Note: Where are all the Gaara/Hinata fans gone? L Well I hope I get more reviews after this! Enjoy reading!!!

Chapter 2 – Hidden

Things usually happened in dreams, but not in his case. He does not sleep, therefore he does not dream. He would not allow "it" to take over his body even if it meant sacrificing sleep from his daily routine for the rest of his life. This was the moment where he gets to really touch the gentle breeze, feel the water in the palm of his hands and enjoy life as it was given to him.

But…

"Oi! Oi, Gaara!" a hoarse voice spoke up suddenly.

The moment was once again shattered, even though he knew it would eventually happen. He was back to reality, back to the harsh life he has always lived for the past sixteen years. And as expected, he had his hands on his head, gasping in pain, his breathing low and obscure.

Why? Why was he given this life? Why was he hated so much? What did he ever do? Still those questions remained for so long, they've been carved into his memories.

"Gaara…" He looked up and noticed a familiar figure standing by him. Even if she claimed to be his "family," the definite fear in her eyes each time he looked at her was a simple reminder that he was just a monster—a dangerous animal that needed to be looked after in case he went berserk. Gaara gave her a death glare, before standing up to walk away. Around him, trees suddenly emerged and darkness became his only friend, in fact, it WAS his friend. It embraced him like a friend and it knew him like no one else would. It understood his feelings, helped him flee from the pain he never feels. Gaara looked up into the dark sky and watched, standing still like a statue.

Not too far behind him, Temari looked around. Konoha has never changed, even after four years of being absent—after their whole "plan" to annihilate Konoha's strong forces. She was quite surprised when KazeKage-sama sent three of them back again.

Gaara turned his empty eyes ahead of them. Temari and Kankouro glanced at each other. "What is it, Gaara?" Temari asked worriedly, although she knew he wasn't going to answer.

"Stick to the plan this time, Gaara," Kankouro spoke, glaring at the back of his younger brother's head. "We don't the same thing to happen again like four years ago…"

The red headed Sand Chuunin didn't answer, instead his eyes glared back at them before the Sand from his Gourd began to move around him.

"Gaara! What are you doing!?" Kankouro yelled, but before he had a chance to stop him, Gaara disappeared into the darkness. "Kuso! What does he think he's doing!?" the taller boy spoke, glancing at Temari. He clenched his fists at his sides and angrily kicked a pebble nearby where it flew as far as the eye could see.

The dream, it felt so real, but then again it was no dream. It was from her childhood past…she met a little boy when she was very young—a little boy who seemed so near, yet so far away. Who was he? Why had that memory come now in her dreams?

Hinata shivered as her eyes opened to greet the night. It was still dark outside, but somehow she could no longer sleep as if her eyes were begging her to stay awake. The dark haired Chuunin sat up from her bed and slowly approached her dresser. She reached inside with her hands and in the darkness; she found what she was looking for. Hinata curled her fist around the item and pulled it out slowly. "It's been a long time," she whispered, lifting up her mother's necklace up to her eye level. The simple silver chain glimmered in the moonlight and the end of this chain, was an oval-shaped pearl the size of her pinkie that glowed a bright green whenever it touched darkness. She never removed this necklace at all from its hiding place for ten long years, afraid that she might lose it again.

Hinata placed it around her bare neck where her Konoha bandanna would usually be and stared at herself in the mirror. From the mirror, she glanced at the window where it overlooked Konoha's beautiful formation of the forest and just past that, she knew it was where she first met the little boy.

The short haired Chuunin took a deep breath. She could no longer sleep, a new day had already caught up to her and there was no point in getting back to bed if she were to wake up three more hours later for the second day of school. The young Chuunin slowly made her way out her bedroom and about half an hour later, found herself standing on the dock.

For some strange reason, she was drawn to the lake after having a dream of that little boy. The moon was full, a sight she has not seen for ten years and the water surrounding the area around her, added an eerie look to the silence of the night. Hinata shivered as a cold wind blew pass her, forcing her to hug herself. She rubbed her arms for warmth, hitting herself mentally for forgetting to bring her coat. That thought really didn't occur to her since she figured it wasn't going to be cold and then she obviously thought wrong. The young Chuunin sighed and stopped, wishing for warmth when she knew it wasn't going to happen and walked over to the very edge of the clock until she could see her reflection in the water.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind her. Hinata paused and listened as the footsteps seemed to have stopped. Slowly she turned her head around, her heart pounding madly as her whole body faced the company of the "intruder." Hinata blinked at what she was seeing—nothing but darkness. She breathed a sigh of relief and gasped in surprise when she turned and found herself face to face with a pair of green, soulless eyes. Hinata fell back, the back of her left heel, hitting something behind her, forcing her to stumble towards the water. She closed her eyes, ready for impact of the water; however, she felt nothing except for a hand that suddenly went around her waist. Hinata opened her eyes, staring straight into the same empty eyes—not closer than before.

No words were exchanged as the hand pulled her back up and quickly let go of her. It wasn't until the figure backed up did Hinata was able to pinpoint what her "savior" looked like.

"You…" she gasped, startled at this realization that the person who helped her keep her balance was none other than Gaara of the Sand. Hinata's heart once again began to pound violently.

Gaara just stared at her, his arms folded in a similar fashion that most of the quiet boys do to hide their insecurities, not that Hinata was being a psychiatrist mind you.

"You're Gaara of the Sand," Hinata managed to say.

He didn't respond, except the moment he noticed the necklace around her neck, Gaara took a step, his eyes now trained on the familiar jewel. Hinata took a step back, her heart pounding faster. Gaara took this as a form of threat.

"Are you afraid of me?" Gaara whispered, his eyes staring right at her, like fire burning through the quiet fields of the snow.

Hinata clenched her fists at her sides. "Why would I be afraid?" Why was she trying to be brave anyway?

The young red haired Sand Chuunin smirked. "I can ease that fear of yours by killing you."

The dark haired Leaf Chuunin's eyes widened. "So-so why don't you just kill me then?" Hinata knew she was gambling her life towards a dealer who would cheat to win, but one bluff couldn't hurt.

Gaara turned around. "Right now, I have no thirst for blood. But then again, I have no reason to kill a weakling like you," he added, walking away.

"Then why are you here? There must have been a reason why you're here. You-you can kill me right here, right now yet--" She wasn't able to finish her sentence, when all of a sudden she was lifted off the ground, a hand gripped around her neck. Hinata looked down into the green orbs that belonged to Gaara, her hands automatically gripped tightly around Gaara's hand, hoping he would let go if she would just hold on.

"Yes, I could kill you right now. Demo…" To Hinata's relief, he let go of her, dropping Hinata down on the floor where she was left gasping for air. Even though he had released her, Hinata knew she wasn't free from danger. "I have other things to do than deal with someone whom I'm not ordered to kill." He turned around, ready to leave.

"You're here for my family, aren't you?" Hinata gasped out loud, as she struggles to get up from the ground. "I-I won't let you harm ANY of them!"

Gaara stopped and looked over his shoulder, his green eyes glowing underneath the moonlight. "Oh? And what do you intend on doing to me if I hurt one of them?"

"I'll…" Why she's doing this, she may never know, but part of her wanted nothing more than to teach this Sand Nin a lesson IF she ever decides on SOMETHING. "I'll…" And there was none she could think of.

"Hmph!" Gaara snorted, turning away from her. "I thought so! For someone who is supposed to be the head of the Hyuuga family, you're quite pathetic!" With those words, Gaara disappeared behind a gusting wind of sand.

Hinata clenched her fists once more and looked down. "I-am-not-WEAK!"

"Hinata-sama? Daijoubu?" The dark haired girl looked up and noticed walking beside her on their way to school was Neji.

Hinata nodded and smiled. "Hai! Daijoubu!"

Neji stopped walking and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hinata-sama, please tell me what is the matter? It is my duty, as a member of the Branch Family to protect you."

"That's very kind of you, Neji-niisan, demo…"

The taller youth shook his head. "I need to you to tell me everything Hinata-sama…onegai."

Hinata took a deep breath and finally gave in. "Last night, I saw Gaara of the sand."

"Nani!?" Neji gasped. "Did he hurt you!? If he did, I will kill him!"

"I'm fine, Neji-niisan! You should be worried about the rest of the family!" Hinata sighed and sat down on the nearest boulder.

"But you're the head of the family!" Neji exclaimed.

"Then as the head of the family I will protect those whom I truly care about!"

Neji blinked, surprised at the sudden confidence and determination in his younger cousin. The sudden outburst from the usual soft-spoken girl gave Neji a little bit of confidence that she could run the Hyuuga clan without any problems at all. However, the taller teenager couldn't help but worry a little more about her well-being. True, she was showing the confidence she needed, but he didn't know how long that would last. "Hinata-sama…" He wanted to say something to calm her down, but as soon as he found the right words to say, a sniff came from the younger Chuunin. Hinata Hyuuga was crying…THAT was definitely a surprise. She may have low self-esteem but Hinata never cried over situations like these. "Hinata-sama!" She was strong in her own way but this…something must have broken down the mask her face was hidden under.

"I—I don't know what to do, Neji-niisan…" She wiped her tears away with her arm and looked up, her eyes swollen from crying. "I want to protect all of you…I want to be able to fight back, demo…he's right…I'm just too weak!"

Neji sighed and sat down beside her. "You are not weak; Hinata-sama…There is no reason for you to think that you need to protect all of us. We are a family, so we protect each other. You can't protect all of us alone. We work together and I, as member of the Branch Family, am supposed to be the one protecting you. My father told me it was my duty. That is why I must be stronger so you don't have to push yourself to be stronger. You are not meant to protect…you are meant to lead."

Hinata took a long deep breath and nodded. "You're right Neji-niisan…" She looked up and smiled.

Neji nodded and wiped her tears away with his thumb. "Sometimes we tend to turn away from what we are meant to do, but we can't change who we are." He stood up and offered a hand towards her. "We're going to be late for the meeting, so we better get going."

The younger girl took Neji's hand and she was helped lifted up from the rock where she sat. "Arigatou gozaimasu, Neji-niisan…" she said, smiling.

The taller youth nodded and stuffed his hands in his pockets, turning around to face the direction they were supposed to head to. "I find this change of teams rather ridiculous…" He said all of a sudden, breaking the silence between them as they walked to school.

Hinata looked at him and laughed. "Neji-niisan I think there's a reason why they did this. Maybe it was to give us a chance to bond with everyone else in our class. I believe that all of us are a family, despite the differences we may have."

Neji said nothing after that.

"Miina! Miina!" No one listened as he glanced around the students who were talking amongst their friends. Annoyed, Hokage-sama took a deep breath and yelled, "URUSAI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Immediately, everyone quieted down, except for a little impatient stomp on the ground, which happened to have come from Naruto. Because of that, a slipper flew from over the crowd, hitting the blond Kyuubi square in the face and sent him falling on the ground unconscious.

'Ah! Naruto-kun!' Hinata gasped in her head. She wanted to run to him, but Neji gave her a warning look not to do such a thing. The younger girl had no choice but to stay in her spot in between her cousin and Sakura.

'Mou…Baka Naruto!' Sakura thought, rolling her eyes.

"Ahem…" Hokage-sama took another deep breath. "As you may all know, there is a little bit of change in your teams. But don't worry, it will only be temporary. If you're not happy with these teams, well tough luck..." He paused and looked around.

A complete dead silence.

"This change of teams is just something we all cooked up, so that we may test you on how well you interact with others." He glanced from side to side towards the Senseis who were all staring back at their own students. "Your Senseis will also mark you on how well your jitsus work with everyone else's, but the most important thing is teamwork. Now, you have all learned to work well with your previous teams and for that, I am satisfied, but how WELL can you work with those you have not fought with? Beginning Monday morning, you will all go to your new teams…So for the rest of the week, you are all free to do whatever you want…Dismissed." Hokage-sama nodded at his senseis and turned to leave.

Hinata watched as Hokage-sama disappeared behind the corridors of the palace. Naruto had stirred himself awake, cussing out some vulgar words Hinata has already heard come out of his lips. She has always admired him. Something about him makes her feel confident. She wished sometimes she had the guts to say whatever she wanted to Gaara, but she knew she didn't. The only ones who are able to say something that clever to him was either Naruto, Sakura or even her older cousin. "Hey Hinata..." The dark haired girl turned to her right and noticed Sakura smiling at her. "Are you all right? You look like you were out of it just now."

The shorter girl smiled back at her and nodded. "Hai, daijoubu!"

Sakura sighed. "Yokata! Listen, Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi-sensei and I are going out for something to eat for lunch later, would you like to come? It's sort of like a goodbye thing for us to be together as a team."

Hinata thought for a moment. Maybe going out with her friends would be a good idea to get her mind off of the worries that were haunting her. Why can't she be as strong as her Niisan? "Sure! I would love to! Can Neji-niisan come?" As soon as his name was mentioned, Neji nudged Hinata in the shoulder.

The pink haired girl looked beside Hinata at Neji and thought for a moment, then smiled. "Of course! You two have been inseparable lately so it wouldn't make sense if I didn't invite him too!"

Neji sighed, folding his arms across his chest and looked away.

Hinata smiled. "We'll be there! What time?"

Sakura thought for a moment. "Hm…noon time at Naruto's favourite ramen shop!"

"Okay! See you there!"

"Ja ne!" Sakura waved and left, leaving Hinata and Neji alone once again.

"Who said I was going?" Neji suddenly spoke up after a few moments of silence. He kept his arms folded across his chest, his eyes focused on his female cousin.

Hinata frowned. "Neji-niisan is anti-social!"

Neji snorted and looked away. "So what if I am? I don't have to go if I don't want to." Suddenly, he felt her tugging at his arm. The taller teen looked back and noticed that Hinata was clinging at his arm, looking up at him with those puppy dog eyes.

"Onegai????????"

One thing that bothered Neji the most was the puppy dog look, something that Hinata was used to doing every time Neji didn't agree to anything that she wanted to do. Who knows, maybe it wasn't just Hinata who uses that kind of technique; maybe all the women in the world use it to their close male friends and family. Sasuke must have fallen victim to that look already. He took a deep breath and jerked his arm away from her. "Fine…" he finally said, rolling his eyes.

A figure appeared from behind the trees. In the silence of the morning, a sound of footsteps could be heard echoing in the distance. "This is new…are you sure he's capable of doing his job? Because right now…I feel that I can't seem to trust him."

"In time, he will understand his purpose and that is to follow orders whenever needed. He was born to kill."

"Well, he better understand that soon or our whole deal is off," he spoke in a threatening tone. "I'm sure your boss will be displeased with that idea.

"I promised you a kill and I intend to keep it." The shadowy figure moved a step back and threw something on the ground. Suddenly, a cloud of smoke surrounded them and the figure disappeared without a trace.

He looked up into the sky and crumpled a piece of rock in his hand into pieces. "Soon it will be over and soon…HE will become the successor…."

"You know, he's acting really weird…" The tall figure which belonged to Kankurou stood up from his spot on the floor and turned around to face his sister. "Temari, what do we do with him? I think something's happened to his brain after his fight with Naruto…"

Temari gave him a weird look and sighed. "That was four years ago, Kankurou…how can it affect him now?"

The taller boy shrugged. "Maybe it has something to do with the fact that we're back in Konoha again, making him remember all those things that happened."

"That's impossible! Kazekage-sama erased all that. Don't be an idiot!" Temari walked pass him towards Gaara, who was staring out the window into the streets below. "Gaara…"

Gaara turned his head and glanced at his older sister.

"Where did you disappear off to last night?"

The red haired Chuunin stared into her eyes for a moment, and then turned his attention back to the people below. "None of your business," he said simply. Down below in the streets, he noticed a bunch of familiar looking people walking happily towards the ramen shop. Among them, he noticed was the same girl he met last night, the one with the long dark hair and gentle eyes. The blond boy, who had sat down before everyone else began to order, but the girl with the long pink hair pushed him off of the seat and patted a seat beside her so the one with the dark, spiky hair could sit down. Gaara paid no heed towards the rest of the people with them, instead, his attention was mainly focused on the quiet, dark haired girl and the firm looking tall boy—both having the same eyes.

Temari clenched her fists. "You have to understand something, Gaara. We are on a mission and you can't just go wherever you pleased and not tell us WHERE you go!"

"So my purpose after all is to be the one to do the job, while you two receive the reward?" The youngest sibling stared back at Temari.

Temari was speechless.

"You know that's not true, Gaara!"

Gaara glared at Kankurou, said nothing and then disappeared behind the cloud of sand. "Gaara!" Temari and Kankurou yelled in unison.

He was nothing more than a killing machine, without a purpose—only to kill.

He had no feelings. No motive of the killing—he was only following orders.

At times, he just wanted to kill himself, but the sand from his gourd wouldn't let him. It protected him wherever he went. He was nothing more than a monster with no heart, so why…why was he suddenly attached to this particular girl sitting right below him?

Why was she laughing, while his mouth only made sounds of hatred?

Why was she smiling, while all this time, he has spent so many years frowning in the darkness?

There were so many questions he wanted to ask her, while at the same time he wanted to kill her for being so happy. The girl turned to glance away from everyone else, towards the mountains that resembled the faces of the previous Hokages. Her eyes were far away and for a brief moment, Gaara noticed how her eyes seemed to hold sadness within them. Why should she be sad when he was the one who didn't have friends like hers? Just sitting with them and having fun with them…isn't that enough for her?

Gaara shifted his weight to his left leg and perched himself more comfortably on top of the tree. The girl was standing up, while her cousin noticed. "Where are you going Hinata-sama?"

Hinata glanced back at her cousin and smiled. "You can stay here for a while Neji-niisan. I'm going for a walk."

"Want me to go with you?"

The girl shook her head. "Iiee…you stay here and have fun, ne? Ja!" She waved good bye and left, leaving Neji with a little bit of disappointment as he turned back around to face everyone else. Sakura had her hand on top of Naruto, his head drowning into the large cup of ramen he was eating from, while Sasuke sat there trying to pretend he didn't know them. Kakashi-sensei was just minding his own business, sipping a cup of tea in hand. Neji all gave them odd looks, wishing Hinata had agreed for him to go for a walk with her.

Gaara watched as Hinata disappear behind the crowds of people walking on the streets. The Sand Chuunin stood up from the tree and disappeared, leaving a mount of sand behind to perch on top of the tree.

She felt so lonely, despite the people that surrounded her. She was like the darkest color around bright colors of people in a painting. To her, she felt like she wasn't there, like she was someone invisible. They saw her as someone who always smiled. She was someone who never cared about the bad things in life, but the good things in people. But they didn't know her that well. Not even Neji-niisan whom she has always been close to all these years.

When he said those words last night, she knew she had to grow up. Hinata knew she had to mature not just in personality, but in strength as well. Was she really that weak? Of course she was. Her father always chose her youngest sister over her, always favored Hanabi over her. She was stronger than herself. Hanabi was much smarter…and yet she…who was she? Even if she tried to be stronger, she knew she was only pretending.

A gust of wind startled Hinata from her reverie. She turned around and noticed the same person she met last night standing there, like a ghost from the graveyard. Even in the sunlight, he was pale. "What do you want?" This time, she was ready, but she knew she wasn't going to win against a fight with him. Hinata made a fighting stance, ready to face him at any cost.

Gaara was curious for the first time. If he calls himself human, then he too would be curious about himself, but Hinata was at the top of his list of curiosity, never mind him. To him…somehow, she looked quite astonishing with that far away look of hers. But…he had a job to do. "You," he simply said in a monotone voice.

"You'll have to fight me first in order to GET me!" Quickly, Hinata's hands formed into the Byakugan seal. "Byakugan!" she yelled, her veins popping out from around her eyes.

"Very well…" Suddenly, he appeared from behind her. "But do you really think you can defeat me?"

Hinata kicked from behind her, but as soon as she did, all her leg met was nothing but air. She gasped and turned back around in front of her and noticed that Gaara had disappeared. She scanned quickly with her Byakugan eyes, once in a while keeping her stance in case he appeared somewhere.

All of a sudden, sand appeared from around her ankles, like a snake around its prey. "Ah!" Hinata gasped, hitting it with her palms, hoping to get rid of it. However, the more she hit it, the bigger it got. The snake-like sand now surrounded her whole body, just below her shoulders.

"If you stop struggling, it will stop moving," Gaara's eerie voice spoke behind her. "The more it will move upwards, the more you will lose air from it."

"What-do you want-from me?" Hinata managed to gasp out.

Gaara leaned his head against her shoulder. "I'm here to tell you that someone close to you will betray-!" But before he could finish his sentence, something hit him from behind. The Sand Chuunin looked back quickly and noticed Neji charging towards him.

'Someone close to me will betray what? Who?' Hinata wondered as she was given a chance to breathe again when Neji broke Gaara's desert coffin technique. "Hinata-sama!" Neji ran to Hinata's side once she fell on the ground, coughing for air. The taller youth looked up, glaring up at Gaara. "What have you done to her!?"

Gaara backed up a bit and smirked. "Nothing…I was only trying to tell her the truth. I'm sure you'd want to do the same thing too, Hyuuga Neji." With those words, he disappeared in his usual fashion.

Hinata looked up at Neji. "Neji-niisan???? What does he--?" The younger Chuunin gasped and didn't get a chance to continue when she suddenly fell unconscious in Neji's arms.

"Hinata-sama!? Hinata-sama!"

GoodGurl: OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH! What WAS Gaara trying to say to Hinata? Could there BE something going on behind the household that Hinata doesn't know about? SO many questions!!! Heh heh! Stay tuned! ;) Oh, I also apologize if it's not that accurate…;