Konoha Park.

Gaara pressed his back against the wooden bench. Another day had passed, which meant another sleepless night. Insomnia was as much as a gift as it was a curse. The night was the quietest part of his life, no one ever went this far into the park during the night. There wasn't a street light for what had to be another 300 meters, the nearest path was close to 100 meters.

Gaara heard the rustling of leaves to his left, he guessed that's why they called this section of the park "Haunted". Then the wind suddenly blew in between the tree's, creating a howling whistle. Gaara's eyes locked forward, focusing on the pure black directly ahead of him. It must have been at least 1 or 2 A.M. No one in the right mind would be up this late on a Tuesday, then agian, Gaara was never in the right mind, so it didn't matter. This was what he chose for himself after he lost the demon, nothing was holding him back from actually trying to sleep for once.

His train of thought was derailed when he heard the trampling of grass to about 15 degrees to his left, although he wasn't quite sure of who it was, they seemed friendly. If not, then they didn't look like they had too much of a fight.

Hinata had been mindlessly wandering about the park late at night, in search of some rare flowers to pick for her friend Ino. Lately, the Hyuuga girl had been attempting to make a few more female friends or at least get closer to the ones she had. Hanging around Kiba all the time was starting to get a bit old, especially since he tended to bring Naruto along. Whenever Naruto was around the situation quickly got highly embarrassing and awkward. To put it simply, Hinata needed a break.

Before she knew it, Hinata was further into the park than she had intended. She shrugged it off though, not feeling too much fear despite the rumors of it being "haunted". This was still Konoha, her home, and Hinata felt safer in this village than anywhere else. That was, until the rustling of the leaves and howling sound from the wind surrounded her.

Instantly, she squeaked and flinched away from the noise and feeling of the wind against her relatively pale skin. She had yet to notice Gaara, so the feeling of being absolutely alone only made her panic worse.

Gaara flipped his head up the second she came into view. Gaara remembered her lurking around at the Chuunin exams, and sometimes around the Hokage's office. She's the one who's deeply obsessed with Naruto. Although he couldn't make out her face, it didn't matter, whatever she was doing, she probably didn't need him.

Maybe she'd just ignore him, that's what most people do.

Gaara looked up for a moment as she neared, then directed his attention forward quickly. Even Gaara knew it was rude to stare, let alone a man staring at a woman... It made him feel sick. Staring is something that Kiba, or Naruto would do, not Gaara. He was above them now, right? He was a leader, a role model, he couldn't be drawn back b-

"Hello, Hinata."

Had he really said that? It was like a instinct that he couldn't fight.

Hinata spent a few more moments cowering by herself, the wind seemed to be howling especially loud around her body. Gaara's voice broke the noise and the howling ceased almost instantly. Her head snapped up to look over at Gaara, or at least to try and locate him in the dark.

Naturally, finding things in any circumstance was not a hard task for Hinata. Her eyes locked on Gaara and she gave him a timid smile in response to his greeting. She took a few steps closer, not particularly liking the distance between them. This was mostly due to the fact that she was not a fan of having to talk loudly.

"Hello, G-gaara...," Hinata greeted back shyly, fidgeting with her hands close to her face.

Gaara leaned forward, now he had her attention. What was he supposed to do? Shove her away. Oh, now she was walking closer. Gaara wasn't about to listen to her rant on and on about Naruto or Kiba. Maybe she was going to say something more pleasant. Like how nice the night is, or how the air seems fresher during the night.

More people talk.. Gaara had to stay above that. He was a leader now, not a simpleton. He needed to tall. Gaara pressed his back against the now cold bench. Clearly uncomfortable, even know he was too "Snobby" to admit so. He wasn't snobby, just antisocial. He moved over from the middle of the bench, to the opposite side, furthest from Hinata.

Hinata stopped walking over when she took notice to Gaara moving away. Her self-consciousness instantly came into play. Had she done something wrong? Was she bothering Gaara? She blinked her pale eyes a few times and tried to stop fidgeting so much.

She was never much of a talker, but she supposed that she would have to try. Especially with Gaara because he did not talk much either.

"W-what brings you h-here?"

Gaara was growing more and more uncomfortable. She was obviously getting self conscious again. He turned his head back up to talk. She looked older since he saw her last, a little taller, too. She was still shy as ever, though. In a way, they were the same. Except Gaara was just born antisocial. She was just overly shy.

This was going to be a futile attempt at talking between a shy girl and a antisocial boy, but it had to be done.

"The solitude.."
Gaara knew he shouldn't have said that, but it slipped.

"O-oh, I'm sorry...do you want me to leave?" She asked, her voice shaking a little from worry that she might be annoying him.

Hinata instinctively took a half step back and away from Gaara. Despite the large space between them, she was still worried that maybe she was invading on his personal time. Why else would someone enjoy solitude except to be...alone?

She poked her index fingers together, adverting her gaze down to the ground. Hinata sighed to herself, trying to make things less awkward but really having no idea how to do that anyways.

Gaara shook his head, solitude wasn't always the answer. Besides, is it possible to enjoy solitude with someone? Could be. He wasn't so cold as to just turn her away, was he? Of course not.

"No, you can... Stay.."

Gaara felt awkward saying that, he's never said it to anyone in his life. Why did he start there? And why was she making him so uncomfortable when she hadn't even done anything wrong?

Hinata gave Gaara a curiously glance, unable to read his emotions on his face. Or rather, lack of emotions on his face. She remembered it being hard to tell what he was thinking or feeling back during the Chuunin exams. Apparently not much had changed from between then and the present.

Though, now he was much nicer, in an odd way that is. The dark aura that was around him from so long ago had now vanished. That was a major relief for the Hyuuga girl because back then Gaara had utterly creeped her out.

"S-so...did you come to Konoha t-to speak to Lady Tsunade?"

The wind blew stronger, whistling and ruffling the leaves, not to mention Gaara's own hair. He heard a quick jostling above him, however if the talk he and Tsunade had about defence was right, then it was probably some stray little animal.

Gaara leaned forward a little, those words striking a little harder than he had hoped. All it did was remind him of the argument they had the day before, and how he got absolutely nowhere with his ideas.

"We argued already."
He said, quietly. He was supposed to be back that day, but he made sure he was going to take the day off, and try to speak to her again the following afternoon.

A-argued? That can't be good..."

Hinata frowned at this, naturally having to take the side of her Hokage. If they had been arguing then Tsunade must have a good reason for not agreeing with Gaara on whatever the topic was. Which only made the Hyuuga girl wonder what the topic was after all.

"M-may I ask what a-about?" she asked shyly, her gaze going from the other's face do her feet on the ground. The wind was picking up around them, causing her hair to be blown all over the place.

Gaara turned his head back forward, using his arms to help push him off the bench. The wind was too much of an annoyance. He thought of how to talk and be guarded from wind at the same time. Finally, a harder gust of wind blew, rustling the leaves and making a terrible howl.

"It's too windy. I'd like to find another spot to converse."

Converse, another word he knew the meaning to, but rarely said... Why so much effort for the girl? But more importantly, Why so much effort from her part to him. he threatened to kill the man she loved years before. She was a strange thing, then again, so was he.

"Y-yes, please..." Hinata nodded, glancing over her shoulder to the area from which she had come from. She wondered where they could possibly go to escape the wind. Back into the Village, perhaps? But didn't Gaara come out here for solitude? That would defeat the purpose of being solitary.

"Where are we...going to go?" She shivered and hugged herself, starting to walk slightly towards where she had come.

Gaara looked all around.. There wasn't enough trees to properly guard them against wind. The only place that seemed quiet enough was the Village, but yes, that did defeat the purpose of solitude. However, it's not like anyone was up this late at night, certainly not.

"To the Village; I have to prepare for my next talk with the Hokage."

Gaara turned, his options all ran out. It was the Village or risk freezing and returning with a nasty cold. He walked past Hinata, shooting a glance at her, silently wondering if she'd follow or not.

Hinata was quick to follow Gaara, still hugging herself as they walked. She decided to let Gaara lead, after all she was sure he knew his way around. Both Gaara and his siblings had been to this village enough to know it well.

She bit her lip as a huge gust of wind howled through the park, causing her hair to only get more messy. The pale-eyed girl glanced over at Gaara, not minding the silence but wondering if he did. The 'haunted' park was certainly less scary to walk through with him at her side.

"Wh-what part of the village are we going to?"

Gaara's face remained plastered with no emotion, certainly he was gaining some of it back, but slowly. Gaara looked down, not as much as he had to, she was definately growing taller. He thought she'd have overcome her shyness by now, but that wasn't the case, probably wouldn't be the case for a very long time.

"I don't know."

He said calmly, the wind gusting inbetween the the tree's violently. Causing a howl that could wake the dead. Nonetheless, He pressed on into the black, not picking up speed or showing any sign of annoyance what-so-ever. Even if that was the only emotion that he was able make clear at this point in his life.

"O-oh, alright then..." She responded, not really minding where they went but also disliking not knowing where they were going.

Hinata still had not noticed the presence of Deidara, completely unaware that he was anywhere near them. This was mostly due to her focus on Gaara, trying to figure him out and wondering why things were so awkward.

But the cause of the awkwardness was rather obvious. The last time Hinata had been around Gaara for a long amount of time was during the Chuunin exams when he and his siblings terrified Hinata and her team. Though that was in the past, it still lingered in the back of the Hyuuga girl's mind.

Now Gaara was a lot nicer, even if it wasn't necessarily on the surface. Looking at him didn't scare her, it simply made her shy like it did whenever she looked at anyone else's face. And being in his presence felt a lot safer compared to the dangerous feeling she got back at the Chuunin exams.

Hinata opened her mouth to say something, but quickly shut it due to the obnixiously loud wind. After all, they were moving in order to talk where it was quiet. No point in making conversation while still in the howling wind.

Gaara thought of how she looked as a child, she was just so young and brittle. What was she now? She was older and just as brittle, looks like not much has changed during the exams on her part. Gaara was older, and it showed. His face was thinner, he was taller. But his face, it didn't show anger, just blankness. He never smiled, he never cheered, he never frowned, he never cried. He barely spoke, but when he did speak his voice was always deep, and dark. That part of him had never changed. The speaking was dark, but not angry or happy, just calm.

Gaara turned, this was an alleyway with a road down it. This was the "Quiet" part of Konoha, no one ever came down here, for it was also supposedly "Haunted". Again, there was another bench. Gaara made his way to the bench, and sat down promptly. After-all. He had not slept for his entire life. If he started now, it was questionable if he'd ever wake up again.

"It's quiet."

Oddly quiet, but Gaara wasn't about to complain. Solitude was best enjoyed in the quiet.

Hinata had followed him the entire way there, staring at the spot on the bench beside him after he sat down. Hesitantly and shyly, she took the spot beside Gaara on the bench. She glanced over at him out of the corner of her eyes as she tried not to fidget.

"S-so what d-do you need to talk to L-lady Tsunade about?" Hinata asked again, really wanting to know. Only if Gaara did not mind telling, of course, because if it was a secret it was none of her business.

Gaara wanted to keep his mouth shut. He didn't want to alarm her, or make her freak out. He needed something to say without revealing too much. Then something popped up quickly into his mind.

" 'Eye of the storm'. That's all you need to hear."

Gaara leaned forward in the bench, the back of the bench was far too cold for his liking.

She nodded slowly, her mind racing with a million possibilities to what that could possibly mean. Hinata was really one to freak out over things or have a meltdown, but she did worry and get nervous. She frowned as she continued to thought, several ideas popping up into her mind.

"I-i see...I hope all goes w-well, Gaara..." she said in a soft voice, wondering why he felt the need to be so cryptic.

Hinata shivered slightly, inching away from the back of the bench as well. It certainly was cold outside, but she tried not to think about that.

Gaara turned his head to look at Hinata.... Now she was sitting on the bench. It was almost an invasion of privacy, but he had no other option to allow her access to his personal space. Normal people conversed close, and why would he have to be different?

"Perhaps..."

Gaara struggled with something else to say, nothing seemed to come to mind. But all those days of watching other people converse [Stalkerlike 8D] What did they usually say... Something like..

"How.. Are you?" Gaara said, he wondered if that was what people say after a response, hopefully.