Blood-Red Hair

By Komorebi-chan

Summary: Hinata finds hope in the man she least suspects to ever befriend. A cutesy love-story between an ex-creep heiress and a now-creep Kazekage.

Hinata looks out of her wide window. Inside it smells like disinfectant, it smells like death. She has been in this hospital for so long she cannot remember the smell of freshly cut grass, the smell of fresh herbs, and the smell of fresh air. Nothing is fresh here.

Do they still remember her?

Shino and Kiba used to visit every day, but that has reduced to fortnightly. Neji, who used to hate her so, visits weekly—the one who visits most often. The other Rookie 9 seem to have forgotten about her. They have not visited in two months, not even Sakura who has been assigned to the other end of the hospital. She wonders why Sakura cannot walk the few strides to her door. They were never really best friends, but they were friends… and it has been lonely.

To think this is how you'll die- young and alone, Hinata thinks bitterly. Her father has not visited in a year, her sister came last November. It's June. It was to be expected. She would be a disappointment even in death. Ninjas did not die like this. They died after fighting in powerful combat. They died after saving five-hundred people and sacrificing themselves. They died after having lived to an old age, surrounded by the village and their love. Now here she was with cancer. She went to the hospital when she was sixteen. She has not left even at seventeen-and-a-half. She will die in this very place. Hinata looks forlornly at the window.

She wishes she was still a ninja.

"Hinata," calls a nurse gently from the door, "The razor is ready."

In an hour, Hinata's silky black locks, the only thing she was proud of, lay in a heap on the floor.

She bursts into tears.

Hinata lies in her bed, her head feeling cold. She rummages through the side drawers and sure enough, the nurses had come prepared. She pushes her pink beanie down as far it can go self-consciously, when she feels a pair of eyes on her. She turns around and behind the door are a pair of emerald green eyes. They notice her staring and the man turns to walk away.

"Wait!" she says desperately, voice raw from underuse, but he still stops, she blushes, "U-um w-would you like to s-stay?"

"Not particularly." His baritone voice carries no hint of emotion.

"I-I'm l-lonely," she confesses, "I w-want you to s-stay."

"Stop stuttering."

"O-okay," she stutters.

"Now."

"…Okay," she says softly, "What do I call you?"

"Gaara."

"G-Gaara-kun?" she asks.

"No, just Gaara," he tells her firmly, he looks curiously at her hair (or lack of), "Why did you cut it?"

She smiles sadly, "Only beautiful thing about me, if I had a choice, I wouldn't have. I'm…dying, you see."

He raises a brow, "I do not see any wounds."

She blushes, "I'm weak; I'm dying from cancer, not battles."

He nods before continuing on his way, "I have business to go to."

She looks up dejectedly, "Oh." She's used to it. The pitying looks and the excuses.

However, before he goes, he grabs his kunai and cuts off a lock of his fiery red hair. He places it on the drawers beside her bed.

"Make sure this isn't thrown away, like you said, it's precious," Gaara has a hint of a smirk on his face, "I'll be back."

Walking to the door, he pauses, and stops.

"I don't think you're weak," he tells her softly, "But if you keep saying lies about yourself, you will be."

Hinata beams.

Hinata trusted Gaara when he had told her he would come, but she didn't expect it to be the next day. He comes in smirking with long blonde hair tucked in his fists.

"W-what is that?" she asks, a little in horror.

"A new addition."

"What is it for?"

He smiles a little, "You'll know soon enough."

"W-well then where did you get it?" she asks him softly.

"I killed her," he tells her bluntly. She recoils in horror.

"She's an S-rank criminal," he paraphrases, "I kill them on a daily basis, so I decided to take off some of her hair, not that she was using it anymore." She relaxed somewhat, but still a little repulsed.

"Do you want to know what she did?" he asks her gently.

"W-what?"

"In Suna, she unleashed a wave of beasts to attack the whole village population. Fifteen people died. Do you want to know what the beasts were?"

"What?" she asked curiously.

"Ducks. We got attacked by a wave of ducks." Even though this was a grave situation, Hinata could not help it, she let out a small giggle.

"I guess we were like sitting ducks," said Gaara with a sigh. Silence.

"Hinata?"

"Yes?"

"I just made a joke."

"Oh…"

He comes by the next day, his fist full of hair once more. By now, she has no qualms, she is used to it.

"Gaara," she says softly, pointing at the strands of brown, "Whose hair is that?"

Gaara smirks, "A flasher's." Hinata looks sickened.

"He was a transvestite that flashed to show his manly bits," Gaara continued with a shudder, it was a mission he would rather not remember, "Even the toughest ninjas would get distracted, whether from pleasure or disgust, I cannot tell. He would use that opportunity to speedily kill his opponents."

"He seems… interesting," Hinata says squeamishly.

"Sunagakure does have interesting criminals," he agrees.

"But…" she continues, "They are funny stories… u-um would you t-tell me more stories overtime?"

"Hn," he agrees.

It is a Sunday when he comes back. He is holding a mop of charcoal black hair.

"Hello Gaara," says Hinata with a smile, "What happened to this person?"

Instead Gaara chuckles darkly, "You don't want to know this one." Hinata supresses a shudder and they both lapse into a comfortable silence. He can hear the rise and fall of her chest.

Gaara thinks it is his favourite sound.

She is still alive. That is what it symbolises. Life, something so beautiful.

"Gaara?" Hinara pipes up.

"Hn?"

"Can you sleep here tonight? I-It's my b-birthday and—"

"Why do you not have family?" he asks, frowning.

"I-I do but…"

"Ah." He understands the plea in her eyes.

I do not want to be alone for once.

He takes her hand, you are not alone… you have me.

The very next day, on returning from the hospital, he invites Naruto to Ichiraku's. Naruto is more than happy to comply.

"Did you have anything to do yesterday?" Gaara begins.

"Nope! Just lazed around all day, trained a little, I guess" chatters the hyperactive ninja.

Gaara tries to keep his voice calm, "Then why did you not have the time to wish Hinata a good birthday?"

Naruto curses, "Shit, it was her birthday? Oh my god, I'm the worst. I totally forgot."

"Hn," he agrees, "But don't worry. You are one of the worst. All her friends forgot, it seemed." Naruto curses again, thumping his forehead with the palm of his hand.

"You do not visit her," says Gaara curiously, "And yet you still care. Why?" The blonde slurps his ramen down to the last noodle, looking guiltier than he thought possible.

Good. Hopefully he stops whatever nonsense he has been thinking and visit her more.

"I…we…" Naruto starts, "Us, the Rookie 9, we've known her since we were small. She's only sixteen, Gaara, but we know death. It saddens us, except for ninjas, it's a quick blow. We only need to be there for the aftermath.

He chokes, "For Hinata, we have to watch her as she crumbles. Watch her as she breaks down. She will die and yet die in years, be in pain for years. We have to watch her dying, and be there when she's dead… it's hard to handle."

Gaara always thought of Naruto with great respect, but at this very moment, he wonders whether if he killed Naruto with sand, would there be any incriminating evidence?

"You…" Gaara's voice shook a little, "You keep talking as if she will die. Have you ever thought to give her hope, to think that perhaps she can live? Looking at the negatives will only drag her down, to think that she is better dead. Most of all though, she's lonely. Even if she does die, do you think she wants to die feeling unloved and alone? Stop being so selfish."

Naruto stares, astonished, ashamed, and then he wails—the tears flowing more than ever before.

The next day, Naruto enters with the rest of the Rookie 9. They all stare at the walls, the floor, the roof. Anywhere but her. Eventually Naruto turns to her.

"Sorry about missing your birthday, Hinata!" he says as cheerfully as he can, "We all had this mission that took way longer than expected!" He hands her a box, wrapped so prettily, along with a bouquet of flowers. She smiles slightly, clasping the box in her tiny hands.

"Thank you Naruto," she says softly, turning to everyone, "Thank you everyone." They all give her a slight nod, their faces aflame with shame.

"Uh…" says Naruto with an awkward cough, "We'd better get going so you can rest well, yeah?" With soft goodbyes, they head towards the door, but as soon as Ino touches the handle, Hinata's voice speaks out.

"U-um… next time, it would hurt less if you didn't lie and just said you forgot, okay?" Hinata whispers.

They all tremble, but they don't apologise.

Gaara comes by two days later, he is holding outrageously purple hair.

"G-Gaara," she says happily, "Where did you get that from?"

"She was a mass murderer," he told her, loving the look of horror she gives him every time, "She was so good at running away too. If she wasn't so stupid to have such eye-attracting hair, she would've evaded us."

"She wasn't very smart…" Hinata whispers with a frown.

"No," he agrees, "But then, neither is that Haruno girl."

"Sakura's smart," she disagrees.

"Now that," he says smirking, "Is a contradiction. How can a girl with purple hair be 'not very smart', but a girl with bubble-gum pink hair be 'smart'?" Hinata giggles.

"By the way," Gaara starts, "Are you alright?"

"Alright?" she echoes.

"After that whole incident a couple days ago, I heard they haven't talked to you since," he explains.

"…No." She half expects him to shake his head disappointingly like her father, thinking how weak she is, but instead he grants her one of those rare full-blown smiles.

"Hn, then I guess you'll have more use of me then," he states.

Hinata blushes, don't start the finger-touching, don't blush, and don't…oh come on, Hinata!

"I suppose so," she says coyly.

He comes by again with a fist full of hair as black as night.

"Whose hair is that?" she asks on routine.

"This one I didn't kill," she smiles brightly, "He was already dead," her smile drops, "That Uchiha that left this village killed him on our borders. I found him right after. For a dead missing nin, his hair is quite glossy."

"Sasuke Uchiha…" she whispers, "Naruto's friend."

"Did you know him?" he asks curiously, something bubbling up inside.

"No," she shakes her head and he feels the bubbles welling down, "But I healed him once."

"Did you?" the bubbles are coming back up.

"And he was quite nice to me for a week or so."

"Ah…"

"He did invite me to dinner as compensation, I guess…"

"Did he?"

"And—"

"ENOUGH!" his eyes are red and sand is beginning to creep along the corners. A normal being would be cowering and begging for forgiveness.

Instead she blinks, "G-Gaara… are you jealous?" Her answer is a slammed door. She blinks once more.

He comes by a few days later, his hand holding platinum blonde hair.

"You village holds nice festivals," he tells her quietly.

"Is today the Konoha Festival?" she asks him with a touch of sadness.

"Hn."

"Before I was diagnosed with this," she reminisces, "I used to be the main dancer. That was the one thing I was good at. Traditional dancing. I was even better than Hanabi." He nods silently.

"I won this…" he says, holding out a huge pink panda, "For you." She accepts it graciously, her arms hugging it to her chest.

"It's cute," she says, "Thank you. So… where did you get this hair?"

"It happens to be a dancer's," he begins, "She was very flexible and lithe in battle, but I got her in the end. She died in a curtsy, dramatic to the end."

"I want to die remembered," Hinata muses quietly.

"You will die remembered," he answers back.

"Whose hair is that?"

Gaara closes the door behind him, before saying, "A self-professed magician I killed a couple months ago. He gave desperate people 'opportunities' to get their love by doing dangerous things, doing those things killed his clients and sometimes made his clients murder others." He holds up short blue hair.

"Would you be desperate enough to do that?" she asks curiously.

He shrugs, "I was never in love until now."

"Until now?"

He looks up at her eyes, "Until now."

Hinata smiles, her face hot, but her chest bursting with courage, "Me too."

Gaara's face turns as red as his hair as he looks away, "You shouldn't say things like that, it's what makes guys fall for you." He looks as if he is searching for an exit, before a hand grasps his shirt.

"W-what i-if I w-want guys to f-fall for m-me?" she whispers, refusing to meet his eyes.

"Then you did the right thing," he mutters back.

"W-well w-what if I w-want only o-one guy t-to f-fall for m-me?" she asks hotly, finally looking into his eyes, "S-someone l-like y-you?"

He looks at her silently, before a smile dons his face, "Then you did the right thing."

Hinata returns his smile with a full burst of sunshine.

Two weeks later, he comes back.

"And here I was beginning to think you had run away," she says jokingly, but the joke falls flat. She really did think that. He brushes away drops of water from her eyes.

"Sorry," he tells her as affectionately as he can muster, "Kazekage business."

She nods quickly, "O-of course! I have no right to be unhappy!"

"Yes you do," he says, nodding, "You're my girlfriend."

"G-girlfriend?"

"Hn," he affirms, "You like me. I like you. Does that not make us a couple?"

"You l-like m-me?" she whispers, her head beginning to feel woozy.

"I thought we already established that," he states with a frown. She sways slightly.

"C-can you p-please c-confirm it?" she asks softly.

Words don't seem to have an effect, he thinks. He crashes his lips down on hers, tasting her, kissing her.

"I like you. A lot," he says firmly.

"O-oh. Oh." She faints. Gently, he puts a mop of green hair on top of the drawers beside her and kissers her forehead.

"I love you," he murmurs softly.

Gaara comes by in a week. One hand runs down her arms, so slowly that she represses a shiver. His lips daintily touch hers. This is heaven.

"Whose hair is that?" she asks quietly.

"Yours," he murmurs into her lips.

"M-mine?" she squeaks.

"I finally found it right before it was going into the rubbish," he tells her softly.

"Will you tell me what you're using it for?" she asks, her arms clasping around his neck.

"No, not yet."

"Um…" she begins after a moment of silence, "One day, when I die, will you please miss me?"

He watches her through his emerald green eyes, part affectionately, part incredulously.

"You don't need to ask that," he tells her sternly.

"Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me either.

"One day, before you die, I will find that cure." Hinata smiles, her eyes clouded with tears.

Hinata lays there, her hand ghosting over his as he sews and sews. Slowly, a self-satisfied smile spreads across his face as he looks at his handy work.

"Hinata."

"Y-yes?"

"A gift," he tells her as he hands over a multi-coloured wig, "You have every colour possible. Plus, I only got the silkiest and each strand has been washed thoroughly…" He trails off as he notices her tears. Slowly, he brings his hand up to wipe them, forcing her to look at his gentle eyes.

"You are not happy," Gaara states with a frown.

"No," she whispers, "Instead, I am too happy."

She beams and lifts a delicate hand to trail along his jawline, telling him softly, "I love you Gaara." Gaara smiles.

"And I you."

Gaara… why were you staring at me the first time we met?

You reminded me of myself.

U-Um… sickly?

Hn, sick of being alone.

A/N The Fault in our Stars inspired this, but I hope it didn't center too much on the boo-hoo's and rather the woo-hoo's, aha. Please read and review, or our lovely hair stealer might just take yours! Aha, no, seriously, I just want to thank you for reading to the very end! Much OOCness, I know. Also, it doesn't really follow the manga/anime, again, I know :). Re-uploaded because I accidentally cut off a bit of the story ^.^

Thanks,

Komorebi-chan