Paints
Chapter Three
Event

"And to think that that single petty situation...
that single event...
would've unleashed all this.
..."

Gaara lay awake in his futon staring at the ceiling in anger, frustration against Naruto swirling in his chest. It was nearly dawn, which meant he hadn't slept for a good three hours now. The only way he knew this was because that goddamn Naruto wouldn't stop snoring! Gaara felt guilty about what happened to his friend's apartment last night, but he couldn't help feeling pissed at him too, though it bothered him. But is a shrieking Naruto, a list of "reasonable" (and perverted) demands, a long loud reprimanding from the landlord, and three hours of precious sleep a fair punishment for a couple smears? NO. Okay, maybe "couple smears" didn't cover it, but Gaara was used to stains; his clothes, shoes, house, old toys-- all of them were splotched brown with ancient blood stains from the more malicious years of his life. He was so accustomed to seeing blood on his property that he hardly noticed it anymore. Surely that was understandable?

Naruto moaned and rolled in his sleep, letting out a strange gargle in the process. He ended up facing Gaara, his mouth slowly falling open. Gaara winced; Naruto's morning breath was powerful enough to pollute the all the oxygen in the tiny room. It went on that way for five minutes, with his strange gargling noises and ever-present plume of morning breath. Then deciding he couldn't take anymore, Gaara pushed himself off his futon and stumbled towards the bathroom. He frowned at himself in the mirror. After all that scrubbing, how could there still be orange stains on his face? He tried rubbing off the stains with water, then stopped immediately when his whole face throbbed with buckling pain. After washing up, he headed towards the kitchen to cook the occasional ramen breakfast.

Hinata hurried through the dim streets, clutching her overall strap and shivering, though it may not have been entirely from the chill.

'I wonder what happened to all my supplies...I hope no one took them...' Hinata climbed over a fence and bounded through the trees, breathing with difficulty. 'I better get there before anyone sees me...'

Hinata finally reached the condominiums. She spotted her ladder and her shattered paintbrushes lying on the floor. She quickly began gathering all the pieces. The sun began spreading its rays over the horizon and Hinata automatically reached for her hat to shield light out of her eyes. She suddenly remembered her hat wasn't there. It must be lying somewhere nearby.

Hinata searched the ground for her hat, breathing hard all the while. She climbed onto the roof. It wasn't there either. She went down her ladder and with a terrible pang, she realized that she must've dropped it in th...the redhead's room! Her heartbeats spluttered out of control as she glanced up at the balcony above her. Her pale eyes widened. She gasped and pressed her cold hands to her mouth. She had only just noticed the bright paint splatter on the floor, not to mention the waterfall of orange running down the side of the wall and the skid marks on the roof. Hinata grew panicky as she imagined a scene where the Hokage would be pointing at the wall and yelling at her, with the fangirls and the redhead watching. Then the Hokage would hand her a bucket of paint and reach out to smack her upon the head and...and...

... she had to get her hat back.

Hinata carefully placed her ladder just below the balcony and slowly began her climb upwards. When she was eye level to the balcony floor, she peered through the railing to observe: it wasn't so high, but a good view of the village, an old bench in the corner, several interesting wind-song ornaments hanging from the roof, and glass doors. But no hat. Hinata squinted, trying to see through the reflection on the glass doors. Maybe it was...inside? Hinata felt her heart rate increase. Her hat was probably inside. And she could picture it too: smack in the middle of the floor, with a bottle of soap next to it. So she would have to break in if she wanted her hat back.

...And she would do just that.

After reassuring herself for five minutes, Hinata slowly grabbed the cold metal railing in one hand and pulled up her frail body. She hated her current situation but she really wanted her hat back. The sweat on her hands made it difficult to keep a good grip; the ladder was making loud snaps under her pressure. A particularly loud crack from the ladder made Hinata freeze in her tracks. She shot a terrified glance towards the glass doors. Nope, still on the safe.

Within a couple minutes, Hinata was standing on the outer edge of the balcony, trying not to look down.

"Okay, Hinata, you can do this," she whispered to herself. Her hands began to shiver as she slowly lifted her leg and pulled herself over the metal rails--

A loud clash, and a beautiful cascade of tinkling music reverberated into the cool air as Hinata's head collided with the wind-song ornaments. She was so startled that she simply let go of the railing and landed with a thump on the balcony.

o o o o o o o o o o

Gaara was calmly eating his ramen breakfast and flipping through an old magazine. He sighed when he heard several snaps echoing throughout the small apartment. Naruto made the weirdest sounds when passing gas. It surprised Gaara when he didn't smell any of the methane. Oh well. Not like he wanted to smell it.

Then Gaara smiled when he heard Naruto's wind-song ornaments play their familiar tune, if not a bit abruptly. One thing that Gaara liked his whole life, even as a previously psychotic killer, was the sound of wind-song ornaments. The songs were tranquil and halcyon, yet eerie; something about the soft, silver notes could sooth Gaara down to the point of almost serenity. Gaara pushed away the magazine -which had been disgustingly sleazy anyway- leaned back and closed his eyes to listen to the solitary tune. There was nothing better than listening to a wind-song at the break of dawn--

Almost instantly Gaara heard a thump. He scoffed and crossed his arms. That dumbass Naruto probably hit his head, serves him right too. Gaara hoped it hurt. And apparently it did, when he heard groaning. Gaara didn't care when he heard the sound of a door sliding open; he was too busy listening to his song. However, the labored breathing and extremely light footsteps caught his attention. Green irises popped open and averted towards the tiny living room.

o o o o o o o o o o

Hinata frowned deeply. Her hat should've been in the tiny living room, for that was where she'd had her little orange struggle with the redhead. If it wasn't there that meant she had to check the other rooms of the house. Oh boy. Hinata crept over to the bathroom and tentatively peeked inside. There was a half-filled jug of soap, a toothpaste tube that was squeezed in the middle. In the sink, orange-stained towels lay within an inch of murky orange water. An orange-stained t-shirt was soaking in the bathtub. Hinata felt guilt overwhelming her as she took this all in. But no hat.

'How is it that the paint that I spilled is everywhere, but my hat isn't?' she wondered.

Hinata tiptoed over to a closed door and slowly opened it. She froze instantly as she recognized the odor of sleep wafting around in the room. There were two futons on the floor, and one person stretched upon both of them. This person was blonde...did she sneak into the wrong apartment? But she couldn't have...the orange stains were solid evidence! ...Unless the redhead slept there with him. No, he couldn't have. If the redhead had fangirls, that meant that he couldn't possibly be ga- Hinata felt her head beginning to ache as she closed the door as quietly as she could and headed for the kitchen. Her hat should be in there.

Her hat wasn't in the kitchen either. But what Hinata did notice was the sleazy magazine lying open, and the steaming pot of soup on the counter-top. Hinata felt her being turn to ice as she realized that someone else WAS in the apartment, awake and eating breakfast as she broke in. Awake and in the house...

Immediately Hinata snuck over to the balcony, closed the door quietly as she could and climbed over the railing and onto her ladder.

"Un."

o o o o o o o o o o

Gaara watched as the tiny figure nearly lost grip on the railing and turned to stone once laying their pale eyes on him.

"You," he said, "have terrible ninja skills."

He/she's eyes glistened. Gaara noticed adrenaline beginning to blotch he/she's pasty grey skin in variant shades of mauve.

"I-I-I...I...I d-d-didn't...I--" He/she sputtered, voice cracking and knuckles turning white from clenching the railing so hard. Gaara observed He/she's lavender-white eyes with great interest; he couldn't help but find it as one of the strangest things he'd seen. Then He/she put a hand to their hair and brushed the messy black bangs down to cover those eyes. Gaara suddenly remembered what He/she came for. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the limp, old paint-stained hat. He held it out towards He/she.

Very slowly, He/she reached over with shivering hands and cautiously pulled the hat out of Gaara's grip. He/she slammed it onto their head and jumped onto the ladder, sliding down it with great awkwardness. Gaara watched as He/she snatched up the can of broken paintbrushes and looked back up at him, hat and hair covering the eyes. He watched those pale lips move, but heard nothing. Then He/she ran off towards the alleys, clutching their lower back.

Miyuki and her fangirls were engulfed with rage as they watched Gaara return some old hat to Hinata. That rage was powered by determination when they saw her heading towards the alley they were hiding in. It fell when Hinata suddenly turned towards another fork in the alleyway.

"Come, this way!" Miyuki whispered. She began to sprint down the stony walk, with the other girls trailing behind. Kaourain jumped off the pile of rubble she was resting on and followed the girls. As she caught up with Miyuki, Kaourain stumbled and bumped into one of the girls, knocking her into some metal trashcans. A deafening crash echoed across the silent walls and birds flew into the air, squawking madly. Some houses nearby even had a light turn on in a window or two. Miyuki spun around and grabbed the fallen girl by the collar, and yanked her onto her feet.

"You useless moron!" She growled, exposing her uneven yellow teeth. "You woke everyone up! We won't be able to get her!You made her get away! You made--"

"I didn't do anything, Miyuki-chan! Kaourain pushed--"

"Shut the hell up! Why the hell do you have to be do damn clumsy?!"

"Can't we return tomorrow morning? She can't just leave the wall like that, she--"

Kaourain stepped back from the scene and looked towards the waking town. She caught a pair of pale eyes staring at her, and she glared back in response. The lavender eyes disappeared.

Hinata went to the Hokage's office to receive her paycheck. She didn't tell the Hokage about the little orange paint incident. The rest of her day past by uneventful, doing nothing but buying more paint supplies and drowning in embarrassment about the encounter and fear of what the fangirls might have done if they saw that. Hinata also felt great apprehension about the following day; she knew she must repaint those condominiums, and the redhead would either be, or not be there. If he was there, then the fangirls were sure to be there too. Even so, she couldn't help but feel also a bit excited about seeing him again, though she wasn't sure why. Maybe because Redhead was the only person who had smiled at her.

The next morning, Hinata set out towards the condominiums, a busted can of clean new paintbrushes in her right hand, can of fresh white paint in the other, and her hat jammed on her head. The ladder was still in place from yesterday morning, and for some reason a large rock under it that she couldn't budge. She began painting, working on the roof first and then the wall from bottom to up, a small grin on her chapped lips. She reached the balcony and began painting the railing, some of the floor, and the wall.

Then the balcony door slid open and out stepped the redhead. He wore nothing but black sweatpants and an earring. Hinata froze and blushed as she took in his image, and they made eye contact. Hinata noticed a smear of paint on his cheek. Their gazes stayed locked as Redhead poked the wind-song ornaments and made his way back inside, closing the door. Hinata shivered, feeling her face heat up and her heart banging against her chest. She abruptly turned away and continued painting, though her movements were now jerky and she was using too much paint.

Hinata soon became aware of someone staring at her from inside the doors; however, she refused to look. She knew who it was. Everything she did seemed automatic now, the up-and-down movements of her brush on the walls, dipping into the almost empty paint bucket, the complaining throbs in her head and lower back. She could only feel his gaze burning into her hands, her arm, her face. And then suddenly it was gone. She glanced at the door. No one there. Only then was she suddenly aware of the headache that hit her like a baseball bat.

"Ugh...crap...not again," Hinata moaned. She sat on the balcony railing and clutched her head in her hands. One thing Hinata hated about her paint job was the discomforts it came with. Her back hurt from bending over so much. Her eyes had dark circles from the early morning hours she had to wake. As for her suddenly hard breathing and headaches, she didn't know. But each ache was worse than the one before it, absorbed into her bones, thick like butter. She felt like such an old woman. She couldn't wait until she quit this job and found something else to do--

"You look like you need this."

Hinata snapped to attention and almost fell off the balcony. She righted herself and stared at the hand holding out a glass of water to her. She slowly looked up and met his green eyes. Hinata felt extremely unsettled as she scoured the depths of his gaze. If not for his curiously monotone but comforting velvet voice, the look in his eye would've made Hinata think that he would push her off the balcony as soon as she began drinking the water.

No...no no no no NO!! Hinata screamed in her mind. The fangirls would kill me! Don't take the water! Don't!!

But against her judgment, Hinata felt herself reaching out for the glass and gulping down its contents, watching the redhead with a wary eye. She still felt flustered by his eyes. Her headache raged less and she handed back the empty glass.

"Th-thank you," Hinata murmured. The redhead took the glass but continued standing there, watching her. Hinata felt increasingly bothered as she pushed her hat lower over her eyes and climbed back onto the ladder. She stole a glance at Redhead and immediately looked away, blushing. He was looking at her strangely and smirking. He went back inside, and Hinata sighed with relief.

Now, time to work. For real.

Hinata jammed her brush into the bucket to distract herself. She stared at her paint bucket. It was empty. How did it get empty so fast? She frowned and set off down the ladder, leaving her brush on the balcony. And about halfway down, it happened. Hinata had forgotten that those fangirls had done something to her ladder. She stepped on a trick rung and it broke. Some of the sharp splinters went through the holes in her boots, piercing the bottoms of her feet. She landed on that blasted rock that was under her ladder. Tears spiked her eyes. Through the pain, she felt something warm spreading across her shoulder--blood. Through her quivering vision, Hinata stared at the balcony. She felt extremely grateful that the redhead didn't see that.

Hinata rolled off the rock and tried getting up. The splinters in her feet made her stumble. Suddenly, she felt five pairs of hands grab her limbs. Her eyes burst open and she saw them-- purple-haired Miyuki, the three regular fangirls, and...what was her name...Kaourain? She felt herself being carried away. The condominiums rapidly disappeared and Hinata felt herself being thrown into the air.

Hello everyone! Wow, that was a long chapter. I am planning on making this a medium-to-long story, so for those of you who are waiting for it, some nice Gaara'n'He/she moments are to come soon! (: Hope you're enjoy the story so far...reviews are welcomed, thanks! Enjoy and see you soon in the next chapter! (: