Note: Hallooooooo everyone! This is my first Naruto fic so be nice k? ^^ Warning: Gaara/Hinata centered, but obviously in this first chapter, not much, but right not it mostly deals with what the Hyuuga clan are going through and what is going on in Hinata's mind. Here's a brief summary: (just an excerpt from the first part of the chapter! Aren't I nice? *grins*) 'She would never allow herself to be weak but then again, she was…Weak in mind amongst her peers and weak in physical strength against her younger sister and cousin.' Hah hah! That's all I'm going to give ya! XP Now…ENJOY! And don't forget to read and review! OH! BTW I don't know Naruto so don't sue me! And….*thinks* OH RIGHT! Whatever you read in here, is OBVIOUSLY made up so don't sue me on that either! x_x
The Last Ray of Light
Chapter 1 – The Little Boy with No Name
She would never allow herself to be weak, but then again she was…Weak in mind amongst her peers and weak in body against her younger sister and her cousin. Hinata Hyuuga has always thought that she was average, even if her teammates Shino and Kiba and Kurenai-sensei said she was strong, she never really thought of herself that way. Sometimes she would have mixed up feelings about herself, but it would always end up falling flat on top of the word 'weak.' Of course, the only person she has admired all these years usually gives her the chance to change that idea and turn it around to give her the confidence she needed, but for some reason, after failing to tell him her feelings for the umpteenth time, giving up was the only option.
Hinata sighed, looking at herself in the mirror. It's been a while since she'd last seen her reflection and to be exact, it was now four years. She was lucky enough to have survived those years and was able to become a full fledged Chuunin. Hanabi had beaten her to it last year, of course but even then Hinata was glad to have reached this far. However, it wasn't exactly what the main family expected. Her father expected her to have already reached a Jounin, but Hinata just shrugged off that comment and decided that she was in no hurry.
The young new Chuunin placed a gentle hand on top of her head; her eyes examining her wavy, dark blue tresses in which had now reached pass her shoulders. Hinata sometimes wondered to herself why she never kept her shirt hair when she had the chance, but then she remembered Naruto's comment how he loved longer hair better so it's easy to play with. She smiled to herself, pulling her hair back and reaching with one hand for a scrunchie and tied it. ]
"Today will be a new day!" she exclaimed to herself. Hinata gave another smile at herself in the mirror and left her room. As usual, as soon as she stepped into the main hall, it was quiet. Her father was probably talking with the rest of the clan while Hanabi was probably somewhere training since early this morning. Hinata can never guess where Neji would go off to, but the only conclusion she could make was the same as her sister's—training. Hinata was just about to excuse herself from her father to leave the house when she heard urgent voices coming from her father's room.
"What do you mean leave!?" Hiashi's voice suddenly roared. Hinata paused and moved over to the side of the door to listen.
"We have no choice, Hiashi-sama," one of the relatives spoke. "The Hyuuga clan is being threatened drastically and if this goes on, another assassination may be involved."
Hiashi sighed. "I will not leave just because of a threat, Ryoki! We have dealt with this problem before with the Cloud Country, so why should we run now!?"
The one who was called Ryoki gave a long, defeated sigh, but went on with what he believed in. "Because Hiashi-sama…It's not the Cloud Country that's after us, it's the Wind Country. We have confirmed that the Sand Village is attempting to send their strongest Nin to this household and assassinate either you or the Main heir to the clan."
Hinata gulped at that comment.
There was a long pause in which Hinata guessed her father was probably pondering about what to do next before saying, "Masaka…They may send that Gaara boy over here to assassinate one of us…" Hinata could hear the definite fear in her father's voice.
"That is a possibility, but it is best we leave before finding out for ourselves."
Hinata had heard enough. She decided not to hear anymore as she pushed herself off gently from the wall and walked on out of the house. Her father would know where she was anyway…in school- to start the new year in the beautiful September morning as a Chuunin. However, as soon as she found herself in the main road towards school, she couldn't stop thinking about the conversation her father had with the rest of the family. Could there really be an assassination attempt towards the clan? If so, why? What would the Sand have against the Hyuuga clan? Or rather, what would they WANT with the Hyuuga clan?
"Hinata-sama…" came a very familiar voice ahead of her.
Hinata looked up and noticed Neji walking towards her. "Neji-niisan," she said. "Ohayou gozaimasu," she added with a smile.
"Ohayou," Neji replied back. "You have something on your mind?"
The dark haired girl blinked, just realizing that Neji's Byakugan was activated, making him see through her thoughts. Hinata gave another smile, but it quickly faltered when she remembered what had bothered her in the first place. "Ano…it's about the clan." She began to walk on ahead with Neji strolling beside her.
"What about it?" he asked, though he didn't need to, since he already knew what she was going to ask him.
"I heard my father talking to the rest of the family about a threat towards our clan." Hinata sighed. "I didn't even know that happened."
There was silence until Neji said, "I did."
Surprised, Hinata looked up at her cousin. "When did this happen? How come I didn't know about this?"
Neji stuffed his hands in his pockets. "They didn't exactly tell me, but I overheard Ryoki talking to the other Branch family about a letter that arrived this morning that was supposed to be for the Main house, but ended up in the Branch house. Plus…" He stopped to look at her. "It seemed they wanted this quiet from you, since it happened before and they didn't want to frighten you."
"Frighten me? Who do they think I am…a scaredy-cat?"
Her older cousin was surprised at her reaction with this, but said nothing.
Hinata took a deep breath to calm her, knowing that the family meant well. "Souka…" She stopped in mid-step. "Demo…what would the Sand Village have against our clan?"
Neji shrugged, also stopping to keep up with her. "I would like to know the answer to that as well." He turned and began walking again, removing his Byakugan from his eyes. Hinata followed suit, still thinking about their conversation as they arrived at the school.
***********************
"Mou! I can't believe this!" a young man with a white dog walking at his side complained. He stopped and sat down on a nearby tree stump just outside at the front of the school. Kiba Inuzuka rested his chin on his upward palm and growled. At that moment, the white dog, Akamaru, placed his chin on top of his master's leg. Hinata kneeled down to pet the top of Akamaru's head.
"What are you complaining about?" a calm voice spoke. Hinata looked up to see Shino walking towards them, another teammate of hers. Well…not for long anyway. "It's not the end of the world," he added.
Hinata nodded in agreement. "He's right, Kiba-kun," she said softly, straightening up. In her mind though, the dark haired girl was also complaining about this new system the Hokage thought up. New teams were now being formed, as well as new Senseis, which was quite shocking really. Kiba had the right to complain a lot more, since he was paired up with the most unlikely people – Rock Lee and Yamanaka Ino. His Sensei, oddly enough, was Kakashi Hatake, Naruto's sensei. She, on the other hand was paired up with Sasuke and Shikamaru and no doubt, as soon as everyone heard her name being called out along with Sasuke's, she received angry and jealous looks from other girls who admired him, except for Sakura, who gave her a thumbs up and a big grin, instead of casting daggers towards her. She and Hinata had become close friends after their mission last year, so Sakura had no reason to be jealous of her since Hinata already has her heart set on someone else. Gai-sensei was to be their new mentor and she wasn't surprised when Gai-sensei started crying after realizing Lee was no longer his student. Hinata also thought about who the other students were paired up with. The three students who were going to be with her last sensei, Kurenai, were Sakura, Neji and Chouji.
Kiba grinned suddenly at Shino and Hinata. "Well, at least I'm not with Naruto, unlike some people," he said, turning his head towards Shino, who, as usual gave no reaction to that thought. Even after four years, he was still holding a grudge towards the blond ninja, after defeating him in the Preliminary match. Shino was indeed with Naruto, along with Ten-Ten, to be taught under Asuma-sensei, Neji's former sensei.
"Better with Naruto than Ino," Shino replied calmly.
Kiba's eyes turned into thin slits. He stood up and clenched his fists in front of him. "You want to say that again, Bug Boy!?"
Hinata stood in between them. "Yamete…." she said softly.
Shino stood there, unnerved by Kiba's threat. "Better with Naruto than Ino," he repeated, driving Kiba's nerves up the wall. Hinata tried not to laugh, because she knew that Kiba and Shino were friends and would never hurt each other in that way. If they did, they knew that Hinata would be very hurt by it and the two of them would never allow that to happen.
"Hinata-chan!" All three of them, despite of just one name being called, looked up to see a pink-haired Chuunin approaching them. Sasuke was walking right beside her, minus Naruto, which confirmed Hinata's suspicions why Sakura didn't mind her being partnered up with Sasuke.
"Ah, Sakura-chan! Sasuke-san!" Hinata replied, waving back at them. "Where's Naruto-kun?" The dark haired Chuunin looked around behind them, hoping to see the hyper-active blond to appear before them, but there was no sign of him.
"Oh, Naruto already went ahead with Iruka-sensei for some ramen, as usual," Sakura replied, rolling her eyes. "Naruto needed someone to talk to about our new, 'system' and speaking of that…" Sakura leaned over and whispered to Hinata, "I'm kind of scared to be working with your cousin…"
Hinata looked at her, surprised. "Doushite? There's nothing wrong with my cousin, Sakura-chan!" she added with a short laugh.
Sakura shrugged. "Well—"
"Sakura," Sasuke called.
Both girls looked up. Sasuke seemed to be in a hurry somehow, impatiently stuffing his hands in his pockets much like what Neji would do if he had a reason to talk to someone alone and was staring at Sakura. The pink haired Chuunin blushed and nodded back at him, turning her attention back to Hinata. "Well, I better get going, Hinata-chan," she said, giving her a hug before joining Sasuke.
Hinata stared at their back as they walked away and for some strange reason, she caught a glimpse of Sakura holding hands with Sasuke, who didn't seem to mind at all. 'Well, THAT'S a surprise,' she thought.
"Ma, I better get going. It's getting late and Akamaru looks like he's hungry," Kiba spoke, standing up and patting Akamaru on his head. He glanced at Hinata and Shino. "See you guys later!" He turned and left.
Hinata waved. "Ja mate, Kiba-kun."
Shino too, turned to look at Hinata. "See you tomorrow, Hinata," he replied calmly, as he turned to go the opposite direction of Kiba. Hinata waved to the bug-nin as well and before long, Neji appeared from the classroom. "Oh, Neji-niisan! What took you so long?" She turned and began walking ahead.
Neji had his hands at his side as he joined to walk with Hinata. "Gomen, Hinata-sama. I had to speak with the sensei about this new change in our teams."
Hinata giggled. "Along with everyone else in the class, I presume?" She looked over her shoulder and indeed, Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji marched out of the building, their faces gloomy. Chouji seemed the most disturbed by his new team, seeing that he was teamed up with the Rookie ninja, Neji. Behind them, came Ten Ten, Rock Lee and Gai-sensei. Ten Ten was rolling her eyes when she came out with a teary-eyed Rock Lee and Gai-sensei, moaning about how they weren't going to be together again.
Neji seemed to have noticed this as well, but he just shrugged it off and walked on. Hinata had to stop giggling in order to catch up to her cousin back to the Hyuuga household.
Suddenly, just as they were about to reach the gates of the Hyuuga household, Neji stopped to look over his shoulder at the abandoned path behind them. Hinata looked at him curiously. "Neji-niisan? What's wrong?" Curious, she looked over her shoulder as well.
"I felt something," Neji spoke quietly and the way he said it, sent shivers down Hinata's spine. "But it's probably just my imagination." He opened the door for her to allow her in first before following her inside. Neji closed the door behind them, but Hinata, as they went their separate ways, could not get rid of that suspicious look on her cousin's face the moment he said he 'felt something.' From Neji's lips, it was never a good sign.
***********************
A young girl, barely six, whimpered as she sank down to the dock and held the most precious treasure tightly in her arms. "Okasan…" she whispered, tears falling down all at once from her eyes and streaming down her pale cheeks. "Naze? Naze okasan?" She sniffed, looked up into the dark sky and watched the moon rise above her.
"Why are you crying?" a voice spoke behind her. Startled, the little girl turned around and accidentally dropped her necklace into the water. She looked up and noticed a young boy her age, but she couldn't tell what he looked like because his face was shadowed by the darkness. The only thing she COULD see were his eyes, the glowed the brightest green she has ever seen in her life. There were marks around his eyes…they were black and they frightened her a bit. Then she remembered her most precious treasure had fallen into the water. The little girl turned back around towards the water to find her necklace slowly sinking deep into the darkness of the lake. "Iiee!" she cried frantically, desperately trying to find a stick of some kind to reach for the necklace before it completely disappears into the darkness. More tears fell from her eyes and as soon as she was about to reach for it instead with her hands, a mighty wind almost blew her off balance. She grabbed on for dear life at the sides of the dock and looked up to find the same little boy floating at the surface the water, with his arms outstretched. There, in the palm of his hand was something shiny and familiar in the little girl's eyes. "My….my necklace!" she gasped.
The little boy drew nearer, but hesitated for a while, afraid that he would frighten her. The little girl, however just gave him a smile, holding out both her hands for him to put the necklace in. Certain that she wasn't going to scream, he approached her, his feet touching the wooden dock and handed the necklace back to her. The little girl closed her eyes in relief and held it tightly against her chest once again. "Okasan…"she whispered gently.
The little boy turned and was about to leave, when he heard her say, "Arigatou." He paused and turned around to look at her, surprised that someone would be so grateful for what he had done. "No one said that to me before," he said, the surprise in his voice visible.
"Well then I'm the first to say it," she replied, smiling this time. "What's your name?"
With that question, the little boy approached her slowly. The little girl didn't seem to be afraid anymore, which was shocked him a lot more. "Why do you want to know my name?" Her semi-long dark hair was the only thing he'll remember about her, along with her white eyes that penetrated through him.
"I should at least know the name of the one who saved my most precious treasure," she said, looking away shyly.
The little boy turned away. "In time, you will know my name, but I can't tell you. It scares even my own family."
"Why?"
He didn't answer this time. Instead, he turned and walked away. She watched him leave, but the little girl knew she will never forget the 'little boy with no name.'
GoodGurl: WELL!? What do you guys think? *grins* Make sure to review okay? I know there are a lot of Gaara/Hinata fans out there! Oh yes, you also noticed this is a slight- SLIGHT SasuSaku as well! ^^ See you in the next chapter!
The Last Ray of Light
Chapter 1 – The Little Boy with No Name
She would never allow herself to be weak, but then again she was…Weak in mind amongst her peers and weak in body against her younger sister and her cousin. Hinata Hyuuga has always thought that she was average, even if her teammates Shino and Kiba and Kurenai-sensei said she was strong, she never really thought of herself that way. Sometimes she would have mixed up feelings about herself, but it would always end up falling flat on top of the word 'weak.' Of course, the only person she has admired all these years usually gives her the chance to change that idea and turn it around to give her the confidence she needed, but for some reason, after failing to tell him her feelings for the umpteenth time, giving up was the only option.
Hinata sighed, looking at herself in the mirror. It's been a while since she'd last seen her reflection and to be exact, it was now four years. She was lucky enough to have survived those years and was able to become a full fledged Chuunin. Hanabi had beaten her to it last year, of course but even then Hinata was glad to have reached this far. However, it wasn't exactly what the main family expected. Her father expected her to have already reached a Jounin, but Hinata just shrugged off that comment and decided that she was in no hurry.
The young new Chuunin placed a gentle hand on top of her head; her eyes examining her wavy, dark blue tresses in which had now reached pass her shoulders. Hinata sometimes wondered to herself why she never kept her shirt hair when she had the chance, but then she remembered Naruto's comment how he loved longer hair better so it's easy to play with. She smiled to herself, pulling her hair back and reaching with one hand for a scrunchie and tied it. ]
"Today will be a new day!" she exclaimed to herself. Hinata gave another smile at herself in the mirror and left her room. As usual, as soon as she stepped into the main hall, it was quiet. Her father was probably talking with the rest of the clan while Hanabi was probably somewhere training since early this morning. Hinata can never guess where Neji would go off to, but the only conclusion she could make was the same as her sister's—training. Hinata was just about to excuse herself from her father to leave the house when she heard urgent voices coming from her father's room.
"What do you mean leave!?" Hiashi's voice suddenly roared. Hinata paused and moved over to the side of the door to listen.
"We have no choice, Hiashi-sama," one of the relatives spoke. "The Hyuuga clan is being threatened drastically and if this goes on, another assassination may be involved."
Hiashi sighed. "I will not leave just because of a threat, Ryoki! We have dealt with this problem before with the Cloud Country, so why should we run now!?"
The one who was called Ryoki gave a long, defeated sigh, but went on with what he believed in. "Because Hiashi-sama…It's not the Cloud Country that's after us, it's the Wind Country. We have confirmed that the Sand Village is attempting to send their strongest Nin to this household and assassinate either you or the Main heir to the clan."
Hinata gulped at that comment.
There was a long pause in which Hinata guessed her father was probably pondering about what to do next before saying, "Masaka…They may send that Gaara boy over here to assassinate one of us…" Hinata could hear the definite fear in her father's voice.
"That is a possibility, but it is best we leave before finding out for ourselves."
Hinata had heard enough. She decided not to hear anymore as she pushed herself off gently from the wall and walked on out of the house. Her father would know where she was anyway…in school- to start the new year in the beautiful September morning as a Chuunin. However, as soon as she found herself in the main road towards school, she couldn't stop thinking about the conversation her father had with the rest of the family. Could there really be an assassination attempt towards the clan? If so, why? What would the Sand have against the Hyuuga clan? Or rather, what would they WANT with the Hyuuga clan?
"Hinata-sama…" came a very familiar voice ahead of her.
Hinata looked up and noticed Neji walking towards her. "Neji-niisan," she said. "Ohayou gozaimasu," she added with a smile.
"Ohayou," Neji replied back. "You have something on your mind?"
The dark haired girl blinked, just realizing that Neji's Byakugan was activated, making him see through her thoughts. Hinata gave another smile, but it quickly faltered when she remembered what had bothered her in the first place. "Ano…it's about the clan." She began to walk on ahead with Neji strolling beside her.
"What about it?" he asked, though he didn't need to, since he already knew what she was going to ask him.
"I heard my father talking to the rest of the family about a threat towards our clan." Hinata sighed. "I didn't even know that happened."
There was silence until Neji said, "I did."
Surprised, Hinata looked up at her cousin. "When did this happen? How come I didn't know about this?"
Neji stuffed his hands in his pockets. "They didn't exactly tell me, but I overheard Ryoki talking to the other Branch family about a letter that arrived this morning that was supposed to be for the Main house, but ended up in the Branch house. Plus…" He stopped to look at her. "It seemed they wanted this quiet from you, since it happened before and they didn't want to frighten you."
"Frighten me? Who do they think I am…a scaredy-cat?"
Her older cousin was surprised at her reaction with this, but said nothing.
Hinata took a deep breath to calm her, knowing that the family meant well. "Souka…" She stopped in mid-step. "Demo…what would the Sand Village have against our clan?"
Neji shrugged, also stopping to keep up with her. "I would like to know the answer to that as well." He turned and began walking again, removing his Byakugan from his eyes. Hinata followed suit, still thinking about their conversation as they arrived at the school.
***********************
"Mou! I can't believe this!" a young man with a white dog walking at his side complained. He stopped and sat down on a nearby tree stump just outside at the front of the school. Kiba Inuzuka rested his chin on his upward palm and growled. At that moment, the white dog, Akamaru, placed his chin on top of his master's leg. Hinata kneeled down to pet the top of Akamaru's head.
"What are you complaining about?" a calm voice spoke. Hinata looked up to see Shino walking towards them, another teammate of hers. Well…not for long anyway. "It's not the end of the world," he added.
Hinata nodded in agreement. "He's right, Kiba-kun," she said softly, straightening up. In her mind though, the dark haired girl was also complaining about this new system the Hokage thought up. New teams were now being formed, as well as new Senseis, which was quite shocking really. Kiba had the right to complain a lot more, since he was paired up with the most unlikely people – Rock Lee and Yamanaka Ino. His Sensei, oddly enough, was Kakashi Hatake, Naruto's sensei. She, on the other hand was paired up with Sasuke and Shikamaru and no doubt, as soon as everyone heard her name being called out along with Sasuke's, she received angry and jealous looks from other girls who admired him, except for Sakura, who gave her a thumbs up and a big grin, instead of casting daggers towards her. She and Hinata had become close friends after their mission last year, so Sakura had no reason to be jealous of her since Hinata already has her heart set on someone else. Gai-sensei was to be their new mentor and she wasn't surprised when Gai-sensei started crying after realizing Lee was no longer his student. Hinata also thought about who the other students were paired up with. The three students who were going to be with her last sensei, Kurenai, were Sakura, Neji and Chouji.
Kiba grinned suddenly at Shino and Hinata. "Well, at least I'm not with Naruto, unlike some people," he said, turning his head towards Shino, who, as usual gave no reaction to that thought. Even after four years, he was still holding a grudge towards the blond ninja, after defeating him in the Preliminary match. Shino was indeed with Naruto, along with Ten-Ten, to be taught under Asuma-sensei, Neji's former sensei.
"Better with Naruto than Ino," Shino replied calmly.
Kiba's eyes turned into thin slits. He stood up and clenched his fists in front of him. "You want to say that again, Bug Boy!?"
Hinata stood in between them. "Yamete…." she said softly.
Shino stood there, unnerved by Kiba's threat. "Better with Naruto than Ino," he repeated, driving Kiba's nerves up the wall. Hinata tried not to laugh, because she knew that Kiba and Shino were friends and would never hurt each other in that way. If they did, they knew that Hinata would be very hurt by it and the two of them would never allow that to happen.
"Hinata-chan!" All three of them, despite of just one name being called, looked up to see a pink-haired Chuunin approaching them. Sasuke was walking right beside her, minus Naruto, which confirmed Hinata's suspicions why Sakura didn't mind her being partnered up with Sasuke.
"Ah, Sakura-chan! Sasuke-san!" Hinata replied, waving back at them. "Where's Naruto-kun?" The dark haired Chuunin looked around behind them, hoping to see the hyper-active blond to appear before them, but there was no sign of him.
"Oh, Naruto already went ahead with Iruka-sensei for some ramen, as usual," Sakura replied, rolling her eyes. "Naruto needed someone to talk to about our new, 'system' and speaking of that…" Sakura leaned over and whispered to Hinata, "I'm kind of scared to be working with your cousin…"
Hinata looked at her, surprised. "Doushite? There's nothing wrong with my cousin, Sakura-chan!" she added with a short laugh.
Sakura shrugged. "Well—"
"Sakura," Sasuke called.
Both girls looked up. Sasuke seemed to be in a hurry somehow, impatiently stuffing his hands in his pockets much like what Neji would do if he had a reason to talk to someone alone and was staring at Sakura. The pink haired Chuunin blushed and nodded back at him, turning her attention back to Hinata. "Well, I better get going, Hinata-chan," she said, giving her a hug before joining Sasuke.
Hinata stared at their back as they walked away and for some strange reason, she caught a glimpse of Sakura holding hands with Sasuke, who didn't seem to mind at all. 'Well, THAT'S a surprise,' she thought.
"Ma, I better get going. It's getting late and Akamaru looks like he's hungry," Kiba spoke, standing up and patting Akamaru on his head. He glanced at Hinata and Shino. "See you guys later!" He turned and left.
Hinata waved. "Ja mate, Kiba-kun."
Shino too, turned to look at Hinata. "See you tomorrow, Hinata," he replied calmly, as he turned to go the opposite direction of Kiba. Hinata waved to the bug-nin as well and before long, Neji appeared from the classroom. "Oh, Neji-niisan! What took you so long?" She turned and began walking ahead.
Neji had his hands at his side as he joined to walk with Hinata. "Gomen, Hinata-sama. I had to speak with the sensei about this new change in our teams."
Hinata giggled. "Along with everyone else in the class, I presume?" She looked over her shoulder and indeed, Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji marched out of the building, their faces gloomy. Chouji seemed the most disturbed by his new team, seeing that he was teamed up with the Rookie ninja, Neji. Behind them, came Ten Ten, Rock Lee and Gai-sensei. Ten Ten was rolling her eyes when she came out with a teary-eyed Rock Lee and Gai-sensei, moaning about how they weren't going to be together again.
Neji seemed to have noticed this as well, but he just shrugged it off and walked on. Hinata had to stop giggling in order to catch up to her cousin back to the Hyuuga household.
Suddenly, just as they were about to reach the gates of the Hyuuga household, Neji stopped to look over his shoulder at the abandoned path behind them. Hinata looked at him curiously. "Neji-niisan? What's wrong?" Curious, she looked over her shoulder as well.
"I felt something," Neji spoke quietly and the way he said it, sent shivers down Hinata's spine. "But it's probably just my imagination." He opened the door for her to allow her in first before following her inside. Neji closed the door behind them, but Hinata, as they went their separate ways, could not get rid of that suspicious look on her cousin's face the moment he said he 'felt something.' From Neji's lips, it was never a good sign.
***********************
A young girl, barely six, whimpered as she sank down to the dock and held the most precious treasure tightly in her arms. "Okasan…" she whispered, tears falling down all at once from her eyes and streaming down her pale cheeks. "Naze? Naze okasan?" She sniffed, looked up into the dark sky and watched the moon rise above her.
"Why are you crying?" a voice spoke behind her. Startled, the little girl turned around and accidentally dropped her necklace into the water. She looked up and noticed a young boy her age, but she couldn't tell what he looked like because his face was shadowed by the darkness. The only thing she COULD see were his eyes, the glowed the brightest green she has ever seen in her life. There were marks around his eyes…they were black and they frightened her a bit. Then she remembered her most precious treasure had fallen into the water. The little girl turned back around towards the water to find her necklace slowly sinking deep into the darkness of the lake. "Iiee!" she cried frantically, desperately trying to find a stick of some kind to reach for the necklace before it completely disappears into the darkness. More tears fell from her eyes and as soon as she was about to reach for it instead with her hands, a mighty wind almost blew her off balance. She grabbed on for dear life at the sides of the dock and looked up to find the same little boy floating at the surface the water, with his arms outstretched. There, in the palm of his hand was something shiny and familiar in the little girl's eyes. "My….my necklace!" she gasped.
The little boy drew nearer, but hesitated for a while, afraid that he would frighten her. The little girl, however just gave him a smile, holding out both her hands for him to put the necklace in. Certain that she wasn't going to scream, he approached her, his feet touching the wooden dock and handed the necklace back to her. The little girl closed her eyes in relief and held it tightly against her chest once again. "Okasan…"she whispered gently.
The little boy turned and was about to leave, when he heard her say, "Arigatou." He paused and turned around to look at her, surprised that someone would be so grateful for what he had done. "No one said that to me before," he said, the surprise in his voice visible.
"Well then I'm the first to say it," she replied, smiling this time. "What's your name?"
With that question, the little boy approached her slowly. The little girl didn't seem to be afraid anymore, which was shocked him a lot more. "Why do you want to know my name?" Her semi-long dark hair was the only thing he'll remember about her, along with her white eyes that penetrated through him.
"I should at least know the name of the one who saved my most precious treasure," she said, looking away shyly.
The little boy turned away. "In time, you will know my name, but I can't tell you. It scares even my own family."
"Why?"
He didn't answer this time. Instead, he turned and walked away. She watched him leave, but the little girl knew she will never forget the 'little boy with no name.'
GoodGurl: WELL!? What do you guys think? *grins* Make sure to review okay? I know there are a lot of Gaara/Hinata fans out there! Oh yes, you also noticed this is a slight- SLIGHT SasuSaku as well! ^^ See you in the next chapter!