Who was this boy? And why did he look so familiar? He obviously wasn't born here based on his complexion, and those eyes originate in Konohagakure so it's impossible that he was born here. Those eyes come from my clan, the Hyuga clan. But then, as I recall, Hyugas don't just live in Konohagakure. Many of my clansmen decided to migrate after my family got in the car crash, so they're everywhere. They are also here. But why did I get the feeling that this boy felt so familiar? I've never seen him around my childhood home where all of my clansmen used to live together. The fact that he felt so familiar was bugging me. I'm pretty sure I've never seen him before and he had a face that wasn't so easy to forget.

I found myself slowly approaching the familiar stranger who was standing by the frozen meat. My heart was beating rapidly and my breath was heavy and short. My body was trembling as I got closer and closer to the boy, and I hesitated to speak when I finally reached him. He turned to face me when he noticed my approach. Our eyes locked. A chill ran up my spine, but no trigger was pulled to help me remember where I might've seen him. He was a stranger. Just a stranger… But why did I have to keep telling myself that?

I swallowed hard. My pale eyes never left his that were the same color as mine, and I asked with a voice that was barely audible, "Have we met before?"

The boy's long, dark brown hair fell over his right shoulder gracefully and the shorter pieces by his face fell perfectly into place, framing his heart-shaped face as he turned his body to face me. He opened his mouth and spoke to me with a calm, intelligent voice that also sounded so familiar. "I don't believe we have." He then stared at me curiously. "Your eyes… They are like mine. I haven't met anyone here with those eyes."

A lump formed in my throat. I couldn't look away though. I kept staring at the stranger. "My name is Hinata Hyuga." I hesitated to ask for his name. What was I feeling? Was this fear? I had to push myself to ask for the boy's name because something told me that I had to know. "W-What's your name?"

He extended his hand to me to shake my hand. I took my eyes from the boy to look at his hand. I then looked back up at him. After a few moments of pure hesitation I took his hand. I hardly moved mine to shake his. He did all of the work. With a genuine smile full of kindness he said, "It's nice to meet you, Hinata. My name is Moya Minami."

Once I heard the boy's name it felt like a weight was lifted from my chest and all that I had feared was gone. All of that worry and hesitation I felt no longer seemed to exist. I didn't know this person and he didn't know me. Whatever I felt was a false alarm. Although, one wonder kept running through my mind; why was Moya's last name Minami when his eyes were white like a Hyuga's? A Hyuga changing their surname was unheard of and I doubted that any Hyuga throughout history has ever changed their name. This was a mystery for another time though. Maybe I can ease into finding out the reason for his surname.

"So Moya," I began. "Were you born here? You look nothing like the people here. Are you just a tourist?"

"No. I wasn't born here, but I have been living here for about seven years now. My family and I moved out here from Iwagakure to start fresh." Moya answered me with a soft smile that never seemed to leave his face.

"I can see why. It's really pretty out here."

I was about to go into the question about his last name when his cell phone rang. The smile left his face immediately and his gentle expression transformed into a serious one that read all business when he read the caller ID on his touch screen phone. He took few steps away from me to answer the call. He said little words like "Yeah", "I understand", and "Okay". He ended the call after that and returned to me saying "I'm sorry. I have to go now. My family needs me." He paused to extend his hand again. "I'd like to see you again, Hinata. Next time I see you we should hang out."

I nodded slightly with a gentle smile that he returned. I watched him walk up to the counter to pay for his items until he left the store. It was a brief encounter and I hardly knew him, but I wished that I could've spent more time with him. Our time together wasn't enough and for some reason I felt a little empty when he left me. I felt alone, abandoned. This was something that I was too familiar with (but not quite used to) and I immediately exited the store as soon as the loneliness crept onto me. I needed to get out of there. I needed to get away from there. Why did it suddenly hurt to be left alone? I didn't even know Moya and yet it hurt to be left behind by him more than any other stranger abandoning me for someone else. This made no sense at all.

It didn't take me long to get lost in the sandy city after I stormed out of the store. Gaara warned us that it was easy to get lost in Sunagakure but I got lost anyway. Nothing around me looked familiar and I was beginning to panic. Hardly any people were around to help either. I approached a few but they shrugged me off and continued walking, watering plants, or went back to doing whatever it was that they were doing. I had to walk aimlessly through Sunagakure until I found a spot that I thought I might've seen before. Only when I got to the spot, I soon realized that I had been walking around in circles. All I saw were spherical buildings and I soon found myself beginning to hate their shape that defied all laws of architectural constructing.

I ran my fingers through my bangs and wiped off my perspiring forehead. I drank both of my bottles of water empty and I was nowhere near the Shodai Kazekage. What if I never found my way back? What if the heat killed me before I got to the hotel or actually found a person willing to help? The sun was setting, painting the sandy city and buildings in its orange light and coloring the once blue sky purple and orange. It looked beautiful yeah, but the temperature wasn't dying down much. I couldn't admire its beauty with how bad I was feeling right now.

I was tired and hot. My body was drenched with sweat and I needed a seat. Lucky me I found one. I took a seat on a stone bench outside of a store that looked like a restaurant. I leaned my head back against the wall. I was so exhausted that I didn't care how uncomfortable it was that my ponytail was pressing hard into the back of my skull when I leaned against the wall. My body was sluggish and lethargic. I wanted to lie down. Hell, I might have to sleep here for the night and sleeping here didn't sound like a bad idea.

My eyes were getting heavy. I was on the verge of really falling asleep when someone called my name in uncertainty. I opened my eyes and faced the direction from which I heard my name being called to find my savior the Kazekage of Sunagakure, Gaara. He was with three guards this time and I didn't recognize them. The four of them just came from the restaurant.

"Gaara," I said in surprise. He said that it'd be a while before I got to see him again, but here we were meeting again the same day we separated.

"I was hoping to see you soon," he told me with a small frown on his stunning face. "I wanted to talk to you about what happened at the hotel."

"I've wanted to talk to you about that, too."

I stood up from the bench only to be met by vertigo. One of the guards caught me so fast by the arm before I went falling down to the ground that I jolted when he touched me.

I released a humorless laugh. "I guess that I've been out in the sun a little too long."

"Let's go back to my home. I need to take care of you before we talk."

His voice was full of so much concern that my heart fluttered and I felt myself blush. If it weren't for the setting sun everyone would've noticed.

All five of us journeyed to the mansion located at the dead center of the large city. It was surrounded by other buildings that looked like housing. I suspected that the bodyguards lived there so that they could have an easier access to Gaara. The Kazekage's house wasn't the largest building in Sunagakure, like I expected it to be, and I figured that it was placed here and constructed as small as it was to ensure the Kazekage's protection. It was spherical with plenty of windows and the roof was flat so that whoever was standing on top of it could see the city. At the center of the house was the symbol for wind in Kanji. Konohagakure's Hokage mansion had the symbol for fire outside of it too so I didn't find it unusual that the wind symbol was first thing that my eyes found on the building.

The guards escorted me to Gaara's office (because his room has the best air conditioning) and they sat me down in a comfortable, brown leather chair in front of Gaara's massive desk made out of mahogany. Gaara handed me water out of the mini refrigerator that sat near the door and the massive bookcase that towered over all of us. I thanked him for the water and tried not to chug it all down. As a child, my mother often scolded me for chugging down ice cold water after a long day in the sun. She told me that I'd get a stomach ache if I continued to do it. Naturally, I didn't listen to her and I got a stomach ache just like she said. Ever since then I drank my water carefully and slowly to avoid the not so pleasurable pain at the pit of my belly.

I was cooling off, but my skin was sticky and I smelled of sweat. Gaara never left my side and kept near me as if I was going to collapse any second. I wouldn't have minded if it weren't for me being self-conscious about my scent. Even though he lived here for sixteen years and has more than likely been around sweaty people every day, I wasn't used to people being near me with me smelling like this. At times like these I wanted to be alone so I could hop into the shower.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked, concern thickly coating his voice. He mistook my heavy sigh of satisfaction with one of displeasure.

"Much better. Thank you so much, Gaara."

He studied me for a moment to make sure that I truly was fine. When he approved, he waved a hand to dismiss the guards so that he and I were alone. My friend was still worried about me but the concern was disappearing as the minutes ticked by. I could tell that he wanted to talk right now but he wanted to make sure that I was absolutely okay. It made me so happy that he was this worried about my health that I tried hard not to let out a giggle. He was so adorable.

The Kazekage rose from kneeling beside me to sit in the seat (which was identical to mine) next to me. He didn't look too happy when he took his spot beside me. In fact, he appeared to be thinking about what to say. He was coming up with a way to word what he wanted to talk to me about. I remembered him saying that he didn't have any friends and that I was his first. Is it because the civilians knew that he wasn't human? No. That couldn't have been it. The people here made fun of the supernatural and the songs that were passed down from their ancestors. If vampires, werewolves, zombies, witches, kitsunes, gypsies, and water nymphs didn't exist to them, then whatever Gaara was didn't exist to them either. Why was he so worried? Am I going to be the first person to know about his secret?

"Hinata," he breathed, "you know that I am not human. You are the first to know this besides my late father and a handful of others. Not even my siblings know what I am." His emerald orbs locked with my pale ones. "If I tell you what I am, can you keep it a secret?"

I nodded my head while saying, "Of course. I won't tell anyone."

He gave me a crooked smile that faded as soon as it came. He hesitated to say what he'd been dying to tell me. When most people are nervous they speak rapidly and say their words in one short breath. Gaara, however, said his words slowly. Almost as if he'd be able to take them back if he regretted saying anything at all. So with a soft voice, Gaara told me, "I am a sand spirit."

He didn't say any more to watch my expression. I assumed that he wanted the words to sink in so that I could grasp what he just told me. I think I would have, like I did with meeting a vampire, werewolf, zombie, witch, kitsune, gypsy, and a water nymph for the first time, but I didn't know what a sand spirit was. The Kazekage noticed my ignorance and chose to enlighten me.

"A sand spirit is a being that has existed for hundreds of years in Sunagakure. In order to survive it needs a vessel to be its host. When I was born my father infused the sand spirit in me. Even though the spirit is considered a pure creature the people here feared the spirit. My guess is because they didn't know exactly what it was and how powerful it was. The people who were in with infusing the spirit inside of me kept this to themselves until they figured out what to do with me."

"If they feared the sand spirit, why infuse it with you to begin with?" I asked.

"The spirit was becoming restless because it was beginning to die after not having a host for so long. It was posing as a threat to the city and our people. I had just been born when my father, the Kazekage before me, made the decision to merge it with me. He thought that I'd make a good host because I had time to grow into it and learn how to use its powers to my bidding." He waved a hand in the air, leaving behind a trail of grains of sand that defied gravity by floating in midair. "I can do many things with this sand. Things that I can control and things that I can't." Gaara took his attention from the sand in the air to look at me. His expression was filled with pain when he was looking at the sand he conjured, but his face lightened a little when he recalled the first time he used his powers on me at the Senju. "Alleviating your anger was something that I could control, but I wasn't very good at it. The anger returned within minutes." He then brought up the time in the mall when I mentioned my fight with Sasuke. I had said more than I wanted to a stranger. "Pulling the truth out of someone and exposing their troubles is something that I cannot control. Having the sand spirit is a blessing and a burden all at the same time."

"Why is it a burden? You should be happy to have this gift," I said.

"Remember when I told you that only the people who assisted with infusing the sand spirit within me knew about it? Well, the members of that group did everything in their power to keep children away from me. Including my brother and sister." A haunted expression consumed his face as he told me about his lonely childhood. "A lot of the members who took care of me and the spirit were parents. I had no friends when I finally was able to go to school. All of the parents that escorted their kids to school and back home made sure to keep their children away from me. In turn, the other kids who didn't belong to the members began to ignore me, too. No one interacted with me. They wouldn't talk to me or come near me. They gave me hateful glares and watched me closely. No one liked me. I was alone." He rested his hands in his auburn hair and leaned forward looking down at the floor with eyes wide and filled with that same haunted look that materialized when he recalled his past. "Even now…" he gasped. "Even now… They all stare at me like that. Like I'm beneath them. Like I don't really exist. Like I'm a monster. Like I'm not human." Gaara cringed in his seat. He hunched over so far that I thought he was going to curl up into a ball to hide from the world, to hide from me. "They hate me… They've always hated me… I'm all alone here. I'm so alone."

My body acted on its own. I placed a hand on Gaara's back which made him wince. The haunted look in his emerald eyes still existed but it began to fade when he came back to reality. When he saw my face it all disappeared. It went from haunted to surprise. I was crying. More than I had realized. The pain Gaara was feeling was unimaginable. It obviously ran deeper than I realized and it pained me to hear about his past. His loneliness and the hate he had to endure were beyond anything I could possibly fathom. If it was possible I would take some of the harbored negative energy he had and place it in myself. Gaara knew how I felt but he couldn't shake the astonishment. No one. No one cared about him like I did. No one ever showed him the compassion and the kindness that I did. And this made Gaara cry, too. He cried hard and I let him bury himself into me as I comforted him in my warm embrace. I didn't want to let him go. I didn't want him to feel lonely ever again. I didn't want him to be hated.

The compassion I felt for him and the anger I felt was so strong that I ended up saying, "I won't let you be alone. Ever. Not as long as I'm around. I'll stay with you for as long as you want, Gaara. I won't go anywhere." I hardly recognized my own voice. It was so strong. So sure of itself, and it ensured Gaara too as I felt him cry so hard that his body shook in my arms and against my body. I wasn't just using those words to comfort Gaara. I meant them. Every single word. He needed someone to be with him. He needed someone who cared. He needed someone like me. But even though I said those words and felt so sure of myself, deep down I didn't really know if I could hold him to my word.

We stayed like this for a long time. It was close to an hour when my friend began to stir in my arms. His face emerged from my body with a red nose, bloodshot eyes, and red rings around his eyes. I wouldn't be surprised if he launched into hiccups any time soon, but he didn't. He rose from the chair and had a little trouble balancing himself. His eyes squinted from the light after concealing his face in the dark for so long. After he adjusted to the light from the chandelier he turned to look at me. He still looked sad to me, but there was something else there… It didn't take me long to realize that it was adoration. He saw me in a whole new light. He respected me and trusted me. For the first time in his entire life he discovered what a friend really was.

"It's late," he said. "Your friends must be worried. You should go."

"Do you want me to?" I asked, standing up from the chair. I had to catch my balance too as I noticed that my legs were asleep.

Gaara didn't say anything for a while. I thought he wasn't going to respond but he said moments later, "I don't want you to, but you need to. They're going to worry."

"Okay," I sighed, turned towards the direction of the door, but then stopped as I remembered something. "Gaara? Why were Sasuke, Deidara, and Naruto glaring at you like that at the airport? They wouldn't even let me near you on the plane."

"Oh, that," he said. He was barely audible and it took a while for me to piece together what he said. "It's normal. I'm a pure creature. They are impure. If they got to know me then they'd have a different view of me."

"But why wouldn't they let me near you?"

"You're their 'territory' and I'm a threat. The last thing that they would want is for you to fall into the hands of someone like me."

I rolled my eyes when Gaara said I was "territory". As far as I was concerned I was no one's territory. "How come they wouldn't tell me about this when I asked them?"

"Probably because they wanted to keep you safe. I've only known you for a few days and even I already know that the best way to keep you safe is by keeping you in the dark." A wry smile played on his face. "You're very stubborn and curious. You don't seem to realize how dangerous that is in this world."

I crossed my arms. "Is that also why my vampire friends won't tell me anything about the slayers? Every time I ask they change the subject or tell me to forget about it. Are they bad?"

Gaara's eyes narrowed. "You know nothing about them? They are the warriors of the pure creatures. They are the only breed of pure creatures I know of that uses their abilities to fight. Their natural enemies are vampires because vampires are the darkest of the impure creatures while slayers are one of the purest." He cupped his chin in thought and was piecing words together in his mind to tell me more.

"So, slayers aren't human? They're mythical? Why are they so strong? What are they exactly?" My heart was beating fast from excitement. I was finally getting the answers that I've been searching for.

He shook his head, making his hair bounce. "They aren't human. In a sense they are living dolls made by gypsies to slay all impure creatures. Gypsies began to create them with their light magic when vampires were reproducing by an extraordinary rate. Slayers took out the vampires easily with the strength that was far superior to the nightwalkers. The slayers won, of course, and as a reward, the gypsies granted the slayers everlasting freedom. They could do whatever they wanted. Live like humans, get jobs, and make families. The gypsies promised that all would be well for them so long as most of the slayers, mainly the men, continued to kill vampires."

I was silent for a while before I opened my mouth again. "The gypsies made them? What did they make them out of?"

The Kazekage's eyes never left mine. "They are made out of human volunteers, elves, and vampires." He watched my face twist into shock. Vampires? They were part vampire? Is that why no one wanted to tell me about the slayers? "It's impossible to tell the difference between a human and a slayer through a human's eyes as is a young slayer to be unable to differentiate between a slayer and a human. Sometimes they can't even tell who's a vampire. It's one of the flaws that a slayer has. They have to learn how to become a slayer and to find their prey."

"Why?" I asked more to myself than to Gaara. "Why didn't they tell me? The slayers want me dead back at Konohagakure! How could they keep this from me?"

"Because they want to protect you." Gaara's lock on my eyes turned from that glint full of intellect he always gave me when explaining something to me to that same adoring gaze he fixed on me when I comforted him. "And I can understand."

It made me angry still that the slayers were a mystery kept from me by my boyfriend and vampire friend. How could they possibly think that keeping me ignorant about who the slayers were would truly help me? I hated being kept in the dark especially if it involved me. I was really angry and it only increased when my cell phone vibrated in my back pocket.

It was Sakura.

Masking my anger I answered the phone call. "What's up, Sakura?"

"Finally!" she breathed. Her voice was shaky and I could tell right away that she had been crying. "I've been trying to get a hold of you. Where have you been?"

"I got lost in Sunagakure and Gaara found me. I'm at his house."

"Good, good." I then heard her call out to the rest of the crew telling them where I was and that I was okay. "Sasuke, Deidara, and Naruto went searching for you once the sun began to set but they couldn't find you. Ino and I tried calling your phone but it went straight to voice mail." She began to sob again and she gasped between some of her words. "We were so worried about you!"

"I'm fine now so don't… don't cry, Sakura," I told her. I always softened when I heard Sakura cry. It was rare for her to cry and she only did for a good reason. I guess my disappearance was a good enough reason.

"S-Sasuke is coming to get you…" I heard her sniffle and try to compose herself. "Just tell us the directions to get to Gaara's house and he'll be there soon."

I looked up at Gaara. His eyes were once again filled with sadness and loneliness. My phone was cheap so the words on the other line were often heard by the people around me. Once he heard Sakura say that Sasuke was coming he went back into that mode. The mode that told him to toughen up because he was going to have to spend another night alone even though it was obvious to see that he was deeply wounded by the pain loneliness afflicted upon him. I couldn't leave him. Not even if Gaara begged me to. He still needed me here with him.

"Sakura," I said, still looking at the Kazekage. "I'll come back tomorrow. I'm staying here with Gaara. Goodnight."

I heard Sakura argue with me but I hung up the phone before she got to finish. They were all going to be mad at me, but I didn't care. Not right now anyway. We had thirteen more days to spend time together. And losing one day with me won't hurt anyone. This will probably be the only time Gaara will get any company from anyone outside of the employees hired to protect him.

"Are you sure you wanted to do that?" Gaara asked.

"Yeah," I responded. "Got any guest rooms? And a change of clothes? My sticky skin is really annoying me and I really stink."

He smiled at me. "You don't stink, Hinata. Your perspiration actually smells floral."

"Unbelievable," I laughed humorlessly. Yet another trait I got from my mother. If I find any more I'll basically become her, and that'll be a terrible thing for me to have to endure. I've always wanted to be like my mother. She was the epitome of perfection, compassion, grace, and beauty. I always wanted nothing more as a child. Now that's the last thing I wanted. It already pains me to see my face in the mirror and to hear my own voice. The last thing I need is to smell like her or to become more like her through my personality. I used to be very timid. Now I've become bolder, unafraid to show my compassion for others, and always willed to sacrifice what I needed for what others wanted. This was just cruel.

Gaara and I took our time preparing to go our separate ways when we walked together to his room on the eastern side of the house. Gaara was uncertain about letting me sleep in the same bed as him when I asked, but after giving it more thought he agreed to my request. Delighted, I entered the room without him as the Kazekage took off down the hall to go fetch something from his sister's room.

Gaara's room was pretty and I definitely liked this room more than the suite at the Shodai Kazekage. It was much bigger and the en suite was bigger too. The first thing I did was go into the shower because I felt as though I couldn't admire how attractive Gaara's room was without feeling clean. While I was in the bathroom I heard Gaara enter the bedroom. He called to me and told me that he put clean clothes on the bed for me as well as pajamas. Not too long after Gaara reentered the room I returned to the bedroom from the bathroom wearing just a towel. My friend's face turned so red that I thought he was going to pass out. Had I known that Gaara wasn't used to seeing girls half naked I wouldn't have walked out into the bedroom. He sure seemed used to girls looking at him while he was half naked when I first met him.

Being the gentleman that the Kazekage is, Gaara kept his back to me as I dressed myself in the pajamas that he prepared for me. The entire time that I was dressing though, Gaara's face was still red. It was adorable and for the second time tonight my friend actually showed me his vulnerable side. It only escalated when we laid down together on his queen sized bed. Although his face was no longer red, it was now a pinkish color and his emerald eyes refused to look at me.

I fell asleep almost immediately when my head hit the plush pillow. I hadn't realized how tired I was until I laid down. My day was exhausting. I got lost, I found out about Gaara's childhood, discovered what kind of creature Gaara was, found out about the slayers, I learned a part of the origin of the slayers, and I also learned what the slayers were made out of. I was grateful that Gaara told me more about the slayers, but I had the feeling that there was more to them. I wanted to ask him now that we were lying down together but Gaara would've told me everything I wanted to know in his office and more. I think what he told me was all he knew. Sasuke and Deidara know about them. Deidara has even killed a few of them. Now that I know what they are maybe they'll tell me.

I woke up the next morning feeling much better. I expected to see my friend lying next to me still, but he was gone and his side of the bed was cold. Without giving it too much thought I got dressed in the clothes Gaara prepared for me: a white T-shirt with swirling designs on it and khaki long shorts. After I got dressed I met one of the Kazekage's guards. He escorted me down to the dining hall for breakfast. Gaara couldn't join me this morning because he unfortunately had work to catch up on and I instantly expected that's where he went so early in the morning. Right after I finished eating the guard walked me back to the hotel. I was amazed at how far away I was from it. Gaara's house was at the center of Sunagakure. The Shodai Kazekage was about five miles south west from Gaara's house. I felt embarrassed at how poor my sense of direction was.

I thanked the guard when we reached the hotel. He left immediately and I entered the building. Sakura and Ino were nowhere to be found but the rest of the crew was sitting in the lobby. They looked angry which angered me. I should be able to hang out with whoever I wanted. I didn't need their permission to be with a friend. Maybe I could understand Sasuke being mad that I spent the night over at another boy's house, but he wasn't mad about that. Me sleeping at another boy's house was probably the last thing on his mind. They were all upset that their "territory" disobeyed them by going near the person that they were trying to keep me away from.

When I approached them they all stood up from the chairs they were sitting on to meet me. The man at the front desk wasn't there and I figured that one of them must've convinced him to leave so they could talk to me. My friends towered over me but I refused to be intimidated. I bet that I was angrier than the three of them combined so I spoke before any of them could scold me.

"So you're mad at me for disobeying you," I said that as I crossed my arms over my chest. "I think that you have no right to be. None of you do. You know how many secrets you kept from me? Well, I got some answers because you refused to tell me." I said this to all of them but I was looking at Sasuke as I spoke. "Gaara told me why you were all glaring at him at the airport. He said that it was a territorial thing. He also told me what a slayer is."

Sasuke and Deidara's eyes widened. Naruto looked confused so I told him what a slayer was. His eyes widened too. I even told him that they were out to kill me because I knew too much. Once I told Naruto that he backed away from our vampire friends to join me. I guess he agreed with me on this one.

"We were trying to protect you," Sasuke said to me and then he shot Naruto a quick glare for changing sides.

"How?" I asked, patience was wearing thin. "How could that possibly be protecting me?"

"We figured that if you knew what they were they'd kill you immediately," Deidara added. "We didn't want to risk you knowing too much."

"Why didn't you bother to tell me that? Why didn't you at least tell me that you didn't want me knowing too much?" My eyes went from Deidara to Sasuke. "Keeping secrets is part of the problem between us. It shows me that you don't trust me!" My boyfriend opened his mouth to say more but I stopped him. "I can't deal with you right now, neither of you. If you expect me to bow down and obey you with acquiesce then you're both mistaken. I need to know these things. I don't need to know as much as you do, but I need to know enough. If you both can't do that then…" I swallowed hard and held back my tears. "I can't be with you anymore."

"Hinata," Sasuke called, but I left out of the hotel before he got to say more. Naruto shot the vampires a glare before he followed me out of the building.

I was walking fast, trying to hold back tears. I had no idea where I was going and I didn't really care right now. I just wanted to get as far away from the Shodai Kazekage as possible. I was angry, confused, and sad all at the same time. Thinking of Sasuke and Deidara made me so upset.

"Hinata," Naruto grabbed me by the arm. "You need to calm down. They might've taken how to handle this situation the wrong way, but they really didn't mean to hurt you. You know that." Naruto leaned down to look me in the eyes. His ocean blue orbs temporarily pulled me out of my angered state. "Why don't we go to the beach to get your mind off of this? Sakura and Ino went there not too long ago and I bet hanging out with them will calm you down. Want to go?"

I bit my lip and sucked in air before I answered. "Yeah," I mumbled, "let's go."

Gaara mentioned that Sunagakure had a lot of beaches. There were about six beaches total here and they all sat on the eastern side of the country. Naruto used his nose to locate my friends and we got to the beach they were at within fifteen minutes. It wasn't hard to spot them. They were standing by the ocean in their swimsuits checking out boys. I also noticed that they had already gotten tans while I was still porcelain. Even Naruto got a tan.

Naruto and I went up to my friends who gave me a hug as soon as they saw me.

"Gaara gave you clothes huh?" Ino asked, looking me up and down with a grin on her face. "What were you two doing? Did he finally pop your cherry?"

My face became so hot that I thought I was going to pass out. I never told them that I wasn't a virgin and comments like that shouldn't bother me anymore because I wasn't a virgin anymore, but it was uncalled for and it threw me off guard. What's more embarrassing is that Naruto was here to hear her nasty comment. His face was a little reddened and he stared off elsewhere pretending that he didn't hear what Ino just said.

"N-No!" I said.

"Hmm, you should've," Ino told me. "Sleeping with the Kazekage, especially a boy as cute as Gaara, happens once in a lifetime. If I were you I would've fu-"

"Stop it, Ino," Sakura scolded. "We're glad that you're okay, Hinata. All of us were so worried about you."

"I'm fine," I said with a small smile. "Gaara took care of me."

"I bet he did," Ino said, face full of pride.

"I didn't have sex with Gaara. Even saying those words feel weird coming out of my mouth."

"You really should have," Ino persisted. "But I guess that's something I can educate you for another day. Right now we're watching a beauty that looks absolutely sexy lifting those heavy boards of wood."

Ino pointed to a boy wearing swimming trunks near a shack that had wooden boards lined up against the small building. The boy was loading the boards into a wheelbarrow and every time he picked up a board we saw the fine definition of his muscles in his arms and back.

I wasn't checking him out or anything. I was observing him. He looked familiar. After examining him for a few seconds it clicked when I realized who he was. I left my friends to approach the boy. As I was walking towards the boy I heard Ino tell Sakura and Naruto "She's on a mission." I ignored her and tapped the boy on the shoulder. When he whipped his head around to see who grabbed his attention, the long hair he had pulled up in a ponytail fell gracefully over his shoulder. He smiled kindly, showing all of his teeth.

"Hi, Hinata," he greeted.

"Hello Moya."

Moya wiped his sweating forehead with his hand and brushed back the strands of hair that were in his face. "I didn't think I'd see you again so soon. How are you?"

"I'm great," I lied. I then pointed to the wood that Moya was collecting. "What are you doing?"

"Oh this? I'm gathering wood for my parents. We're having a family gathering tomorrow night and I've been sent out to gather things for them to prepare for tomorrow."

"Do you need any help?"

"No thanks." Neji loaded the last wooden board in the wheelbarrow. "But you know what you could do for me that I would really appreciate?"

"Name it."

"You can go out with me tonight to dinner." My eyebrows rose in surprise. We just met and he's asking me out on a date? "It's not what you think," Moya added quickly when he realized what I assumed. "I'd like to get to know more about you. There's something about you that I can't shake. I know it's weird, but I feel comfortable around you, Hinata. Almost as if I've known you for years. You're kind of like the little sister that I've always wanted."

I let out a brief laugh. "Well, I guess that we can go out." I revealed the smile that had wanted to show itself to Moya as soon as I recognized him. "I feel comfortable around you too, Moya. What should I wear tonight?"

His beautiful smile widened. "Nothing fancy. You can wear what you're wearing now. Tell me where you're staying and I'll come pick you up."

"I'm staying at the Shodai Kazekage hotel."

"I'll come get you at seven okay?" Moya grabbed the handles of the wheelbarrow and prepared to leave. "Be ready before I get there, Hinata."

"Alright."

I watched Moya leave the beach with the wood. When he was out of sight Ino came out of nowhere and wrapped her arms around my waist from behind. Her chin rested on my shoulder and her mouth formed into a smile. She hugged me tighter before she said, "I can't believe my innocent Hinata is exploring the variety of boys."

"It's not like that!" I told her, my face becoming hot once again.

"Oh come on! Sexy Sasuke, dangerous Deidara, gorgeous Gaara, and now the beautiful beach boy. Who's next? Nifty Naruto?" She turned her head slightly to look at me. "You even got yourself a date with the beach boy. You cannot tell me that you have no skills in dalliance and charm."

"I give up," I sighed. "Let's just have fun in the water, Ino."

"Sure, sure." She released me. "I can't wait to tell Sakura and Naruto about this."

I didn't bring a bathing suit along with me to the beach so I had to go into a store that was at the beach. Lucky me they sold swimsuits, so while I was putting on the swimsuit Ino was telling Sakura and Naruto all about what Moya and I were discussing. I was just hoping that she wasn't twisting the story. Ino has the habit of only hearing things that she wants to hear and telling people things that only she wants to tell.

When I left the store I tried my best to ignore Naruto checking me out. The store ran out of one-piece swimsuits so I had to get a two-piece bikini. It was white with lilac colored tropical flowers all over the breast area and the bottom area. I kept my hair up in a ponytail to try my best to not sweat too much. Unfortunately when I pulled my hair up that left more room for Naruto to stare me down like I was a piece of meat. Other men on the beach looked at me too and I tried even harder to mask my discomfort. Naruto seemed to notice the other men staring at me and he never left my side because of it. He let them know that he was the only male here that could look at me. I never let Naruto know how much I disliked that he watched over me and at me, but I'd rather have Naruto check me out than the strangers. If I told Naruto to back off no doubt that the other predators would approach me so I just let it go.

The four of us spent the morning and the afternoon at the beach. We swam in the ocean, had water balloon fights, ate ice cream, reminisced about middle school, and built sand castles. Naruto was terrible at building sand castles. Every time he tried to construct one it fell apart. Sakura, Ino, and I couldn't help but to laugh at him for his many failures. Because we laughed at him Naruto decided to surprise attack us with the water balloon fight. We fought for at least two hours and Naruto won, obviously. After the fight we all sat down on the sand with ice cream cones and reminisced about middle school.

All of us had been in the same classes all throughout middle school. Middle school was also where I met Ino. She was innocent back then and looked down on the sluts. Ever since the sixth grade Ino always said that she'd save herself for marriage, but that never worked out. In ninth grade, our freshmen year at high school, Ino told me and Sakura that she lost her virginity. After that she told me and Sakura about her sexual escapades weekly for a year.

Naruto was the class clown in middle school. He, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shikamaru Nara would get kicked out of class often because of their inappropriate behavior. They threw spit balls, tossed paper around, passed notes, slept in class, insulted the teachers, and never did their homework. It was fun to watch but I knew the reason behind Naruto's behavior. His parents died not too long before Naruto entered middle school. It was all a desperate act for attention.

The four of us sat in the sand until the sun began to set. Naruto led us all back to the hotel. As soon as I got through the door I went to the bathroom in my suite to shower. I brushed past Sasuke to enter the room. Once I was in the shower I scrubbed all of the dirt and sweat off of my body and washed my hair thoroughly. Ino blew my hair dry while Sakura picked out a new outfit for me to wear. I was going to wear the outfit Gaara let me borrow but it got stained with my sweat. I had to wash it.

"Pick out something sexy, Sakura," Ino called over the loud hairdryer.

"It's not a romantic date, Ino," Sakura called back as she dug through my suitcase, examining every piece of clothing she came across.

"It could be," she mumbled.

Sakura pulled out the blue shirt that she bought me for Christmas and white jeans from the bag. The shirt fit my body like a glove and showed off my curves way too well, which was why I hardly wore it. Ino wanted me to wear something sexy. That shirt was the sexiest that she was going to get.

"Turn around and hold still," Ino told me. I faced her on the floor. My blonde friend picked up the pair of scissors beside her on the bed. She trimmed my overgrown bangs and removed the hair that fell from them on my face. "Now you're done. Hurry up and get ready."

"Thanks you guys," I said, immediately removing my clothes and putting on the ones Sakura picked out for me.

"Have fun," my friends told me when I finished dressing.

It was close to seven and I had to wait in the lobby. When I got to the lobby however, Sasuke was there. It was just me and him. The man at the front desk was nowhere to be found. Again.

"It's not a date," I told him. I knew this was the reason he decided to meet me here. "I met this guy yesterday and he wants to be my friend. That's all."

"You're not going to start dating him, are you?" Sasuke asked. He abandoned the chair to come to me. I felt myself step back which made him stop coming closer to me. Stepping away from Sasuke hurt him. The hurt flickered in his dark eyes as he looked down at me, but he quickly made the decision to approach me anyway. Sasuke took me into his arms and our bodies pressed hard against one another. "I love you so much, Hinata," he whispered, "I'm so sorry. I really am. Please don't leave me."

"Sasuke," I began. I didn't hug him back. I refused to. "I need to think about our relationship and I think you should, too." I somehow was able to place my hands on his chest to push him away but Sasuke didn't budge. He wouldn't let me go. "Before we try to fix things again we need to think things over. I can't stay with you if things aren't going to change."

"And they will!" he said against me. "I promise you that things will change. I'll tell you anything that you want to know. I promise. I was trying to protect you. I didn't mean to make you stop trusting me."

"But you did," I countered. My voice sounded so sharp and harsh that it not only startled Sasuke, making him pull away from me, I also startled myself. Maybe the pain of being kept in the dark about so many secrets ran deeper than I realized. "I stopped trusting you, Sasuke. And because I stopped trusting you I need to assess things. I need to think. I need to think about us." I removed Sasuke's hands from my shoulders. The next words that I said made my heart ache. "I think we should breakup."

Sasuke's eyes widened in disbelief. He moved a few paces backward and never removed his eyes from mine. I felt another surge of heartache within me when I saw how much pain I caused him, but I didn't let him see just how much it hurt me, too. I even did my best to mask the pain within my heart from his psychic powers.

"You're… You're serious…" Sasuke didn't say that as a question but I nodded my head anyway. "No. You can't be serious… You can't leave me… Hinata, I love you."

"And I love you, too!" I assured him. "But it's because I love you that we need to stop seeing each other. If we hope to possibly save our relationship, then we need to stop seeing each other. We aren't going to fix this if I can't trust you. You know that, Sasuke."

He stayed silent. Sasuke wanted to say more. He wanted to convince me to stay with him but there wasn't anything that came to mind. He was hurt and in shock, but those emotions went away instantly when we heard a car pull up. Sasuke's face twisted in anger and disgust.

"So you're going out with one of those," he said.

"Yeah," I responded coolly, "I'm going out with a human."

Sasuke didn't say anything else. He just stalked down the hallway with his hands stuffed in his pockets and returned to his room. As soon as Sasuke entered his suite Moya Minami came into the lobby instantly lightening the mood. His bright smile certainly made me feel much better, but the pain was still there.

"What's wrong?" Moya asked. "You look a little down."

He noticed? Not even Sasuke saw through my faux attitude and he knew me longer, had psychic powers, and is a vampire. Moya must be really observant to see through my façade right away. He hardly even knows me. "Nothing serious," I lied.

"Right," he said, clearly not believing me. "I'll cheer you up. Let's go have fun."

We stepped out of the Shodai Kazekage and I stopped as soon as I saw Moya's car. It was a beautiful, silver Ferrari 458 Spider. The paint shimmered in the setting sun and the orange and yellow lights casted their hues upon the car making it look even more badass. Moya had the hood down revealing the car's interior to the world. Black seats, black dashboard, and black wheel.

"This car definitely suits you," I said to Moya who was already moving towards his car.

"You like it? This was my sixteenth birthday present." Moya opened the car door to the passenger's side. "Come on."

I eagerly sat down in the car. Moya closed the door to my side of the car and took his place behind the wheel. He turned the key in the ignition and I think I was in heaven. The V8 engine purred like a kitten. It sounded like music to me and I couldn't stop smiling when I heard it start up.

"Looks like we share the same interest in cars," Moya said as he drove off.

"Yeah I guess so."

The desert air felt unexpectedly good blowing through my hair and on my face. It caressed my skin gently with its hot air and it tossed my hair around wildly. Even though the wind in my hair felt good, my long locks constantly blowing in my face got annoying after a while and I ended up tying it up. I guess Moya must have learned his lesson about letting his hair free while driving because his hair was also pulled up when it was originally down when he came to get me.

We got to the restaurant in no time at all. I wanted to drive a little longer but I don't think the ride would've been as pleasant with an empty stomach. On the bright side the restaurant was beautiful. It may not have been a fancy high-class restaurant but it could have passed for one. The outside was made out of grayish blue bricks instead of sand like the others surrounding it. The lights on the inside shined so bright that the yellowish colored tint of them poured outside and onto the ground, cars, and on passersby. The walls on the inside of the restaurant were an off-white color as well as the table cloths at each table. Long rows were filled with seating areas that many people were dining at, and chandeliers were hanging above almost all of them. It took at least ten minutes for Moya and me to be seated because of how busy the restaurant was today.

The waitress asked us what we wanted to drink and to both Moya's and my surprise we ordered the same drink, a Pepsi. Once the waitress left the table Moya immediately began talking.

"Are you sure you're okay, Hinata?"

"Yeah I'm fine."

It was a lie that Moya saw right through. Moya narrowed his pale eyes and fixed them on mine. "Just tell me what happened. It's just going to weigh on your mind."

I bit my lip and reluctantly stared at my friend who was waiting patiently for me to answer. He was right again. Am I that easy to read or is Moya just that perceptive? It didn't freak me out but it was quite odd.

Seeming as there was no way out of this one I answered him. "I, um, broke up with my boyfriend not too long before you came to pick me up." And there it was. The temporarily forgotten pain returned again with the memory. My heart was aching again and this time I felt the familiar lump appear in my throat whenever I was going to cry. How come it hurt to be reminded of the break up more than actually experiencing it? This was my first break up but I'm pretty sure it hurt less to think about their break ups with most people.

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Moya told me sympathetically as he rested his elbows on the table and rested his chin on top of his folded hands. "What happened?"

"Just… I, um, stopped trusting him. He kept too many things from me that I needed to know."

"I really am sorry to hear that. Do you think you'll be able to fix your relationship with him?"

"That's the thing; I don't think I want to. He's really upset about it and I still love him but I don't think there's any turning back now."

Moya dropped his hands from his chin. "Well, you'll find someone better."

The waitress returned with our drinks, pulled out a notepad, and asked us what we wanted to eat. Once we told her what we wanted she jotted it down and then she walked away. I changed the subject as soon as the waitress was out of sight. Moya noticed me on the verge of tears so I had to stop the discussion on Sasuke's and my breakup. Not only that, I didn't want to cry in public.

"So, um, what's your family like?" I asked, taking a sip of my Pepsi and trying my best to hold back my tears.

A genuine smile formed on Moya's face. "My family's great. They're so kind and compassionate. They always cater to others before they take care of themselves. My mother, Hitomi, taught me a lot about common sense and willpower. And my father, Hisao, taught me everything he knows like combat skills, following my instinct, and making the right choices." He looked at me. "You should meet them. You'll love them."

I returned the smile. "They sound kind enough. Don't you have any siblings, Moya?"

"No but I wish that I did. My cousins are the closest thing I'll get to siblings." Moya kept his eyes on me. "And I guess that you are, too. I don't mean to freak you out because we just met about two days ago. But I can't help but to feel so comfortable around you."

"Strange enough as it is, I feel the same way."

Moya bit his bottom lip and he appeared to be thinking of something. After a short pause he asked, "Hinata, do you want to meet my family? You're more than welcome to come to the gathering tomorrow."

I hadn't expected him to ask me to meet his family but I smiled anyway and said, "Oh, um, okay. I look forward to it."

Moya removed his arms from the table when he saw the waitress approaching us with our food. "Good. I can't wait to introduce you to everyone."

As we ate our food we talked about more about Sunagakure. I also told Moya about Konohagakure and he seemed interested in it. Moya travels a lot. He's been to all of the great nations, except for Konohagakure, and he's been to some of the minor nations like Amegakure, Hoshigakure, Ishigakure, and Kusagakure. Moya said that he enjoyed travelling but it'd be more enjoyable if he wasn't brought along to help his parents with their job. Moya never named his parents' occupation but he did say that it was a family business that he was expected to take over should something happen to Hisao and Hitomi.

Whenever Moya spoke of his parents he always praised them highly. He clearly admired them and I sensed that he aspired to be like them even though going on the business trips weren't his favorite thing to do. It was actually quite adorable to see and hear how much Moya admired them.

Moya and I finished dinner about an hour later. Moya paid for the meal and drove me home. Just like the first time I got in the car, I loved the feel of the wind and how smoothly the car drove on the roads. It was disappointing when we got back to the Shodai Kazekage too soon for my satisfaction. My friend gave me his cell phone number before I went inside the hotel and he told me that he'll call me around noon when he's coming to get me.

I left my friend's Ferrari and entered the hotel. I was expecting to be met by Sasuke as soon as I came through the door again, but relief struck me when I saw the man at the front desk. No one was here to talk to me like all of the other times I walked through the door. So, sighing heavily, I went down the hall to go to my suite. I twisted the key in the door and tossed my bag on the floor after turning on the light switch. I planned on lying down on my bed after spending what seemed like a long day, but my plan was ruined.

I quickly closed the door, in fear that the desk clerk would find out that a boy was in my suite, and I stood in front of the door with my arms folded over my chest as I tried to calm my rapidly beating heart. I still haven't gotten over that I possibly might be in love with him and being alone in a room with him didn't help me much.

Deidara rose from my bed wearing the most serious expression that I've ever seen him make and he said to me, "We need to talk."