~Scroll 24~
The force of the Rain Nin's punch sent Hinata's smaller frame flying into the air. She landed harshly on the ground, knocking the air out of her lungs. Her body trembled from both pain and exhaustion. She had lost track of time during her fight against the bigger shinobi nor did she know for how much longer she could last against him before help arrived. Rolling to her side, her right hand extended out, instinctively reaching out for anything to be used as a weapon. But instead of feeling a rock or a branch, she felt flesh and the coarse texture of sandals, typically worn by shinobi.
She immediately looked up, fearing that one of the other Rain Nin had grown tired of the fight and decided to interfere. Her eyes grew wide at the sight she saw. Instead of seeing one of her attackers, she saw one of the most handsome ninja that she had ever seen.
Hair red as blood, haunting pale eyes surrounded by thick kohl and the kanji for love tattooed above his left eye. The stranger had a presence about him that Hinata could not ignore... much like Naruto-kun, but while the blonde's presence was akin to a warm blanket, the redhead's presence was more like a raging fire. And his gaze...
It felt as if he could see through her, see into her very soul. Hinata felt a shiver course through her, but she never wavered her gaze from his. Slowly she stood up, staying close to his person, causing his eyes to flash in curiosity. Absently Hinata noticed two other ninja standing behind him, but she could not seem to draw her eyes away from the redhead.
"The nerve of those brats from the Village of Sand..." One of the Rain shinobi jeered, waking Hinata and her savior from their trance.
The redhead's eyes became hard as chipped glaciers while Hinata immediately drew closer to his side. From behind them, Hinata heard a sharp gasp. Looking over her shoulder, the petite kunoichi noticed that the Sand kunoichi was staring at her in open surprise, which confused the Hyuga heiress but then turned her attention back at the Rain Nin when they spoke again.
"Daring to try and take our fun!"
"How foolhardy..." Remarked the other Rain shinobi.
"Prepare to meet your maker!" The tall Rain Ninja smirked.
"Are you going to fight us..." The redhead questioned, his voice cold and unforgiving, "or talk us to death? We don't take orders from fossils like you..."
The taunting Nin twitched and growled at the redhead's confidence.
"Hey, Gaara!" The redhead's male teammate quietly reproached.
While Gaara ignored his teammate, Hinata turned her attention to him. Gaara... the name suits him. She thought.
"I thought we had agreed we wouldn't fight anyone until we found out if they had the scroll we need! There's no point in attacking if we can't profit by it... we should only fight if there's something to be gained!"
Gaara tilted his head but did not look at his teammate. Rather he looked at the Konoha kunoichi at his side.
"I don't want to hear it! Anyone who crosses me is dead meat!" He calmly stated, causing Hinata to blink.
While she was surprised by the redhead's nonchalant manner of dismissing his enemies, she was not all that shocked. She could sense Gaara's strength, barely contained within his lithe frame. She could also see that he was searching for something within her... perhaps a reaction to his words. While it may be true that she did not have the typical bloodlust of a ninja, she did have a sense of justice. During her fight with the tall Rain Nin, the shinobi had alluded that she was not his first victim, and he had even further insinuated that the other victims would never speak against him. Normally she would have been horrified by Gaara's disregard, but she was even more horrified by the thought the Rain Nin getting away with his crimes of rape and murder. It was one thing to commit such acts during a mission but during something as the Chuunin Exam was another thing.
Gaara gave the barest of nods as if pleased with her reaction.
Gaara's teammates stared nervously at each other and were absently wondering who the Konoha kunoichi was to be able to stand so close to the redhead when the challenging Rain Nin suddenly roared.
"SOUNDS GOOD TO ME!" He dropped into a stance, opening three wagasa, "Ready or not... here I come!"
The Rain Nin thrust the wagasa into the air, clasping his hands together.
"You're dead, kid!" He grinned, "Shinobi Art Jyoro-Senbon! It's Raining Needles from Heaven!"
"The parasols are spring-loaded with flying needles!" Hinata gasped in surprise.
"Stay close." Gaara simply ordered, which she obeyed by stepping even closer to him.
"You're completely surrounded." The shinobi gloated, "No gaps... no blind spots. All 1,000 of those needles will swarm in response to my chakra, seeking you out like missiles that have locked onto your signature!"
The area thundered as the senbon struck their target, kicking up dust, dirt and debris.
That was almost too easy! He thought, Shame about the girl but maybe the blonde -
"... hunh?" He gasped when the dust settled, revealing the girl and the redhead... protected in a cocoon of sand. "Impossible... not one needle... nothing touched him!"
Enraged, the Rain shinobi fired three more senbon at the exposed opening, which was immediately blocked by a shift of sand.
"A downpour of 1,000 needles, eh?" Gaara growled, "Well, it's my turn... to respond with a deluge of blood."
Either it was intentional or not, the area become flooded with Gaara's immense chakra as the sand shifted again.
"A wall of sand...?"
"Exactly." Gaara's teammate remarked, "Infinitely malleable... an impenetrable defense!
"Only Gaara has ever mastered the art. He draws the sand within the sphere of his own massive chakra then manipulates it into the shape he needs and renders it utterly solid. Even more remarkable, it is done with no conscious effort on his part. It happens when he needs it to...
"Independent of his will." While Hinata could hear the fear in the Noh-masked shinobi, she also heard a mix of awe and pride in his voice, which made her wonder what was the Noh-mask relations to Gaara.
"Any frontal assault on Gaara is doomed to fail!" He continued.
"N-no... way..." The Rain Nin denied the truth he witnessed, "Those needles should be able to pierce even a five-millimeter thickness of tempered steel!"
"You're not good enough to touch our Gaara." The Noh-mask commented dismissively, which angered the Rain shinobi and made him charge in fury.
"SHUT UP, YOU -!" He bellowed as he reached for one of two wagasa still strapped to his back.
Gaara brought his hands up to form a triangle then snapped his right arm out. His hand formed into claws with his left hand held in place in front of his face.
"Sabakukyu! The Coffin of Crushing Sand!" The redhead whispered.
The sand immediately wrapped around the shinobi, encasing him in a cocoon as he screamed, "I can't move..."
The remaining Rain Nin and Hinata gasped in surprise at the absolute control that Gaara had over the sand.
In that moment, the ninja's three wagasa speared into the ground. One of which was only an arm length away from Gaara and Hinata.
"As you see," The blonde kunoichi remarked, "Gaara has total mastery over the sand on the ground and in the air as well..."
"I can free myself... e-easily... augh!" The Nin gasped when the sand tightened around him.
"If you don't stop yapping," Gaara coolly said, "I'll seal your lips and cut off your air." With his free hard, he reached for the wagasa near him and opened it, covering himself and the Konoha kunoichi under its shade. "But you're hardly worth it."
Slowly he lifted his extended arm, causing the cocooned shinobi to rise into the air.
"Please!" The ninja began pleading, "Don't kill me! I promise I won't do it again! I won't touch another girl again! Please! I promise! I don't want to die!"
Gaara just stared at his prey then clutched his fist tightly.
"Sabakusoso! Imploding Sand Funeral!" Gaara quietly replied to the shinobi's plea. Knowing that no matter how many promises the Rain Nin made, he would continue to rape and kill other kunoichi. Normally he would not care about such things, but the idea of the other Nin harming the strange girl... his strange girl, whose touch was a comfort and made Mother purr, just made him want to bury everything in sand.
Vaguely he was aware of the other Rain shinobi screaming like pigs in horror while the pale-eyed girl just gasped and bury her face into his arm. Mother purred louder in delight that his strange girl would seek shelter and comfort from him. It felt odd and nice... it was nice to be touched... at least by his strange girl.
"It's quick and painless." Gaara oddly felt the need to assure her, causing her to look up into his pale eyes. "I used far more force than was necessary to ensure that."
/Pretty words.../ Gaara blinked when he heard Mother's dark purr, /Mates like pretty words... give Mate pretty words.../
Never before had Mother ever gave him advice that was not related to bloodshed. And like any good son, Gaara listened to Mother.
"Bitter, crimson tears flows from lifeless eyes and mingle with the endless sands..." He softly whispered, "bestowing ever-greater power upon the demon god."
Hinata blinked in surprise. She had not expected the redhead to whisper poetry to her, despite it being dark as it was. She gave him a shy smile.
The pair was unaware that the remaining Rain shinobi had surrendered their scroll and were pleading for their lives. It was then that the Suna teen remembered them. He wondered if killing one of the Rain Nin had pleased his strange girl then perhaps killing the rest would really please her. With that thought, Gaara tossed the wagasa aside and held out both arms to form the Sabakukyu-jutsu, causing the sands to immediately encase the two Rain shinobi, who were screaming and pleading. As he was about to seal their fate, Gaara felt a warm touch on his skin, freezing him.
"Please, don't." His strange girl whispered, causing him to stare at her.
"HINATA!" Kiba screamed as he and Shino plowed through the bushes, skidding to an immediate halt. Akamaru suddenly whined and began to tremble as the small pup instinctively sought the safety of his master.
When the pale pup had found them without their shy teammate, the two immediately knew that something was horrible wrong. Without a second thought, the pair had ran toward the direction that Akamaru had come from. As they drew nearer to the stream, they had felt an immense dark chakra cascade over them, driving their fear for their friend to mountainous proportions. Before jumping over the bushes, they scented the thick and metallic tang of blood in the air. The mere thought of their dearest friend dead caused them to forget their training and to jump into action without any regard to their own safety. However, instead of finding Hinata dead, they found her standing next to the redhead from the Village of Sand.
"Great..." The Noh-mask grumbled as he eyed the two new shinobi but immediately relaxed when he spotted the Konoha Leaf insignia on their headbands. They must be the girl's teammates... He thought then frowned as he shot a glance at his blonde teammate in confusion. He knew the redhead and knew that Gaara hated to be touched. Whether it was a conscious effort or not, the redhead's sand never allowed anyone near him and yet the pale-eyed girl was not only near the red-haired teen but also touching him. Immediately he began to worry if Gaara would let the girl go to her teammates or would the Sand Master kill them to keep her. Judging the way the blonde kunoichi was fidgeting and looking at the Konoha team, she was probably thinking the same thing.
He took a deep breath and mentally cursed himself for what he was about to do, but they could not afford any delays nor any unwanted attention at this point.
"Hey..." He called out, drawing all eyes on him, "This is the Heaven Scroll we needed... Now, we can head straight for the tower."
The blonde nodded her head in agreement, wanting to get out of the forest quickly and getting away from the volatile redhead.
"Not yet!" Gaara ordered, never looking away from his strange girl.
"Please, leave them be." Hinata quietly asked. "The ANBU will find them and will punish them."
"Hinata, what's going on here?!" Kiba demanded, his voice cracked a bit in fear at what he was sensing from the redhead. He had never felt such intense Killing Intent and yet sweet, innocent Hinata was standing next to the guys as if nothing was wrong.
Gaara relaxed his arms, which released the two imprisoned Rain Nin. However, instead of fleeing, they remained absolutely still - afraid that the redhead would change his mind and just kill them outright. Gaara raised his right arm again, causing one of the Rain shinobi to scream and the other to faint. Ignoring his previous prey, the redhead clenched his fist and slowly formed a cork out of the gathered sand.
"Okay..." He finally conceded as he sealed his gourd and was awarded with a smile from his strange girl.
"Thank you." She whispered.
"Hinata!" Kiba whined again, causing the young Hyuga to look over at her team.
She frowned when she saw how tense and fearful her friends were.
Gaara glanced at the two newcomers when he saw her frown, which caused them both to take a hesitant step back.
"I'm coming, Kiba-kun." Hinata called out then looked back at her red-haired savior. In a moment of daring, she leaned over and gave the fair-skinned youth a chaste kiss on his cheek.
Gaara's eyes grew wide at the touch. Mother purred in delight. Hinata blushed a lovely shade of rouge.
And the others... they either gasped or chocked on their shock at the small girl's daring.
"Thank you again, Gaara-san." Hinata whispered then ran to her teammates, who instantly gathered her into their arms and fled before the dangerous redhead could react. While Shino and Kiba hoped and prayed to never cross paths with the Sand-Nin again, Hinata hoped and prayed that she would have another chance to see him again.