Chapter 4:

The rest of the day flew by and Gaara didn't realize it. Looking around, he sighed, the last bell ringing. Hinata hadn't really talked to him all day, and when he did catch her looking at him, she adverted her gaze and blushed furiously. He growled and shook his head as he walked out the door of the school, making his way to his motorcycle. On his way, he spotted Hinata at her car, talking to the blonde from yesterday... well actually, she was yelling at him for some reason, and Gaara growled in jealousy. Gaara started to walk towards her and the blonde as the blonde raised his hand and slapped her across the cheek. Gaara's brow furrowed and he snarled, feeling Shukaku start fighting against the bonds of his mind. Breaking out into a run, Gaara was at Hinata's side, hitting Naruto square in the jaw.

Gaara stood over Naruto before kicking him in the ribs, feeling them crack under the pressure of the kick. Naruto flew and landed hard in the parking lot with a gasp as he tried to breathe. Gaara turned and looked at Hinata, a bright red hand print on her cheek as tears spilled from her eyes over her pale cheeks. Gaara's chest hurt as he walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her briefly. He drew back slightly with his hands on her shoulders as he looked at her slightly swollen cheek. "Are you okay Hinata?"

She looked up at him with pale eyes, still crying and she looked at Naruto still on the ground, sitting up slowly. "I-I am f-fine... I n-need to g-get h-home..." She looked into Gaara's teal eyes and noticed they were laced with worry and regret, but his face was still stoic, only his eyes giving him away. "Do you want me to follow you home? I don't mind." Gaara asked her softly, placing his hand on her unmarred cheek, looking deep into her opal eyes. She looked at his motorcycle and then nodded when she looked back at him. Gaara nodded and opened her car door for her to get into the car.

Once she was in the car, Gaara turned his head and glared at Naruto then turned and ran back to his motorcycle, putting his helmet on and hopping on, starting it to life. Band practice would have to wait, he needed to make sure Hinata was going to be okay. Walking his bike back before turning it, he saw Hinata pull out slowly as Du Hast by Rammstein blared through her speakers. He never thought she would have been the kind of girl to listen to heavy music like that. He shrugged and pulled off after her as she pulled out of the school's parking lot, putting on her blinker to turn.

After about thirty minutes, Hinata pulled up to a fairly nice house and parked her car next to a black mustang in the driveway. Gaara pulled up behind her, turning his bike off and taking off his helmet, hooking it on his bike handles. His teal eyes looked up at her when she stepped out of her car, for the first time, he took in her appearance. Her figure wasn't what most girls their age had, the skinny barbie doll type who thinks they can get any guy they want. Hinata was curvy and a little plump and he liked that about her. She didn't overly dress, and was modest with the skin showing. The lavander color of her hoodie fit her quite well, and looked great against her pale skin. Her jeans were hip huggers that fit snuggly but not too tight enough to cut her in half at the waist.

Gaara got off his bike and walked up to her, a small smile gracing his lips. He grabbed her chin softly and turned her head towards the sun so he could see the still red hand mark on her cheek. He lowered his hand when he heard the door open making him turn his eyes to the door to a male that had the same eyes as Hinata. 'Must be a relative.' He looked back at Hinata as she started for the door, making Gaara follow her slowly. He looked up to the stoic face of the male that stood in the door way with a small glare that graced his eyes. "Neji-niisan... T-this is G-gaara..." Neji looked at Gaara and nodded slightly before looking at Hinata's cheek and tear stricken face. The only reason Neji opened the door was because the only time Hinata listened to heavy music like Rammstein was when she was upset about something. Gaara heard Neji growl when he noticed the red handprint on her cheek and glared back at Gaara. "Did you hit her?" He threw an accusing glare at Gaara.

Hinata's eyes widened slightly "N-no Neji-niisan! I-it was N-Naruto..." Hinata looked at Gaara, standing up for him as Gaara stood proud tall. "I saw Naruto hit her and I ran to her side and defended her." Gaara spoke up after Neji's glare disappeared, the look of hurt and defensiveness came across his face and eyes. "Come in please... Hinata, get some ice on your cheek before Uncle get's home... You know he will get mad if he sees your cheek." Neji turned and walked into the house, Hinata and Gaara followed him, Gaara turning to shut the door behind him, taking his shoes off at the door with the other two pairs. Gaara quickly followed them into the kitchen, seeing Hinata put a back of ice on her swollen cheek.

"Do you want to do homework Hinata...?" Gaara looked at her and took his bag off of his shoulder taking in her face, concern in his eyes. Hinata nodded and sat at the island in the kitchen and took out her math homework, and Gaara did the same, opening to their lesson. They both sat in quiet while they did the work only talking when they got stuck on a problem. They sat there in silence a little longer before they finished their math. Gaara gently took her hand and moved her hand away from her cheek, seeing the swelling had gone down, and the hand print gone. The corner of Gaara's lips upturned slightly and took the ice from her hand, placing it back in the freezer. Gaara turned back around to see Hinata's gaze down toward the floor. "Are you okay?" Gaara sat back down next to her.

Hinata looked up at him with her opal eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks silently again. Gaara took her in his arms in concern, laying his head on the top of hers, moving his hand in small slow circles on her back. She moved back away from him and Gaara looked into her eyes with worry etched on his face. She looked down at her hands, them clutched together in her lap. Gaara was about to say something, but Hinata spoke first.

"Naruto and I broke up... We were at Ichiriku's restaurunt yesterday after school where all the kids go to hang out. Well Sakura and Ino were making fun of you, and it upset me. Well the other's showed up and the subject turned to you and I snapped... I don't know why... I just snapped at them and then kicked Naruto out of the booth next to me and got up to leave. That was when it started to rain, and I went out to my car and Naruto stopped me, grabbing my arm. We started to argue and his grip on my arm got tighter. Well I jerked away from him and told him to never touch me like that again and that it was over. Then this morning he did the same thing. Then this afternoon he started to yell at me and I started to yell at him back... that is when he slapped me and you showed up. A year with him and I never thought he would have been abusive... I'm glad I got away when I could..."

Gaara's demenor changed when she was telling him about what happened, and how Naruto treated her. He felt his anger start to rise as Hinata kept talking about what transpired, Shukaku growled deep in his mind and Gaara felt his anger. 'Easy Shukaku... We will deal with him later.' Gaara looked at the time and saw it was nearly dinner time making him sigh. "Would you like to go out to eat...?" Gaara asked her quietly. He wasn't sure if she normally cooked for her family or not, but it was worth a shot, she didn't need to be alone at that moment in her life, even thought she wouldn't be fully alone, she was still alone.

Hinata looked up at him and smiled slightly, nodding at his request. Standing up, Gaara took her hand in his and lead her to the door, putting his shoes back on, waiting patiently for Hinata to put her shoes on. Grabbing her hand again, he lead her to his motorcycle and handed her his helmet. "Put this on Hinata." Gaara turned and got on the bike and waited for Hinata to put on the helmet. He could do without one, but he didn't want her to ride without it. Once Hinata was on the bike behind Gaara, Gaara grabbed her arms and placed them around his waist. "Hold on tight so you don't fall off." Starting the bike, Gaara took off and went towards a burger joint that was near where the band practiced. He knew by this time, the band was already there at the burger joint, and if not, they were just now getting there.

Pulling into the parking lot, Gaara saw a blood red Lamborgini next to a dark blue Ferrari symbolizing that Konan and Sasori were there. Most likely Deidara and Pein were there as well. A black 4x4 half ton Ford truck sat on the other side of the Lamborgini and a Black Toyota Spyder. Gaara pulled up on the other side of the Ferrari and shut off his bike before leaning it on the kickstand. Hinata got off of the bike and handed him the helmet. Taking the helmet, Gaara tied it to the handles and got off the bike, walking up to the door, opening it for Hinata, following her inside.

Gaara spotted the band over in their normal spot and started to walk towards them, motioning for Hinata to follow him. Once he was standing at the table, he cleared his throat at the rowdy bunch and looked at all of them, an invisible eyebrow raised.

"Are you guys having fun?" Gaara chuckled at them when they turned their eyes on him and Hinata.

Konan spoke up with a smile on her face. "So who is the girl Gaara?" motioning towards Hinata. Gaara looked at Hinata and grabbed her hand, pulling her infront of him, "This is Hinata. We go to school together." Gaara's reply was short and sweet, the tone of his voice making sure they knew not to pry any further. They shifted around the booth, letting Hinata sit down next to Konan while Gaara pulled up a chair.

"Hinata, this is Konan, her boyfriend Pein, Deidara, Sasori, Kazuku and Hidan. This is the band that I am in." Gaara smiled softly at Hinata, letting her know he wasn't going to go anywhere. "N-Nice to meet y-you." Hinata spoke softly, making everyone strain their ears to hear her. Konan looked at Gaara with an eyebrow raised and Gaara nodded slightly, no one noticing it but Konan.

Gaara ordered some food for him and Hinata while the band got to know Hinata, asking her all sorts of questions. Gaara smirked at some of her answers, but listened all the same to them. As they asked her questions and started to talk about themselves, Hinata visibly relaxed and started to enjoy herself. Gaara looked at his phone and noticed how late it was, " Hinata, I need to get you home." Hinata looked at her phone and her eyes got wide. She had never been out that late unless it was on a date, and even then, Naruto always made sure to have her home by 9pm... and here it was almost 11.

Gaara stood and walked over to pay for the meals they had gotten and waited for Hinata by the door as she bowed and bid everyone a farewell and that she hoped they would see each other again. Once Konan gave Hinata her phone number, Hinata turned and walked towards Gaara, as he waited paitently by the door for her. As she approached Gaara, Gaara smiled and held the door open for her, nodding to the band before he walked out the door into the frigid air. Once they got to his bike, Gaara handed the helmet to Hinata and got on, starting it up to let it get warm. Once Hinata was situated behind him with her arms around his waist, Gaara took off towards her house. Reaching her house, Gaara walked Hinata up to the door and Hinata turned towards Gaara.

"T-thank you for the d-dinner. I had f-fun." Hinata smiled, her opal eyes lighting up as she walked up the step higher than Gaara. Gaara looked at her and smiled at her, "It was a pleasure. You deserve to be treated like a princess... Not someone that is to be hit." HInata smiled at him again and nodded. "See you tomorrow at school." Hinata started to turn and finish walking up the steps, but Gaara caught her arm and pulled her toward him into his body. Lifting her chin, his teal eyes looked intensly into her opal ones before he leaned down a little futher, watching her face break out into a furious red blush. Smirking, Gaara finished the distance as he softly kissed her lips in a sweet and sensual way. He stopped kissing her and stepped away from her, smirking. "See you tomorrow Hinata." Gaara turned and walked back to his bike, putting his helmet on and driving away towards his house.

Once he got home, he went straight to his room with not so much as a peep, remembering her soft lips against his. He was already falling, and falling hard, which was something he was trying to prevent from happening so fast. Collapsing on his bed, Gaara stared at the ceiling, waiting for sleep to take him away.

Hinata stood on the porch for a little bit, her lips still tingling from the sweet and soft lips that met hers. She blushed darkly before she went into her house. Neji was in his room and her father was still out on business, so Hinata went up to her room and shut the door, twirling around before landing on her bed with a soft 'plop.' She stared at the ceiling and sighed, thinking of everything that had happened that day at school and after school. HInata sat up and went over to her laptop and put some music on that she had sifted through last night and thought was a good idea to sing. 'If Gaara is in a band... maybe he could help me...I'll have to ask him tomorrow...' Hinata smiled to herself before turning off her lights, listening to the music float out of the speakers as she laid on her bed and fell asleep, thinking of the red head that had captured her heart so quickly.