"It was…strange." Neji said, shifting his position on the branch. "I never saw her like that. She looked like she wanted to finish me off. I could see it in her eyes."
"Wow." Tenten said softly, bandaging his forearm. Hinata's handiwork the night before could be seen clearly. "That's not the Hinata I know. Usually, she wouldn't be able to inflict 5 bruises on you."
"I know. That was the first time she beat me in training." He winced as the ointment Tenten had brought touched his bruises, and then he continued. "I never saw anyone move that fast."
"Well, I guess what Kiba said was true, then."
"Nani?"
"He said that, lately, Hinata's been getting better in their training sessions. She was fast enough to block 15 kunai coming at her from all directions. She was strong enough to block Shino and Kiba at the same time, and she was sharp enough to correctly guess where and when Kiba was going to attack."
Neji looked at her in surprise. Tenten nodded. "It's true."
Neji looked away, staring at nothing in particular.
Hinata-sama, he thought, if you really are that strong, why do you hide it? "Oy, Neji-kun! Tenten!" Neji and Tenten looked down. Rock Lee was gesturing at them wildly. "We have to hurry. Gai-sensei's waiting for us. He says he has important news." Neji and Tenten jumped down and proceeded to follow Lee. "What did he say it was about, Lee?" Tenten asked. Lee shrugged. "He didn't say, but I have a hunch it's about Sasuke's disappearance." "We'd better hurry, then." Neji said."Well, what did he say?" Kankurou asked. Temari shrugged. Gaara hadn't said anything since yesterday.
"I thought both of you were supposed to meet each other last night."
"Well, he didn't show. Maybe he didn't meet Sasuke or Sasuke didn't meet him. I left a message at his house to meet us here, but for all I know he didn't read it."
"I read it."
Temmari and Kankurou whirled around. Gaara stood with his arms crossed. They both stood up and walked toward him.
"Well?" Kankurou asked, somewhat impatient.
Gaara nodded. "I relayed the message. I'm not so sure if he'll say yes, but I know he's definitely considering it."
"Good work. I'll inform them." Kankurou said, and proceeded to run off, leaving Temari and Gaara alone. Temari shifted uncomfortably. Gaara just stared at her.
"You're nervous." Gaara said suddenly. "Why?"
Temari looked at him in surprise. She shook her head. "It…It's nothing."
"You're not telling the truth."
Temari bit her lip. I wouldn't be surprised if he could read minds. "I…you…you're…" she sighed. "You're right. I guess I'm not being entirely truthful."
"What's wrong?"
Temari raised an eyebrow. For one moment she thought there was a note of concern in his voice.
"It's…it's…" she wandered away from him, leaning on the tree and watching the sakura petals flutter down. "I don't know. I tried to talk to my mother. I told her I wanted no part in the mission. I told her there were other Sound ninjas who could take my place. She…well, to put it mildly, she blew her top. She told me I was lucky to have even been picked by Kazekage-sama. She told me a lot of things I don't want to repeat. And on top of that, I'm going through a…" She stopped and drew her breath. "Never mind. I shouldn't even be telling you all this. Gomenasai, Gaara-kun."
"Wakarimasu ne."
"Nani?"
"The Temari I know doesn't usually let her mother's cryptic comments bother her." Gaara said, looking at her straight in the eyes. "There's something else that's bothering you, isn't there?"
"I…I…" I'm confused, Gaara-kun, and I don't know what to do. She looked away, trying to hide the emotions that were showing clearly on her face. A ninja must not show emotion in any situation. She reminded herself, shaking her head. I feel something different around you, and I can't identify what it is. I'm struggling with my words and thoughts and feelings, and here I am, standing in front of you, making a complete fool of myself.
"I don't think I can tell you, Gaara-kun. But, don't worry. It's not such a big deal." She turned around to face him, and nearly drew back in shock. His pale green eyes were looking at her filled with…with what? There were so many emotions in them, she couldn't identify all of them. However, one emotion stood out from the others: pain. His face remained an emotionless mask.
"I guess you don't trust me enough to tell me."
"No," Temari shook her head. "It's not that. It's…I just can't tell you."
"I see." This time, Gaara turned away. "I thought that life would be different from now on. I thought there wouldn't be any more secrets. I thought I no longer had to deal with lies."
"Gaara-kun," Temari cut him off, trying desperately to explain. "I didn't mean it…it's just that…it's not…"
"I guess I thought wrong," Gaara continued, acting like she hadn't spoken. "But I can't do anything much about it, can I? After all, I grew up learning not to depend on anyone but myself. I kept my entire being a secret from other people." He started to walk away. The he stopped, and, much to her surprise turned and smiled sadly at her. "I guess this is the way it's meant to be, especially for me."
Wait! She screamed. Please stop! Let me explain. No sound escaped, and she let him walk away.
"So, let me get this straight," Tenten said, rubbing her forehead. "You think that Gaara of the Dessert has some sort of information about Sasuke's whereabouts…"
"And you want us to go and force it out of him! Am I right, Gai-sensei?" Lee finished, flashing his gleaming pearly whites up at his sensei, who looked a lot like him.
"Well," he said leaning against the building wall, "that's correct, Lee, but you don't necessarily need to force it out of him."
Neji nodded. "I understand."
Gai grinned. "Good. As of this mission, you'll be the leader, Lee."
Lee saluted. "Yes, sir!"
Tenten shook her head. Is it just me, or is Lee a few noodles short of the ramen bowl?
She turned to Neji, ready to ask him how they would get the information, but she stopped when she realized he was using his byakugan technique.
"N-neji-kun?"
He held up a hand to silence her. Taking out his kunai, he sent it flying behind a small pile of planks. There was a loud yelp, and Naruto appeared from behind the planks.
"Oy, why the heck were you trying to kill me, baka?" He yelled, moving forward.
Neji looked at him, one eyebrow coolly raised. "I think the question is, what were you doing eavesdropping?"
Naruto turned serious. "I heard you mention something about Sasuke and how you could obtain information about his whereabouts." He turned to Gai. "Gai-sensei, if possible, could I come with them?"
"What?" He asked, eyes widening. "Why?"
"Well…" Maybe because he's my best friend and teammate and I'm really worried about where he is so it's only natural that I'd like to hear the information firsthand? "I'm curious, that's all. I'd like to hear what Gaara has to say, and I'd like to hear it firsthand. Besides," he grinned. "you know me. I'd be too impatient to wait for the results so it's really pointless to say that I can't go, 'coz I would go anyway."
Silence. Then, sighing, Neji stood up and proceeded to walk away. "There's no use in trying to dissuade him. We might as well take him along."
Hinata placed her hands in front of her to block herself. Too late. Kiba hit her straight in the midsection. She flew back, rammed against the tree, and slid down, limp.
Panting, Kiba fell to his hands and knees.
Shino jumped down from the trees. "Nice. That last one was harsh. But it's pretty obvious that you had trouble breaking through her defense. That's where Hinata's strength lies. Meanwhile, you're relying way too much on your concealment techniques. Not effective against someone who can use the byakugan, but pretty good."
"Yeah, whatever." He winced and put his hand to his head. "Aw, jeez, my head is killing me."
"She was fast, wasn't she?"
"I can't tell. I wasn't able to see her. All I saw was a white blur."
"Ha ha."
Kiba stuck his hand into his jacket and took out a small bottle of ointment. He crawled to where Hinata lay limp.
"Hinata-san," he said, an apologetic look on his face. "Sorry I got carried away with the last attack. Here, this ought to soothe the pain a bit."
She slowly sat up. "Arigato, Kiba-kun." She took the bottle from him and tucked it into her pouch. "You were amazing. You're so good at your concealment techniques." She smiled at him, and Kiba felt his heart pump five times faster.
"Th-thanks." He said, grinning.
Shino shook his head. Kiba's feelings were so obvious. "Kiba."
Kiba looked up. "N-nani?"
"Come over here for a second."
Kiba shrugged, got up, and followed him. They stopped at a few meters away from Hinata. Then Shino turned and faced him.
"You have to tell her, you know?"
Kiba looked confused. "Tell her what?"
"Don't play dumb. Your feelings are getting more and more obvious every day. She's going to find out sooner or later."
Understanding dawned. Kiba shook his head. "No way. First of all, I don't know how to break it to her. Second of all, she already likes someone else!"
"Just be direct when you break it to her. It'll do her some good to know that at least your friendship is strong enough that you can tell her anything and it'll do you some good to get it off your chest."
"Since when have you gotten mixed up with emotions?"
"I'm just getting sick of you ogling at her behind her back and smiling stupidly whenever she passes by."
"I do not ogle!"
Shino pushed him forcefully. "Go, before I tell her myself."
Kiba slowly wandered over to where Hinata sat. She looked up and smiled. "Kiba-kun, what was that all about?"
"Shino was just giving me some tips, that's all."
"Oh." She was silent for a moment. Then, "I'm sorry I seem like I'm ignoring you. It's just that, I've always been enchanted whenever I watch the sunset. I tend to lose myself in my on world. Also, it brings back memories."
"Sou desu ne?" He said, plopping down on the grass beside her. "Such as?"
"I…it seems like such an eternity ago…he took me to a really secluded place where we had such a perfect view of the sunset."
"He?" Kiba asked, raising one eyebrow.
"Naruto-kun."
"…oh." Kiba looked away. I guess…he beat me to it. Boy, did that do wonders for my spirits. "Then he heard her sigh. He looked at her.
"If that memory is so happy, why do you look so…upset?"
"Gomenasai. I…he…we sort of had a fight last night, and it…just brought me down."
"Why'd you fight?" He asked gently, though inside, his heart was soaring. Here was his chance. He'd comfort her, then maybe he'd tell her. She looked like she needed someone to lean on to, anyway.
"I disappointed him, big time. He thought I knew him. He thought I was the only one who could give him sound advice. Turns out I didn't know as well as we both thought. I said a few wrong things, and it really crushed him."
"Are you sure it's your fault, Hinata-san?"
"Of course."
"Are you sure Naruto wasn't just overreacting? I'm sure you guarded what you said. The Hinata I know is really considerate of other people's feeling."
"Thank you for trying to cheer me up, Kiba-kun, but I'm sure it's entirely my fault. After all, Naruto-kun really needed my help, and I let him down. I brought up his hopes, and I was the very one who brought it crashing down…"
"WHY!"
Hinata gasped in surprise and look at him. His hood shadowed his face. "Why do you always insist that he's right all the time? Why are you always so obsessed with him that you can't see his faults?" he drew a long shuddering breath and continued. "Are you really so enchanted by him that you're blind to what other people are trying to tell you?" He looked at her, and she was shocked to find tears in his eyes.
"Gomenasai, Hinata-san, but I can't hold it back anymore."
Without warning, he crushed his mouth against hers. Her eyes widened.
A few meters away, concealed behind a bush, Shino shook his head in disgust. "I didn't mean to be that direct."