"Gaa-RAAA!"
Temari was angry. That was a surprise in itself, but it was compounded by the fact that the target of her anger was her youngest brother.
"Gaara, what have you done!" she snapped, confronting him where he lay uncaring on his bed. His sash was draped over his gourd at the foot of the bed out of his reach, but Temari knew that didn't matter. A thought or a word would send sand for her throat.
She forced herself to lower her voice, reminding herself of the danger. "What did you do today?" she asked him when she had control.
"I went for a walk," came the unemotional response.
"And what did you do?!"
Gaara's eyes narrowed at the accusing tone. "Stop asking questions." His voice dropped. "I'll kill—"
"Gaara! Forget that! This is serious! You've endangered Orochimaru's plans!" She bit her lip, realising immediately that she had said too much.
"Orochimaru-sama," Baki corrected casually from the doorway. Gaara's head jerked up at his voice, knowing that he couldn't move against Temari with his sensei so close.
A good thing, he decided after a moment's thought. He probably would have regretted killing her after the moment passed.
"I went for a walk, Sensei," he said, not looking at Temari's face. "I saw a very different village to home. Some children wanted me to play with them, but I decided not to. A Shinobi wanted to spar with me, but he was only a Genin, and too weak to test my skills. A priest attacked me, so I killed him. After that I came back. I didn't mean to miss dinner, but I got lost."
They both stared at him for a long moment. Then Temari began to laugh, a laugh that was more like a sob.
"Oh, Gaara. You think this is about you being late home? You think you missing one meal was the most important thing that you did..." Words seemed to fail her, and she left the room leaning heavily on the wall. Gaara looked up, wondering about the sudden twinge in his chest. Why was Temari upset with him?
"Gaara," Baki told him seriously, calling his attention back. "Because you killed that priest in a foreign village, the Third Hokage has approached me. We are to be moved from the Academy." He held up a hand as Gaara's eyes flashed dangerously. "Never mind, you will still be allowed to take the exam." For Gaara believed his main purpose here was to become a Chuunin, with no idea about the impending invasion of Konoha. "We will be shifted to the clan house of the Hyuuga family."
"Hyuuga?" Gaara asked with a spark of interest. "The clan with the Byakugan?"
Baki scowled at him. "We were moved here because the Third believes the Hyuuga are the only family with the power to rein you in."
Gaara didn't respond.
"The Third doesn't take to foreign Shinobi who don't play by his rules," Baki went on. "If you kill here, the Hyuuga will alert the entire village! Even you cannot fight so many, Gaara."
"Do not underestimate me, Sensei," the young Shinobi responded coldly, his momentary surprise reverting back to his regular icy attitude.
"No matter," Baki said dismissively. "I will show you to the Hyuuga clan house now. Come with me, and bring your pack."
Gaara stood and followed Baki out of the rooms. He paused for a moment, wondering why he bothered obeying his sensei's commands, but shrugged and decided it was a thought for another day.
Kankurou shook his head from the next room, where he had pressed his ear tightly against the wall. Gaara was out of control. No matter what Baki told him, he would do exactly what the moment dictated. He snorted and stood up, resigned. He couldn't even have Karasu carry his pack, needing to keep the marionette hidden.
"What a waste of time," he muttered, quick-stepping out the door to catch up with his team leader and wild sibling.
The Hyuuga main family clan house was a traditional Japanese live-in dojo, built around the central training hall and the audience chamber they stood in now. Private rooms had been added almost as an afterthought, as bare as any soldier's quarters with a basic futon, pillow and blanket—all the same military grey.
"Take themselves seriously, don't they?" Kankurou muttered to the others. Temari shushed him. She, Kankurou and Baki bowed as Hiashi, the patriarch of the Hyuuga head family, stood to greet them.
Gaara didn't bow. Hiashi's unnerving empty eyes locked onto him.
"Are you a blind Shinobi?" Gaara asked abruptly. The various Hyuuga nobles around the room gasped at the breach of etiquette, but Hiashi didn't react for a moment.
"Yes," he told Gaara seriously. "I am blind, as all Shinobi are blind to the truth of Ninjutsu. But we, with our Byakugan, can see a little more clearly than you other blind men can." There was a small round of applause for his prowess in platitudes.
Gaara was unimpressed by the Hyuuga man, although Hiashi clearly didn't share that opinion. His very stance radiated arrogance, which almost made Kankurou burst into laughter. Finally, Gaara knew how it felt!
There was a flash of motion; a kunai shot towards Hiashi, faster than any normal missile. Without taking his milky gaze from Gaara, one hand shot out and slapped it contemptuously aside. It dissolved on hitting the floor, and the sand retreated back to its gourd.
There was a very tense moment.
Then Hiashi smiled. The room breathed again, and several Hyuuga members laughed in relief that the situation had not deteriorated any further.
"You remind me of myself as a Genin," Hiashi told Gaara. "Everything is a test." The tall man's condescension didn't sit well at all with the Sand-nin, but he had clearly felt the surge of power in Hiashi's movements. More curious than ever, he wondered about the limits of this Byakugan.
Wondered whether Hiashi might, finally, be able to destroy him.
They remained staring at each other for several moments, very little of the tension having drained from the room. Then, to the surprise of his team members, Gaara bowed deeply to Hiashi.
"My apologies. I had to know if the stories of the legendary Hyuuga clan were exaggerated," Gaara's eyes came up, flashing, "Hiashi-sama."
All three Shinobi from the Sand Village gasped audibly. Hiashi, however, took the compliment in stride.
"The Hyuuga are Konoha village's most powerful family," he acknowledged, as if this was a given. "My wife will show you to your rooms." He turned to Baki. "Baki-san, please sit in audience with us later. We would be honoured to hear about events in the Country of Sand."
Baki bowed again. "It is I who would be honoured, Hiashi-san." A slender Hyuuga woman led the quartet from the room, showing them to a group of simple rooms just like all the other rooms in this place.
"Terrible house," Kankurou grunted, slumping onto a bench and setting Karasu down with obvious relief. The puppet was no light weight! "Terrible people. One of those families that believe hardship and suffering make us better human beings." His words ended in a sneer.
Gaara was barely listening. "The Hyuuga man... who is he?"
Baki looked up quickly. "Gaara! You are to stay away from Hiashi-san! If you cause any more trouble like you did..." his words failed as certain facts about his pupil sunk in. Just how effective could his threats be against Gaara? Then a sly smile dawned on his face. "I will tell Orochimaru-sama! He will deal with you personally!"
Even Gaara couldn't help shuddering at that. His one meeting with the pale, reptilian man had left a deep impression. Everyone looked at him with cold eyes, but Orochimaru...
Gaara, the demon-vessel, knew Orochimaru was more evil than even Shukaku's dark ambitions. Their meeting had left him shaken, and with no desire to look upon the unnaturally beautiful man again.
Temari, as usual, defused the situation. "Gaara won't do anything." Baki turned to her, but she was looking at her brother. "Wait until the Chuunin exam, Gaara. Even you'll get your fill of fighting. Until then, just be calm. Go for walks. Eat. Relax. Just don't kill anyone! And leave Hiashi-sama alone!"
Gaara was unmoving. "Hai, Temari." He had no intention of moving against Hiashi, for now at least, recognising that the Hyuuga patriarch was beyond even his abilities. It wouldn't be a battle; it would be a quick suicide.
But there were other Byakugan users here. And no advanced bloodline limit that Gaara had encountered before intrigued him as much as this one.
"I am going for a walk," Gaara said abruptly, although he had only just entered the room.
"I'll go with you," Temari offered, still concerned. Gaara turned flashing eyes on her, and she sighed in frustration but allowed him to leave alone.
The mansion's innermost training hall was more a place of ceremony than utility, as Gaara discovered when he attempted to enter. Two Hyuuga guards, their distinctive eyes reflecting the light of their antique polearms, blocked his entry. Gaara considered destroying both of them with a single blow, but reconsidered almost immediately. Hiashi was inside the room, along with several other Hyuuga nobles. Again, he wasn't afraid, but caution dictated that he bide his time, and he left without a word.
He found his first lone Hyuuga in the outside training ground, an area like a sunken well between the walls of two buildings. The noble family was indeed arrogant in the extreme, to have a training field for no reason other than to keep separate their young from Konoha's public.
He stood watching for several minutes. She didn't notice, eyes showing the distinctive pearlescent of the Byakugan but scrunched up in the intensity of her concentration.
"Ha! Ha! Ha!" With every cry, her hand struck the wrapped log before her. She was obviously pushing herself past the limit, Gaara noted clinically. Her strikes were sloppy. His curiousity sparked, though, when he noticed that she used the open-handed style he had briefly studied in his accelerated passage through the Academy. One of the deadliest taijutsu styles, his studies told him, relying on perfect precision and accuracy rather than power or speed alone.
But her strikes weren't true. The rough human outline on the thin material showed handprints all over, not in consistent patterns.
He looked closer, his gaze becoming more intense. The marks weren't dirt, but blood. Every strike left bloody prints on the log. Unconsciously, he ran his tongue over his thin lips.
Delicious-looking blood...
A Byakugan-using Hyuuga open-hand stylist? With the dedication to training this one showed? Gaara's lips pursed as he considered his good fortune.
The Hyuuga head family was a veritable treasure trove of powerful Shinobi.
Hinata spun as she sensed a presence behind her, torn hands flying into her taijutsu stance. Gaara's dark-ringed eyes stared back at her fleetingly, a moment before they were swept away in gust of wind. She shook her head, frowning, staring at the spot she had seen him.
A hallucination, she decided. She was suffering hallucinations because... because she wasn't strong enough!
With that thought, she put the deadly Sand-nin from her mind, focusing completely on the log in front of her and walking her hands through several well-practised seals.
"Byakugan!"
A/N: Yes, I KNOW it's taken a long time to bring Hinata into this piece. Would it have been believable if I threw her and Gaara together on meeting at the training grounds, or something? Gaara would have killed her without a second thought. This way he has time to grow to care about her, which leads straight into the next chapter. I promise Hinata will feature prominently in every chapter after this one. Lastly, I've sketched out the chapters where Gaara and Hinata are an item, and I'm sure they'll make it up to you :P they gave me my sweetness fix for weeks. Next chapter- 6. Neji.