Considering how much this story is liked I'll post another chapter.
Hinata gasped in surprise; she had fallen on the hard wet pavement. Her umbrella had fallen broken next to her, and the rain poured down, soaking Hinata to the bone.
Looking up, she saw something red; closing her eyes and then re-opening them, she tried her best to adjust to the foggy atmosphere.
"Are you okay?" a strong and empowering soft voice grunted, almost unidentifiable over the hard rain.
"Y-yes I-I'm f-fine t-thank y-you." Hinata stuttered, gulping in embarrassment.
She heard the man sigh, at least she hoped it was one, and then she listened to a rustling of wet clothing. And from the little light she could see from the little beams of sunshine from the dark, gloomy clouds, she saw a hand offering to help her up.
Slowly she grabbed his hand in her little ones and felt the strong pull of being helped up, Hinata, who had not reasonably excepted to being pulled up so suddenly, had fallen into his hard chest.
She shrieked as she fell into the hard chest; she could feel the muscles under her soft hands on his chest; he wasn't wearing a shirt but a skinny and wet jumper. She blushed in embarrassment but only heard a light annoyed grunt.
"I-I-I a-am t-terrible s-s-sorry." She whipped in his chest, a full blush covering her face, almost red as a tomato.
"Don't let it happen again." He grunted, pushing her away from his chest.
But he didn't realise that he had pushed her a little bit too hard, and she gasped in surprise, almost tumbling on the ground again.
Had he not reached his arms out to catch her.
"You are a klutzy woman, aren't you." He shook his head as he helped her get her balance back.
"I-I-I'm t-terribly s-sorry f-for c-causing s-such a-a p-problem." Hinata bowed apologetically, her head down to the ground, making her wet long black hair tumbled over her shoulders.
"What is your name?" He asked, arms crossed over his chest, "Stop bowing; it's weird." She heard a slight change in his tone, like in disgust.
"S-sorry." She looked up at him, noticing, for the first time, how incredibly handsome he was. He had red as-blood hair, noticeable 'love' tattooed on his forehead and amazing sea-green eyes that held confidence and authority. She was enchanted, trapped in a spell. "M-m-my n-name i-is H-Hinata." She paused, "A-and y-yours?"
"Gaara." He stated, turning his head away from hers, breaking the spell they both were under.
"N-n-nice t-to m-meet y-you." She offered a tiny little hand of hers, a handshake.
He looked at her little hands; they were soft and tiny. Looking down at his rough and cracked hands, he didn't feel like they deserved to touch something so gentle as hers. Nonetheless, he slowly brought his hands up to cup hers.
Indeed.
They were soft and warm, despite the rain, they were a little wet, but he could feel the smoothness; she must use cream to have her hands this soft! His hands had overpowered hers; he was enormous. Her one tiny hand could fit in the size of his fist.
The handshake was over just as it started. He let go of her hand and crossed his arms, hiding them underneath his wet armpit.
The air around them was thick. Neither one of them wanted to break the silence that followed. The rain still poured down heavily, soaking them both to the bone.
"W-we s-should g-go u-under c-cover, m-maybe," Hinata asked, taking the wet hair around her shoulders and keeping it from sticking to her face or neck.
"Hm," Gaara grunted and nodded. "The dojo is not too far from here; we can make it if we hurry." He suggested.
"I-I n-need t-to g-go t-that w-way a-any w-way." She stuttered through her teeth, becoming quite cold from standing in the wet for too long.
He only nodded, picked up the broken umbrella and attempted to fix the broken arms on it.
"D-don't w-worry." She cut in, "I-It's b-broken, y-you d-don't h-have t-to f-fix i-it." She smiled.
"I broke it; therefore, I'll fix it." He stated; then, magically, he fixed the arms of the umbrella, well a bit more bearable to hold and be covered from the rain, protecting them both from the harsh rain.
"T-thank y-you." Hinata smiled warmly at Gaara, which gravely confused him.
"Hm." He grunted lowly.
The next few minutes were again filled with silence as they walked to the dojo together. It wasn't awkward like before, but it wasn't a comforting silence.
"S-so w-what w-was y-your p-purpose t-to b-be o-out t-today?" Hinata questioned, breaking the silence.
"Shopping for a friend." He replied bluntly. "What is your purpose for being out today?"
"O-oh, I-I h-had t-to g-get s-some h-herbs f-for an f-friend." She twiddled her fingers, "W-what d-did y-you h-have t-to g-get y-your f-friend?"
"Condoms." He replied.
"O-oh." Hinata eyes went wide.
"Don't kid yourself." He growled, "He a man, and he has a date tonight... I was doing him a favour as he is doing me one."
"Y-you m-must b-be v-very g-good f-friends w-with h-him, t-then." She said, peering at him from the corner of her eyes.
"Yeah." He shakes his hair, and raindrops fall on his face.
The silence hit them again; however, it was because they neared the dojo.
Reaching the entrance, Gaara mentioned Hinata to follow him as he went to the front door and banged hard and loudly.
"I'm coming; I'm coming." A giddy voice yelled from the other side of the door.
Gaara continued to bang on the door until a tall blonde man with whiskers on his face opened the door.
"Gaara!" The blonde man cheered, "Thank god too! I finished cleaning and was just about to head out and find you." He smiled, "Did you get the condoms-" He stopped when he saw Hinata, who only smiled and waved shyly.
Gaara looked at Hinata behind him, "This is Hinata, Hinata, this is Naruto. I ran into her on the way back." he turned around and shoved the packet of condoms in Naruto's chest, "Here are your condoms."
"O-oh, thanks, man." he smiled, then turned to Hinata, "And why is a lovely woman such as yourself with a grumpy man such as him." He pointed a thumb at Gaara.
"O-oh I-I-I-."
"We had just run into each other, that is all." Gaara crossed his arms over his chest, "I need your umbrella."
"My umbrella?" He questions.
"Yes, your umbrella." Gaara nodded.
"Why do you need my umbrella?" Naruto scratched his head.
"Because." He shoved the half-fix umbrella at him, "This one is broken. Hinata is not going outside with a broken umbrella with how cold, wet and windy it is outside."
"But... I don't want to ruin my perfect figure for my date tonight." Naruto waved a hand at himself, "I want to look extra appealing tonight, especially with these." He wiggled his eyebrows at the condoms.
Hinata giggled under her hand; Gaara just scoffed and turned his head.
"I don't care." he growled, "Give Hinata your umbrella, or I'll make you give it to her."
Naruto grumbled under his breath but walked away from the door and disappeared for a while before coming back with a black umbrella.
"Here." He gave Gaara the umbrella.
Turning around, Gaara gave Hinata the umbrella.
"T-thank y-you." she took the umbrella from his hands, lightly touching his hands on hers. She gasped at the little connection she felt, but it was over before she could dwell on it a moment longer.
"Well, I wouldn't want to take you away from... From whatever it was you were doing beforehand." Gaara turned to her, "I will walk you to your next destination."
"O-oh I-I d-don't m-mean t-to o-oppose a-anymore t-than I-I h-have." She said.
"I want you safe." He grunted, then grabbing the umbrella from her, he put it up. "Let's go."
"Bye, Love birds," Naruto yelled, waving a hand at them.
Gaara waved a hand behind him; Hinata turned briefly towards Naruto, then waved before walking with Gaara.
"Where to?" He asked.
"J-just n-next d-door." She said.
"Hm." He grunted before they turned to the building next door.
They heard loud music and glasses clinking. This couldn't be the place Hansuke was talking about, could it?
Hinata and Gaara looked at each other, "M-maybe t-this i-is t-the w-wrong p-place, m-my m-maid c-could o-of g-gotten t-the a-address w-wrong." Hinata questioned.
"Hinata!" a cheerful voice called.
Hinata looked at the entrance door to see Hansuke, "Did you get the herbs? The others have been questioning them for hours now; I don't know how long I can put them off." He said hurriedly.
"Y-yes I-I h-have t-them r-right h-here." She reaches into the pocket of her jeans and hands him a surprisingly dry napkin with the herbs inside.
"Oh, thank you so much, Hinata!" He gave her a warm hug; his eyebrows frowned when his eyes met Gaara's. "Whose this?" He put a protective hand on her shoulder.
"T-this i-is G-Gaara, h-he h-help m-me w-when I-I f-fall o-over b-before." She gave him a reassuring smile; however, he didn't seem assured.
"Well, thank you..."
"Gaara." Gaara nodded.
"Yes, Gaara, thank you, but Hinata will be safe with us now. We appreciate the goodwill." Hansuke nodded, taking Hinata's hand and dragging her away from Gaara.
"W-wait." She stopped their movements and turned her attention back to Gaara."T-thank y-you very m-much, G-Gaara." She gave him another respective bow and walked back to Hansuke, who watched with hawks eyes.
Gaara scoffed but nodded, turning his head the other way.
He saw her give him another one of her tiny waves, and he gave her a little wave before she disappeared inside.
He forgot to give her the umbrella.
Shaking his head, he turned to walk back to his shitty tiny home.
"Hinata, are you sure you are okay," Hansuke asked for the third time since they met.
"Y-yes, I-I'm f-fine." She assured him.
"But that guy..." he trailed off.
"G-Gaara." She cut in.
"Yes, Gaara... He didn't seem very nice, Hinata. He seems like the dangerous type." He frowned at her.
"H-he s-seemed h-harmless t-to m-me." Hinata put in.
"Yes, Hinata seemed. Any guy can fool you; you have to be more careful." He sighed, "promise me you will look out next time, promise?" he asked, looking at her deep pearl eyes.
"Y-yes, I-I p-promise." She smiled.
"Now... I am going to call a cab for you to get home... I don't want you walking home in the cold wet... You are already soaking wet." He looked at her wet state and sighed, "All well; at least you will be home in no time now." He smiled at her.
"I-I d-did h-have a-an u-umbrella." Her eyes widened at the realisation that she had left her, well, Naruto's, umbrella with Gaara. "I-I l-left i-it w-with G-Gaara."
"It doesn't matter now." He shook his head, "I will call the cab now."
Walking to the table that had the phone, he dialled the number to the cab.
Hinata sat down on the chair nearby, and she sighed. Grabbing her thick wet hair, she drained the hair on the tile floor.
"Hinata?" Hansuke asked.
"Y-yes." She said.
"The cab will be here shortly." He said.
"A-alright g-great, t-thank y-you." she smiled.
Hansuke bowed, went off to the so-called meeting, and returned the herbs to them. Hinata just waited on the chair, watching the water on the titles flow in the cracks, burying deep underground.
Time seemed to fly fast for Hinata as Hansuke reappeared and told her the taxi was waiting just outside for her.
Stuttering her thanks, she went outside and hurried to the cab.
Hoping in, she gave the driver her destination. Sighing as she leaned back further in the chair, she looked out the window; many people were hurrying their way out of the rain and inside or to some unbeknown place they wanted to get to.
Hinata secretly hoped that she would see Gaara walking this way or maybe Naruto. She shook her head and knew she had to get Gaara out of her thoughts. She had promised Hansuke that she would be careful, and by the way, Hansuke spoke of him, he wasn't going to be anything but cautious if Hinata got any more involved with him.
But she couldn't get Gaara out of her mind, try as she might, he was just far too deeply buried in her mind. His prefix face, distinctive red hair, and those eyes, god, those eyes. She felt so nervous around him, regardless of who it was, but with him, she was ten times the normal nervousness she felt with anyone else. He was fascinating, like a hidden story beneath the scarred mask.
And boy, was she determined to find out what lay beneath the mask.
Hinata felt very sleepy after the day she had; she couldn't wait to get in her warm comfy bed.
"Here you are, miss." The driver said.
"T-Thank y-you." She handed the driver the money he asked for and then got out of the car.
"Enjoy the rest of your day, miss." she closed the door, and the driver sped off down the street.
Yawning, Hinata walked into the house.
"Hinata!" Hanabi yelled from the top of the stairs.
"H-Hanabi." Hinata smiled, welcoming the warm embrace her little sister gave her when she bolted down the stairs to her big sister.
"I was starting to worry." Hanabi shook her head, "Father isn't coming home tonight."
"O-Oh... t-that's t-too b-bad." Hinata said dreamily.
"Are you okay?" Hanabi asked, letting go of her sister and giving her a confused look.
"Y-Yes..." She smiled, walking past her sister upstairs."I-I'm a-a l-little t-tired... I-I'll s-see y-you I-in t-the m-morning." Hinata yawned and disappeared upstairs, leaving a still-confused Hanabi downstairs.
Yes, she will be seeing him again.
I really do hope you enjoy R/R