Hinata had been sent on a mission to Suna. It was shortly after Naruto and team Gai had returned from their mission to retrieve Gaara, the sand village's Kazekage. Apparently Gaara had been kidnapped by a group called the Akatsuki, who was after the tailed beasts. The young Kazekage had died when the bijuu was extracted from him but an elder had brought him back to life by giving up her own. Hinata smiled as she thought about how happy Naruto had seemed. Lady Tsunade had wanted to check out Gaara's chakra paths to make sure that they hadn't been hurt during the extraction of the one tailed beast. Hinata had been sent for the mission. She was supposed to have left with Kiba and Shino, but the bug user had an important clan meeting to attend to and the dog lover had turned ill the last minute. Since the mission was fairly simple, she had been sent alone.

While Neji was way stronger than her, Hinata's eyes were just as good as his, and Hinata was happy to be out of the village, though her feelings where a little mixed. Last time she had seen Gaara, he had been scary. But now Naruto seemed fond of him so Hinata was glad to be able to meet him in person. At the same time, leaving the village meant that she wouldn't be able to see Naruto now that he finally was back from his long training trip with Jiraiya. Hinata set her mind to complete the mission as fast as she could.

She had travelled already for almost two days. The landscape was changing, with less trees and vegetation. The ground was becoming dryer. She was reaching the desert.

Being away gave her time to think about her feelings for Naruto. To be honest, she had been overwhelmed when she first saw him. He had grown so tall, become so handsome and her heart had been beating so, so very hard when she saw him. Just thinking about him made her checks flush pink.

She wanted to tell him but… he was always so busy, and honestly he only had eyes for Sakura. Hinata didn't want to be jealous of the pink haired girl but whenever she had Naruto's full attention she couldn't seem to help herself. Sakura didn't even appreciate him and it made Hinata so angry sometimes. How could she, a shy girl who kept stuttering and fainting around him, ever compare to someone as confident as Sakura? But Hinata knew she'd never give up. She would become stronger, and eventually Naruto would recognize her.

A hot wind from the dessert blew hard though her long hair, and Hinata smiled.

o o o

Hinata reached Suna the next day. It was much warmer here than it was in Konoha. Hinata almost wanted to take her longarmed jacket off -but only almost. Because of the recent attack on the village, the guard was high, but Hinata easily got in after she had showed the Hokage's signature. She guessed they had been expecting her. She was sad to see how the entrance had been destroyed, but happy the beautifully built village itself seemed to have survived the attack unscratched. Shortly after getting inside, Temari and Shikamaru met her.

"Hello Hinata. How did the trip go?" The blonde kunoichi greeted her, as they walked off towards the Kazekage building.

Hinata smiled shyly. "Good, thank you."

Shikamaru smirked at her. "I'll be leaving with you when you return to Konoha so you won't have to travel alone again. It's troublesome to go back, but my work here is done."

Temari elbowed him. "You think everything is troublesome, lazy pineapple head," she teased him.

Shikamaru merely glanced at her and sighed. Hinata held back a smile.

They were now standing in front of the tall building where Gaara had his office. Temari and Shikamaru walked her inside and then left her in front of Gaara's door.

"Good luck," Temari singsonged as she walked away, dragging Shikamaru with her. "I'll be borrowing this until you have to go!"

The "this" in question groaned dramatically in defeat.

As they rounded the corner, Hinata knocked on the door in front of her.

"Come in", she heard Gaara's hoarse voice on the other side of the door. Ironically, his voice really seemed to fit with his county.

Turning the doorknob, she walked inside. Gaara sat behind his desk and putted away a few files.

"Lord Kazekage," she bowed her head in respect, "I am her by orders of Lady Tsunade."

Gaara had by now put away all his papers and looked up at her. "Yes. You're here to check my chakra foils. What do you need me to do?"

"I-I'll just ask a few questions… and you can just stand up straight so I can see everything clearly."

"You can check my chakra paths first and then we'll speak. I usually have my afternoon tea at this time, maybe we can talk then?"

"Uh, yes, s-sure, Lord Kazekage."

"No need to be so formal." Gaara turned to Kankuro, "Could you make some tea for me and this young lady?"

"Of course, Gaara." Kankuro left the room, but not before winking at Hinata. She blushed, and the redhead sighed silently.

Gaara stood up and walked closer to her. Hinata fought against the urge to swallow. Gaara was imitating all the time, but even more so when he was standing up.

"You may start," he finally said.

Oh! Of course. Immediately Hinata activated her bloodline limit. Gaara's blue chakra paths became clearly visible to her. She noticed that his chakra paths where bigger than most people, but she saw no harm done to his system and no traces of tailed-beast chakra left. The enlarged chakra foils might very well be a result from the stain the beast chakra left on his body. Naruto too, had big chakra foils, though his chakra had traces of foreign, red chakra in it because of the Kyuubi. Gaara seemed fine to her. She turned her byakugan off.

"I couldn't find anything wrong with your chakra paths," she told him. Gaara gave her a small smile. It surprised her. She wasn't ready for any visual act of… emotion from the Kazekage. But she quickly recovered and smiled back timidly at him.

Gaara pulled out a chair to her, "Please sit down," he said as he sat down by the table himself. Hinata followed, quietly sitting down.

Just in that moment, Kankuro came in with two cups of hot, steamy tea.

He out the cups down in front of them, Hinata thanked him politely and Gaara didn't say anything at all. He left the room, and everything become silent. Hinata realized that it wasn't an uncomfortable silence but she was supposed to ask questions, so she had to break it.

"Do your muscles or anything hurt when you use chakra?"

"No," came the simple answer. Hinata nodded, but didn't write up him answers. She didn't have that many questions, and she would remember his answers without taking notes.

"Can you feel any traces of Shikaku?"

"No."

"You couldn't sleep as a jinjuuricki. How do you sleep now?"

"It was hard first, but… Now I'm… learning."

"Have you experienced any pain since after you were healed? Any troubles at all?"

"No."

Hinata nodded again. "I think that was everything." She brought the cup of tea closer. It smelled delicious, but it was too hot to drink, so after sniffing at it, she put it down again.

"What kind of tea is this? I don't think I've ever tried it before."

"Suna is too dry for most tea plants. This tea is a mix from imported tea from the land of Rivers and the land of Grass mixed with local cactus flowers. We call it Desert tea, though the name is misleading since no actual tealeaves are from here."

Tea from cactus? She couldn't have guessed it. But if it tasted as good as it smelled, it seemed to be a hit. Maybe she should try to find some tea to bring home to Neji and her father. She knew Neji loved tea like no one else, however, he was extremely picky.

"So," Gaara said, "How is Naruto doing?"

Hinata blushed at the question. "He-he's doing well. I think his team is leaving for a mission out of Konoha soon." Hinata was silent a moment, but Gaara said nothing, so she continued. "He's working really hard to become a kage like you and he spends as much time training as he can. He's really doing his best, never giving up."

"You admire him."

Hinata blushed even deeper. "N-no… I mean yes, b-b-but…."

"I admire him too."

"You do?"

"Yes. Meeting him changed my life." Gaara's teal colored eyes met her lavender ones, and she looked away.

"I-I'm happy," she stuttered.

"Tell me, Hinata, wasn't it?" Gaara leaned forward slightly.

"Yes?"

"Do you…. love him?"

Hinata's blush had almost disappeared, but now her face went beet red.

"Y-yes," She whispered. Gaara looked out through the window, thinking.

"How do you know?" he asked her almost softly, "What is love?"

Hinata looked down on the table as she answered. "I… get these warm feelings when I'm around him and… I'd do anything to protect him… even giving up my life." Hinata took up her cup again, bringing it closer to her lips.

It took a few seconds before Gaara answered.

"I feel the same way. Does that mean I'm in love with him too?"

The mental image of Gaara and Naruto making out almost made her faint. If her hand hadn't shaken so that hot tea touched and burned her lips, she would have fainted for real. Her face, neck and ears turned deep scarlet.

"Uh-uh-uh… ehh. Uhhh umm…" she said.

This wasn't good. She couldn't faint now! Desperately she tried to shove the thought out of her head.

Gaara, looking emotionless as ever, only titled his head to the side in a silent question at her behavior.

It took a few minutes before she could answer.

"I-I guess it could but it doesn't have to… There's different kind of love, love for your family, love for your pets, love for friends and then romantically love too. Friendly and romantically love can overlap but doesn't have too. I'd die for my little sister Hanabi… but the person I'm in love with is Naruto."

"How do you know the difference?"

"Uh… I guess…. I won't kiss my friends but… I'd kiss Naruto if I didn't faint first."

Gaara raised his nonexistent eyebrow. "So, does that mean that anyone I want to kiss, I love romantically?"

"N-no… That's… l-l-lust." Her face heated up even more. This subject really had passed what she felt comfortable talking about. Especially with a male.

Gaara took a sip of his tea. "I see…. Thank you."

"For what?"

"Explaining."

"It was nothing, really."

Maybe talking with Gaara wasn't so bad after all. He listened to her and he didn't laugh. She didn't know why but… she'd never want to speak with someone else about it. Gaara was… fine, though. He was alright. And he was the very first person she had told about her feelings for Naruto. Somehow, having shared that had lifted a weight on her chest she didn't know she had. She knew Gaara wouldn't go and tell anyone about it. She could trust him.

"It meant a lot to me," Gaara replied.

She lifted her cup again, and now the tea had finally cooled enough to drink. It was almost too warm to drink tea here is Suna though…. this was really, really good. She definitely had to find some to bring back to Neji.

After finishing her tea, she stood up.

"I should head back to Konoha now…." Her voice trailed off at the end. Why? Why didn't she want to go back? She wanted a refill of tea and to continue to speak with the Sand's Kazekage. Why? It…. Wasn't just because she had liked the tea, she knew that much.

Gaara stood up too. "Yes. Thank you for your time. Have a safe trip."

"I will… and thank you for the tea." She smiled almost shyly at him, and when his turquoise eyes meet hers, she was caught in his gaze. Realizing she had been staring at him, and he at her, she broke eye contact quickly, embarrassed.

She walked away to the doors, but when she reached out her hand to open it, she hesitated. Why?

Suddenly she felt strong arms wrapping around her from behind and she froze. She had never noticed Gaara walking closer to her.

"W-wha-what are y-you d-d-doing?"

He pulled her smaller body into his chest. "Just… showing friendly affection."

He smelled good, and she let herself lean back into his embrace. Why, she didn't know. She was in love with Naruto, so why could she feel butterflies in her stomach? Why was her heart beating so hard? She got the unexpected urge to turn around and hug him back but… the thought alone was too overwhelming, much less to actually go through with it. She was too shy to. Just thinking about it made her feel dizzy.

Maybe…. Maybe next time. Next time, she'd definitely hug him back. She didn't know how she knew there was going to be a next time, but she did.

o o o

Leaving the Kazekage office, she felt more giddy and warm than Naruto had ever made her feel. When she finally met Shikamaru and Temari, the smile she wore made the two look funnily at each other.

"Next time you come here, maybe I can too," she said to Shikamaru as they began to travel back home, Hinata clenching to a brown paper bag that said 'Tea- Taste of the Desert.'

The chunin looked at young Hyuuga. "Uh, what?"

As if on cue, Hinata blushed. "N-nothing."

Shikamaru gave her a troubled look. Was he supposed to be… worried over this?

Hinata was too deep in thought to notice. Thinking closely about it, crimson hair really was hotter than bright blonde. And red and dark purple looked a whole lot better together than yellow and purple.

o o o

The End.

A/N This story is dedicated to a special friend of mine! Hope you liked it. Please comment below! Reviews help me become a better writer and they make me very happy too!

Naruto and its characters belong to Kishimoto, the writing to me.