Desert Rose-Chapter 3
*back to the desert*
'Why can't I be strong enough to pull Gaara-san out?' Hinata though miserably as she kept trying to pull Gaara out who was still sinking in the quicksand. Hinata heard movement and noticed Gaara's sand in the gourd coming out and seem to mix in with the sand. Hinata had a hint of hope as she believed that the sand could help push Gaara out of the sand. However, she soon lost that hope as she heard Gaara mutter a curse saying the sand was too sticky for his sand to get through. Seeing that Gaara was actually scared gave Hinata the fuel to try and come up with something to help the red-headed Kazekage. Hinata suddenly came up with something, although it seemed futile, she decided to try it as she motion towards Gaara.
"Gaara-san, can you a platform with your sand for me to stand on?" Giving her a look, he nodded and began to do just that using the sand in the gourd, but not the gourd itself as he compact the sand to create a solid and durable platform. Nodding, she quickly stepped onto the platform and tells Gaara to tie the rope around the gourd and to hang on. Seeing that she had some kind of plan, hopefully one that will work, he did just that as the quicksand came up to his waist. Grabbing her animal mask and putting it on she then told him to hold on tight, she backed up till the rope was almost taunt and she grabbed the remaining part of it and held it in her hands.
'I hope this work' Hinata thought as she began to fuel chakra all around her body and start spinning.
"Protective eight trigrams sixty-four palms" Hinata muttered as she started to spin around on the platform as she knew she needed proper footing to do the technique. As Gaara watched, he suddenly felt a pull as the rope begin to tug him slowly to the side of the pit where the quicksand formed. As he grabbed onto the rope and began to hoist himself out he couldn't help but admire how the sand swirled around her, creating a miniature tornado like effect as Hinata kept spinning. As Hinata kept spinning, the rope kept pulling Gaara and after about 2 minutes he finally managed to escape the quicksand pit as Hinata stopped spinning and removed the rope from around her. Breathing hard, they both collapsed down on the sand as Hinata removed her animal mask. Gaara could see that Hinata's face was red from exhaustion as she used a lot of chakra to keep the rope from slipping in her hands, using her technique, and the byakugan to make sure there was no more danger. As the sand retracted back into Gaara's gourd he slowly got up from the ground and extended his hand to help Hinata up, who smiled, and took his hand. Trying to dust some of the clinging quicksand off, he turned to look at Hinata with amazement glowing in his teal eyes.
"Thank you, Hinata-san for saving my life. What kind of jutsu was that for it seemed different than the usual Hyuuga techniques I have heard about?"
Blushing at how Gaara thanked her, she stuttered out that it was jutsu she came up with since she had a hard time with the Hyuuga usual gentle techniques.
"Due to my light weight and excellent chakra control, I learned several techniques that benefit me in battle that are similar to the 'rotation' that my family is well known for."
Surprised at how much stronger Hinata was than he thought, he thanked her again as he wiped off more of the quicksand. Blushing, Hinata nodded in embarrassment as Gaara looked down at the swirling pit that seemed to get smaller as he stared at it.
"It's usual how this quicksand pit seemed to appear out of nowhere" Gaara stated looking at it get smaller. Looking down at noticing how it was shrinking, Hinata quickly pulled out a vial and carefully scooped up some of the quicksand.
"I don't think this is regular quicksand" she said noticing Gaara's look as she placed the vial in her bag. "That pit wasn't there earlier when I checked the surroundings, in fact, it seemed like something was burrowing away from it just as you started sinking."
Remembering seeing something move under the sand, he agreed and said that they would have to be more careful as he accepted the backpack Hinata gave him and they began their journey back to finding the oasis as the sun started to beat down on them. As they started walking again, Gaara noticed that Hinata was moving slower than she normally did as he saw her wipe the moisture from around her face.
"You're tired. You used a lot of chakra with that technique" Gaara stated as Hinata barely nodded as she continued at her slow pace. "Let's stop Hinata-san, you're seriously drained and trying to continue would be bad for you" Gaara said but saw Hinata shake her head and tried to walk faster saying that she could continue. Sighing at her determination, Gaara walked alongside Hinata as they continued on their journey. As they continue however, Gaara noticed that Hinata wasn't looking to good.
"Hinata...you look hot" Gaara stated after a while which causes Hinata to stumble, splutter, and blush all at the same time.
"Um...uh…wha…eh" is all that comes out of Hinata's mouth as Gaara, who realized how she took it, blushed and said he meant that she looked like she had a fever.
"Oh" she muttered blushing still as Gaara's sand shot out of the gourd and turned into a makeshift umbrella which protected them from the sun.
"Let's stop Hinata-san for you don't need another heatstroke" Gaara said, pulling out the last canteen of water while Hinata tried to make words.
"But we're behind due to my heatstroke and the quicksand incident we really should-" Gaara suddenly placed the canteen to her lips and made her drink some water.
"If you don't rest, you risking another heatstroke and we can make up the time by riding on my sand so please rest."
Sighing in defeat, Hinata nodded and handed the canteen back to Gaara.
"We will need to find the oasis soon, since we're running out of water."
Agreeing, Gaara created a sphere of sand with an opening to see as Hinata got comfortable and rest of Gaara's shoulder, too tired to be embarrassed as she fell into a deep sleep. Gaara was deep in thought as he wondered how his sister was doing.
'Please be okay until I get back Temari-neechan' Gaara though as he closed the sphere and fell into a light sleep thinking about shifting sand around a certain ink-blue haired kunoichi.
'That's it. I'm officially spoiled and addicted to Naruto giving me the "breath of life. More like "kiss of life' Temari thought as a small cough escaped her lips as she waited for Naruto to return. Feeling the same itchiness in the back of her throat, she mentally cursed until she saw the door open and in popped Naruto who was holding a cup of tea with lemon. Making hand signals, Temari motioned to Naruto that the feeling had come back when her throat was closing up. Placing the cup down quickly, he went over to Temari and begin to breathe air into her lungs so Temari could breathe. Not wanting to break the connection quite yet, Temari began to kiss him back, surprising the blue-eyed blonde who relaxed after a few seconds. The kiss seemed to lengthen as it turned more furious until both had to come up for air. Blushing big-time, Naruto began to stutter in the same manner Hinata did when she was younger which Temari found cute. Shivering a bit, Temari noticed the pile of blankets on her bed and realized that she was getting sicker. Looking at Naruto, who was looking away and blushing, she smiled and accepted the tea he handed her.
"Naru-kun, I cold" Temari said as she pulled the covers closer around her.
"I'll go get you some more blankets" Naruto said and tried to get up but Temari held his hand.
"No, you don't need to bother them again. Besides…I want YOU to help me warm up by…" Temari said, in a seductive manner as Naruto's eyes grew big and thought about the only possible way he could think of that he could help Temari stay warm.
Hinata woke up to once again find herself in the shady place of Gaara's sand sphere as she took in her surroundings. With a yawn Hinata began to move but stop when she realized that Gaara was still sleeping and she didn't want to disturb him so she kept still and thought about how much her life had changed. She thought of Naruto and how he shattered her heart by saying he loved another. The thing that made it hurt the most wasn't because it was Temari, or that the fact she lived in Suna…but the thought that Naruto, even now, didn't realize her feelings for him or that the way he acted in front of her was slowly killing her inside. Hinata sighed, closed her eyes as she thought how Temari would take it and would she return his feelings as strong as she had for Naruto.
'I'm just going to have to close off my heart to love for he is the only one I will truly ever love' Hinata thought as a tear escaped and rolled down her face as she felt the pain of loneliness throb with every beat from her heart as she tried to close off her emotions but couldn't. In her own thoughts she gasped when she felt a gentle hand on her face, wiping away the tear that had fallen. Opening her eyes, she turned her head to see Gaara with a sad expression on his face as he watched Hinata cry from her personal thoughts.
"Oh Gaara-san I'm sorry for disturbing you I was-" Hinata stated getting ready to apologize when Gaara stopped her with a shake of his head.
"You were not disturbing me, like you are not a burden. I know you keep thinking that everything that has gone wrong was your fault but it's not. Like your feelings for Naruto you shouldn't try to lock them away because it will make you cold, heartless, and a miserable person."
Hinata gasped at how Gaara could easily read her emotions but figured that was because she wasn't really trying to hide them.
"Also don't blame Naruto for not understanding your feelings for him and I both had hard childhoods and didn't really understand the concept of love and happiness thanks to the way we were treated. I believe Naruto fell for Temari when he saw how she would try to protect me no matter how much I used to threaten them. Truthfully, Temari has been through the most torture because she had to sacrifice a lot to watch over me, prove herself in the eyes of the Suna people, and deal with the Shukaku whenever I lost control. I can understand why Naruto loves Temari and how much he deeply cares for her plus Naruto is the only person I trust to be around my sister. As much as it hurts to see the one you love falling for another I know deep down you're secretly happy that he finally found someone to love."
Hinata remained quiet as Gaara's words sank into her mind and heart like a soothing salve that took some of the pain away.
"Thank you Gaara-san for you had helped me in many ways and I hope to repay you some day."
Gaara's sand retracted back into his gourd where they noticed the sun sinking low in the sky as they continued to walk.
"But you have helped, not only me but my family, in finding a cure for Temari's sickness, safely guiding me over the quicksand pits, and manage to save my life after I fell into one."
Gaara looked at Hinata with a slight smile on his face as she nodded, blushing a bit, before they picked up the pace to make up for lost time. After about twenty minutes, Gaara and Hinata decided to ride on the sand before the sun completely set for it was faster and they weren't far away from the oasis now.
"Do you see anything ahead, Hinata-chan?" Gaara asked, before frowning wondering why he added the –chan honorific at the end of her name.
"What-oh nothing so far…wait I see it it's about 50 km from where we are. We should be there within the next 20 minutes" Hinata said excitedly as she spotted the pink flowers growing along the bank of the oasis and knew they were getting close. "But wait Gaara-san, I think something is happening because I can barely see a lot of small bodied creatures digging in the sand, and-"
Before Hinata could finish her sentence she closed her eyes suddenly making her deactivate her byakugan.
"Hinata-chan what's wrong?" Gaara asked before noticing the sudden weather change.
"The sand…it's irritating with my byakugan" Hinata said softly trying to wipe the sand from her eyes while keeping it out of her mouth. Gaara looked around and noticed the wall of wind and sand coming towards them at an alarming rate.
"Sand storm" he muttered and looked around for some kind of shelter but couldn't find one so he made a quick decision on what to do. Jumping down from his sand, he moved Hinata right above him before willing his sand around him making Hinata fall suddenly. Before she had time to call out, Gaara had already caught her and began to make his ultimate defense, sand sphere, as the storm had reached them.
"What is happening?" Hinata asked as she watched the swirling sand outside disappear by the sphere being complete, Gaara sighing as he was tired from using so much chakra.
"It's a sandstorm although this one doesn't seem to be natural for there wasn't a breeze strong enough to move this much sand in a short amount of time. I believe someone or something is trying to get rid of me."
The red-headed Kazekage closed his eyes and took a look of concentration as he went in his mind and tried to figure out who wanted to finish him off. Coming up with a blank he opened his eyes to notice Hinata's byakugan activated as she checked the surroundings for someone trying to attack. "Hinata-chan, please rest for nobody would venture out here during a sandstorm."
Agreeing for she didn't fully recover all her chakra she laid her head against the redhead's shoulder and quickly went to sleep. Knowing the shield could withhold a lot of attacks, Gaara closed his eyes and went to sleep alongside not understanding what was has changed between the two of them. After a while, the sounds of the sandstorm ceased to be heard and Gaara woke up to check the surroundings noticing that everything was quiet and night had fallen. Looking down at the ink blued hair covering his shoulder he felt a twinge in his heart as he stared at the pale skin of Hinata who was mumbling something in her sleep. Curious as to what she was saying, Gaara tilted his head as to hear what she was saying as she started mumbling again.
"N-Naru-to kun" Hinata said smiling softly before going quiet once more. Hinata was in a dreamscape where she was having a conversation with Naruto as she told him the feelings she had.
"I'm sorry I never knew your feelings Hinata and that I hurt you in the worse of way but I do know this…you will find someone who will cherish you as much I cherish Temari. Who knows that special person might be right under your nose and you haven't realized it yet. Thank you for believing in me Hinata-chan and I will love you as a friend."
Hinata smiled as she felt better than she had in a long time as she noticed dream Naruto starting to disappear.
"Goodbye, Hinata-chan" dream Naruto said growing dim.
"Goodbye, Naruto-kun" Hinata said as she watched Naruto leave her dreams forever.
Hinata woke up laying on, not Gaara's shoulder but a sleeping bag rolled out by Gaara who was looking up at the starry sky.
"Gaara-san" Hinata called out making him turn to look at her and back at the sky before getting up from his position on his own sleeping bag.
"Let's go" he stated, a weird catch in his voice as he quickly rolled up his sleeping bag, placed it in his bag, before walking off leaving Hinata slightly behind. Confused at Gaara's behavior, Hinata quickly followed suit as she walked beside the redhead who was deep in thought, seeming to walk automatically. "Can you continue or do you need more rest" he asked sounding slightly upset as he kept looking forward.
"N-no, Gaara-san, I'm f-fine" Hinata stuttered out, something she hadn't done in years and only around Naruto. Nodding, they continued to walk, both not saying anything as they were trying to figure out their own thoughts that was troubling them. Hinata took a sideways glance at Gaara and felt her heart thump slightly.
'What is wrong with me, why do I feel like this? I haven't acted this shy or this nervous around anybody but Naruto. Maybe…maybe I'm having feelings for Gaara-san. Maybe…I'm falling in love with him…'