Prompt # 312 - "Catch As Catch Can" - Love Does Not End With Death - NoUseForASammie - Naruto Fan
Title: Love Does Not End With Death
Fandom: Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto
Prompt: Number 312 “Catch As Catch Can”
Warnings: Be kind, this is my first post!
Summary: Hinata and Gaara find each other, but it will lead to a savage end.
This was previously posted on Taming The Muse and I wanted it on my Journal
Hinata watched Gaara walk beside her, his long limbs eating up the sidewalk as he looked straight ahead. He always seemed to have a seriousness to his face, so quiet, calm and introverted. But lately Hinata could see the light that danced in his green eyes. His pale face revealed nothing. It was there, though, when he cast his gaze on her. She would swear by it. Or, perhaps, she simply spent too much time looking in his direction lately. Hinata always felt strangely drawn to the lean, auburn hair man. In recent weeks, she watched him more and more, seeking out the changes in his eyes, especially when those green eyes looked in to her pale blue ones.
“I think we are nearly there,” Gaara softly spoke to her, still looking straight ahead.
Hinata looked up the sidewalk in the direction Gaara faced and caught the back of their party slipping in to a door half a block ahead. Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto and Kankuro had already entered the night club before Gaara and Hinata had made it to the door.
Hinata was reliving her dismay at being forced out of their home. She had not come accustomed to the routine the group of friends had established in their large home on the very outskirts of downtown. They had not lived in the city for long, and the transition was hardest for her out of all them. She longed for her home in the hidden village. Ninja like herself and her colleagues were not meant to be forced in to such dense populations where there was rarely even a moment of peace to train. Each of them desperately needed the time to hone their special abilities, and this cityscape would not be the place to nourish good habits.
Hinata sighed as Gaara and herself queued in to the line that was forming outside the club door. Music bass was hitting the walls of the building and people in line were already swaying to the beat. Hinata's muscles only ached to be moving in to a fighting stance. She let her sleek black hair fall around her face as she stared intently in to the sidewalk at her feet, deep in this self-pitied reverie. She above all them needed the time to practice. She would not let their group down when they would come to depend on her. The rest of them always seemed so strong and confident. Naruto, a blonde haired, blue eyed and boisterous man with incredible amounts of never ending energy had trained endlessly with some of the best masters. Sasuke, dark hair like her own and black eyes, had the inherited power over fire and plenty of lust for revenge to keep him strong. Sakura, pink hair and fair skin, was a top medic ninja and harnessed strength most females only dreamed of attaining. Kankuro, short, dark, spiky hair and wide, powerful build could not have looked more unlike his brother, Gaara. He had an arsenal of his favorite battle puppets that he could control to fight for him, but this by no means meant he could not win a hand to hand combat with ease.
And, finally, Gaara. For reasons unknown to her, Hinata wanted to be the best she could for him. Gaara was usually feared among other ninja who learned name. He wielded sand as a powerful weapon, turning it as sharp as the tip of a sword, or making it crush with massive weight. Gaara often used the sand to form an invisible armor that covered his skin. He was very skilled, lightning quick, and could kill in a heart beat. Hinata wished with all her heart Gaara would someday look at her abilities with pride.
Hinata nearly ran in to the door as she unconsciously walked at Gaara's side. He spoke not a word to her, looking forward as always. Whether he thought anything of her contemplative silence as they were finally admitted in to the club, Hinata could not be sure. He maintained his calm, cool expression with out the slightest hint of acknowledgment.
Inside the building, lights were swirling and flashing. People had glow sticks twirling above their heads. Strobe lights were pulsing to the beat of loud, fast and hard techno. Sakura appeared at Hinata's side as she fought through the milling people entering the door. Sakura's face lit up in excitement as they reached the balcony landing that overlooked a huge dance floor below being lorded over by the DJ from a raised stage.
“See! I told you this would be fun!” Sakura yelled in Hinata's ear over the music. Hinata could tell Sakura fit perfectly in to these surroundings, her pink hair practically glowing in the lights and her bubbly personality overflowing. Hinata merely nodded and continued to take in her surroundings. She had never been to such a place or had seen so many people crammed together, moving as one mass as they danced to the ever present beat. Naruto came bouncing behind Sakura, apparently dancing to a beat of his own. His smile took up his entire face, his eyes never stopped roving over the moving lines of people.
“Let's drink!” He exclaimed, his blue irises dancing from side to side.
He grabbed Sakura's hand and started dragging them to the east side of the building were a bar took up the entire wall. Sakura grabbed hold of Hinata and they snaked through the crowd. Many people were leaned up against the rail of the balcony, looking down on the dance floor with drinks in hand, mesmerized by the lights and sounds. Others were fighting for the bartender's attention, waving cash over their heads and yelling drink orders. Naruto pushed his way through a couple clearly in the middle of a conversation and leaned as far over the bar as he could.
Ignoring the angry looks boring holes through his back, the couple walked away as Naruto started yelling, “Hey! Beers?! Hey! Hello!? We need some beers! HEY! Three beers! HHHHEEYYY!!”
A disgruntled bartender dropped three beers in front of him and snatched the money from his hand. Naruto grinned happily, apparently completely unaware of the bartender's strong dislike for him. Naruto lifted the beers by the necks and handed one to Sakura and Hinata. Hinata wrinkled her nose at the smell of the contents.
“Hey, you gotta catch as catch can!” Naruto yelled over the music and he took a big swallow of his own beer.
Sakura resigned to her own beer, but after take a few small sips she leaned in to Hinata's ear, “I'll get some good drinks for us later.”
Hinata nodded and took a tiny sip. She prepared for the worse, hunching up her shoulders in disgust. But the fizziness of the drink delighted her, and the slight warmth that filled her stomach was calming. It tasted of the land and open air she missed so dearly and she soon started taking bigger mouthfuls of the the beer. Naruto smiled encouragingly at her obvious likening to it.
Gaara appeared to her right, sliding through the crowd as though the people were only water poured to either side as he moved. Hinata spotted Sasuke and Kankuro leaning against the rail, intently watching the mass move below them. Gaara followed her gaze and nodded to the dance floor. A warmth crept up her face as she contemplated his meaning. Gaara waited patiently for her reply to his request to dance. The intense stare only floundered Hinata more. Sakura, who had watched the exchange between the two, sighed in exasperation and leaned her shoulder in to Hinata's left side. Hinata was unexpectedly nudged against Gaara. His lips pulled up in to a small smile and he slid an arm around her waist to lead her to the stairs that would lead to below.
Hinata clutched the bottle to her chest, as this was the only action she could concentrate on besides the feel of Gaara's arm pressed to her. She slipped the mouth of the beer to her lips and drained the last of it before depositing it on the last table before they descended down the long stair case.
The mass of flesh below moved as one and yet each person had their own individual choreography that added to the sway of the whole crowd. It was like watching waves rolling along a vast ocean. Hinata watched their movements with bewilderment. Had she ever moved like that? Could she?
They reached the bottom of the stairs and Gaara began weaving between people and couples. Hinata followed. Her instincts told her not to immerse in to such a crowd (there's not enough room to fight!), but she weaved and dodged with well honed practice. She had spent countless years learning exactly how to avoid attacks of innumerable different kinds, and she passed through the crowd with out touching anyone.
Gaara turned around to face her and swept Hinata against him with one arm. His small smile opened wider. Hinata smiled back, feeling him move against her. Her instincts proved to her advantage again. She could calculate his next move and compliment it with one of her own. They had spent so much time sparring with each other, each could read the others body with out conscious thought. They danced so fluidly, people began to watch them, admiring the feline grace with which they interacted.
Naruto and Sakura joined the dance floor close by, but where Hinata and Gaara complimented each other perfectly, Naruto and Sakura moved as though in the middle of sparring practice. When Naruto would lean in to Sakura, she would lean back and come back to him from another direction, in which Naruto would dodge and move in again. Their dancing was fast and dizzying and they both had expressions of determination that was only undermined by their smiles of joy. Hinata watched the two, laughing to herself as they sped up their pace to match the change in the music tempo.
Gaara moved in close to Hinata, pressing himself tightly against her and bent his lips down to her ear. “Do you still have misgivings about coming here?”
Hinata closed her eyes briefly and inhaled the sent that lifted from his neck. He was intoxicating. How did he ever expect her to answer him when he smelled so good!?
Gaara pulled his head back up to look at her, always patiently waiting. Hinata lifted to her toes and spoke in his ear, “No, I do like it. But there are so many people here.”
Gaara looked around him at the crowd that pressed in on them and turned his green eyes back on her. “I only see you.”
Hinata's heart leaped in to her throat and her stomach filled with warmth. His expression showed all the vulnerability that never seemed to exist within this stoic, calm, youth. He was pleading her to understand him with out anymore words to express how he so intently loved her. And Hinata comprehended with out any more explanation. His large green eyes filled with as much yearning and passion as she felt for him. Gaara stopped moving and held her in both arms, pressing her tighter against his front. Hinata slid against him without breaking their gaze between each other. He tilted his head down and she raised up to him. Their lips barely brushed against each other and they exhaled together.
Hinata could take no more waiting, no more desire with out fulfillment. She pressed her lips against his. He squeezed her tighter in his arms and slid one hand through her sleek black hair. She opened her lips to him and tasted his skin. He held her so tight, it was almost painful. But Hinata couldn't remember what pain felt like. It was a sensation that couldn't exist in this world where she stood.
Gaara stiffened and abruptly lifted head, his auburn hair dropping in to his eyes. Hinata felt his skin start to harden under her touch. Her lips still burned as she herself tensed her muscles and opened her senses try to detect what Gaara was guarding himself against. She looks up to the balcony. Sasuke and Kankuro were both pushing through the crowd, shoving angry bystanders aside as they ran to the west side of the building. Sasuke, being slighter and shorter than Kankuro gained entrance to a doorway first. They both flew through it before anyone saw them.
Naruto and Sakura had both stopped dancing as well. The four of them all stood perfectly still, with wide eyes darting around them looking for what Sasuke and Kankuro already knew. People around them continued to move and sway, bumping in to the them as if they were pillars. Gaara's took a swift step away from Hinata, starting intently at the ceiling. His skin, hardened by the sand, scraped like granite along her back as his arm pulled away. Hinata, Sakura and Naruto all looked up. But they felt it before they saw anything.
The whole building tremored, shaking briefly before going still. Another tremor followed. Gaara started running for the stairs. Naruto wasted no time and leaped from the floor to a railing, using the strength he trained so hard to obtain. Sakura glared after him, and turned to follow Gaara. Hinata began weaving and spinning around people, the last in line to reach the stairs and sprint up them. They turned to the west wall as Naruto swung over the rail and lead the way in to an old stair well. They were several floors down from the roof. Everyone paused on the first flight of stairs, listening. The door to enter the stair well clicked shut behind them and without the music drowning out everything, they could hear faint explosions above them. Gaara started running up the stairs two at a time. Naruto again grabbed a rail and started leaping up the flights, rail to rail. Sakura and Hinata started after Gaara, running up the steps together. Round and round the flights went, reaching one floor and then turning to start up the next flight.
Naruto reached the roof access door first and kicked it open. Gaara ran past him, grains of sand starting to swirl in the air around him. Naruto, Sakura and Hinata stepped on to the roof and surveyed the area.
Sasuke was a blur, flames erupting from his mouth as he tried to hit what appeared to be a giant white bird. Kankuro was weaving around him, one of his puppets, a humanoid with long arms that ended in swords, was spitting poison needles from a gaping mouth up at the bird.
Hinata paused and slid down to one knee. She steepled her fingers in front of her and yelled “Byakugan!”. Her vision slid to the sight of chakra. She could see every living beings life force and where they concentrated their efforts. Naruto was beside her, glowing brighter by the second, forcing all of his energy in to his arms and legs. Sakura's fists were glowing, hand to hand combat her specialty. Hinata could now see the blue glowing strings that Kankuro used to control the puppet. Sasuke was darker and almost all of his energy dwelled in his chest, expelling in great gasps as he breath fire in to the night air. Gaara was a vortex, his chakra sand spinning around him and his skin glowing from the protective barrier encasing him.
When Hinata looked up to the bird, she could now see the man who was perched on top. The bird did not appear to have an life force at all. Hinata concluded the bird wasn't real, but very much like one of Kankuro's puppets, being controlled by the man riding it. He continuously slid his hand in to a bag her wore at his side, cupped something glowing with fierce amounts of energy and then threw it towards the roof. Each ball of energy would explode in blinding light. Sasuke and Kankuro expertly dodged the explosions and continued to attack the bird.
Hinata saw the genius of it. The bird could take all the hits with out damaging the wielder. She leaped forward, pulling a kunai knife from where it was hidden in her right pants pocket and thew it straight towards the rider. The bird banked right and up, barely moving out of range of the knife.
“Clever!! You must be a Hyuuga, or you never would have seen me!” called a deep male voice from the back of the bird.
Sasuke and Kankuro ceased their attacks, startled by the human voice they did not know belonged to a man they could not see.
The bird dived and swooped over the roof and they could catch a glimpse of a man with blonde hair in a black cloak that was decorated in red clouds.
“He's belongs to the Akatsuki,” stated Gaara who glared up at the bird.
“Oh, look!” called the man again as his bird banked around to face them. “It's Gaara! I thought I would have finished you off the last time I saw you!”
Gaara crossed his arms in front of him. “I know this man. He attacked my village in the sand country a few years ago. He works for our enemy, the Akatsuki, who intend to control this land with fear and violence. He fought very valiantly and I would not have won against him if it was not for the support of my village. It appears we both thought the other to be dead.”
“Oh, no Gaara! I would not go away so easily!” Another explosion was launched at them, but Gaara did not move a muscle as it hit the roof a few meters away.
“What do you want, Deidera?” Gaara spoke.
“I have been sent to finish a job I failed to do,” Deidera spoke with a pitch of near insanity, his voice rising higher. “I was supposed to kill you, Gaara, and I thought I had. But my leaders were furious when they found out you were still very much alive and healthy. We can't start ruling a country if strong ninja like you still oppose us.”
Gaara still did not move as the sand around him amassed and began to form a spear point. His eyes narrowed and the point flew towards the bird. Deidera laughed in wicked glee and dropped out of the sky, out of the way of Gaara's weapon.
Naruto, who had been waiting for his chance, launched himself forward, and jumped on to the back of the bird that had finally flown in to reach. He punched Deidera in the face, knocking him off the bird and on to the roof. The bird fell as soon as it's controller was unseated and Naruto jumped off it's back to land next to Deidera. When the bird hit the roof, it exploded.
Sakura, Sasuke and Kankuro all danced backwards, looking for solid footing as half the roof began to cave in and crumble in to the floor below them. Hinata jumped forward to protect Gaara, who still had not moved, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes never wavering from where Deidera had fallen.
Naruto grabbed the front of Deidera's cloak and punched him again, blood splaying out from the force. Deidera did not move or attempt to retaliate. He simply looked up at Naruto, dazed, but laughing.
“What's with this guy?” Naruto called to Gaara.
Gaara finally moved forward, his long legs bringing him beside Deidera, who was still in Naruto's clutch. He lay beneath Naruto, looking up at Gaara with a smile. Hinata slowly moved to stand beside Gaara. Gaara crossed his arms again.
“You were much harder to defeat last time we met. Something tells me you did not expect to leave this encounter,” Gaara stated, his voice showing no emotion.
Deidera shook his head, blood slipping from his mouth and nose where Naruto had hit him. “My job is not to survive, Gaara. My job is to eliminate.”
Deidera moved too swiftly for Naruto to react, but Hinata saw his intent in the shift of his chakra. He reached behind him and produced a kunai knife and thrust it straight at her heart. Hinata raised a palm in front of her, to slow it's movement, but the knife was thrown with such force, it would still penetrate her. She closed her eyes to accept the pain.
It did not come. She opened her eyes in shock, gasping as she was looking in to Gaara's back. He had stepped in front of her to stop the knife. She sighed with relief. Nothing could get through Gaara's sand armor. But he shoulders drooped and he sunk down to his knees, as though he was unable to hold himself up. Naruto was holding Deidera's arm, which was now clearly broken.
Sakura and Kankuro both rushed to Gaara. Sakura placed her arms on his shoulders and slowly pulled him down to lay beside Deidera, who looked on with manic glee. Hinata now could see the knife that struck him in his stomach, the blood flowing around the metal.
“But...,” was all she could managed to say. She stood frozen, staring down at Gaara who looked at Sakura for a confirmation of his wound.
“I have trained as a ninja medic for so many years, but I have never seen a poison this advanced. It won't let me stop the bleeding,” tears were filling Sakura's eyes as she pulled out the knife and pressed on this wound. “I.....I don't think I can heal this.”
Hinata whispered, “Please.....try.”
Sakura's hands began to glow green and she held her breath as she forced her energy in to the complex power of healing the wound closed. She let out a strangled sob as the blood started flowing around her hands.
“It's not stopping!” she cried.
Kankuro sat beside Gaara and pulled his head in to his lap. “Brother, you have never loved until this night. I believe that proved to be the weakness they were waiting for.” Tears started falling from Kankuro's eyes and splattering his brother's face.
Gaara looked up at Kankuro and weakly smiled. “I would have loved her anyway.”
Hinata dropped to her knees beside Kankuro, her sight returning to normal as her concentration on her power was finally broken. Gaara gazed up at her, always patient. Her chest began to heave with labored breaths and sobs were escaping from her when she couldn't hold them back.
“I love you, too,” she managed between breaths.
“I know, Hinata,” Gaara spoke very softly. He eyes began to droop and his breathing was shallow.
Hinata leaned forward, kissing him lightly. Warm blood spread in to his mouth and covered lips in deep red. With out any more breaths to take, Gaara closed his eyes and was still.
Hinata stood very slowly and turned to face Deidera. She was terrifying. Her eyes were bright white as she used her power to see her enemy more clearly. Her lips were red and her skin was glowing pale in the night. Deidera's smile finally faded as he watched this girl advance on him. Naruto loosened his grip on Deidera's cloak and stepped away, retreating from Hinata's fury. A wind whipped through Hinata's black hair and billowed around her terrifying face. Deidera whimpered and started to scramble backwards to try to put distance between himself and Hinata. Sasuke stepped up from the shadows where he had been watching and stopped Deidera from moving any farther. Sasuke, of all occupants of the roof, knew what the desire for revenge felt like, and would not let this chance to slip from Hinata.
Hinata studied the life flow of her victim. She could see where all the points in his body the energy originated. She focused on one that was in his left knee and struck her palm against it with shattering force. Deidera screamed in to the night, the physical pain of his shattered knee being drowned out by the pain of his body losing some of it's life. Hinata listened to his scream with satisfaction and struck his right knee. Another scream erupted from Deidera's mouth. Hinata tilted her head and smiled at him. She moved to strike a spot in his right arm, when Deidera attempted to block her palm. Sasuke hit him in the face and stood at attention again, allowing Hinata to finish.
Hinata struck Deidera over and over, his life slowly leaving his body, but his mind feeling each death keenly. He screamed until his voice was too hoarse to do so, and merely starting sobbing. Sasuke did not move from his guard, making sure Hinata had fulfilled her needs.
Naruto and Sakura stood beside each other, watching with expressions of horror and jumping at each scream Deidera let out. But they did not interfere. Kankuro stood with his back to them all, weeping and listening to the sounds of his brother's murderer's death.
Fandom: Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto
Prompt: Number 312 “Catch As Catch Can”
Warnings: Be kind, this is my first post!
Summary: Hinata and Gaara find each other, but it will lead to a savage end.
This was previously posted on Taming The Muse and I wanted it on my Journal
Hinata watched Gaara walk beside her, his long limbs eating up the sidewalk as he looked straight ahead. He always seemed to have a seriousness to his face, so quiet, calm and introverted. But lately Hinata could see the light that danced in his green eyes. His pale face revealed nothing. It was there, though, when he cast his gaze on her. She would swear by it. Or, perhaps, she simply spent too much time looking in his direction lately. Hinata always felt strangely drawn to the lean, auburn hair man. In recent weeks, she watched him more and more, seeking out the changes in his eyes, especially when those green eyes looked in to her pale blue ones.
“I think we are nearly there,” Gaara softly spoke to her, still looking straight ahead.
Hinata looked up the sidewalk in the direction Gaara faced and caught the back of their party slipping in to a door half a block ahead. Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto and Kankuro had already entered the night club before Gaara and Hinata had made it to the door.
Hinata was reliving her dismay at being forced out of their home. She had not come accustomed to the routine the group of friends had established in their large home on the very outskirts of downtown. They had not lived in the city for long, and the transition was hardest for her out of all them. She longed for her home in the hidden village. Ninja like herself and her colleagues were not meant to be forced in to such dense populations where there was rarely even a moment of peace to train. Each of them desperately needed the time to hone their special abilities, and this cityscape would not be the place to nourish good habits.
Hinata sighed as Gaara and herself queued in to the line that was forming outside the club door. Music bass was hitting the walls of the building and people in line were already swaying to the beat. Hinata's muscles only ached to be moving in to a fighting stance. She let her sleek black hair fall around her face as she stared intently in to the sidewalk at her feet, deep in this self-pitied reverie. She above all them needed the time to practice. She would not let their group down when they would come to depend on her. The rest of them always seemed so strong and confident. Naruto, a blonde haired, blue eyed and boisterous man with incredible amounts of never ending energy had trained endlessly with some of the best masters. Sasuke, dark hair like her own and black eyes, had the inherited power over fire and plenty of lust for revenge to keep him strong. Sakura, pink hair and fair skin, was a top medic ninja and harnessed strength most females only dreamed of attaining. Kankuro, short, dark, spiky hair and wide, powerful build could not have looked more unlike his brother, Gaara. He had an arsenal of his favorite battle puppets that he could control to fight for him, but this by no means meant he could not win a hand to hand combat with ease.
And, finally, Gaara. For reasons unknown to her, Hinata wanted to be the best she could for him. Gaara was usually feared among other ninja who learned name. He wielded sand as a powerful weapon, turning it as sharp as the tip of a sword, or making it crush with massive weight. Gaara often used the sand to form an invisible armor that covered his skin. He was very skilled, lightning quick, and could kill in a heart beat. Hinata wished with all her heart Gaara would someday look at her abilities with pride.
Hinata nearly ran in to the door as she unconsciously walked at Gaara's side. He spoke not a word to her, looking forward as always. Whether he thought anything of her contemplative silence as they were finally admitted in to the club, Hinata could not be sure. He maintained his calm, cool expression with out the slightest hint of acknowledgment.
Inside the building, lights were swirling and flashing. People had glow sticks twirling above their heads. Strobe lights were pulsing to the beat of loud, fast and hard techno. Sakura appeared at Hinata's side as she fought through the milling people entering the door. Sakura's face lit up in excitement as they reached the balcony landing that overlooked a huge dance floor below being lorded over by the DJ from a raised stage.
“See! I told you this would be fun!” Sakura yelled in Hinata's ear over the music. Hinata could tell Sakura fit perfectly in to these surroundings, her pink hair practically glowing in the lights and her bubbly personality overflowing. Hinata merely nodded and continued to take in her surroundings. She had never been to such a place or had seen so many people crammed together, moving as one mass as they danced to the ever present beat. Naruto came bouncing behind Sakura, apparently dancing to a beat of his own. His smile took up his entire face, his eyes never stopped roving over the moving lines of people.
“Let's drink!” He exclaimed, his blue irises dancing from side to side.
He grabbed Sakura's hand and started dragging them to the east side of the building were a bar took up the entire wall. Sakura grabbed hold of Hinata and they snaked through the crowd. Many people were leaned up against the rail of the balcony, looking down on the dance floor with drinks in hand, mesmerized by the lights and sounds. Others were fighting for the bartender's attention, waving cash over their heads and yelling drink orders. Naruto pushed his way through a couple clearly in the middle of a conversation and leaned as far over the bar as he could.
Ignoring the angry looks boring holes through his back, the couple walked away as Naruto started yelling, “Hey! Beers?! Hey! Hello!? We need some beers! HEY! Three beers! HHHHEEYYY!!”
A disgruntled bartender dropped three beers in front of him and snatched the money from his hand. Naruto grinned happily, apparently completely unaware of the bartender's strong dislike for him. Naruto lifted the beers by the necks and handed one to Sakura and Hinata. Hinata wrinkled her nose at the smell of the contents.
“Hey, you gotta catch as catch can!” Naruto yelled over the music and he took a big swallow of his own beer.
Sakura resigned to her own beer, but after take a few small sips she leaned in to Hinata's ear, “I'll get some good drinks for us later.”
Hinata nodded and took a tiny sip. She prepared for the worse, hunching up her shoulders in disgust. But the fizziness of the drink delighted her, and the slight warmth that filled her stomach was calming. It tasted of the land and open air she missed so dearly and she soon started taking bigger mouthfuls of the the beer. Naruto smiled encouragingly at her obvious likening to it.
Gaara appeared to her right, sliding through the crowd as though the people were only water poured to either side as he moved. Hinata spotted Sasuke and Kankuro leaning against the rail, intently watching the mass move below them. Gaara followed her gaze and nodded to the dance floor. A warmth crept up her face as she contemplated his meaning. Gaara waited patiently for her reply to his request to dance. The intense stare only floundered Hinata more. Sakura, who had watched the exchange between the two, sighed in exasperation and leaned her shoulder in to Hinata's left side. Hinata was unexpectedly nudged against Gaara. His lips pulled up in to a small smile and he slid an arm around her waist to lead her to the stairs that would lead to below.
Hinata clutched the bottle to her chest, as this was the only action she could concentrate on besides the feel of Gaara's arm pressed to her. She slipped the mouth of the beer to her lips and drained the last of it before depositing it on the last table before they descended down the long stair case.
The mass of flesh below moved as one and yet each person had their own individual choreography that added to the sway of the whole crowd. It was like watching waves rolling along a vast ocean. Hinata watched their movements with bewilderment. Had she ever moved like that? Could she?
They reached the bottom of the stairs and Gaara began weaving between people and couples. Hinata followed. Her instincts told her not to immerse in to such a crowd (there's not enough room to fight!), but she weaved and dodged with well honed practice. She had spent countless years learning exactly how to avoid attacks of innumerable different kinds, and she passed through the crowd with out touching anyone.
Gaara turned around to face her and swept Hinata against him with one arm. His small smile opened wider. Hinata smiled back, feeling him move against her. Her instincts proved to her advantage again. She could calculate his next move and compliment it with one of her own. They had spent so much time sparring with each other, each could read the others body with out conscious thought. They danced so fluidly, people began to watch them, admiring the feline grace with which they interacted.
Naruto and Sakura joined the dance floor close by, but where Hinata and Gaara complimented each other perfectly, Naruto and Sakura moved as though in the middle of sparring practice. When Naruto would lean in to Sakura, she would lean back and come back to him from another direction, in which Naruto would dodge and move in again. Their dancing was fast and dizzying and they both had expressions of determination that was only undermined by their smiles of joy. Hinata watched the two, laughing to herself as they sped up their pace to match the change in the music tempo.
Gaara moved in close to Hinata, pressing himself tightly against her and bent his lips down to her ear. “Do you still have misgivings about coming here?”
Hinata closed her eyes briefly and inhaled the sent that lifted from his neck. He was intoxicating. How did he ever expect her to answer him when he smelled so good!?
Gaara pulled his head back up to look at her, always patiently waiting. Hinata lifted to her toes and spoke in his ear, “No, I do like it. But there are so many people here.”
Gaara looked around him at the crowd that pressed in on them and turned his green eyes back on her. “I only see you.”
Hinata's heart leaped in to her throat and her stomach filled with warmth. His expression showed all the vulnerability that never seemed to exist within this stoic, calm, youth. He was pleading her to understand him with out anymore words to express how he so intently loved her. And Hinata comprehended with out any more explanation. His large green eyes filled with as much yearning and passion as she felt for him. Gaara stopped moving and held her in both arms, pressing her tighter against his front. Hinata slid against him without breaking their gaze between each other. He tilted his head down and she raised up to him. Their lips barely brushed against each other and they exhaled together.
Hinata could take no more waiting, no more desire with out fulfillment. She pressed her lips against his. He squeezed her tighter in his arms and slid one hand through her sleek black hair. She opened her lips to him and tasted his skin. He held her so tight, it was almost painful. But Hinata couldn't remember what pain felt like. It was a sensation that couldn't exist in this world where she stood.
Gaara stiffened and abruptly lifted head, his auburn hair dropping in to his eyes. Hinata felt his skin start to harden under her touch. Her lips still burned as she herself tensed her muscles and opened her senses try to detect what Gaara was guarding himself against. She looks up to the balcony. Sasuke and Kankuro were both pushing through the crowd, shoving angry bystanders aside as they ran to the west side of the building. Sasuke, being slighter and shorter than Kankuro gained entrance to a doorway first. They both flew through it before anyone saw them.
Naruto and Sakura had both stopped dancing as well. The four of them all stood perfectly still, with wide eyes darting around them looking for what Sasuke and Kankuro already knew. People around them continued to move and sway, bumping in to the them as if they were pillars. Gaara's took a swift step away from Hinata, starting intently at the ceiling. His skin, hardened by the sand, scraped like granite along her back as his arm pulled away. Hinata, Sakura and Naruto all looked up. But they felt it before they saw anything.
The whole building tremored, shaking briefly before going still. Another tremor followed. Gaara started running for the stairs. Naruto wasted no time and leaped from the floor to a railing, using the strength he trained so hard to obtain. Sakura glared after him, and turned to follow Gaara. Hinata began weaving and spinning around people, the last in line to reach the stairs and sprint up them. They turned to the west wall as Naruto swung over the rail and lead the way in to an old stair well. They were several floors down from the roof. Everyone paused on the first flight of stairs, listening. The door to enter the stair well clicked shut behind them and without the music drowning out everything, they could hear faint explosions above them. Gaara started running up the stairs two at a time. Naruto again grabbed a rail and started leaping up the flights, rail to rail. Sakura and Hinata started after Gaara, running up the steps together. Round and round the flights went, reaching one floor and then turning to start up the next flight.
Naruto reached the roof access door first and kicked it open. Gaara ran past him, grains of sand starting to swirl in the air around him. Naruto, Sakura and Hinata stepped on to the roof and surveyed the area.
Sasuke was a blur, flames erupting from his mouth as he tried to hit what appeared to be a giant white bird. Kankuro was weaving around him, one of his puppets, a humanoid with long arms that ended in swords, was spitting poison needles from a gaping mouth up at the bird.
Hinata paused and slid down to one knee. She steepled her fingers in front of her and yelled “Byakugan!”. Her vision slid to the sight of chakra. She could see every living beings life force and where they concentrated their efforts. Naruto was beside her, glowing brighter by the second, forcing all of his energy in to his arms and legs. Sakura's fists were glowing, hand to hand combat her specialty. Hinata could now see the blue glowing strings that Kankuro used to control the puppet. Sasuke was darker and almost all of his energy dwelled in his chest, expelling in great gasps as he breath fire in to the night air. Gaara was a vortex, his chakra sand spinning around him and his skin glowing from the protective barrier encasing him.
When Hinata looked up to the bird, she could now see the man who was perched on top. The bird did not appear to have an life force at all. Hinata concluded the bird wasn't real, but very much like one of Kankuro's puppets, being controlled by the man riding it. He continuously slid his hand in to a bag her wore at his side, cupped something glowing with fierce amounts of energy and then threw it towards the roof. Each ball of energy would explode in blinding light. Sasuke and Kankuro expertly dodged the explosions and continued to attack the bird.
Hinata saw the genius of it. The bird could take all the hits with out damaging the wielder. She leaped forward, pulling a kunai knife from where it was hidden in her right pants pocket and thew it straight towards the rider. The bird banked right and up, barely moving out of range of the knife.
“Clever!! You must be a Hyuuga, or you never would have seen me!” called a deep male voice from the back of the bird.
Sasuke and Kankuro ceased their attacks, startled by the human voice they did not know belonged to a man they could not see.
The bird dived and swooped over the roof and they could catch a glimpse of a man with blonde hair in a black cloak that was decorated in red clouds.
“He's belongs to the Akatsuki,” stated Gaara who glared up at the bird.
“Oh, look!” called the man again as his bird banked around to face them. “It's Gaara! I thought I would have finished you off the last time I saw you!”
Gaara crossed his arms in front of him. “I know this man. He attacked my village in the sand country a few years ago. He works for our enemy, the Akatsuki, who intend to control this land with fear and violence. He fought very valiantly and I would not have won against him if it was not for the support of my village. It appears we both thought the other to be dead.”
“Oh, no Gaara! I would not go away so easily!” Another explosion was launched at them, but Gaara did not move a muscle as it hit the roof a few meters away.
“What do you want, Deidera?” Gaara spoke.
“I have been sent to finish a job I failed to do,” Deidera spoke with a pitch of near insanity, his voice rising higher. “I was supposed to kill you, Gaara, and I thought I had. But my leaders were furious when they found out you were still very much alive and healthy. We can't start ruling a country if strong ninja like you still oppose us.”
Gaara still did not move as the sand around him amassed and began to form a spear point. His eyes narrowed and the point flew towards the bird. Deidera laughed in wicked glee and dropped out of the sky, out of the way of Gaara's weapon.
Naruto, who had been waiting for his chance, launched himself forward, and jumped on to the back of the bird that had finally flown in to reach. He punched Deidera in the face, knocking him off the bird and on to the roof. The bird fell as soon as it's controller was unseated and Naruto jumped off it's back to land next to Deidera. When the bird hit the roof, it exploded.
Sakura, Sasuke and Kankuro all danced backwards, looking for solid footing as half the roof began to cave in and crumble in to the floor below them. Hinata jumped forward to protect Gaara, who still had not moved, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes never wavering from where Deidera had fallen.
Naruto grabbed the front of Deidera's cloak and punched him again, blood splaying out from the force. Deidera did not move or attempt to retaliate. He simply looked up at Naruto, dazed, but laughing.
“What's with this guy?” Naruto called to Gaara.
Gaara finally moved forward, his long legs bringing him beside Deidera, who was still in Naruto's clutch. He lay beneath Naruto, looking up at Gaara with a smile. Hinata slowly moved to stand beside Gaara. Gaara crossed his arms again.
“You were much harder to defeat last time we met. Something tells me you did not expect to leave this encounter,” Gaara stated, his voice showing no emotion.
Deidera shook his head, blood slipping from his mouth and nose where Naruto had hit him. “My job is not to survive, Gaara. My job is to eliminate.”
Deidera moved too swiftly for Naruto to react, but Hinata saw his intent in the shift of his chakra. He reached behind him and produced a kunai knife and thrust it straight at her heart. Hinata raised a palm in front of her, to slow it's movement, but the knife was thrown with such force, it would still penetrate her. She closed her eyes to accept the pain.
It did not come. She opened her eyes in shock, gasping as she was looking in to Gaara's back. He had stepped in front of her to stop the knife. She sighed with relief. Nothing could get through Gaara's sand armor. But he shoulders drooped and he sunk down to his knees, as though he was unable to hold himself up. Naruto was holding Deidera's arm, which was now clearly broken.
Sakura and Kankuro both rushed to Gaara. Sakura placed her arms on his shoulders and slowly pulled him down to lay beside Deidera, who looked on with manic glee. Hinata now could see the knife that struck him in his stomach, the blood flowing around the metal.
“But...,” was all she could managed to say. She stood frozen, staring down at Gaara who looked at Sakura for a confirmation of his wound.
“I have trained as a ninja medic for so many years, but I have never seen a poison this advanced. It won't let me stop the bleeding,” tears were filling Sakura's eyes as she pulled out the knife and pressed on this wound. “I.....I don't think I can heal this.”
Hinata whispered, “Please.....try.”
Sakura's hands began to glow green and she held her breath as she forced her energy in to the complex power of healing the wound closed. She let out a strangled sob as the blood started flowing around her hands.
“It's not stopping!” she cried.
Kankuro sat beside Gaara and pulled his head in to his lap. “Brother, you have never loved until this night. I believe that proved to be the weakness they were waiting for.” Tears started falling from Kankuro's eyes and splattering his brother's face.
Gaara looked up at Kankuro and weakly smiled. “I would have loved her anyway.”
Hinata dropped to her knees beside Kankuro, her sight returning to normal as her concentration on her power was finally broken. Gaara gazed up at her, always patient. Her chest began to heave with labored breaths and sobs were escaping from her when she couldn't hold them back.
“I love you, too,” she managed between breaths.
“I know, Hinata,” Gaara spoke very softly. He eyes began to droop and his breathing was shallow.
Hinata leaned forward, kissing him lightly. Warm blood spread in to his mouth and covered lips in deep red. With out any more breaths to take, Gaara closed his eyes and was still.
Hinata stood very slowly and turned to face Deidera. She was terrifying. Her eyes were bright white as she used her power to see her enemy more clearly. Her lips were red and her skin was glowing pale in the night. Deidera's smile finally faded as he watched this girl advance on him. Naruto loosened his grip on Deidera's cloak and stepped away, retreating from Hinata's fury. A wind whipped through Hinata's black hair and billowed around her terrifying face. Deidera whimpered and started to scramble backwards to try to put distance between himself and Hinata. Sasuke stepped up from the shadows where he had been watching and stopped Deidera from moving any farther. Sasuke, of all occupants of the roof, knew what the desire for revenge felt like, and would not let this chance to slip from Hinata.
Hinata studied the life flow of her victim. She could see where all the points in his body the energy originated. She focused on one that was in his left knee and struck her palm against it with shattering force. Deidera screamed in to the night, the physical pain of his shattered knee being drowned out by the pain of his body losing some of it's life. Hinata listened to his scream with satisfaction and struck his right knee. Another scream erupted from Deidera's mouth. Hinata tilted her head and smiled at him. She moved to strike a spot in his right arm, when Deidera attempted to block her palm. Sasuke hit him in the face and stood at attention again, allowing Hinata to finish.
Hinata struck Deidera over and over, his life slowly leaving his body, but his mind feeling each death keenly. He screamed until his voice was too hoarse to do so, and merely starting sobbing. Sasuke did not move from his guard, making sure Hinata had fulfilled her needs.
Naruto and Sakura stood beside each other, watching with expressions of horror and jumping at each scream Deidera let out. But they did not interfere. Kankuro stood with his back to them all, weeping and listening to the sounds of his brother's murderer's death.