9

Answer

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This was a number of things. This was amazing, unexpected, wonderful, and horrifying. Never did Hinata think her Neji-niisan would come to her rescue like this, but now that he has, in the worst of situations, she was nothing but regretful.

Gaara instantly forgot Hinata and Naruto, now only focused on Neji, and the bloodlust seeping into his eyes made Hinata's inside twist and churn. The only fear greater than facing her own death was that of facing the death of someone important to her.

Like her Neji-niisan.

Gaara was strong--too strong--and though Neji-niisan was the most powerful genin in the village, he was sorely no match for this murderous sand nin. If he died trying to protect her…

"And you are?" Gaara inquired, reverting back to his usual calm. He still hovered control over the sand, ready to attack at the swing of his hand, but he waited for Neji's reply.

"I am Hinata-sama's cousin and guardian. You are the person whom she's been having recent encounters with, correct? The cause of her injuries?"

"That's none of your business," Gaara stated lowly. "Do you intend to fight?"

"I do. I can no longer let your acts go unjustified. You have hurt Hinata-sama not once, but multiple times, and now you must pay the price."

Gaara smiled at this. It was unlike any smile Hinata had ever seen. It was dangerous, thrilling, and twisted. The joy this ninja found in killing was well expressed in this simple smile, making it possible to hear every homicidal thought pouring into his head.

No, niisan…Hinata protested inwardly. Please don't do this.

Gaara's smile widened to reveal teeth, and Neji gave an unaffected snort. "Prepare yourself!" he shouted, and launched forward.

Gaara was ready. He extended both arms, as he had never done in an attack with Hinata or Naruto, and swept them forward in a harmonic motion, bringing a single wave of sand to come hurdling in Neji's direction. Neji was swift, and so dodged it easily, but making contact with Gaara's body was not as simple. As Neji squared his right shoulder to let his palm fly, a wall hard sand shot up to protect Gaara, making body damage impossible, and as the wall shaped to form an assault of spikes, Neji jumped backwards to avoid the attack.

He circled Gaara swiftly, his image nothing but a white blur, but Hinata could see him clearly with her Byakugan. He looked frustrated, as if he were running out of ideas on how to work his way around Gaara's sand barrier, while at the same time trying to doge all of his attacks.

Hinata was scared for him. Neji didn't know how much danger he was putting himself in because of her. Gaara was going to kill him. As ninjas of the academy, they were not prepared to handle someone such as Gaara, and Hinata felt that if even one of the jonins were to challenge Gaara, he would give than a little more than a run for their money.

Neji struck several columns of sand that came rushing at him, but there were always more to be accounted for. Gaara moved his hands and arms with more energy than Hinata had ever seen him display, and she could tell by the devilish grin on his face that he was only playing with Neji, and enjoying it.

But Neji realized this too. Still, it was far too early to bring out his ultimate attack, nor was there any time to use it at the moment. Doing so would only have tired him out, and that was the last thing he needed right now.

It was only a matter of time before Gaara grew tired of playing around. But even playing around, Gaara was one to be taken seriously. A powerful wave of sand finally struck Neji in chest, slamming him into a tree, and Hinata stifled a cry.

Neji reacted quickly, turning to Hinata with serious and angry eyes. "What are you still doing here, Hinata-sama!" he yelled. "Take the boy and run!"

Hinata's heart lurched with fear. She took a swift glance at Naruto, then back to Neji who was already running in for another attack. Yes…yes, Neji could hold out on his own for a while, she was certain of it, but in the meantime Naruto--

"H-Hinata-chan…" a voice croaked from strain. Immediately Hinata looked down and saw Naruto struggling to rise his head. Naruto-kun!" she exclaimed with fear. "Naruto-kun, no! P-Please, you mustn't move. You're injuries are too great for you to--"

"You have to get out of here, Hinata," Naruto said, jerking his body forward so that he fell on his knees. "You have to get out of here and get to safety. I don't know what that weirdo wants with you Hinata, but the most important thing now is for you to save yourself and get help."

Hinata tried to contain the tears behind her eyes, but already her vision was becoming blurred with the heat from them. Slowly her Byakugan deactivated, and she was left staring at a perfectly clear and colorful Naruto with blue and purple bruises whom possessed an unwavering expression of determination and protectiveness.

"Naruto-kun, please…" Hinata whispered to him. "You're not supposed to die today. Only me…"

Naruto looked at her in alarm, forgetting Gaara for a split moment, and stared directly into her eyes with shock.

"Naruto, you shouldn't have to fight like this--not now--won't you please come with me? We can get help together; you're in no condition to be fighting. Neji-niisan--"

"Sorry, Hinata-chan, no can do. I don't know what's going on here, but I can't just run away. I'll help your cousin hold that Gaara off until someone comes. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Without waiting for her to respond, Naruto rushed off. "Shadow clones!" he shouted, and three facsimiles of himself burst out of a cloud of white smoke.

"Don't interfere!" Neji, who was shooting blasts of chakra at attacking columns of sand, yelled furiously at him. "You'll only get in the way!"

"Spare me!" Naruto shouted back at him.

Hinata sat still, unable to move. She wanted to go for help dearly, but she was too afraid that if she left for any amount of time, one of them would become seriously hurt, or worse. Not to mention fatigue kept her body from responding correctly to the movements she needed to rise. Naruto was hurt badly, and it showed in his movements. Sooner than later he would collapse. Hinata herself was no better off. It was hard for her to move at all, in fact, but she knew she had to do something. But what?

Neji and Naruto did not work well together. Not only did they not know each other, but they knew nothing of each others fighting techniques and skill level. Naruto would have had a better idea of Neji's since his fighting style matched Hinata's, but this was her niisan's first time ever meeting Naruto.

If you would even call this a meeting.

Naruto was slow, and the production of his clones were few and far between. He was losing energy, and quickly, but still he forced himself to keep fighting. Neji was trying his best to counter and dodge all of Gaara's attacks, while at the same time trying to inflict some sort of surface wound on his body. This seemed more impossible by the second, for Gaara was not tiring at all, and how could he? The most difficult part for him would be chakra control over his sand, and it appeared as if he had mastered that years ago.

Not only that, but the sand seemed to…react on it's own, exactly as if it were alive. As Gaara was preoccupied with Neji, Naruto would come from behind him with two of his shadow clones, kunais in hand, and try to attack him from the back, but a wall of sand would shoot up to block the attack at every attempt, giving Gaara enough time to break his concentration for a split second to lash out at Naruto with an explosion of sand.

After his third attempt, Naruto wound up on the ground, crouched over and coughing up specs of blood. Neji had yelled for him to get away, but Naruto just wouldn't listen. Hinata was sickened with terror. Naruto had just about reached his limit, and Neji was quickly nearing his.

He looked tired and his hair had become loose and disoriented. The curse mark on his forehead had become completely visible by this point, and Hinata cringed at the sight of it. Normally Neji would have adjusted his headband to cover it, but Gaara didn't give him any time at all. Hinata could see by the change in his expression he'd become serious.

Oh no…Hinata whimpered inwardly. Naruto-kun…he'd kill Naruto. And Neji-niisan…

Gaara sent an alarming number of sand waves in Neji's direction, and he stopped in dead motion to pivot his heels, throwing his body into a violently swift spinning motion, producing a giant blue dome of chakra. "Rotation!" Neji yelled with power, deflecting all of Gaara's sand attacks. The sand waves cam hurdling down on Neji like bombs, exploding apart the second they made impact with his rotating chakra barrier. He kept the barrier going longer than Hinata ever thought possible, and beneath the fear and terror she felt for the consequences of this action, she was immensely awe-struck and proud. Proud of her big brother Neji.

But the barrier could only last for so long. After the last sand wave Neji dismissed his rotation. It was a nice clean break, but the second afterward he fell to one knee, panting and gasping. "Niisan…" Hinata whispered with fright.

Hinata's attention on her cousin broke when a sharp psychotic laughter erupted into the air. She turned quickly to see Gaara, chin jetting towards the sky, exploding with this twisted laugh. He lowered his head and stared at Neji with mocking eyes. "Strong!" he bellowed with a wicked smile. "Very strong!"

The sand regenerating on the ground began melting together, combining into one single mass, and rose into the air upon Gaara's command.

And suddenly Gaara winced, bending over with pain, and gripped his forehead tightly. Hinata flinched when she saw this, reacting to a tiny prick in her chest at the sight of it, and she had absolutely no idea why. It must have been the confusion of the situation, the chaos in atmosphere…

All three of them, Naruto included, watched as Gaara began muttering something under his breath, sputtering whimpers and apologies, addressing someone who wasn't there. He slid his hand to his hair line and gripped a fist full of red locks, pulling them between clenched fingers. What was going on?

"Sorry…" he whispered in a manner that resembled a childish beg. "I'm sorry, mother…"

Mother? They all thought simultaneously.

"I'll get it for you…his blood, I'll get it for you…I'm sorry for wasting so much time…"

What he was saying made no sense, yet it caused a violently sympathetic churn in Hinata's stomach. The way he whimpered this…it was almost as if he were a young child, backed into a corner, confused and threatened…and scared.

But what made him think of his mother?

Gaara rose his head, eyes still squinting from pain, and bore his eyes into Neji's. "I'm tired of playing with you," he stated with finality. There was no twisted joy in his expression now. Now there was nothing but murder and death. "It's time to end this. Now die."

The sand mass churning in the air behind Gaara shaped slowly into a pointed dagger, spinning like a drill, creeping forward with an anticipation of it's own.

Gaara swing is hand in a forwarding motion and the sand responded, shooting towards Neji with incomprehensible speed.

Neji was as prepared as he could have been. Slowly he'd been building chakra into the length of his arms and the tips of his fingers. He pivoted his heels once more and spun. "Rotation!" he cried once more.

The chakra barrier was bigger this time. It rotated, gaining more and more speed, but the sand was persistent. It hit the barrier, exploded, then regenerated again, ready for another strike. This happened again and again until Neji finally gave out and the jutsu dispersed. He fell to one knee, gasping furiously, and gazed in horror as the sand condensed together again to form the shape of a drill, and rushed at him at the speeds of a viper.

"No!" Hinata screamed.

Neji didn't have time to dodge. The drill dug into his stomach with fury, giving one sharp spin, and Neji cried out in agony. The impact of the spin jerked Neji's body away, sending him back a few feet and crashing into the thick trunk of a tree. He crumpled to the ground, limbs unmoving, with his hair followed his image, falling around his head as it reached the ground and concealing his face.

"Niisan!" Hinata cried as loud as she ever had.

"Hinata, run!" she heard Naruto yell. "Get out of here!"

Gaara turned on him and with a swift sand attack, sent him jetting into a thorny bush beyond a number of trees.

He didn't move.

"Naruto-kun…!" Hinata whimpered in a half-sob. She looked at Gaara with fear and anger. "Why?" she demanded, her voice shaking unsteadily. "Why are you killing them? Exactly what merit does their death serve for you?"

The sand around Gaara settled a fraction, swirling around his legs and just above his head. He began making his way toward her.

Hinata shrank back, then stopped. No…she thought resolutely. I am to die today anyway. "Tell me why you would do this?" Hinata continued, gaining control over her voice. Gaara stared at her, still advancing with slow and casual steps.

When you've accepted death, there is little to be afraid of anymore. Hinata persisted.

"Why!" she shouted.

Gaara came to a stop in front of her and knelt down. He looked into her eyes for a half a second, taking in her surprisingly fearless yet tear-stained expression, then took his hand and shaped it around her thin neck, slamming her backwards into the ground.

"Well?" he asked expectantly.

Hinata grit her teeth, gripping the hand which clutched at her throat.

"Do you have an answer?"

Hinata squinted from the pain. The pain in her body, the pain at her throat, and the pain in her chest.

"Tell me why," he continued. "Tell me why you exist."

Hinata opened her mouth to try and speak, but Gaara's hold prevented her. He loosened his grip slightly, just enough to allow air flow, and Hinata let out a choking breath.

"That…isn't rally the question you want to ask…is it?" she said through a number of strained breaths.

Gaara narrowed his eyes, flexing the muscles in his hand. His eyes were murderous, but uncomprehending.

"The question…you're really asking…is 'why do I exist'…"

Gaara opened his eyes with anger and surprise. "I…don't have an answer for that, Gaara…because I can't. No one can answer that question but you. If that wasn't the case, it would defeat our purpose for living."

In the back of her mind Hinata could hear Naruto's voice.

"Well, what I mean to say is, I wouldn't spend all those days feeling sad."….

"I might wind up losing, but at least I would give him the fight of his life!"…

"My point is, Hinata-chan, that we don't know how long we'll live. I'm training everyday so that one day I can become strong!"…

"I'm going to try my best and keep working no matter what happens!"

And a voice from so long ago, angry and fierce, darkened with despair, sounding distorted and strange in the voice of a wounded child. Neji's.

"All of our destinies are predetermined. It is useless trying to defy your fate. Pointless…"

"Pointless."

"Not pointless…" Hinata choked. "Not pointless."

Gaara looked at her in slight confusion, but with unwavering attentiveness, waiting for her next words.

"For a long time…I suffered because I did not know who I was. I did not know what I was good for, or if my existence mattered at all to anyone. No one needed me. No one wanted me. Not even my own father."

Gaara's hand flinched as a reflex of surprise, tightening around her neck. Hinata gasped in pain, but Gaara loosened his hold once more to let her speak.

Hinata looked into his eyes.

Such eyes…

"I thought I was completely alone…thought that I was the only one who'd ever suffered like that," she continued with a softer expression. "But that wasn't true…not true at all. Naruto…"

Her eyes drifted behind Gaara to the spot where Naruto lay. She couldn't see him from where she was, pinned to the ground; only a flash of orange where his jacket was peaking through the leaves of the bush.

"I'd found Naruto…and realized that the pain I had suffered was nothing. He grew up completely and utterly alone--literally all alone. No parents, no siblings, no friends, no one. But he…he still…everyday, he smiled. He never stopped trying to make friends, he never stopped trying to become someone greater than what he was. Because he believed he could become something better than what everyone thought of him."

"I…" she pressed on, with a soothing emotion seeping into her half-strangled voice. "I loved that. I wanted that. Because I wasn't that. Naruto works hard every day to shape his own existence because he knows that he can."

"It is not a matter of finding your existence…but shaping it as you live."

"And I live…because I love Naruto."

The side of Gaara's mouth twitched at the side. He stared at Hinata with an expression she'd never seen before, and after a minute or so of this, loosened his grip and stood to his feet.

"Is that so?" he said quietly--thoughtfully--and turned away.

"W-Wait!" Hinata called, rolling to her side. She propped herself up on her elbows and stared after him. "I thought you were going to kill me?"

Gaara stopped. His form was perfectly erect and still. He turned over his shoulder to look at her with his mouth compressed in a straight line, and his eyes, once again, betraying nothing.

"I said that if you didn't give me an answer at the end of three days I would kill you. And you have given me one."

He turned ahead of him now with the intention of walking away, but Hinata stumbled forward onto her knees and said, "D-Does that mean you won't--"

"I am still going to kill you," Gaara stated with certainty.

Hinata drew her eyebrows together, wrinkling her forehead with dread.

"But…" he continued slowly, "not in the way which requires blood from you. I will kill you another way. If it is love which sustains you…which defines your existence…than I will break that love."

//*********************************//Author's Note//***************************************//

Speaking as the author of this story, I'd have to say that this is my favorite chapter so far. The emotions presented here where so much fun to write, even though it took me longer than usual, but I loved how it turned out. Worth the struggle.

Now that Hinata's third day is up and she is still alive, it remains a mystery as to what Gaara will do in the future.

Please stay with me to find the answer.

I absolutely love everything it is you have to say, even if it's negative, so you're reviews are always well anticipated and anxiously read.

Please keep supporting me no matter what.