Love's Misconstruities
Spoiler Warning: Slight spoiler at the beginning here, but nothing major. Just wrapping up the end of the Naruto series before Shippuuden begins.
Chapter 8
Gaara awoke to white ceiling of Konoha hospital. Sharing the bed in the space next to him was Naruto, whose wounds had been too severe for Sakura to completely heal by herself. There was a sheet hanging between them, but Gaara recognized his voice as soon as he began to yell at his visitor.
"Ahh! Ero-sennin!"
"Hey, it's been a while, hasn't it, Naruto?"
"Don't say, 'it's been a while,' you stupid hermit! You said that you would help me with my training and take me on as your student! Where the hell have you been?!"
"Well, how do I put this… You could say that I was gathering information."
Gaara felt bad for eavesdropping but he was too sore to move. His entire body ached, not to mention that he was exhausted and still recovering his depleted chakra supply.
"You were probably gathering information on naked ladies!"
"You idiot!" Now they were both yelling. "Even I have certain things I must do. I was hunting for information on Akatsuki."
"Akatsuki?" Naruto repeated with much interest, his anger quickly fading.
"I was able to find out the motive behind their actions," the older man admitted.
'Akatsuki, huh… I wonder who they are,' Gaara pondered.
"It's getting close. I'm really going to polish you up before those guys come after you in two years like they promised they would."
A moment of silence passed between the two.
'They're after Naruto? Why? …And why in two years?'
"I wonder if you're ready for it?"
"Heh! I've been sick and tired of waiting all this time."
Hinata felt horrible. Yes, she had followed orders and their mission had been successful, but two of the people she cared about most had wound up in the hospital. Not only had she been unable to aid them when they were in need, now she couldn't even work up the courage to go and visit them. She'd tried to go over a dozen times but as soon as she got to the hospital doors, she froze. She felt so incredibly weak. Finally, after seeing how miserable she was, Neji decided to drag her there himself.
"N-N-Neji-nii-san!" she tried to protest as her cousin grabbed her around the wrist and proceeded to pull her along with him.
"You've been moping around all week. You were horrible when we practiced today because you couldn't concentrate. This is the only way to fix that."
"B-but-!"
"Hinata-sama," he interrupted, letting go and facing her. "If you can't do it for those two, for yourself, or even for me...do it for your clan. We can't have you in such a state any longer."
The timid girl stared wide-eyed at the young man in front of her as she contemplated his words. After a moment she looked at the ground, feeling ashamed for letting her family down once again. Finally, she met her cousin's gaze and nodded. Neji began on his way again, Hinata trailing shortly behind him. As they made their way to the hospital, she couldn't help but berate herself.
'Not only was I practically useless on the mission, now I have to rely on Neji-nii-san to force me to go wish Naruto-kun and Gaara well. I'm constantly letting my clan down by allowing myself to get depressed and distracted, but…how do I fix this? I know I shouldn't need someone else's help, but maybe Gaara will be able to tell me what to do. He helped me so much before…'
Just as the young kunoichi was starting to feel better about her visit, when they were finally only a street away from the hospital, Hinata caught something out of the corner of her eye that she did not want to believe.
"Glad to see you up and about, Gaara," Sakura greeted, walking up to the boy who wandered the busy Konoha street. He turned to face the smiling pink-haired medic as she continued on. "Hm…you healed up nicely," she remarked upon inspecting him.
"…Thank you…for everything," the stoic boy quietly said.
"For everything? You mean healing you on the mission? That was no problem. I'm just glad I could help," she cheerfully replied.
"I…tried to kill you during the attack on Konoha."
Sakura's cheerful demeanor fell as she recalled that unpleasant time. "…Mm," she acknowledged with a small nod, her gaze falling to the street below.
"You helped show me then what it meant to protect someone you care about."
"Huh?" This was not a conversation Sakura had expected to have today.
"I hope that, someday, you will be able to forgive me for my actions. Also, do not think that I have forgotten the promise I made to you in return for your help with...the last time I was in Konoha. If I hear any news of Uchiha Sasuke or Orochimaru, I will send word immediately."
Sakura stared at him for a moment, a bit stunned. Since the conversation seemed to be over, Gaara turned to leave but this caused Sakura to snap out of her daze and move in front of him, forcing a smile. She took his hand in hers and said, "I didn't think that you'd forgotten your promise. And…if you truly regret what happened during the Chuunin Exams then there's nothing to forgive. You were being controlled by that demon that's sealed inside you, right? Just keep fighting it like you did during this last mission and you'll be fine." She chuckled then and flashed a genuine grin. "Deep down, you really are a sweet boy, aren't you?"
Gaara was speechless as he slowly took back his hand. Without his armor of sand, his blush was quite apparent against his pale skin.
"Well, I should be on my way. Tsunade-shishou gets angry when I'm late. Have a safe trip back! And try to take it easy for a while, okay?" she ordered, rushing off. Gaara watched her as she left, unconsciously holding the hand that she'd touched in his other. No one had ever willingly touched him like that before. It was not unpleasant in the least, he decided. When he could no longer see her, he turned to continue on his way.
While the two Hyuugas had been too far away to hear what was said, what they'd witnessed seemed clear enough. As Gaara turned, he came to face them.
The two Hyuugas were both in shock for a moment, especially Neji who knew that they each secretly harbored feelings for the other. He couldn't understand Gaara's sudden change of heart, nor could he forgive him for it. After seeing his determination in the last battle as well as his ability to control the demon within, he had started to have a newfound respect for the boy. He'd actually begun to wonder if maybe he was good enough for his cousin. Now, that was out of the question.
Gaara's eyes locked with Hinata's and he headed toward her, but she couldn't face him. Not now. She'd barely begun to have the courage to wish him well at the hospital. How in the world could she deal with this new development? She hated herself for it, but she averted her eyes and ran away, leaving Neji to glare at the confused boy, warning him not to pursue.
Later that day, after everyone had been given a clean bill of health, the three Sand-nin siblings and their student found themselves once again at the gates of Konoha saying goodbye.
"We owe you a favor now, don't we?" Temari asked the lazy cloud-watching chuunin before her.
"No, we just repaid you a favor, that's all. We'll do an even better job if something like this ever happens again," he swore.
"Well, I'll acknowledge that you did so-so this time."
"There you go again! This is why I hate women!"
Although he would normally find their bickering somewhat humorous, Gaara had more important things on his mind right now.
"Where is he?" he asked.
"He? Oh, you mean Naruto? I heard that he's leaving to train with Jiraya today," Shikamaru explained.
"Jiraya? One of the Sannin?" Kankurou asked in disbelief.
"Yeah. Naruto's such a pain. He plans on coming back stronger than ever."
'When I see you next, it might be as Kazekage. Get stronger, Naruto. You will surely realize your dream,' Gaara thought, turning to leave. The rest followed his lead. "Farewell," he bid.
"Goodbye," Temari said with a grin.
"Later!" Kankurou said.
"Later," the chuunin replied.
The four began to depart but Matsuri ran back to talk to Shikamaru again while the others continued on at a slow pace, giving her time to catch up when she was done.
"Surprised your girl didn't come see you off again," Kankurou half-joked.
"I was expecting her, too. Oh well. She's probably trying to spend time with Naruto if he's going to be leaving for so long," Temari tried to console.
Gaara said nothing, just stared on ahead. 'Perhaps that's true, Temari… I hope that's all it is.' Gaara knew that she had been there during the mission—that she had seen his half-transformed self. In the back of his mind he feared that she was disgusted by him...afraid of him. It was the only explanation he could think of for her behavior. 'Why did she run away from me? Why?' The question would continue to plague him until the following Chuunin Selection Examinations seven months later.
Translations/Term Definitions...in no particular order:
- Ero-sennin: "Perverted Hermit," Naruto is referring to Jiraya whose hobbies include spying on ladies while bathing and writing his series of romance novels (Come-Come Paradise, I believe it is...), popular with the likes of Kakashi.
- Sannin: "Group of three people," in this case referring to the three-man cell of Jiraya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade. Their deeds are quite legendary, known beyond the borders of just Konoha. They are quite infamous. Upon first mis-hearing Jiraya's introduction of himself and observing that he was spying on the women in a bath house, Naruto came up with his nick-name, "Ero-Sennin."