Naruto and I spent a lot of time together after the date that we had. We laughed a lot, recalling the date and funny events from our past, and we went out together to hang out as often as we possibly could. Most of the time we ate nothing but ice cream (because the heat got to us and we really liked the ice cream here) and had to exercise daily to burn off of the calories. I hated exercising but Naruto made it fun.

A week had passed since then and even though my week was fun, there was something that I could not get out of my mind and it brought me down every chance it got.

I had not seen or heard from Neji in a week. I have been around Sunagakure and I have not seen him or any member from the Minami family. I have even called Neji, but it went straight to voicemail. I texted him as well, but he never returned my messages. He is obviously avoiding me because he knows that I am going back home today and I wanted to convince him one more time to consider coming with me.

This problem had bothered me greatly throughout the week and I finally decided to tell Sasuke, Naruto, and Deidara about it. Naruto was happy for me because I found a member of my family. Sasuke and Deidara were happy as well, but their hatred for slayers clouded their happiness for me. But even though they hated slayers, Sasuke advised me to go find him again. And Deidara suggested going with me to find him.

It was hard for me to hide my discomfort of Deidara coming along with me, but I tried and prevailed (more or less). Last time Deidara and I were alone, he came onto me after telling me about his past. He bit me, injected endorphins into my body, creating an intense falsified pleasure, and I experienced a lust that I never thought was possible. It got so intense that I was close to actually sleeping with Deidara. After all of that, he told me that he needed me to stop loving him because I was too good for him. I haven't spoken to him since then, but I certainly did not want to start now. Looking at him and talking to him made me very uneasy, and to tell you the truth, I'm still not sure if I'm still in love with the psycho.

We left together anyway, but I kept my distance from him. Deidara walked several paces in front of me as he sniffed out my cousin. I watched him cautiously during this and somewhere along his tracking he turned around to say "What's wrong with you?"

"Shouldn't you know?" I asked. My voice was nowhere near rude but my vampire friend narrowed his eyes at me and turned his body completely around to face me.

"Are you talking about what happened between us last time?"

I nodded my head slightly, and when Deidara gave me a small smile I knew that I must look as uneasy as I felt. Even though we were in public, I still felt uncomfortable around him. The way that Deidara was staring into my eyes made me feel as though we were alone which made me shudder. I was afraid of feeling what I felt that day, both the pleasure and the unexplainable love that I was feeling for him. So I turned away from him to escape his gray-blue orbs.

"Hinata, are you afraid of me or something?" He sounded amused and even let out a brief laugh.

"If you're going to be like this then why don't you go back to the hotel? I'll get someone who cares, like Naruto, to sniff out Neji."

I felt Deidara place a hand on my shoulder as he whipped me around to face him. I was glaring at him but it was ineffective. Deidara was giving me a half smile when he said, "You really are afraid of me. I guess what I did had an effect on you."

The truth was that I wasn't afraid of him. I was afraid of what he'd do to me if I told him that I couldn't stop thinking about him because I think that I'm in love with him. But I lied to prevent myself from finding out by saying "It did." I removed the vampire's hand from my shoulder. "And you find it funny? I am willing to be less than lovers just like you want, but with the way you're treating me now, all I can see is you not wanting me to have anything to do with you, Deidara."

"That's not it at all!" he said, completely caught off guard. "I don't find this funny either. I'm only doing this to make sure that you don't turn back around to say 'I love you.'"

The last sentence made my heart ache.

"Well, you're not doing it right. Would you rather have me hate you?"

"No, no." Deidara ran his fingers through his hair in exasperation. "You're right. I'm sorry. I got out of line."

I was taken aback at how quickly Deidara apologized and I had difficulty finding what to say next. I expected to have to argue with him.

"It's… It's fine, Deidara." I rubbed my arm and looked down at the ground. "Let's just find my cousin and forget that all of this happened."

Deidara nodded his head slightly with a small smile.

Of course that comment was easier said than done. It takes a lot to forget anything Deidara does to you. Even more so when he so obviously wants you to remember whatever he has done.

We walked side by side this time but we continued to keep our distance from one another. The air between us was awkward and I wanted nothing more than to break the air between us by finding Neji. I was hoping that Neji wasn't too far or too difficult to find because being with Deidara was slowly becoming unbearable for me. No matter what he does to me, these weird feelings of mine won't go away. Is this love? If it is, how do I make it stop? It's not like I don't want to not love him. I feel as though I shouldn't. Other than that, I don't understand him at all. He does horrible things to me, like what happened last week and when I first met him, and then he regrets it later by apologizing for it. Is it all because he wants to change, or because he's afraid? If he is afraid, what is he afraid of?

"Deidara," I said without looking at him. I felt his gaze on me and I opened my mouth to say more when a familiar pair of strong arms pulled me back against his hard body as he moved me away from Deidara swiftly with him. I looked up to see who took me away from my vampire friend and was completely shocked to see who my "savior" was. "Neji…" I whispered with wide eyes.

Neji moved me behind him as he pulled out a stake. Nanase emerged from beside Neji and moved forward with a crossbow ready to be fired at Deidara. Deidara was looking at my cousin in astonishment. Did Deidara not sense him coming?

"Even I must admit that that was impressive," Deidara told Neji as he shook off his shock.

"Taking innocents in broad daylight?" Neji said. "You must be dumber than you look."

Nanase inched forward as she aimed the crossbow directly at Deidara's heart. "I hope you're ready to die," Nanase said, "because you're not going anywhere."

"Does it look like I'm running, little girl?" Deidara said as he crossed his arms. My friend then looked at Neji. "We've been looking for you."

"We?" Neji repeated. My cousin turned his pale eyes on me. "You are affiliated with a vampire?"

Neji's voice wasn't cold like I expected it to be. Instead he sounded as though he didn't believe what he was hearing. I expected him to be scolding me any minute.

I went to answer Neji but Nanase spoke before me. "Didn't I tell you that she knew that vampire, Moya? You didn't want to listen."

I ignored Nanase and spoke to Neji. "I need to talk to you."

We stared at each other for what seemed like hours before he responded. "Okay." Neji then said to Nanase, "Keep an eye on the vampire, Nanase. Hinata and I will be back soon."

"But Moya-"

"Watch. The. Vampire," he commanded.

Nanase didn't turn to look at us but I could feel her discomfort and I imagined what face she must be making. Nanase hates me and now that she confirmed that I talk to vampires, she has to think that I'm disgusting too. Her opinion of me shouldn't bother me because I came for Neji, but I can't help but to be upset. The hatred she feels for me only generated because she's jealous that Neji pays attention to me.

Neji lead me to a fountain several feet away from Nanase and Deidara. I expected Neji to look at me differently after discovering that I am friends with an enemy but I was wrong. My cousin wore the concern he felt for me on his sleeve despite how badly he didn't want to talk to me. And despite how badly he didn't want to talk to me, I knew that Neji wanted to know why I associate with vampires. In his eyes I am a victim and he can't leave me with the enemy. So deep down somewhere inside of him, Neji cares about me and I suspect that he believes that I wasn't just telling him nonsense about his identity. He's only denying who he is because he must be able to feel that he is not Moya Minami. He probably knows that he is Neji Hyuga, my cousin.

"Hinata," Neji said. "What are you doing with vampires? Nanase told me that you knew the vampire that came to my house with Megumi but I didn't believe her. Now I can see that she was right. What is going on?"

"They aren't bad people, Neji," I told him, noticing that he made an expression of disapproval when I called him by his true name. "Not all vampires are bad."

"False. Vampires are evil personified. Your "friends" are toying with you so that they can eat you later."

"You don't believe that, do you? Back at the house when your family was debating whether vampires have feelings or not you seemed to disagree when they determined that they don't. You know that they aren't evil. They have hearts, too."

"That doesn't mean that they are not dangerous, Hinata." My cousin crossed his arms, clenched and unclenched his jaw, and fixed me with a hard look. "And I am not just saying this because those words were fed to me by my parents. I met a vampire that I believed was good once. He turned his back on me and killed my grandfather. I'm trying to protect you because I don't want something similar happening to you."

I didn't say anything for several seconds but when I did I sounded unsure of myself. "My friends are not going to hurt me or someone I love. They are not like that, Neji."

"I thought that, too. And then my grandfather was eaten."

I looked down at the ground. Sasuke wouldn't betray me, but I have second thoughts about Deidara often. He can be friendly when he wants to be, but when he decides that the world is too peaceful, he wreaks havoc. He destroys things when something goes well for him… but I think it's out of fear. Deidara is afraid of people getting close to him and living a peaceful life because he fears that the bliss that he has been longing for will be ripped from him. And after killing for 950 years, he also thinks that he doesn't deserve happiness. Deidara has a lot of issues, but I don't think that it's because he is evil. If he wanted to hurt me or someone that I loved then he had plenty of chances to.

I looked at my cousin and said firmly "My friends are not going to hurt me or someone that I love. And if they were to then there would be a reason behind it."

"Are you sure about that?" he asked.

"I'm sure."

"Fine." Neji uncrossed his arms. "What have you wanted to talk to me about? I have a feeling about what it is."

"I want you to come back to Konohagakure with me. I know that you have been avoiding me because you don't want to talk about this, but I'm not giving up. Come home with me, Neji."

"Why would I do that? This is my home and I belong here. Not only that, going with you means that I would be surrounded by vampires."

"You would not be surrounded, I only know two vampires. And you do not belong here. Konohagakure is where you belong. If you come with me then you'd see what I'm talking about."

"No." Neji went back to crossing his arms over his chest.

"Neji-"

"Stop calling me that!" he snapped. "'Neji' is not my name. I am not your cousin. My name is Moya, Hinata. Call me Moya or nothing at all."

In the past, when Neji got mad at me, I'd cry and let him have the last word. When he told me something I'd obey and never bring the situation up again. But not this time. My cousin needs to know the truth whether he likes it or not. I know that he would do the same for me if I were in his position.

I shook my head. "No. Neji is your name and you are my cousin. And I know that this place," I gestured to the area around us, "isn't where you belong. And I know that you know it, too. You're scared to find out the truth so you're hiding behind this new identity that personified when you lost your memory. You know who you are and you don't need me to tell you. You just don't want to delve into your memory to pull out what you have forgotten." I put my hand over my heart and stared down at the ground again. "It hurts that you don't want to remember me and our family, especially after how persistent I have been to help you find yourself and us."

Neji's face softened a little and he dropped his arms. "Somehow… Somehow that felt out of character. I feel as though that is something that you would have not normally done, Hinata."

"No… No, I do not normally fight back, but I care about you that much. I'm only trying to help you." I rubbed my arm and bit my bottom lip before adding, "I know that I cannot force you to go anywhere that you don't want to, so I can't make you come back to Konohagakure with me. But I want to let you know that I'm going home tonight. If you want to come with me the offer still stands."

Neji didn't respond. He instead turned to Nanase and said "Nanase, come on. We are resuming the hunting mission."

Neji went on ahead but Nanase stopped by me before catching up with my cousin. Her lips met my ears and she said in a voice barely audible "If Moya goes to Konohagakure with you expect to see me there, too. I won't hand him over so easily to a whiny bitch."

I watched Nanase catch up to Neji and felt nothing but pity for her. Neji wouldn't choose a girl like her even if he noticed her interest in him.

"Impressive," Deidara told me as he came up beside me, making butterflies swarm in my stomach. "I think that your words got through to him."

"I hope so. I want nothing more than to see him back in our country with me… I also hope that he at least remembers most of the memories that he lost."

"We'll just have to wait and see if he decides to come along."

I nodded and then looked up at Deidara, furrowing my brows. "What's on your mind?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "I was, uh, reading your mind when you were talking to your cousin." Deidara ignored my facial expression when he mentioned the mind reading and continued to speak. "Do you really think I'm afraid to be happy?"

"It's a theory. I find you hard to read and when I think I have you figured out, you do something that completely throws me off. So I came down with the conclusion that you're afraid of losing any happiness that you obtain." I paused. "But why do you sound hopeful, Deidara?"

"Because somewhere along the line of 950 years I lost myself. I don't even know who I am anymore. Am I still a monster? Or am I turning into something better? Perhaps something worse. I don't know anymore. But if you can figure me out then you're pretty amazing. You're even more perceptive than I thought. I'm surprised that you're not a slayer like your cousin."

I smiled and I felt my face getting hot after he called me amazing. I played it off with nonchalance by saying "Let's be glad that I'm not. Being a slayer doesn't sound fun at all."

"No. No it doesn't." Deidara turned me around along with him by slinging an arm over my shoulders. "Let's head back. I still haven't packed up."

"Of course," I sighed.

We went back together with his arm still resting on my shoulders and the butterflies in my belly refused to die down because of it. When we were close to the hotel, a woman called out my name. Deidara released me and we both turned to see who it was. My body went rigid and my eyes widened. I felt the color drain from my skin when my eyes locked with a woman that sounded like and looked exactly like Temari the hybrid. Standing next to her was a boy who looked a few years younger than her with brown hair that carried spikiness similar to Gaara's.

"It's finally nice to meet you," the woman said. "My baby brother has said a lot about you, Hinata."

I glanced at Deidara, who was unfazed by her appearance, and swallowed the shock that came over me to answer her. "U-Um, your brother?"

"Gaara," she said. "He hasn't mentioned us? Ugh, that kid. I am Temari and this is my younger brother, and Gaara's older brother, Kankuro."

Kankuro merely waved and I returned the gesture.

"G-Gaara has mentioned you before. He just hasn't said much," I said.

"Figures." Temari smiled largely. "Gaara talks about you a lot and Kankuro and I wanted to meet you out of curiosity."

"Really? What does he say?"

"Oh what any teenage boy who just got their first girlfriend would say. You're beautiful, kind, smart, has a way with words. But what made me want to meet you was that you defended him last week. Thank you for that." Then Temari gave me a mischievous smirk. "I also was curious because I heard that you borrowed clothes from me that Gaara let you keep after you stayed overnight. You also slept in the same bed as him, which surprised me."

I felt Deidara's eyes on me and my face got hot. "W-We didn't have sex, I swear, and I'll return your clothes if you want."

"No need. I'm so grateful for the change that you brought upon him that you can keep them," Temari said.

"But I do wish that you slept with him," Kankuro said. "They say that sex is a great stress reliever."

Now my face was burning hot and I felt lightheaded. "G-Gaara and I are not dating a-and we were not even thinking of s-s-sex."

"Okay," Deidara said, stepping into the conversation. "Hinata and I have to go. We're going home today and we have to pack."

"Aw, oh well," Temari said. "It was nice meeting you. Come back anytime. Maybe next time you come to Sunagakure we'll go shopping for lingerie."

That last comment was a joke but I couldn't help from blushing wildly. "N-Nice meeting you, too. Bye."

Deidara led me away because he figured that I couldn't walk on my own without help. I, on the other hand, could not believe that they were bold enough to say those things to me, especially in front of someone else. And in public. I don't know about Kankuro, but Temari seems to be worse than Ino.

"Why did she look exactly like your former teacher?" I blurted.

He merely shrugged as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Faces repeat over time. I've seen enough doppelgangers over the years to last me a lifetime."

"But wasn't that, I don't know, weird? Seeing a person who looked like your former teacher that you killed not too long ago?"

"Nope. Absolutely not. By the way," he slung his arm over my shoulder and gestured to the both us with his hands as he said, "we killed her."

My mouth dropped in astonishment. "I did no such thing!"

He laughed aloud and released me.

We returned to the Shodai Kazekage and Deidara went straight to his room to pack up. I went to my room and let myself fall on the bed that I was using. Moments later Sakura and Ino walked in. They sat down on the beds that they were using with fully packed suitcases.

"How did it go with Neji?" Sakura asked.

"It went better than I expected, but I still don't know if he's coming with us. I told him that we're leaving tonight, in case he wants to come," I said, sitting up from the bed.

"He better. Does he think that you're going to kill him or something when we arrive?" Ino then said sarcastically, "Because you look like you've murdered before."

"That's not it," I said, suppressing a laugh. "Other than that, I met Gaara's siblings not too long before I got here."

"Oh yeah?" Sakura said. "Are they nice?"

"Yeah, but they… support Gaara and me having sex, which is kind of odd."

"Awesome! Go for it!" Ino said, standing up abruptly. "You don't get chances like this very often."

"Stop it," Sakura told Ino, making her sit back down. Sakura said to me "They sound like interesting people."

"They might be," I said. "I think Temari, Gaara's older sister, will get along well with Ino, sad as it is to say."

"What do you mean "sad as it is to say"? Everyone needs a bit of Ino to light up their lives, right?" Ino said.

"Yeah right," Sakura said to Ino.

"You know it's true, Sakura," Ino said, shrugging her shoulders.

I lay down on the bed as my two friends began to argue. I let my mind wander and for some reason I thought of Nanase. I recalled that Emiko said that she was a sweet girl and she doesn't usually act the way that she is now, but I'm wondering if anyone actually knew the real Nanase. If she was truly kind then I would have seen it in her eyes despite how hateful she acts. I can see that she hates me in her eyes but I can't tell just how much. With the way she treats me, I can see that it runs deep. But why does it run that deep? Surely it can't be just because Neji cares for me. There must be something else, but what?

Nanase also said that she'd be there if Neji decided to come back to Konohagakure with me. If that were to happen then I can't help but to worry about what she'd be able to do to me while there. I don't think she would kill me but I still have to be cautious. When it comes to "saving" Neji I think that Nanase is willing to do whatever she believes necessary to keep him by her side. And if that means eliminating me then she'll do it without hesitation.

"What time does the plane leave?" Ino asked Sakura.

"At five o' clock," Sakura responded. "We have to head down there soon."

I pulled my phone out of my pocket to text Gaara to tell him when I'd be leaving. He didn't respond like I expected. I was hoping to say goodbye to him before I left but I might not be able to. I'm sure that he's buried to his neck in paperwork and doesn't have time to text me back or see me off. I'll just call him when I get back to Konohagakure.

After I put my phone back in my pocket, someone knocked on the door. I called out "Come in" and sat up again.

Sasuke opened the door but didn't come in. "Good, you're all here," he said. "The boys and I were wondering if you wanted to do something before we leave. The six of us didn't get the chance to hang out so…"

During the last sentence his eyes found mine. I looked away to avoid eye contact. There was something in his eyes that made me feel guilty and I didn't want to look at him. I wish I had the word for the message in his eyes but I couldn't think of it. All I can say is that it made me feel guilty for being pissed at him and I don't know why. It just better not be some form of compulsion or else I really will hit him and I'll make sure that it hurts.

"You don't even have to ask, gorgeous," Ino said to Sasuke.

"What do you have in mind?" Sakura asked.

"Well, we were hoping that you three had somewhere that you wanted to go," Sasuke said. "We can't decide."

"We can always break into the bank, steal all of their money, and then cross the border," Ino said. "I've always wanted to rob a bank."

The three of us stared at Ino and her only response was a shrug of her shoulders. The scary part about it is I think she was serious.

"Or," I said, "we can go exploring. There are a lot of things that we still have yet to see."

"That sounds like fun to me, but I can't say the same for Naruto," Sasuke said. "Not only that, we don't have enough time."

"What about the amusement park?" Sakura suggested.

"There's an amusement park here?" Ino asked.

"I think so. I saw a Ferris wheel on the far eastern side of the city. I think we should check it out."

"Let's go then," I said, looking at everyone. Looking into Sasuke's eyes still made me feel guilty, making me feel even worse. Why the heck do I feel guilty? That is the last emotion that I want to feel when looking at him. If anything, I should be angry.

"I'll go tell the others. Meet us in the lobby," Sasuke said, leaving the room.

Moments later we all met up in the lobby and headed out east. It took much longer than I thought to get there, especially in the heat, and once we arrived it turned out that it wasn't an amusement park. It was just a Ferris wheel sitting by itself near a dock. No one was disappointed though. Naruto proposed that we give it a try since we came all the way here.

The Ferris wheel had eight carts that were two seaters so we had to use it in pairs. Sakura sat with Naruto, Ino with Deidara, and Sasuke with me. I was a little reluctant to go on with Sasuke because of the way he made me feel just by looking at me, and I also didn't want to go on the wheel because the cart didn't have a roof or handles to hold on to. But I went on anyway to both overcome my guilt, brave my fear, and to prevent Deidara from laughing at me.

As soon as the Ferris wheel began to move, I clutched on to my seat and I refused to look down. My heart was beating so hard that I'm sure that Sasuke could hear it. Sasuke wasn't paying any attention to me though. He was looking at Sunagakure in awe as we slowly traveled to the wheel's summit. I almost wanted to look to see how beautiful Sunagakure was, but I couldn't bring myself to look over the edge. And when our cart stopped at the top my heart stopped beating and I felt like I was going to throw up or pass out.

The fact that our cart stopped at the top means that the ride should be over soon, but that didn't soothe me. It made every fear in me increase because Sasuke stood up to breathe in the sandy city's view.

"W-What are you doing?" I asked. I was tempted to pull him back down but my body was paralyzed with fear.

Instead of answering me with words like a normal person, Sasuke extended his hand to me for me to take. I stared at his hand, up at him, and then back down at his hand. Slowly, I removed a hand from my seat to meet his hand. He pulled me up and I stood next to him to look out at the city with him. It took a lot of effort to take my eyes from the floor, but I pushed myself until I met Sunagakure.

Grains of sand rode on the wind and danced around us as I took in the city's features. The buildings stood firm and tall as their sandy contents glimmered in the sun. Birds soared proudly over Sunagakure and danced along with the sand that mingled with their wings. The bright, yellow sun welcomed us with its warmth by bathing the country in its heat, making every grain of sand sparkle in its intense radiance.

"Beautiful, right?" Sasuke said. "You would have missed it if you continued to sit down."

"Yeah… Good thing I didn't."

The wheel began to move again, making me stagger. I clutched onto Sasuke's shirt before I fell which made him laugh. I shot him a quick glare before I steadily made my way back to my seat. Sasuke didn't sit down just yet. He remained standing to look out at Sunagakure, the smile never leaving his face. I couldn't help but to think that he was insane. Sasuke wasn't the slightest bit afraid of falling from hundreds of feet in the air. I bet the thought never crossed his mind.

The ride ended several minutes later and all of us headed back to the hotel. We gathered all of our belongings, checked out, and made our way to the airport. On the way to the airport Ino complained about Deidara.

"Your friend is crazy, Hinata," Ino said. "While we were going up on the Ferris wheel he kept rocking the cart. I almost fell out!"

"That sounds like something he'd do," I said flatly.

"But that's not all! He stood up on the seat while we were still moving."

I let out a brief laugh and came up with an excuse for his hyper activeness and sadism. "Sometimes I think Deidara has ADHD."

"Hey!" Deidara said, rushing up from behind us. "Not true. I like scaring people and Ino just so happened to be the target. If Sakura or you were my cart partner then I'd do the same to you or her." He looked at me as he said "And sadism doesn't come in the ADHD department."

My best friends and I scoffed simultaneously as a response.

Deidara threw his arms over all of our shoulders, bringing us closer together. He leaned down so that our faces were leveled. "Aw, ladies don't be mad. I like teasing you." He looked at Sakura. "Now I just need to scare you."

"That's not going to happen," Sakura told him.

"Stop messing with the girls, Deidara," Naruto said.

"It's fun to mess with them," Deidara said, releasing my friends and me to return to Naruto and Sasuke. "Would you rather take their place?"

"Enough," Sasuke said just as Naruto opened his mouth. "You're not acting like this when we get to the airport. I'll more than happily leave you here if you do."

That shut them up and when we entered the airport they didn't say a word. We sat our luggage by the nearest seats that we could find while Sakura and Ino paid for our tickets with the money that we all put together. While we waited, Sasuke called my attention by asking "Isn't that your cousin?"

I looked in the direction that Sasuke was pointing and swallowed hard. Neji was approaching us with a two large suitcases in his hands. He sat them down on the floor when he reached me.

"You came," I said, both relieved that he came and that Nanase wasn't with him.

"Yeah. This seemed like the right thing to do." Neji drew a breath and looked me directly in the eyes. "I want to apologize for how I treated you earlier. You were right about me. I have always known that this was not the life that I was supposed to live. I always knew that I was supposed to be somewhere else with someone else, but I was too afraid to find out exactly what I was missing. I'll go with you to find out everything that I have forgotten."

I blinked hard to stop my tears from falling.

"And," he added, "I guess that means that I'll have to get along with your… vampires."

"Hey, the feeling is mutual, slayer boy," Deidara said.

"We aren't thrilled about this either," Sasuke said. "But we will do our best to get along with you too, Neji. Right Deidara?"

"I suppose," Deidara mumbled.

Tension was building up quickly between the three of them until Naruto broke it with the clearing of his throat. He shook Neji's hand and said "I'm Naruto by the way, Hinata's friend."

My cousin shook his hand without introducing himself. I figured that there was no introduction because he's still unsure about who he was. It gave me a little hope because my plan might actually work. When we get back home he might recover his memories. If not, then he will recover them somewhere along the way because he is actually willing to remember.

"We got the tickets," Sakura said as she and Ino approached us.

"Good thing we bought seven," Ino said, looking at Neji. She then whispered to Sakura "I knew he would come."

"Whatever," she whispered back. "Let's get on the plane. It'll be leaving soon."

Everyone picked up their bags and proceeded to our destination. I was about to hand my bags to one of the security guards so that he could scan it when someone called out "Wait."

I turned around to see Gaara breathing heavily and perspiring with his guards not too far behind him. Some people were murmuring about the Kazekage's appearance, others were star struck, and the rest were looking at me since I was the one he was speaking to. I swallowed hard and met up with the Kazekage.

"I'm glad that I got here on time," Gaara said in between breaths.

I smiled at him. "Did you run here just to see me off?"

"Of… Of course."

"Why? If you were busy you shouldn't have come. I don't want to interfere with your work."

"I told you before that I would always make time for you. I just wish that I could have made more." The Kazekage caught his breath before he continued. "I hope to see you again soon, Hinata. No matter what time of the day, do not be afraid to call me. I will always leave my schedule open for you."

"I will, Gaara. I'm a little sad to go. I'm going to miss your country and you."

"I'm going to miss you, too."

Gaara rested a hand on my face and stared at me adoringly. At first I didn't know what he was doing. It was only when he leaned down that I realized what he was going to do. Our lips brushed gently against one another before I got the chance to object, but once our lips touched, I had to admit that it felt kind of nice. He didn't have to the pair of lips that I wanted to be brushing mine against, but it still felt nice. Although, no matter how nice it felt to me, there was no spark.

I didn't know what to say after he stopped kissing me. So I backed away from him and said whatever first came to mind. "I'll see you later, Gaara."

"See you later," he said softly with a small smile. He seemed not to notice the awkwardness in my voice.

He watched me until I was no longer within his view. Sakura, Ino, Naruto, and Sasuke were smiling at me while we made our way to the plane, and Deidara looked jealous. He's the one who wanted me to keep my distance from him, so I don't think that he has much of a right to be jealous. I'm doing exactly what he wanted me to do by moving on. Of course I wasn't quite ready to move on, but it was only a matter of time before my unrequited feelings for Gaara become mutual. He's a nice guy and that should be enough for me to begin to like him right?

As wrong as it is, Deidara's jealousy made me feel happy. Using Gaara to make Deidara jealous was never my plan, and I would never ever consider doing it, but seeing how much he disliked me and the Kazekage kissing relieved me. It let me know that he still loved me.

Everyone boarded the plane quickly so I didn't get to choose where I'd get to sit, and I ended up next to the window and an empty seat. I expected one of my friends to sit beside me but Neji did instead, which completely took me by surprise. I expected him to sit in an empty seat. He didn't say anything. He just plugged his earphones into his PSVita, let his head fall back against the seat as he closed his eyes and clenched and unclenched his jaw. I looked out of the window and jolted when I felt his hand on mine. I smiled at him and looked back out the window.

"I suppose that there really isn't anything for me to worry about after all," I thought to myself as I stared out at the orange colored sky.