A/N – First of all, I'd like to say that…I AM SUPER UBER SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING FOR THREE YEARS. ._. As you may have noticed…that's a really..really long time. Anyway, hopefully, I'd be forgiven. T__T I already had a chapter halfway written, but I lost it…oh well. I CAN FIX THAT!

I ESPECIALLY MISS THIS PART:

Disclaimer: It has already been a couple of years…So I'd like to make this disclaimer hilarious. :3

"Knock knock."

"Who's there?"

"Me!"

"Me who?"

"Me no owney Naruto. :3"

"….duh."

Okay. That wasn't funny. .

-

A pair of blue eyes followed a certain redhead's path towards home. These pair of blue eyes belonged to one, Uzumaki Naruto, a wonderfully nosy friend of Gaara's. The blonde was taken with curiosity as Gaara took a sharp turn to the right into an alley.

"What is he doing?" mumbled Naruto. He crept out of the bushes and tossed away the leafy accessories he had adorned his head with as "camouflage." He threw himself against the wall and peeked from the corner into the alley.

Gaara was leaning against the wall, right next to a dumpster. (How in hell does he stand the smell?, thought the blonde.) The darkening sky blurred Naruto's vision a little, but he could still manage to make out that the person was definitely his friend. Naruto used the increasing darkness to creep behind a pile of trash.

Unlike Gaara, he couldn't exactly STAND it. He started gagging.

Silently of course.

A loud chuckle suddenly came from where Naruto was five minutes ago. Lucky for the blonde, he was completely hidden by the stinking pile of leftover dinners and lovely pieces of an unknown, furry material. He wasn't going to be discovered anytime soon.

"Shukaku-san! It's wonderful seeing you again." Said a voice, dripping with false sincerity. Naruto couldn't recognize it at all.

"You. Why do you want to see me now? I got the text in last period." Growled the familiar voice of Gaara.

"You see…one of my clients had some problems with the money transfer. It had turned out to be a little higher than they had intended." Said the other person.

"Just like last time right?" scoffed Gaara.

Naruto managed to find a hole in between two blocky trash bags. The dark took over at this time, so he could only see a tall, thin stature of the mystery man.

"Ohh, Shukaku-san, you don't want your identity revealed to my clients now do you? They would tear you apart if they figure out what YOU'VE tricked them into buying." Laughed the mystery man that Naruto started referring to as "Mr. X" in his mind.

Following the threat, a loud clash of metal could be heard. Had Gaara thrown something? Thought Naruto. He squinted his eyes a little, trying to get a better view. Then, there was shouting and a continuous flow of thuds and crashes. Eventually, the streetlights went on.

Using the light, Naruto could see the redhead's eyes were wide open and his mouth was fixed into a snarl. The other figure wore all black and his face was concealed underneath a white theater mask. A trashcan on its side rolled away from the two, having been thrown.

Within two seconds, Mr. X noticed the streetlights and swore. He was no longer protected by the darkness. He picked up two trash bags and threw it at the angry teen.

Gaara flinched and threw himself to the wall. However, when he looked away, Mr. X escaped out of the alley. The redhead swore.

Naruto climbed out of the pile of trash and asked "Dude! Are you okay?" Ten seconds later, he realized that he revealed that he was spying. "Shit."

The angry redhead took a moment to register his existence and exploded. He grabbed the blonde and shoved him against the wall. "What the HELL were you doing there?"

"Okayokay! Don't kill me alright? I was just…worried! Who WAS that guy?" he asked, shaking himself from the clutches of the youngest Shukaku.

"…he's…no one." Gaara said, calming down a bit. "Regardless, don't tell anyone this happened okay?"

Naruto paused for a second before he replied. I'll get information out of Gaara later… "Okay dude. I swear on my ramen that I won't tell anybody."

Hearing that, Gaara relaxed entirely. "In that case, I'm going home." He started walking away.

Naruto shouted, "If there's any crap that you're in, tell me before you're screwed! I'm not just your friend for show!"

Gaara didn't turn around.

-

Hinata huffed as she lugged a LARGE bag of garbage into the trashcan 10 meters away from her house. Their new garage wasn't as new as they thought. The people that used to live in their house had a nice collection of dead, preserved bugs.

Her father fainted as soon as he saw a large millipede in a glass case. The poor teen had to drag her father onto the couch and then clear the garage of the collection of bugs.

Hinata collapsed on the curb as soon as she clapped the metal lid onto the trashcan. She stared up into the sky. There weren't any stars out tonight. The short-haired teen sighed. What an empty feeling.

"Hyuuga. What are you doing out here?" asked a voice.

Hinata jumped and looked for the source of the fright. She found him standing right behind her. She spun around.

"J-just taking out the trash." She stuttered. Her hands found some grass and she started plucking some from the lawn. Her eyes refused to meet the redhead's.

Noticing her nervousness, he sat right beside her. He chuckled to himself.

"Then why are you sitting down on the curb, all alone? You know someone could kidnap you right now."

She shuddered as soon as he said that. "I-is that so?"

This girl is fun to tease. I might as well shake off that bastard's comments with this girl's company. He thought. "Do you know the story about Aburame Shino?"

"…Aburame Shino?" Hinata continued to stare at the pieces of grass she plucked.

The redhead smirked. "Yes. Aburame Shino… He used to live in your house, Hyuuga. He had a large collection of bugs and he enjoyed storing it in his garage."

Her eyes widened.

Gaara continued with a story-teller voice, "He was once a happy child…accompanied by his bugs and surrounded by his friends at school. His life couldn't be much better. However…" He trailed off, watching for Hinata's reaction.

Her body stilled and she held her breath. "However…?" she repeated.

"However, someone started stealing his bugs. Someone spray painted "I'm going to get you" onto his house. They even started smashing his windows. No one knew who that was because he didn't have any enemies.

One day, he was sitting on the curb—just like you, and then, minutes later, he disappeared. The next morning, his parents discovered a cryptic message written on the curb with red paint…or blood, that said "Squashed." He was never seen again. Not even till this day, did they ever find his body." Gaara finished.

There was silence for a couple of minutes. The redhead peered at Hinata and saw that she was very still. "Hyuuga?" He called. She didn't move at all.

And then, she fell.

Backwards.

Gaara's eyes widened as little when her body collapsed onto the grass. She was in the exact same position as earlier, when she fell over with her oversized backpack. It triggered the redhead's memory.

Gaara stared. His mouth was twitching. He drew long breaths as he processed the situation. The breaths turned into soft laughter...then a little louder. Then, he went all out.

"WHAT THE HEEELLL!!!" He erupted into a large fit of laughter. "S-she…AHAHAHAH!!!" Tears welled up into his eyes as he glimpsed at her turtle position.

Minutes later, he stopped laughing and quickly calmed himself. His face changed back into a stoic expression. Gaara stood up, brushed himself off and turned to face his house. He looked back down on Hinata. "I shouldn't just leave you there…" he mumbled.

The redhead picked her up without much struggle and carried her to the Hyuuga door. He knocked on the door.

No one came to open it.

He knocked again.

Once again, there was no reply. Where the hell was her dad?

Eventually, he gave up. "What do I do with you?" he wondered out loud as he looked at the girl in his arms. He never actually held one, so he just watched her in wonder.

The chilly wind blew at them. Gaara would've ignored it, if Hinata hadn't shuddered. He rolled his eyes and peered through one of her houses' windows. He saw Hiashi on the couch, knocked out. Why? Gaara doesn't want to know.

He tried knocking on the window, but Hiashi refused to wake up. Something major must've happened to him that caused him to stay unconscious for so long…

"Whatever." Mumbled Gaara.

He had three choices: leave her out in the cold and see if she dies, keep knocking and hopefully he'd wake up, or bring her inside his house.

Option number two was impossible because our redhead lacked what we called "patience." Number one was possible, but he was the one that made her faint. So, he had no choice but to resort to option three…bring her inside…his…house.

"At least Temari and Kankuro are at work till next morning. Those two suckers got graveyard shifts." Gaara sighed. He carried the girl to the Shukaku's door and put her down, gently. He opened the door and then took her inside.

A/N – That should be the end of this chapter ;] I made it…long-ish, so I hope you guys like it. X_X Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review =D