Love's Misconstruities
Chapter 10
"Heh! I think we beat our high score, don't you think?" Temari asked her brothers with a smug grin as they arrived at the tower in the middle of the Forest of Death.
"Must've. This is just too easy," said Kankurou. "You think we should go back and help the rookie Sand-nin?"
"No," came Gaara's firm reply. "This is their battle, not ours."
"Ah…yeah. You're right."
The three had once again enrolled in the Chuunin Selection Exams. The last time they'd entered had been a mess. Due to the Kazekage having been murdered and all the chaos that ensued, none of the Suna participants had been promoted. This time, however, they were sure they would all pass. It was almost unfair; not being able to promote them unless they went through the tedious exam again. But rules were rules.
The instructors had been able to eliminate more than half the candidates during the written examination this time, leaving only 10 teams to brave the forest. Including Gaara's cell, two from Suna had made it, three from Konoha, one from the Hidden Village in the Mist, one from Stone, one from Cloud, and two from Grass. They'd first encountered the unfortunate group from Stone and taken their scroll. Unlike last time, Kankurou and Temari felt much at ease as they were confident that their little brother would not go on a killing spree. In fact, Gaara had devised the plan against the Stone-nin where he acted as a decoy and didn't even enter into the battle, allowing his teammates to show off their skills. With Gaara's precise plan, no one would have been severely injured, and it turned out exactly as expected. All three of the Stone shinobi were a bit bruised and rattled by their encounter, but that was all. After all, believing themselves to be much more experienced and powerful than the others, they'd pledged that they would not be responsible for any deaths this time around. It would just be cruel since no group stood a chance against them, save perhaps one.
"Think Hinata's team will make it?" Kankurou prodded, turning to his brother.
"Why wouldn't they?" Temari asked. "Kiba's dog got pretty big, don't you think? Can't say much for him personally...he acts so undisciplined. And that Shino guy…don't know much about him either, but you fought him, right Kankurou? I seem to remember that he beat you."
"Arg, that was back then! He wouldn't stand a chance against me now," he declared, to which Temari laughed. "But, seriously…didn't Hinata look a little…I dunno…nervous?"
"She is strong. They will pass," Gaara interjected, signally the end of the conversation.
"Eh…yeah. Of course," Kankurou added, wondering what was up with his little brother. Normally, mention of the girl wouldn't put him on edge like this. What could have happened since they arrived?
'Hinata…' Gaara pondered. His team had had a last-minute mission to complete before departing for Konoha and managed to arrive just in time to take the written exam, which didn't give them any chance to socialize. Gaara was surprised to see her team there, honestly. He figured they would have taken the exam earlier like he'd heard Neji's had. Even Sakura had joined with Shikamaru's teammates, Ino and Chouji, and they had all become chuunin during the exam six months prior. Still, he supposed, perhaps they had been too busy like his team had been. Konoha and Sunagakure had both been short on shinobi since their battle almost two years ago and only now was Suna prepared to spare Gaara's team for the month or so it took to complete the process.
Still, Kankurou was right about her. Hinata had looked nervous, but only after she'd spotted Gaara's team. They hadn't had much of a chance to interact, but when they did she avoided him like the plague…or at least that's how it seemed. Any time he asked her teammates or the servants at the Hyuuga main house where she might be, he was told that they either didn't know or that she wasn't available. Somehow, he just didn't believe that she could be that busy. Then again, he realized that as future head of the Hyuuga she did have many obligations and tried to convince himself that everyone's excuses were the truth.
After the fifth and final day in the forest, everyone who had passed had been gathered back together. Gaara and the others were surprised to see so few. Especially disappointing was the absent second Suna team.
There had been casualties in many of the three-man cells, thereby eliminating them since all team members had to arrive together successfully in order to complete the mission. At least two of the scrolls had been lost or destroyed. Other teams just couldn't obtain both or make it back in time even if they did.
"Since there are so few of you here, we will have no need for preliminary battles," stated one of the Konoha jounin examiners before them. He walked to the front of the line holding a cup out to the genin. "Take one piece of paper," he instructed. Once everyone had their scrap they were told to unfold it, revealing a number. "Please read off your number, starting with you," he ordered the Mist shinobi at the end while positioning himself infront of a chalkboard.
"Seven."
"Nine."
"One…"
After everyone was through, the matches had been determined.
"Amatsubu of the Mist will be fighting Kankurou of the Sand. Kiba of the Leaf will fight Temari of the Sand. Hinata of the Leaf will fight Shino of the Leaf. Gaara of the Sand will fight Hitoame of the Mist. Tsuyu of the Mist will fight the winner between those two," he read off the board. "You have one month to prepare. I suggest you train hard during that time."
The genin looked over their opponents. Gaara merely stared at Hinata.
"She doesn't seem too happy about fighting her teammate," Temari remarked, following his gaze and noticing how anxious she appeared.
Gaara had been listening but chose not to respond, a trait of his which most found annoying since it made them think he was ignoring them. Still, Temari knew better and let it slide, merely smiling to herself as her brother made his way toward the young Leaf kunoichi.
"Hinata," he called as he approached her. Her eyes went wide at the sight of him and he could swear she was trembling. She began to fidget with her hands and avoided his gaze.
"G-Gaara-san…"
" 'Gaara'," he insisted.
"H-hai…" she agreed, but did not correct herself.
Now that he was finally before her, he realized that he really wasn't sure what exactly he wanted to say. It wasn't from lack of options, though. On the contrary, there was much he wanted to talk about.
'How have you been? You're growing out your hair? It looks…nice. You've really changed. You're even a little taller than me now. How much stronger have you gotten since we last met? I've missed you. Have you been avoiding me? Are you afraid of me?' All of these things he wanted to discuss, but noticing her discomfort, he decided to make it brief. "Would you like to train with me during the next month?" As soon as it came out, he realized it probably wasn't the best thing to say, but he couldn't take it back now.
"Eh?! Uh…" Hinata longed to accept the offer, thinking back to how wonderful their time together had been, yet she knew she wouldn't be able to stand being alone with him without breaking into tears, knowing that this young man whom she liked so much…was taken. She couldn't believe how weak she had become since she'd laid eyes on him a week ago.
She had been doing better in recent months. It had even been her suggestion to Kiba and Shino that they enroll in the Chuunin Selection Exams again. She felt guilty that they hadn't sooner. They'd had the chance shortly after the 'Repay the Favor' mission about seven months ago but Kiba had said not to worry about it - that there would be other times and they shouldn't rush. Still, she knew it was because he didn't trust they'd succeed with her in the state she was in. Not wanting to let them down gave her the courage to start trying to live up to her potential again, but when she saw Gaara in the testing hall, her confidence plummeted. She tried to hide it, but Kiba and Shino could see what was going on. Though they didn't understand everything, they knew that somehow the Suna boy was causing their teammate distress. They'd worked to thwart the boy's attempts to have any contact with their Hinata, even requesting Neji's assistance to put a word in with the head family's servants in case he stopped by the estate. They refused to let Gaara upset her anymore. Hinata was their friend and comrade…and they couldn't afford to risk failing the exams again.
"Hmph! She doesn't need your help!" Kiba declared, interrupting. "Our Hinata is strong. You just worry about yourself."
Gaara looked back to Hinata who simply nodded, still not meeting his eye. "Thank you, but…I…I'll be fine." She certainly didn't look it, but Gaara couldn't argue if those were her wishes. He simply turned and headed back to his group. On the way, the three Mist shinobi stepped in his path, blocking him.
"You think you're so powerful, don't you?" asked one of the boys.
"You're nothing. You're goin' down, Sandman," taunted the female, his first opponent in the matches, he recalled.
Gaara gave them no reply and began to step around them. This only furthered in pissing them off. The third boy stepped in front of him, too close for comfort. Gaara, already on edge, allowed his sand to repel the shinobi, tossing him on his back a few feet away.
"You bastard!" the other male yelled, pulling a kunai from his pouch. Before he could do anything with it though, a jounin had appeared between them with a sword to each of the genin's throats. This Gaara allowed, managing to suppress his sand. He knew that he was in no real danger since he wasn't going to press the matter further. Plus he was confident that he could take the jounin if worse came to worst, but he knew it would not.
"Save it for the battlefield! Now, go," he ordered, lowering his weapons a bit, but not putting them away in case either of the two didn't feel like listening. Gaara obeyed without question, turning away and rejoining Temari and Kankurou who snickered about the Mist team's foolish efforts as they left. Gaara remained silent and impassive.
'It looks like I have more to worry about than Hinata,' he pondered, fully aware of the searing pairs of eyes which glared at him from behind.
Translations/Term Definitions...in no particular order:
- Jounin: The rank of ninja after chuunin. They are the elite of their village, able to take on the highest-ranking missions. The only shinobi higher in rank than they would be the kage of the village and perhaps the Anbu, or secret service, of the village.