Welcome back! I just wanted to give you guys a heads up, I love bleach almost as much as Naruto, so if you see somethings in my story and say "Oh hey, that was from bleach." Then you are 100 percent correct, it may be obvious in some parts and very subtle in others, but I promise it'll be memorable.

-Chapter 13: Preparations: II.-

It was a peaceful morning in Konoha, everyone was enjoying the warm summer weather, until a howl from the direction of the hospital broke the blissful silence. "It's not that bad!" yelled Tsunade

"I TOLD YOU I DIDN'T NEED THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE!" replied a red faced Naruto, "A BANDAID WOULD'VE BEEN FINE!"

"Naruto!" scolded Zabuza, "at least act like a man!"

"IT HURTS!" he retorted gritting his teeth

Gaara was looking on in sheer glee, "I thought you said Zaiaku was the girly one, all those squeaks and cries are far from manly."

"Let's see how you like someone cross-stitching your forehead!" he barked as the final stitch was removed, "FINALLY!"

'You can get stabbed through the chest and laugh it off, but kami forbid you get stitches or a shot,' added Kyuubi

'Kyuubi's chakra heals him at insane rates,' thought Tsunade, she then turned to Zaiaku, "let's see those ribs then."

Zaiaku ceased his laughing immediately, "They're fine," he replied shortly

"Alright," replied Tsunade grinning evily, "Sakura? it's time to practice you bandaging, could you please rewrap Zaiaku-kun?"

The pink haired girl beamed, "HAI!" Turning to her patient she smiled sweetly, "Please remove your jacket and shirt."

Flushing crimson he glared over Sakura's shoulder at his teammates and the sannin, "It's fine, REALLY."

"Now, Now," said Zabuza with an evil twinkle in his eye, "Tsunade-sama knows what's best."

'Oh this is going to be good,' chorused Kyuubi and Shukaku inside their vessel's minds.

"FINE!" he huffed and handed his sword to Naruto, doing his best to glare and not look at Sakura he removed his sash, jacket, and finally his black shirt. After tossing all of it onto the bed he laced his fingers together and rested them on top of his head, "Well?" he questioned while looking at the ceiling.

Sakura flushed while she gathered the appropriate bandages from the cabinet. Tsunade looked between them for a moment, 'this is interesting,' "ALRIGHT!" she barked, "If you aren't medical personel out!" Naruto and Zabuza left grumbling about 'unfair doctors' and Gaara was still smirking. "Now," she turned to Sakura, "Let's get bandaging, remember not too tight or it might put strain on the fracture and increase the damage."

The pink haired girl nodded and placed a hand on his back, on contact she jerked it away immdiately, "Are you feeling well?" she questioned.

"Perfectly fine," he replied with a cocked eyebrow, "Why?" Then it hit him, "You mean why is my body temperature lower than normal? It comes with my 'Abilities'" he replied

After a moment she had removed his old bandages and was inspecting his side, after a light touch Zaiaku flinched hard, "I'm sorry! Did I hurt you?"

"I-it's fine," he stammered, taking a deep breath he calmed himself and closed his eyes.

-Flashback-

"Really, Zaiaku-kun," huffed Sakura as she bandaged his side

"Hey," he replied, "It's not my fault Naruto got carried away again! Besides, don't act like you don't enjoy it."

"Do I enjoy my husband getting hurt?" she glared, "No, but do I enjoy taking care of you and having you to myself when you're recovering?" she leaned up to his ear, "Yes," she purred.

-End Flashback-

Blinking rapidly he looked down and saw Sakura finishing up his bandages, "Arigatou." After a closer inspection from a stupidly grinning Tsunade he was allowed to pull on his shirt and jacket.

"I expect you back in a week," said the sannin over her clip board. "That's all, you can go," she waved a hand non-chalantly and shoo'ed him out. Then she turned and beamed at her apprentice, "Well?"

Sakura busied herself with disposing the discarded bandages, "Nani?"

"Oh let's see," said Tsunade as she held up her hand and began ticking off fingers, "He's nice, VERY good looking, strong, and oh yes everytime you touched him he blushed so bad he almost turned purple."

"Tsunade-sama!" cried Sakura turning pink, "He's very nice, but-"

"He's not Sasuke-kun," mocked the older woman with a scowl.

Outside the room Naruto was grinning ear to ear as he handed Shimotsuki back to Zaiaku, "Well?"

"Well what?" questioned the white haired teen as he resecured his weapon.

"Nothing," interjected Gaara to avoid a fight, "Will you be able to fight in the finals?"

Zaiaku nodded, "I don't heal quite as fast as you two but I'll be fine in a week." As the four began walking down the hall he turned to his sensei, "I need your help with something later."

"Alright," replied Zabuza, "I'm off tomorrow." As they exited the hospital Naruto was heading to Ichiraku, Zaiaku was heading home, and Gaara was moving in the direction of the training grounds. "Gaara?" questioned the jounin.

"I am going to see something," he replied not breaking his stride. As he entered the training fields he saw team eight in a pretty decent sparring match. Sitting down under a large tree he watched intently as Hinata squared off against Kiba and Akamaru. In a blur the white eyed girl was gone and Kiba was doing his best to stay out of her range, "She's fast."

"-and with her Jyuuken style, even if you block, you're still going to recieve substantial damage," added Shino from behind him, "If you are going to spy you should do so more cautiously."

"Should I?" questioned Gaara as his body turned to sand, "I'll keep that in mind," echoed a voice that seemed to come from all directions. After a moment the redhead stepped out of the woods, "And you shouldn't be so obvious when trying to catch a spy," replied Gaara as he opened his hand and let the crushed form of a bug fall to the ground. "I was wondering if Hinata would like to train with me, it would give me an opportunity to test the jyuuken style and, she in turn, could relay to her cousin my fighting capacities."

"I th-think-" she was cut off as a wall of sand surrounded her, quickly she activated her Byakugan and slammed an open palm strike into it, effectively blowing it away. Dropping low she faced off against the redhead only to see him not focusing on her at all.

"Why would you attack us in broad daylight?" questioned Shino, his bugs buzzing in irritation.

Dosu stepped out of the woods, "It's actually more of killing you all together and saying it was a training accident. That way the tournament competition is cut down drastically." Charging forward he swung a clawed arm at Shino who was already sending out a swarm of bugs, smirking Dosu flicked his gauntlet, the high pitched sound caused the insects to drop from the air. "The small sound vibrations are like an earthquake to them," he said as he slammed his fist into the bug boy's gut. Drawing a kunai he attempted to land a fatal blow, at the last moment he was thrown into a tree by a hand of sand.

"I am done having patience with you sound shinobi," said Gaara flatly. As Dosu attempted his sound attack he found his gauntlet surrounded in sand, "Now your weapon is as useless as you are." Extending his right arm the sand spread from the arm guard and ecompassed the sound nin's body, "Sabaku Kyuu!" (Desert Coffin) Gaara's eyes went from green to yellow as he glared, "You have conducted your last attack on Konoha shinobi, Sabaku Sousou!" (Desert Graveyard) cluching his hand into a fist the sand crushed the attacking nin's body, spraying the ground with blood.

"GEEZ MAN DID YOU HAVE TO FREAKING KILL HIM?" cried Kiba in horror

"He," replied Gaara, "was going to kill us, why shouldn't I have killed him?"

"He's right K-Kiba-kun," added Hinata, "We m-might've been in t-trouble if Gaara-san w-wasn't here."

"Hinata-san, please think over my proposal, we could both benifit," said Gaara as he started back to the apartment.

Kiba was glaring at his back, "He didn't even blink, just BAM! and the guy is dead."

After several minutes Asuma, Gai, Kurenai, Neji, Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, Lee, and Tenten came into the clearing. "What the hell happened?" cried Ino

"He attacked us," replied Shino, "If Gaara hadn't stepped in we would've been dead."

"Attacked you?" questioned Kurenai, "Why?"

Hinata was still slightly shaken, "H-he said that i-it would cut d-down on the competition in the t-tournament." After a moment she started walking away in a daze, "I-I'm exhausted, we'll c-continue tomorrow." As she was walking down the path back to her home she glanced over and noticed Gaara was surrounded by ANBU. Apparently he was recounting his tale.

"Can anyone corroborate your story?" questioned a raven masked ANBU member

"I can," replied Hinata as she approached, "The s-sound ninja attacked us, G-Gaara-san stopped him after c-confirming that it was his i-intention to kill us." She stole a glance at the redhead in question to see him looking at her intently, she blushed and began fidgeting, "K-Kiba-kun and Shino-kun can tell you a-as well."

'Hinata-chan has once again, saved your ass' said Shukaku

"Arigatou Hinata-sama," replied another ANBU member, "and thank you Gaara-san for eliminating a threat to Konoha."

After the ANBU dispersed to report to Sarutobi, Gaara turned to Hinata, "I'm sorry if I scared you earlier, that was not my intention."

"Hn," replied the lavender haired girl, "You were p-protecting us." Then she giggled, "Although I t-think you wounded Shino-kun's p-pride a little."

Gaara looked down at her, "I will walk you home." After several blocks he spoke again, "Have you thought about my offer?"

She nodded, "I think I w-will take you u-up on that."

"You're not scared of me?" he questioned

-Flashback-

"Of course I will, Kazekage-sama!" squeaked a wide-eyed Hinata

"You're," he stammered, "Not afraid of me?"

-End Flashback-

"Ano...w-why would I be?" she questioned.

Gaara nodded, "Alright, we'll meet at your training grounds at eight o'clock." He glanced inside the gates of the Hyuuga compound as they opened to admit Hinata, and noticed her father and another man that looked nearly identical to Hiashi looking at him intently. A slight nod of the head was exchanged and Gaara walked towards his home.

"That was Gaara-san?" questioned Hizashi, Hinata threw him a confused look, "Shino and Kiba came by with Neji to check on you and seemed quite concerned when you hadn't arrived yet. An ANBU showed up shortly after their arrival and informed us that you left with him."

"There you are Hinata-sama," said Neji with an air of relief in his voice, "I was concerned."

"I d-don't think anyone w-would try to attack G-Gaara-san," she replied, "Ano...Otousan, I w-wanted to let you kn-know that I am g-going to be training with G-Gaara-san for a while."

"Hinata," questioned Hiashi, "is that safe?"

"He's not dangerous O-Otousan," she replied

After a long sigh he agreed and Hinata entered the house, "Was that a good idea?"

"Actually Hiashi-sama," interjected Neji, "word about what Gaara did will travel fast, in his presence I doubt anyone would dare attack."

Hizashi was still looking at the gate, "I wonder, what do you know about the new team Neji?"

"Zaiaku is a focused fighter," he replied, "When he becomes serious he can control the immediate climate around himself. His jutsu level is something I've never encountered before, and his swordsmanship was taught to him by his jounin sensei: Momochi Zabuza."

"The demon of the mist seven," interjected Hiashi, "and Uzumaki Naruto?"

Neji frowned, "He fights like an enraged animal, his physical strength is twice Lee's at least, he wields a giant sword, and he can summon." crossing his arms he pondered for a moment, "He used a technique on Kiba, but he didn't make any hand seals. Another thing, when I activated my Byakugan I noticed his weapon actually had some type of artificial chakra circulatory system."

"And Gaara?" questioned Hizashi

"If Naruto is the most dangerous versus a single opponent, Gaara is the most dangerous versus an army," he replied, "That gourde on his back carries a special kind of sand that defends him without command. Also, it seems with minimal effort, he can change the landscape dramatically."

"Thank you Neji, please get some rest," said Haishi, with a small bow the prodigy was gone. "These children concern me."

Hizashi placed a hand on his shoulder, "If the reports are correct," he replied, "we will need them in the future."

The next morning Gaara walked on to team eights training field and saw Hinata sitting on a stump patiently waiting

-Flashback-

"One day," said Hinata, "I'm going to complain about you being late."

Gaara cocked an eyebrow, "I'm never late, I arrive exactly when I mean to."

-End Flashback-

She spotted Gaara almost immediately, "G-Gaara-san!" she squeaked the she did her best scowl, "Y-you're late."

Somehow the reprimand lost itself in her flushed face and slight studder, but he managed a, "Sorry," before squaring off against her. "Are you ready Hinata-san?" he questioned as his sand came alive.

Activating her bloodlimit and dropping into her Jyuuken stance, she nodded, "Hai!"

End Chapter 13: Preperations II.

Read and Review - See I told you I would have it up fast! Anyway that's the last of the month before the finals. Too much makes it boring and too little show no character interaction or growth, two chapters is a perfect number