Sand Knight

Chapter Four : Desperation without Words

Disclaimers: Nya...sorry for the extremely long delay. I was hospitalized for a while...but anyways...here we go, on with chapter four. This is where Gaara gets sentimental (happy smile)

Gaara: Liar.

Starr: I am not. You do get sentimental, and it's kawaii.

Gaara: It-

Starr: Shut up, sit down, don't wanna hear your lame excuses.

Gaara: (Growl)

Starr: Yeah yeah. Oh, and this is the chapter in which I needed Shino's eye color for...and since I got no response, I'm just improvising (coughs) Sooo don't hurt me if I got it wrong.

Shino: Why?

Starr: Because. Shove it.

Shino: What'd I do?

Hinata: She's just pissed at Gaara-kun.

Gaara: Like I care...

Current Song : Sweetest Goodbye by Maroon 5

Gaara placed his fingertips on his temples in an attempt to block out Temari's whining. His sister was severely displeased that Hinata was gone. But more than that, she was mad that he had the opportunity to stop her and didn't.

"She was homesick," the redhead said once his sister paused for breath. "Besides, I told her she could stay as long as she wanted to. I didn't say she had to stay forever."

"You could have," the taller ninja said, crossing her arms over her chest to glare at her younger brother.

"But I didn't. Do you want her to be here and be miserable?"

"Well...no..."

"There you go," he said, returning to the book he was reading. "Besides, I'm just as upset about it as you are," he muttered before mentally slapping himself. Nice, Gaara. Real smooth. Saying something like that in front of Temari was a sure way to lose your image.

"Oh really?" Temari asked in an intrigued tone. "Well, if that's the case, who don't you go to Konohagakure and ask her to come back?"

Gaara snapped his book shut, laying it down on the table. He then stood and began walking out the door, pausing briefly to look at his sister.

Her eyes widened immediately – that was an expression she hadn't seen on him since he was young. He was...

...smiling.

"If she wants me to come to her, then I will. But not until she calls me."

Temari stood where she was, continuing to stare after him long after he had gone.

"Here's my apartment. It's not much, but it's cool in the summer and warm in the winter. And anyways, you only have to put up with it for a while."

"I really appreciate this, Sakura-chan," Hinata said with a smile. The pink haired girl smiled back, nodding in return. She then proceeded down the hall and opened one of the doors.

"This is the bedroom you'll be staying in. Again, it's not much, but feel free to decorate it however you want."

"Ah," the white eyed girl responded with a nod.

"I'm gonna go make lunch," Sakura said with a smile. "You get unpacked as much as you can, and after we eat I'll help you with whatever's left."

"Hai." The blue haired girl watched as her new roommate left before putting down her luggage. At the very top of her first of three suitcases, she saw her heavy coat. A smile graced her lips. 'Haven't seen that in a while.'

Flashback

Hinata winced, rubbing a welt that one of the sand spirits had caused. They had been steadily growing in size, and with that, they had been growing in strength and speed as well.

"Again, Hinata." She only had enough time to nod before the spirits rushed at her again. The increase in speed increased the needed concentration, and the training was beginning to give her a headache. But she didn't give up, determined to better herself as fast as she possibly could.

She had been there for a full month, and she and Gaara hadn't really spoken except for that one night she had thanked him. Maybe...she had said something that had offended him? Shaking her head, she reminded herself that she didn't exactly have time to contemplate things like that at the moment.

The speed of her attacks had increased surprisingly since Temari had forced her to stop wearing her coat. The desert heat hadn't exactly made workouts easy with it, since the net shirt was surprisingly hot as well.

"Surprised to see you here," Temari said from the trainer's observation deck, set high over the training floor. "You haven't been in here in years. I thought you preferred training on your own?"

"Hn," Gaara said in response, standing beside the blonde with his arms crossed over his chest. "Why do you care? Is my presence a bother?"

"Nah, just curious." Temari blinked a couple of times before following his eyes to what he was focused very intently on. "Ah...she interests you, I assume?"

"No," the younger Sand nin answered, perhaps a little too quickly. "I was just bored and I heard sound down the hallway. She's loud when she trains."

Temari had to admit – her little brother was right. Hinata had a tendency to cry out with her strikes, but that was normal.

Smirking slightly, the blonde closed one eye and looked back at Gaara. No matter what he said, she knew the shinobi was at least slightly interested in the Konoha ninja. If he wasn't, he wouldn't have saved her.

"...she's pretty good," Gaara finally said. "Have you considered upping her training?" He knew that Hinata was staying there for training, though why she would come to Sunagakure of all places was beyond him. It was probably just a matter of her having taken the wrong direction – after all, the Country of Wind was the most desolate of all of them.

"Yeah, it's been considered," Temari said with a nod. "However, I don't want to use my fan against her, and I don't trust Kankurou."

"He does get a little carried away when it comes to using Karasu," Gaara said quietly, moving his hands to his pockets. He narrowed his eyes slightly. "Demo...she needs more training than this."

Temari smirked at him, laughing quietly and causing him to blink at her a few times. "Are you offering to supervise her training?"

"Your hair grows really fast," Temari said, sitting behind Hinata and brushing her hair. They had become roommates since the younger girl had recovered, mainly because they liked each other's company.

'She reminds me of a cross between Tenten and Sakura,' Hinata thought with a smile. "Really?" she asked, glancing back without moving her head. It was true – in a single month, her hair had grown to her chin.

"Yep. You want us to cut it back to how it was, or let it grow out?"

"Well...I've never had long hair," the Hyuuga girl said thoughtfully. "It's always been that length. So I guess I'll let it grow out, and if I don't like it, I can always cut it back."

"Yep," Temari said, smiling. "But once it's a bit longer, it might be wise to start putting it in a ponytail. Your training is going to be getting harder soon, and you don't want anything getting in your way."

"It is?"

"Ah. Gaara came and watched your training today."

"H-he did?"

Temari had to stifle a giggle. She knew what that stutter meant – though why a girl as nice as Hinata would be developing a crush on Gaara, who she had only spoken with one, was something she didn't understand at all. It was obvious that she hadn't spoken to him enough – she wasn't scared of him. But if she took the offer, she would be soon enough.

"Yep. He said that your skills are growing at a faster rate than your training, and he feels you aren't being pushed enough. And it's your choice, since it's your training, but you basically have two options. One, you can stick with what we're doing, and I'll try to increase it as best as I can.

"However, I would go with the second option. Gaara wants to supervise your training."

"H-hontou?"

"Un. And trust me; you'll grow at a much faster rate than you are now."

"Alright. When would it start?"

"Day after tomorrow. But I must warn you. Gaara was born without a conscience, feelings, or a heart, sold his soul, and had the only caring bone in his body surgically removed. He won't kill you by any means, but if you take this training, you're gonna get hurt. Are you okay with that?"

"Hai," Hinata said immediately. She clenched her fist, staring down at it. "If it means I'll get stronger...I'll do anything. I don't care about the costs."

Temari smiled faintly. "Wow...you are determined." She put the brush down beside her, and Hinata turned to face her.

"Hinata-chan, can I ask you something?"

Curiosity filled the blue haired girl's eyes as she nodded. "Of course, Temari-chan."

"Why are you so determined to get better all of the sudden?"

Hinata looked down at her lap. "I...I want to prove to my friends and family back in Konoha that...I'm not weak anymore. I want to show my cousin that it is possible for someone like me to change."

Temari remembered the speech Neji had given Hinata during the Chuunin exam. But...that was six years ago. Was she still carrying that around with her...?

"Naruhodo," the Sand nin said with a smile. "Well, then, I completely understand. Don't worry – when you go back to Konoha, you'll be able to beat your cousin into the ground and still have enough chakra to go a few more rounds."

Temari hadn't been kidding when she had said Gaara's training would be harder.

Hinata ducked under a punch from his sand clone, then side-stepped another. Raising her leg, she gave it a clean roundhouse kick to its head.

This was all physical training. She didn't use any chakra, and the sand clone only gave punches and things like that anyway. But for what was essentially an animated sand castle, it was pretty hard to get rid of.

Her next punch caught it squarely in the chest, which caught it off guard enough for her to hit its head off completely with one more kick. Crouching and putting her hands on her knees, the white eyed girl gasped for breath as the clone deformed, sand pooling around her feet.

Normally she wasn't this tired after just fighting the sand clone...but she had also been doing a lot of running around earlier, so she had been physically drained before she had even started the mock fight.

Hinata closed her eyes, still trying to catch her breath. She was beginning to feel the familiar pain in her chest again. Normally...she would have stopped her training long ago...but she didn't want him to think she was weak. She probably should have told him about her heart.

Too late now.

Gaara watched her from the tree he had been standing in to keep away from the training. When he had started training her four months ago, the first thing he had done was take her away from Sunagakure to a better location for mock battles.

Of course, they still returned on occasion at Temari's request. Every time they did, she would pester him about what they had been doing, as if she expected an answer other than 'training'. And, that was honestly all they had done. He was pleased with the results, as well – when they had started, it took her forever to get rid of the sand clone, and now it was hardly anything to her.

The redhead continued to watch as Hinata fell back into a laying position, her arms spread out beside her and her eyes closed. Her hair almost touched her shoulders now, and she kept it back in a ponytail during training.

Yet, he loved it when she let her hair down. Hinata was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and letting her hair fall around her face merely added to it. He was still paranoid about sleeping even though Shukaku no longer tried to overtake him, and found himself watching her most nights. Not like he would tell her that – it made him sound like a stalker.

But it wasn't anything like that. In the time he had been training her, the pain in his heart had been steadily disappearing. It was barely even there anymore. He truly felt that he...

'What am I thinking...?' he thought, running a hand through his hair. 'I'm being an idiot. Hn. I don't need anything like that.' (A/N: Liar.)

Jumping down from the tree, he walked over to her. "You're doing well, Hinata. We'll stop for the day." He blinked when he didn't get a response.

"Hinata...?" he asked, crouching down next to her. She looked a lot paler than usual. He hesitated before gently putting his hand on her shoulder. "Hinata," he repeated, a little louder.

The Hyuuga began coughing violently, startling the sand nin quite a bit. She then put her arms behind her and forced herself into a sitting position, coughing again.

Gaara watched in confusion as blood splattered from her mouth into her lap. The sand clone hadn't hurt her that badly...had it...?

She very shakily looked up at him, blood running out of the corners of her mouth. He could barely hear what she said as a very faint smile crossed her lips.

"Gaara-kun...g...gomen ne..."

What she said didn't even register in Gaara's mind before she passed out against his chest.

End Flashback

"Come on, come on!"

Hinata sweatdropped as Kiba pulled her down the street by her wrist, a musical note over his head. Shino was following at a slower pace, trying to disassociate himself from the other male.

"Where exactly are we going, Kiba-kun?" Hinata asked, wiping the sweatdrop away with the back of her hand.

"My apartment. We need to celebrate you coming back, and besides, we have stuff to talk about."

"Stuff? That's rather vague," Shino said, shoving his hands into his pockets, where they were almost permanently housed.

"Well, it's also accurate," the Almost a Dog said indignantly, glaring back at him. "We do have stuff to talk about. Now, come on!"

Hinata couldn't hold back her smile. Honestly, it was really nice being back in Konoha. Well...the difference in temperature was a rather strong shock to her system, but she had missed her teammates and her friends.

Once in Kiba's apartment, Hinata was plopped onto a couch, a bottle of sake thrust into her hands. She blinked a few times as Kiba just grinned and waved his hand as if to tell her to drink up. She then glanced over at Shino, who just shrugged slightly with a massive sweatdrop.

Kiba then retreated to the kitchen after shoving a bottle into the bug trainer's hands.

"What's gotten into him?" the Hyuuga female asked a little nervously, looking at Shino as he sat on the couch as well.

"He's just overly hyper at you being back," her teammate responded, opening the top part of his coat and removing his sunglasses. His teammates were the only ones he did that around, and no matter how many times she saw it, Hinata couldn't get used to it.

She assumed it was for the bugs, whatever the reason, but still, he had the most beautiful green eyes she had ever seen.

Shaking her head, Hinata removed the top of the bottle and took a small sip of the warm liquid. She was determined both to a) not get drunk, and b) leave before Kiba got too drunk.

"What was it you wanted to talk about, Kiba-kun?" she asked as the self-proclaimed team leader returned, flopping backwards into a recliner with a bottle in his own hand.

"Well, actually, you came at a good time," he responded, then took a long drink from his bottle before setting it on the table in front of him. "Kurenai-sensei was talking to us about a mission quite recently."

Shino's 'ah' of remembrance caught Hinata's attention briefly before she redirected it to Kiba. "What sort of mission?" she asked, folding her hands around her bottle.

"Nothing too big. It seems that there are a few of Orochimaru's thugs left, and we just need to take care of them. But we had a question for you.

"What's that?" she asked, taking another small sip of her drink. It seemed that the more she drank, the better it tasted...hm...

"Well...we didn't really know how you would answer, but...we wanted to know if you would rejoin the team."

Hinata blinked a few times before smiling and nodding. "Of course," she said cheerfully. "I never left the team, anyway. I just...had some things that I had to take care of on my own."

"Great!" Kiba said enthusiastically. He then took a long drink. "Then...IT'S TIME TO CELEBRATE!"

Well, she hadn't left in time to keep from getting drunk. However, it wasn't as unpleasant as she had been told.

However, it was just a tad hard to keep her balance.

Humming contentedly to herself, she weaved her way back to Sakura's apartment. She was just glad that she actually remembered where she was going – Kiba had been the one hanging out the window and screaming that flaming squirrels were eating his tongue and had eventually passed out on the coffee table with a vase on his head and flowers sticking out of his ears.

"Well, hello, my dear. Are you lost?"

That sobered her up really, really fast.

She turned around just in time to get shoved against the wall. "I can help you find your way back...for a price."

"Who are you...?" she asked nervously. She knew she wasn't up to a fight right now, and she could see the Konoha forehead protector.

"Doesn't matter. Let's play."

"NO!" she screamed, slapping the man hard across the face.

He seemed shocked for a minute before growling low in his throat. "You bitch!" he yelled. She heard the sound of a knife being drawn right before the cold metal plunged into her stomach.

Coughing up blood, she managed to kick him right in his groin before getting just enough chakra in her palm to knock the man's brains against the wall with a good punch to the temple.

However, it felt like the knife had drawn out most of her chakra. Placing her hands on her stomach, she slid down the wall. Looking around, she realized that she hadn't known where she was going – she was in an alley.

'I should have let Shino walk me home...' she thought before passing out.

Blood leaked onto her bracelet, causing it to glow a very soft red before slowly falling apart in grains of sand, falling to the ground gently. It then started to reshape next to her, steadily getting larger.

Once it had finished, Gaara stared down at her. He looked around quickly, seeing the nearby man who had gotten an impromptu lobotomy. Despite the situation, he couldn't suppress a small snort.

'I see the training did her well. But she still seems has a lot of problem with men...' he thought before kneeling down next to her, taking note of all the blood. He leaned down, smelling the alcohol on her breath.

The Sand nin had no clue what she had been doing – as far as he knew, she didn't really even like drinking that much. But he was more than a little worried when he examined her wound.

Thankful he had been to the Konoha hospital once before, Gaara hooked one arm under her neck and raised his first two fingers, closing his eyes. Sand surrounded both of them, causing them to disappear.

They were deposited in front of the doors of the hospital. He saw how pale she was, and could feel that her chakra was pretty much depleted. Carrying her bridal style into the building, he got the attention of the first orderly he saw.

"Sir, you can come in now."

Gaara walked into the hospital room, his focus on the bed. Hinata looked even more pale than usual, lying against the white sheets.

"How is she...?" he asked the nurse, looking back towards the doorframe.

"She'll be fine in a few days. We closed the wound and bandaged it, and her chakra is recovering well on its own. Might I ask...what happened out there?"

"She was attacked in an alley...as best as I could figure out. I found her unconscious." Which was the truth. But he wasn't going to say he teleported through a bracelet. It had reappeared on his arm, so he gently removed it and walked over to her, laying it on her bedside table.

"I'll return momentarily," the woman said, leaving the room. Gaara just continued to stare down at Hinata.

He wanted to stay. He wanted to stay with her so badly. But considering the reputation he had among her friends, it wasn't a good idea. Sure, they knew that he had changed for at least a short amount of time, but considering how long he had been away from Konoha, it would be easy for them to believe he had gone back to old days and had been the one to hurt her.

So he had to leave again. No matter how much he hated it, he had to. Scanning the room, he found a piece of paper and a red pen. He very quickly scrawled a single kanji on it and rolled it up, folding it around the bracelet. Placing one arm beside her head, he slowly leaned down and kissed her very gently.

"Hinata-chan...I'll come back one day," he promised in a barely-audible whisper before standing up again. He then slowly moved his fingers up to his lips. What was he doing...?

When the nurse entered, he walked over to her.

"Do me a favor," he said quietly. He had a plan to make sure that all of her friends would find out what happened in fifteen seconds at maximum. "I want you to tell one person that she's here. But it would be best to wait until morning."

"A-alright, sir," she said, unsure as to why he couldn't just tell them himself. "Who should I have the message delivered to?"

"A one Uzumaki Naruto."

Flashback

Hinata groaned slightly and raised a hand to her head. At least, she started to, and when she did, she felt a violent pain in her chest. She instantly dropped her hand back to her side and slowly looked around her.

She was in a hospital room. That was odd. How did she...

Her head snapped to the foot of the bed instantly as she felt some movement...and saw Gaara sitting in a chair, his arms folded on the edge of the bed. He was using his arms as a pillow, and was currently sound asleep.

'That's right...' she thought. 'My heart...I passed out...chikusho...'

Hinata very slowly moved her hand up to her chest and felt bandages there. Had...she gotten surgery? Well, yeah, that was a dumb question. Of course she had.

She pushed herself with her arms slightly, making it so she could sit up a little while using the pillows as a back rest. She folded her hands in her lap, being careful not to disrupt the IV in the back of her left hand, and switched her gaze down to Gaara.

'Has...he stayed here the entire time?' she thought, tilting her head to the side. 'That's so sweet...'

She felt a gentle blush on her face and instantly looked down at her hands, the blush deepening. She didn't know why...but...she had been thinking how absolutely beautiful he looked when he was asleep. 'Idiot,' she thought in embarrassment, shaking her head.

After a few minutes, Hinata heard a gentle groan and saw that he had woken up. "I see you're awake," she said with a smile.

Gaara blinked at her groggily a few times before giving her an extremely small smile...which was still quite a bit, considering who it was coming from. He then slowly sat up and stretched, his back cracking from the stiffness of staying in one position for so long.

"How are you feeling?" he asked dazedly, draping one arm over the back of the chair. He hadn't expected her to be unconscious for a full week.

"Much better," she said, looking down at her lap. "I...didn't tell you what was wrong with my heart...gomen..." she said very quietly.

Her head shot up as she felt his arms around her shoulders, pulling her in a hug against his chest. Any pain that she should have felt in her chest was instantly forgotten. She blushed dark red and very slowly moved her hands up to his arms, looking up at him.

"I'm...just glad you're okay," he said a little awkwardly, but still didn't let go.

She blinked slowly before smiling and closing her eyes. "Hai...thank you for staying with me..." she said quietly.

Once he pulled back, he rubbed the back of his neck, looking away quickly. Hinata blinked a few times when she saw his face. It was faint...but...he was blushing as well. She couldn't help smiling again.

"Oh...yeah," he said, reaching down to his wrist and pulling off one of the bracelets. He then held it out to her. "Here."

"What's this?" she asked as she took it. It was just a simple silver bracelet...but it was beautiful none the less.

"Well...it's part of a sealing technique. You know how I told you about sealing the Shukaku in these?"

"Hai."

"Well, it's really only in this one that I'm still wearing. If I give the other one to someone else, then it about doubles their chakra. Also...it helps me protect you."

When she blinked, he continued. "Er...if your blood or your tears touch this bracelet, it will summon me. That's how it helps."

"Anou...you'd do this for me...?"

He simply nodded.

The radiant smile she gave him made anything worth whatever price it demanded.

End Flashback

"Hinata-chan!"

The Hyuuga slowly opened her eyes, wincing and moving the arms that had been folded over her stomach. Yeah, that really hurt. She then slowly looked around.

Well, she was in a hospital room, that was for sure. But that wasn't what was confusing her.

'Are...this many people even allowed in a hospital room...?' she thought. She was glad it was a fairly large room. Closest to her were Naruto, Neji, Kiba, Sakura, and Tenten. Scattered around the room were Lee, Ino, Shikamaru, Shino, Kurenai, and Asuma.

"Yaaay, Hinata-chan's awake!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. She giggled slightly, despite the pain in her stomach.

"How...long have I been out...?" she asked quietly.

"Three days," Kurenai said, walking over to the bed and pushing Naruto out of the way rather unceremoniously, since he was being the most disruptive. They were all happy; he was just the loudest about it. "We've been watching over you the whole time."

"Who...brought me here...?"

"Apparently, the nurse doesn't know his name. She just keeps saying your boyfriend," Hinata's sensei added a little suspiciously, causing the white eyed girl to blush dark red.

"N-nani...?"

"She also said he left this," she said, gesturing to the bracelet on her bedside table.

Hinata was about to ask something else when the door opened. "My...aren't we the popular one, Hyuuga-san?" the nurse asked with a faint smile. She had a delivery of flowers in her hand.

"Who are those from...?"

"Oh, these?" The nurse set them in a vase next to her bed. "They're from the same young man who brought you in here and left the bracelet. I assume he's your boyfriend."

"My boyfriend...?"

"Yes...you know. The red haired young man."

"H-he was here?" Hinata asked, wide-eyed.

"Hai...you didn't know?" the nurse asked before shrugging, bowing, and leaving the room.

Hinata slowly picked the bracelet up and pulled off the strip of paper, putting the bracelet back on. She then unfolded the paper in her hands, staring at the single kanji.

The same as on his forehead. Love.

She smiled and hugged it to her chest, a faint blush on her face and ignoring the confused stares of her friends.

Starr: YES! I'M DONE WITH CHAPTER FOUR! WOOTS ALL AROUND! Told ya you get sentimental, Gaara.

Gaara: ...

Starr: But it's cute though, ne? A relationship that's sorta not a relationship (sweatdrops) Anyways...it's time for the...

FRIENDLY SHOUTOUT DISPLAY THINGYMAJIGGER!

chinadoll27: Well...I tried to update soon...oh well. Hope you like this chapter too!

Nataku19: Wow...you're French? Never would have guessed...you type better English than most people I know...but I'm glad you like the story! First time I've had a fanfic called brilliant, too! YAY! Hai, I like...Gaara x Hinata, Kiba x Hinata, and Lee x Hinata (please don't ask)...I dunno, she seems like such a flexible person relationship-wise...

khmer shinobi: Hey, fun, a teddy bear! Well, take THIS! (Pulls out a stuffed rabbit) ... (Stares at it) ...I suck at this. Oh well. (Merely hides behind Gaara again)

Gaara: Hey, I recognize that thing...

Starr: You shush, I'm not done replying to reviewers.

Sarehptar: Hm...what's Gaara doing? (Points to the beginning of her story and smiles) Angsting. But the flashbacks are almost over, and they'll become a couple soon, so he won't be doing that long!

K-CHAN AND IT: Heh, don't worry, all shall be explained soon. There are still more Gaara flashbacks, but he's gonna become a main part of the current timeline in...the next chapter. Wee-ha!

MegDeity: Hm...this chapter is at least close to seventeen pages. I'll try to make the next few nice and long, too (Smile, smile)

xxMizukixx: You should get more soon...the wonders of being stuck in the hospital with nothing but a drawing pad and a laptop, both dedicated to GAARA! Fwaha. ...yes, I'm obsessed, so sue me.

rikkufx: Heh, you mean like this?

Gaahina chan: Ah, I love people like you! People who like my story rock as far as I'm concerned!

Starr: Wow...I think this is the most reviews I've gotten for one chapter. EVERYONE GETS COOKIES! (Throws all of her reviewers a box of cookies of their choice) Enjoy them while reading the next chapter!

Oh...sadness...I'm pretty sure this fic is only going to have two more chapters...maybe three, not including the epilogue. However, I'll try to make them long like this one.

I also have two more Naruto fics in the works, and they'll both be GaaHina. One of them takes place after this one, and the other is a completely different falling-in-love storyline. I also have a LeeHina one in mind...anou...it might be a bit weird, but hey, I'm willing to try anything.

Gaara: Too much emotion...(reading the storyboard for the next chapter)

Starr: Shut up, you like it and you know it.

Gaara: ...

Starr: I'll take your silence as consent. Ja ne, mina!