Chapter 03: Cookies, anyone?

Rating: PG-13 (for now)

Author's Note: The characters are now sixteen.

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Naruto… or else this wouldn't be fanfiction now would it?

It has almost become a habit...or perhaps… it already was. This was a terrifying thought for the young Kazekage. Habits are hard to break.

He was perched on top of his usual branch waiting for her. But today, she was late… very late. The sun was setting… she was probably not coming.

Finally acknowledging this fact, Gaara took off for the direction of 'home'.

How dare that girl stand him up! Not that she invited him to watch her train but… still, how dare she break their habit? If she wasn't going to come she should at least let him know. He waited six hours, thirty-four minutes and twenty-two seconds for her… not that he was counting. Didn't she know that he was the Kazekage? He was a very important person you know, the whole of Suna depended on him. He had better things to do than wait around for her. It is not easy being the leader of a village, you know. He had many important people waiting around trying to get in touch with him and of course… there was always that mountain of paperwork that sat unloved on his desk… And yet the nerve of that girl!

Our beloved Kazekage continued to fume all the way back to his dwelling whilst pointedly ignoring the fact that the unnamed girl was oblivious to their 'scheduled' meeting and thus couldn't possibly be held accountable for 'standing him up'. But hey, who said he was reasonable?

Although… it was definitely odd for Hinata to miss her daily training… unless…

Gaara suddenly came to a stop, made a one-eighty turn and headed for the direction of the Hyuuga clan house. Maybe she wasn't able to come because something has happened to her!

Not that he was worried about her, mind you. He just needed to verify... it was his job you see. He needed to stay on top of things.

No. He was not a stalker! He was not… how dare that pesky little Neji accuse him of this! Yes, that's the reason he's heading to the Hyuuga house right now. To teach that Neji a lesson, for disrespecting the Kazekage!

When he arrived at the Hyuuga mansion however, he headed straight for the main house. Our esteemed Kazekage has once again ignored the fact that it made no logical sense for him to be looking for Neji by going to Hinata's room.

And he found her, seconds later… sitting on her porch sipping orange juice and enjoying her novel.

Oh yes, she was very much in pain and mortal danger.

With a swirl of sand, he angrily departed.

"Neji-ni-san" Came her soft voice.

"Now do you believe me?" Came her cousin's reply.

"…..Hai."

The next day found Gaara sitting at his desk, finally sifting through the pile of week-old paperwork. Or at least it appeared that way. But our favourite red-head was finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate. He glanced at the clock again, it read 5:46.

'She should be heading back home.' He thought to himself before quickly chiding himself for thinking about her again. 'Ahhh! What has that girl done to me?'

He came home very angry yesterday, no, he was livid. And still was, mind you. 'How could I be so stupid? To think I was worried about her!' And he vowed that he will never go back to that training ground again. He will leave straight away… just as soon as the jounin exams are over. And next year, he will send Kankuro to represent him instead. Temari and her diplomacy be damned.

And yet here he was… still thinking about her. This has become borderline obsession and even Gaara knows it.

"Gaara. Gaara! Gaara!"

"What!" The said boy snapped, angrily turning his gaze towards the source of the voice. There, Temari stood leaning against the door frame with an annoyed scowl on her face.

"You're supposed to be getting ready to dine with the feudal lords!"

She waited for a reply, but none came. Her little brother, though he could hardly be called little anymore for he was a head taller than her, merely stood glaring back at her.

"Gaara." She said his name warningly. Temari must admit, if this was a few years ago, she would never dream of speaking this way to him. But he has changed, well, as much as Gaara can change. Although he still struck fear in most people's hearts, he was no longer a murderous lunatic. And deep down, Temari knew he was still a little boy and it was the eldest child's job to keep all little brothers in line… Kazekage or not. So tough luck for being born after her!

"I dine alone." The red head finally said and headed for the door.

"Gaara!" But Temari blocked the doorway and refused to let him pass.

"Gaara! Where are you going!" She exclaimed when she saw him head for the window instead.

"Out." He replied before jumping out the window.

"No! Come back here you brat!" She screamed after his departing form.

But Gaara was Gaara and since when did he follow instructions?

Once he got away from his sister, Gaara contemplated where to go. An annoying voice in his head kept edging him to go to the old training grounds. But his pride intervened. Had he really sank so low that he can't even keep away from her anymore? No! He was not a stalker! He was not!

But… he couldn't really go home now. So he decided to head into town.

Or at least that's what he thought…. but his feet had other plans. And soon he found himself perched on top of his usual branch but today… he was not alone.

Unlike usual, she did not come to this deserted training ground right after her meeting with her team.

Unlike usual, she did not come only bearing her weapons.

Unlike usual, she did not practice her taijutsu with the dummy.

Instead, she sat on the hard, sandy ground, silently staring at the bundle in her lap and waited. And waited and waited and waited… but she did not detect his presence.

Was he not going to come anymore? For some reason, this thought saddened her. She looked up at the vast sky above her, it was tinted a purplish red. The sun would soon set. She should be heading home now or Neji-nii-san would start to worry… but why didn't he come? Did something happen to him? But she quickly dismissed this thought. If something had happened to one of the Kage, the village would be in an uproar. And besides, even with the demon gone, Gaara was still a force to be reckoned with.

She made to get up and leave but paused in that motion and decided to check one last time. Secretly forming hand-seals, she activated her byakugan and scanned her surroundings. This time, she was not disappointed. She couldn't help the little smile that spread across her face.

What exactly the bundle contained, Gaara could not make out. But it was definitely a box of some sort as it was rectangular in shape.

The little Hyuuga was definitely contemplating something. And it annoyed Gaara to no end that he did not know what it is.

"Byakugan." He heard her suddenly whisper and watched as her eyes scanned her environment.

Did his little Hyuuga finally notice his presence or did that pesky Neji say something to her.

Gaara was willing to bet the latter.

He watched with satisfaction as she frowned. Her search had of course returned as nil. She deactivated her byakugan and dropped her eyes to stare at her bundle again.

Was that… it? Gaara had to wonder. Was this woman really fit to be heiress? Even if only in name?

"Kai!" He heard her speak again while her hands formed the appropriate hand seals. This time, unprotected by genjutsu, she successful spotted him.

However, Gaara did not feel that he could really commend her for it, after all it had taken her nearly a month to realize that he was here. And had it not for that Neji, it would have taken her longer.

"Kazekage-sama." She got off the ground and bowed respectfully.

Gaara did not speak, but merely watched her from his branch.

Perhaps she was waiting for him to address her, for she remained bowed.

And for a good while, neither spoke nor moved as they remained poised in their respective positions.

Gaara had to wonder if her back was hurting from the bowing.

Then suddenly she held out the package to him.

"I…. I… I wanted to… to thank Kazekage-sama for… for watching over me." She stuttered, her face turning beet red, "I… I made this."

And then she placed the bundle carefully on the ground and…..ran away.

Gaara arched a non-existent brow. That was definitely… bizarre.

He made to leave but stopped and stared at her package again, looking rather out of place on the muddy ground.

Should he open it? He pondered. What exactly did she mean when she said she made it? What is there to make for him? And… she was thanking him for watching over her? Since when did the great Kazekage stoop to babysitting? He was not watching over her… he was just bored and…. and…. okay, he'll admit it. So what though? He was Gaara and he could do whatever he wanted.

So hesitantly he reached for the package and un-wrapped it. Inside, he found… cookies; a dozen or so cookies.

Wrinkling his nose, he dropped them carelessly on the ground.

Gaara did not eat sweets.

He gathered his charka to perform his teleportation jutsu but paused to look at the cookies again. They stared innocently back at him.

She made them. Nobody had ever made anything especially for him before. And she was thanking him. Gaara had never been thanked before. Cursed, feared, hated, yelled at; yes, but never thanked. It seemed wrongto just leave her gratitude in the dirt. And yet, Gaara hated sweets.

They tried to kill him with it once.

And they had very, very nearly succeeded for the sand barrier did not detect and protect you from poison.

Luckily or unluckily depending on who you talk to, Kankuro sneakily ate one before Gaara could. He was of course later given the antidote, after all, he was not their target. And killing the Kazekage's son did not look well on anyone's resume. But even with the poison extracted, Kankuro had to lie in bed for a month. As for the culprits… well, let's say they did not end well.

But… these cookies were from the little Hyuuga. She wouldn't possibly think of poisoning him… right? But he was no longer just Gaara, he was a leader of a village. He was responsible not only for his own life but for the lives of the people who depended on him. He couldn't possibly take unnecessary risks. With that in mind, he made the appropriate head-seals and teleported away. But just seconds before leaving, his sand (like his feet) disobeyed his mind, and secretly wrapped around the bundle.

From that day on, Gaara somehow ended up dining with Hinata. She would bring home-made bentos with her to her training sessions. She would train, he would watch and occasionally, he would give her pointers. There was two weeks left until the exams and Hinata was vastly improving with his help.

Today should have been like any day, except today, when he arrived at the training grounds, there was an unexpected visitor. Gaara sat on top of his favourite branch and silently watched the scene below unfold.

Our main characters: Hinata and Naruto.

Hinata, true to her usual self, was blushing and stuttering furiously.

Naruto, being Naruto, was oblivious to her obvious admiration.

"Hinata-chan!" He spoke in his usual cheer, "So this is where you've been hiding!"

"N-naruto-kun…" Her voice hardly audible, "What- what are you d-doing here?"

The blush on her face annoyed Gaara to no end.

"You're training hard for the jounin exams aren't you? Hey, how about I train you? I bet that way, you can get really strong really fast!"

"Eh?"

"Are those cookies? Hinata-chan did you make this? It's delicious!"

Nooooo! Gaara mentally screamed. How dare Naruto eat his cookies! Yes, they were his cookies. His little Hinata made them for him. Even if Naruto is the closest thing he has to a friend, they were some things that simply cannot be shared and Hinata's cookies were one of them. In his fury, Gaara accidentally released a burst of chakra… the branch below his feet exploded… naturally, he began falling with the broken pieces of wood…

But he was a shinobi after all, so he quickly did a back flip and landed gracefully on his feet. There! Nobody will notice the difference. He did not just fall out of a tree, no no, he had planned it this way.

For a while, the three of them stood unmoving like a weird tableau. But that was quickly broken by our ever-so-patient Naruto. "Gaara! What are you doing here?"

"Nothing. I was just leaving." Our red-head replied and made to leave.

"Wait!" Naruto exclaimed, "The two of you stay right here! I brought souvenirs for you from my trip with ero-senin! Wait right here! Don't move. I'll be right back!" And with that our energetic blond dashed off.

"Gaara-san…"

"You like him." Hinata was taken aback by the sudden statement. It's true that she had always had a crush on Naruto but for the past week, a certain red-head had been on her mind instead. But to admit to liking Gaara…

She stole a little glance at the boy in front of her and her blush returned full-blast.

Unfortuanetly for Hinata, Gaara mistook her blush for her confirmation.

"You should let him train you."

"W-what? But Gaara-san…"

"I have more important things to attend to."

Hinata's heart sank. Did he mean that she was wasting his time? "But... but I was improving…"

But she was interrupted by his laugh. Yes, Gaara was laughing… as if he has never heard anything so funny in his life.

Hinata felt tears forming in her eyes. How could he… how could he laugh at her…

"You should give up being a shonobi."

"What?"

"You don't have what it takes."

"I.. I know I-I don't have the natural talent, b-but what I lack in skills I'll make up with practice."

"No, you silly girl. You don't get it do you?"

"W-what?"

"Take out your kunai."

"What?"

"Take it out."

Hinata obeyed and watched stupefied as sand poured out of Gaara's gourd and attacked a near by bush.

The sand reformed inches in front of Hinata but contained within it was a struggling white rabbit.

"Kill it."

"What?"

"Kill it."

"What? I can't kill an innocent little rabbit…"

Hearing this, Gaara started laughing again. "What do you take shinobis to be? We're not paladins. We don't right wrongs and kill evil. We're tools, soldiers, we do what is commanded of us. We do what we're paid to do. Unlike the leaf, most of the ninja villages cannot pick and choose their missions. They take what they can to survive. So tell me Hinata, what if your mission was to wipe out a village? To annihilate all opposition? In your words, to kill off defenseless, innocent people. Would you be able to do it?"

"Kill the rabbit, Hyuuga. Stab it and prove to me that your shinobi material."

"I.. I-I can't…" she sank to the ground sobbing. The kunai in her head clattered to the ground with a dull thud.

"Then you should quit being a shinobi." With those words, the sand completely surrounded the rabbit and ripped its head from its torso. The sand retracted back into its container. With a swirl of sand, Gaara made his usual dramatic exit.

Without support, the rabbit's remains dropped to the ground. The rabbit's head hit the ground and rolled a few feet before coming to a stop right in front of Hinata. Its lifeless eyes stared at her. She stared back.

She screamed.

Half an hour later, Naruto returned to the clearing excitedly carrying two presents. He had finally managed to dig out the souvenirs from his messy apartment to find the training ground devoid of life.

"Hinata?"

"Gaara?"

"Where did everyone go?"

A/N: Wow, I really am a horrible author... I'm like updating once every year... forgive me... I won't make any excuses... I'm just ultra lazy. To be honest, I sort of forgot what I had planned for this chapter so it ended up taking a very different direction...

Anyways, could anyone tell me if Hanabi belongs to the branch house?