Hinata stared up at the moon from her spot by the window. It was big and full and orange. If they hadn't been in the middle of the city, she could have seen more stars, but the few that were out were shining as though they were trying to compete with the moon for attention.

Almost out of habit she started the rhyming, "Star light, star bright first star I see tonight. I wish I may I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight." She smiled a little when she finished the rhyme. 'Now what to wish for?' she thought idly.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a noise behind her. She turned slightly, to look out the corner of her eye at the source. It was Gaara; he had opened the door and was now leaning casually against the doorjamb.

Hinata smiled gently at him in greeting, then turned her attention back to the window. She didn't even try ignoring him, but she knew that he would say something when he was ready. She also knew that he wouldn't appreciate her staring at him while he stayed silent.

"You aren't afraid of me," it was said as a statement, but Hinata knew that it was the closest he would come to asking that question.

She smiled again and looked at him. "I'm used to being around people that are stronger then me," she said simply.

He was silent for a while, "You used to be afraid of me."

Hinata didn't bother answering that. Everybody used to be afraid of him, and he knew it. He had been powerful and full of pain, but then he met someone like him, and even though he remained powerful there was just something about him now that didn't scare her. She was aware that he could crush her with a thought, but she knew that he wouldn't.

There was a long silence, that wasn't quite awkward, but not really comfortable either. Hinata didn't know how to break it, or even if she wanted to. So, she decided to follow Gaara's lead.

"How did you find out about the demon's chackra?" He asked.

"I had never seen true demon chackra until the third round of the chuunin exams. After Neji-nisan had plugged up all of Naruto's chackra points in their battle, Naruto tapped into his demon chackra. At the time I didn't know that though, so I did some research in the family library," she blushed a little, 'Do I mention that he has demon chackra?'

"I know you saw me go against those three rain ninjas in the forest of death," he stated.

"Hn," Hinata said non-commitedly, "But your chackra rarely leaves your body, unless it's mixed with your sand. It wasn't until the second chuunin exams that I looked at you with my byakugan activated."

"When?" he sounded a little startled at this, which caused Hinata to giggle slightly.

"You were sitting between me and the person who had the answers during the first test. Your chackra is different from Naruto's. Well the way his chackra used to be," she said as a way of explanation. He raised one of his hairless eyebrows at her. "Naruto's chackra used to be distinctly human or distinctly demon. He didn't mix the two together."

"What does it look like now?" he asked simply.

" I don't know. I have heard that he has been tapping into the kyuubi more often, but I haven't looked. I imagine that it looks a little more like yours now."

"What does mine look like?"

"Yours is red, with streaks of blue in it, or at least it was two years ago," she blushed a little at this. 'Why is he so interested in this?' she thought as yet another moment of silence took place. This one was a little more awkward then the other one, but still not so uncomfortable that she wanted to break it.

"Why did you stop holding hands?" he asked rather abruptly.

Hinata was taken aback, 'How did we get from demon chackra to holding hands?' For a while she didn't answer, but he didn't back away either. "Huh? I didn't stop… I-I just don't do it as often as I used to," she trailed off a little at this.

"Why?"

"P-people stopped wanting to hold hands with me. They got their special people, and then they didn't have time for me anymore." She knew that she sounded a little pathetic at this. 'Everyone has been lonely at some point in their life, it's just my turn now.' "Bu-but I'm glad that they found their special people. I'm glad that they can be happy."

"Why did you start?"

"I-I needed to," she whispered, "When Sasuke and Naruto left the village, everyone was effected. I could feel people pulling away from each other, distancing themselves because they didn't want to be hurt. I-I couldn't let that happen again," her voice broke a little at this, "I did what I had to do because I needed to let people know that I cared. That they wouldn't be alone. But mostly I did it for myself, so that I wouldn't be alone anymore." She turned her face away from Gaara then, because she knew that if she looked at him now she would start to cry. A ninja doesn't let their emotions show, especially when they are on duty.

Gaara didn't leave, but he didn't try to start a conversation again. Once Hinata had gotten her emotions a little under control, she looked back at Gaara. He was still standing by the door, but he was no longer leaning. In fact he looked like he wanted to move further into the room, but wasn't sure about his welcome. They were separated by the space of the room, but it felt like they were getting closer and closer.

Hinata sighed and stood up. She made her way to the door, and stood right in front of Gaara. She bit her lip as she looked up at him. 'When did he get so tall?' she wondered idly. This was the closest she had ever been to him before.

Slowly, hesitantly, she lifted her hand to him. She could feel her cheeks heating up and she fought the urge to lower her eyes from his. Instead she looked into his eyes as what she was doing dawned on him. Hinata could hear her heart beat in her ears, beating so loudly that it was practically drowning out all other sounds.

'I wonder if he knows how important his answer is?' she asked herself as she waited.