Note: WOW! I can't believe the reviews! You guys are awesome! Special thanks to Xoni Newcomer for making me realize that yes, Chuunins DO NOT run of chakra that easily. Thanks for bringing that up Xoni! I'll remember that next time huggles Thanks to Rogue, Yuki Aikawa, Cookie6, Kyuubi Pandora Chan, Joann, Goettia, Otakuss, Sariachan-Maria and Malitia for making this fanfiction possible! huggles to you all
Chapter 7 – Touch
"Hinata-sama!" Neji and Ino joined her seconds later and were shocked to see her lifting up an unconscious Gaara off the ground. "Hinata-sama, what are you doing?" Neji stared at her in disbelief as Hinata gently wrapped Gaara's left arm around her shoulders.
"Neji-niisan, onegai…can you help me with him? He's quite heavy," Hinata spoke, trying to keep Gaara steady. She looked like she was about to fall to the side, seeing how Hinata's left leg was bent. Neji quickly went to the other side of Gaara and put his arms around his shoulders and straightened him up.
Ino was unable to understand this situation as she watched the Hyuuga cousins drag Gaara slowly. "Are you two crazy!? Hinata-chan I know you mean well, demo…demo, are you sure this is such a good idea to help him like this? He's our enemy!"
Hinata glanced at the blond girl and smiled. "I know he is, but I couldn't just leave him alone to die." There was determination in her eyes as she and Neji dragged Gaara's heavy body to a nearby cave Neji said he spotted. Ino followed behind, hesitant to be near Gaara.
When they arrived, the cave looked like it was dug up with spoons and forks, because all around the walls there were dents and scratches marked. It seemed smaller than Hinata imagined it to be, but there was no time to ponder. Gaara was getting heavier and heavier each time they dragged him. "Let's put him here," Neji suddenly said, pulling her out of her reverie. Hinata nodded and they both placed him gently on the ground in between one flat boulder and one smooth, round boulder. Ino was hesitant to join them inside. She stood outside, keeping her distance from Gaara, as if expecting him to attack her at any time. Then it started to rain and the blond girl had no choice but to jump ship and join them inside the cave.
"It's raining," Ino announced, glancing outside.
Neji glanced outside as well, and then turned his attention back towards Hinata, who was watching Gaara intently. He could never understand Hianta's motives, especially this particular one. Helping out Gaara was the last thing he thought she'd do, but here she was…here THEY were, helping out the enemy. She looked up at him, a frown sketched across her face. Worrying about this man was the last thing he thought she'd do. "Neji-niisan," she said.
"What is it?" Neji asked.
Hinata looked back down at Gaara's face. "You want to ask me something don't you?"
Neji hadn't really thought about asking her anything, but the look on her face changed his mind. What WAS the reason she was suddenly worried about Gaara? What had happened during her stay there? She knew how to read his face even from far away. Without a word, he slowly shook his head. Even if they ARE related, he didn't feel like asking out loud. "Right now, we need to worry about what's wrong with him," he suggested.
The dark haired girl nodded and examined him carefully with her eyes. "It must be poison," she said, noticing the wound on Gaara's right arm. From here, she could see that the wound itself would not stop bleeding. His chakra was slowly disintegrating, all because of that one little wound and she had to find a way to stop it.
"It looks like we have to stay here for the night," Neji said, glancing outside to the heavy rain that was pouring down hard. "I'll go look for anti-poison plants and I'm sure we'll be able to find around here. I'll have Ino go look for firewood to warm us in the night."
Hinata nodded. "Arigatou," she said.
As soon as Neji and Ino (after complaining about her hair being messed up if she got her hair wet) left, Hinata bravely turned towards Gaara once again. His eyes were closed, the first time she's ever seen him like this and he looked quite…peaceful. She's often wondered what he was dreaming while he ACTUALLY slept or what he was thinking while he was awake, but she never really got any straight answers every time she asked him questions about his life.
Gaara inhaled heavily unexpectedly.
Hinata blinked and put her attention back to her task. Now was not the time to ponder things about that as she glanced back down to the ripped cloth she was holding in her hand. The wound on his arm had not stopped bleeding. She needed to reach to the wound, but something was blocking her way. It was the black shirt he was wearing which was far too big for him that kept her from reaching to his wound. She had just noticed that he was wearing a shirt with sleeves on, rather than the normal attire (consisting of a sash or some sort and a shirt with no sleeves) he wore four years ago when they met for the first time. Hinata blushed. She had no other choice but…
She put down the piece of fabric on the floor and leaned over to place one hand behind his back, once in a while, making sure he wouldn't wake up. Gently, she lifted him up in a sitting position and with her other hand, worked her way to remove his shirt.
After a couple of seconds, she was finally able to remove his shirt completely, showing off half of his body. It was hard work, considering she was a lot lighter and smaller than he was. As soon as she was able to, she leaned down and pressed her lips to the wound and began sucking out the poison. When she finished, she picked up the fabric and moved her way up to the wound in his arm. She wrapped the cloth slowly around the wound and leaned back. Hinata stopped short when she noticed something glowing in the corner of her eyes. She looked to where Gaara's stomach was located and saw something that startled her. He had a long, thick scar going across his stomach. She leaned over a bit more to take a closer look and had the urge to touch it with her hand.
"What do you think you're doing?" Suddenly, she felt a hand going around her throat. Startled, Hinata straightened up, removing her hand from his stomach and stared at him. Gaara was sitting up now, glaring at her, a death grip around her neck.
"Gomenne…I was just—Gaara-san!" Hinata wasn't able to finish her reason for touching him because Gaara was already standing up, as he let go and headed for outside in the rain. She stood up as well and stepped in front of him. "What are you doing?"
Gaara did not listen. Stubbornly, he walked pass her, clutching at his seething wound in his arm. He could her calling his name, but then he suddenly felt lightheaded. His vision was blurry, so he couldn't focus on where he was going. He could hear the rain falling heavily upon his shoulders and his feet seemed to have been moving on its own without even relying on the eyes to see where they were going.
Then he felt an arm around his waist. Gaara protested, but the arm tightened around him, wanting to keep him steady. He felt something warm at his side and he was too tired to think about anything so he leaned close to that warmth and closed his eyes again.
Hinata felt him going heavier against him. She gasped and put her other arm across his stomach. She was too busy to notice that Gaara was still shirtless as she tried to keep him steady. He took another step and Hinata had no choice but to go with the flow. He was getting heavier by the second each step they took and they were sinking lower and lower to the ground.
'I have to get out of here,' Gaara thought to himself. Where was he going? Who was this person beside him? He continued to walk, but his knees were getting weaker and weaker and he could feel him and the warmth sinking lower to the ground. His eyes were closing. He was tired. So tired, but he didn't need to sleep. He couldn't sleep.
Tired? He has never been THIS tired in a long time, so why now? Why did he suddenly feel fatigued?
Hinata continued to struggle, sweat pouring at the sides of her face now. She held tightly and then…it happened. Gaara fell forward, his whole body collapsing on a small puddle that accumulated on the ground. The dark haired girl gasped and kneeled down. "Gaara-san? Gaara-san! Hang on! Please hang on!"
This night was a lot more beautiful than any other nights. It was the darkest night he has ever seen, the rain clouds making the sky looking darker than it usually was. The rain was tapping hard on the roof and outside was the quietest he has ever seen. Of course, it should be, since it was already past midnight. He heard her groan behind him. Ribu turned to look at a figure stirring in her sleep on his bed. The long haired man watched her beautiful form on the bed, wrapped in his bed sheets. There was no way to describe how much he loved her. Despite some of the hurtful, manipulative words he has said to her, he only meant it as an appreciation that he admired her. It was really hard to believe that this girl was related to someone like Gaara. He put his arms behind his back and looked straight ahead.
A shadow appeared behind him, the figure crouched down on the window sill.
He smirked and did not even look at the figure as he said, "How did you do?"
"I almost got myself killed, but I was able to do it."
"Good." Ribu walked over to where his lover laid and sat down on the bed. He looked down at her beautiful face and curled a piece of blond strand behind her ear. "Make sure that he STAYS that way."
"No need. He has a few days left to live anyway."
Ribu smiled. "Well, I guess you've done your job." He leaned down and kissed Temari on the lips, before standing up to open his closet in the room. The trusted young friend of the KazeKage-sama took out a pouch from the very back on the first drawer of his dresser and threw it towards the figure.
The figure caught it with one hand and bowed. "Arigatou gozaimasu, Ribu-sama."
"Continue to work for me and you will never go hungry," Ribu replied.
Without a word, Satoshi nodded and disappeared in the darkness. Ribu sighed and looked back down at Temari. Soon enough, there would be no one to come between him and his love. "Never," he said out loud. "Because of you Gaara, your dear, sweet sister has been worried sick about you. Well, don't worry Temari-chan…" He layed back down on the bed and pulled her against him in an embrace. Temari responded by laying her head on his chest and continued to sleep. "Gaara won't EVER give you a hard time anymore."
"What do you think is going with those two?" Ino asked, when they met up again. She had piles and piles of firewood in her arms in which she managed to carry without any trouble. Neji found something that looked SIMILAR to any anti-poison herbs he could find and was holding two in his hands. It was a purple plant with thin leaves attached to the stems.
Neji didn't answer. He wanted to know himself, but it really wasn't his place to ask her. Hinata was old enough to make her own choices, but sometimes he couldn't help and ponder that same question in his head.
"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Ino said, annoyed. "You know, my hair is starting to get gross!" she said, grabbing a strand of her wet, blond hair.
Neji frowned, staring at her and then walked off. "!" he paused and noticed something familiar on the ground as soon as they headed back to the cave. "Hinata-sama!" He ran to the two fallen bodies on the ground.
Ino gasped and ran after him. "Hinata-chan!"
Hinata looked up, much to Neji and Ino's relief that she was all right. "Neji-niisan…Ino-chan! I…I tried to stop him, but he…he collapsed."
"We can see that!" Ino said, removing Gaara's arm from around her, while Neji went to the other side of Gaara and pulled him up from the ground. Hinata sighed and got up. The two were a lot more soaking wet than Neji and Ino. It was still raining, but not as heavily as before.
"Help me out here, Yamanaka," Neji said, struggling to pull the Sand-chuunin with all his might. Ino nodded, glancing at Hinata before walking up to Neji to help him pull Gaara back inside the cave.
Hinata just watched in vain, feeling saddened with the fact that she couldn't do anything to help Gaara at his state. All she seems to be doing is making it worse. She felt a hand on her shoulder. As if reading her mind, Ino smiled at her and said, "It's not your fault, Hinata-chan. You tried your best to help him, but he was far too heavy for you. Plus, he was the stubborn one! Look at what he did to himself! What an idiot!"
Neji stood up, after checking up on Gaara and looked at Hinata. "Hinata-sama, you seemed to have stopped the wound…how?"
Hinata didn't feel like talking, but she answered him anyway. "I…" Was it really a good idea to tell him what she did? Sucking out the poison was the best thing anyway and from the looks of it, she didn't need to say anything because Neji already understood.
Neji looked away. "Souka…you sucked out the poison didn't you?"
Ino almost fainted when she heard that. "You WHAT!?"
Hinata nodded. "Yes, I did. He was still bleeding and sucking out the poison was the best thing I could do."
"You're right, it is the best thing, demo we weren't really sure WHAT kind of poison that was, whether it was transferable or not," Neji explained as he removed the wrap Hinata made and placed the anti-poison plant on top of the wound. Gaara twitched from the sting, but did not move. The tall Chuunin stood up and looked at Hinata worriedly.
Hinata smiled reassuringly at the two of them. "Well, I'm fine aren't I? I don't feel weak around my body or my eyes aren't unfocused."
They heard a groan from somewhere. Gaara was waking up again. Hinata immediately went to his side, looking at his face worriedly. He slowly opened his eyes, showing off his aqua pupils to the three of them and glanced at them awkwardly, but all he could see were blurs. He couldn't see their face clearly and he was shivering from the cold. "Gaara-san? Can you hear me?"
Pathetic boy! You think you can get away from me!?
"Yes," he whispered.
"Gaara-san? You can hear me?" Hinata sighed a breath of relief.
You think you can destroy me by destroying the gourd? HAH! Think again! I will ALWAYS be part of you! You will ALWAYS going to be my demon puppet!
"No…"
"No, you can't hear me?" Hinata repeated.
"Hinata-sama…" Neji was about to approach her, when he heard his name being called.
"Neji…" Ino called, interrupting him. The dark haired chuunin looked at the blond girl and raised an eyebrow curiously. "We should go look for a raft or something to take us back across the river to Konoha."
"You think we're close enough to the river?" Neji was annoyed with the fact that Ino had interrupted him.
Ino nodded. "Can't you hear a river running?" She stepped close to the entrance and listened.
"What are you talking about?" Neji listened carefully, but heard nothing. "I think you're imagining it. Hinata-sama-!"
"NO! Listen! I DO hear it!" Without another word, Ino turned and ran outside…although not in the rain, but in the nice, cool sunshine day.
"Oi! Ino-!" Neji growled, glanced at Hinata and then turned to follow Ino outside.
Hinata smiled. "You can hear me can't you, Gaara-san? You heard Ino-chan that we can finally go back to Konoha so you can be treated by Hokage-sama!"
Her smile had brought him back to reality.
What!? How is that possible!? How can you have gone back to normal already!?
"Why…?" Suddenly, Gaara's eyes had returned to its original colour and he was staring back at Hinata's face now. "Why don't you go and follow your two companions and leave for the boat?" He was still sweating at the sides of his face. He shivered and realized that he wasn't wearing his black shirt. Gaara looked around for his shirt and found it to be placed neatly on a flat rock to be dried.
Hinata shook her head. "You've been so kind to me, so I should be kind to you in return."
"Did you…" Gaara wheezed. "Did you really suck out the poison?" He shivered again.
The dark haired girl straightened up and nodded, glowing. "Yes. I couldn't let you die." She stood up and gathered the fire wood in her arms and placed them three feet away from Gaara. She had forgotten to make the fire and Gaara needed to be warmed up. Gaara watched her as she did this. Hinata kneeled down and began to make the fire by rubbing the stones together to make a spark. However, after so many attempts it would not light. So she tried another way, but still…it wouldn't work.
After what seemed like hours, Gaara was beginning to feel irritated with Hinata's attempt to light the fire. He sat up slowly, still wet and shivering and crawled beside where she was kneeling. Startled, Hinata looked at him. "You are driving me insane," Gaara commented, which was unlike him at this point. He grabbed the stones from Hinata began working his way into making the fire. "You have to put the stones close to the wood and rub them then so you can spark it." He began rubbing the stones, but unlike Hinata's which were too gentle. His were quite different. He was rougher with the stones, almost chipping the thinner one, but after two or three tries, fire began to burst around the firewood.
Hinata watched in awe, but it quickly died down when the fire did not spread around the firewood she set up. Gaara growled and leaned his back against the rock behind him. He shivered again. He felt the dark haired girl watching him, so he turned to look at her. "…….."
"Eto…" The thought never really crossed her mind, but he looked so cold and weary, that she HAD to figure out something to help him. "There should be another way to make you warmer."
Gaara looked away. "……." Why was this girl helping him so much? He didn't understand it. What did she mean 'to make you warmer?' Fire was the only thing that made him warm…killing was the only thing that made him warm. And why was she taking all this time WORRYING about him? No one's really done that for him before… Suddenly, he felt something moving beside him. Gaara jerked his head and almost bonked heads with Hinata. "………."
Hinata shyly moved closely to him, but she turned so that only her back was facing him. "It's my fault in the first place. I want to help you in any way I can. You gave me a blanket when I was cold and right now I don't have a blanket to give you, so THIS is the best thing I can do." Her heart was beating rather fast, but it wasn't the type of fear for someone who has killed so many people. It was fear that maybe she…that maybe she… She shook her head to stop herself from thinking too much.
Kill her! Kill her now!!!
But Gaara wasn't listening to IT. For some reason, he felt content just being around her. He felt at ease when she pressed his body against his and for some reason, he had the strangest sensation in his heart.
She had woken up to a bright day. Hinata opened her eyes slowly. The sun was glaring right through the entrance of the cave and towards them, like a bright spotlight. She felt something heavy on her shoulders. The dark haired girl looked and noticed that Gaara's chin was resting on her shoulder, while she slept on her side. She felt so warm and so comfortable that she decided to stay in her spot until…
"Hinata-chan! We found a boat and-!" Ino squeaked and blushed at the position Gaara and Hinata were in. Gaara had one arm dropped over Hinata's waist, while his head was resting on her delicate shoulder. Hinata had opened her eyes and was looking up at Ino in fear.
"Ino…Ino-chan! This…this isn't what it looks like!" Hinata protested, blushing furiously. Gently she removed Gaara's head from her shoulder as she slowly got up.
Gaara slowly opened his eyes and looked over his shoulder.
Disobey me again boy and you will NEVER see the light of DAY!
The red haired Chuunin ignored the voice in his head as he sat up and leaned his back against the rock. For some reason, he felt so much better than yesterday.
Ino smiled. "Hey, don't worry about it! I won't tell Neji!"
"Yokata," Hinata said, sighing in relief. "Where is he?"
"He went to speak with an old man who owns the boat to take us back to Konoha!" Ino explained, glancing over at Gaara. She gasped when she realized he was awake and that he was getting up from the floor. "Hinata-chan!"
Hinata looked over her shoulder and watched as Gaara put his shirt back on; even though it was still wet and began walking pass them. "Gaara-san! Where are you going? Are you feeling better now?"
Gaara did not answer.
"Hmph! How rude! And here you are standing and not shivering anymore and you don't even THANK poor Hinata-chan!" Ino replied.
"Ino-chan…"
Gaara stopped. He turned to glare at her.
Ino gulped. 'Great…maybe I should've have said that,' she thought to herself.
"I have places to go," Gaara finally replied.
Even though it wasn't the proper way to say it, Hinata knew he was thankful for her. She smiled and waved him good bye, while Ino asked her about stopping him. Hinata shook her head. "I don't need to. He seems to be fine now."
Ino wanted to find out more about what she just saw, but decided against it.
"So what else can you tell me about this…experiment you've thought up?" he asked, glancing at his friend behind him.
"It's the two sides of the coin. Soon enough, I'll get what I want and then you'll get what you want."
He raised a curious eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"I've noticed that the girl has become 'attached' to Gaara."
"And your point is?"
Ribu grinned and glanced at Satoshi. "Satoshi, do inform Matsumoto-san on your famous, poison technique."
Matsumoto glanced at the young Ninja hidden in the shadows, who took a step forward to be in the light and frowned. "What's this kid doing here?"
"Satoshi is a wise young lad whom I picked up from Thunder Country. He excels in poison techniques, therefore, making him more dangerous than Gaara himself. The poison that was given to Gaara is a special poison that was taught only to those of the noble family in Thunder Village. That boy is Satoshi Watanabe, of the Watanabe Clan."
"Masaka! I thought ALL the Watanabe Clan were wiped out because a poison had been spread throughout the household!? Are you telling me HE is the last surviving Watanabe?"
Ribu nodded proudly. "That he is. And this particular poison Gaara has, was the same thing that killed all the members of his family; this poison that can become a plague, which is transferable only to those who have touched the blood with their skin."
Mitsumoto laughed harshly. "And why does this concern me?"
"You want her dead don't you? It will only be a matter of time before she is affected by the poison and there is only one thing that she can get such a poison…."
Neji joined the two girls a few minutes later and told them about an old man living in a cabin. "He kindly offered his boat so we can quickly get back to Konoha," he explained. He noticed something was missing. "Where is Gaara?"
"He has gone home," Hinata answered. She felt dizzy, but she ignored it.
"Oh, so he is fine then?" It was a relief for Neji actually that Gaara had quickly recovered so they wouldn't have to worry about him so much. But even then, they needed to get back before any other Shinobis are sent after them.
"Well, let's get going." Neji turned and lead the way, followed by Ino and then by Hinata.
"WAaahhh! When I get home I am SO taking a shower!" Ino wailed, touching her hair once in a while as she walked closely behind Neji. "I wonder how Shikamaru and Chouji are doing? I betcha they miss me A LOT more!" She caught up to Neji and was walking beside him now.
Neji glanced at her. "I'm sure they miss your…enthusiasm," the dark haired Chuunin replied.
"Well, I KNOW that there is a certain SOMEONE who misses you a lot!" Ino winked at him. "She'd be so happy to see you back!
"What are you talking about?" Neji blushed and turned away. 'She?' Now he was curious. Why does Ino enjoy doing such a thing to him? Teasing must be one of her BEST features.
Ino stuck out a tongue at him. "You pretend like you don't care but you REALLY do! OH! I can't wait to tell her about it!"
"Urusai…" Neji said, annoyed with her, now turning a beet red. Suddenly, he realized that Hinata was far too quiet. He didn't hear her laugh at Ino's antics. He turned his head behind him and noticed that she wasn't there. "Hinata-sama?"
The blond girl did the same. "Hey! Where did she go?"
They both noticed someone walking towards them.
"You think that's her?" Ino asked, glancing at Neji.
Neji put on his Byakugan. He examined the approaching figure and shook his head. "Iiee…that person's level is far too high for it to be Hinata-sama's."
"Then who--? Masaka!" She gasped as soon as the person was in clear view and noticed that it was Gaara holding an unconscious Hinata. "Hinata-chan!"
GoodGurl: gasps OMG! Hinata! What's wrong with Hinata-chan!? Heh heh, it's been mentioned already, so if you don't get it, you have to wait in two weeks! I know, I can't next week because I'll be gone in Disneyland! YEAH!