Sorry it has been way to long! But it is here at last, the newest chapter.

As always I only own the words to this story; my thoughts. Naruto and the world in which he lives in is owned by another.

Pulling out a dark wooded high back chair with soft royal purple silk fabric, Hinata awaited for the Kazekage to take this as a hint to sit. To her relief, he did so without putting up any fuss.

"When you deprive your body of sleep for so long your mind will enter a state in which it will force sleep upon you, which is what you just experienced. You are quite lucky that it happened when it did, Gaara-Sama." Taking a quick step to the right, mere inches away from Gaara's left side, Hinata eyed the mess of red hair before removing her chunin vest. Signing to herself Hinata continued. "Remove the top portion of your gown, please."

Baffled, Gaara tilted his head just a fraction to study the odd female. This Hinata chick seemed unaffected by her statement. Did she make a habit of this with every person she was alone with? Or was she just unaware of how it sounded? Gaara was almost certain that this was not a normal protocol among the Leaf nor the Hyuuga clan. It must be her innocent state of mind.

"I beg your pardon?"

One, two... and right on cue Hinata's famous blush appeared as she realized what she had said and how it appeared. To Gaara's relief it was the second scenario.

"I...I...it was... um... I did not intend for it to sound... to sound like that... Just please?"

For some unknown reason Gaara didn't mind watching Hinata fumble over herself as she attempted to amend the situation and take control once more. To assist her in her efforts Gaara did as she asked without any objections. If he wasn't in such a foul mood he might have enjoyed her presence. Maybe even harassed her a little more over her previous statement.

"As I was saying, you are quiet lucky that it happened while around trusted friends. If this was to happen during a match you could..." Hinata's words trailed off, there was no need to explain further. Both understood the weight of what may have happened if this had taken place anywhere else. "And that is why you need rest. Your body will continue to shut itself off to regain the sleep that you are depriving it until you give in and allow yourself to rest or... Or die from over exhaustion, sir."

Knowing that this was not how it was intended, Gaara took a few seconds to breathe. He was starting to feel hostile; Hinata had unknowingly assaulted his ability to perform the basic ability of any shinobi and that was to protect yourself.

"That was never a problem before. I do not see how now should be any different."

Shifting slightly, Hinata carefully chose her next words. Somehow she had offended him. Her experience in the matter of moody men and many years of trial and error with the Hyuuga clan had prepared her. If Hinata could learn to adapt, analyze and comprehend Neji's mood swings, then she was sure Gaara-sama could be tamed with patience. She just hoped that 'trial and error' would not be so prominent in this matter as it was with many of the Hyuuga members. Taking a chance, Hinata took the over formal approach. It seemed to work best with the Hyuuga council members. Taking one last glance at the agitated red head, Hinata bowed.

"Sir, that is because of the demon that you once housed. Unlike the one currently living in Naruto, your demon needed you to be in that state; it forced you to live in that state. Which is why you are having issues sleeping, your body and mind have formed a habit."

"I am incapable of sleep." If it weren't for the current atmosphere, Hinata would have laughed at how child like Gaara could be. Gaara had stated this as if he were announcing the weather; a child stating a fact.

"Without your demon, your body is unprotected. As much as your body has become use to skipping sleep, your body cannot live without it. We must break this cycle of skipping rest, is all. Once you fall in to the habit of sleep, you'll have little issue sleeping." Hinata continued her explanation as she activated her bloodline.

"I was in the habit of sleeping but I am unable to use the CSC. Without that, I am incapable of sleeping more than 30 minutes every few weeks."

Hands paused in her action, hovering just above Gaara's head, Hinata eyed the man before her. Even in Gaara's child like tone Hinata couldn't help but become worried over this piece of information.

"Hm... While I am glad to hear that you want to sleep, I am worried to hear that they forced you to use the CSC as a replacement to real sleep. The CSC can be very hard on your mind and addictive as well. Now, please place your chin to your chest."

As she spoke her request, Hinata's hands found their destination, the left lower side of Gaara's head.

"I do not recall giving you permission to touch me."

Knowing this was most likely not the smartest option, Hinata removed her hands. She was beginning to get anxious and just wanted to get this over with. Continuing on as quickly as possible seemed like the only option. Hinata did so by ignoring the unspoken demand to remove her hands.

"I apologize for not walking you through the steps in which I will be taking. This," gently placing pressure with her right hand, "is one of the area in which is affected the most when a person becomes sleep deprived. And this," taking the lack of argument as a sign that she was safe from any immediate harm, Hinata added her left hand, and placed just a tiny bit of pressure, "is one of the main regions that control your ability of sleep. By adding chakra and using the techniques that my bloodline has granted me, I am able to target certain areas and force them into a state of slumber. All I need you to do is relax; nice heavy breaths. Good."

Chanting softly, Hinata quickly began her in depth process of inducing sleep.

To Hinata's shock, he did as she asked without any arguments. Within minutes Gaara had started to show first signs of sleep.

"Even steady breathes." Was the last thing Gaara heard before he slipped into a well needed slumber.

XxXxXxXxX

Gaara slowly made his way out of the tiny shop. The sun was out, like it was every day in Suna. The heat was something that every member of the Village Hidden in the Sand was accustomed to, but that didn't stop Gaara from indulging in the tiny little pleasure that this shop had to offer.

Everyday during the Kazekage's morning round of the village he would stop into this particular tea shop. They had this unusual ice tea that seemed to have an even stranger ingredient. Gaara couldn't put his finger on what it was, but whatever it was, it seemed to keep his internal temperature down. The effect of this drink was something even the seasoned village residents couldn't argue with. No matter how much your body becomes a costume to 130 degree weather a nice treat like the tea was a wonderful gift.

Maybe Gaara should tell the rest of the village of his finding. Shaking his head, Gaara decided that this would just be his little secret. Plus, if he shared this with everyone, then there might be a chance that the whole village would beat him here in the morning. Then what would he do? It wasn't worth chancing. And besides this little shop has always been there. If the villagers had yet to discover it then it was their loss, not his.

Gaara continued on his way throughout the streets of the village, making his daily rounds, when a loud commotion from a side street to his left had captured his attention. Abandoning his nice little stroll, Gaara quickly made his way to the source of the commotion. It was most likely a fight between two villagers, there wasn't enough noise from the villagers and his shinobis had yet to respond, but that didn't mean that Gaara wasn't needed. He was the Kage after all.

Rounding the corner, Gaara slowed his dash into a slow jog while he studied the new environment. There was a hole missing from the side of the building, merchant carts and their products laid scattered and two burly men laid sprawling eagle face down in the center of the commotion. A female, just barely able to reach the top of Gaara's shoulders stood alienated from the rest of the villagers as she watched her fallen opponents. Her long black hair danced in the light summer breeze as she attempted to control her breathing.

Gaara was sure that her heavy breathing wasn't from over-extending her abilities but the situation. She looked appalled at what she had done to the village but the glint in her eye would suggest that she did not regret what she had done to the two men at her feet. Gaara was sure that if she wanted to, she could have done more damage. Easily. Then why did she stop? Did she really resent herself that much for destroying the village?

Just as Gaara was forming even more questions, the odd female had finally regained control over her breathing.

"Your first mistake was confusing shy and soft spoken for meek and incapable. If you are wise you will count this as a warning, not a challenge. I am neither meek nor incapable and I promise you this, next time I will not hold back."

Taking one last look around, the female began to retreat but not before she dropped a money bag full of coins in one of the shopkeepers hands with a request to use it to pay for the damages.

The summer blue skies drifted into a dim glow. The scene shifted into another, just as odd as the last.

Gaara watched as a tiny figure before him, clutching the hem of his traveling cloak, dragged him along the beaten path of the tiny cave that they were currently traveling on.

The figure before him stopped abruptly, and before Gaara could figure out what was going on, whether he should be on the defensive or not, the figure started to laugh. This laughter was just as strange as the situation he currently was in.

He couldn't remember how he had gotten here, if this figure was a friend or a foe, or where they were headed. All he knew was that this creature had dragged him into this cave, one that he had never seen before, and the only means of light was being held in this odd creature's other hand.

What was confusing Gaara even more than this sudden amnesia was how his body felt. It was almost as if this wasn't his body, that he was merely feeling what somebody else was feeling. It was almost as if he were a ghost that had just taken over another person. This body was completely at ease with the figure before him and even the cave.

And the laughter. It sounded soft and gentle, not sadistic as he would have thought a captor's laughter would have sounded like. What startled him the most was how his body reacted toward the laughter. His heart sped up and his insides plummeted, crashing into one another.

Just as Gaara's confusion began to double, the figure turned around to eye him.

"If I didn't know any better, Love, I would have thought that you didn't want to come."

Gaara watched the female before him, confused and highly alarmed. Did she just refer to him as Love?

Studying this odd female once more, Gaara recognized her as the female from earlier. The one that had took out two men and destroyed a nice chunk of shops in that section of the village, and easily too.

Her soft pink lips formed a slight frown as she too watched the person before her. Worry danced in her soft blue eyes.

Tilting his head just a fracture Gaara took a closer look at this female. Her hair wasn't as long as it had been earlier. Had she cut it within that short amount of time? She had also traded her long traveling jacket in for a cloak. Was that one of his old cloaks from when he was but a child?

"Gaara, are you alright? We do not have to do this if you are not up for it. A late night picnic can wait until you are feeling well."

"A late night picnic? In this..." Before Gaara could finish his inquiry on how a cave was not the best placement for a picnic, late night or not, memories had flooded his mind.

This strange female had been dating Gaara for almost nine months and this late night date was something that they had been planning for weeks. While they were both adults and capable of going out, they rather enjoyed the excitement of sneaking out as if they were a bunch of forbidden teenagers.

This cave was a secret that she had shown him on their fifth month anniversary. The night she had told him for the first time that she loved him. It was the first time they had...

Everything had seemed to rush to him. He now knew who she was, what they were doing sneaking around or even why her sweet laughter had effected him so.

Something he was also aware of was that this was only a dream. The world that he had been living in for months with the help of the CSC. Unlike the slumber the CSC had offered, this one kept him alert of the world around him; the world that would be waiting for him when he woke up.

The slumber that the CSC had allowed him to live in, the dreams seemed almost as if they were a whole other world. Each dream was another day, another event. He had full control of his actions as well. In many ways he was living in another world, another life than the one he had when he would wake up.

However this sleep, the one that the Hyuuga offered, only allowed him to relive the pass memories of the world he had lost. It was nothing but a memory. Gaara really couldn't change the outcome like he could have with the CSC. This dream felt like a dream, not another life that he yearned for.

A sadness filled the man as he realized that he was trapped reliving something he could never have; a memory that will never be his.

Taking the hand of the female he would never fully have again, the female that he loved more then he thought possible and would eventually marry in this false reality, and insisted that she continued to lead the way.

One last picnic he told himself, just one last picnic.

Before Gaara could even finish his pleading words the scene shift again. This time he knew were he was and what was about to happen. A very unlike-Gaara blush crept across his cheeks as his mouth opened on their own accord.

"This is... I can't." A very unlike Gaara tone came from behind a half closed bathroom door.

Giggles erupted from the main bedroom of the Kage's personal chambers. This sound almost always could calm Gaara's nerves. His lovely Love could always calm him, except this time. What had he done to deserve this? This out of all things?

"Yes you can, now move it. Come out, will ye'ah?" Laughter was etched throughout her statement, taunting the man who hid in the confinements of his bathroom.

The door flung open seconds before the clicking sound of the camera Gaara had bought his wife for her birthday last week dominated the once silent bathroom. Oh how he wished he had never bought that thing.

Standing in the center of the door way defeated, stood Gaara blushing heavily as he glared at his giggling wife. Not only had she forced him into wearing this ridiculous outfit but she had taken pictures as well.

Giggling one last time, Gaara's wife handed him the camera before shrugging off the bathrobe that had been concealing her costume.

Green eyes widen just a fraction as he took in the sight before him. Had she really chosen that outfit? He was only joking when had suggested it, well kinda.

This time it was her turn to blush. Gaara's wife had chose a very unlike-her outfit. If Gaara was willing to wear his outfit for her then she only felt it was fitting for her to do the same.

The two eyed each other for several minutes until a knock at their bedroom door announced they were no longer alone.

"The guests will be arriving soon, Sir. Will you be down shortly?"

"We will be on our way in just a few moments."

Taking one more hungry glance at his wife, Gaara decided that pay back was in need. A bright flash snapped the young wife clad in a French Maid outfit out of her trance.

"Fair is fair, Panda boy. Now lets get going. Can't be late to our own party, can we."

Ushering the six foot tall panda out of their bedroom first the tiny petite french maid followed her husband down the hall and towards the costume party Kankuro was throwing for her as a belated birthday bash. The costume party had one twist to it. Each couple had to maintain a color theme. After hearing her plan for Gaara's costume Kankuro had to make a few changes but was easily able to grant the guest of honor her small request; to be assigned black and white as their color theme.

The hall way shifted once more and darkness took over. When Gaara finally opened his eyes he found a set of pale lavender ones watching him closely.

Hinata didn't appear to be someone who invaded personal space like Naruto, so Gaara was a little confused as to why she was always entering his. What more was how he wasn't all too uncomfortable with it either. Hinata currently stood a few inches away at Gaara's eye leave. With Gaara sitting they were almost the same level, maybe four inches off. All in all, Hinata really didn't have to lean as much as Gaara would have thought.

How short was she? And why is she looking at him like that?

"Sir, are you awake?"

"Yes."

Stepping back, Hinata allowed Gaara to come to before she continued. "Are you aware that you sleep with your eyes open. And... and mumble while you sleep?"

"No?"

Upon seeing Gaara's confusion, Hinata become confused as well. How had she lost him? It was a simple question. A yes or no. How is he confused?

A small smile threaten to escape upon seeing Hinata's confusion. Gaara decided to explain his thought process on why he was slightly confused. "How would one know that they sleep with their eyes open? If you are unconscious you can't really be a ware of what you are doing or not, correct? When I sleep it is alone and I really am not a big fan of the idea of taping myself, so how would I know?"

Giggles flooded the air as Hinata fully grasped what had caused his confusion, how his mind worked. "You are a very literal thinker. I will have to keep that in mind. And I guess you are correct; how would you know. In the future if your are ever asked you can honestly say yes."

Both held a warm smile, a slight twitch of the lips in Gaara's case, before silence washed over them for several moments. Looking at the sun dial that laid next to one of Gaara's many glass walls, Hinata cleared her throat before continuing. "I apologize for waking you but it is almost seven. You have been sleeping for almost ten hours. Too much at once may be harmful. How do you feel?"

Gaara closed his eyes and quietly surveyed how he felt. He was completely aware of everything that had happened in his dreams, remembered everything. It was kind of odd, he missed and yearned for the life he had made up but a part of him had registered that it was nothing but a fantasy. It was not real. It was not worth morning over and oddly enough he wasn't mourning to the degree that he had once felt. He did feel a little hollow, like he was missing a part of him but at the same time, he was fully aware that this something was only meant to live in the far depths of his mind.

Besides the shock of slowly becoming aware and strangely being content with the concept that whole world he had fallen in love with was not real or ever would be, he felt rested. This odd surge of energy mixed with an absolution of clarity was new to him. If this is what sleep left you feeling like, then he could understand what the big hype was all about.

"Fine."

A small smile graced Hinata's lips. "I am glad to hear that. Naruto has been by several times and has requested that you join him for a late dinner and possibly some drinks. I think that the dinner portion would do you some good. Drinks should wait for another time. The dinner should be starting soon, would you like to go?"

No. But that was not what was said. Instead to Gaara's own shock, he had agreed.

"I will see you there, Gaara-sama. I must be going now." After bowing Hinata quickly made her exit.

This Hyuuga female was always so formal. Not only with him either. Gaara had been watching her for nine days and he had noticed that she was like this even with her friends. Always adding the proper suffix onto everything. Kun, chan, san, and always bowing.

She was strange but so far all of the Leaf shinobis seemed to be. Naruto was a perfect example of that.

XxXxXxXxX

Gaara was the last to join the large group for dinner. Something that was very unlike him, even his siblings were beginning to think that he wasn't going to show.

"About time Raccoon Boy! I was about to come find you myself! Well, whatchya waiting for? Come take a seat! There's one open between Bug Boy and TenTen."

Watching from across the table, Kankuro awaited for his younger brother to take his seat as the loud brunette had demanded, before continuing with his story. A small smile played on his painted lips. Gaara hadn't look so normal in months, even before the CSC issue. In Kankuro's opinion, this was a step in the right direction; sleep and now interaction with people other than the council members - his brother needed this.

"So, as I was saying, there I was flat against the tree, pinned by my own puppets. Both my arms were completely useless," Kankuro shot a cheeky grin at the ever reddening pale eyed beauty. "One loosing blood faster then I knew possible while the other paralyzed by her lovely bloodline."

Clutching his chest, Kankuro wore a mock pained expression. "To my horror and relief she steps into my line of sight, pale cheeks flushed this delicate color. The fiery look within her eyes sent chills down my spine. So enticing and yet..." Shaking his head as if to rid himself of dangerous thoughts, Kankuro winked at the blushing Hyuuga before he continued. "Like I had said, to my horror. It was the very reason why I was pinned to the tree, she would be the death of me. Pointing her very sharp kunai at my handsome face."

Chuckling lightly Kankuro rubbed his scar one last before continuing, eyes never leaving Hinata's.

"What was it that you said to me, Hina-chan? Oh yes I remember, you had said that I lacked the ability to view what is truly there and made one fatal mistake. I chose to see, to focus on others' flaws, assuming that this is all a person has to offer. I had seen her as shy or timid and considered her to be weak and helpless. And if I were wise then I would count this as a warning not a challenge, for she is neither meek nor incapable, and the next time she would not hold back. Did I get that right, Hina-chan?"

Unable so speak, Hinata merely nodded her agreement before hiding behind her long curtain of hair.

Sea foam eyes shifted from his older brother to this odd female. Could she really have taken Kankuro out. And as easily as Kankuro had made it sound. Granted he had only caught the tail end of the story but Gaara had fought his brother before, and Kankuro was a well seasoned shinobi, a highly capable shinobi.

"Then to my shock, this little blood thirsty hime cut me free from the tree and began healing my wounds. Only you, Hinata."

Laughter erupted from the table along with a few nods of agreement. The last part sounded like the Hinata Gaara had just become to know and by the sound of it everyone would agree as well. From the bits Gaara could place when regarding this female he couldn't help but think she was almost a walking contradiction. Cold and callous one second, then overly caring the next. Who heals their opponent? An opponent like his brother, an opponent who would usually prey on the kindness in order to win. It appeared Kankuro was right, 'only you, Hinata.'

Oddly Gaara had a feeling that Hinata reminded him of somebody, he just couldn't put his finger on it. Who?

The dinner continued on for several hours, laughter danced in the air among the group of friends the entire time. It appeared even Gaara had a wonderful time. He didn't openly laugh as the rest had, but for the few who truly knew him, they could tell that Gaara wore the closest thing to a smile that he had; a small smirk. Even his eyes seemed to be a bit warmer than usual.

At the end of the night, to everyone's shock, Gaara had suggested that they do this again, and soon. Gaara wasn't a person to make idle comments just to sound friendly or to fill the silence. If he made a comment, then he meant it.

Gaara was the first to leave, the two genin teams were the second to follow.

A small smile played on Kankuro's painted lips as he watched Hinata fiddle with the hem of her jacket. She had started when Gaara had announced that he was taking his leave.

A special thanks to my beta, Maniacslaugh!

So, how do you like the part where I had Gaara dressed as a panda? Or any of this store? Please do let me know!

As always please review!