Note: Yeay! I am so glad that there were more people who reviewed and more fans of this couple! XD Thank you all so very much! Anyway, we last left off with Hinata being attacked by some unknown Shinobis in the forbidden forest but was rescued by another stranger…who are they? What do they have to do with her?

Chapter 4 - Love

Her face…it was very sad. She must have been dreaming of something so emotional that a tear had fallen from her eyes. He noticed how ghostly pale her skin was. He grabbed her injured hand gently where Temari had explained a kunai had pierced through and began wrapping a thin, white bandage around it. He heard her whimper and once again he glanced back up at her face. More tears had fallen from her eyes and out of nowhere, he lifted up one hand and wiped them away.

She stirred, moving her head from left to right, until she finally opened her eyes and looked straight upward. Gaara jerked his hand away and quickly finished wrapping the bandage around her hand and went for the other one, but not before she pulled it away from him. She gasped and sat up from bed. "What do you want from me!?" Afraid, Hinata crawled away from him until her back could feel nothing but the cold wall behind her. Realizing that, she looked around desperately, noticing that she was inside some kind of jail cell. "Where am I!?"

Gaara stood up and walked up to her, one hand holding the other roll of bandage. Without a word, he sat back down on the bed, trapping her in between himself and the wall. He looked at her as his hand slowly advanced for her. Hinata summoned for her byakugan and aimed her palm at his heart. Gaara sat there and watched as her palm stopped in midair and started to shake uncontrollably. She winced and looked at her hand, which she realized was all wrapped in white. "If you move your hand more, it will continue to bleed," he said quietly.

Hinata looked at him. "Where am I?" She was once again in a verge of tears, but she wasn't about to let this young man see her cry, or else he would take that as an advantage for him to hurt her, despite the fact that she's been defending him from her cousin.

"Do you know yet?" he asked suddenly.

"Nani?" She stared into his eyes, which, for some strange reason held sudden gentleness within them. Hinata wanted to know WHY he was helping her and telling her all these things. Maybe they were lies after all. Maybe he was going to lie to her so she would believe him and then he would betray her once he had his fun.

Gaara looked back down at her other injured hand, which was bleeding a lot more rapidly. The blood seeped at her side. Without warning, he grabbed it and began wrapping it urgently with the bandage. Hinata had no time to react nor did she have a chance to pull them away because he was holding her wrist tightly. All she could do was wince in pain as he finished covering up the wound. There was a moment of silence as Gaara stood up and began walking out of the cell.

"Why are you helping me?" Hinata suddenly asked, forcing Gaara to stop near the door. The young Sand-nin simply turned his head and glanced at her.

"Gaara, will you bring the nice young lady something to eat?" a familiar voice echoed around them. Both of them looked up to see a fairly tall man with glasses and long dark hair tied up in a ponytail behind him walking freely down the stairs. Gaara said nothing and walked pass the man. He gave him a glare before walking up the stairs to fetch some food for Hinata. The dark haired girl watched as he disappeared behind the walls of the building. Somehow, she wished he stayed, because she simply didn't feel safe around this man who was walking to her now.

"I apologize about earlier," he said. "I had no choice but to hit you as hard as I could." He noticed the way she was sitting…scared…careful. "You don't need to be afraid of me. You should be afraid of something else, especially those men who are after you. Luckily, Temari-chan, Kankurou and I came by just in time before they killed you."

"Who are you?"

"Oh how rude of me! I apologize for not introducing myself…Boku-wa Serizawa Ribu-des! I believe you are Hyuuga Hinata…correct?"

"Hai…" She glanced down at the handiwork Gaara created around her hands. She was quite surprised how gentle he was with her wounded hand. She didn't even thank him, but she wasn't sure how or why she should thank him. After all, he was her enemy…right?

Ribu nodded. "That's good!"

Suddenly, Hinata stood up. "Thank you very much for your kindness, Serizawa-san-"

The dark haired man shook his head. "Iiee…don't call me that. It makes me sound so old! Call me Ribu."

The girl nodded. "Hai…Ribu…Thank you for your kindness, demo I have to get going or my family will be very worried about me."

Ribu shook his head. "I'm afraid that's not a good idea," he said simply.

Hinata looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's as simple as that…you can't leave. I apologize for being rude, demo I have orders for you to stay here until more orders are carried out."

"What…what kind of orders?"

Ribu smiled, but it wasn't the type of smile that made her feel warm inside. "Gaara will bring you food soon." He took a step back, turned and closed the door. Hinata raced to the door, but Ribu had locked it in front of her.

"Nani!? I don't understand! What do you want from me!?" She gripped her injured hands around the cold bars. Ribu said nothing as he turned and walked back up the stairs. Hinata looked down, tears falling from her face. "What do you want?????" She landed on her knees and began to cry.

"Okasan! Okasan!" A small hand shook the lifeless body on the bed. No matter how hard she cried, or no matter how loud she called out her name, she knew her mother would never come back. "OKASAN!"

"Hinata…." The little girl felt a firm, large hand on her shoulder. "Enough…it's time for you to stop crying. If you are to be the heir to the main family, you will learn not to cry."

Hinata gripped the necklace her mother gave her against her heart and cried for the very last time. "Hai…otousan."

However, despite her father's words, she would continue to cry, even at night. Every time she thought of her mother, she would cry in her sleep, even during her training sessions with her sensei and even after meeting the little boy whom she already considered her friend. She would never dare her tears to her father. She has learned it from the very beginning….Hanabi had to deal with the same thing…even worse than her. Hanabi had learned not to show any emotions to ANYONE, let alone towards her older sister, who was a lot more sensitive than herself. She never knew emotions….Hinata had learned to have a heart from her mother, while Hanabi never got that chance. She was too young when her mother died.

The little girl stood up and walked out of the bedroom where her mother was now resting…forever.

Gaara returned a few seconds later, finding the girl in a fetal position. She wasn't moving, but once in a while, he saw her shaking uncontrollably, like she was having some kind of seizure. Slowly, Gaara walked up to the cell, carrying a large silver tray full of fruits and other foods for Hinata. She whimpered and she slowly opened her eyes as Gaara unlocked the door.

Silently, he placed the tray down on the ground and watched as Hinata slowly sat up from bed and stared down at the food in front of her. She just stared…as if she wasn't sure what to do with the food given to her.

"You should eat," Gaara said quietly, getting up from the ground.

Hinata looked up and watched as Gaara moved away, but for some unknown reason, she reached over and grabbed his arm. Gaara jerked his head at her, giving her a warning glare. Hinata removed her hand and looked down. "Gomenne…I….I just don't want to be alone. Can you stay here with me?" Why was she suddenly asking him with this type of favour? It's not like she knows him very well! Maybe…maybe she wanted to know after all…wanted to know why he said those things to her.

Shockingly, Gaara did not protest. He simply sat down beside her on the bed and watched as she slowly reached down and took an apple from the tray and began eating it slowly.

And then there was silence.

The only thing they could hear was the sound of Hinata chewing on the apple and the croaking of frogs outside. Hinata glanced towards the window where night had suddenly fallen. Sooner or later, they would find out that she was missing.

Hiashi Hyuuga glanced up from his dinner plate towards the empty seat beside Neji. "Where is Hinata?"

Neji looked up, also asking the same question in his head. That same day, Sasuke and Shikamaru came out of the forest with worried looks etched on their faces. It was as if they knew what was to come if Neji ever found out what had happened to his cousin, because as soon as they stepped out, they quickly glanced up at Neji. They were surprised though, that he was there, but Neji had explained to them that he was told by his Uncle to look for Hinata. "Where is she?" he had asked.

Sasuke didn't reply….

Neither did Shikamaru.

Both were too afraid to tell him, which was surprising, because these two boys were quite brave in their own way.

"Where is she, Uchiha!?" The tall Hyuuga teenager turned his attention towards Sasuke who was hiding something behind his back.

Sasuke took a deep breath and removed his arm from behind him. It was Hinata's forehead protector held in his hands. "We found this on the ground deep into the forest. We thought we heard screams so we looked around for her, but it was too late. We don't know where she is."

Neji's eyes narrowed, clenching the forehead protector tighter in his hand. "You LEFT her alone!?" He glared at Sasuke, then at Shikamaru.

Shikamaru lazily looked away, who seemed quite embarrassed at Neji's outburst. Gai-sensei appeared seconds later, wondering what the commotion was about. "What's going on here?"

"Sensei……" Neji decided to cut out his yelling before Gai-sensei gave him a lecture. "Hinata-sama is missing," he said.

Gai-sensei blinked. "What?"

Neji showed him the untouched forehead protector in his hand. "Sasuke and Shikamaru found this in the forest…." The thought of the threatening letter that was sent to the main branch house a week ago scared him. 'Gaara,' he thought.

"Neji!" The call from his Uncle broke Neji from his thoughts. The tall Hyuuga teen looked up, startled and glanced at his Uncle. Hiashi glared at him impatiently. "Where is my daughter?"

Neji stood up and bowed politely. "She told me that she is not hungry. Hinata-sama decided to go for a walk. I apologize for not telling you sooner. If you'll excuse me, I shall do my training." With that said he turned and left, leaving the rest of the family, wondering what was in Neji's thoughts.

The only person who seems to know what's going on was Hanabi herself…

She had no idea what to do. She thought about tricking Gaara, but this young man from the Sand Village was much harder to fool. Hinata knew, despite Gaara's insane attitude, that he was a smart man. But it couldn't hurt to try. Hinata heard Gaara's chair squeak. She looked up and noticed that Gaara was getting up.

"Where are you going?" she asked, getting up from her bed.

Gaara stopped and looked at her. "Going out for a little fresh air," he replied surprising even himself. Honestly, he was tired of watching over her. Even though he's used to the solitude all his life, the company of someone a lot quieter than he is was overwhelming.

Though she hated to admit it, she didn't want him to leave. She didn't want to be left alone in this dingy place. For now, the only one she was depending on not being alone was this Sand-nin. "Can't you at least stay here with me for a little while longer?"

That question, or rather…REQUEST shocked him beyond everything else, but Gaara wasn't the type to show his feelings to anyone, let alone this strange Hyuuga girl. He didn't know why, but when she begged him with those eyes, he wanted to….do something. Did he really want to help her? He didn't understand this sudden attraction he had with this girl. Was it attraction? What did it mean when he was attracted to a girl anyway?

Gaara turned and walked back towards the cell and just stared at her for a while. Hinata stared back. She was used to his stares by now. She has grown accustomed to the fact that it was the same routine he does over and over again every time he was near her. "No," he finally answered.

Hinata blinked and watched as Gaara turned back around and left without another word. What surprised her most was that Gaara had to think before answering, which, in her mind, he has never done before. When it came to the Sand-nin, he went straight to the point and answered right away but this….he had to think about? That was new…

What attracted him to this girl? Maybe it was the fact that she reminded him of that little girl that he chose to forget. He couldn't quite remember what she looked like, but there was a sweet, innocent girl, the same as Hinata whom he met a long time ago. He was a lost boy…at six he had learned to lose all his emotions and focus mainly on himself and how to survive in this crazy world. He has lived in darkness all his life and was marked as 'insane' if you call it that. It started with the fact that he was born, hated by his own mother even before he came out of her womb. Gaara reached out and ran his fingers around the mark left by his mother on his forehead. "Love…" he murmured. That's what this kanji meant. It meant that love forced him to become like this—a monster that can never be loved by anyone or by anything. It was love that killed his mother and it was love that delivered her from pain.

"What does that mean?" Gaara blinked and turned around. Indeed, he was going insane, even as if this very moment. He could see that same little girl he met a long time ago. She was standing before him, tilting her head curiously at him.

"Go away," he mumbled. He didn't need this now. He must be dreaming. He didn't want to sleep and if he does, IT would come and change him into something most of the people he knew feared the most.

"Why?" She took a step forward, her hands clasped behind her. Curious as always, she took a few more steps until she was so close to him that Gaara only needed to move his arm to touch her.

"Because you don't belong here!" he hissed.

"Love," she said, looking up at the mark on Gaara's forehead. "That's what it means right? Gaara, you should wake up if you want to find out what that word REALLY means." And then she disappeared.

Gaara blinked and he found himself sitting down on the roof, beneath the moonlit sky. He wasn't dreaming anymore, but….he looked down and noticed that the roof had scratches on them. IT had come out, but only for a little while. That little girl in his dream had saved him from this hellish nightmare.

"…you should wake up if you want to find out what that word REALLY means…"

That word? Love? Is that what the girl meant?

Gaara shook his head and laughed bitterly. It was impossible to find out something as difficult as the word 'love.' He stood up and looked up at the moon. The only thing he could think of that described the word 'love' was that he LOVED being in the darkness. No one would be able to bring him out of it.

No one.

Hinata looked up. Did she just hear laughing at the top of the roof?

No it wasn't a happy laughter. It was something else. It was bitter and….sad. The girl sat back down on her bed and sighed. By now, her cousin would've found out already that she was missing.

GoodGurl: Kyahahahahah! XD Thank you for all your reviews! I have great fans! Anyhoo, stay tuned in the next chapter….Neji goes on a search with the help of an unlikely person – more attraction grows between Hinata and Gaara gasps and an ESCAPE!

Gaara: frowns Did you have to tell them EVERYTHING!? It's a summary not the next chapter!

GG: ; Sorry! I couldn't help myself!