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Love's Misconstruities	By : Idleflame Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female Views: 1431 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
- 10
Love�s Misconstruities

*Spoiler Warning:*� Slight spoiler at the beginning here, but nothing
major.� Just wrapping up the end of the Naruto series before Shippuuden
begins.

Chapter 8

�� Gaara awoke to white
ceiling of Konoha hospital.� Sharing the
bed in the space next to him was Naruto, whose wounds had been too severe for
Sakura to completely heal by herself.�
There was a sheet hanging between them, but Gaara recognized his voice
as soon as he began to yell at his visitor.

�� Ahh!� Ero-sennin!�

�� Hey, it�s been a
while, hasn�t it, Naruto?�

�� Don�t say, �it�s been
a while,� you stupid hermit!� You said
that you would help me with my training and take me on as your student!� Where the hell have you been?!�

�� Well, how do I put
this�� You could
say that I was gathering information.�

�� Gaara felt bad for
eavesdropping but he was too sore to move.�
His entire body ached, not to mention that he was exhausted and still
recovering his depleted chakra supply.�

�� You were probably gathering information on naked ladies!�

�� You idiot!�� Now they were both yelling.� �Even I have certain things I must do.� I was hunting for information on Akatsuki.�

�� Akatsuki?� Naruto
repeated with much interest, his anger quickly fading.�

�� I was able to find
out the motive behind their actions,� the older man admitted.

�� Akatsuki,
huh�� I wonder who they are,� Gaara
pondered.

�� It�s getting
close.� I�m really going to polish you up
before those guys come after you in two years like they promised they would.�

�� A moment of silence
passed between the two.

�� They�re after
Naruto?� Why?� �And why in two years?�

�� I wonder if you�re
ready for it?�

�� Heh!� I�ve been sick and tired of waiting all this
time.�

* * *

�� Hinata felt
horrible.� Yes, she had followed orders
and their mission had been successful, but two of the people she cared about
most had wound up in the hospital.� Not
only had she been unable to aid them when they were in need, now she couldn�t
even work up the courage to go and visit them.�
She�d tried to go over a dozen times but as soon as she got to the
hospital doors, she froze.� She felt so
incredibly weak.� Finally, after seeing
how miserable she was, Neji decided to drag her there himself.�

�� N-N-Neji-nii-san!�
she tried to protest as her cousin grabbed her around the wrist and proceeded
to pull her along with him.

�� You�ve been moping
around all week.� You were horrible when
we practiced today because you couldn�t concentrate.� This is the only way to fix that.�

�� B-but-!�

�� Hinata-sama,� he
interrupted, letting go and facing her.�
�If you can�t do it for those two, for yourself, or even for me...do it
for your clan.� We can�t have you in such
a state any longer.��

�� The timid girl stared
wide-eyed at the young man in front of her as she contemplated his words.� After a moment she looked at the ground,
feeling ashamed for letting her family down once again.� Finally, she met her cousin�s gaze and
nodded.� Neji began on his way again,
Hinata trailing shortly behind him.� As
they made their way to the hospital, she couldn�t help but berate herself.

�� Not only was I practically useless on the mission, now I have to rely
on Neji-nii-san to force me to go wish Naruto-kun and
Gaara well.� I�m constantly letting my
clan down by allowing myself to get depressed and distracted, but�how do I fix this?� I know I shouldn�t need someone else�s help,
but maybe Gaara will be able to tell me what to do.� He helped me so much before��

�� Just as the young
kunoichi was starting to feel better about her visit, when they were finally
only a street away from the hospital, Hinata caught something out of the corner
of her eye that she did not want to believe.�

* * *

�� Glad to see you up
and about, Gaara,� Sakura greeted, walking up to the boy who wandered the busy
Konoha street.� He turned to face the
smiling pink-haired medic as she continued on.�
�Hm�you healed up nicely,� she remarked upon
inspecting him.

�� Thank you�for
everything,� the stoic boy quietly said.

�� For everything?� You mean healing you on the mission?� That was no problem.� I�m just glad I could help,� she cheerfully
replied.

�� I�tried to kill you
during the attack on Konoha.�

�� Sakura�s cheerful
demeanor fell as she recalled that unpleasant time.� ��Mm,� she acknowledged with a small nod, her
gaze falling to the street below.

�� You helped show me then
what it meant to protect someone you care about.�

�� Huh?�� This was not a conversation Sakura had
expected to have today.

�� I hope that, someday,
you will be able to forgive me for my actions.�
Also, do not think that I have forgotten the promise I made to you in
return for your help with...the last time I was in Konoha.
�If I hear any news of Uchiha Sasuke or
Orochimaru, I will send word immediately.�

�� Sakura stared at him
for a moment, a bit stunned.� Since the
conversation seemed to be over, Gaara turned to leave but this caused Sakura to
snap out of her daze and move in front of him, forcing a smile.� She took his hand in hers and said, �I didn�t
think that you�d forgotten your promise.�
And�if you truly regret
what happened during the Chuunin Exams then there�s nothing to forgive.� You were being controlled by that demon
that�s sealed inside you, right?� Just
keep fighting it like you did during this last mission and you�ll be
fine.�� She chuckled then and flashed a
genuine grin.� �Deep down, you really are
a sweet boy, aren�t you?�

�� Gaara was speechless
as he slowly took back his hand.� Without
his armor of sand, his blush was quite apparent against his pale skin.�

�� Well, I should be on
my way.� Tsunade-shishou gets angry when
I�m late.� Have a safe trip back!� And try to take it easy for a while, okay?�
she ordered, rushing off.� Gaara watched
her as she left, unconsciously holding the hand that she�d touched in his
other.� No one had ever willingly touched
him like that before.� It was not
unpleasant in the least, he decided.�
When he could no longer see her, he turned to continue on his way.

* * *

�� While the two Hyuugas
had been too far away to hear what was said, what they�d witnessed seemed clear
enough.� As Gaara turned, he came to face
them.�

�� The two Hyuugas were both in shock for a moment, especially Neji
who knew that they each secretly harbored feelings for the other.� He couldn�t understand Gaara�s sudden change
of heart, nor could he forgive him for it.�
After seeing his determination in the last battle as well as his ability
to control the demon within, he had started to have a newfound respect for the
boy.� He�d actually begun to wonder if
maybe he was good enough for his cousin.�
Now, that was out of the question.

�� Gaara�s eyes locked
with Hinata�s and he headed toward her, but she couldn�t face him.� Not now.�
She�d barely begun to have the courage to wish him well at the hospital.� How in the world could she deal with this new
development?� She hated herself for it,
but she averted her eyes and ran away, leaving Neji to glare at the confused
boy, warning him not to pursue.

* * *

�� Later that day, after
everyone had been given a clean bill of health, the three Sand-nin siblings and
their student found themselves once again at the gates of Konoha saying
goodbye.

�� We owe you a favor
now, don�t we?� Temari asked the lazy cloud-watching chuunin before her.

�� No, we just repaid
you a favor, that�s all.� We�ll do an
even better job if something like this ever happens again,� he swore.

�� Well, I�ll
acknowledge that you did so-so this time.�

�� There you go
again!� This is why I hate women!�

�� Although he would
normally find their bickering somewhat humorous, Gaara had more important things
on his mind right now.�

�� Where is he?� he
asked.

�� He?� Oh, you mean Naruto?� I heard that he�s leaving to train with
Jiraya today,� Shikamaru explained.

�� Jiraya?� One of the Sannin?� Kankurou asked in
disbelief.

�� Yeah.� Naruto�s such a pain.� He plans on coming back stronger than ever.�

�� When I see you
next, it might be as Kazekage.� Get
stronger, Naruto.� You will surely
realize your dream,� Gaara thought, turning to leave.� The rest followed his lead.� �Farewell,� he bid.

�� Goodbye,� Temari said with a grin.

�� Later!� Kankurou
said.

�� Later,� the chuunin replied.

�� The four began to
depart but Matsuri ran back to talk to Shikamaru again while the others
continued on at a slow pace, giving her time to catch up when she was done.

�� Surprised your girl
didn�t come see you off again,� Kankurou half-joked.

�� I was expecting her,
too.� Oh well.� She�s probably trying to spend time with
Naruto if he�s going to be leaving for so long,� Temari
tried to console.

�� Gaara said nothing, just
stared on ahead.� �Perhaps that�s
true, Temari�� I hope that�s all it is.�� Gaara knew that she had been there during the
mission�that she had seen his half-transformed self.� In the back of his mind he feared that she
was disgusted by him...afraid of him.� It
was the only explanation he could think of for her behavior.� �Why did she run away from me?� Why?��
The question would continue to plague him until the following Chuunin
Selection Examinations seven months later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Translations/Term Definitions...in no
particular order:

- Ero-sennin:� �Perverted Hermit,� Naruto is referring to
Jiraya whose hobbies include spying on ladies while bathing and writing his
series of romance novels (Come-Come Paradise, I believe it is...), popular with
the likes of Kakashi.�

- Sannin:� �Group of three people,� in this case
referring to the three-man cell of Jiraya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade.� Their deeds are quite legendary, known beyond
the borders of just Konoha.� They are
quite infamous.� Upon first mis-hearing
Jiraya�s introduction of himself and observing that he was spying on the women
in a bath house, Naruto came up with his nick-name, �Ero-Sennin.�
- 8
- 9
- 10
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Love's Misconstruities