Gaara slid his finger over the edge bandage on his palm. The skin underneath has already knit together. Of the very few of the scratches he got, none of them ever stayed long. He never thought to cover them. They would stop bleeding and close before it became too much of a mess. He could have stopped her, but he wanted to see what she would do.

Why care for his hand when hers was in pain?

'Humans rarely have the capacity for compassion that they think they do. This one may actually have it.' Shukaku grumbled.

Compassion. That didn't seem like all of it.

Hinata's hands were… he called them rough, but that may not have been the right word. They felt worn, like they had been used a lot. His fingers had never seen anything more than the spines of his cacti.

Gaara closed his hand-over itself. He didn't realize such a short encounter would make him want more so aggressively. He needed to control the urge to touch her hands more. People didn't like to be touched by strangers.

And that's what he was still after all… wasn't he?

The stranger that she came to live with? How did he change that?

He should keep his distance to make sure he didn't push too close.

"Idiot."

Like Hinata thought he would, once Gaara went back into his room, he didn't come back out. He had one meal with her and disappeared back behind the door. Each day, the door seemed to open a little wider, but she wasn't going to peek in and ruin all his progress by invading his space in an attempt to pull him out.

"Have you redressed your hand?" Hinata wondered, turning her head toward the door and waiting. When an answer did come, she sat up off the wall to see his hand barely poking through the threshold with the original bandage still sitting on his palm. "I should have checked on it sooner." She scolded herself as she peeled back the bandage only to find the cut completely gone. She thumbed over the spot to be sure, and it was like it was never there.

It had been a few days, but the skin on the back of her hand was still sensitive, so he should still have a cut.

Maybe this explained how Naruto seemed to be so lively after putting himself in the hospital, or was this like Gaara's beast talking to him? Something Naruto couldn't do? How different were each of the vessels?

"It doesn't hurt," Gaara answered her unspoken question.

"I'm sorry." Hinata balled up the bandage in her hand and released him. "I guess I shouldn't have made a fuss."

"Yours still hurts?" Gaara looked at her hand.

Hinata nodded, covering her hands. It didn't look like it was still there, but burns like to be stubborn and irritating for as long as possible.

"This one is new." Gaara moved out into the door more as he became interested in the bandage on her other hand.

"Oh. One of the cacti got me." Hinata showed her finger.

Gaara's hands twitched in place. Did he want to look that bad?

Hinata slid back into her spot on the other side of his door, leaving just enough room for him, and picked at the bandage. "It's probably fine now."

Gaara took the bait and moved beside her to watch her take the bandage off and hold her hand out. He accepted her hand and slid his fingers over where the bandage was. Hinata broke a smile as he examined her finger, clearly losing interest in the initial spot to examine her whole hand. Gaara just wanted an excuse to look at her hands.

Hinata turned her other hand over to look. Was it that interesting? Maybe to someone who did see people almost ever, and his siblings didn't seem comfortable enough with him to just sit and let him look.

"No." Gaara suddenly said.

Hinata tilted her head at him, but he didn't even look at her. He wasn't talking to her again. What was the third member of the house like?

Rumors aside, she hadn't heard anything from or about Shukaku other than the growling and fighting that they had done. What was his opinion of her? The fork lore always painted Shukaku as the worst of the beast, the true monster among them. Had he calmed with years of isolation, or had she just not upset him?

Gaara's eyes suddenly became aware, flicking to her like he had been told she was staring. He dropped her hand like it burned him and curled his arms into himself.

"It's fine. I don't mind." Hinata offered to take her hand back. "Though I don't know what is so interesting."

"You are interesting," Gaara answered.

That would feel different if she knew he meant it literally. Hinata tried to not smile at his naive direct answers. She didn't want him to think that she was laughing at him. "You are too."

Gaara didn't seem to like her answers as his eyes shifted away.

"I wonder what you do all day in there," Hinata admitted. "Some days, I can't find things to out here, and I don't want to bother you at your door all day."

"You can," Gaara answered.

That was something, at least. "If I thought you wanted to talk. I would think you would come out. When people close themselves away, it's usually to keep people out."

Gaara pierced his lips together, considering the terrifying tempting offer.

Hinata proceeded to collect her tray and get up to head for the kitchen and was happy to hear the second tray clatter up behind her.

Sharing meals at the table was not what it was when his siblings were home. They had each other to speak to when he didn't have anything to say.

Hinata sat up impossibly straight, which Gaara realized he did not. He found himself straightening his back like she did instead of his usual crouching, but it wasn't comfortable. Was it something he could train, or was it just something else different about her?

The meals weren't always good, and Gaara wanted to stay quiet about it. Temari got very upset when he didn't eat what she made or disliked it, but Hinata tried to pry what he thought out of him and voiced what she didn't like with a disappointed huff at what she had made.

"I just wish I had normal food sometimes." Hinata poked at her latest mistake.

"Like pancakes?" Gaara wondered.

"Pancakes and cinnamon rolls, sandwiches, and soup." Hinata hummed thoughtfully before her face twisted. "I'm sorry I shouldn't complain about that. I just don't know how to cook with the food here." She apologized a lot for things he didn't understand and why she felt the need. Apologizing was for when you did something wrong, like hurting someone.

"Can you not make those things?" Gaara wondered.

'It's too hot to make bread.' Shukaku commented.

"It's always too hot for soup and baking, and I don't even have everything I would need." Hinata folder her hands in front of her unfinished bowl.

Why did Shukaku know that?

'I know more than you think, brat.' Shukaku cursed at him. 'She's from a forest. They eat more seasonally. She probably misses fresh fruit and vegetables.'

"We have fruits and vegetables." Gaara scrunched his face in confusion.

"Preserved. Pickled and jammed." Hinata replied.

Hinata was getting used to the unheard third voice in the conversation. Gaara was only partially aware that she couldn't hear him too. Only when Shukaku had a rude comment that Gaara snapped at did Gaara immediately realize he should tell her to who he was replying to.

"Do you miss fresh?" Gaara asked.

Hinata hated questions like that. Gaara was curious, and he didn't think about the fact he was stabbing her home-sick heart with his innocent inquiries. She wasn't here by her own choice. Maybe he forgot that, or maybe he didn't care, but it made the questions hard to answer.

Did she miss fresh food? Yes. But it wasn't just that. Hinata missed the market and picking berries with her sister, making fresh salad in bentos for her team, and smelling a peach tree. She missed not just the food but the things it reminded her of.

Gaara just wanted to her opinion. He didn't mean harm, but it did hurt her heart to know that he didn't understand why or even that she could miss home.

Maybe he was too used to his siblings being always for long periods of time. Maybe she would get used to it too, but would it take as many years as it did for him?

"Yes," Hinata answered, trying to keep her face from showing the emotions she was feeling while she collected the table.

Gaara didn't initially react, but once her back was turned. He replied to the third person in the room. "I didn't do anything…"