Ha! I did it! I updated the next day like I promised!

...ok, so it's ten minutes to midnight, but I did it! And it's like a thousand words shorter than last chapter, but still...

Anyway, I'm glad you guys don't think I'm moving their relationship too fast. I HATE those fics where the characters just fall in love at first sight. Whatever. That's stupid. So I'm trying to pace myself, but I think it's time to get them together, don't you? And I think traumatic events help bond people. I feel like Hinata is sort of reaching for Gaara because she needs someone, and Gaara wants to believe he could find love.

So this contains actual plot. What you read will play a pretty big part in this fic. Feel free to post any hypothesis on who is behind what happens. :)

This chapter also is kind of not good. It's just not very my style I guess. It feels sort of detached to me; is anyone else getting that feeling?

Finally, thanks to all the wonderful, wonderful people who reviewed: blackirishawk, Rainclaw321, el H.H, Shippooliver, BK-Black Kniht, chellythemadhatter, XpurplegurlX, in your dreams as well, violet404 (haha sorry you won't see the dinner...), CartoonistGirl6, aryaputra (in the first chapter you can see that Naruto was the one who told Gaara), Hyuga09, deshy07, iKyoheii, Jay-Boogie, and SasuHina4evr.

I'll try to update again really soon. On Friday I'm leaving for spring break and won't be able to update for awhile, so I'm trying to make up for it now.

Enjoy!

Don't Let Me Fall

"But if I should break
If I should fall away
What am I to do?
I need someone to take
A little of the weight
Or I'll fall through."

- Lenka

When Gaara leaves, Hinata forces herself to walk back to her desk and pick up the clipboard that contains the attendance sheet.

"Quiet down now, everyone."

It's surprising when they listen. All forty of them are quiet almost immediately, their eyes focused on her. The staring is a little unnerving.

"Today we're going to start out getting to know one another. It is important that shinobi work together, and this is easiest if you know a little something about who you are working with. When I call out your name, tell me something you like, something you dislike, and why you want to be a shinobi."

It's more or less what Kurenai had asked her team when they had first met. She, Kiba, and Shino had been friends for years, so it'd been mainly for Kurenai's benefit more than anything else. Still, the memory of her team's formation made her smile.

"I'll go first. My name is Hinata, and I like gardening and cinnamon buns. I dislike people who call others weak, and I wanted to be a shinobi because I wanted to protect my friends and family. Now, first will be Abukara Sozui."

A taller boy with a shock of white hair raises his hand. "Um, I'm Sozui, I like cooking, I don't like getting wet, and I want to be a shinobi because my dad was one."

This is a common enough reason to enroll in the Academy, but Hinata has a feeling that Sozui will quit the Academy in about a year. The kids who try to be shinobi just to please their parents normally last about that long. But Sozui will probably become a chef or something and will be happy, despite not following in his father's footsteps.

"Akiyama Umeko."

This one is a girl whose night-black hair is pulled into a loose ponytail. Hinata recognizes the dark-eyed girl from the orphanage.

"I'm Umeko. I like traning. I dislike fake people. I want to be a shinobi because I want to die with honor like my parents."

Hinata doesn't know whether to laugh or to cry.

"How many of you want to be shinobi for the same reasons as Akiyama-san?"

More than a handful of students raise their hands.

"Then I'm going to ask you to leave before you waste any of my time."

One could hear a pin drop in the resulting silence.

This kind of attitude infuriates Hinata, and that anger builds up inside her as she speaks. "I am not going to waste my time teaching you how to die. Dying is easy. That is not what being a shinobi is about. Being a shinobi is about living. It is about fighting harder than your opponent because it is better to live to protect your loved ones another day than to die with honor. That is what I am going to teach you. I am going to teach you to live. To survive another day. Anyone who feels that this sort of teaching isn't for them has my invitation to leave. Now."

No one gets up, and Umeko looks like she might cry. Hinata is glad. She wants them to be scared. They should be.

But still, it's only their first day. "There is no shame in deciding you don't want to be a shinobi," She tries to soften her voice so that she doesn't sound so angry. "But if you choose to follow this to the end, I will do everything I can to teach you the things you need to know to defend your village and the people you love."

She stays silent for a moment to let her words sink in. And then;

"Next is Chiba Kiko."

The day goes on without a hitch. Hinata learns that Kiyomi likes practicing her "ninja skills" and hates bugs and bratty little kids. She wants to be a shinobi so she can "be strong and kick-ass like Hinata-sensei!", and that makes Hinata's heart ache just a bit. They take a pre-test to see where they are in terms of knowledge of shinobi techniques, and then they have lunch. Hinata takes this chance to watch how they group up – after all, she'll have to create teams based on her observations. There are several groups of girls that drift off towards one side of the room. Most of the boys sit on the other side, and she notices that a tall, outspoken boy with nearly white eyes and red-tipped blonde hair seems to be the leader. He apparently has said something rather amusing, because a bunch of other boys who surround him burst out in laughter. She remembers his name to be Ibuka Mitsuo. Scattered throughout the room are a few groups of two or three and several students are sitting by themselves. One student she recognizes from the orphanage hangs in the very back, quietly eating his lunch. Curry rice, it appears. She doesn't quite remember his name (she does have forty students, after all), but he looks especially familiar for some reason. Then Kiyomi runs over and takes up all of her attention until after lunch, when she shows them some of the basic techniques they'll be learning soon. She knows some of them will have had training from family, but she can't gauge their skills just yet. The time flies by and before she can blink she's dismissing the class and waving goodbye to Kiyomi from the Academy doorway.

With a heavy sigh, Hinata returns to her desk to grade the tests from earlier that day. When she takes her seat, she first takes a long drink from the water bottle she keeps on her desk. She's never talked this much in one day and her throat feels almost as dry as the desert surrounding the village.

It takes her a little over an hour to finish grading all of the tests. Hinata is rather pleased with the results; seven students have scored very well, including Kiyomi. She's clearly been doing her homework, and Hinata can't help but feel proud of the little girl she has been getting to know. The rest of the scores are about average, and a handful of students know very little. Only two students get truly poor scores, and she takes note of their names. She'll arrange some special tutoring for them later on to get them caught up with the rest of the class.

She stretches her arms up in the air and glances at the clock. It's a little after five, so she has about an hour until dinner. Until then…maybe she could go visit the orphanage again. The last time she was there she read to some of the children. She'd had fun doing that.

Once her papers are in order and her desk is cleared off, Hinata grabs her bag to put her folders in. But something keeps her from putting the papers inside the bag. Frowning, she glances inside. At the bottom rests a scroll she doesn't recognize.

"That's odd." She mutters, picking the scroll up.

The scroll is only loosely sealed, so the moment she picks it up it unrolls, one half falling to the floor.

Hinata leans down and picks up the other end of the scroll and stretches it out so she can read the message.

And as her eyes scan the paper, her mouth opens and she screams.

Gaara normally doesn't mind the piles of paperwork he has to do. It allows him some peace and quiet, and on evenings he doesn't want to see his siblings, he has a ready excuse.

But today, he loathes it.

He's actually excited about having dinner with Hinata tonight. He doesn't deny that he's attracted to her physically – who wouldn't be? – but more importantly, he wants to know more about her.

Gaara has gone out with various women before. Some from the village, some not. Most are just interested in his position and the prestige that comes along with being in a relationship with the Kazekage. And even the ones that aren't don't get that far. When he thinks about it, the most dates he's ever gone on with one girl is three. But with Hinata, he could see himself doing more than just a few half-assed dates.

He knows he's not in love with the blunette. Or at least not yet. But there's something between them and he wants to find out what it is.

But nothing is going to happen unless he finishes this damn paperwork.

"Damn it." He mutters to himself, glancing at the clock. It's already five o'clock, and he kind of wanted to surprise her a little early. And there's still a stack of paperwork that isn't done yet.

Screw it. It's paperwork; it can wait another day.

"Maiko-san, I will be leaving for the day now." He finally knows the name of his assistant.

"Have a good night, Gaara-sama!" The girl chirps as he exits the building, his robes flying behind him.

It's just a little breezy tonight, and it feels wonderful. He wonders if Hinata would like to see the view from the top of the Kazekage tower. It's one of the best spots to watch the sunset in Suna, but it might be too romantic for a first date. Is it even a first date? Does she know that he thinks of this as a date? Oh, shit. Maybe she doesn't. That would really suck. Maybe he could sort of drop some kind of hint that it's a date. He could bring some flowers with him, but he's just about to the Academy and it would be silly to turn around and -

A high-pitched scream interrupts his train of thought and his eyes shoot to the origin of the cries.

The Academy.

"Hinata."

It takes him mere seconds to reach the Academy and to race to her classroom.

"Hinata!"

She has her back pressed up against the blackboard behind the desk and one hand covering her mouth. Her eyes are trained on something lying on the floor on the other side of her desk, but he can't see what it is from his location.

Whatever it is, it'll have to wait.

Gaara rushes to her side and she doesn't fight him when he begins checking her for wounds. "Are you harmed? What happened? I was on my way over and I heard you cry out."

"N-no. I'm o-ok." But she's practically shaking and her eyes are still on whatever scared her so badly. Frowning, Gaara turns to see what it is.

It appears to be a scroll, lying upwards so its message is exposed. He lets go of Hinata for a moment to see what it says.

"Tick tock, Hinata. Your time is almost up."

And if the message itself weren't creepy enough, it looks to be written in blood.

"I-it was in my b-bag," Hinata stutters out from behind him. "I don't k-know where it c-came from."

There are scientists at the hospital that will be able to test the blood for identification. "I will assign a team to figure out where it came from. Who had access to your bag today?"

When he turns back around toward her he realizes she's still shaking, and he immediately takes her by the arm and helps her sit down. She takes a few calming breathes before speaking again. "It was in the classroom all day. The only time I left the classroom was to stand outside while the students left."

"So anyone who knew you'd be here today could've snuck in at that time."

"Mhmm." She wraps her arms around herself and he has to resist the urge to pull her onto his lap and comfort her.

"It could've been a student or parent as well, but I do not believe anyone has a grudge against you or Konoha. If anything, everyone I saw today was in awe of you."

This makes her blush and he figures she isn't used to praise. "I don't think it could've been a student."

"You're probably right."

They sit – well, she sits and he stands – in silence for a moment, and he tries to think of something comforting to say. But what do you say to someone who has received a threatening letter written in blood?

"I'm sorry this happened to you, Hinata." He finally says in a soft voice. "I imagine it was frightening."

"It did startle me," She admits. She stands up and leans against the wall, crossing her arms at the same time. "I don't know why it scared me so much. I'm a kunochi. I jump into battles without flinching, but this…"

"It's different. This is personal. Someone is trying to scare you, and may actually be trying to harm you. You have every right to be scared."

She shivers and this time he does pull her close to him. She seems grateful for the contact, because she relaxes and rests her head against his shoulder. Her hands lay flat against his chest, and she grips his robes tightly

"Thank you." It's almost a whisper, but he hears her. He doesn't say anything in response and instead just enjoys the way she fits in his arms. This is the second time he's held her while she was upset, and as awful as it is, he definitely enjoys it.

After a few minutes she stops shaking completely. "I think I'm ok now." She whispers.

But she doesn't move, so neither does he. People may not be in complete and utter fear of him now,but he does not get much human contact. He decides he really likes it.

"Do you still want to go out tonight, or would you prefer to eat at home? I can make something or we could order in."

"Maybe…I could cook could something, if you like?" She asks, almost nervously.

When she speaks, her breath brushes against his skin. It gives him goose bumps.

"That would be fine. I will meet you at home after I drop off the scroll at the lab – we will have the writing tested to see if it is truly blood, and if we can identify who it belongs to."

She tightens her grip on his robes and he knows that she's not comfortable being alone right now.

"On second thought, I'll send a clone to do it."

Hinata backs up out of his arms and with a few hand signs, a second Gaara stands in the room. Gaara gives the clone his instructions and the scroll, and then picks up Hinata's bag.

"Let's go home."

Fin.

So...review please!

- dreameratheart