Hinata regained consciousness slowly, almost lazily. I'm so warm, why should I wake up? Her eyes flickered lazily open, then latched onto Gaara, watching her steadily.
This time, the thought of him watching while she slept didn't seem so scary.
"You're faster than last time," he observed clinically, his voice shaking her to full awareness. She sat up—they were still encased in the globe of sand, but the sensation of movement had stopped. She paused for a moment, trying to put her finger on what else had changed, then realised that on awakening, she had seen Gaara. She looked up; what she thought of the ceiling had thinned so that it was almost like a veil, allowing a dim radiance into the globe. Moonlight, she supposed, muted but still brighter than she had ever seen it before.
It was—cold. Her breath steamed in front of her.
"Gaara-kun, where are we?" she asked, looking up at him without moving from her prone position.
"Far away," he told her, his face shrouded in shadow. Neither of them noticed how far Hinata had come; she had questioned Gaara! "I come here sometimes when I need to think."
"The ends of the earth?" Hinata asked in wonder, her mind detached. Nothing would have surprised her this night. The darkness that sounded like Gaara gave a chuckle.
"Not quite so far, but just as remote. Hinata-chan, I want to show you my world."
With that, all the sand fell and vanished. Even the gourd strapped to his back sloughed away, the wooden cork hitting the ground with a stark thud. Hinata did the same, plopping unceremoniously on her bottom.
Blinking in the surprisingly bright light, she barely noticed. Only one thing immediately occurred to her— there was no need for Gaara's sand now.
Gaara watched her as she stared around, entranced by the extreme solitude and serenity of the place he had brought her. She didn't look nearly as surprised as he thought she'd be.
"Hinata-chan... I have to... I want you to see this," he told her, stumbling over the words. He moved to help her, taking her hand and helping her to her feet. Even her slight frame outweighed his, however, and as she stood they both stumbled, sending Hinata reeling against him. He wasn't wearing the gourd, but sand caught her anyway, jolting roughly before Gaara raised his hands to her and it disappeared. He stepped even closer, almost cheek to cheek.
Hinata didn't pull away.
He motioned to Shukaku, and the demon raised them up on a pedestal of sand, lifting them many meters into the air. Hinata squeaked and grabbed for Gaara when she realised how high they really were, but the sand was there, keeping her touch from him, a perfect chaperone.
The moon was high. Hinata looked around in wonder at the landscape it revealed from this vantage.
It was beautiful. Horizon to flat horizon, Gaara had taken her to the deep desert. The sky was everywhere, as far as she could see. Shadows chased each other over the dunes and waves here and there, shapes, plant or animal or veiled spirit of the night. She didn't know. There was a serene beauty here, and not a single footprint to show habitation. This was the wild desert, where no man had ever set foot. Where no one would survive, unless they had a kinship with the sand.
Unless they were Gaara.
"This is my world, Hinata-chan," Gaara told her quietly, watching her with a strange look on his face. Nervousness? "No, world is wrong," he corrected himself. "Kingdom. This is my kingdom, and my family."
She started to ask what he meant, but a single look around told her that; there was sand as far as she could see, in every direction. Here, Gaara could do anything. The very earth would answer to his call. Here, Gaara would be invincible.
"It's beautiful," Hinata gasped. She raised a hand to a bird sculpted all of sand, unbelievably lifelike in its detail, down to tiny patches of down falling with the beat of its wings. It perched on her finger and opened its beak in soundless song, then took flight again as she lifted her arm, falling to dust when she turned her gaze away. Dozens of incredible works of art, human and otherwise, danced around and below them as their pedestal throne descended to perhaps fifteen meters, slowly revolving in the centre of the breathtaking display of Gaara's absolute control.
"You're an artist," she accused him in a tone that wavered between teasing and reverence. "And sweeter than I ever imagined." She pointed to an exact sculpture of herself, sand-formed eyes sparkling in a huge grin that threatened to take in her ears, and the real Hinata's cheeks reddened. "Even the colours are perfect. And you've never... seen me smile like that."
"Hinata-chan..." the flame-haired Shinobi whispered in a voice very different to his own. "I want..." His words nearly failed. "I want to see you smile." Something roared in the back of his mind, but he pushed it away. "Won't you... smile for me... like that?"
She tried, forcing her lips to curve. But her heart wasn't in it, as enchanting as the scene he lay before her was, and the expression fell away. "Gaara-kun..."
"Onegai!" He clutched her hands desperately. "I don't know what you're doing to me. But you mean... all, to me. Onegai."
As much as she wanted to, Hinata couldn't grant his request. One thing still stood in their path; the demon Shukaku. "Gaara-kun... when I can kiss you, I will smile for you."
Gaara's eyes opened wide at that, a sly deal he had never expected from Hinata. His neck felt—warm. His brain was on fire, and no thoughts of the consequences intruded on him. Everything he wanted was here, in the nervous white eyes before him.
"Hinata-chan..." he whispered, his mind completely blank. Or was it crystal-clear? He couldn't tell. "If you want, we can stay here. No one will ever come. No one will ever disturb us. We could even be... happy together." The unfamiliar words came out strangely. And echoing in his mind suddenly were his mother's words.
Fight only for yourself. Live only for yourself.
Gaara shook his head violently and quelled Shukaku's mental rumblings with an inner snarl. My decision!
"We can survive," he assured her, seeing her expression. "The desert looks out for me." She didn't doubt it.
"Ie, Gaara-kun," Hinata told him. He jerked back in surprise, but she went on with a wistful smile dawning on her pale face. "It is beautiful, and I'm very happy now. But no matter how pretty it is, it's still empty."
Gaara didn't respond for a moment. Then an ironic twist touched his lips, and he lifted Hinata's hand with his own, placing it on his chest. "So is this."
Hinata didn't back down. "Maybe once. But this isn't." She brought his hand to her own chest. "Tonight, because of you, this is full."
His eyes widened and he gasped convulsively. Distantly, there was a pain in his head, but he shook it away.
"You... Hinata-chan... what... are you?" he choked. "Don't you know who I am?"
"Hai."This time there was steel in Hinata's voice. Gaara lost his words again, this time in surprise. "I know who you are. You are Gaara of the Sand." She lost her nerve and looked down, only just catching her fingers before they interlocked again in that habit he hated so much. "You... made me happy."
Without any warning at all, the sand pedestal that held them suspended disappeared. Hinata fell like a Shinobi, absorbing as much momentum as she could with hands and knees and rolling over and over to dissipate the rest. Gaara, however, dropped like a stone; he didn't know how to fall of course, Shukaku always caught him before—
He hit the ground hard, and bounced once. Hinata finally came to a stop, rose and moved to him quickly. She knelt by his side—had he landed on his head?— and gasped.
His face –the sand armour-- was cracking and flaking off. And the eyes that stared out of Gaara's head... weren't Gaara. The stunned Sand-nin had lost control that couldn't afford to waver, and it was Shukaku that rose and stood before her, leering eerily through the pockmarked face. Hinata backed away in fear, her huge eyes growing even wider, luminous in the moonlight.
"Gaara-kun..." she stuttered, truly terrified. "Can't you... say no to him?"
He looked at her, the way he'd looked at her once before, before he'd murdered her friends on the training grounds. As if her life meant less than a practice target; at least that could be re-used once it was broken. She almost thought she'd imagined the expression then, but here it was. This time there was no Neji or Hiashi to save her. And despite the simple fact that she was here at all, Hinata knew she couldn't rely on Gaara's heart stopping him again.
There simply wasn't enough of it for that.
"Gaara-kun..." she whispered, seeing death striding towards her in her beloved's shoes. "Aishiteru... onegai... stop..."
The sand roared up behind him; even to Hinata, Gaara's face looked like a demon's at that moment. Hands and fists and tentacles of sand threw themselves out and wrapped around her before she could think of reacting.
You dare! Shukaku said, the words appearing in her mind without bothering to pass her ears. You dare to try to blunt my rage? Stupid Hyuuga child! I was powerful and terrible before your father turned from his mother's breast!
Gaara's eyes were blank, his head lolled on his neck. It seemed Shukaku wasn't as easily subdued as Gaara had thought, not this close to the full moon. But as he raised Gaara's hand to finish her, he stopped.
Hinata's heart skipped a beat. Gaara was fighting back. For her.
"You owe me," he told Shukaku, his words slurred as if he fought for every syllable. "You promised me I could have this night."
I didn't promise this! I never promised you love! Shukaku roared, his words clearly audible to Hinata, lying forgotten but still bound at their feet. All she could do was watch, seeing the emotions crossing his face so quickly they were barely recognizable as Shinobi and demon warred for control.
Shukaku gained the upper hand. With an approving grunt he turned back to Hinata. She said nothing, just stared back at death looking her full in the face.
Once again he paused, growling in sudden consternation. In their minds, linked even more closely as the moon waxed, Gaara gave a silent, triumphant chuckle despite the gravity of the moment. Yes. Yes. Now that you see her through my eyes, you see my dilemma. He paused. Beautiful, isn't she? he added cruelly, twisting the knife.
"Gaara-kun..." Hinata said hesitantly, her voice stark in the absolute silence. "I'm... cold. Can you take me home please?"
Shukaku didn't reply for a long moment. Then there came a disgruntled rumble, a subdued roar of defeat. I will not renege on my promise. You have one night
No apology, no further explanation and suddenly he was alone, back in control of his body.
"Hai, Hinata-chan," Gaara sighed then. The sand coffin fell away, then slowly reshaped itself, coalescing into the familiar gourd shape on his back. The dangerous moment was past, and he helped her back to her feet. Not a speck of sand was still on her; it all answered to his call. "Come, I will take you home."
He turned away and took a step, then toppled slowly over as the battle of wills with Shukaku took its toll. Hinata screamed as darkness swallowed him up.
A/N: Not a lot to say; I was gonna post this up a week ago but decided on a whim to stitch in a confrontation scene at the end there. Personally I think it went pretty well. We're almost done now, but that doesn't mean the action's over yet—and who knows, I might give them a happy ending after all.
To be honest, I'm getting a little bored with this story. I want to move on to new ideas, not keeping myself in line with the anime storyline. I've got some good jottings—like Gaara and Hinata meeting briefly before the Chuunin exam and then not meeting again until they encounter each other in ANBU... those notes put a lot more emphasis on Neji and Hanabi. I just love writing Gaara but I'm really starting to fall for Hanabi "
Gaarinspirational quote of the moment- "It all obeys my command, but only my bloody sand comes back to me." – Charm, in an edited scene from this chapter but too good a line to waste.