Thankyou to User: busi. sibeko1 for the reviews; a couple of answers: I unfortunately only get about an hour a day to work on this as 90% of my time is spent at uni, or doing assignments. That's why the chapters are generally short as it's usually the only way I can do it and still keep my inspiration flow.
I'm slowly getting to the reasons for her mother and her leaving the village, bear with me, but she wants to continue living in the sand because this is where she was with her mother, and they had made a home here. -^^-
She'll meet Naruto soooooooooon, hopefully It goes well, I haven't thought too much about how it's going to happen yet.
Thankyou again for the reviews and I hope I can continue interesting you.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.
His "fiancée" hadn't been home for two days. Naruto was sure this was her house, as everyone he had asked had pointed him in this direction, after a bit of prodding, of course. He wondered for a second if she had found it such a terrifying thing being married to him that she had fled, or worse. He shook the thought from his head. Now was not the time to start feeling that way about himself again. He knew he wasn't a monster, he didn't need to care about other people's opinions. Plus, he had a "fiancée" to find and ensure she was okay. He decided then that he would go see Gaara after he discussed village details with him – another reason why he was in Suna – to see if he knew anything about the girl who thought she was marrying him.
Naruto walked along Suna after he made his decision, strolling around the village and thinking about his own home. He missed his favourite ramen stall, his favourite prodigy, Konahamaru and a certain pink haired girl. He didn't know why he still loved her, it was obvious he wasn't going to get her attention romantically, as her heart had already been stolen. He didn't try to get her to see him anymore, content just to be near her and watch her. They were friends now, comfortable in each other's presence. He still wished that she would notice him one day, instead of focusing on their other friend who they hadn't seen in years, but he wasn't going to push her. She wasn't ready, he knew she might not ever be ready.
When he got the missive from Suna, he was confused, but he also thought about it. If Gaara had wanted him to marry one of his villagers, if he had seriously asked Naruto, he would have married her. He didn't have much hope left to get the girl that constantly visited him in his dreams, and it was a depressing thought but he would have married a stranger because he thought it might have stopped him from constantly wishing this girl – Sakura, even her name was beautiful – would ever fall in love with him.
But after coming and talking with Gaara, he knew that wouldn't work, it'd be unfair to the person he married if he wouldn't be able to ever love them. He felt immense relief.
'Now if only I could find this girl and give her that same sort of comfort.' He thought to himself, not noticing the blue haired girl practically skipping past him to the house he had just come from.
~~~
Still feeling strange from his interaction with the Hinata girl, Gaara sat in his office, staring at the far wall. There were a few pictures, pictures of his father, blown up to ridiculous proportions, showing how much the councilmembers had worshipped him. They had only put them in after he had been appointed, he guessed it was to make him feel inadequate, letting him know he would never live up to their standards like his father had. Especially when he started giving back more to the people instead of keeping it all to himself. There was nothing in starvation and fear that made people respect someone as a leader. He was slowly working to become a person his villagers could be proud of, councilmembers be damned.
Even though he never showed his face he hoped he was contributing to the village. He always made sure people had enough food and that they didn't have to pay so much for housing. He always looked into more investments to bring in more work for the villagers, and tried to especially give back to the ones that had been most devastated by his father's rule. He knew they would never truly accept him, after all, he had been his father's favourite tool to terrorize the villagers with. If they weren't paying enough rent, or if they weren't bringing in enough trade, he would send Gaara around. Gaara didn't need to go into a rampage to do his father's dirty work, he had been raised for it, after all. Since his mother died giving birth to him, Gaara had been the result of death, and death had since become the result of Gaara. Everywhere he went he would bring terror, he was especially good when his father didn't agree with another village. Gaara would be sent there, the village would then name that night "Red Moon", for not only was the killer known for his blood red hair and white skin, but they now say that when Gaara came into a village at night, the ground would become so red with blood that it would reflect on the moon, bathing it in a red glow.
Nothing could save Gaara from his upbringing. His siblings had tried, but then it had gotten to the point where even they couldn't control him anymore. After breaking Kankuro's arms, collarbone and left leg, and Temari's arm and both wrists, they had stopped trying to stop him. Instead they looked out for him from a distance, sometimes helping him eradicate enemies so he wouldn't be at risk.
He didn't understand, of course, life would be so much simpler for them if they had just let him die. He sometimes wished they had.
Now Temari was in the Leaf Village, making peace negotiations and deals with the Hokage there. Kankuro went off to explore other villages, telling Gaara he, "Needed to see the world." Before he became a boring old man. Gaara knew it was so he could find more women that didn't know of his connection to the Bloodthirsty Kazekage, but he let him go, he deserved it after all of these years.
He also knew that Temari wasn't just in the Leaf Village for negotiations; she had found a man there. That's why a two week peace treaty has currently been three months. He had met the man, another person working on the treaties for the two villages, a Shikamaru Nara. The Nara was lazy, with a constant bored expression on his face, completely conflicting with his sister, Temari. Loud, boisterous, easy to anger; that was Temari. She was fiercely loyal, fiercely loving and just generally fierce.
He remembered then that he must write to Temari, tell him of the council's interference. She would like to know, being a representative for Suna in Konaha, from where they had taken a one Naruto Uzumaki to get married to a villager without Gaara's permission. He hoped it didn't upset the treaty.
As he started writing to Temari he heard a knock on his window, to look around and see the grinning Konaha resident he was just thinking of.
"Is the front door broken?" Gaara asked after opening the window, with just a hint of humour in his voice. Naruto sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "No, but those damned guards won't let me in, said they saw an intruder earlier and so they're doubling security. Not that you need it, being the strongest person in Suna. Makes in damn near impossible to barge into your room though." Naruto chuckled afterwards, brushing sand off of his jacket onto the floor in the study.
"So," he started again, "Did you get the whole marriage thing sorted out?" knowing what the answer would be he sat in the two seater lounge without a care in the world.
"Of course. It is all settled." Gaara replied stoically, feeling slightly grateful that his only friend is here, needing a bit of normalcy.
Naruto just nodded his head and stretched out on the lounge contentedly. Gaara returned to his letter, writing in a few more important details and sealing the envelope shut, he then leaned out of the window and whistled, bringing a large hawk to rest just near his outstretched arm was. "Take this to Temari, fast." He said, hoping there would be no delays so the Hokage wouldn't have his head. She was a temperamental woman that one, she took Gaara without any complaints but she had so many different moods that could come on at any time, she was a lot like Temari, except the Hokage liked to drink and gamble.
Naruto had started to gently snore on his lounge, making Gaara wonder what he had been doing all day. Gaara decided to leave him to his sleep, figuring he needed it, and went back to work.
Hinata felt so much relief after such a brief amount of time. Just knowing that she could stay, that she didn't have to marry or leave Suna, the place she and her mother had made their home, made her feel like it was a dream. She had to pinch herself to make sure that it was, in fact, real life.
She came back to the little house she had shared with her mother, and came back to reality. She couldn't tell her mother that she didn't have to leave. She couldn't tell her anything. Her mother would have been proud of her today, standing up for herself and seeing the Kazekage. She still didn't understand exactly what had happened, the Kazekage hadn't looked at all interested in her story and then suddenly she doesn't have to marry or move? He had barely spoken two words to her the entire time she had been there. She now wondered what kind of work he expected her to do, thoughts came flooding through her mind, what if he intended to keep her as a toy, she had heard rumours, and perhaps he would torture her for going against his will. Surely he wouldn't, he didn't seem so bad up close, in fact, he looked nice. Really nice. He was so handsome, it was a shame about his voice, but perhaps he was sick. She knew that nothing would ever come out of thinking this way, but he was certainly nice to look at.
Then another thought struck her: What if he expected her to be his mistress? She would rather die before subject herself to that, she couldn't be forced to do that.
The thought sent a sick feeling to her stomach, reminding her of past events, a life not so long ago. When she had everything, power, money, lavish house, servants waiting hand and foot. And the horror. The secrets. The pain. The reason she and her mother had fled in the first place-
Hinata slapped herself on both of her cheeks, feeling the sting bringing her back to the present, where the only danger was uncertainty. She would ensure her own safety, she knew how to hide and use weapons if it came to that, she could protect herself. She didn't know what was going to happen, but she knew she could handle it.
Hinata went to the little kitchen area and looked down into the cupboards; nothing. The only food left had been spoiled for weeks, she and her mother had been keeping it as backup, since they never knew when they were going to have money. Unfortunately for Hinata, who hadn't eaten for two days, the backup food was a little late. Her stomach rumbled again. It had been on and off all day but now it was becoming louder and more frequent. She put her hand over her stomach and willed it away, just needing to get her mind off of it. She decided to go to the local library, a place where she could go where no one really bothered her – despite the whispers behind her back – and that she could read. Hinata loved reading, when her mother had taught her when she was a young girl it was one of the greatest things she could remember, when the words started to come together and make sense, forming images and stories inside of her head, it was magical. Since then, reading had become a constant comfort, a way to escape, a way to learn, to explore safely.
She made it to the library without mishap and picked out a book to read, "The Desert Prince". Love stories had always been her favourite. She could imagine herself finding a handsome prince, falling in love and overcoming obstacles. She knew that in real life, she will probably never find someone to love her despite everything, it was a sobering thought, but one that made her love these stories more. For a short amount of time, she could be that person, she could be loved.
After about two hours of reading, Hinata had to leave. Her stomach was so loud she could hear the ladies behind her whispering and giggling about it, "Good riddance" they were saying, "serves her right." Hinata knew that she had never done anything to personally offend either of the ladies, the village was just not very accepting of newcomers. Hinata hadn't done anything bad in this village, but it was bad enough being an outsider; she was an outsider with strange eyes, strange mannerisms and a stutter. She didn't blame them for not accepting her. Everyone apart from her family had always been scared of her eyes, clear pearl white pupils. She had tried to play with kids who would run away from her, screaming and crying about her 'dead' eyes. She remember she tried to pretend like she was blind, and kept her eyes closed for an entire week, but everyone knew her by then, and still ran away.
Hinata went back to her little house, finding a package on the step. Inside of the package was a set of instructions of what to do tomorrow, a set of papers she had to sign – such as confidentiality, she couldn't tell anyone outside of the tower about the Kazekage's doings – and right at the bottom of the pile was a pressed, black and white frilly, lacy, maid's uniform. Hinata's shoulders sagged with relief, she was going to be doing normal things. Feeling slightly elated again, Hinata knew she wanted to share her news with someone, and only one person came to mind; Sabaku.
Hinata set out for the clearing, hoping that Sabaku was home, and if not, she'd wait for him. She felt faint, but the thought of actually working tomorrow made her push through, she felt like she could achieve anything, anything at all.
Until she got halfway to the forest and fainted in the sandy dunes.
~~~
Gaara was tired, bone weary tired. Tonight was going to be one of the nights that was easiest to fall asleep. He knew he could fall asleep in his quarters but first he wanted to check on the little house in the clearing, to see if Hinata was there. She had surprised him so much today, she has so much courage, staring him in the eyes and begging him to understand her situation. The last person to do that was Naruto. He knew it was probably naivety that stopped Hinata from shaking at the mere sight of him, the fact that she probably has no knowledge of the village Kazekage. Even in the book she was reading at his little house, of the history of Suna, he had ripped out the pages of himself in frustration, hating even to read about himself and remind himself of the monster he was. Is. Will always be. Yet despite not knowing, it must have taken so much courage for the small girl to sneak into his wing of the tower and knock on his door in the first place. In truth, she was strange.
She stuttered again today, he wondered if she always stuttered or if it was just when she was nervous or upset. She didn't stutter a lot at the clearing, did that mean she felt comfortable around him? He still couldn't picture it.
He got to the little house in the clearing and stopped when he saw it had no lights, no fire. He walked inside and couldn't find the small female anywhere. He scowled, feeling a sense of loss and not entirely understanding that either. He wished he understood what it meant, but instead it just frustrated him. Heading back to the village, he decided that he was going to sleep immediately, hoping to block out the constant thoughts of the blue haired female.
Halfway to the village and Gaara tripped over in the smooth sand, hearing a groan that didn't come from him, he shifted back the sand and felt his heart stop when he saw the pale, creamy skin and blue hair.
Hinata Hyuuga.