Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...

Finding You

"Who's there?" Gaara demanded as he focused on the tree behind him. The forest was dead quiet. Everything was still as if they forgot to breathe for a second.

"Oh, sorry! I…I'm sorry to disturb you," Hinata apologized from the branch she was standing on. She didn't even look at him and instead, she was staring down at her feet.

Gaara weighted various consequences of his forthcoming action. He thought it safe to just keep her there at least until she answered his next question. He finally asked, monotonously, "What were you doing, sneaking around like that?"

"I wasn't sneaking a-around…I was just passing by, that's all…I was on my way to meet my teammates," she answered, nervously, as she looked around.

'For safety. For protection,' he guessed, feeling unusually empty.

The sand slowly started creeping toward her but stopped right under her feet. She took a sharp intake of breath but stayed there, tensely, waiting for the sand to envelop her and crush her. "Why couldn't you go through the main road? Why through here?"

After she looked at him for a moment, she looked to the right. Her gaze held a faraway look as if she was somewhere else. "I…need to avoid…someone." Her voice was brimming with emotions, the ones that Gaara could not distinctly place. "Until I figure something….something out…sort through my feelings…organize." She let the words hang on the warm, moist air. She was surprised that he withheld his…will to attack. Hinata wasn't so sure about her choice of word.

"Who's that person?" Gaara questioned her, bluntly. Obviously, he couldn't care less about what others thought of his straightforwardness.

She inhaled then exhaled, deliberately. She was much more relaxed but still kept her guard up just in case. She continued on, "He is someone that I very much…admire but…I don't know what to think of him anymore." Her eyes were now obscured by her bangs so he couldn't properly see her eyes now. She then whispered, "Especially, after now that he is with someone else." It was intended toward more to herself than to him.

'Admire?' He only remembered the term with vague familiarity. Then pain shot through him. He was once again reminded of his uncle. 'Love, trust, family, bond, what does it all mean?' Gaara was confused. He felt sadness creeping inside his head, wrecking all his thoughts and feelings. Sand retracted from beneath her feet. She looked at him with shocked eyes. He was clutching his head, looking very much in pain. His aquamarine eyes, which showed emptiness and indifference before, now were full of unleashed pain and anguish.

"What does it mean…to love…trust, and bond with someone?" His quiet, strained voice echoed out.

Hinata jumped down from the tree, effortlessly. She looked at him with a small, genuine smile. It wasn't mocking or taunting. It was just a small smile that made his frantic search for answer in his mind stop.

Hinata looked at him. "To love, trust, and bond with someone…well, I don't think there are definite meanings for those words. Love…brings trust and bond. Love is unconditional. You depend and trust that person. When you love, you want to bond with that someone, you want that person near you always so that you can watch and protect. It completes your heart and gives you a sense of protection. It gives you a different meaning to life. You…can never control it. It's emotion. Emotions and feelings come from deep within your heart, Gaara-san."

His thoughts raced, reeling in a loop, over and over again. 'Love…unconditional…bond…trust…protect…near…completes…meaning…life…emotion…heart?' He stopped on that word. 'I have a heart? I'm not a monster, a human…just human.' His thoughts resolved and untangled themselves. He knew he didn't have answer to all his questions yet but at least, now he knew that he was very much human…not a monster.

He was so involved in his thoughts, he hadn't noticed Hinata, who stood right in front of him, just observing. She slowly held out her clenched fist in front of him, encouraging him to take whatever was held inside her hand. She looked straight at him with unguarded, lavender-tinted eyes. He held out palm slowly. Her hand touched his cold palm briefly before retreating. He felt a spark of warmness return to his body. He gripped the object on his hand, tightly, as if he was afraid if he lessened his grip just a tiny bit, it would just vanish.

"As a token of our friendship…even if you don't consider me as your friend. I consider you as my comrade and a friend," Hinata said as she backed away a little. She gave out one last heartwarming smile. An acknowledgment. "Bye. Until next time." Then she disappeared into the woods, away from him.

Gaara stood unmoving for several seconds until he finally brought himself to look at his fist, holding the item. He carefully opened it, curious but not afraid. For the first time, he was trusting someone. Freedom. He finally felt a way out of his cage of mistrust and hatred and felt something warm and pleasant fill his heart. He examined the object on his palm with amusement dancing in his eyes. A small smile graced his lips, a movement that was awkward and unfamiliar. But he knew he could get use to it, especially if it involved a certain someone whom he just met. On his palm, a small hand-carved wooden bird rested, its wings folded neatly back and its eyes looking straight toward the sky.

'Freedom, hmm? I think…I got the basic concept down.'

"Until next time then…Hinata," he whispered those words into the crispy, warm air as he disappeared in a swirl of sand, clutching tightly at the wooden bird on his hand.

Eh…I'm not sure what to think about this one…

If you could give me some feedback, that'll be great :)