Psychoticbunny: Hello! I'm back with chapter five! I've actually got nothing to say so I'll skip to the review replies.
SnowyNight- I know his family life is really bad now, but it will get better.
Disclaimer/Warnings: No, I don't own anything so I can't give you Gaara's earlobe or any other body parts of any other characters. You know the warnings so I'm not to test my tiny attention span.
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I can tell Hinata's cousin is in deep inner conflict. Now, normally I wouldn't concern myself with some gay idiot's mental argument, however, this was a special occasion. Why? The inner conflict was about my ass. He'll extend his hand a bit, but then will pull it back, muttering something about fate, destiny, and Master Hiashi. I wish I had befriended someone with less creepy relatives.
I cough, attempting to draw his attention away from my behind. It doesn't work. Damn it. That means I'll have to resort to another act to distract him. A horrible and gruesome act so terrifying I am hesitant to mention it. That's right: I'll have to strike up a conversation. Cue collective gasp.
"So…" I begin, not really having any clue where I'm going with this. "A duck walks into a bar," Okay, a joke. Not too bad. He's looking at my face now, at least, "and asks, 'Hey, got any grapes?' The bar tender looks up and says, 'No, this is a bar. We don't have any grapes.' So the duck walks out and the next day it walks back in and asks, 'Hey, got any grapes?' The bar tender says, 'No, I already told you! This is a bar! We don't have any grapes!'" I have to pause now. I can't remember if I'm supposed to wait two or three days. I decide to wait two. "So the duck walks out and the next day the duck walks in and asks, 'Hey, got any grapes?' The bar tender says… uh… oh yeah. The bar tender says, 'No! For the last time, we do not have any grapes! And if you come back here one more time and ask for grapes, I'll nail your feet to the ground!' So the duck walks out and the next day walks back in and… uh… well…" Damn it. I forgot the punch line. (1) "Why don't you tell a joke?" I offer, pleading that he won't go back to his previous ministrations.
"Um… I don't really know a lot of… well… What to you call two banana peels? Slippers! Aha! Get it? Ahaha! Ah…" I really have a knack for making people feel unnerved. "'Cause you wear slippers and you slip on banana peels and…" You know your jokes a failure once you have to start explaining it.
I pat his arm in pity to tell him, "You suck, you loser," but it seems as if he takes it more like, "At least you tried." Hey, you've got to give him a point for optimism. He goes back to my ass. Oh well. It lasted for a few minutes. Now I'll be able to sympathize with Temari when she complains about perverted guys at her school.
"Okay. We're here," I alert him once we arrive at the monstrosity of a fence. I still can't believe Hinata lives here. I thought all rich people were really obnoxious like that Sasuke Uchiha, but I guess I was mistaken.
He tears his gaze away from a certain part of my body to get us into the mansion. I jump as the fence opens. It's startling.
"Don't worry," Unnamed Perverted Cousin comforts, finally growing back the backbone he had lost when I started flirting with him and places an arm around my waist, beaming at me like the dumb ass he is. I try to smile back at him, but it comes out more like a bloodthirsty maniacal grin and I know the backbone begins to retreat as his grip slackens. Sometimes it good that I can't do anything without bearing a strange resemblance with an extremely dangerous madman.
"Well, let's go," he states. He's pulling me into his body. Apparently he hasn't morphed back into an invertebrate. I reluctantly rest my head on his chest, controlling my urge to brutally strangle the asshole. Instead, I let my anger out by running my fingers "gently" across his face. I think the one near his nose might leave a scar. For once I'm thankful I can't afford a nail clipper.
At the end of the pathway (which wasn't as long when I walked up it with Hinata), Unnamed Perverted Cousin seems to feel that it's unwise to parade around in such a prestigious house while groping a young boy. I've settled on not discovering his name in order to degrade him, even if it's only in my mind.
"Oh. I forgot to tell you, but the name's Neji," he says, holding the front door open for me. Well, there goes that plan, flying out the window and crashing through several heavy objects until it collides painfully with a brick wall. Maybe I was taking this too seriously. Wait a minute.
"Isn't that Hi- I mean, your cousin's name?" He looks at me suspiciously, but shrugs it off.
"Yeah. Do you know what Neji means in Japanese?"
Yeah, you moron. "No, could you tell me?"
"Screw. Like with hammers and nails and stuff. I was named it because after my father died, I handled it strongly, not crying or causing too much trouble." He waits a bit before finishing, expecting to load him with pity and sympathy. Too bad. That sounds pretty good, compared to my life. Dad dead? Yeah, I could live with that. He continues, "Because of my actions, I was granted with that name because of being sturdy. Mistress was named that because they wanted her to be just like me, physically tough and strong-willed."
I never knew screws were so insecure about their gender.
"What did you just say?" he exclaims. Damn. I just said that out loud, didn't I? "I keep my hair long because I like having long hair. I am not insecure about being male! How dare you insult my name?"
I seriously need to gain back all of the pride that's meeting the same destiny as my plan. (2)
I giggle (kill me now) and lick all the way from his chin to his ear, running up his jaw line. It's disgusting in my opinion, but he doesn't seem to mind. Weirdo. Do I really have the right to call someone that?
He shivers and takes my hand, half-leading-half-dragging me through the many hallways it would be quite easy to get lost in. I think if I touched his face at this point, I might burn my hand, judging by the bright red on his cheeks.
We're nearing Hinata's room; it's at the end of this corridor. I'm eager to get away from Neji and see my best friend. Best friend? Yes, best friend. It's so awkward to have such a close companion after my life of solitude. When I think about it, an incredible amount of things have happened during this week. Last Monday, I never considered that I'd have such a strong connection with the new girl that I would long for her company so much, actually touch her, hug her.
"Okay babe. Do you want me to come with you?" offers that deep voice that makes me have the need to hang myself. Babe? Does he want vomit stained clothes? I take that as a yes as he plants a delicate hand on my shoulder.
"No thank you," I refuse, removing his hand.
"Okay. I'll stay here though." Is this guy stalking me now? "I hope she lets you in. She hasn't even spoken to anyone since this morning."
"Hi-Neji, Neji. Are you all right in there? Everyone's really worried in here and we want you to come out. I promise I'll tell you everything if you come out. That's what I was planning to do anyway. I just needed to think it over. Hinata! Please!"
She's not answering, but I can't resort to any of my other tactics, not with a certain cousin that gets more problematic by the second. Then I realize that I don't really care so I do it, regardless of the over protective relative watching me like a hawk.
I knock, I yell, I kick. Neji's staring at me in awe or anger. I'm not paying any attention to him. Hinata won't respond.
Finally, I turn the knob and the door opens instantaneously. Boy, I feel stupid. Guess this is what it's like to be Hinata. Speaking of her…
"Hinata!" I call into the deserted room. Wait, deserted? She couldn't have…
I spy several sheets and blankets hanging out the window. She ran away? Why? Where? I jump out, managing to grasp some sheets, and slide down. Neji sticks his torso out the window after me so he can shout something, but I tune it out. Where on Earth could Hinata have gone? She wouldn't have gone to my apartment, would she? Did she have any idea of how many people there could hurt her?
I sprint off in that direction. I try to ignore my worries bouncing all around my head. She's going to be okay. She's going to be okay. Why do I feel like crying?
It seems to take much more time than usual to reach my home. I search around my bag for my key, but remember I left it on the kitchen table.
"Shit," I sigh. Temari or Kankuro could have let her in or worse, one of the neighbors. No, don't think about that. I press my head against the cool glass on the door and sink to the floor, tracing the character engraved on my forehead. I bite my lip to prevent crying out from a mixture of frustration and defeat.
I let my eyes wander to the side and they rest on a beer bottle someone has dropped. It's shattered into millions of pieces. I spot one thin and about as long as a toothpick. That would do.
I scramble over to it and seize it greedily, as if it's some rare treasure. Well, it's the closest thing you'll get to treasure around here. I feel some of the other shards stab my hands, but pay them no mind as I frantically jiggle the segment I chose in the keyhole. Come on, come on. I hear it click and push the door open so violently I'm surprised it doesn't fly off its hinges.
I race up the staircase. I still haven't fully recovered from my mad dash here so I'm slowed, but make it up in good time nonetheless.
She's not here. It was stupid of me, really, to think that she'd come here. Although I've told her it countless times, Hinata isn't dumb. She knows she can't get in without a key. It was really, exceedingly stupid. I bang my fist into the wall beside me.
I hear a shriek from downstairs. Wait. Could it be that Hinata accidentally mixed up 403 with 303? It's possible. Then why is she screaming?
I storm down the stairs twice as fast as normal from the adrenaline rush I'm getting. Black hair! Yes! But no. It's long, at least waist-length. It's not Hinata. It's another woman with dark eyes and paper-white skin. She's pulled inside the apartment of her captor, a sleazy old man.
I drop down on my knees. How long has it been since I've wept? I can't recall, but everything's fuzzy. I can't think properly with my body shaking slightly with silent sobs. It's my fault. Everything is my fault. If I had only told her about my life she would never have barricaded herself in her room. Now, who knows what had happened to her? Was she safe? Had she found some haven she could reside at? What if she wasn't? Was she injured, bleeding in the corner of some dark and unknown ally? Had she been raped? Was she… could she be dead?
"Hush Gaara," a female voice comforts.
Or is she here right now?
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I kick some of the shards of glass around. I'm waiting for Gaara's sister to come back out of the building. After I escaped from my room, I had run around town for hours, apprehending I had no clue where Gaara's apartment was located. I stopped in a nearby flower shop to attempt to find some directions. Instead, I found someone better: Gaara's sister, Temari (she told me her name when I asked her on the way here). Her boss, a kind, good-looking mother of Blond Girl from my class, let her have a break to take me to her apartment.
While walking here, I briefly wondered if Gaara could have headed off to my house to see me. I quickly got rid of that thought. Gaara could barely stand me. Still, I left the door unlocked when I fled from my room so he would be aware of it, if he did come.
Over the weekend, I had tried to forget about Gaara. I would act as aloof as he did. I'd talk to him as little as possible until he felt really bad and explained everything as an apology. I would look to be considering whether or not to let him befriend me once more and then allow it, hesitantly. My imagination got the better of me, and I set off to find him, completely overlooking the fact that I couldn't even recollect his apartment number. 303, maybe?
I'm yanked out of my thoughts as I'm pulled into a lung-crushing embrace. It's kind of nice…
"You dumb ass!"
Never mind.
"I'll leave you two then. I have to get back to work." I hear the crunching sounds of Temari's footsteps.
"You idiot! You complete idiot!"
"Would you stop insulting me?" I try to push him back, but he's a lot stronger than me. I go missing on a big hunt for him and all he'll ever do is perform verbal abuse.
"I was so worried!"
He was… worried? About me?
"You're so dumb, running away like that! You could have been hurt or raped or murdered! Do you have any idea how much you frightened me? Thank goodness you're safe!" He hugs me tighter, as if I'll slip out of his grasp.
I feel something wet near my ear. He's crying? He was just afraid that I had been harmed all this time?
"I thought you hated me. I thought you didn't care," I tell him.
"I'm sorry, Hinata. I'm so sorry. I never meant to make you feel like that. I just can't help it. I don't know how to express it."
I want to stay like this forever, but Gaara lets me go. I observe him while he breathes deeply in relief. His face and eyes are red and puffy from crying and there are some cuts and scratches on his hands.
"We should go inside. It's dangerous out here," he says and reaches for my hand. I grab onto his, both of us blushing from the contact. For once, he doesn't stop smiling.
"You look nice when you smile," I comment.
He faces towards the staircase and leads me up them, but I know he's pleased about the remark.
We make our way to his apartment in silence, but it's a comfortable silence. Sometimes I wish time could freeze and we could stay like this forever. Gaara being happy forever. He definitely deserves it. However, the peace and warmth can't stay forever.
Gaara's expression turns serious as we sit down at the kitchen table.
"Hinata, I've thought it over and… well… I'll tell you about my family. Do you still want to know?" he adds hopefully at the end. I nod and he goes on, less cheerfully.
"Well, you already know one of our problems. My relationship with my brother is not the best one. He kind of sides with my dad, while my sister, that's the blond girl, sides with me."
"Sides with you on what?" I inquire.
"Well, I'll tell you the story from the beginning. Once, my family was actually really content. There was a mother, a father, a sister, and a brother. My father had a steady office job. Not too exciting, no, but good enough. It supported the family and they were happy despite the fact that they were on the poor side. It's really amazing that one more child could ruin all of that.
"Let me see, Temari was five, Kankuro seven when I was born. So Temari was only four and Kankuro six when they found out their mother was pregnant again. Or maybe Kankuro was still seven. I know Temari's birthday, but I never bothered with his. Not like I would get him a present anyway.
"Well, moving right along, they did some tests and found out the baby was not my father's."
"What do you mean?" I interrupt.
"I mean, they found out my mother hadn't told anyone, but she had been raped one night, on her way home from a friends house."
"Raped? What does raped mean? I never heard that word before," I disrupt again.
"Raped means she was forced to have sex with some stranger, and the result was yours truly." He sounds very angry as he says this. "They decided not to get an abortion and- oh for god's sake!" He sees my puzzled face. "An abortion is when they remove the baby before it's born."
"What about the stork?" I ask. He looks at me strangely. "I mean, where does the stork fit in all of this? You know, the bird that delivers babies?"
He's glaring now. "There is no stork. You know what? Now isn't the time for a lesson is sexual education. Let me just finish the story." I nod and he continues.
"My mother died while delivering me and my father blames me for her death. So does my brother, and even Temari does at certain times, even though she'll deny it. Hell, sometimes I feel like it's my fault."
He stops there. "I'm sorry," I say, at a loss for words.
"You… you have to promise not to tell anyone this part, okay?" I nod. "Seriously, you can't tell no matter what."
"We'll pinky promise," I suggest, wrapping my finger around his. He looks kind of annoyed and probably thinks this is a waste of time, but permits it.
"Okay. My father beats us. Physically and mentally," he admits.
My eyes widen. He beats them? That's… that's horrible, terrible, beyond that. I want to tell him to tell someone, but I don't think that will happen, and it will probably just make him more upset.
"Gaara, you… I never knew," I finally say.
"Well, if you knew, what would be the point in telling you?" he retorts.
I move my index finger over the character on his forehead. Love. If you didn't know him better, you could have mistaken Gaara for some sap.
He takes my hand and leans in towards my face, touching his forehead to mine. For a second, I panic. What if he's going to kiss me? But he doesn't do anything. He just stares into my eyes. I feel like he can see through my eyes into my soul with those turquoise orbs. They would look bizarre on anyone else but Gaara.
We stay like that for a bit and I decide to tell him some information of my own.
"Listen Gaara." He lets go of my hand and leans back. I'm saddened, but push it aside. "I haven't told you something. I'm… I'm getting married."
He gives me the biggest, grandest "You idiot" look ever to grace the unworthy universe with its magnificent presence.
"It wasn't my choice! My father needs me to so the main family can stay in control of the Hyuuga clan!"
Now it's my turn to act like Gaara's the world's largest fool ever. "In the Hyuuga clan, there's a branch family and a main family. The branch family is supposed to serve the main family because they're in control, but if they get control over the Hyuuga clan, that portion will become the main family and we'll become the branch family. Because you need a male to run the family, Neji is the next choice unless I marry, but I have no idea who my fiancé is because I shut myself in my room the day I was supposed to meet him."
He stares at me a bit and then threatens, "If you invite me, I show up naked and flash people, and then replace the flowers for the flower girls with dead, bloody rabbits."
Oh joy. I can tell who's going to be the first person we send the invitation to.
"That won't be necessary Gaara. My father doesn't really know you exist because I rarely ever talk to him, and when I do it's about taking control over the Hyuuga clan."
"Speaking of your family, shouldn't you get back to them? I'm sure Neji's told everyone that you escaped through your window."
"Oh yes I- wait. How do you know I escaped through my window?" I ask. He couldn't have know unless…
"I went there to see you. Of course, I didn't succeed in the seeing you part, but Temari found you in the end. I can't believe those dumb asses never thought to just open the door."
Yes, those people who were now probably alerting the police and sending out search parties to search for the lost heir of the Hyuuga clan. However, they won't be able to find her, seeing as they have no indication that she is acquainted with some boy from the slums and is currently safe in his home. For all I knew, my father could have the FBI searching all over the country, knowing how powerful the Hyuuga clan is.
"Gaara, I should be getting home. Would you… um… would you walk me?"
He accepts and we set off, hand in hand.
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I leave Hinata before she opens the gates, not wanting to meet up with Neji. At least not before I'm going to eat dinner.
"Goodbye Gaara. I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks for walking me home," she says, as polite as ever.
"Anytime," I reply.
She lifts her finger to a button on the intercom, but I stop her.
"Um… Hinata… I just… well…" I can't believe I'm getting so nervous. I swallow down my fear, peck her on the cheek, and run off.
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One- I'm just finishing the joke for those who care. The duck walks back in the next day and says, "Hey, got any nails?" The bar tender looks up and says, "No." "Hey, got any grapes?" Yeah. Okay. Now that that's settled…
Two- Neji's rubbing off on Gaara!
Psychoticbunny: That was really sappy. It was kind of boring to write. I can't wait until I'm done with the sixth chapter because that means I can go back to my other story that isn't realistic fiction. It's not really fantasy so I can't call it that, but it sure isn't realistic. So I'm happy I'm almost done with my three chapters for this one. Review please! You'll get cookies! XD