A/N: Happy New Year! I hope you guys are staying safe, and keeping well right now. I am sorry for disappearing for such a long-ass time. Adulting caught up with me and I finally got myself to make time for some serious fic writing! For the longest time, I kept telling myself how bad my writing was, which kind of made me reluctant to post anything I'd drafted. But having a new perspective on life (especially after the pandemic), has made me more courageous. Right now, I just want to go out there and share my work with you guys.
Please accept my apology for my disappearance with this little GaaHina ficlet. I was supposed to put it up on Christmas, but I couldn't make the deadline. For you guys suffering from PTSD from Arm Candy's incomplete status, I want to reassure you that this fic has been fully completed, and I will be updating it daily, ehehe. Also warning: Hinata may sound a little OOC in here... call it an experiment of sorts!
P.S. Is there also any reader who would be willing to beta read some of my writing (in English)? It may or may not be fanfiction, or original writing. If you are keen, please do reach out to me via PM, or email me at protocolrebelled at hotmail dot com, and specify which you prefer (fanfiction or original writing), as well as your turnaround time (e.g. 1 day for 1 chapter, three days for ten chapters). Some of my works are pretty half-baked/incomplete, so I would really appreciate your thoughts on them and how I could develop them further.
Also, if you have any thoughts and comments on this GaaHina fic in particular - as well as how it could be improved, any errors etc, please do feel free to PM me, or leave a review! It would be greatly appreciated, and I would love to hear from you guys on how I can improve and better my writing. Thank you, folks!
Disclaimer: Naruto and all characters are created by Masashi Kishimoto. Please heed rating.
1.
Sabaku Gaara didn't know which was worse - the fact that he was working on Christmas, or the fact that he had come down with dengue fever while working on Christmas.
Running one hand over his face, he slumping back against the headboard and switched on the TV.
"Bright and sunny as usual, with thundery showers expected later in the afternoon in Kumogakure…Thick fogs are expected to descend upon us later in the evening too, so be careful when you head out for your Christmas celebrations, folks!"
Tossing aside the remote control, he flung back the covers and headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth.
It was nine in the morning, and he had nowhere to go, and nothing to do.
The bright side of it all was that he got to recuperate in a five-star hotel room with top-notch medical doctors at his beck and call. Not to mention room service.
But Gaara was bored out of his fucking mind.
It was Day Five of his dengue recovery. He felt less like he'd been hit by a truck and more like his old self.
Small consolation, when he could have been out there, working with his colleagues. It reminded him of what he was supposed to do in Kumogakure, and it certainly wasn't to laze around.
Toothbrush in mouth, Gaara watched as the local news channel started broadcasting footage of Konoha's Prime Minister, Senju Tsunade, making a visit to some museum. The blond lady smiled widely and waved at a small crowd. Men clad in dark suits and sunglasses lingered around her, watching unobtrusively from a close distance.
Damn it.
He knew the security protocols and the Prime Minister's itinerary as well as the back of his hand, and all the possible emergency exits and routes that she would need if she were ever in an attack. Could even recite the entire thing while asleep. Instead, he was sitting on his ass, recovering from fucking dengue, all because a mosquito had decided to feast on him.
"Any chance that I'm cleared for work?" He asked Shizune an hour later, when the good doctor came by to check on him. As per her usual routine, she took his blood, checked his throat and eyes and took his temperature.
She chuckled dryly as she slid off her plastic gloves and threw them into a wastepaper bin near the study desk. "You wish. I'd say bed rest for three more days. Which fits with our schedule nicely, since we're flying back on Saturday."
Gaara rubbed one hand over his face. "I'm feeling better. Hell, I could probably run some laps for you right now. Let me go back and -"
"No, no, and no." Shizune shook her head. "You're clearly tired. And you're also still on medication, which means I can't give you the all clear yet."
She lifted the small plastic cup in which she had dumped six Paracetamols. "Eat two of these if you feel any pain or fever, with six hours in between each dosage. And I'm asking the hotel staff to give you more Gatorade too. Make sure you drink them all."
"Great." Gaara said dryly and leaned against the wall. "I'd drown in Gatorade at this rate."
Shizune grinned, hefting her medical bag on her shoulder as she opened the door to his hotel room. "Don't worry. There are worst ways to die."
"I'm sure." Gaara muttered.
"Merry Christmas Gaara!" Shizune grinned.
Lunch came and went. By the time dinner swung around, Gaara had binge-watched several TV shows, including one incredibly trashy reality show involving attractive contestants getting it on with one another.
Annoyingly, his siblings, Temari and Kankurou video-called him just shortly before dinner. They had chatted for close to an hour, during which Temari seized the opportunity to berate Gaara for gifting his nephew an expensive high quality shogi set.
Gaara had promised Nara Shikadai and his father, Shikamaru, that he would visit them when he was back.
He had just finished dinner and was attempting to complete the crossword puzzle section printed in the last page of the local papers when he heard the doorbell ring.
Thinking that it was the hotel staff who had come to collect his dinner tray, Gaara scooped it up easily and went to get the door.
Instead of the hotel staff, he found Hyuuga Hinata standing on the threshold, holding a gift basket.
"Hyuuga?" He asked incredulously.
Petite, white-eyed and dark-haired, Hyuuga Hinata was the manager of Tsunade's administrative team.
She was the last person Gaara expected to find on his doorstep. Mainly because they butted heads most of the time - he, as lead agent in charge for ensuring Tsunade's security no matter the itinerary, and she, the staff planner for all manner of programmes and publicity.
Most of the time, he shot down her plans or suggestions with ruthless frequency citing security concerns. Hinata in turn, would express exasperation at his team's lack of inflexibility in accommodating the administrative team.
"Hello." Hinata cleared her throat and glanced up at him with snow-white eyes. She was wearing an all-white pantsuit, a blazer, and a black top. Her sleek ebony hair was pulled back in a low chignon. It was incredible how she hadn't gotten even a speck of dirt on her clothes, after all that running around in the muggy heat.
"May I come in?"
Gaara held open the door wider and stood back to let her in. "Here to see if my dead ass is still alive?"
She gave him a look as she passed him in the narrow hallway. "Yes, if you wish to put it that way."
She set down the basket next to the newspaper on the desk. "This is for you, from the team."
The basket was brimming with shiny, gold-foil wrapped chocolates, canned vitamin drinks, biscuits and even a cling-wrapped fruitcake bearing the sticker of a local shop. A small Christmas card the size of his palm sat nestled among the goodies.
"You sure you didn't poison any of those?" He grinned.
"Only one way to find out." Hinata slit him a look over the basket as he sat at the foot of the bed, hands in the pockets of his sweatpants. "The prime minister sends her regards. She's concerned about your recovery."
Geez. Hinata was always so prim and proper, and such a people-pleaser. Anything the PM needed, she could always count on her to do it. Quickly and efficiently.
What was incredibly funny was that for someone who looked so sweet and behaved so politely in front of others, she tended to turn all cool, silent and prickly whenever she saw him.
"So that's why you're here? So that you can run back later to do up a report on me?"
He saw her expression turning frosty.
"Yes. That's why I'm here," She said dryly, as she took a seat at the swivel chair next to his study desk. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine. Still alive and kicking." A corner of his mouth tilted up. "But also bored out of my mind."
"I can tell." She looked down at the ballpoint pen lying next to his crossword puzzle. "When are you cleared to return to duty?"
"Not so soon. Shizune says three more days till I get the all-clear." He narrowed his eyes. "Speaking of which, I can't believe you ratted on me to the medical team."
"I was looking out for you," Hinata said indignantly. "You were literally sweating in your bulletproof vest, and you looked white as a sheet. Everyone noticed, even the Prime Minister herself."
"I told you I could last till the end of my shift-"
"No, you couldn't. You were having a fever."
"We were short on manpower."
"Gaara, it was dengue. It wasn't just a fever or a cold. They said you were shivering and aching when they brought you in. We were definitely not letting you keel over and die in front of all these locals and the Prime Minister."
He scowled. "I'm so touched you're so concerned about my welfare."
Something flickered in her eyes, but she said nothing to that.
"How did the programme go today?" He asked gruffly.
"Fairly well." Hinata smoothed her hands over her white pants. "We managed to hold the speech in the conference room. As for the floor-to-ceiling windows, we covered them with fake snow spray like you suggested, so that it would be less of a security hazard and vulnerable to snipers or assassins."
Gaara folded his arms across his chest. "Good. How was the sitrep?"
"We had one guy trying to break through the barrier to take a selfie, but that was about it. Kiba caught on to him immediately."
Awkward silence descended upon them.
"I should probably go."
He wasn't having a problem with that.
"Thanks for the basket." He said gruffly. They might clash frequently in the course of work, but Gaara wasn't an ungrateful bastard.
"You're welcome."
He opened the door for her. As Hinata passed him, he caught a whiff of a tart, light scent. The woman sure smelled good.
He shoved that thought aside ruthlessly as the door closed behind her. He had a crossword puzzle to solve.
Thanks, people! Stay tuned for more chapters in the coming days!