Desert Rose-Chapter 2

"…what did you say?" Temari asked, looking at the blushing blonde in front of her.

"I said…that I have feelings for you. I know that this seems sudden but I liked you the first time I saw you at the chunnin exams and…well…"

Temari just stared at the blonde who was at a loss for words as she took in all he just told her. While Naruto was looking down, Temari took the time to actually look at Naruto and notice how much he had grown. Naruto's hair, still unruly, was longer and made him look a lot like a certain Hokage who was known as Konoha's yellow flash. He wore the standard ANBU outfit, but managed to add a small orange spiral to the green flak jacket he was wearing on one of the scroll pockets. He was still the same goofy Naruto, but he had grown up and matured greatly. Temari thought about all he had done from defeating Madara to saving and bringing back Sasuke to Konoha to threatening the whole committee who wanted to kill Sasuke for betraying Konoha. He then convinced them to give Sasuke another chance and that he technically didn't do anything to any of the nations because it was all planned by Madara. So after that, Sasuke was given a second chance he wasn't wasting it, as he started working missions almost non-stop and advanced to ANBU captain, along with Naruto, in one year where Naruto was on his way to becoming Konoha's 6th Hokage.

"You know-"

Naruto looked up where Temari met his ocean blue eyes

"that Gaara might accept the idea of you and me in a relationship but Kankuro will make your life a living hell until he warms up to you."

Naruto blinked and chuckled, saying that the first 16 years of his life was a living hell and that he could endure for however long it took for Kankuro to accept him. Temari smiled, knowing well that Naruto would never back down from a challenge, and tried to get more comfortable as Naruto noticed this.

"Do you need anything, Temari-chan?" Naruto asked getting up and waiting as if answering her every beck and call. Raising an eyebrow, Temari was about to tell him she didn't when her stomached growled loudly in the quiet room.

"Well I am a little hungry" before Temari could finish her sentence Naruto was out the door heading for the kitchen. Sweat-dropping at how fast Naruto left to get her some food, she was secretly grateful for the peace and quiet time to think about Naruto's confession. Temari thought about how Gaara and Kankuro would take the news of them dating, although she guessed that they already knew due to Naruto's behavior around her. Thinking about her protective brothers, she imagined Naruto and Gaara getting along very well since Naruto is the only one who understood what Gaara has been through and doesn't fear, but respect. Naruto and Gaara's special connection at having similar childhoods and being just born with the biju sealed inside them made Naruto the only one Gaara trust to take care of her as they all noticed the things Naruto had accomplished even with the biju still sealed inside him.

"Hmm, I guess I can give it a try" Temari said softly out loud just as Naruto came back with a several clones, all loaded with food.

'Something tell me I'm going to enjoy this' Temari thought as Naruto and his clones begin to her small bits of fruit and other types of food. Going back to the desert with Hinata and Gaara we left off with the redhead telling the shy Hyuuga that they were going to sleep together. And right now that shy Hyuuga was a shy, blushing Hyuuga who face was as red as Gaara's hair as she turned. "

Uh…what?" Hinata finally manage to say, hoping she heard wrong as she looked into Gaara's teal eyes.

"I said we need to sleep together."

"Can I ask why?" Hinata said softly, slowly backing away just in case she needed to make a run for it.

"…deserts nights get very cold and it will help conserve body heat" Gaara said, fishing through his bag for food as an extremely embarrassed Hinata said oh and began to look around in her bag for needed supplies.

"The night is still young if you want to continue, I mean we don't have to stop yet" Hinata said, trying hard not to imagine her and Gaara sleeping close to each other like that.

"Although, the night is still young, desert nights can reach temperatures in the negatives fairly quickly and it would be best for us to turn in for the night. I'll keep watch since I don't need much sleep due to the number of years of being insomniac."

Agreeing that she would need her strength to find the oasis with her byakugan, they quietly shared a dinner before moving to the sleeping bags. Hinata was the first into the sleeping bags and got comfortable when Gaara joined her and got comfortable.

Hinata turned her back towards him, to hide the deep blush on her face as she felt Gaara's body heat close to her as he kept watch using his third eye. After a few minutes, Hinata became comfortable with Gaara next to her and lulled off into a deep sleep, not such much as a twitch or a sound came from her. Gaara stopped using his third eye and looked at the sleeping Hyuuga next to him, her ink blue sprawled over the sleeping bag with a strand in her face. Curious, Gaara gently moved the strand of hair out of her face and twirled it between his fingers.

"It's so…smooth…like silk" he said silently as he tucked the strand behind her ear.

'What's this strange feeling when I see her sleeping like this? Like…I enjoy watching her sleep, the way her chest slowly rises and falls with her slow breathe, the way her skin reminds me of warm milk and her lips plump and kis- WHAT AM I THIMKING?'

Gaara roughly shook his head as he went back to using his third eye jutsu to look around but Hinata's invisible jutsu seemed to work as there was no sign of danger. Feeling safe, he bundled down in the sleeping bag, giving Hinata her space without moving too far away, he closed his eyes and fell into a light sleep, dreaming of pale lavender eyes.

'Hmm, this pillow is so soft, so warm. The sound of the heart beating is so soothing. Wait…heartbeat?'

Hinata's eyes shot opened as her brained caught up with her senses.

'Wait, pillows don't have a heartbeat…nor do they have arms and a chest'

Eyes widening, Hinata looked at the place she was currently laying and almost cried out in shock and surprised. Scared to look up, Hinata finally managed to turn her head and she wished she hadn't. Meeting her gaze was Gaara's face inches away from hers. His sleeping face held an air of innocence as his ruby red hair set off his boyish looks while he slept. The dark rings around his eyes only seem to add to the charm of looks as Hinata blushed at the thought of wanting to his hair and see if it was as soft as it looked. Giving in to temptation, she lightly touched a red lock of hair that felt soft to the touch. Remembering what kind of position she was in, as she was laying on top of him, she blushed and tried to maneuver off of him but seemed to end up in a worse position. Cursing her luck, she somehow placed her hands on either side of him, her chest below his as she tried to move to the side. Sighing, she mentally thought that the situation couldn't get any worse until she looked up and meet a pair of teal eyes looking into her lavender ones. Speechless for a few seconds, she instantly blushed red and not caring anymore leap out of the sleeping bag with a squeak before saying that they should get a move on. Gaara studied the blushing and fast-paced kunoichi before he too got out of the sleeping bag. Packing up everything, and trying to avoid Gaara's eyesight as much as possible, Hinata decided to skip breakfast as she and her companion headed out once more looking for the desert rose. However, the thing on both their minds was why did they enjoyed being in that position as they both used their eyes (Hinata's byakugan and Gaara's third eye) to scout ahead but on occasion check out each other without realizing it. After the most embarrassing moment of Hinata's life, second being the time she accidently walked in on Neji coming out of the shower, Hinata followed by Gaara started their journey back on finding the oasis as the sun rose higher and higher in the sky until it was directly above them. Hinata started sweating as the sun's rays beamed down on her making her hair stick to her face and causing spots to appear in front of her eyes.

'Maybe I shouldn't have skipped breakfast' Hinata thought as she sent a quick sideways glance towards Gaara. Gaara felt a pair of eyes staring at him and turned to see Hinata staring at him, almost like she was memorizing the way he looked.

"Is something wrong?" he asked noticing that she didn't turn away when she caught him staring.

"I just find it interesting that you're not sweating in the desert heat but I guess if you lived in Suna your whole life you get used to it" she said swaying a bit. Gaara frowned when he noticed that Hinata's face was turning red, but he didn't believe it was from her blushing, when he answered.

"I don't feel the heat because the sand protects me from the sun's ray…it's always done that. Are you sure you okay, Hinata?" he asked again noticing that her eyes seemed to be losing their focus.

"Yes…I'm fine…" she said as the wooziness seemed to increase and she had a hard time walking straight. Feeling her conscious fading, the last thing she heard was Gaara muttering a slight curse as he quickly made it to Hinata right as she passed out from heat exhaustion. "Sorry, Gaara-san" Hinata manage to mutter before going quiet as the heat made her weak. Gaara activated the sand in his gourd to shield them as the sun seemed to beam down on them even more. Grabbing the canteen of water, he slowly poured it over Hinata's face as to bring her body temperature down. Not knowing why, Gaara was concerned about Hinata as he used almost all of the rest of the water in the canteen to cool her heated skin. Checking her temperature and glad to find she was cooling down, he mentally slapped himself for not realizing she was becoming weak from the heat. About three hours later, Hinata came too, noticing that something was shielding her from the sun. Focusing, she realized what was shielding her was in fact Gaara's sand and she quickly sat up from Gaara's lap looking at her surroundings.

"What happened?" she asked looking at the silent redhead who had a look of concern on his face.

"You passed out due to a heat stroke. I shielded you from the sun's rays" Gaara explained as he stood up and dusted the sand off his clothes. Handing her an onigirl and the rest of the water in the canteen he told her eat and drink. Quickly eating and drinking the food and water he provided, Hinata was suddenly on her knees, head towards the ground.

"Oh, sorry for troubling you Gaara-san" Hinata said bowing a bit before she too stood and dusted some sand off of her. Gaara frowned when the ink-blued haired kunoichi apologized, even bowing to him, for getting a heat stroke.

"I should be the one apologizing for I didn't realize you were dehydrated until you passed out" he said picking up the empty canteen bottle and placing it in his bag. Hinata held a shock look on her face, saying that it was entirely her fault for not staying hydrated. Gaara just looked at her which made her feel uneasy as she noticed the slight frown on his face.

"Do you always blame yourself for things that were an accident?" he asked as he noticed that Hinata didn't seem to want others to take the blame for anything. Hinata blinked at the unexpected question as Gaara sighed and said never mind and continued walking ahead. Hinata, still in shock quickly caught up with Gaara and didn't say anything as they keep on ahead the desert cooling down as the sun set.

"Gaara-san…thank you."

Gaara just nodded and asked if she was okay in continuing which she nodded yes saying that the "nap" helped a lot and that she was feeling better. Both ninja continued walking, checking the map every now and then, before Gaara finally stopped and said they couldn't venture any further without light for the moon was hidden behind clouds. Agreeing, Hinata said she would keep first watch as they got into the sleeping bags and after a while, fell asleep. Waking up first this time, Gaara was surprised to find Hinata in the same position as last time as she hugged his chest. Not knowing why, he kept her there as she looked comfortable and he didn't want to bother her just yet. After watching her for another 20 minutes, he noticed that she started stirring and quickly moved as to avoid the same event from last time. Waking up and noticing Gaara already away, she quickly rose and began to put the stuff up. Making sure to eat this time, both ate in silence before again trekking across the desert as they were approaching their destination soon. Gaara slowed down as he started paying attention to the sand around him.

"Be careful, Hinata-san, there is danger up ahead" Gaara stated looking at the shifting sand.

"What are those?" Hinata asked noticing the weird vortex in the sand that seemed looked a lot like many whirlpools in the desert.

"Quicksand" Gaara states calmly stopping as he looked at Hinata.

"I will need your help with avoiding them. I could fly us over them but I don't know exactly where the safe ground is because some are hidden underground."

Hinata activated her byakugan and noticed what he was talking about as she learned to use the byakugan just below the surface, the looser the surface the easier to see beneath it. Nodding, she quickly and cautiously moved through the area as Gaara followed close behind as they avoided quicksand after quicksand. There were times that they had to use Gaara's sand to fly over a fairly large vortex but they manage to make it pass the worse of them. As they got further into the desert, the vortex became few and farther apart. Not seeing any more quicksand, Hinata deactivated her byakugan before she stopped and wiped the sweat off her brow. Gaara handed her his canteen which she thanked him for and took a quick sip of water as they were running low. Not paying attention, Hinata missed when the sand around Gaara's feet suddenly started to swirl and take him under. Hearing cursing, Hinata turned in time to see something scuttle away underneath the sand before she realized that Gaara was sinking in quicksand.

'Impossible, there was quicksand there a minute ago' she thought as she screwed the top onto the canteen and place it in her bag.

"Gaara-san can you get out?" Hinata asked as she took the backpack Gaara had handed him as to slow down his descending into the desert sand.

"No" he called out as he knew struggling would only make him sink faster. Muttering curses, which she never really done, under her breathe she quickly looked through the bags for something that could help them in their situation.

'Come on, where is it…YES' Hinata thinks as she pulls out a rope triumphed at finding it. Turning back to Gaara she found him sinking, trying to force the sand beneath him to rise or stop flowing but he can't due to the sand's sticky substance and therefore can't control it. Looking around for something to tie the rope to and finding nothing, she quickly tied the rope around her stomach and throws the other end to Gaara who catches it. Holding on to the rope, Hinata tried and pulled him out of the quicksand but to her horror she couldn't as she started to cry. She then looked up in Gaara's fear-filled eyes as they both realized that Gaara was slowly sinking to his death.

'Man, I could REALLY get used to this' Temari thought as Naruto started giving her a back rub while a clone rubbed her feet, another cleaning her fan, etc. Naruto never left Temari side unless it was to eat or use the bathroom but he quickly made his way back to her. Not only that, he basically waited on her hand and feet for anything as simple as asking for something to drink. She asked if he could fluff up her pillow and he did…along with giving her a massage, feeding her grapes, using her fan to cool her down. Temari was actually surprise because she was one of the few kunoichi in Suna and she had to show her toughness to be considered valued in the eyes of the Suna people. Naruto however saw the women beneath the surface and treated like one. As Naruto was fanning her, Temari went into a coughing fit so severe that she actually had hard time breathing. Naruto, realizing this, tried to make her drink water but it didn't help. Seeing Temari's eyes go weird due to lack of oxygen he did the first thing that came to mind. He kissed the daylights out her and begin to fill her lungs with air as he dubbed the "kiss of life." When she could breathe again, Naruto moved away from her lips, a big blush dotting his cheeks as Temari touched her lips.

"I'll…go inform the medics that you're having trouble breathing" Naruto mumbled and took off out the door. Temari watched the door open and close before she looked at the hand and smiled as she brought her hand back to her mouth and thought about the kiss.