Chapter 4
The Letter and the dresses
Once it had been taken to the Hokage, it was official. It was a village-wide tournament, with contests in everything from beauty to a battle to baking. Every one in the village was hyped up for it (except Shikamaru, who is never exited). All the girls were making dresses and, and many of them were making bread as well.
Hinata went back into the hospital room to get into her normal clothes and tell the nurses that she was fine. When she arrived in her room, she saw the water lilies again, but there were more of them than last time. There was also a note beside them. She picked up the note and read through it.
Gomen nassai. I lost myself in memories, and I didn't mean to attack you. Please watch out for me, I don't know what will happen the next time I see you
--Gaara
He didn't mean to? Then the flowers are from him, not Sasuke-kun. How can I thank him for the flowers without seeing him?... Kankuro is still here! I'll get him to take a note to Gaara for me!
Hinata quickly wrote a reply.
Gaara, thank you for the flowers, they made my day. There will be a tournament in Konoha the day after tomorrow. If you think you can handle yourself, maybe you and your team could join us.
--Hyuuga Hinata
She folded the note and changed back into her normal clothes. Then she folded her dress neatly and walked home.
When she got there she put the dress a hanger and set it out so she would see and iron it. Then she went to find Kankuro and get him to give the note to Gaara. She looked around for about an hour before finding him.
"Kankuro-chan," Hinata started. Kankuro obviously didn't expect to see her.
"Hinata-chan." He said. "What do you want me for?" Hinata was glad that he was alone. She swallowed and handed the note to him.
"Could you give this to Gaara?" she asked.
"Sure, if I find him." He replied. Hinata gaped. He had to know where Temari and Gaara were, he was on their team!
"You don't know where he is?" she was worried. "But you're on his team!"
"Well I know where Temari would take him if she was with him, but I don't know whether she's with him or not."
"Temari-chan is with him." Hinata said. "She's the one who tamed him and took him away. Don't you ever listen to gossip?"
"No."
"Well, can you get that to him?"
"Yeah." He got up and left with the note. Hinata wondered whether he was really dependable.
Gaara was in a cave by a waterfall. Temari was nearby, having pleasant dreams.
Gaara was tempted to leave, but then she would get angry at him, and that would make him angry and he would lose a bit more of himself to the monster. He decided not to.
Kankuro arrived. "Gaara, what exactly did you do to Hinata?"
"I tried to kill her."
"With…"
"Sand."
"Well she wrote a note to you, and it seemed pretty important to her to get this to you."
"Really?" Gaara asked. No one every cared about him enough to write letters or notes to him. Kankuro handed him the note.
She liked the flowers. Good. A tournament? And she's…inviting me? Why does she care about me after all I did to her? Gaara fought down hot feelings, hate, anger, and something else.
Temari and Shikamaru were on a bench in the park. There were friends, and Shikamaru didn't think of her as 'troublesome'. He gave her a bouquet of daffodils, Temari's favorite flower. She thanked him, and—
"Temari, wake up!" Kankuro was shaking her awake. She glared at him.
"I was having a good dream, can't this wait?"
"About who, Shikamaru?" Kankuro replied deviously. "And no, this can't wait."
Temari glared daggers at him.
"Gaara got a letter from the girl he was attacking yesterday. And I don't think it's the expected monster thing, either, she wasn't that type."
"A letter?" Temari asked. "Then we wait for him to drop it, then read it. In the mean time, we have to make sure he doesn't get away and start killing people."
They had a hard time, but Gaara lost interest in about two hours, and dropped the letter, and sat down to think.
Temari picked up the letter and read it. "Oh my god! Kankuro, Look!" She handed Kankuro the letter.
"He gave her flowers?" Kankuro was confused. "Since when did Gaara give out flowers?"
"And she invited him to the tournament. We're invited, too, but it says we're invited as a side note."
"What's going on?" Kankuro asked. "This is way over my head."
"Are you blind!" Temari almost yelled. "It's obvious!" she dropped to a whisper. "They're in love."
Kankuro stared at her as if she had grown another head. "Have you taken leave of your senses! Gaara! In lo—"
"Shhh!" Temari quieted him. "If he hasn't realized it yet, we can't rush him."
"Why do we want this to happen?"
"First of all it would give Gaara a purpose to live other than killing others. Second, she would take care of him. Third, it would be a strong alliance if he got serious and proposed, as he's the future Kazekage."
Kankuro thought about it for a minute. "You're right." He said. "Get to know the girl."
Temari looked at him. "Why me?" she asked.
"Because I would look like I was a weirdo if I tried to befriend a random girl, and you are a girl, so no one would think anything of you befriending her. And she's best friends with one of the most popular girls there. Who knows, you might be able to hook up with Shikamaru."
She whacked him over the head, but he knew he had won. She left, to find Tenten and Hinata. She wished that Kankuro were better with names. Even Gaara could remember names better than he could.
Sakura was working on her dress. It was burgundy with cream and gold stuff. Hinata was working with her, even though they would be competing. Sakura wished they wouldn't be competing. Hinata's dress was absolutely perfect.
When they were done, Hinata helped Sakura into it, and brushed her hair out. Sakura knew that Hinata had a crush on Naruto, so she wondered why Hinata was so calm, instead of at least brushing her off. But she was happy, and that's what really mattered. Hinata could tell her the good news whenever she was ready.
Finally, they were done. The dress was almost ankle length, with a slit reaching mid-thigh on the right side. There was a large cream sash around the middle with a large bow in the back that trailed lightly on the ground when she walked. Her hair was up in a bun with decorative chopsticks, with bangs out. There was a perfect amount of makeup on. Sakura was delighted with it.
"Oh, Hinata, it's perfect." She breathed. "Arigatou!"
"You did most of the work." Hinata said. "I didn't design it." Sakura smiled at her modesty. Hinata had given her most of the ideas.
"Sakura!" Naruto yelled. "It's perfect!"
Sakura whirled; she hadn't been expecting him to appear like that. "Arigatou." She replied, smiling.
Hinata realized quickly that she wasn't needed at the moment, so she packed up and left.
Ino was also working on a dress. She was working with Tenten. Her dress was a black and short, with silver trim. She got a light perm, and looked more like she was going on a date than to a beauty contest, but it suited her well, and fitted perfectly.
Tenten knew it was to show off to Sasuke, but she didn't say anything, much less that Sasuke would probably have to be forced into going. Tenten thought that Sasuke and Shikamaru were both boring, an opinion unique to her.
The four girls were at a bar, chilling out. Though none of them drank, they were having fun. They were talking about guys.
"So, Tenten, who do you like?" asked Ino.
"Yeah, tell us!" Sakura was enthusiastic. Tenten didn't reply, so Hinata made a guess.
"I think she has the hots for Negi." She suggested. Tenten blushed a deep red, meaning they had struck gold.
"I don't." she said, knowing that they could see through the lie.
"I don't know what you see in him; you don't normally go for people that could be labeled 'boring'." Said Ino.
"He's not nice to anyone." said Hinata.
"Yes he is." Tenten replied. "He's on my team, and he's never been mean to me or Lee-kun."
"Something must have happened between you and him to make you like him that much." Sakura picked up the reason instantly.
"Nothing important." Tenten said unconvincingly.
"Right." Ino said sarcastically. "We believe you."
"Spill it." Hinata said, much more relaxed around her friends than with people she didn't know as well
"Well," Tenten started, and told them.
Tenten's storyI was walking home along the river after practice with Negi. We were both exhausted, as Guy-sensei had been in an enthusiastic mood. Lee-kun was ahead of us, still filled with that annoying energy, right to his fuzzy eyebrows. Suddenly, there was a strong wind, with something painful in it. I was knocked into the river. I was too tired at swim, so I started drowning. Negi didn't even think twice about it, he jumped after me with his clothes on, and rescued me.
When we were out, the first thing he did was ask me if I was okay. Temari walked out of the woods.
"Oh!" she said. "I didn't see you there. Gomen nasai."
"You should watch where you're aiming those!" Negi said, before collapsing. I realized that he had taken most of the damage, and I only got a small bit of it.
Temari realized that, too. She took us to the hospital on her fan.
End of Tenten's story"I think Negi forgot about it, but I remember, and I always will." Tenten finished.
Ino, Sakura, and Hinata clapped. "I didn't know Negi would do that for you." said Hinata.
"I didn't know you were such a good storyteller." said Sakura.
"I think that you would have a good chance with him, if he's willing to do that for you. And you're on his team, so you're with him a lot."
"You really think I have a chance?" asked Tenten.
"Yeah." replied Sakura. "Is there someone else that he likes better?"
"I don't think so."
"You can do this, girl!"
Oops
Gaara, thank you for the flowers. Unfortunately, they gave me an allergic reaction. Now I'm going to miss the tournament on the day after tomorrow.
Please review. Don't complain that I changed Tenten's personality, I'm not very far in, so I just made one up.
