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A dark figure stood on the roof of the Hyuuga house.

Silent…

Still…

Mysterious…

Lonesome…

Hinata wondered who it was. He stood on the far end of the house. Away from the main house and branch house. Right above her room.

It was long past midnight. Her team had just come back from a 2 day mission of delivering a highly classified scroll to the hidden village of rain. Fortunately there had been no setbacks.

Not that anyone cared. The house was completely dark. She wasn’t surprised. Still, it would have been a nice change if someone had left a light on or stayed awake to see her in.

She didn’t feel very tired. Insomnia was a common occurrence nowadays for her.

Quick as a flash, silent as a whisper, she was on the roof beside the lone figure. Up close, she could see who it was now.

Gaara.

She had not realized it was him earlier because of the lack of his gourd.

His eyes were closed. His stance was relaxed and his arms crossed across his chest. She strained to hear his breathing and heartbeat. Slow, relaxed and deep.

He must be asleep.

A strange way to sleep, she thought. But as a ninja in a village other than his own, she supposed he wanted to be prepared to defend himself or attack his opponent as soon as he woke.

She silently stepped close around him and observed him. Without the gourd, he looked very tall. His features, softened by sleep, were almost boyish. But he was still very handsome. He had the strangest hair color she had ever seen. Beautiful. It looked like hot molten sand, slightly outgrown and wild. She would bet he never combed it. His skin was deeply tanned and healthy. He had broad shoulders despite his slender figure and from what she could make out through his clothes, he seemed somewhat muscular.

She was in front of him now. Studying his face, she decided that she liked the way he looked. He was probably admired by many girls and envied by many boys. At seventeen, Hinata was very aware of the importance people placed on beauty. Even if it was a fleeting attribute to have. Even if it was worth very little to have when all was said and done. She smiled a little sadly to herself. She still wished to be a beauty sometimes though. To be admired by the boys. To be envied by other girls.

No one had called her a beauty. She doubted anyone even thought she had been, was or will ever be a beauty. Her skin was pale and almost translucent, making her look ill most of the time. The only time there was color on her face was when she blushed and she was certain she resembled a baked lobster. Her eyes were no different from any other member of the Hyuuga clan. And her body was, in her opinion, terribly unproportional. That was the main reason she avoided taking off her jacket in front of people.

Now, standing right in front of the boy whom most people regarded as an unstable monster, Hinata thought he looked more like a child than a monster. A few strands of his hair flew around his face wildly. Without a thought, she tucked the hair back behind his ears.

Then his hand grabbed hers.

She froze.

White pearl orbs clashed with dark aquamarine eyes.

One reflected shock. The other was as cold as glaciers.

“What do you think you were doing?”

“I-I-I j-just… y-y-your h-hair… I-I d-d-didn’t m-mean to w-wake y-”

“You shouldn’t touch me.”

“G-Gomennasai…”

His hand was firm around her wrist but he wasn’t hurting her, she noted. Briefly, she wondered if he would hurt her over such a trivial matter as tucking his hair back behind his ear. She was fairly sure he wouldn’t. Their villages were allies. Killing her- no, just hurting her, would surely cause unneeded conflict between the two villages. Wildly, she imagined how angry her father would be with her for being the cause. It didn’t matter if she was a victim or innocent. Just the fact that she was in any way involved would make him angry with her.

Gaara was looking at her. His eyes held no emotion. Hinata blushed. She knew her expressions always gave her thoughts away. Kiba and Shino had often told her so. Grimly, Hinata wondered how long it would take to recover after Gaara was through with her.

“Why are you here?”

Hinata blinked in surprise. Didn’t he realize he was standing on the roof of the Hyuuga house?

“I l-l-live h-here.”

Gaara’s flickered over her face for a second before moving his eyes to look her over.

“A Hyuuga.” A statement.

“H-Hai”

“…”

He was still holding on to her wrist. Hinata didn’t dare try to tug it out of his grasp even though her arm was beginning to feel a bit sore of holding itself in that position. She licked her dry lips. His eyes watched the action with interest. She couldn’t help but blush. She stared at her feet with more intensity than they merited.

“Uhm… Gomen… Gaara-sama. But… c-c-could I… Uhm…” Her eyes flickered to look at her wrist for a moment before resuming her intense study of their feet.

He took his time. His grip tightened and loosened around her wrist a few times; as though he wasn’t sure he wanted to release her. Finally he guided her wrist down and let it go. Her hand quickly resumed its normal activity of fiddling with the other as she looked at it.

“Why did you approach me?”

Hinata’s head snapped up in surprise at his politely posed question. She had expected him to leave or order her away harshly for intruding on his time. “I… I-I d-don’t know… Y-you were j-j-just st-standing up here… and I-I…” She swallowed painfully before continuing; sure he would laugh in her face. “…I thought t-that you w-w-were as-asleep… and… Uhm… I-I didn’t w-want to b-be alone…” She blushed a deep deep red and her hands fiddled more aggressively than before.

He was quiet for the longest time. A hard cold wind blew past them and Hinata shivered, quickly pulling her jacket closer to keep herself warm. Winter was approaching. It was already the end of November.

“Why would you be alone?”

The question wasn’t harsh. It was just… hard. Hinata didn’t look up at him. Miserably, she wished she could turn back time and crawl into her bed. That’s what she should have done rather than have approached him. She was so stupid thinking nothing would come of it!

He was taller than her by 3 or 4 inches. Enough to give him an advantage over her and make her nervous. She didn’t sense any ill intent emanating from him but she was sure that if she bothered him much longer, that would change.

“G-Gomenna- ah”

He lifted her chin and forced her eyes to look straight into his. They weren’t cold ice now. They were alive with questions and curiosity. Emotion. Hinata couldn’t pull her own eyes away. “Tell me.” It was an order. And Hinata knew better than to refuse his orders.

“I-I… I just… I just am…” She answered lamely. Desperately, she implored silently to him to let her go, promising with her eyes she wouldn’t get in his way ever again.

He didn’t give any indication of understanding her silent plea. He studied her face. Eyes moving slowly over each feature appraisingly. Caress. She felt her body quiver beneath his molten gaze. Unconsciously, she pulled her jacket even closer to her body.

When he was finally done, he locked gazes with her. She couldn’t even swallow because her mouth was as dry as sand paper. Lonely… He was lonely. As lonely as she was. She gasped at the dark hollow emotion she saw in his eyes. His fingers tightened at her chin. The only part of his face that had emotion was his eyes. Otherwise, he looked like a perfect sculpture of a man looking contemptuously at a sight that disgusted him.

“They say… the Hyuuga have eyes that can see straight into a man’s soul.” He lifted her head higher, looking curiously at her eyes. “Is that true? Tell me… What do you see when you look at me?” His voice became so soft that Hinata had to strain her ears to hear him clearly over the wind.

She couldn’t take it any more. She flung his hands away and jumped back landing about 10 feet away from him. He didn’t move. She was a mess, shaking all over now. “G-Gomennasai. I-I… I won’t d-disturb y-y-you again.” She bit her lip and prayed he would not be too angry.

His eyes were cold again. Hard marble like before. He crossed his arms over his chest again looking completely relaxed. He smirked. Evilly, she thought. “On the contrary, Hyuuga. I am certain you shall, allow me to use your own words, disturb me again. And I hope, in the very near future.”

Before she could even blink he was right in front of her. Her hands flew up to her mouth in surprise as she gasped. She was sure her heart stopped. He leaned in, torturingly slow, until his mouth was right next to her ear. His breath was warm against her cold skin. She blushed and closed her eyes, her hands pressed hard against her mouth to make sure she wouldn’t gasp again.

“And for your information… I don’t sleep.” He paused for a moment before finishing his statement. “Ever.”

Then he was gone. Hinata, frozen in place, just stared in the empty space he had occupied in front of her just moments before.

What have I just done?