I Want Your Blood: Remake

by SmexxiAnime115

After Hinata Hyuga's family died in a tragic car crash seven years ago, she learned to take care of herself over the years. All was going well for her, she made friends that became close enough for her to call family and even discovered love. Yes, all was going well for her, until a strange voice beckoned her to an abandoned church and changed her life forever.

13. Invitation to the Sand Part 5

I had a dream last night about Sasuke and Kana. After Sasuke told me about their unrequited romance I couldn't get them out of my mind and I fell asleep that night dreaming about them. In my dream, it was nightfall and I saw how Kana's eyes glowed in the dark. It looked very unnatural, but beautiful. Deidara's and Sasuke's eyes never glowed in the dark, so it made me wonder just how special Kana really was. I got a different presence from her than from Deidara and Sasuke. She felt very powerful. It made me wonder if she died for a reason…

The two lovers gazed into each other's eyes under the moon while standing in a meadow full of flowers that I never seen before and the flowers also glowed in the moonlight just like Kana's unusual eyes. They took each other's hand and Kana whispered something into Sasuke's ear. He furrowed his eyebrows at her words, but I couldn't hear what she said. Then Kana released his hand, backing away in the process, as Sasuke reached for her, but he was never able to reach her. The mysterious vampire faded into the darkness and left Sasuke standing there alone, crying. I felt his pain, his loneliness. I felt how grief-stricken he was. I felt how much he loved her… How much he couldn't live without her… How much he missed her and how much he blamed himself for her death. I felt his world crashing down around him as he watched the person that he loved most disappear into the darkness and didn't return after he promised to protect her. I wanted to go to him to comfort him, but I couldn't… I also could not help but wonder: Is this how Sasuke truly felt? Is he still feeling this much pain? Is it still this hard to walk the earth without thinking about her?

It hurt me to watch him break down to his knees as his beloved disappeared. This pain felt unbearable. It felt like my heart was ripping in two. I couldn't breathe, think, or see a future. Is this truly how Sasuke felt? I just could not fathom how he could possibly live all of these years feeling like this. It almost made me want to-

"Hinata!" Ino called, causing my heart to stop and then skip several beats as my eyes widened and a scream was threatening to escape from my mouth. She was straddling me and she was two inches away from my face staring angrily at me. "I've been calling you forever. Come on, let's go!"

"W-Where?" I asked, rubbing my eyes. My heart was beating so fast that it hurt. "What time is it?"

Ino completely ignored my question for what time it was and said, "To the café. We came here on vacation and Sakura and I hardly spent time with you." I opened my mouth to say something but Ino put a finger on my mouth before I could get any words out. "No excuses. Sakura's in the lobby waiting for us. Now let's move before I dress you myself."

Ino got off of me and let me get ready as she went out to go meet Sakura in the lobby. It didn't take me long to meet them because I just put on long shorts and a tank top after quickly brushing my teeth. Ino, however, complained and told me to put on a swimsuit underneath my clothes since we're going to the beach after breakfast. Sighing, I went back to put on a swimsuit under my clothing.

We left the Shodai Kazekage immediately after I changed and we went to a breakfast café not too far from the hotel called the Akasuna Café. The people there stared at me constantly. I think it was because of my skin. Sakura and Ino were tanned and I was not. I was still porcelain. The people didn't give me dirty stares. They were more curious than anything. I stood out and looked like a ghost compared to everyone else.

The three of us sat down at a table by the window, and not too long after we sat a cute waiter came over to take our orders. He had red shaggy hair, brown eyes, and long eyelashes. He was also fair-skinned, which indicated to me that he doesn't spend much time out in the sun.

"Hello ladies. My name is Sasori. What would you like to drink?" he asked.

He applied the question to all of us but stared at Ino to get what she wanted first. Ino was too busy checking out our waiter to notice that he was waiting on her. So Sakura answered for her and herself. "My friend will have a Cherry Coke and I will have lemonade."

Sasori jotted it down swiftly and then turned to me. Since there were no Pepsi products here, I said, "A Coke, please."

He jotted it down and said to all of us, "I will be back soon. Please look over your menus while I am gone."

Sasori turned away to return to the kitchen. Ino never took her eyes off of his butt, leaving Sakura and me shaking our heads and sighing.

Never taking her eyes off of the waiter, Ino leaned in closer to Sakura and me and asked, "Do you think he has a girlfriend?"

"No idea, Ino," Sakura answered. "But has that stopped you before?"

"Right you are, Sakura my friend. I'll get his number when he comes back."

"That's not what I-"

"Just let it go, Sakura. There's no stopping her, now," I said.

Moments later, our waiter returned with our drinks sitting on a tray. He sat them down in front of us and pulled out his notepad to take our food order. Ino still wasn't responding to Sasori, so Sakura had to pick out Ino's food for her.

"Um, I'll have omuraisu and my friend will have okonomiyaki." Sakura spoke as she pointed to each of the items on the menu.

Sasori wrote it down and looked at me. I told him, "Can I have dorayaki?"

He smiled at me and then at my friends. "I will be right back."

As soon as he was out of sight Sakura said, "I'm surprised that you didn't ask for his number, Ino."

"Just wait, Sakura. Just wait."

Sakura and I exchanged glances as Ino stared dreamily towards the direction that Sasori went in. Ino doesn't usually stare dreamily at her prey like that, nor ask us if we thought that any boy that she was after had a girlfriend. Does Ino actually like Sasori? If so, this might actually be good. No more boy-hunting.

Sasori came back to us carrying two plates while a man next to him was carrying one. This new man had a husky build, silver hair that was gelled back, and a mean look in his eyes. To me, he looked like the type to curse. A lot.

The men sat the plates on the table and Sasori smiled at us while the other man frowned. He clearly didn't want to be here.

"Enjoy," Sasori said. He then gestured to the unpleasant waiter next to him. "This is Hidan. He'll help you if I'm not around."

Hidan noticed Ino's dreamy gaze and stretched an arm around the redhead. "Yeah," Hidan said, directing his statement at Ino. "I'll be happy to help my boyfriend out."

Beside me, I heard Sakura choke on her omuraisu and she reached for her lemonade to suppress the coughing. My eyes widened in surprise. Ino just looked plain annoyed, almost as if Hidan was some type of rival.

"Thanks," Ino told Hidan with a tight smile. "I will definitely call on you."

The couple walked away and Ino began to eat her meal. I leaned over the table to whisper, "You handled that pretty well, Ino."

"That's only because that wasn't the first time that happened to me. I have experienced a variety of rejections. Believe me."

"We believe you," Sakura said through some coughs.

The three of us finished our meal and Ino insisted that we don't leave them a tip. Of course, Sakura had to argue on that because the service was good, as well as the food, and we can't just not tip them because Sasori is gay and couldn't possibly be attracted to Ino. Our blonde friend begged to differ but Sakura tipped Sasori anyway. Pouting, Ino left out of the café before either Sakura or me.

We went to the beach closest to the Akasuna Café and arrived there within twenty minutes. Upon arrival we took off our clothes, revealing our swimsuits. Unfortunately I couldn't find my one-piece bathing suit so I had to wear the bikini that I bought the last time I came to the beach. And just like the last time, boys were staring, making me uncomfortable.

"So," Ino said, facing me. "Before we have fun I have to tell you something."

I raised one of my eyebrows, indicating for her to continue.

"Remember at the Senju when Sakura asked you to leave the room because she wanted to talk to me? Well, I'm going to tell you why." Ino sat down on the ground and let the sand swallow her toes. "Well, my parents got divorced not too long ago."

I sat down beside her, placing a hand on her bare back. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You were hardly around. You were always with Sasuke, Deidara, and Naruto. I wanted to tell you but I felt as though you wouldn't listen, so I told Sakura."

Sakura sat down on the other side of Ino. "And Ino didn't want me to say anything. Sorry Hinata."

I looked towards our blonde friend who opened her mouth to say more. "The reason for the divorce is my mother caught my father in bed with Kiba's mother."

"What?" Sakura and I said in unison.

"Yeah," Ino shrugged. "My mother caught them together."

"No way," I said.

"It happened at the beginning of the school year," Ino said casually as she drew in the sand with her fingers.

"I am so sorry, Ino," I told her sincerely. "If there's anything I can do for you I will."

"Nah," Ino said as she stood from the ground, wiping off sand from her thighs. "I just want to catch up. What's new with you?"

My friends and I shared everything together because we were so close and considered each other family. But I hadn't been sharing any recent news with them since I met Sasuke a little over six months ago. I think my distance from them had something to do with Sasuke's compulsion, but I am still uncertain. I know for sure that the love that I felt for Naruto was destroyed because of Sasuke's compulsion, but I'd like to know if my friendship was also planned to be destroyed due to his selfishness. If so, it almost worked.

Another thing that the compulsion tricked me into doing was losing my virginity to Sasuke. I thought that I was in love with him. But I wasn't. I regretted ever losing myself to him but after hearing his history with Kana I couldn't help but to forgive him. Unfortunately, even though Sasuke tricked me and terminated my chances of ever falling in love with Naruto ever again (and possibly ruining my friendship with Sakura and Ino), I couldn't be mad at him, I couldn't hate him. In a sense I kind of understand how he feels and why he did it…

I stared up at Ino and drew a deep breath to tell my friends what I had been wanting to for a long time. "I lost my virginity four months ago to Sasuke."

Both of their mouths were hanging open but Ino's soon curved into a smile. She sat beside me again, threw an arm around my shoulder, and laughed. "That's my girl, taking a big step towards womanhood by breaking out of her shell! I couldn't be happier for you," she sniffled. Ino then whipped her head towards Sakura, whose mouth was still hanging open, and said; "Now we just need you to get laid."

Sakura sucked in air and gave Ino a hard look. "Whatever. And stop encouraging Hinata that it's okay to have sex."

"You're just mad because you don't have any charm."

"T-That's not true!" Sakura shot up from the ground. "I have plenty of charm!"

"Enough charm to get that boy to notice you?" Ino challenged.

"What boy?" I asked. "Do you like someone, Sakura?"

My tanned friend's face turned just as pink as her hair. "M-Maybe… But Ino's right. He hasn't noticed me."

"Do we know him? What's his name?" I asked.

"Yeah, you both know him. It's Shikamaru Nara, Naruto's friend."

"No way!" Ino removed her arm from me to cover her mouth. "Shikamaru of all people, really?"

"Yeah," Sakura said, sitting down again. Her face then returned to its normal, tanned color. "But since we shared everything that we wanted to, let's go have fun. It's what we came here for."

I was about to stand up when I remembered that I needed to tell them something. I needed to tell them about Neji. It still troubled me to even think about him at times, but I needed to tell them. Whenever I thought about him my heart ached and the all too familiar lump appeared in my throat. I might cry if I talked about him but I might as well get it over with now than later, right?

"Guys," I said, interrupting their brief conversation with the unexpected shakiness of my voice. "I need to tell you one more thing."

My best friends fixed me with worried stares.

"Remember the boy at the beach a couple of days ago with the long, dark brown hair?" They nodded and I continued. "I found out yesterday that he's Neji, my cousin."

Their eyes widened.

"H-How?" Ino asked, voice shaking almost as much as mine. "Didn't he… die?"

"The doctors said that his body was incinerated by the flames expelling from the car. How can he possibly be alive, let alone walking around without any permanent scars?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know," I lied. I wanted to tell them how he survived but I couldn't tell them that my cousin was a slayer, a being forged by gypsies with magic almost a thousand years ago intentionally created to kill vampires. But I could tell them about his "family" and his amnesia. Taking another breath to try to stop the tears that were readying to spill out of my eyes, I continued. "Neji has amnesia and his new family calls him Moya. When I tried to tell Neji that he was my cousin he didn't want to hear it and told me to leave."

"That's terrible," was all Sakura said. I believe that she would've said more but the news of Neji's existence was incredibly shocking for her.

Ino, however, was still in touch with reality enough to say, "He didn't have to act like an ass about it. I hear that a good whack on the head could trigger one's memory. Want to try it?"

"No," I said, suppressing the urge to laugh. "But I do want to take him back to Konohagakure with us. I have a feeling that the familiar surroundings will jog his memory somehow. But he doesn't want to come. He says that Sunagakure is his home and that this is where he belongs."

"Bullshit!" Ino said, standing up. "He's coming with us even if we have to drag him by his gorgeous, long hair."

"I agree with Ino," Sakura said, standing up along with her. "This isn't where he belongs and I bet the reason he didn't want to hear the truth is because he knows somewhere deep in his heart that you're right, Hinata."

I stood up, too. "I sure hope so. The only problem is getting him to go home with us. Neji truly believes that he belongs here."

Ino cracked her knuckles. "A good whack on the head is all we need."

"Don't resort to violence," Sakura scolded. "That's the last thing we need in this situation."

"But wouldn't it make more sense if we-"

"Ladies, how's it going?" called a boy's voice that was drawing closer and closer with each word.

The three of us whipped our heads around in the direction from which the voice came only to be met by three boys quickly approaching us. I went to move more towards Ino, but the man who spoke wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me closer to his bulky body. His smile was so creepy that I shuddered in his arms.

The other two moved towards my friends, who refused to let the scrawny boys touch them with glares and ready fists.

"How about you girls let us men show you a good time?" said the teenager holding onto me. "We've never been with foreign girls before."

Ino released a humorless laugh. "Are you kidding me? I am the predator, not the prey. We aren't going anywhere with you."

As Ino spoke, I tried to get out of the boy's hold, but he pulled me back every time I moved. After a few attempts, my captor glared at me, making me shudder. I would have stayed still just to somehow get out of his hold without him hurting me, but then my captor began caressing my skin with the hand he was using to hold me against him. I shuddered and this time my friends noticed.

"Let her go, you freak," Sakura said.

"If I did, would you take her place?" the boy asked this as he breathed hot air into my ear. Disgusting.

Sakura stepped forward without hesitation and opened her mouth, but I stopped her by saying "No! I'd rather it be me than you, Sakura."

Sakura came to an abrupt stop. She then bit her bottom lip and furrowed her brows.

"So we got a tough one here," the boy breathed huskily into my ear. He then put both of his hands on my body, holding onto me with a vice grip, making me wince from the pain increasing around my waist as he held on tighter. "I would love to see that tough façade you're disguising yourself with break right in front your friends."

The two scrawny boys restrained Sakura and Ino as their leader restrained my hands behind my back with one hand way too easily for my liking. When his other hand tugged at my bikini bottoms I began to freak out and tried to escape. Was he really going to rape me right here? In front of all of these people? And in front of my friends and his? I couldn't let this happen, so I began kicking him as hard as I could. It hurt me more than it hurt him, but I continued to do it. That is, until he got annoyed enough to ball his fist in my hair and pulled on it hard. And when I say hard, I mean really hard. I thought that he was going to rip my hair out. It was at that point that I realized that there was nothing that I could do to stop him. I couldn't even hurt him, not in the way that he could me.

I felt my predator through his beach shorts as he pressed himself hard against my stomach. He brought his lips up to my ear again to whisper in a voice that was huskier than earlier to ask "Are you ready?"

The boy proceeded to remove my bikini bottoms but a new voice stopped him. A familiar voice. The voice caused my captor's body to go rigid and he released me, along with his friends releasing mine, and they all took a step back with their hands up in the air as if someone was holding a gun up to them.

I ran to my friends and then faced the boy who commanded them to release us. My whole face lit up when I saw our savior. It was Gaara.

The Kazekage stood in front of the three of us wearing the most casual attire I have ever seen him in. A T-shirt and beach shorts. Other than his clothing that caught my attention, I couldn't stop myself from breathing in his body wash and shampoo. Axe, my worst enemy.

The bulky teenager's friends joined their leader. One of them whispered something in his ear that made him sneer.

"Still walking around outside, freak?" said the leader. "What's it going to take for you to realize that you aren't wanted here?"

Gaara's body stiffened, which angered me immediately. Gaara had a lonely childhood due to the fact that a sand spirit was using his body as a host. The people who merged the spirit with Gaara's body isolated him from the other children because they were afraid of what he could do. In turn, the other kids began calling Gaara names out of ignorance. My guess is that these three bullies standing in front of us are some of the mergers' children.

"Who do you think you are?!" I said to them, forcing them to focus their attention on me. "Who do you think you are calling Gaara a freak?! What makes you so much more special than him, you disgusting-"

Gaara put an arm in front of me, making me realize that I was moving closer to the three boys. I stared up at the Kazekage in question and noticed that he was smiling down at me. He mouth Thank you before he turned back around to the teenagers with a frown.

"I would rather be called a freak than be scum," Gaara said with a very leader-like voice. "Unlike you, I would never try to rape someone, especially in public for men, women, and children to see." The Kazekage gestured to the people staring at the boys with wide eyes filled with disbelief, disgust, and fear. Gaara took that as his chance to say more. "You three are the renown children of three of the most elite members on my council. Everyone knows your names, and now you just tarnished them. What will your parents have to say when the news finally spreads around about you trying to force yourselves on these young, foreign girls?"

The boys looked nervous now as they stared at the eyes of the increasing audience and Gaara's challenging, emerald eyes. So, feeling cornered, the bulky teenager said with an attempt to silence Gaara, "What if this doesn't spread around? What if I take you out before it reaches anyone?"

The Kazekage laughed aloud and then rested an arm around my shoulders. "I know this girl very well. I do not for an instant believe that she and her friends will stay quiet about what just happened here." The boy opened his mouth again but Gaara cut him off. "And out of all of the people here at this beach, there is at least one that will tell about what you three just tried to do to my friends, and that you just threatened the Kazekage, the leader of your country. The penalty for that is death."

This shut them up and they walked away without looking back.

"Is everyone okay?" Gaara asked all of us without removing his arm from my shoulders.

"A little shaken, but we're fine," Sakura said with a smile on her face.

"That was amazing, Gaara!" Ino said. "You shut them up right away. I was worried for a bit when the big one got cocky, but you pulled through."

"Yes, that was very impressive." Sakura's worried green eyes wandered to mine. I gave her wry smile that I didn't want the Kazekage to notice. But he did.

"Are you still frightened?" he asked me.

I opened my mouth to assure him that I was fine, but Sakura, knowing me better than anyone in the world (minus Neji), spoke before I could. "Yes she is still frightened."

"I think Hinata could use the comfort of a man to relax her," Ino said. She then added with a mischievous smile, "Especially after she and Sasuke broke up."

Gaara's emerald eyes widened as he looked down at me. He felt bad about it, I saw it in his eyes. But a flash of happiness came across his stunning orbs, completely killing any sadness he felt for me. "I agree with Sakura and Ino, Hinata. Let's go talk elsewhere."

I nodded at Gaara but glared at my friends as I began to walk away with the Kazekage. My friends were smiling like they just won a trophy and waved me good bye. I should have told them that I might be in love with Deidara and getting to know the Kazekage better wouldn't help me determine what the hell I'm feeling for the psychopath. But, I guess that seeing where our relationship takes us, I'll be able to find out whether I can move on or not. After all, Deidara is the one who wants to make sure that I don't fall in love with him and what better way to do that than to see someone, right?

The two of us ventured over to a more secluded area of the beach by the ocean. The hot Sunagakure air caressed our skin and played with our hair. My feet played with the sand beneath me as I breathed in the wonderful salty smell of the ocean. I love Sunagakure.

The attention that I was giving the ocean and the sand was interrupted by the golden grains beneath me moving against my feet. I looked down to see the sparkling sand dancing around my feet and ankles only to have it leave me by riding on the wind to dance for me there. I watched, enticed by its shimmering beauty in the sunlight.

The trail of sand then returned to the rest of the millions of grains beneath me. I assumed it to be over, but the next thing that caught my eye was breath taking and unbelievable. A few feet away from Gaara and me, bunches of sand was moving around in circles. Some of the sand was caught by the wind as it spiraled up into the air, creating a mini tornado of sparkling grains. Suddenly, the sand hardened and became still like a statue. I opened my mouth to comment on it, but four curved, spear-like hardened sand shot up from the earth, entombing the mini tornado, and then engulfing it. The sand from the tornado dispersed and the grains of sand were taken by the wind, leaving no evidence of the beautiful phenomenon that took place.

"That was amazing," I said. I looked up at my friend who was standing beside me. "Did you do that?"

He nodded.

"Wow, you're amazing! It was so beautiful. I wish that I could see something like that every day."

Gaara tucked me closer to his body with his arm that was around my shoulders. "I was hoping that you would like it. I don't show too many people what I can do."

"I'm glad that I was able to see it." I looked up at Gaara, hiding the fact that I'd rather be in someone else's arms right now. He felt me staring and looked down at me. "You really are amazing, Gaara. It's a shame that you have to hide the things that you can do. I think that I'm lucky to be able to see it."

His face began to turn pink and he looked back out at the ocean. "No one has ever said that to me before."

I smiled at Gaara and looked out towards the sea. "No one's ever called you amazing?"

Gaara shook his head and then he cleared his throat indicating that he was about to change the subject. "How are you feeling, Hinata?" Gaara asked.

I breathed in the ocean's calming scent one more time before I answered him. "Honestly, I'm still a little shaken up, but I'm feeling a lot better since you came to the rescue. I don't even want to think about what would have happened had you not come, Gaara." By no means was I trying to flirt with him. The words just kind of came out that way.

The Kazekage took his eyes away from the ocean to meet my eyes. I saw his jaw clench and unclench as he balled up his fist with his free hand. "I didn't like the way he was touching you, Hinata. I didn't like him touching you at all. It was so hard for me to compose myself when I confronted them that I thought I was going to lose control at any minute."

Hidden behind the obvious adoration he had for me, there was a look in his eyes that I couldn't identify. It looked familiar though. I'd seen this look dozens of times but for some reason there was something a little different about this one, which was why I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

Gaara gently placed a hand on my cheek and stared deeply into my eyes. He said "Don't let any man touch you like that, Hinata. You deserve to be handled with much more care than that."

I furrowed my brows at him. There was something hidden behind his words that I could not decipher on my own. "What do you mean?"

He drew a breath and pulled me slightly closer to him. It caught me by surprise and my heart skipped a beat. His emerald eyes stared so deeply into mine that I shivered under his gaze. I knew what this look in his eyes meant now. Deidara gave me the same look in the cave after he killed Temari. Did this mean that he was in love with me?

"You were there for me, Hinata," Gaara told me. "When we first met at the Senju you showed me around Konohagakure and were so kind to me. You showed interest in my country even though you had never been there before. You were also the first person I trusted enough to tell about who I really am, what I really am. You didn't call me a freak or a monster. You listened and never judged me. Not even once. You weren't even afraid to sleep in the same bed as me, and you have no idea how hard it was for me to tear away from that bed in the morning only to find out that you had returned to the hotel. I wanted to see you again, to tell you thank you for everything you did for me, and…" His voice trailed off.

"And what, Gaara?" I asked softly. I was afraid that he was going to say the three words that I dreaded to hear.

"And…" he said softly, never tearing his eyes from me. "I think that you are the one for me, Hinata Hyuga."

While it wasn't a confession, it was pretty close to it. He was serious. Dead serious. He was so serious that he didn't even hesitate to lean down to meet my lips. I hesitated to kiss him but I didn't bother to move away. Our feelings for each other were not mutual, but if I kissed him back I just might be able to begin to like him at least a little in the romantic way. And I longed to get over my confusing feelings for Deidara for both his sake and mine and this might actually be the first step to achieve it.

Or so I thought.

"Gaara! Hinata!" Sakura's voice called to us from a few yards away. "Come help Ino and me build a sand castle."

The Kazekage and I broke apart and stared awkwardly at each other. I saw that Gaara's face was turning red and I noticed that my face was engulfed by the familiar intense burning sensation that happens when I'm embarrassed. Sakura ruined our kiss and things between Gaara and me became awkward. Very awkward.

We decided to assist Sakura and Ino with the castle despite feeling embarrassed whenever near or looking at one another. We helped Sakura and Ino construct what was once a mound of sand to a five foot castle. As we were building it, Gaara's and my arm constantly brushed against each other, leaving our faces either pink or beet red because we kept recalling that awkward moment. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't stay away from each other. We were subconsciously moving towards each other and it was working on my nerves. It was really annoying. I would not have minded it any other time, but I hate the burning sensation that my face gets whenever I am embarrassed, and right now I am clearly embarrassed. Not only that, Deidara is still weighing on my mind. What if I'm making a mistake for going out with Gaara just to get over Deidara?

"How cute," Ino cooed.

I looked up at her from the castle and gasped when I realized that it was sunset. How long were we doing this?

But other than the sunset distracting me, my eyes locked on Ino. She was giving me a haughty smile with mischief lingering in her blue eyes. I had to ask "What's cute?"

"You two, of course."

That caught Sakura's attention. And when she looked up at Gaara and me she gave us an expression identical to Ino's. "You're right, Ino. They are cute."

Embarrassment set my face on fire as I slowly looked up at Gaara. He was staring down at me as well with a red face I'm sure was the same color as my face, but he wasn't blushing for the same reason that I was. Not only that, our arms were a couple of centimeters away from brushing together. Again.

My horrible friends laughed at us and continued to comment on how adorable we were. This lasted until we finished the castle and Gaara's bodyguards came to pick him up. I waved him goodbye and my friends complained that I didn't kiss him instead. I already know that I won't hear the end of it for being shy around the Kazekage, and I also know that Ino is going to encourage me to sleep with Gaara, who just so happens to be a virgin. I'll never tell Ino that because she'll just tell me to show him what a woman can do, which will be humiliating.

When the three of us approached the Shodai Kazekage, Sakura and Ino told me that they wanted to shop for souvenirs. I would have gone with them but I was tired from staying on my feet all day and I wanted to sit down for a little while. Without any more discussion, my friends left and I entered the hotel.

I waved to the man at the front desk and he returned the gesture without a smile. I ignored that though and proceeded to go straight to my room, but something in my periphery caught my attention, hence making me stop. It was Naruto. Some girl was sitting in one of the chairs in the lobby with a smile on her face and Naruto was leaning over her wearing one of the most flirtatious smiles ever. She giggled over something that Naruto said to her and then he asked her a question. Uncertainty flashed over her face, but then Naruto said something else, making any hesitation that she was feeling vanish. Soon after that, she pulled out a piece of paper from her purse, wrote something down on it, handed it to Naruto, and walked away. When she left, I took that as an opportunity to approach him.

"What was that all about?" I asked with a large smile on my face. "Did she just give you her phone number?"

He let out a nervous laugh and a cute shade of pink spread across his face. "Um, yeah, she did. I didn't think that you'd see that."

"I'm surprised that you didn't sense me in the same room as you. That girl must have taken all of your attention then. Who was she?"

"Oh, just some random girl."

"She couldn't have been if you were so absorbed in her. Admit it, Naruto. You like her."

It didn't take long at all for him to give in. "Okay. Yeah. I think she's pretty. I'm taking her out later tonight."

My smile grew. "Congratulations. You've got to tell me about it when you get back."

"Okay. I'm actually going to get ready for it now. So I'll see you later, I guess."

"Alright. Have fun."

He went to his room and I went to mine. It made me happy to know that Naruto knew what he wanted. I just wish that I knew what I wanted… Well, I guess that I already knew what I wanted, or more so, who I wanted. The person that I wanted was… out of my reach though. He wasn't that far, but he was far enough. And to try to get over the person that I truly wanted, I was willing to go out with someone I saw as nothing more than a friend. It'd be nice if I could return Gaara's feelings, that way I could get over Deidara and fully commit myself to my possible relationship with Gaara, but I don't know if I can do that. The Kazekage is a nice, caring guy with a gorgeous face and body, but the only thing that I'm attracted to is his scent, which isn't reason enough to go out with him.

I thought about this for a while as I rested my feet in my room. I wasn't getting anywhere with trying to convince myself to stop thinking about Deidara and to try to like Gaara, so I decided to leave the Shodai Kazekage to take a walk around town. I didn't venture too far from the hotel in fear of getting lost again, so I stuck close to the buildings that I knew and browsed around at the shops.

Not many people were out, seeming as the sun was setting, so the stores were practically empty and were also close to closing for the day. I had no money with me so all I could do was browse around. I got bored pretty fast and began to regret not bringing my wallet. So I decided to head back to the hotel, but something, or someone, in my periphery stopped me from heading back right away.

Outside of the store that I just exited was a woman. She had long, black hair, brown eyes, fair skin, and a stunning face. She wasn't your typical, attractive lady. She was the most beautiful woman that I've ever seen, and I know that anyone that I'd ask would agree with me, but after watching her for a moment, I realized that everyone just breezed by her, almost as if she didn't exist. Weird.

She paid as much attention to the passersby as they did to her though. It was as if they didn't exist to her either. I also assumed that I was nonexistent to the woman, but when her eyes rested on me, a chill ran up my spine. It's weird, but it felt like she was calling me. It freaked me out a little bit. Okay. More than a little bit. But since it appeared that I was the only one able to see her, and she was the only one to be able to see me, there must be a reason for her to be here, right? Also, the woman didn't come off as a bad person so I (hesitantly) went to her.

The lady smiled warmly when I approached her but didn't say anything. If possible, that freaked me out even more. Regardless of my feelings, I smiled back.

"Can I help you with something?" I asked.

She didn't respond using words. Instead, she reached into the bag she had wrapped around her shoulders, pulled something out of it, and then placed whatever it was in my hands. Confused, I looked at what she just handed me.

It was a glass marble, just a regular glass marble. The only thing special about it was that when the setting sun hit it, the glass created an array of different colors and it casted it's hues onto my hand. It was pretty, I won't deny that, but I had no need for this. What could I do with a glass marble?

I looked up from the marble to give it back to the woman only to find no one there. It was just me, and the marble, alone outside of the store I was browsing in not too long ago. That's not freaky at all. Nope. That is why I walked back to the Shodai Kazekage as nonchalantly as I could.

In my room, once again, I couldn't help but to think that she was a ghost. I know that ghosts exist, I've seen too many freaky things to not believe in them, but why would one be standing in the middle of the sidewalk just to talk to, er, I mean, to give me something worth no significant value? I found that odd. I even looked over the marble dozens of times. There was nothing spectacular about it. It was just a regular glass marble.

I guess that I could ask Sasuke… or not. While I told him that I forgive him for leading me on for months, the truth is that I was still pissed off. Just thinking about it again makes me want to hit something, or a certain someone. Naruto knew just as much about the supernatural world and mysterious objects as I did. Gaara was probably busy working. And I definitely couldn't ask Deidara even though he was the most knowledgeable out of the four since Haku was still back in Konohagakure. The only thing that I could do was to put it in my suitcase for now. Haku should know what it is. Maybe.

Not too long after I put the marble away, a knock came at my door. I opened the door to find Naruto on the other side. He was wearing a suit with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. He looked very handsome. And he would have looked even more handsome if he wasn't frowning.

"What's wrong?" I asked as he let himself in. "You're back much earlier than I thought. Did you even go out on the date?"

"I went." Irritation thickly coated his voice.

"Well, what happened? Why do you look so upset?"

He rubbed his jaw and then roughly ran his fingers through his hair. "She was waiting for me at the restaurant. Everything was going fine. We sat down, ordered something, talked a little, and then her girlfriend shows up."

My eyes widened in surprise. "Girlfriend?"

He nodded his head, frown still plastered on his face. "I think I was set up or something. If she wanted me to leave her alone, all she had to do was say that she was already in a relationship."

"I'm sorry that it didn't work out. She's missing out on a really great guy."

He looked at me and his eyes softened a little. "You think so?"

"Yes. You don't need her. You can get any girl you want." As I walked over to my bed, I added on "And she wasn't even all that pretty."

Naruto released a laugh. "Isn't that a little mean to say, Hinata?"

I sat down. "Maybe a little. But it was way meaner to bring her girlfriend to the restaurant just to make a fool out of you. That was more than a little mean."

"Can't disagree with that."

I looked Naruto over again. "I feel bad that you dressed up for nothing, and you even bought her a bouquet."

"The flowers weren't all that expensive," he said. A mischievous smile formed on his face in the blink of an eye and he offered me the bouquet. "Go out with me."

My eyebrows shot up. "Me? Go on a date with you?"

"Just as friends. I promise."

"I don't know, Naruto…"

"Come on. It'll be fun."

I thought about it for a bit. Yeah, sure, I went out to get my mind off of Deidara and Gaara, but thoughts of them are bound to come back if I stay here any longer with nothing to do. Also, the ghost girl kind of freaked me out. I didn't want to be alone while I waited for Sakura and Ino to return from shopping.

After I made my decision, I took the bouquet from Naruto and said with a smile "Get out so that I can change my clothes."

He returned the smile, only bigger, and then left to wait in the lobby for me. After I finished, we headed out immediately. Naruto took me to more places than I expected, but we had fun. A lot of fun, actually. I think that I had the most fun with him than with anyone else throughout this entire "vacation." And I think that he felt the same way. After dinner, we decided to go eat ice cream at the docks (tons of it), strolled through the city and ending up at the beach, and then got sucked into playing a game of volleyball with a couple there. Naruto and I won mainly because of Naruto's supernatural athletic abilities, but he held back as much as he could and we all had fun. We stayed out a little longer after that, returning to the Shodai Kazekage close to two in the morning, and came through the front door laughing.

The man at the front desk glared at us, but we didn't stop laughing. If anything, that made us laugh more. We were too giddy to care about anything right now. The loud laughing only stopped when the man picked up the phone to call security. Talk about party poopers.

"I guess it's time to split up," he said between suppressed laughs. "Our little party's been crashed."

"I guess so," I said. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful in stifling my laughs. "We definitely have to do this again though."

"Definitely." He smiled at me again and then hugged me. "'Night, Hinata."

"Goodnight."

I entered my room, making sure not to wake my friends up with my constant giggling, and put my pajamas on. All of my worries from earlier slipped my mind entirely, which relieved me, and all that was left was the overpowering goofiness that I felt as I continued to recall Naruto's and my silly date. It was difficult for me to fall asleep because of the goofiness, but after about a half hour, I prevailed. That night, I received the best sleep that I had in weeks.