The sunlight slowly crept through the blinds covering the window, sating tiny pools of light unto a certain sand nin who was wide awake. Gaara couldn't sleep through the night, though he rarely did. The Shukaku would always escape from its prison if Gaara let his mind fall a sleep, and so through meditation and focus, Gaara's body soon developed from human to machine over the years. Even with the Shukaku gone, he was still too used to sleepless nights. He rarely thought during these times, but last night his mind began to create an endless list of questions. They didn't involve the lecture Tsunade gave him last night or the papers he was given to read. No, they all revolved around the demure Hinata whom he just so happened upon after having an episode.
Her body's form began to play around his inner thoughts, her humble smile, her innocent eyes; they plagued the back of his mind. The way she spoke to him, so pure and silent like a breeze rang in his ears. Gaara shook his head vigorously, trying to erase her from his mind. Realizing that his method wasn't working, he turned to the stack of papers Tsunade had given him. Sitting himself down, he began rummaging through the pile, trying to find something useful t divert his attention. Most of the papers were involved with the alliance and such, all them barely peeking his interest. He was a warrior, not a politician, and matters such as this did not concern him. Beginning to think of her again, Gaara quickly entered the shower in hopes the water would wash away the memory of last night.
Gaara soon was ready for the meeting he had with Tsunade and realized how much of a bore it was for him. All they discussed about were about supplies and how to further strengthen the alliance they had. Tsunade and the village consul were boring him slowly to death, but Gaara knew it was all for his village. Tsunade soon cocked her head towards Gaara and called out to him. "Gaara, there is something me and the consuls have decided to tell you," she said with her usual imposing voice. "Hn…" was his answer, his mind barely interested in what they had to say. "After the events that transpired to you some months ago, we have decided that you will have a personal escort with you throughout the duration of your stay here," Tsunade said, her voice emanating command with each word. Gaara's eyes suddenly flew open at the sound of this.
"An escort? But my elder sibling his here to fulfill that role," Gaara said, trying to hide the annoyance he felt at this. "Your brother had to return to the Suna for some unknown reason…but your sister forced him to leave last night while you were in your quarters," Tsunade said with a sly grin on her face. Temari must've received word from Tsunade about Kankuro's irresponsible loss of him Gaara thought. It amused him to think of what Temari had in store for his less intelligent brother. Just as the scene played out in his head though, Tsunade spoke out yet again. "As I was saying…there shall be a new escort for the young kage and I suggest one of our chunin do the task," Tsunade suggested. Gaara knew the only person in all of Konoha that he would allow to be his "escort". "Naruto…" said Gaara, thinking about his bouncy orange suited friend. "No, it isn't Naruto," Tsunade implied. It was then Gaara quickly shot up, hands on the table. "What?" he asked slowly, letting every ounce of frustration he had slide of the word. "Naruto is on a mission for the time being along with his teammates…so I'm placing you under the supervision of Team 8 as they are the only ones available," Tsunade said sternly, like a mother would her child. Gaara, not wishing to further aggravate himself simply sat back down and let the meeting proceed. However, he still couldn't wait to see which sorry souls would have to handle him.
Elsewhere, a slumbering Hinata was awoken by the songs of robins from the garden. She slowly got up, still trying to push off the feeling of sleep that overtook her last night. Usually, she woke up with a gentle smile on her face, happy after having a good night sleep. But last night was rather restless. Her dreams took her to an enclosure beset in the middle of a forest, sunlight piercing the canopy. Hinata's dream self wandered into the little spot that was devoid of trees, taking in the beauty of this almost magical place. She spun around the spot, smiling as the sunlight shined on her soft skin. Then, dizzy from the spinning, Hinata fell to the soft forest floor, the grass cushioning her fall. She laughed as her hair got tangled all over her face. She didn't bother to brush them off, leaving the strands of hair where they landed. Then, all of a sudden she felt a nearby presence and in the blink of an eye, someone had pulled the hair of her face and the first thing she saw were a pair of jade eyes looking right at her.
It was at that moment in her dream which caused Hinata to wake up in the middle of the night. Every time she closed her she saw those same pair of jade pupils looking at her and thus, Hinata could barely sleep throughout the rest of the night. Because of this, her mind and body were too tired, depraved of any slumber the night before. She slowly dragged herself to the showers where she heard her younger sister singing. "Hanabi-san, are you done?" Hinata asked, yawning slightly. "Hold on, I'm about done," she chirped from inside the bathroom. A few minutes later Hanabi walked out of the bathroom to see her elder sister half asleep, her body swaying to and fro. "Sister, are you okay?" Hanabi asked, concerned how her elder sibling was. Hinata, too drowsy to have noticed what her sister asked just hazily walked into the bathroom, leaving an unanswered Hanabi just staring at the door. "Well, I take that as a maybe…" Hanabi said, walking off towards her room.
The rest of the morning passed by rather swiftly, the afternoon sun already high above the skies overhead of Konoha. Hinata and her friends, Kiba and Shino along with Akamaru were walking down one of the streets, heading towards a food stall. "MAN, I am hungry…Hana left the house and me an Akamaru without any food," Kiba said, his stomach growling in tandem with his dog's. Shino merely sighed at his friend brashness while Hinata let out a small laugh. "Why didn't you just grab some dog food?" Shino asked sarcastically. "HEY, AKAMARU HAS STANDARDS!" Kiba yelled, furious at his friend's rude remark of his fury companion. "I was referring to it for you," said a bemused Shino. Kiba was just about to land a fist right between Shino's eyes when Hinata broke the fight. "Guys…lets not fight…besides, were at a food stall and you can buy some food for you and Akamaru," Hinata said, trying to calm the rising tension between her friends. "Rrr…fine…for you Hinata," Kiba said, rummaging to his pockets for some money to buy his breakfast. Shino didn't say anything, though Hinata knew her mysterious friend ways and just let him be. Kiba, after awhile, finally found his wallets and bought himself and Akamaru some friend squid balls. As he chowed down on his food like a ravenous wild animal, Hinata decided to walk by herself for a while. She tried to ignore the sound of Shino scolding Kiba and Kiba's growls. She idly walked by, smiling at some of the people that passed by. Her attention soon turned to a group of little children playing catch and couldn't help but watch as they ran around and laughed like children should.
Throughout her life, Hinata had to always be formal for her family and it wasn't till she became a nin did she know how having friends was so special. Her father always expected her too fail when she was younger, only softening on her after she became a Chunin. Neji also was instrumental in making her into the shy, unconfident girl she was, his cold attitude affecting her personality. Even though now both of them have become kinder to her over time, she still cannot shake of her old, scared little self that still was within her. Hinata sighed, clearing her head of all these thoughts and turned back to the children who were suddenly quiet, they're head looking up. Curious, she walked towards them, wondering what they were looking at.
A small kitten was stuck up a tree, mewing for someone to help get it off the branch it was stuck on. "Aww…the poor kitty's climbed up the tree and now can't get down," said a little girl, her eyes wide with fear for the little creature. "But what cane we do…were too small to climb the tree…," said another child, his voice clearly sad for their inability to help. It was then Hinata realized she could help these children and the poor cat. She squatted down before the children, giving them all a motherly smile. "Don't worry kids, I'll get the cat down for you," she said, her voice reassuring the children. They looked up at Hinata with happy eyes; overjoyed at the fact the kitten would be safe.
Hinata jumped up onto the tree, the skills she had as a ninja making the task a simple feat. Finally she was at the branch where the cat was stuck on. Hinata tried to approach it, but the small cat was afraid, and kept backing away further from her. From standing atop the branch, Hinata slowly began to crawl carefully towards the little animal which was now precariously near the edge. Then, without notice, one of the kittens's feet slipped of the branch and was now holding itself up with only its front paws. Hinata then jumped to save the cat before it fell but instead, they both were falling from the tree. She closed her eyes, afraid of seeing the ground that came speeding towards her. Instead she felt something softer then the pavement hitting her, and opened her eyes to see herself on a floating bed of sand.
Gaara left the Hokage's building; much to Tsunade's disliking, to get some fresh air and clear his thoughts. Usually his mind was in a state of deep meditation, except when he had to best his opponents in combat or if he was reminiscing of the past, the wrongs he had done. However, his thoughts were now filled with the face of that Hyuga girl, Hinata. She was such a pathetic excuse of a nin, unconfident, fearful and childlike innocence and although he constantly reminded himself that she was these things, he couldn't shake her our of his head. The street he took soon led him a group of small children, gasping as they saw something dreadful occurring. At first, he wondered what he saw till the sight of an all to familiar ninja that had been haunting his thoughts was falling right in front of him.
Without thinking, Gaara ordered his sand to go forth and cushion her fall, worried she might have hurt herself if she hit the hard pavement. His sand, like a snake reeling through the grass, tried to get to Hinata as swiftly as its speed could muster. The world then seemed to slow into a crawl, and all Gaara saw was his sand and Hinata slowly inching towards the ground. His mind at the time didn't think about anything but her and Gaara found this strange to him, an alien feeling of concern he had. It was unlike how he felt if he was protecting his brother and sister, or when he defended his village from that Akatsuki. No, the feeling that swept over him was different, but what it was he could not tell. Then, a soft thud was heard and Hinata was safe on a bed of sand that formed beneath her. Gaara let out a sigh, relieved that she was alright.
Hinata was shocked. A bed of sand seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and cushion her from hitting the ground hard. She wondered what force could do such a feat. Then, as sudden as it appeared, the sand dispersed, causing Hinata to fall softly on the ground. She landed face first with the cat pressed against her belly, the poor the mewing as the pressure of her weight crushed it. Hinata then flipped herself, her face now looking up towards the sky. Her hair was all over her and she couldn't even see clearly. She could hear the children speak in hushed voices, what happening just now making them rather awed. Then, without warning, a figure loomed above her, Hinata barely being able to make out who it was. Whoever it was slowly drawing closer to her, and she could feel his breath tickle her face. Next, he gently brushed aside the stray locks of hair off her face and Hinata slowly began to hope to see who this stranger was. Instead, she saw something that must've come out of her dreams. A pair of jade eyes looking right at her.
Gaara looked down at Hinata and couldn't help but feel lightheaded as he looked up at him. Her face looked so innocently surprised when she saw him and that made him feel strange. He was kneeling close to her, his face some inches from hers and Gaara began to take in her scent, which smelled of lavenders. He then stood up and saw a bewildered looking Hinata, shocked to see it was the kage who was just over her a few moments ago. Then, without really thinking, Gaara outstretched his hand towards Hinata.
Hinata was still quite in a state of shock after what just had happened. The Kazekage was standing above her, his hand outstretched towards her. The same hand that had swept aside the strands of hair off her face. With the little kitten held in one arm, she lifted her hands towards him and he slowly pulled her up. After some time trying to regain her balance, she felt something still on her hand, holding them gently. She looked down to see it was Gaara's own and soon she began to blush slightly. Gaara must've realized this and quickly let go of her hand, turning away from her. She was glad though, as he wouldn't notice her cheeks were a hot red. At first, there was mostly am awkward silence that hung in the air till a child spoke. "You saved the kitty," said a little girl, glad to see the cat was fine. "YEAH! Thanks miss, you saved the kitty from being stuck up that mean tree!" said a little boy who bounced around Hinata. The other children all began gathering around her, exclaiming their joy and giving her their gratitude. Gaara just wanted to walk away, disappearing from this little display of childish happiness. Suddenly, a child pointed out Gaara to the others who were too busy to notice he was leaving the scene.
"Wait…he saved the nice girl from hitting the ground! I saw the sand come out of his oversized water pot!" the child exclaimed. All the other children soon looked at him and if he was still the monster he used to be, they would've all met a grim end to their short lives. Even so, he felt annoyed that one of the urchins had the gall to call his gourd an oversized water pot. Gaara looked at the group of children staring up at him, their little eyes looking inquisitively at his gourd. He felt like walking away when he saw that white eyed beauty look at him. Unsure of what was unfolding before him, he gave Hinata a look that he barely gave to anyone else in the world. A look for help.
Hinata stared at Gaara, unsure if she should thank or just walk away. Then, all of a sudden, Gaara gave her a stare that look like he needs her to get him out of this, Realizing what he meant, Hinata thought of what she could do to get the children around Gaara to leave him alone. It was then she recalled the little cat that she held for the duration of the time. "Umm…kids, don't you want to play with the kitten," she said, her voice cheerful and friendly. The moment she said that, they all turned their heads to the cat Hinata had set down in front of them. The group of children yelled with glee and quickly began playing with the little creature, ignorant of anything going on. It was at this moment that Hinata quickly ran off towards Gaara, hoping the sand ninja could help her escape. The children, too busy playing with the small cat didn't notice the two leaving the place as fast as they could.