impressed. She had moved pretty far in such a short amount of time. Her speed had somehow increased—but was still no match for his, as he swooped down and landed to the right of her.

Hinata gave a gasp as Sasuke reached for her arm. Instantly, she swung her arm out at him and swatted his hand away from her.

They had both stopped to the side of the street, with Sasuke intimidating Hinata into a dead alley—Hinata's back was almost to the wall.

"Hinata."

"L-Leave me alone!"

Sasuke's eyes widened at her sharpness.

//When did…?// He was not use to the smaller shy girl yelling. To his account, she had never yelled at anyone or anything before.

Hinata slid into a defensive stance, both hands in front of her, one raised higher than the other hand—ready to strike him at any given moment.

"Hinata." He repeated.

She shook her head.

That gave him the signal to take the initiative. If she weren't going to comply—he would have to make her. With that in mind, he lunged at her. He moved fast, trying to hit her at the side of her neck—to temporarily knock her out. Hinata, in return, blocked all his attacks easily.

Sasuke advanced at her, still aiming for her neck, but changed his attack at the last minute and crouched down instead, and swiped her feet—knocking her off-balance. Hinata fell to the ground and landed on her back. She sat up quickly, as she tried to regain foothold.

He took that moment then, to make a grab at her and knock her out. Before he could take a step forward, the wind picked up, swirling between him and Hinata.

"Leave her alone."

The voice was vaguely familiar to him.

Sand started to swirl and a figure appeared before Sasuke, blocking him from coming at Hinata.

"Sabaku no Gaara."

The other boy grinned. It wasn't a smile of warm welcome—or any irony either. It was malicious grin. Sasuke had seen it before. It was like during his match at his first chuunin exam.

Gaara licked his lips.

Finally

It's been so long, ne Gaara?

I think it's time we make it rain red

//NO//

Gaara paused in his tracks as he grabbed his head. He wasn't there to kill anyone. He had only wanted to jump in to help Hinata. She could get hurt in the battle. But he also knew that he could not hold Shukaku in any longer.

Shukaku was hungry for blood. It had been awhile since Gaara had fed him any, and he was growing restless. He wasn't going to let Gaara pass up an opportunity like that easily.

"Hinata," Gaara managed to say, "Get away—quick." He gave another noise as he grabbed his head again.

Instead of running away like he had warned her to, Hinata stood up and walked towards him and reached for his arm.

"G-Gaara?"

She gave a sort yelp as he lashed out and knocked her flying a bit back into the wall.

Hinata shuddered as she felt his aura. It was different—more dangerous and just different. This wasn't Gaara, not the Gaara she knew. She watched his chakra level flair up—along with Sasuke's. The two were ready to fight, or more to tear each other apart.

"N-No!"

They both glanced at her slightly. Sasuke looked like he was ready to finish it off anytime now—Gaara, however, had a deranged look on his face. It was an expression she had never seen before and it scared her. It wasn't like him. She didn't want them to fight, but she knew she couldn't stop them no matter what. But she had to do something. She didn't want them to get hurt. She didn't want him to get hurt—or anyone else in that matter. Where they were wasn't the best spot to start a heated battle such as how their gazes sparked in the air.

But it wasn't her spot to stop them. It had seemed like they had both held in the urge to rip each other apart for a long time now. There was only one thing then left for her to do.

"I-If you fight here," she breathed out shakily, "Many people will get hurt…"

~End Part IV~

Hmm…

So how was that? Please review…and I hope I fixed the tenses a bit more this time -_- gotta pay more attention. Haha. Problem is that I type up the outline of it first, and then I go back and add more details each time…and it might take up to days, and sometimes I don't pay attention to the tenses I used before when I'm re-editing it. ^^

Well I got two suggestions for a love triangle…and it might be either Sasuke or Neji, but I'm not entirely sure I want to make a third wheel—it all depends on you guys if you would just rather keep it Gaara/Hinata.

By how things are going, I'll be able to put up the next chapter within a week or so—winter break's coming up. ^^ But for now, you all can review on this one! Yaaay! Haha.

Thanks for those who reviewed!

Ame no Megami