BB: two updates in one day, I must be sick.
Alleanye: Actually I think the chapters with Shay's background comes more easily then the other chapters.
BB: You're probably right. It doesn't help that Shay pushes me out of the chair and writes half the chapter herself.
Shay: Hehe, BB doesn't own Naruto.
BB: Don't you hehe me!
The elevator was stiflingly quiet. Hinata was slightly glaring at her cousin, but both he and Naruto were ignoring her. They were both looking really worried.
"What's going on?" Tenten finally asked. Naruto and Neji looked at her. Tenten glared at them. "And don't try to give us some stupid it's none of our business excuse. Shayshaymura is our friend, and we deserve to know."
Naruto nodded, and sighed. "Shay and Gaara were friends when they were kids. She was pretty much his only friend and vice-versa. When we were in high school, they started dating. Then something happened, and Shay ended up in the hospital. And when she was released, she was gone. None of us knew where she was, or if she was even alive."
"Oh." Hinata whispered. "Why was she in the hospital?" Hinata asked, her voice louder.
"We don't know." Neji answered. "She would not tell any of us. She wouldn't even speak."
"That's not good." Tenten muttered.
"He won't hurt her, will he?" Hinata questioned.
"Not physically." Naruto replied slowly. Hinata and Tenten both stared at him. Naruto winced, and hurriedly explained. "Gaara wouldn't hit her, but he would yell at her. Or pull some psychological trick, and it will hurt her. But it won't be the kind of pain that leaves a visible mark."
"Just being with him could be causing her pain." Neji said. "Not to mention, Gaara knows her better then anyone. He has seen into her mind, and he knows it inside and out. Whatever made her leave, I have no doubt that by the end of the night, he'll know."
Hinata was silently worried about that, and Naruto's next comment only made it worse.
"I just hope that whatever broke her, doesn't break him."
--
The office was deadly quiet. Shay couldn't speak. And Gaara wasn't making a noise. It didn't even seem like either one of them were breathing.
Finally the silence was broken. "Mura, why?" Gaara questioned. Hearing that old pet name in his deep warm voice, Shay's control snapped. But she didn't cry, she didn't yell, she just lashed out in her calmest voice.
"Forget it Gaara. This is only a favor for Hinata. I didn't want to go in the first place. If I had known that I would have to go out with you, I would never had accepted. This is a one night thing. After tonight, you won't see me again, understood?" Shay's heart was breaking as she spoke, but she still spoke. "After tonight, I'll be gone."
Gaara's face was impassive. Shay knew him though, even if she hadn't seen him in almost thirteen years. She could see the flicker of pain and confusion in his eyes, but soon they were blank. He nodded stiffly.
"Then we should leave." Gaara said, his voice turned back to being cold. Shay's heart shattered, but she nodded. They left for the party in a tense and painful silence.
--
Naruto held the door to his car open for Hinata. She nodded in thanks, and slid into the Ford. She hadn't pictured Naruto to drive a new Ford Mustang, but she was impressed by it. It was comfortable.
Hinata's eyes strayed back to the building, as Naruto closed the door. What had she done? She should have kept her nose out of Shay's business. She could've done something terrible to her best friend.
Naruto climbed into the driver's side, and turned the car on. He noticed that she was staring at the building. He sighed loudly, and turned the key off.
Hinata spun to look at him as he sighed, and turned the car off. He was leaning with his elbow on the windowsill of the car. He was staring at her, almost like he was waiting. Hinata blushed.
"Naruto-sama?" She asked tentatively.
"Just Naruto, or Naruto-kun if you'd like. I told you that they'll be okay." Naruto sighed again, and closed his eyes. "Gaara loves her. He's mad, he's hurt, but he still loves her."
Hinata blinked at that. She didn't even think that the Subaku loved anyone. Even with his own family, he was cold.
"So, stop worrying. At least about them. You still have to meet my grandmother." One of Naruto's opened lazily, and he grinned. "That, you should be worried about."
Hinata felt a shot of fear and of something a heck of a lot warmer go through her. She nodded, her face red, unable to say anything for fear of squeaking.
Naruto laughed, and straightened. He turned the car back on, and pulled out of the parking place. As he started to drive, he started to talk.
"You'll probably see the rest of my family. Kakashi, you met him, remember? He's like my dad, brother, and teacher all mixed up all in one. He's actually my uncle, kind of. My grandfather, I doubt you'll meet him tonight, but he's Kakashi's uncle." Naruto flicked his blinker on, and switched lanes.
"Kakashi's married to Rin, who's a doctor. Rin is brilliant, but sometimes she'll go on tangents about stuff I have no clue about. You know Anko Mitarashi, right? She's dating Sasuke's uncle, Obito. She's terrifying at times, but nice. You'll also meet Gaara's family, but I don't think they'll have much to do with us. They'll be too busy with Gaara and Shay." Naruto sighed again.
"You're worried." Hinata said softly. Naruto blinked, and glanced at her quickly. He looked back at the road, and seemed to hesitate, before he nodded. "Why?"
"Because I remember what happened the first time Shay left. She had been in the hospital for a week, in a near comatose state. It wasn't that she was asleep, it was that she was unresponsive. She didn't react to anyone's voice, touch, nothing. She just sat there and watched the wall. It was like a bad horror movie, but it was real." Naruto's voice was soft, slow, and serious.
"We all tried to figure out what had happened. The doctor wouldn't tell anyone, because we weren't family, and she didn't want us to know. Her father never visited her, and I know for a fact that Gaara went to talk to him.
"But I'm jumping ahead of myself. Gaara and Shay had been dating for a while before she had ended up in the hospital. When Shay got admitted to the hospital, Gaara was with Sasuke, Neji and me. He was her emergency contact number, and they called him." Naruto shuddered slightly. "I don't think that I'll ever forget the look on his face. He was murderous. He seemed like another person.
"He wanted to kill someone. It was only luck that we had been there, because we convinced him to go to the hospital first. If we hadn't been there, I'm not sure what would have happened. Gaara seemed to know exactly who to go after. He would have killed the person. He visited Shay every day, and he was the only who actually got a response out of Shay." Naruto seemed sad.
"What did she say?" Hinata was curious, but had a feeling that she was going to regret the question.
"She didn't say anything. She turned away from him. She rejected him silently. Gaara was hurt, and it was the first time I had ever seen him actually show an emotion other then anger on his face. But he kept coming back, and she kept rejecting him. And when she was finally allowed out of the hospital, she was gone. Gaara didn't even know that she was gone, until he came to the hospital to visit her. He was depressed, silent, and just plain deadly after that. It's not like he wasn't silent and deadly before, but it got worse after she left. Even his brother and sister were terrified of him." Naruto sighed again. "That's why I'm worried. I'm worried she's going to leave again, and break my friend's heart again."
Hinata absorbed the story. Gaara had loved Shay, loved her enough to kill for her, to stay beside her as she rejected him. But Shay had left. That didn't sound like Shay though. Only though Hinata had known the woman for a year, she knew that Shay was fiercely loyal.
So what had happened to make Shay leave?
BB: The answer to that big question and moren will be found in Shattering Sand, coming soon to a fanfiction webpage near you!
Illiana: please review.
