I am SOOOOOO happy! Thank you soooo much for all the amazing reviews, you people are making me googly like nothing else (glomps every single one of you). But you are all going to HATE me intensely because this is a diddy chapter. I thought it was pretty angst-ridden and talk intensive so I didn't want to over-burden you guys. Plus I wrote the seventh chapter on the end of this and it all came out far too long, and the contrast of lots of talking and fighting didn't work very well. ANYWAY...
Cheh - SO glad you liked the kiss teehee I was being wary with it cuz I didn't want to give away too much about feelings behind it etc etc, so YAY! As for Kiba, since they've got split up in this chapter I can't really tell you if he likes Hogo like that (whistles innocently and gurns obnoxiously) and as for Naruto Neji and Hinata I'm still working that out (scratches her head).
Kimahrigirl - woot you happy VD'd my pairing! . Poor ol' Gaara's worry is that it's just loyalty and nothing more deep than that I feel... (SIGH) the traumas of being an angsty Shukaku-containingstud-muffin.
juliagulia1017 - I promise you far more jealous Neji because I personally think thats the only way I can drag him out of his 'I am a respectable man who doesn't totally obsess over the beyoootiful Hinata' nature.
cutieangel - HuzZah, one of the converted! Naruto is one of my favourite anime's if not the definite fav., glad you like the fic.!
krie - that I shall, that I shall.. XD
Beatrix Kiddo - YAY you're a fantastic reviewer cuz you give me constructive stuff - glad you like how I'm progressing Gaara. I had hella trouble trying to work out how I could get them to K-I-S-S (heeheee) just cuz I thought Hogo wouldn't initiate and neither would Gaara... unless he thought he could cover himself by making her think it didn't mean anything to him. Sneaky sneaky Sandman!
Blackeelamgal9 - Awww so complimentary (blushes) I am honoured! I WILL make Neji embarassingly declare his love if it kills me! I don't know if you mean by action fight scenes or (AHEM) other such things; I'll attempt to please both ;).
White Alchemist Taya - I dunno what it is about Gaara, maybe its the sexy drawl he has, but I've always thought he must have a filthy mind XD.
Doll Face Sally - Ta DAAA! Hope I do not disappoint, sorry for the diddy chapter (hides)
Hiko-chan - Yep yep, filthy filthy Gaara tee hee! Glad you like it !
But onwards, don't KILL ME! Thankee XD
Naruto stared at the slim silver whistle in his hand before squinting up at Hogo once more. "Hogo-san, whats this for?"
"This is so we can communicate across the group without screaming at each other Naruto-kun. In sand terrain, the team will be spread out across a wider distance to enhance awareness of surroundings. It makes sense to stay densely close together in forests, but not in the desert. We need maximum visibility." Hogo explained, matching her leaping pace with Naruto's as they set out across the seemingly endless scope of desert. Neji was going to be in the middle to give orders, and despite apparent reluctance had placed Hinata en pointe due to her Byakugan. Hogo smiled at just how delighted Hinata had looked at this, her face glowing with pride. She didn't feel the need to inform her that as soon as Neji had set her this task he had approached Hogo.
"I want you to stay as close behind Hinata-sama as possible. She might have better eyes than you but I don't want her getting caught up in anything."
"So you're saying what you really want are... two en pointe's? One en pointe for the mission and one for Hinata?" Hogo had enquired dryly, trying not to laugh as she saw Neji's jaw tighten. "I'm teasing you Neji-kun, lighten up!" she had exclaimed, slinging an arm round him with such strength of affection that he nearly toppled over. He had cleared his throat in obvious embarassment but smiled all the same "You have no tact whatsover do you Hogo?" he had said with an attempt at derisiveness that merely came out as amused. "None whatsoever, it's what I'm famous for." she had declared happily, grinning sarcastically at the looks she was receiving from various Sand villagers they passed. She was doubly hated by most of the villagers, if not because she tended to Gaara, then because her father was a suspected traitor.
She kept her gaze fixedly locked now on the back of Hinata's head, maintaining the awkward balance between remaining within a defendable proximity without making the girl feel like she was being babysat. Hogo herself did not doubt the girl was powerful - she had the Byakugan after all, and Naruto seemed to have a degree of respect for her, even if he was blissfully unaware of how she hero-worshipped him. But she could understand Neji's protectiveness, from whatever source it was manifesting itself. There was something ridiculously delicate about the girl that just brought that out in people. Hogo had barely spoken two words to her (not out of hostility, merely because with people as talkative as Naruto and Rock Lee around it was difficult to spread the conversation elsewhere) but she seemed quite impossibly sweet for someone who had chosen the life of a kunoichi. Hogo mentally shrugged - it was not her right to ask such questions, and she more than most knew what it was like to have family pressure forcing a way of life upon you. However, it was far easier to entertain such thoughts inside her head than it was to do so with thoughts concerning Gaara. Gaara, who had not said a word to her since last night.
"...Hogo-san..."
She looked up in surprise at the tremulous mention of her name, seeing that Hinata's head had turned slightly, to show that she was in fact addressing her.
"Yes Hinata-san?" Her eyes shifted nervously as she clearly considered whether she should ask what she wanted to. "Forgive me... I know it's none of my business... But.. are you close to your father..?"
Hogo felt her face fall out of its pleasant expression before she could help it, seeing how guilty and embarassed the young Hyuuga immediately looked. "My father... my father is the greatest man I have ever met. He went beyond all expectations in bringing me up, devoted every spare moment he had to me, even some that he couldn't spare. He showed no disappointment that I was born a woman, though I know in his heart he must have wanted a son. He has always been proud of me, no matter in how many ways I have not lived up to what the Jiyuujin clan wants."
Hogo watched, quietly horrified as Hinata's head lowered and she swallowed, intent on keeping tears in. She immediately forgot all the worries and sadness that was mounting up inside her in the face of the loneliness emanating from the girl in front of her. "That's a great thing to have... You are very fortunate." Hinata all but whispered, not looking up.
As Neji called for them to gather together for a while to rest and consider the next action, she kept an eye on the still tearful looking Hinata. "Hinata," she said finally, not missing how the girl fiercely blinked away the tears before looking up. "Let me show you something." Hogo pulled her hair over one shoulder, out of her way, and began fiddling with a string around her neck before finally pulling a necklace out from inside her dress. She felt Gaara's cool gaze on her but determinedly ignored him for the present time, shuffling closer to Hinata who looked fascinated, dropping the cool but heavy strand into her hands. "It's beautiful... is it coral?" she asked, stroking her fingers along each of the long and uneven beads that were threaded along it, gleaming bright white in the sunshine. "The beads are so big..." she continued, considering the thickness across them. "They're bone." Hogo said quietly, watching Hinata's eyes widen in surprise, chuckling as she dropped the necklace in to her lap.
"You might have heard of the Kayuya clan. Their bones were supposedly unbreakable, a part of their bloodline limit." She saw out of the corner of her eye that Gaara was paying very close attention now, his eyes fixed on the necklace that she picked up and displayed to Hinata's huge eyes. She knew he had taken on the best of the Kayuya himself, Kimimaro, the servant of Orochimaru. She had never shown him the necklace, for the sole reason that she didn't think it would impress him, and she didn't want something as important as this was to her to be seen as nothing, by him of all people. "My father gave this to me. Three vertabrae from each of the Kayuya shinobi that he killed."
Hinata's eyes swiftly skimmed over the number of bones. Twelve. Meirou Jiyuujin had killed four men fromthat clan. She looked up in total amazement at Hogo who smiled darkly, her eyes sad. "Barbaric isn't it? Perverse, to keep as a trophy the very thing that these men were renowned for. My father gave this to me so that I would remember some very simple things - for all the love and goodness that a man is capable of, he is just as capable of cruelty and hate. In clans such as ours, a person has trouble separating the shinobi from the rest of their lives. We begin to see the whole world as a battleground, our family, even our friends, become hindrances, strategic pieces in a game."
Hogo unknotted one end of the necklace as she spoke, slipping one vertabrae from the end before retying it. She pressed this vertabrae into Hinata's limp hand, looking her hard in the eye. "I was fortunate. I don't know enough of your clan to give you any wisdom, but I can give you this. This is so we remember what is ours, and what is the battlegrounds. Some people... just need to be reminded more than others." Hogo clenched her teeth against further words she had no right to say, the empathy she had no right to express. The only true words that she knew Hinata wanted to hear came from someone else, and were quite simply, "I'm proud of you my daughter.".
Hinata continued to stare at her for a while, emotions veering from nostalgia to fear and all the way back again to pride, flitting across her face. She finally tightened her grip on the bone, squeezing Hogo's hand simultaneously. "Arigatou Hogo-chan." she said finally, smiling sweetly.
"Very pretty words Hogo Jiyuujin. It's more difficult when the battleground is as close to home as it is right now." Gaara said dryly, and Hogo looked up, surprised at the venom in his voice. There were no words for what she could see going on in his eyes. It looked like he was barely restraining himself from killing her, from eating her alive or God knew what. She felt the bottom of her stomach drop out. What had she ever done to deserve that look? He was looking at her like hehated her. "And what is that supposed to mean?" she managed to choke out, praying she didn't sound as hurt as she felt. He must hate her after last night. She didn't expect any logic out of it, this was Gaara after all. She had never understood him for a second. He gave a grunt of disgusted amusement, flickering his eyes lazily elsewhere. Naruto looked like he was anxious to interrupt with some kind of defence, having been drawn into events by the tense silence, but Hogo held up a hand for him to stop. Neji simply watched with a severe, narrow expression.
"If you're trying to say that you don't trust me Gaara, then just say it." she grated out, tasting blood she had been biting her cheek so viciously. His gaze slowly returned to hers. "What does it matter whether I trust you or not?" he murmured caustically, and she wanted to scream from frustration.
Everything inside her shrieked "It matters to ME!" but all she could do was look at him as she felt hollowed out and replaced by a numbing coldness.
"I thought we were friends." His expression did not change as he met her gaze, and even though she was sure her eyes were filling with tears she would not look away. "But I guess if we're not, then it doesn't matter at all."
"That's enough. You both know that this type of talk will not aid the mission. Or your village. It will only make working together awkward." said Neji smoothly, looking from one to the other. When the silence merely continued he wearily rolled his eyes and looked up at the sun "We can continue for another hour or so and then we should head back towards the village to reconvene with Team Two and see if they've had any luck. Considering they haven't sent a messenger out to us, I doubt they've located the spy."
"No."
Neji looked back round to see that Gaara's hands were clenched so tight that blood was ponderously dripping into the sand beneath his feet, his nails digging into his palms. His eyes looked positively murderous, and he had not taken their gaze from Hogo, though the pupils twitched erratically. Slowly Neji moved forward, suspecting any abrupt movement would set the unstable Shinobi off, and put himself between Gaara and the two kunoichi.
"No?" he repeated, raising his eyebrows. "We want to get rid of these traitors? I'll get rid of them." Gaara growled, turning smoothly and slamming both palms to the desert floor.
"Gaara..." Hogo began uncertainly, but she was cut off instantly by Gaara's voice, filling up the air around them with dark,savage power. "SABAKU TAISO!" (Desert Requiem)
Neji grabbed hold of Hinata and kept her upright as the very ground beneath their feet trembled. Naruto let out a yelp of surprise as he wavered on one leg before losing his balance altogether and landing flat on his back, feeling all the air knocked out of him as shockwave after shockwave of pure chakra pulsed through the ground beneath him. Tightening his hold on Hinata, Neji narrowed his eyes in disbelief as ripples in the sand could be clearly seen emanating out from Gaara's palms. "Gaara stop it!" he snarled, sensing the dark malicious aura around Gaara growing as his control over himself wavered. He detected a blur that could only be Hogo shooting forward and gripping hold of Gaara's arm.
"GAARA, STOP IT RIGHT NOW!"
Hinata opened one eye, peeking out reluctantly to see that Hogo had a bone-crunching grip on Gaara's forearm and that she had pulled him upright. All around them, after the positive earthquake Gaara had created, felt agonisingly still. She noticed a bead of sweat trailing down Hogo's forehead, and that her arm was trembling as she tried to retain hold of Gaara. It was all she could do not to bury her face in the warm chest beside her. She had grown in bravery as well as skills but the two chakra's colliding against each other before her were terrifying - she could practically see literal rips in the genjutsu Hogo used to conceal her chakra as it pulsed savagely behind it, animalistic in its desire to counter the immense ki of Gaara.
"Don't, touch me." Gaara slowly hissed, his eyes never wavering from hers. When she made no reply, simply tightening her hold on his arm, he swung round and flung her away from him, sending her several feet backwards before landing with a muted 'thud' into the sand. None of them knew if the silence was one of pain physical or emotional as she slowly sat up, saying nothing, breathing slowly. Gradually, she allowed her gaze to lift.
"I despise you." she said emptily, her eyes vacant of any feeling, before standing and bulleting off into the distance alone.
There was a moment or two of silence wherein no one knew what to say, during which Hinata realised from the exotic and yet familiar scent around her, that she was in fact being held by Neji-nii-san. She felt her face heat with embarassment at the sensation of his arm linked protectively around her waist, remaining utterly frozen so that she would not have to decide between moving away from him or moving closer. A smell she knew so well, and yet only from a distance, a thin approximation, and now she was so close she could practically taste him, feeling the warmth of his chest against her shoulder. She had presumed that it was someone else, Naruto, anyone. Certainly not Neji...
Naruto turned to Gaara, eyes flaming with anger. "Gaara..." he began only to be smoothly cut off. "Do not involve yourself in this Naruto. You couldn't understand." Gaara said harshly, his face utterly immovable, determinedly as empty as Hogo's had been. "All I understand is that you're throwing away a friend teme!" snarled Naruto furiously, rounding on Gaara. "Friend? Is that what she is?" Gaara countered dispassionately, his eyes following the direction that she had gone.
"Do you even need to ask! She spends her entire time following you around, protecting you, giving you everything she has!"
"She does these things because it is her job. She was appointed to guard me by the Elders." Gaara said, although his eyes did not shift from the point on the horizon where Hogo had disappeared altogether.
"Bullshit!" Naruto roared furiously, allowing his hot-headed nature to get the better of him, ignoring any concerns he had about the power of Gaara. "The entire time we were coming back to Suna she was worrying about you - she couldn't stop thinking about you! That's more than loyalty to her village and you know it, that's more than loyalty altogether!"
"Gggaara-sama..."
Gaara's eyes flickered round in complete surprise to the meek, pretty girl that Neji was cradling. She looked absolutely terrified but at the same time quite determined and eventually met his gaze.
"... I'm sure that Hogo-chan cares for you. It's the true sign of caring for someone, when you know that they don't need you to protect them, and you want to do it all the same. Hogo wants to protect you even if you don't need her to."
Gaara's thoughts were a mindfield of conflicting emotions and instincts, all bubbling away at incomprehensible speed. She could not really care for him, she could not genuinely CARE, he was... he was Sabaku No Gaara. He was the monster he was the beast of the Sand he was a monster, how could he expect her to care, how could he endure her not caring when she was all he wanted? He'd rather kill her than have her look at him in disgust as she would if she knew that he wanted her...
All of his thoughts were swept clean as he heard the piercing sound of a whistle being frantically blown in the distance.
Hogo.
Whoooo! Don't kill me cuz it's short, I'm being a tease! (runs away from the weaponry thrown her way) but I love you all! RnR, it's good for your emotional health XD!