Ai (love)?

Gaarazlilmiss

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

This is the last chapter for this story, so we're one step closer to getting to that sequel! This is Gaara's chapter, because I dedicated chapter 15 to Hinata. Hope you all like it!

Gaara : …I'm not coming for the sequel

Gaarazlilmiss : You have no choice.

Hinata : I'd love to see how the sequel turns out Lilmiss-San.

Gaarazlilmiss : Thank you Hinata. Anyway, Chapter 16.

Chapter 16 : Unchanged but changed

Gaara traveled through the desert alone. Kankuro and Temari were apparently still in Konohagakure, and he didn't care. He was tired of being around people. He tried to keep telling himself that he was happy Hinata and himself were no longer going to see each other. She had caused him to think too much, and maybe even go a little soft. Such strange thoughts, and ideas had filled his head, he thought he was loosing his mind.

The sands of the desert danced in the breeze when the dry wind blew, and the sun beamed down on him. Unlike the dreary looking Konoha, Suna was apparently lively and hot as always. He couldn't wait to go and give the Kazekage a piece of his mind. How could he try it again? How could they do this to him? Ruining his life seemed to be everyone's hobby nowadays. It was really pissing him off.

On the horizon, Gaara could see a figure approaching him, the heat waves obscuring the absolute view of them. Gaara squinted slightly and then relaxed his eyes when the person came into view more fully. It was a man, that was apparent. His face was scared, bloody, like he had just been beaten with spiked clubs. Gaara didn't know what to think about it, but the Shukaku did.

A desert straggler…maybe we should finish him off?

The shukaku asked teasingly. It got puzzled when Gaara didn't answer, but instead walked up to the man right when he dropped to the ground.

The man lifted his head up, not too far off the ground, and studied Gaara. "P-please…" said the man.

Gaara looked at him, confused. Before he had met Hinata, he would have looked at the man in disgust, and discarded him. But he couldn't help but feel…sympathy for him maybe…

"What happened?" he asked coolly. He hadn't lost that about him.

"Bandits…in the desert…took my…food and water…" the man said.

"Where were you going?" Gaara asked.

"Konoha…I live there." he said.

That made Gaara even more compelled to help him. Gaara took his canteen of water, and gave it to the man. "Drink it." said Gaara.

The man eagerly drank the water, not stopping until it was all gone. A little of his strength returned. "Thank you very much." he said standing up. His wounds were still terrible, but other than that, the man could walk. "You'll be to Konoha soon…make sure you see a medic about those wounds." Gaara said and started walking off. There really wasn't much more he could do.

Did that man even realize who I was? Even still…he thanked me.

Gaara thought.

I wonder what Hinata would have thought if she'd have seen that.

He thought again.

You STUPID fool of a BOY!!

The shukaku bellowed.

What is wrong with you!? That girl! I should have killed her when I had the chance…!

The shukaku said.

Why am I lending my powers to someone so weak!? Someone so easily persuaded to do things like this!?

The shukaku continued to fuss.

Gaara sighed.

Calm down…I gave you part of what you wanted, so why don't you leave me alone for a minute?

Gaara said in a bored-like voice.

HOW CAN I LEAVE YOU ALONE WHEN YOU'RE CHANGING INTO A SOFTIE EVERY MINUTE I DO!?

It asked.

Gaara didn't reply back.

You just wait…

The shukaku said as it sent pictures of a dead Hinata, a destroyed konohagakure, and Gaara completely transformed into the Shukaku.

Gaara grabbed his head, a pain seared through.

Stop…playing games…with me!!

Gaara said.

The Shukaku chuckled.

Fine. I want to get out of this desert anyway. I can only do that if you're walking, riiight?

The shukaku asked in a teasing manner, and then left.

Gaara sighed with relief as he began to walk again.

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"I wonder if Gaara is okay…" Kankuro said. He and Temari had left Konoha a short while ago, and were traveling back to Sunagakure. "We really shouldn't have let him go away like that on his own, but I didn't want him to kill me, you know, he was transformed into that thing." Kankuro finished.

Temari sighed. "Yeah, I know. How was Hinata?" she asked.

"She was…I don't know…" said Kankuro.

Temari grinned a little. "I know she likes out little Gaara now." said Temari with a smug smile at the end.

Kankuro looked at her funny. "You say that like he's your son or something!" Kankuro said.

"You know what I mean! Our little brother! But I think it's about time Gaara decided to come out of that little shell of his. I wonder if he's going back to Suna…?" Temari asked.

"At some point he should be." said Kankuro. "…That Kiba kid's gonna get himself killed if he keeps messing with Gaara." said Kankuro grimly. He remembered all the events that had taken place, well, that he knew of, and all of them had pertained to Kiba, Gaara, and Hinata in some way. "I think maybe there's a bit of competition going on Temari." he said.

"Naturally." Temari said. "Gaara's human too, you know." she said.

"Hn." Kankuro said. "Wonder how that's going…" he said.

"Only they know." Temari said.

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Gaara reached Suna about 4 hours after the incident with the injured man and Shukaku. Unlike the steady climate of Konoha, the temperatures in Sunagakure were monstrous, and it went from scorching heat to freezing cold in a second. The breeze was still dry, but now it was accompanied by cold. Gaara walked slowly towards the Kazekage's building, and up the stairs. His feet made echoes when they hit the marble like stairs. His shadow was huge upon the wall, as the candles on the wall opposite of it sent steady flames of light flickering and dancing when the wind blew.

Finally once he had gotten to his destination, he peeked in the door, seeing the Kazekage sitting at his desk writing something, and picking up a pair of spectacles so he could see better. "Hmmm." he said at one point. Gaara was tempted to let the Shukaku out and let it destroy the Kazekage for what he had just tried to pull, but didn't. He had done that one time already, and look how it had turned out.

Quietly walking away, or at least what he thought was pretty much quiet, the Kazekage's scribbling stopped, and he called out. "Gaara. Come back why don't you?" he asked in a pleasant tone, which sickened Gaara because it was so full of content, when his intentions where nothing but foul.

Gaara didn't stop walking.

"I am going to ask you again. Come back." the kazekage said in a slightly strained tone this time, as if he were trying not to yell at him in frustration.

Gaara turned around. "Why bother? You wanted me to die, didn't you? Why do you want me to come back to you? You think I'm a fool?" he asked cool as ice.

There was a long silence. Finally, Gaara heard the Kazekage standing up, and then he slid the door all the way open, making his way out into the hallway to see Gaara. "You're a quizzical one aren't you? Gaara, I did not intend to kill you, only test you." he said with a cheesy smile.

Gaara stared at him, glare growing. "Don't test me now…I'm not in the mood, and I'll kill you if you continue to." he said.

The Kazekage looked at Gaara and frowned. "You're not going to last here…when you think you're safe, you'll never be. One day Gaara…someone will kill you. If you killed me now, it wouldn't matter because you will never be safe from your fate. Someone, even if I don't tell them to, WILL want you gone." the Kazekage said as he slammed his door.

"What makes him think I'll roll over and die so easily?" Gaara asked as he turned around and walked into his own room. He plastered the door from inside with sand so that if anyone tried to open it, it would just be hitting a sand wall. He wanted to be alone. No one was to bother him, he needed his time to think…think about Hinata. How would he get her out of his head? Did he even want to?

"Hinata…what would you do?" Gaara asked himself.

She'd probably roll over and cry her eyes out or something like that…or she might just push it all back and keep on going, only to break down later on.

He thought. Even with her fragile emotions, and her shy way of acting, Gaara could see strength in her. She was a role model, someone he actually admired. "She'll always be there…I won't ever forget her." he said. Someone like Hinata was to hard to forget. He knew even though he was still dodging all this hate around him, what Hinata had taught him was that you had to keep going. And what was it she made him realize was actually real and alive because she showed it to him? Ai.

" " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " "

The Kazekage had summoned Baki to his room not too long after Gaara had exited. "He's starting to get on my last nerves and he's only just returned." said the Kazekage to Baki.

Baki remained silent and just listened.

"I'm going to do it." said the Kazekage. "That Hinata girl…we will give it a little time so it won't seem so obvious, but when the time comes, and they meet again, she is going to kill him. I don't think he'd want to kill her…and on top of that, even if her father perished, she has more sense than most think. She's capable of a lot, and how do we know this?" the Kazekage said. "She got Gaara to trust her."

Baki looked at him strangely.

"Someone like that can do a lot. If she's bold enough to approach him and then stay in contact with him, she'll be bold enough to kill him." said the Kazekage. "My time as Kazekage will soon be up. When that time comes, Baki…I want him to be appointed Kazekage. You make sure it happens. He'll visit Konoha more often if he becomes Kazekage, and then we will strike. Carry out those plans…" he said. "For now, we prepare."

Would I really do this?

Baki thought.

The day left questions unanswered and more questions uprooted. What the people would find out soon, is that Ai is a strong emotion, and it would take more than what they think it would to break such a bond between the two people.

Hinata.

Gaara.

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This is the end of story 1. I hope you all liked it, I honestly enjoyed writing it. Sequel will be out soon, and the story will be called "Trials". Thank you again!

Hinata : Arigato for reading this story!

Gaara : If you could actually sit at your computer screen and read this entire story, I applaude you.

Gaarazlilmiss : ((sigh)) He's a lost case. Oh well. Thank you once again, I just love reading your criticism and nice comments! They make me a better author, and they keep me wanting to write more. Watch out for "Trials" , thanks, an c ya!