Ai (love) ?

Gaarazlilmiss

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters in Naruto, only this story and everything said in it.

Alright people! This is my VERY first Naruto fanfic story, which I, Gaarazlilmiss has created. I love the GaaHina fanfics, and therefore, I will be using it quite often, with some others possibly. Anyway, please rate and review, and I hope you like this story!!

Gaara : …Everyone in this place is always using me WITH Hyuuga. What ever happened to Uzumaki and Hyuuga?

Hinata : I-well…maybe it won't be so bad…

Gaara : (( glares ))

Hinata : On second thought…

Just experimenting!

Chapter 1 : Weakness

Hinata had just finished practicing with Kiba for the day. While Hinata was scarred and bloodied, Kiba was perfectly fine, with the exception of some panting. Akamaru stood beside Kiba, satisfied himself.

" Hinata, how do you intend to improve if you don't try anything different?" asked Kiba. He had been trying so hard to get Hinata to improve, but it was getting nowhere. "Are you too afraid?" he asked.

Hinata panted some more, whiping blood from her mouth. "Kiba-kun…I…I just don't know what to do…" she said. Hinata and Kiba along with Shino had known each other for a long time, since they had been chosen to be together in a group with Kurenai-Sensei. While Kiba was vicious and, in Hinata's eyes, powerful, and Shino was silent but at the same time a formable foe, Hinata found herself very helpless and weak, but even still, she always tried to win against the two males she'd been paired with. Hinata was now fourteen, and Shino and Kiba were both fifteen. It seemed she was behind in everything.

Shino looked over at Hinata and Kiba. "Hinata." he said simply.

Hinata looked over at him, those ivory eyes hinting she was giving him her full attention. "Yes Shino?" she asked.

"Rest. You should train on your own for awhile. Kiba seems to be giving you a hard time with the training." he said.

Hinata gasped. "But I can defeat him! That's why I keep fighting him." she said.

"But now, you can't do anything else. It always ends like this." he said, and stood to walk off.

"Hey!! She's got to learn how to fight like this! How's she gonna stand up to anyone else if I go easy on her?" asked Kiba.

"…Let her learn her mistakes in combat. When she thinks she's ready, she'll challenge you again." said Shino. He kept walking, not looking back once.

Kiba sighed. "That damn Shino!! Always trying to be the leader, and trying to act all smart!" he said. Akamaru whimpered a little at Kiba. Kiba looked down, like he knew what Akamaru was saying. "Okay boy. We'll leave." he said. He let Akamaru hop into his shirt, then looked over at Hinata, who was twiddling her fingers nervously. "Hinata-chan. Just don't worry about Shino. If you want, you can come back and train with me again tomorrow." he said. He then walked off, looking back at Hinata constantly. Although Hinata would be considered more of a little sister to the two, Kiba couldn't help but feel a slightly different attraction to her. It was different…something he'd never let show no matter what.

Hinata sat back up against a log, sighing sadly, and with a bit of relif. She didn't like being around Kiba when he swore like that. She knew he and Shino had never been on great terms, but it was such an uncomfortable situation to be in. Hinata decided it would be okay to skip a day or two, and train on her own. Even though she didn't want to admit it, she knew Shino was right. She'd get nowhere if she rushed into fighting Kiba again, with no more experience of her own than the last fight. She had to figure out something newer to do, something more her own, and less obvious. It was getting to the point where Kiba could predict her every move. She stood, and then she made her way towards the wire fence, broken slightly so someone could get through.

It was late, and so Hinata decided to go home, even though it was the last place she wanted to go. Her father still criticized her for being so weak, and her cousin Neji…that was more than she wanted to include. Getting back to the Hyuuga mansion, she noticed Naruto eating at the Ramen shop, and smiled sweetly as a light blush crept onto her face.

Naruto

In all his uncharmingness, he was still a very attractive person to her. She never quite understood why. "Naruto-kun." was all she said. She didn't want to interrupt him with her silly babbling. He always seemed to give her that same look when she spoke to him. The one when he thought she was crazy, because she never really spoke up, and told him how she felt. And Naruto was still oblivious to the idea that Hinata liked him. She passed by, occasionally glancing back at Naruto eating three, four, five bowls of ramen, and then when he was almost out of sight, waving his frog wallet in shame because he hadn't the money for another bowl.

Finally making it to the Hyuuga mansion, Hinata crept in, seeing her father ending his training with Hanabi. She was only nine, but her father considered her much stronger than Hinata, and Hanabi never passed up the chance to make fun of how much better she was than Hinata.

"Great job Hanabi. Go clean up." he said.

Hanabi nodded. "Hai." she said as she ran off.

Hinata's father looked at her. He surveyed her body, seeing that she looked like she always did when she came home : broken down, and wounded in various areas. "Will you not learn? How could you let him beat you?" he asked.

Hinata shook slightly then bowed. "Gomen-nassai!" she said. She gulped slightly, hoping her father would dismiss her soon.

"Go. Tommorow, you will not train with them anymore…" said her father.

The words hit Hinata like a bullet.

You will not train with them anymore

You will not train with them anymore.

Hinata dare not let a tear fall from her eyes as she quickly stood up, and ran off towards her room.

"As always, she's getting no praise from father." said Hanabi as she smirked in the hallway.

Hinata ignored her and kept running. She was always hurting like this. Shino's words ran through her head. So did her fathers. She stood up boldly. "That's it…" she said. "I WILL train on my own. And it won't be here." she said as she ran upstairs. Tommorow morning, her plan would commence.

The next morning when Hinata woke up, it was only three o'clock in the morning. No one was up at this time, with the exception of some jounin. They didn't notice anything funny. Hinata had a large bag on her shoulder today. It was filled with food, two sets of clothing, another pair of ninja shoes, some ninja weapons, and…a picture of Uzumaki Naruto. She kept this small picture of him with her because it gave her strength. It was what made her want to try harder. Ever since her battle with Neji, Hinata realized that Naruto was what had ushered her to try so hard, and she almost won too. That was enough for Naruto. Hinata walked out the gates past two sleeping jounin (OoOoOoOo!!) Then towards some woods. She breathed out a little. Today was the day. She wouldn't return until she felt she was ready. "I am going to be much stronger when I come back." she said to herself.

( On the other side )

Sand whirled around the village of hidden sand. It wasn't uncommon to have such severe sand storms in the area. Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara had been summoned to the council's office despite the awful weather.

"Alright. We've recived a request for your help in Konoha. They say they've got a missing genin named Hinata. She's been missing for about 2 days, and no one can find her, AT ALL." said the leading council member. "You three are to track her down. You all know about the Hyuuga clan, right?" asked the council member.

Temari and Kankuro nodded. Gaara just kept listening.

"Well, she's Hyuuga Hinata." said the council member.

"Ah. So we just have to find her? Why can't they do it on their own? Seems pretty trivial to me." said Kankuro.

"I don't know. They seem to be taking it pretty serious to summon our help though. " said the council member. "You should be heading off now." he finished.

Temari and Kankuro nodded, and then all three turned around and left.

"This really isn't my kind of mission." said Temari closing her eyes and folding her hands behind her head.

"I agree. Why would a Hyuuga run off like that?" Kankuro wondered.

"She's weak." said Gaara.

The other two siblings turned to him.

"At the Chuunin exams, she displayed nothing but weakness. That is more than likely the reason she fled. She has nothing but weakness about her and can't handle the life as a ninja." he said. He didn't seem the least concerned about why she fled. He simply came to the conclusion himself, figuring logically that from what he had seen of her, she was nothing but weakness itself, and therefore would lead to her strange act to run away.

Temari shrugged. "Well…maybe. She wasn't all that impressive." she said. Temari grinned. "At least not as great as we were in those exams." she finished smiling at Gaara.

In return, he sent her an emotionless looking face. "Your victory wasn't that impressive either." he said.

Temari took that as a sign to shut up, and quietly walked off with Kankuro and Gaara saying nothing else about the mission.

Gaarazlilmiss : So what do you all think? It's only the beginning, so none of the love stuff'll start too soon. We've got to build up to that. And since I prefer Gaara's old side more…well…I think you understand. But yeah, next chapter, Gaara and Hinata meet!! Yup!

Hinata : I'm going to meet him? You mean face to face? ((faints))

Gaara : That's what I was talking about in this chapter. You see what she does?

Gaarazlilmiss : Um…clears throat Ja ne!

Gaara : You didn't answer me…