Heh, hey folks! Tonight's episode is kind of a filler... sorry. But it gets sooooo much better soon! And it's a good filler.
More revealed about Gaara-kun! Great for all ya Gaara-luvvers... like me.
Naruto took first watch that night. Sasuke watched him as he fell asleep. He just looked so... noble, sitting there, Sasuke thought. The way he held a lighter close to his heart like a cross, the way he looked out into the darkness so absent-mindedly. And he kept that image in his mind as he slept. As soon as he knew it, Naruto was shaking him awake with a sleepy face. "Hey, can you take the next watch?"
Sasuke nodded. "Sure." Oh god, he has the longest eyelashes... Then he was getting up, Naruto was curling up in the place he had occupied just seconds before, and he was standing there... waiting for something to happen and listening to Ino and Naruto breathe.
He held the lighter out at arm's length, illuminating a small circle of land. Was that someone running he heard? Or was it only the wind? Sasuke brushed a lock of dark black hair out of his eyes. It seemed like days, months, years, since he was living on his own, keeping away from his brother, living a normal life. He no longer felt normal, but a part of something... larger. Something special and dangerous. Adrenaline ran through his veins just thinking about the fact that he might be found with his back gouged out an hour later. No, he wouldn't think about that. He'd just think about Naruto, and how blue his gorgeous innocent eyes were...
Gaara waited, clutching his switchblade to his chest. There was something out there; he could hear it breathing heavily, he could practically see it in his head. It was just waiting for him to fall asleep so it could kill him, but he wasn't going to give it that chance. After what happened to Neji, he needed to be wary, and screw the consequences. If he couldn't defend himself tomorrow, so be it. He wasn't going to be defenseless at night, when the thing roamed free.
Hinata looked so innocent, asleep. She didn't even snore, Gaara realized. But she was muttering something. Something about cookies? 'Mum, I want another cookie?' It didn't really matter. He was only observing, anyway.
But he felt so tired, and he just wanted to go curl up somewhere... No. I can't let it eat me. The thing out in the jungle was a serious fear for him. He was actually afraid, and the fact that he was afraid scared him. He almost laughed. Gaara, afraid? The Scourge of Ruthlessness, the Lord of Sullen Stares, afraid of something that ran around in the cover of night and ate people's insides? It was very amusing to him, and he did laugh, but as quietly as possible. It was dang funny, and he was sure that 'the thing' might find it amusing, if it had intelligence. It's now 'the thing'. I might as well give it a name, like Hironobu, or... Saya.
Again, Gaara choked out a raspy laugh. He was surprised that he was beginning to enjoy 'the thing'. If he ever got off that godforsaken hellhole, maybe he'd put the thing's head in his room, right over his bed.
The next morning, nobody was dead (as far as Hinata could tell), so she supposed they would be safe... for the moment. But Gaara did look tired and grumpy, and that could be potentially bad. They needed to work together, and that meant Gaara had to be inclined not to give her death glares every few seconds and freak her out.
"Uh... G-Gaara? I'll go get breakfast stuff, okay?"
He only grunted. There were dark shadows under his eyes. Hinata thought he looked like a raccoon, but she kept her observation to herself as she rushed off to find apples and a lobster. She could hear him muttering something in the distance. 'Damn lobsters'? Was he getting sick of lobsters already?
Hinata did not think she was a very good cook. Everybody seemed to think she was the small, cute, quiet domestic type, and they were half true. But she couldn't cook worth a darn. That was possibly what put Gaara in a terrible mood. After the lobster escaped from the spit it was being roasted on, and Gaara had to recapture it, Hinata decided to leave him alone and see how Ino was doing. Maybe she wouldn't be grouchy.
"Ino? Ino, are you okay?"
The platinum blonde nodded. "I'm fine, just shaken. It helps if I close my eyes and imagine I'm lying on a lounge chair, drinking piña coladas with a cute guy." Well, for starters, she was sitting on a rock, but Hinata doubted rocks were as comfy as lounge chairs.
"Well, um... if it makes you feel any better... I don't think anybody got killed last night!"
Sasuke stopped trying to light a fire and glared. "That makes it even worse, Hinata. Now we know it's trying to lull us into a false sense of security, and then it'll get us all!" He laughed bitterly. "Bet your Gaara'll be fine. He goes to a school near where I live, and he's got quite the reputation. If there's anybody who'd kill that... thing, it'll be him."
Hinata blushed. "He's not my Gaara. I doubt he's anybody's Gaara."
Naruto pushed his way through some bushes behind Hinata, making her squeak and jump about a foot. "He goes to my school. He's a year ahead of me –he's sixteen- and god is he scary. I heard he beat up a teacher, and he's been trying to kill himself after getting into hella trouble with the law. That's why he's got..." he gestured around his wrists, as if mimicking tying bandages.
"But it's okay!" he added hurriedly. "I doubt he'd try to... um..."
But Hinata had already put her head in her hands and started to sniffle.
"You're just making it worse, Naruto," Ino hissed acidly. "God, you're such an idiot!"
Reviewums, dear readers!
I started reading Twilight. Feh, Edward Cullen's not as good as my Fang. Sorry, Edward fans, but I'm attracted to... guys with wings. If Eddy had kitty ears... or was a twin... now, that'd be a different story.