Hinata store up at her ceiling. The radiant golden light shone unto her bed from the window. It was a new day, and it was time to make some new impressions.

Recollections from last night filled her mind, her embarrassing incident, and how she ran upstairs never coming back. The worst part of it all was how decent Gaara was; he only seemed concerned for her well-being until she saw it.

She had to run to her window to make sure it was really there, she wasn't just dreaming. But of course, she only made herself look like a lunatic.

She sat up in her bed, and glanced out her window. The front of her house was in sight, she could see the garden and driveway leading down to the market.

She promised herself she'd see him today, and she would. She hated what a strange impression she made.

She got up from her bed and walked downstairs to the kitchen.

"What would you like today Hinata?" The maid asked her.

"The usual." She replied, and sat on a couch. "Would you mind calling father? I'm going out today."

Temari threw some more spices onto the scrambled eggs she fried on the stove.

She woke up early this morning to make breakfast, it was the least she could do after that disaster last night. Her heart went out for Hinata…to a certain extent. Yeah, it was pretty embarrassing, but who abandons their guest like that?

She absently tossed more hot sauce into the pan. When they had got home, Gaara went straight to his room, ignoring everyone.

What really concerned her was the fact that he even boarded his door up from the inside with sand, meaning he truly wanted to be alone.

She placed the eggs and hot dogs she made on three different plates and placed them on the kitchen table.

No sooner did she do this, did Kankuro emerge from his room. Looking groggy and a bit disoriented.

"Get Gaara." Temari ordered him. In his tired state, he listened to her without any conflict.

A few moments later both brothers came into the kitchen and sat opposite from Temari.

Gaara resembled a full blown raging raccoon. Temari could tell he didn't even attempt to sleep last night. While Kankuro eyed the food before him suspiciously.

"I thought we could all have breakfast together." She said, trying her best to smile.

Kankuro picked at it, and then bit into a hot dog.

Never had Temari seen Kankuro jump so high. He pranced up from his seat, gagging and sputtering.

"What the hell Temari?" He screamed, his eyes watered and his face seemed a bit flushed. "That was so hot…I think that just burnt my soul!"

Temari store at him, anger bubbling. She only tried to get Gaara in a better mood, she glanced over at him. He had pushed his plate toward her and looked as if he was about to leave.

She opened her mouth to say something when a knock on the door interrupted her.

Kankuro had left to wash his mouth out, and Gaara looked to be in no mood to do anything. So she walked through the kitchen and opened the front door.

Hinata was dressed pretty casually. She wore black tights and a long purple top which clung to her. She waved to her escort, walked up the front steps to the hotel and made her way to her fiancée's room.

It annoyed her a bit that she had to tell her father whenever she was leaving and always had to have an escort at all times. Neji and Hanabi never had to deal with this.

She knew why, it was for "protection" she could never take care of herself in his eyes.

A memory flashed back from when she first came home from the hospital.

Her father had said, "You see why I'm so peculiar about you? If you cannot even defend yourself in your own home, why would send you out un-protected? Look at Hanabi and Neji! The intruder never touched them! They knew you'd be the easiest target!" He stated this confidently, and almost proudly. As if he had it all figured out, and no one could tell him wrong.

Hinata blocked out those thoughts, and knocked on the door. She heard a few muffled noises, and then it opened.

A blond haired woman with multiple pigtails opened the door, her face held an expression of pure frustration.

"Hi, Temari right?" Hinata asked, making sure she had gotten her name right.

"Uh yeah…I'm Temari." She replied. Her appearance now changed, she seemed more curious now than anything. "I thought you'd still be in your bedroom."

Hinata could feel her face flushing, she dropped her gaze and studied the space between her feet. She knew it was a bad habit but the feeling overwhelmed her in awkward times like this.

"I-I really didn't mean to…well, I wasn't, okay…so there was…I may not be, no, I mean I continued to always…like, such as-" Hinata stopped herself and looked up to see Temari staring at her with a look of dullness.

Hinata felt like the biggest idiot in the world. What nonsense had she just blurted out?

"Just come inside." Temari mumbled, holding the door open for her.

Hinata strode into the hotel room. Whatever had been cooking burned her nose when she breathed in.

She took in her surroundings, a light brown couch was parked in what she thought was the living room area which was painted with many light brown hues. From there, she could see the kitchen and some sort of dining room table.

As she sat down on the couch she felt the burning glare of someone eyeing her down.

She glanced up only to notice Gaara, sitting in the far corner of the dining room table.

He store at her, not saying a word. His green eyes watched her so intently, it made her feel a bit uncomfortable. But what she couldn't quite place was his expression. Was he mad? Annoyed? Or just tired?

"Hi Gaara…I didn't notice you there."

There was a moment of silence.

Then a male voice shouted out, "I think there's something wrong with the pipes!"

Gaara and Hinata walked down the village street in silence. After Kankuro had successfully managed to destroy a water pipe, Temari convinced him to spend some time out of the house.

Even so, Gaara felt trapped. Caught up in an engagement he wanted nothing to do with. Last night, when Hinata had scampered off without a word, he didn't know what to think. His mind was clouded with thoughts of his incompetence, or was it that she had staged the whole thing for an excuse to stay away from him?

He didn't see a reason for these forced marriages. He could lead the Sand Village alone couldn't he? There was no need for…burdens. He had locked himself in his room that night just to be alone and clearly think this over. He'd barely slept, just thought about why he had to go through this.

He looked over at her. She kept her head lowered, concealing her face with her long violet locks which cascaded down to her waist.

Neither of them had said anything to each other since leaving the hotel, an awkward silence had dragged on for a good few minutes now and it completely irritated him.

He stopped walking abruptly. Hinata halted alongside him, finally rising her head from the pavement they stood on. She displayed a look of confusion, but said nothing.

"Why are you here?" Gaara asked, never taking his eyes off of Hinata.

"W-What do you mean?" She stammered, "I'm here because I want to be."

"Oh really?" Gaara said incredulously, "Aren't you forced into this just as much as I am? Why don't you just run off again? You seem to like that option."

Hinata flinched at his words. "I…I really didn't plan on that, I just-" Her voice broke.

Gaara watched as tears welled up in her eyes. She hastily buried her face with her hair as an attempt to hide her emotions.

"I w-was scared…okay? You're right. I don't want to get married." She cried, voice trembling as she spoke. "But I'm a Hyuuga, I won't dishonor that." Those last few words came out clear and powerful; but at the same time sounded almost rehearsed, as if they had been repeated persistently from another mouth and carved into her mind.

Immediate regret pulsed through him. She was more similar than she was different to him at this point. Neither of them could bear to disgrace what they held closest to them.

"Now that that's cleared up." He said, beginning to walk once again down the village road. "We can at least stand on common ground."

Hinata followed his lead, and wiped the stray tear on her face. "I'd like that."

They continued down the street, occasionally initiating small talk with each other. It was the first time they both had felt that maybe this engagement wasn't as big of a situation than they first thought it was.

Behind every smile, was a frown that only grew longer, beneath every laugh, was the anger that a certain person tried their best to conceal, and embedded in every feeling of security, were the eyes of one individual. While the oblivious couple made their way down the street, a flicker of orange could be noticed, only if you squinted, slithering from one corner to the next, successfully watching their every move, and boiled with rage every step of the way.

Dynamite