Naruto 1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Suna's Body Art

**Author:** Ureko  
**Pairings: **Gaara/Hinata, Sasuke/Naruto (Hints/mentions)  
**Warnings:** Het, lemon, slight OOC, AU, Sequel

**Summary: **Hinata was always view as the "plan Jane", never able to truly be herself. But her world is about to turned upside down thanks to her new roommate and friends.

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and characters are not mine. I don't own anything but the idea for this story.

**AN**: Hey everyone! This is the sequel to _Konoha Piercings'_. As I said before, this story will include both Sasuke and Naruto but not as the main pairing. Sorry if that disappoints everyone but that's just how I have everything planned out. There will be plenty of Sasuke/Naruto from me in the future. Believe it!!

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Hinata couldn't describe the feeling she got at the look her pink-haired roommate was giving her. She knew there was fear and a little bit of uneasiness but there was something else. Excitement maybe?

Was that it? But that didn't make any sense to the long haired girl. Why would she be excited?

It had been over three months now since Hinata transferred from her old school. The previous one lacking the classes that were necessary for her photography. She was nervous, of course, even more so than she normally was. She couldn't bring herself to say one sentence without shuttering and stumbling over her words.

The first person that she met was her roommate, Sakura. She was very kind and polite, although, the bright pink color of her hair threw Hinata off at first. As did the piercings' and little cherry blossom tattoos that rained over various parts of her body, matching her hair in color. She was smart too, the top in all of her classes, and very popular.

It had seemed that Sakura had taken a liking to her from the beginning. It didn't annoy her whenever Hinata would shutter or poke her index fingers together when her nerves got the best of her – a habit that Hinata was proud to almost over come. Almost.

No, Sakura had made her a friend within the first five minutes of even knowing her. She even threw a little 'welcome to the dorm' party and went out of her way to introduce her to all of Sakura's friends. There were so many people that Hinata was having trouble keeping track of who was who and who she had already met. That was the night she met Naruto, Ino and Tenten.

At first, Hinata wasn't sure how to act around any of them. Ino made her feel self-conscious about herself, the blond girl being a Fashion Major didn't really help much. It really only made Hinata feel plan and overly old-fashioned when standing next to her.

Naruto was the loudness of them all, always making sure she was never un-included in anything that they did. Whenever there was a party or just a simple outing, Naruto made sure she was there with them. She admired and appreciated him for it, but sometimes she felt like she was intruding on their fun.

Tenten, however, Hinata found the easiest talking to. The older brunette was an Art Major, and excelled at sculpturing. So, topics of conversation were easy and greatly helped Hinata overcome a lot of her shyness. Tenten, along with the Sakura – and sometimes the others – Hinata found herself slowly becoming more and more confident. And even gradually started opening up a little. Even though, it wasn't by much.

However, Hinata couldn't help but wish that she hadn't opened up at all. After all, if it wasn't for her stupid mouth, she could have avoided getting herself in this situation. She wouldn't be sitting in her dorm room, Sakura sitting across from her, blocking her escape, waiting for her depending doom.

Of course, after her little confession to Sakura, the pinkette had very forcibly told her to _sit_ and called their friends. Hinata could do nothing but listen as Sakura explained everything, devised some sort of evil plan and agreed that an emergency meeting was to take place in half an hour.

It had taken Sakura a total of ten minutes to completely clean out Hinata's closet and dresser drawers, gather all her make-up and even brought out her cosmetology kit that she uses for her classes.

All of this, of course, leading to Hinata's uneasiness, fear and possible excitement. Which were totally and completely understandable.

Fear because of Ino. Despite the fact that Hinata admired the blond girl for her excellent fashion taste, as well as her ability to recreate amazing clothing from scrape – Hinata was scared to let Ino anywhere near her cloths. Knowing full well that nothing would survive the designer's wrath.

Uneasiness because of Sakura. Yes, Sakura. It was well known by everyone that Sakura has been trying for months now to get Hinata to cut her hair. Stating that the long and beautiful brown locks just didn't suit Hinata's facial structure and that the color was dull and actually seemed to _take_ life away rather than give it. Whatever she meant by that, Hinata was still unsure.

But in light of all this, the feeling of excitement was winning. Hinata was sure that that's why she really stayed sitting where she was. Not because Sakura had demanded it – quiet terrifyingly in fact – but because she was curious and excited about getting a make-over.

A knock at the door made Hinata jump a little, her heart racing as the door swung open and three familiar faces entered the dorm. She swallowed nervously upon seeing all the different bags that they carried, already wanting to ran and lock herself in her room.

Ino sat down beside Hinata, placing her four bags on the floor in front of her. "Hey." She placed a reassuring hand on Hinata's shoulder, squeezing a little to show her support.

She smiled softly at the nervous girl before empting out the bags', sorting them by ribbons, colors, shapes and designs. Then out came the scissors, needles and threads.

Hinata felt her face begin to pale as she watched everything pile up in front of her. She turned away after a few moments, her unease growing still as she saw Sakura pulling out three boxes of hair dye and a bunch of hair styling products from the bags Tenten had carried in, placing them on the bathroom counter. From the corner of her eye, she could just barely see Naruto pulling out a bunch of jewelry and CD's from his own bags, setting them on the kitchen table.

"Don't worry about a thing." Hinata looked back over at Ino. The little white bags now empty and harmlessly sitting on the floor, Ino now sorting and piling Hinata's clothes into several different stacks on the floor, couch and coffee table. "Just leave it to us. Right guys!"

"Right!" Sakura smiled as Tenten nodded, giving a thumbs up.

Naruto grinned. "Believe it!"

Hinata bowed her head. "Thank you."

Ino pulled her close and hugged her tight. "Anytime sweetie."

Hinata could feel some of the fear fade, her uneasiness now just a small sliver compared to what it was before. She trusted her friends, knew without a doubt that they wouldn't do anything to hurt or humiliate her.

She was content to just sit and watch as everyone finished setting up. Naruto coming over and helping Ino to sort out the rest of the cloths, even so much as prepping some of the fabrics with the blond girl's instructions. Hinata was grateful to note that Ino didn't plan on re-designing all of her cloths, instead giving her pointers on what to wear with what and what not to.

The entire thing was actually starting to be fun. She had made a few suggestions to what she thought would be neat and interesting, to which Ino whole heartedly agreed with. Hinata was actually surprised with all the different ideas and designs that Ino planned on doing, and was even more shocked that she liked them. All of them. Sure, more skin than she liked would be showing – a lot more – but with the way Ino explained each outfit and design, Hinata began to feel a little more at ease with that.

"Alright, Hinata!" Sakura stood in the bathroom doorway, hands on her hips covered with latex gloves. "Ready?"

Hesitantly, Hinata nodded and stood. She took several deep breathes as Sakura guided her to sit sideways on the toilet seat. A plastic, see-through curtain was draped and secured around her shoulders, protecting her neck and clothes from being ruined.

She watched as Sakura gathered a few hair clips and a long handled, short bristled brush. The black instrument oddly reminding Hinata of a paint brush, and briefly wondered what it was for.

"What's that?"

"Huh? Oh, this?" Sakura waved the little black brush around in the air absently. She sent it down next to the three bottles of hair dye. She untied Hinata's hair from the low ponytail that held the long strained back, gently ran a brush through to eliminate any knots. "It's a tool we use to help dye the roots. The small bristles let us get right down to the scalp – of course, I could just rub it in – but this way won't irritate the scalp."

"Oh."

Hinata fell quiet after that, folding her hands in her lap and tightly clasping them together to stop herself from poking her fingers. She tried to ignore what Sakura was doing as her hair was pinned and clipped into place on top of her head. A small potion of the bottom half of her hair hanging down over her shoulders and back, the ends curling slightly at the ends.

She was thankful for the distraction when Tenten sat down in front of her, a couple of hair styling magazines in her hands. She accepted the one that was handed to her and began to flip through.

Tenten smiled, opening her own magazine. "This should give you an idea of a new hair do."

"Me?" Hinata looked up startled, eyes shifting back and forth between the two girls.

She was a little confused. She had thought that they were going to pick her new look – hair, clothes, make-up, everything. She hadn't really considered that they would let her have any say in the matter.

"Of course, you!" Sakura laughed as she poured the first bit of dye into Hinata's hair, rubbing the thick substance into the dark strains and following it up with her brush to get at the roots. She felt the shiver that went through Hinata's body at the cold feeling, continuing the conversation to help distract the younger girl. "You do have some say in this. It's your hair, so you pick the style. But, can I give you some advice?"

Hinata nodded. "O-of course, Sakura."

"Cut it all off."

Hinata froze, her mind going off into a small panic. Cut it off? _All_ of it? Was Sakura serious? She turned so that she could see her roommate out of the corner of her eye, hoping to see if the Beautician in training was joking. However, the serious experession and the firm look in those green eyes did little to ease her worries.

Sakura ignored the frightened, worried look and focused on her task. Her fingers weaving and working through the hair in front of her with practice ease. "I won't tell you what to do. If you want to keep it long, I won't stop you. But I do think that it would look a lot better with your facial structure and coloring if you cut it. The shorter the better."

"I agree."

Hinata's eyes napped over to look at Tenten. The brunette's gaze studying the different kinds of short hair styles in the magazine in her lap.

They both wanted her to cut _all_ of her hair off? The hair that took her ages to grow out and even refused against her father's wishes to cut? The hair that she grew out in the memory of her mother?

Hinata didn't remember her, not really. There were times when a smell or sound would trigger some long lost memory that seemed to be just out of reach. But the one thing that she never forgot was how long a beautiful her mother's hair was. How the wavy strains seemed to certain around her it a golden-brown halo. Almost like an angel.

Hinata wanted to preserve that memory in any way that she could. So she grew her hair out. Spent years conditioning and moisturizing it, taking care of it the best she could in hopes that it would – at least slightly – resemble the beauty her mother had. But it had been all wrong.

Her hair didn't have the same wavy volume as her mother or sister, nor the color. Where the elder woman's had been a golden-brown at resembled honey, Hinata's was a rich autumn like her fathers and lacked any and all curly waves.

Hinata had tried everything; perms, curling irons, chemically induced therapy. Nothing worked. Her hair had remained straight and lacked that kind of _life_ that her mothers had had. It was one of the reasons Hinata envied her younger sister so – the younger sibling inheriting their mothers beautiful locks.

Unsure about what to do, Hinata looked back down to her own magazine. She flipped to the very back, a little curious as to why her friends thought she would look better practically bald. Her eyes took in the different varieties. A lot of them required curls, which Hinata knew her hair would never take or hold.

It really seemed pointless. Why cut her hair for these types of fashions, when her hair wouldn't take it or hold the desired look? It would be a waste of both time and money to try and change the unchangeable.

She closed the magazine, passing it to Tenten and politely accepting the next one that was handed to her. She studied each picture carefully, reading the little tip messages by each picture about which type of hair was best suited for each one and what shampoo and conditioner was best to use.

Before she knew it, Hinata had already gone through half of the magazines and still had yet to find a single one that she liked. Sure, there were some that were pretty and that Hinata wouldn't have mind having but she had a funny feeling that they just weren't right for her.

She was half way through the fifth when a rather odd looking hair cut caught her eye. It was short – _really_ short – the back of it just barely reaching the bottom of the ears. The top part looking as if it had been layered to different lengths to add a more refined yet interesting look. Bangs feathered across the forehead, two longer strains running down along the sides to the chin, effectively framing the face.

It was beautifully done; the model in the picture, however, didn't so much as add to the effect. It was a style that wasn't meant for someone with a narrow face, strong jaw or thin lips. Although, Hinata cold tell that the woman was in fact beautiful her self, the hair style was all wrong and did nothing to enhance that beauty.

Was that what Sakura had meant when she said that her hair didn't suit her? That the length was all wrong for her features? Would something like this help?

A loud snapping sound startled Hinata out of her thoughts. She looked up a found Tenten frowning slightly, brows drawn together and the worry clearly showing in her brown eyes, the brunette's fingers a few inches from her face.

Hinata couldn't help the blush that spread over her face, intensifying as she noticed Naruto and Ino giving her the same looks from their spots in the living room. She wasn't sure how long she had been staring at that same picture, lost in her own thoughts. But judging from the way the others were staring at her, it had been a while.

She shifted uncomfortably, immediately stopping as remembered that Sakura was still dying her hair. Despite the fact that her pink-hair roommate continued on the task in front of her, Hinata knew that she too was probably worried. For a moment, Hinata wondered again how long she had stared off into space.

Hinata twisted the magazines' edges, trying to fight off the instinct to poke her fingers together. "Y-yes? Y-you were s-saying, Tenten?"

"You okay?" Tenten asked. "You've been staring off for the past ten minutes."

Hinata lowered her eyes back down to the picture she was staring at. It was rather boyish and almost plain looking. She wasn't sure if Sakura and Tenten would approve, but Hinata couldn't help but like it.

"I-I was wondering... umm…" She paused, unshared how to word what she wanted. Her finger tracing the colorful page, a small, hopeful smile coming to her lips. "T-this one… I like this one…"

Tenten blinked. "Oh, really?" She threw the magazine she was looking over to the side and moved to look at the design that Hinata was indicating. "Let me see."

Sakura stopped for a few moments too to look at Hinata's choice, making the shy girl fidget slightly. She was worried that her friends wouldn't like it and that she would have to endure more magazine flipping, something Hinata was starting to become bored with.

"The model doesn't suit it at all." Tenten frowned. "Makes her look like some kind of she-male really."

"Yeah it does." Sakura laughed. She switched the clips around again, moving on to the final, top layer of hair as she finished with the last section. "It's a little boyish, I'll admit. But stylish, too. And all the layers add a little something to the effect too."

Hinata felt like clapping her hands happily. "You mean y-you like it?"

"Yeah, you pick a good one." Tenten smiled.

Sakura nodded in agreement. "But the point isn't if we like it, it's if you do or not. Is it the one you want?"

Hinata hugged the picture to her person. "Yes."

"Then it's settled."

It didn't take Sakura much longer after that to finish with Hinata's hair. The long strains were tied back out of the way while it sat for the required time needed for the color to absorb.

The next thing on the agenda was make-up. Tenten left the bathroom when the cosmetic boxes of eye-shadow and lipsticks came out, claming that she didn't know jack about the stuff.

Hinata and Sakura went over every shade and detail about how to properly apply the right color and tones for which season and look. What not to wear, mix or blend and what to avoid wearing with certain coloring.

At the same time, Naruto turned on some tunes that Hinata recognized but didn't really know. He educated her from his spot by Ino in the living room – asking her questions about what band it was, the song title and which album it was on.

She took it all in pretty well. Although, she was a little surprised that so much information didn't give her a headache. Instead, Hinata found herself humming to Naruto's CDs, occasionally mouthing the words as they became more familiar to her. She spent extra attention to what Sakura was telling her about hair products and styling tips for what she can and can't do with her new short look.

She wasn't really sure what Ino or Tenten were doing. Ino, she had a pretty good idea was still playing around with her clothes – doing God knows what to them. She could hear the faint sounds of fabric ripping and scissors snipping away, but choose to ignore it. Knowing full well that she would just end up worrying too much and ruining her happy mood.

An hour later Hinata sat with wet, freshly washed hair. The strains hanging loosely down her shoulders and back. She closed her eyes as Sakura began cutting and snipping away, focusing on the sound of Naruto's voice to drown out the sound of the scissors.

It helped ease her nerves a little bit. After a while the questions began to shift from CDs to cars and motorcycles. Asking her the year, make and model of specific kinds of vehicles and whether or not they were domestic or imported.

She began to doze off a little. Her brain going on auto-pilot to answer Naruto's questions and any other questions that were sent her way. However, after half an hour of staring off into space, warm air against her wet scalp jolted out of her semi-dazed state, sending an unexpected shiver down her spine.

Hinata laughed good-heartedly along with Sakura as the older girl moved her skilled fingers through her – now short – hair. The strains were shook, ruffled and fluffed over and over again until Hinata could no longer feel cold damp tresses against her head.

Sakura turned the blow-dryer off and set it on the bathroom counter, picking up the brush that she disposed off earlier in order to dye.

Hinata couldn't help but become nervous again as Sakura went about the final touches. She clasped her hands tightly together after realizing that she was once again poking her fingers. Her nerves increasing ten-fold as Sakura put down the brush.

"All done." Sakura grinned brightly as her shy roommate peeked up at her uncertainly. She patted Hinata lightly on the shoulder, shifting to lean slightly out of the room. "You guys – we're all done if you wanna take a look."

The others didn't waste any time to gather around the open doorway, Sakura once again maneuvering back beside Hinata's shaking form. Hinata peeked timidly up at everyone, knuckles white from the grip on each other.

Naruto's face was the first she saw. His bright azure eyes were wide, his mouth hanging half-open in wonderment. Ino had a similar look on her face. The blond girl still having enough sense though to keep her mouth shut and eliminating the impression of a gaping fish. And Tenten stood, leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed – a smirk and knowing look in her dark brown eyes.

"Damn, Hinata." Naruto stood up straight, scratching the back of his neck. "Is that really you?"

Hinata gave him a shaky smile, tearing brimming on the edges of her eyes. She took a deep breath through her nose and slowly exhaled.

"Well?" Hinata's eyes met Sakura's green gaze, her smile wavering a little at the older girl's voice. "You gonna take a look or what?"

"Yeah! Take a look, Hinata." Ino encouraged, clapping her hands together happily.

Hinata froze for a moment. Her fear over ridding the small amount of confidence that she was able to slowly build up. Several thoughts jumping around aimlessly in her head, helping to feed her fears and doubts.

What if she picked wrong? What if it looked horrible, even worse than it did on the model? And what about the color of hair-dye that Sakura had picked out for her? Did the color look okay? Did it look good with the style? Or did the style ruin the effect Sakura was hoping to create with the dye?

Hinata inhale sharply as a sudden thought struck her.

What if _she_ ruined all of Sakura's hard work? Would the other girl be angry with her? Oh God – what if she never spoke to her again?

"You know what?"

Hinata could feel the tears that threatened to spill over. She closed her eyes tightly, body shaking noticeably. Her lungs clenched uncomfortably in her chest as she waited, fearfully, for Naruto to continue.

"If I wasn't gay," Naruto chuckled. "I would so hit on you."

Hinata's head snapped up at that. Her eyes widening at the almost blinding, face-splitting grin the blond male was giving her. His hands laced behind his head in his signature laid-back manner.

"Then again, I don't think Sasuke would be too happy about that." He leaned forward a little bit, sending her a playful wink. "So we'll just keep that between us, ne?"

Hinata couldn't help but laugh. The hold she had over her tears shattered, the wet droplets quickly running down her cheeks and onto her still clenched hands. She gave them all a watery smile, rubbing at her cheeks and eyes to stop the seemingly endless trails of tears.

She was grateful for the few moments that her friends gave her to calm her nerves. She stood up on wobbly legs, head bent down, using her new bangs to shadow her view of the mirror. She could feel the difference in how light her head felt and the absent, familiar feeling against her back.

Hinata closed her eyes. She focused on her breathing, trying to stop her heart from racing. She counted silently down from ten in her head, trying really hard to get control back over her body and emotions. Only when she was a little steadier – and a little more confident – did she open her eyes and look up.

A stranger stared back at her. One with an identical hair cut to the one that she picked out. The face, however, was wrong. Instead of a narrow, strong jawed features with colorless thin lips looking back at her, there was a heart-shaped, petite looking face with high cheekbones and soft full lips.

Was _that_ her?

Hinata reached up slowly to run her fingers tenderly through her hair – her _blue_ hair – scared that the image in front of her was just her imagination. That any moment it would shatter right before her eyes.

She honestly couldn't find the words to what she was feeling right now. Shock and wonderment came to mind first but somehow didn't seem to grasp what she felt.

Was _that **her**_?

The image in front of her was beautiful. It was really the only word that her stunned mind could come up with. Not stunningly, drop-dead gorgeous type of beautiful like Ino, or the fierce, determined beauty of Sakura. And neither was it the kind of natural, plain attractiveness that Tenten possessed.

No… It was the mysterious, gotta-take-a-second-look type of beautiful.

The soft blue made her ivory skin stand out without making her look sickly pale. Her eyes just seemed to _pop_ in a way that they never have before. She could see a little bit of lavender in her normally pale silver-blue eyes.

"Wow..." She breathed softly under her breath.

"Yeah, wow!" Ino yelled out. She missed the way Hinata seemed to jump when her voice broke through the silence. The fashion designer quickly dashed away, reappearing only seconds later with a bundle of clothes in her arms. "Next: clothes." She quickly handed the bundle to Hinata, arms waving the others out in a shooing matter. "Put those on. We'll be heading out as soon as you're done in –oh, let's say – fifteen?"

Hinata stared at the clothes in her arms in mild confusion. She recognized the pants to some degrees as the navy blue cargos that she had bought the week before transferring schools. Ino had cut the bottoms so that they reached the middle of the calves and stitched them up professionally with a little silt on the outside for some added fashion. A blue flower was sown into the back left pocket while a white cat-skill patch was sown on the front of the right leg, above the knee. The shirt was one of her normal black tank-tops that she usually wore to bed. She was a little relieved to see that it was one of the ones – the few ones – that escaped the wrath of Ino's scissors.

She was starting to feel a little bit more relaxed. She had survived Sakura's little make-over with her hair, and passed Naruto's music and car quizzes. Confidence grew inside her, spreading joy and happiness through her chest.

Until Ino's last words popped her happy bubble.

Hinata licked her suddenly dry lip. The bottom of her stomach gave a little uneasy flip that had Hinata feeling slightly unnerving. "H-heading out?"

"Yep!" Ino clapped her hands together and beamed brightly. "I tried my best to save what I could, but sadly, only a few outfits were salvable. And only _some_ parts of those are usable anyways. So… shopping trip!"

Hinata went pale and dropped the clothes in her arms, eyes going wide. "S-s-shopping t-trip?"

But the blond girl didn't seem to notice the sudden distress that Hinata was currently facing. She had already dragged a helpless looking Naruto back into the living, mouth and arms moving a mile and minute while she shoved a pen and pad of paper at the poor male, instructing him on items that Hinata absolutely needed and shops that they were to visit.

Hinata looked pleadingly at both Tenten and Sakura for help. Her eyes just begging for one of them to save her from the fashion-monster in the next room. Sakura, taking a little bit of pity on the girl, just patted her kindly on the back while Tenten shrugged her shoulders.

"Sorry, Hinata," Sakura tried to encourage her with a small smile. "But new clothes _is_ part of a make-over after all. And you _could_ use a new wardrobe."

"B-b-but…"

"Besides," Tenten pushed away from the door frame to give Sakura some room to exit. "We'll be with you the whole time. Trust me, there's nothing to worry about."

The door shut a moment later, giving Hinata the privacy to change into the clothes Ino had given her to wear. But instead of changing, Hinata stood frozen in spot and could do nothing but stare at the now closed bathroom door with wide, fearful eyes.

And once again, Hinata couldn't help but wonder why she just didn't keep her stupid mouth shut in the first place.

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And that's the end of the first chapter. Sorry if it seems a little boring right now, but it will pick up. The shopping trip as well as introductions to new characters comes next chapter. There will be a minimum of 3 chapters – maybe 4, depending on how well the next 2 write out.

OH! I almost forgot. There's a poll up on my author page concerning both this story as well as the first: _Konoha Piercings'_. I've decided to make this into a trilogy and I'm even going to let you pick the next pairing. The final story will be about the pairing that wins (obviously), but you can only vote once. So pick **carefully**. The poll will run until the end of this story and the results will be posted in the next day.

Thanks for reading! Ja ne!


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **Suna's Body Art

**Author:** Ureko  
**Pairings: **Gaara/Hinata, Sasuke/Naruto (Hints/mentions)  
**Warnings:** Het, lemon, slight OOC, AU, Sequel

**Summary: **Hinata was always viewed as the "plan Jane", never able to truly be herself. But her world is about to be turned upside down thanks to her new roommate and friends.

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and characters are not mine. I don't own anything but the idea for this story

**AN:** I think I need a beta...

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Hinata slouched heavily against the fitting room wall, glad for the brief moment of peace and silence. She closed her eyes in silent thanks to whom-ever came up with the idea of private change rooms.

They had been at it for hours. Although, to Hinata, it felt more like a century and a day. She honestly couldn't think of a better way to torture someone then to stick them with Ino for an afternoon of endless shopping.

It had started out fine enough. They did a little window shopping for the first fifteen minutes or so. Laughed and joked about some of the insane and hideous outfits that some people considered stylish.

The first real store that Ino wanted to visit turned out to a lingerie store. And as much as Naruto had prided himself in being the never-back-down-to-any-and-all-challenges type of guy, he had no problem admitting defeat and backing out like a chicken. Of course, Tenten wasn't too far behind him, and plopped down beside him on the wooden bench outside the store.

And Sakura had seemed to disappeared somewhere along the way.

So Hinata had been left to fend for herself in a sort of sense as Ino dragged her into the store of lacy silks and velvets and right straight back to the far corner of the store, where the two connecting walls were covered from floor to ceiling in different shapes and sizes of lacy undergarments of various vibrant colors.

Of course, the blond girl only gave Hinata a brief moment to stare in wonderment before whisking her off to the dressing rooms with a matching set of pecan-blue and white lace. She gave Hinata the choice to try on either the matching thong or booty-panties that Hinata was fairly sure would only cover half of what it was suppose to in the backend. Which was confirmed ten minutes later – the idea of a string running up somewhere she was sure it didn't belong, really didn't sound too appealing to the shy girl – when she chose the more descent looking of the two.

Ino had only popped in once to check to see if sizes were okay before vanishing again back into the store. Her hands filled with at least six different colorful pairs, both thongs and booty-panties to match each bra.

Hinata was, at first, a little relieved that she wasn't going to be asked to try on any more pairs and began redressing in, in her mind, proper undergarments. Only to discover her original bra and panties _missing_.

That's right. Missing. Vanished. Not there. Nonexistent.

And Hinata did the one thing that came naturally to mind.

She screamed. Loudly.

Ino had rushed to her side instantly, trying to help calm Hinata down enough to tell her what was the matter. To which, after all was explained, had Ino practically rolling on the floor laughing. Once she had her fill, she had calmly explained to Hinata that she had disposed of the thin diaper-like underwear and ratty bra and to just wear the new pair but to keep the tags for the cashier.

By the time they had left, Hinata had twelve new lingerie sets – complete with bra and two different bottoms for each – seven new nightgowns, and a new robe with matching slippers, all wrapped in soft-pink tissue paper and had spent well into the three digits boarder lining into four.

And so, they had continued on. Sakura reappearing a short while later with a bag full of new make-up and hair products. They had stopped at a few shoes stores, picking up at least eight different pairs that could be mixed and matched for almost any outfit. They got a few different things from a variety of different shops – shirts, jean, cargos, tank-tops, sweat shirts – and soon, all five of them had at least two bags or more.

Now, three hours, twenty-seven shopping bags and a lot of receipts later, Hinata found herself seeking sanctuary in a department store fitting room for a brief moment of silence and peace.

She knew it wouldn't last long. Ino had shoved two different pairs of skirts into Hinata's hands when she noticed Hinata heading off in that general direction. In which, Hinata knew that she would demand to see them.

"Hey Hinata?" A knock rapped on the other side of the changing room door. Ino's voice slightly muffled threw the thick wood. "You going to come out and show us or not?"

"J-just a m-minute." Hinata closed her eyes for a few seconds to mourn the lost of her moment of peace.

She quickly changed into the first skirt. Her face going red when she noticed how much, or how _little_, the garment covered. The black material was smooth to the touch and hugged her legs, the bottom just barely covering her butt.

Hinata ran her hand down the back as she opened the door. She peeked her head out and saw Ino and the others waiting outside to see the results.

Tenten saw her first, brown eyes smiling. "Well?"

Hinata flushed scarlet again when the other's eyes landed on her. "I'm not buying it!"

"Oh. It can't be that bad." Ino grabbed Hinata by the arm. She pulled the younger girl out from behind the door to get a good look. Her blue eyes studied every detail, turning Hinata this way and that to get a good look at all angles.

Hinata tried hard not to shake too visibly in front of her friends and was finding it very challenging. She began playing with the sleeves of her shirt, glad for something to occupy her mind for a moment, and relieved that it show considerably less skin than the tank-top she had been originally wearing, despite how comfortable the old one was.

She had got it at the last store they visited. The design was simple enough; looking like a t-shirt and tank-top mix. Two straps running up over the shoulders while another two wrapped around the biceps, leaving the upper part of the arm visible. Two sleeves were attached by a crisscross pattern that left the elbow and inside of the arm bare. She had found three of them. All of them were a solid black while the sleeves were striped with a different color.

Hinata had been trying them on when Ino pulled the vanishing trick again. This time, her tank-top being the victim. She didn't really mind though. She liked her new shirts and was glad of an excuse to wear one right away. She picked the one with the light blue and black stripes on the sleeves, noticing for the first time the blue little kitty-skull on the front. Strangely matching the white one on her pant leg.

Finally, after a few minutes of being studied, Hinata sighed in relief when Ino shook her head. She relaxed a little, the blush on her face reducing considerably to a light dusting across her cheeks.

"It's about three inches too short." The blond stepped back to get a frontal view, closing one eye and cocking her head to the side. "If you drop something and pick it up, you'll be giving everyone behind you a free show."

The blush made a full-force recovery and Hinata dashed back into the change room. She could hear her friend laugh on the other side of the door and couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped her.

The second skirt was a lot better. The fabric was a deep blue and was loose and waved out at the bottom. Hinata wasn't too happy about it only coming to her thighs but ended up agreeing with Ino about how it looked. Despite the short length, Hinata ended up buying it and three others – one of the same length and two of other lengths.

Lunch was next on the agenda. They stopped at an outdoor food court to enjoy the sun and fresh air. They talked and laughed for the better part of an hour and by the time they were ready to continue, Hinata felt as if her spirits had been lift.

They didn't really do much shopping after lunch. It seemed that Hinata had already gathered the majority of stuff that Ino and Sakura both deemed important and necessary. They did stop occasionally when one of them spotted something of interest but other than that they just walked and window shopped.

Hinata was seriously thinking about calling it a day. She had more than enough clothes now, as well as new CDs, hair products and shoes. She had even enjoyed herself. Sure Ino could easily be described as a shop-oholic, but she really knew her stuff.

Naruto's voice broke the silence. "Hey, would you guys mind if we stopped here for a second?"

Hinata stopped and turned to see Naruto pointing to a shop she just passed. It didn't really have anything eye catching from the outside. It looked like your average looking building, though small compared to those around it. There were some etchings and fancy designs on the tinted window that looked like it took some great deal of skill to do. A glass door sat in a red-bricked archway, with a list of shop hours and holiday times, the shops name carved in the stone instead of a flashy sign.

_Suna's Body Art…_

Despite the plain exterior of the place, Hinata couldn't help but find herself a little more interested in the place after reading the sign. So when Naruto proceeded inside, Hinata didn't hesitate to follow after him. More than a little curious about what the store would contain.

She was a little shocked at first. In her mind she had envisioned something a little fancier, with paintings by famous artists on the walls and some classy, soft music playing from speakers on the wall.

Instead, the walls were covered in picture frames with no-name drawings done in pencil and various inks. On the left side there were a couple of comfortable couches with squishy throw-pillows and a blanket over the back of the longer of the two. A low coffee table, skillfully designed and finished sat in front of them while a single stool-like table sat in the corner between the sofas. On the right was a long angled shelf that hung off the wall, four very thick different colored binders sitting on top. At the front was a long wooden counter; a computer sitting on the polish surface, a fax machine against the left wall and two comfortable looking desk chairs.

The room was actually pretty small, narrower in width than length. Hinata guessed that there was only about twenty feet between the door and countertop, the door was only about five feet away from the little sitting area while the other wall and the shelf roughly ten. She could see another archway behind the counter that lead off into a circular room with pined glass walls and five doors.

She moved off towards the binders, a little curious about what was inside them, as the others entered and moved to sit down on the sofas. Naruto stood at the counter, repeatedly tapping a little bell over and over again.

The first binder Hinata opened was that of deep red. She marveled at the drawings, admiring the shading and sheer detail that each had. Some were normal sketches done in black and white; others had the shading done in various colors. The drawings cut off three-quarters of the way through the binder, replaced by photographs.

Realization seemed to dawn on Hinata as she looked over all the photos.

Tattoos.

Hinata studied each photo, awed at the beautiful colors and shades that seemed to come alive. Some of them matched the designs from the front pages, while the rest were more original looking but still skillfully drawn and _inked_.

She paused at one page in particular, the bright colors of familiar looking flames catching her attention. Hinata had seen it enough times to recognize Sasuke's tattoo anywhere. She had always admired the art work and how very _real_ it looked when she first saw it, and had even wondered who had done it. She remembered wanting one when she had first met Sasuke but was too shy to even ask him where he had gotten it done. Of course, she could have always asked Naruto but she didn't want to seem nosy. And now…

Now she knew.

Hinata licked her lips as she closed the binder, not even bothering to look at the remaining pictures. She turned just in time to see a tall, broad shoulder man walk out of the back. He was scowling, more than likely a little annoyed with the constant _ding_ of the bell, but the look immediately disappeared when he saw who it was.

"Naruto!"

He came around the counter, shaking hands with the blond. He was smiling now, Hinata noticed, making her way over to stand a few feet away from them.

"Hey, Kankurou, how's it going?" Naruto leaned against the counter in a relaxing manner.

"Not too, bad. Been kinda dead the last few days. Not that I'm complain' none."

Naruto laughed. "With your rep? Doubtful if it'll stay that way. You guys do the best tattoos in the city."

A smirk was Naruto answer. "Oh joy."

Kankurou, Hinata concluded, was the type of person easily liked by anyone and everyone. He had a hard face, though handsome. His eyes were a soft golden brown, and were slightly squinted looking with dark full lashes. His nose was more wide than narrow, a wide mouth with a thin upper lip and full bottom. His hair was a spiky mess that looked as if he hadn't brushed it in years, the strands laying all about his head and a little long at the back. His personality closely matched that of Naruto's shiny character, only with a more shadowy aura.

Already, Hinata like him.

Kankurou moved back behind the counter and sat down heavily in one of the chairs. "Guessing you're here to see the rough?" He dug around under the counter for a moment, pulling out a worn out sketch book. The coil binding suggested that at one point it was thick with paper but now only seemed to have about one-sixteenth of what it used to hold.

Hinata moved to get a closer look as Kankurou opened it up, but jerked to a stop at the glared that was suddenly sent her way. She made the move to step back again, but Naruto's hand on her arm stopped her progress and pulled her up to stand next to him.

"This is Hinata, a friend of mine." Hinata smile uncertainly as she was introduced. However, instead of smiling back and greeting her in a friendly manner, Kankurou's eyes just narrowed a little more as he looked her up and down.

The gaze was gone as Kankurou's head violently was knocked forward. He straightened a second later, rubbing the back of his abused head as he glared behind him. "Ouch! Damn it Temari, what the hell was that for?"

Hinata blinked at the new person, not noticing when she had first entered the room.

She was tall and had dirty blond hair pulled back into four pigtails, with blue-green eyes that were currently glaring right back at Kankurou. Her arms were crossed in a disapproving matter; her navy blue corset hugging her tightly and doing nothing to hid the large tattoo on the top of her left upper arm.

It looked like a weasel. Or at least, that's what Hinata thought it was. It was grey and white with a black tipped tail and had a little black sleeve-less jacket with red trimming on. A bandage was wrapped about the weasel's head, covering the left eye and an earring with beads and blue string on it's left ear. A scythe was wrapped in it's arms, the length of the handle running as long as it's body, the blade curving in a great arch that was parallel with the weasel's tail.

"Quit being an ass." The tall blond folded her arms a cross her chest and lean a shoulder against the wall. "He said she was friend, so be nice. Or less."

Hinata gazed at the other girl in wonderment but quickly looked away and blushed as blue-green eyes snapped over to her. She clenched her hands tightly into fists, fighting off the nerves that seemed to surface.

"Ignore him. He just doesn't like anyone seeing his sketches until their finished. But he's harmless, really." Hinata peeked over from the corner of her eye, seeing the other girl giving her a small smile. "If he gives you any trouble, just let me know. I'll take care of him."

Naruto nudge Hinata gently with his elbow. "Looks like you made a new friend, Hinata."

Kankurou growled. "Whatever. Do you wanna see the drawing or not?"

"Believe it!"

This time when Hinata looked over to see the sketch, Kankurou didn't so much as look at her. He was still unhappy about her peeking, but didn't say or do anything other than frown.

It was messy, with several erasing smudges all over the page. Hinata could see the shape and design was that of a fox – long nosed and eared. The mouth was twisted up into a sinister-like half grin, showing off the sharp teeth in it's mouth. The body was curved and arched; making it look like it was descending down from a hill or mountain without the landscape. It had nine-tails twisting and twirling around behind it, their length just as long as it's body. Little notes were made on the sides and corners of the page. The words _Nine-Tails_ written at the top in bold letters and underlined several times.

She listened as the two of them began going over the different things that Naruto wanted changed and added. Where the shading was going to go, how much color was going to be added where, as well as placement and size of where Naruto wanted to get it done. She found it all fascinating, really. She knew that Naruto already had a tattoo – a tribal type swirl on his stomach with Japanese characteristics written around it – but she didn't know that he had planned on getting another one.

Hinata looked over to her other three friends as they sat and chatted on the couches. Her eyes roamed over the various cheery-blooms on Sakura's person that seemed to be placed in random spots all over. She couldn't help but wonder if she had any more. And what about Ino and Tenten?

She studied both Ino and Tenten for a moment before looking back over to Kankurou's sketch.

Did Tenten have a tattoo, too? And what about Ino? It was hard to tell if Tenten had one – the brunette constantly wore jeans and very rarely wore anything more revealing that a tank-top. Her back and stomach was always covered, so it was possible that the young sculptor had one. But Ino didn't wear the same constricting clothes that Tenten did. The blond designer was always wearing shorts and skirts. Hinata had even seen her in a very fancy dress one time that elegantly showed off her legs, stomach and her entire back. There was no sign of any tattoo but that didn't mean that Ino didn't have one… right?

"Ino? Tenten?" She looked back over to her friends to see their attention was once again on her. "Do you have any tattoos?"

The two of them shared a confused look with Sakura before both of them nodded.

"I have two flowers just under my hip bones." Ino leaned back in her seat, rubbing the area where her hips met her legs. "Their water lilies. My mother's favorite."

Hinata felt her heart clench at the soft look at passed through Ino's eyes. She had learned early in their friendship that like her self, Ino had lost her mother at a young age. But where Hinata had a few, precious memories of hers, Ino had none and had been raised by her father as an only child. It actually surprised Hinata that Ino didn't turn out to be a tom-boy.

"I only got one." Tenten lift up her left pant leg. The whole outer side of her calf was colorfully done in the design of an unrolled scroll, a diamond shape single handled knife and a couple of star-shaped items sat at the bottom. There was some writing on the scroll but Hinata couldn't make out the symbols. "That there is what is called a kunai. It's basically a small spearheaded shaped knife. The hole at the end was used to help twirl it around in your hand. And these are called shuriken, or 'throwing stars'. They usually have four or five points and were mainly used to slow down an enemy."

Hinata didn't really understand what Tenten meant but figured the other girl knew what she was talking about. After all, Tenten's family was originally from Japan, and according to her, she was a descendent of a long line of weapon makers.

"What do the symbols mean?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, that's kanji." Tenten pulled down her pant leg. "It basically says, 'to protect and serve, to honor and obey, to mend and defend, to fight and live'. Or something to that degree. It used to be the family's motto."

Hinata's eyes moved over to Temari's tattoo again.

Catching the look, Temari answered before Hinata could ask. "I have a fan on my right shoulder blade too."

"Both arms are covered." Kankurou piped up. He ignored the curious look Hinata gave him, turning his attention back to the design details with Naruto. His long-sleeved black shirt covering both of his arms blocking Hinata's view. "You'll see them eventually. So don't bother asking."

"_Kankurou_…"

Hinata smiled a little at the threatening way Temari's voice sounded. She was sure that the two of them would become fast friends in the future. Maybe the older girl could even help Hinata develop a backbone of her own. Sure Sakura, Ino and Tenten and helped her leave her shell, but Hinata knew that she lacked the confidence and strong will that she couldn't help but admire Temari for.

She watched as Kankurou made a few more little notes on the sketch. Occasionally erasing a part and re-drawing it as Naruto explained how he wanted it. She could tell from the way his lines and shading looked that the drawings she saw earlier and the picture of Sasuke's tattoo were not done by Kankurou.

No. Kankurou's drawing had a bold and more powerful appeal to them. The drawings in the red binder were more elegant and almost seem alive. And she could tell that Naruto's tattoo was going to be filled with color. The other's hardly had any coloring in it unless it was mix and blended into the shading. And if they weren't done by Kankurou…

Then _who_?

She looked back over to the shelf. The red binder seemed to stand out against all of them – although the blue and purple ones were brighter in color and the deep green seemed to look out of place. She found her self wanting to look at those pictures again. To marvel and gaze with unrepressed astonishment.

She wanted to _own_ one.

"I want one."

Hinata had said it so quietly that she wasn't really sure that anyone had heard her. But silence stretched inside the room and when she turned back around, everyone's eyes were on her. Sakura and Ino were looking at her with eyes wide with surprise, Tenten had her brows frowned. Naruto stood with his mouth open in shock as Kankurou just raise an eyebrow at her. Temari seemed to be the only one not at all shocked or surprised. Instead, the dirty-blond just gave her a slow lazy smile.

She refused to allow her self to blush or to fidget. She squared her shoulders and took a deep breath, meeting Temari's eyes head on. "I want a tattoo, please."

Temari's smile widen. "You sure about that?"

"Yes."

"Wait a minute!" Sakura jumped to her feet, Ino and Tenten following right after her. The pinkette grabbed Hinata gently by the shoulders. "What are you talking about, you want a tattoo? Are you crazy?"

"No."

Naruto suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Hinata… you don't _have_ to get one just 'cause we all have one, ya'no?"

"I know." She gave Naruto a small smile in appreciation. She had always admired him for his out going attitude and friendly personality. She even made a vow to her self that she would try to be just like him one day. "But I want one for proof."

"Proof for what?" Ino asked. "You have nothing to prove."

Hinata shook her head. "To myself."

She didn't elaborate. She didn't need to. Understanding passed over their faces and none of them said anything else. Hinata was glad for it because she wasn't sure that she had enough courage to voice it out loud. She wasn't doing this for them or for the benefit of the make-over.

She was doing this for _her_.

Kankurou scratched his cheek with the end of his pencil. "Got anything in mind?"

Hinata nodded. "Wings." She ignore the funny look he gave her and pointed behind her towards the binders. "And I want the artist of the _red_ binder to do it."

She wasn't sure what she had said but Kankurou and Temari seem to freeze. Utter shock and surprise was written over their faces before they exchanged a slightly worried glance to each other.

Naruto cocked his head to the side, oblivious to the tension in the room. "What red binder?"

"You sure about that?" Temari sound hesitant and unsure. She ignore the puzzled look Naruto sent her way, keeping her eyes completely trained on Hinata. "I mean, Kankurou and I would be more than happy to do it."

Hinata shook her head again. "No. I want them to do it."

Naruto frowned. "What red blinder?"

Temari shrugged her shoulders. "Well, the offer still stands." She sent a smirk to Hinata and winked. "Just in case." She reached under the counter and pulled out a large leather date book. "I think I can schedule you in next week."

"No. Now."

Hinata mentally cheered at her self for not flinching when Temari sent her a sharp look. She didn't want to wait until next week to get this done. She wanted to get it done now before her courage and strength left her completely. Which she had no doubt would be completely vanish by the time the appointment came around. There was no other choice to do it but _now_.

"Wait!" Naruto threw his hands up in the air. "_What_ red blinder?!"

Sakura hit him upside the head. "Their talking about the one over on the shelf, moron!"

"Ouch, Sakura." Naruto rubbed the back of his head. He peered over his shoulder to his childhood friend, tears in his eyes. "But there is no red binder. There's only a blue, purple and green one."

"Actually," Kankurou leaned back in his chair, the shock replace with amusement. "There is a red binder."

"Wait, what?" Naruto blinked. "Since when?"

Kankurou thought for a moment. "About… what, a month? Maybe two?" He looked over to Temari as she put the date book back and nodded her head agreement.

"You guys actually hired someone else?" The blond male gaped in sheer wonderment. "Who?"

Hinata put her bags over by the couches with the others. She filled out the necessary forms Temari handed to her and signed her name, all with remarkably steady hands.

She could feel her stomach twist in much the same way it had earlier that day when she sat in hers and Sakura's apartment, waiting for the others to arrive to help give her a make-over. It seemed like ages ago rather than that morning to her.

Hinata walked around the counter as Temari ushered her over and lead the way into the back room.

Kankurou smirked knowingly, chuckling to himself. "Good luck."

Naruto slammed his hands onto the counter top. "Damnit Kankurou! Who?"

Hinata didn't hear Kankurou reply. Instead, she focused her attention on trying to calm her nerves down the best that she could. It was getting harder to resist the urge to poke her fingers together and even harder to keep herself from trembling.

This wasn't like her. Not in the least. Hinata had never been the type of person to do anything spontaneous, not without fully thinking things through. But mostly, she had never done anything that would displease her father, either.

Which is exactly why she was doing this, she told her self. She was tired of being afraid. She was tired of living in her father's shadow, trembling and worrying constantly about what he would think or say. She wanted to be her own person, to live her own life. Without the fear of her father's wrath. She was an adult! And it was time she started acting like it.

"Here we are."

Temari opened the last door on the left and ushered Hinata inside. It was an average size room. Black cabinets sat against two out of the four walls, the material staying out against the off-white grey paint, a few sketches of pyramids and other Egyptian statues took up some of the empty space above them. A desk with a computer and chair sat against another, a few photos sitting on the surface, and two full length body mirrors hung on the last wall. A metal relining chair, with deep burgundy cushions sat in the middle of the room.

"Have a seat." Temari turned around and headed back down the hall. "He'll be in, in a minute."

Hinata eyed the recliner for a moment before deciding against it. Instead she made her way over the sketches on the walls and studied them closely. She would be the first to admit that she knew little to nothing about Egyptian culture or traditions. She knew the names of some of the Gods that were worshiped, but didn't know anything beyond that.

She found the drawings of hieroglyphics odd yet strangely fascinating to look at and wondered what it said, if it said anything. It was a sketch after all; there was really no guarantee that it was actually real.

But the one she was really drawn to was the one with the large rock in it. Upon closer inspection though, Hinata could make out the details of four large statues that were carved into the stone surface, just like the shops name was outside. The second statue on the left was missing half of its upper body. She could just barely make out the fine details of the archway in the very middle and the slight shading of a fifth statue sitting at the top of the entrance in between the four larger ones.

Hinata reached up and slowly, gently traced the images with the tips of her fingers.

"What are you doing in here?"

Hinata shrieked and spun around as her hand flew up to her chest, as if to stop her heart from flying out of her chest. Her wide and panicked eyes met and locked with pale green.

Speech seemed to fail Hinata for a moment as she stared at the man in front of her. He had similar facial structures as Kankurou, but not as sharp or profound. His check bones were a little higher and his skin was paler. His eyes seemed endless and the deepest turquoise-green Hinata had ever seen, with thick black liner outlining them. But his hair… his hair was an unruly messy of crimson that fell across his forehead. He was taller than Naruto and Kankurou and slim. He was covered from head to foot in black, his arms were bare and lined with muscles.

He was beautiful. He was frightening.

Hinata couldn't stop herself from shaking. She wasn't sure what it was about him but her mind screamed at her to run. To escape and run; run and never look back. And yet, her body was tense with the desire to stay.

His eyes suddenly sharpened on her. "I asked you a question."

"U-uh… I-I…" She couldn't help but timidly poke and twist her fingers together. A blush light up her face and she quickly looked down, unable to look him directly into the eyes. "I c-came to… to g-get a t-tatt-too… T-Temari, s-she – "

"Get out."

Hinata head snapped up. "W-what?"

He ignored her and walked over to the desk, throwing a set of keys and – Hinata guessed – his wallet. "I don't tattoo weaklings. I don't have the time nor the patience. So leave."

She was shocked. It was really the only thing that would explain why she remained standing in place. She was sure that any other time, she would have bolted from the room and out the shop without so much as a second thought or glance.

She wanted to do it right now. So why didn't she?

He had called her weak. Of course, it wasn't like it was the first time she had heard someone say it to her. In fact she was used to it. It was the one word that both her father and sister had used to describe her. And even though he never said it to her face, Hinata was positive that her older cousin, Neji, thought it of her too.

So really, it was nothing new to her. But then why did it bother her that _he_ – this man that Hinata just met – called her weak?

Was it because he was judging her without first knowing her? She really did hate it when people judged others based on appearances. It was childish and immature and, in a small way, cowardly.

Or was it because being weak was the reason she was here in the first place and she had failed in appearing otherwise? It made sense. The whole time, since walking into the door, Hinata had been able to hold her self together. She hadn't stuttered or poked her fingers or trembled – too visibly – until she had set eyes on the red-haired stranger.

He had caught her off guard and with that, her sense of balance. He had seen through her little act and called her bluff.

Hinata cocked her head to the side in curiosity. Did he think she was bluffing? Or was it he who was bluffing just to test her and see if she really was weak?

She didn't turn her gaze away when he turned to glare at her over his shoulder. The feeling to flee came to her again at the sight of his eyes. The green depths seeming almost soulless if one stared into them too long and Hinata was reminded again of just how handsome she thought he was.

Hinata felt a shudder run down her spine as he raised an invisible eyebrow at her. She clenched her hands into fists tightly and straightened her shoulders. She forced her self to meet his glare head on with one of her own – mentally patting her self on the back when she didn't flinch when he practically snarled at her.

"No."

Hinata broke eye contact and moved to the recliner. "I want angelic-wings." She sat, straddling the metal-recliner, with her chest pressed against the cushioned back. "I want the top to just reach the top of my shoulder blades, the bottoms half way down my ribs." Not allowing her self enough time to really think about it – fearing that she was chicken out – she quickly pulled her shirt up and off. Her bra unclasped and joining her shirt in her lap seconds later. "I don't want them to be arched, but not folded or flat looking either."

She hugged her arms across her chest as she finished explaining. She heard some movement behind her; the sound of a pencil moving over a firm surface for a few moments followed by paper ripping.

He held out the sheet of paper to her, his face half turned away from her. She appreciated the small act of courtesy he exhibited to her half decent state of dress. She carefully took the paper, pressing herself even firmer against the chair for safety precautions.

She stared in amazement at the simple sketch. The lines and shading was roughly drawn but elegant looking for being drawn in such a short time. Each feather seemed to stand out in their own way – arching left and right, little rough patches here and there making them look slightly ruffled from use. She could hardly imagine what kind of advanced detail would be put into the actually tattoo, the veins and shading that would bring it to life.

Hinata turned so she could face her tattoo artist fully, a real honest smile on her face. "It's perfect." Her smile disappeared after a few moments of no reply. He had his eyebrow raised again and his eyes were a little bit widener in what Hinata could only guess as mindless-shock. "Is something wrong?"

His eyes flickered to hers for a second before looking back down. His face losing that surprised look and going blank once again.

The action itself had Hinata frowning slightly. She followed his glaze downward and froze.

She blinked in confusion as she stared down at her self before something finally clicked in her head and gasped.

Instantly, Hinata's face flamed as she quickly shot back around, her arms wrapping around the recliner's back. She pressed her self as tightly as she could to the cushioned seat. The leathery material biting into her sensitive skin.

She flashed him. Oh God – she _flashed_ him!

She closed her eyes in embarrassment. What the hell could have made her forget she was topless? Topless, of all things.

Hinata took a deep breath to calm herself. After all, it wasn't that big of a deal, right? It was just skin. She was sure that he had more than likely seen a lot more than that in his life time, and probably won't be his last. And she was sure that despite it being the first time anyone has ever – **_ever_** – seen her in that way, it wouldn't be her last time either. She was a full grown woman. So really it wasn't that big of a deal.

Who was she kidding? Hinata pressed her face into the leather cushion as the desire to weep sprang to her eyes. Here she was. Sitting, straddling actually, an obviously fake leather recliner in a room, alone, with quite possibly the hottest guys she has ever met in her entire life. Whom she just flashed.

She was fairly sure that this could be the most embarrassing moment of her life.

Hinata felt the seat jerk a little bit but didn't remove her face from its hiding place. She wasn't ready to face him, not yet anyways. However, curiosity got the best of her as she heard cabinet doors and drawers being opened and closed. The sound of some kind of cart being rolled over had her slowly lifting her head and peeking timidly out of the corner of her eye.

He had his back to her, which she was glad for, as he went about pulling out various different labeled bottles and a tube of some kind of clear goop looking stuff. He pulled out five different little white cup-things that were half the size of her pinky.

Embarrassment forgotten for the moment, Hinata leaned a little closer to watch him go about his prepping. His little rolling-cart sat about waist high to his left, making it easy for Hinata to see what he was putting on the metal contraption. A piece of paper towel was tacked down, a little bundle of extra sheets stacked neatly off to the side with an unlabeled clear liquid bottle with a squeeze tube top sat on top to hold them down.

He spread five even globs of that goop-looking stuff onto the tacked paper towel, pressing the little white-cups down on to each. He picked up and shook a pure black bottle, squeezing some into one of white-cups. Repeating the process over again with the white and then grey bottles.

"Have you decided on what colors you wanted?"

Hinata blinked. "Colors?" His eyes were on her again, she noticed. She couldn't help but stare at him for a moment before the little slip up from earlier came rushing back to her, making her face flush once again. She saw him smirk just before she turned away completely, the simple little action causing her blush to deepen and spread down her neck and shoulders.

She thought about it for a few silence minutes. She didn't really consider what colors to get earlier and found herself curious about which colors would suit his drawing. She had seen how each color would create a different imagine and meaning when applied. How bold, powerful and passionate one color would create, while another would suggest something completely opposite in comparison.

But which did she want? Which would suit her?

"Soft tones."

"Huh?" Hinata peeked shyly back over to her tattoo artist, the red-hair silently regarding her with a blank look. "Soft tones?"

He leaned back against the black cabinets behind him. "You have fair skin. Very pale – almost ivory looking. Anything too bold or bright, you'll run the risk of looking sickly."

"So red is out of the question, right?" She giggled lightly to her self; a raised eyebrow was her response from the quiet man next to her. When it became obvious that he really wasn't going to say anything in reply, she cleared her throat and tried to break the uncomfortable silence. "Would lavender work?"

He nodded. "Any others?"

"Do you think I should?"

He sighed deeply as he thought about it. His eyes roaming over her body in a lazy, calculating manner.

Hinata tried not to shudder as his green-eyes moved over her skin. The attention alone was enough to make her cheeks pinkened. She tried to sit still as he took his time to examined her but couldn't help but shift slightly as she felt goose-bumps dance over her arms and legs. Her stomach did a funny little flip-flop as his eyes slowly followed the curve of her spine before moving back up to her face.

"Blue."

Hinata licked her lips nervously. "R-really?"

He pushed away from his perch and turned around. "A shade lighter than your hair."

Breathing seemed to come a bit easier for the Hyuuga once his attention shifted away from her. She sagged a little bit in relief and released a breath she hadn't been aware of holding.

She watched him search, find and prep the last two colors before pulling on a pair of blue latex gloves. The cart was pushed closer to the recliner as he walked around to the desk, picking up the forgotten sketch that she had dropped earlier in her embarrassment. He studied the picture as he absentmindedly grabbed a blue washable sharpie out of the desk drawer.

Hinata tensed as he suddenly sat behind her. She could feel the heat from his chest warming her back as his thighs just barely brushed against her rear. A latex covered, but warm, hand lightly touched her lower back. She allowed her self to be guided forward as he gently pushed against her. She lifted her chin up to sit on the top of the back rest, her arms shifting to lay across her lap as her shoulders and chest pressed against the chair's back.

He shifted a little behind her, his hands moving around to her shoulders and arms to rearrange them to a position that he liked.

"Don't move."

His body heat disappeared for a little while, leaving Hinata's back feeling cold. She stopped her self from moving her hands up and down her arms. Instead, keeping still as he had instructed her to.

He was only gone for a minute until he was back again, returning to his place behind her once again.

Hinata couldn't help but turn her head as she heard him set something heavy down onto the rolling-cart. Her eyes just barely saw the single handled black machine before her head was manually turned back around.

"Don't. Move."

"S-sorry."

True to her word, Hinata didn't move again. Not even when the cold, slimy feeling of the sharpie tip touched her bare back, causing little shivers to race up her spine. Or when he used a wet piece of paper towel to erase a spot he didn't like.

She wasn't sure how long they sat there – her as still as can be with him sitting behind her drawing away on her back. She could only just imagine what her friends would say if they saw them in this position.

Sakura would more than likely throw a hissy-fit and try to beat him up. Ino would more than likely encourage her to go for the gold and promise to tell her all the juicy details later. Tenten, Hinata could easily imagine, would more than likely just laugh, turn around and walk away pulling a stunned and speechless Naruto behind her.

Hinata sighed quietly to her self. She couldn't help but wonder what the others were doing right now. If the girls were still sitting in the little waiting area chatting away in their own little world. And if Naruto was still asking about the artist of the red binder or if he finally figured out the mystery behind her tattoo artist's identity.

Hinata blinked as something dawned to her. She didn't even know the red-head's identity. This whole time she had been in the same room as him, conversing with him and she didn't even ask him his name.

How rude of her!

A buzzing sound filled the room and made Hinata aware that the slimy feeling moving across her back had disappeared. She could still feel a few of his fingers lightly pressing into her left shoulder blade and the heat from his chest and thighs were still painfully obvious to her.

She wondered for a moment how long ago he had finished drawing on her but decided not to voice her question out loud. Instead, Hinata found herself wondering about the annoying buzzing sound that seemed to be right behind her.

His fingers gripped her shoulder suddenly before loosening their hold. "Don't tense."

She frowned at that. Don't tense?

Hinata hissed as pain shot straight up her spine. Her head fell forward as her eyes shut tightly at the feeling, tearing almost spilling over. She could feel her back muscles spasm before tensing and clenching tightly in protest.

A few violent curses were uttered behind her, the pain disappearing just as fast as it came. She heaved a sigh of relief when it was gone, biting her lower lip as it began to shake uncontrollable.

"Damn it!" The buzzing stopped. "I told you _not_ to tense!"

"Well, I'm sorry!" A few tears leaked out of the corner of Hinata's eyes. "Let's see you have a needle jabbed into your fucking spine with only two words of warning and see if you don't tense!"

He didn't answer but she could tell from his body language that he wasn't happy in the least. As a matter of fact, Hinata was certain that he was thinking that she was weak again. Not that she really cared at the moment. What, with part of her spine feeling as if it was on fire.

And now she was feeling bad for yelling at him. She shouldn't, of course. It was his fault. Who in their right mind would give no more warning than _don't tense_? If anything that would just make someone more nervous and actually cause them to tense rather than not to.

Then again, she was a little more sensitive than more people. And she really didn't handle pain very well, so it could be possible that he didn't need to give anymore warning than that in the past. And in that case, she really couldn't blame him for it either.

But shit. That really hurt!

She jumped slightly as he touched the tender area, biting her lip to stop her self from crying out in pain. His fingers moved in light, gentle circles, adding little bits of pressure here and there. Soon his other hand joined in, all ten fingers working over the knots and easing the tension out of the muscles.

Hinata couldn't help but slowly begin to relax under the ministration. The pain began to fade to a dull ache and then was soon gone all together. Her muscles felt like jelly under his hands after only a few moments and Hinata couldn't help the small moan that escaped her throat as his fingers stopped.

His chuckle was so quiet and deep, that Hinata could barely hear it. But she could _feel_ it. The vibrations from his chest made her back tingle and her stomach clench.

The buzzing sound came to life again, the sound alone making Hinata tense up a little at the possibility of more pain. But his fingers were there again, rubbing, soothing away the stiffness and causing her to melt. She barely felt anything as the needle touched her skin. She hissed a little as it began to move but her muscles remained relaxed.

It was really easy to stay in such a state. In between his tattooing, he would gently massage her muscles into mush. Being careful not push too hard against the freshly tender skin.

Hinata's eyes drooped in a lazy fashion. The pain eventually had completely disappeared, leaving behind nothing more that a small dull ache. The little touches and rubs doing nothing more than making her sleepy.

"Outline's complete."

She sighed. All that time and they were only done the outline. Even with the fuzziness around her brain, Hinata knew that he still had the basic shading to do, as well as the addition on the two colors he was going to be adding in here and there.

At this rate, she was going to end up falling asleep. And she wasn't really too keen on the idea of taking a nap in a tattoo parlor, in a semi-uncomfortable position and topless. She had embarrassed herself once already in front of her mysterious tattoo artist, she didn't need a repeat. Which meant she had to find something to occupy her time and keep her awake.

And speaking of mysterious…

"What's your name?"

The question seemed to catch him off guard at first. The buzzing and massaging both stopped for a moment before the silence was once again filled with the annoying sound. The massaging, however, didn't.

"Gaara."

"Gaara…" Hinata allowed the name to slowly roll off her tongue. Testing out the sound of it. She liked it. It suited him. "I'm Hinata."

Gaara grunted but didn't say anything. Instead, he focused on his work in front of him. Not that Hinata was expecting him to really reply. Somehow, she got the feeling that he was the strong silent type and kept to himself most of the time. She could easily relate to that – kind of.

She was sure that where she was shy and bashful, he was more outgoing and straight forward. Despite the fact that he seemed more like the person to be anti-social, Hinata could easily picture him surrounded by numerous friends. He wouldn't shy away and try and blend into the background like she would. Not that he really could. Not with that hair of his.

Was it natural?

It was one of the things she had found fascinating about his person. His hair was so bright that it probably drew all kinds of attention. And as hard as Hinata tried, she couldn't imagine Gaara trying to grab everyone's attention like that. Actually, he seemed like the type that didn't really care either way.

Which meant that it had to be natural, didn't it? But who, now-a-days, had crimson hair? And at such a vibrant shade no less?

Hinata's eyes wondered the room as she thought about it a little more. She really wanted to ask him but somehow got the feeling that it was a bit too personal on a first meeting. Not that she expected to see him again after today, but still. It would be safer to pick a different topic of conversation to start out with.

But what?

Pale eyes landed on the frame sketches on the wall. Hinata found her self marveling, for a second time, at the sheer detail and raw talent that each held. "Did you draw those?"

Gaara stopped for a second to see what she was indicating. "Yes."

Hinata wait a few moments for him to elaborate. "And?"

"And what?"

She sighed quietly to her self. It would seem that he really wasn't much of a conversationist. Which, in Hinata's opinion, sucked.

How was she supposed to know the story behind the drawings if he doesn't give her more than a one worded answer? As a photographer, it was only natural for Hinata to be interested. If such places existed, she wanted to see them her self, capture their beauty on film. She could only imagine the different breath-taking shots she could capture every hour as the sun moved.

"Are they real?" She took advantage of one of his brief stops to reach up and scratch her nose. "The places I mean."

He growled when she moved. "Yes, in Egypt."

Hinata stared at each and every one of the pictures. He had drawn them, sitting or standing, seeing them in real life at the exact distance that each picture suggested. He had witnessed their beauty with his own eyes and tried to capture their essence on paper.

"Beautiful." She breathed. "Simply beautiful."

"Those are nothing compared to the real thing." Gaara set down his gun and poured some sanitizer over the freshly tattooed skin, rubbing Hinata's lower back as she hissed. He dipped the tip of his gun into the white, followed by the blue before continuing. "The statues almost come alive when the sun hits them just right in the morning. They face east, so they aren't very eye catching during the sunset."

Hinata thought about what he said and how he worded his words. _Nothing compared to the real thing_… _Almost come alive_…_ They face east_… He spoke with such passion now and knowledge. Almost as if he was familiar with them in every aspect. But how can he say that they aren't just as spectacular at sunset as sun raise? Only someone who would witness such a passing day in and day out, would miss even the smallest detail of how shadows could add every bit of life as sun could.

She blinked in sudden realization. "You lived there."

It was a statement more than a question, but Gaara answered anyways.

"For seventeen years." He poured some more sanitizer over her back and dipped into the lavender next. "My uncle lives in a village not far from the Neil. He would take me to a lot of his dig sites and I would sit a draw while he worked."

"Your uncle is an Archeologist?"

"He taught me everything I know."

Hinata giggled. "And yet you're a tattoo artist?"

It was already too late when Hinata realized that she spoke without even thinking. The silence that greeted her was proof enough that she had over step her boundaries. He had no right sharing with her anything about him, let alone anything about his family. And here she was laughing at him for his chosen profession.

The silence stretched on for a while. Each second had Hinata's insides twisting uncomfortable at the very real possibility that she had hurt his feelings. Not only that, but he probably figured that she had made fun of his home and insulted his uncle as well.

Which she had done neither. And if it had sounded like that, than she certainly didn't mean for it to. She wasn't the type of person to poke fun at anyone. It was cruel and very lowering for someone to do such a thing. If someone decided to live their life a certain way and in a certain place, that was their business, not hers. She had no right telling anyone how to live their life.

Truth to the fact, Hinata actually admired both Gaara and his uncle. From the tone of his voice, she could tell that he had had a happy childhood living in Egypt. Something fair less than what she her self had experienced while growing up.

And if he really did feel insulted, then she would apologize.

Gaara poured the sanitizer over her back one last time before getting up. The sudden cold rush of air against her back had Hinata's shivering at the lose of heat. The skin burned a little as the exposed air touched it, the ache dulling as a soothing slave was spread over it.

"Did you want to see it, before I bandage it up?"

Not trusting her voice, Hinata nodded. She kept her front against the recliner's back rest as he handed her a medium sized hand-mirror and instructed her to use it on the full length ones behind her.

She grimaced at how pink and red her normally creamy skin was. It look sore and tender, and she couldn't help but wonder how she was going to be able to move around without causing herself unbelievable pain.

However, light shades of lavender and cerulean captured her attention and she couldn't help but gasp. The wings were done in a black-grey outline that really almost looked like the shadows created from the lights. The feathers were a mixture of white and grey, the lavender and cerulean blending into the edges and through the veins of each feather. Small hints and just the barest of color could be seen in various places through out the whiteness. The top of the wings arched gracefully up to the middle of her shoulder blades, and moved down into a soft sweeping motion to the top of her ribs.

Hinata slowly lowered the mirror, completely dazed by what she saw. For a moment there, she had forgotten that it was just a tattoo. She almost believed that she had wings. That she could fly.

A sense of pride and freedom filled her chest. Something that she had long to feel since moving out of her father's house and take control over her own life. It had taken a long time, but now…

Now she truly believed she was free.

"Thank you." She didn't flinch when he took a picture. Nor did she hiss when he put the bandage over her new tattoo.

"Temari will give you something at the front desk for the burning." Gaara turned his back to her as Hinata moved to put her clothes back on. "Leave the bandage on it for at least sixteen hours, and then wash it with non-scented soap. Lotion it three-four times a day, but let it dry for thirty minutes after any showers or baths. Don't scratch it or pick at it when it peels. Always put sun-screen on when going outdoors for any reason – it will help keep it from fading. Any questions?"

Hinata held back from making any painful sounds as she put her shirt on, glad that the bandage kept it from rubbing against her raw skin. She mentally storing away all the information Gaara was giving her.

She double checked over all her concerns and questions that she had when she had first walked in. Finding everything already answered from his little speech. "Not that I can think of."

"Good." He began cleaning up. Throwing away any of the left over ink and the used paper towels, straightening up his little rolling cart before putting it away in the far corner of the room.

He was ignoring her. Or at least, that's what it felt like to Hinata. He didn't look at her the entire time he spoke and had just went about cleaning up as if she wasn't even there.

Hinata's spirits dropped. She had hoped that they could have been friends, even if they never saw each other again after today. He probably wanted her to leave, but she just couldn't go with how things were. Not until he knew that she didn't intentionally mean to insult him and his family.

"G-Gaara…" He turned to her then, green eyes piercing her to the spot much like they did when she first saw him. She couldn't help but poke her fingers together at the blank look. "I w-wanted to apology. I wasn't… I mean I didn't… you're uncle; I wasn't trying to be in-s-sulting… I-I… umm…"

He regarded her for a few long minutes, watching her movements so closely that it made Hinata shift on her feet. "I know."

She heaved in relief and flashed him a small genuine smile. It wasn't a big smile but Hinata could tell that he seemed to relax a little bit from it, for which she was glad.

"Come on." Gaara walked pass her to the door, ushering her out. "I'll have Temari make you another appointment in two weeks. I want to make sure that its healing properly."

Hinata hurried pass him and down the hall. All the while, very aware of him behind her.

* * *

Gaara reentered his little office work space a good twenty minutes after following Hinata to the front desk to make sure she booked that second appointment. Temari had given him a funny look when he made it but otherwise didn't comment.

It was true that he didn't really make second appointments to check the healing process. Okay, he never made second appointments but this time was different. He wanted to make sure that she had healed properly. That was all. Pale skinned people sometimes had a harder time healing when it came to tattoos.

Sasuke was a good example of this. His phoenix tattoo had taken well over double the amount of time to heal. His arm had blistered and swelled around some areas and it really freaked Gaara out. Doctor had said not to worry about it, but Gaara had made it a rule never personally do full colors.

And now he had Naruto up his ass about not letting the blond know he was in town.

Gaara had met Naruto a few months back when he and Sasuke had taken a trip to see the Neil, while he himself was on vacation. He and Sasuke had been childhood friends until Gaara was sent away to live with his uncle overseas. They had stayed in touch, of course. But didn't really do much visiting over the years.

He was only six when his father had shipped him away. At the time, he didn't really understand why he was the only one. For the most part, he was a good kid. A few fights here and there from school, but then again, his hair normally attracted him all kinds of attention. Both the good kind and the bad kind.

It wasn't until he was about twelve or thirteen when he found out the truth that his father hated him. He was still a little young at the time but old enough to understand the basics of it.

His father had blamed him for his mother's death, despite the fact that she had died before she was even fully dilated yet. The doctors had blamed it on mass amounts of stress and anxiety. They were just barely able to save him, as he was apparently _stuck_ under her pelvic bone and they couldn't get him out without causing him tremendous harm.

At first his father had loved him like any father would, or at least that's what Temari and Kankurou had claimed. But at about six months old Gaara had ended up losing all of his hair and when it grew back; it was red instead of blond like it was at first.

Doctors couldn't give any reasons as of why it happened. So his father was left to come up with his own conclusions on the matter. In the end, his father came to believe it was his late wife's way of cursing Gaara for taking her life. By staining his very existence with her own blood.

Everyone thought the bastard was nuts.

But it didn't change the fact that Gaara's father ended up resenting and hating him. The feelings seemed to rub off onto Temari and Kankurou as they got older and his two siblings began to hate him as well.

It had gotten so bad that Gaara had actually tried to commit suicide at the tender age of six. After that, Temari and Kankurou started treating him better and hanging around him more often. This didn't really go down too well with their old man. But because he couldn't just right out kill Gaara or go about the disgrace of disowning him, Gaara was sent away to live with his mother's brother across seas.

And Gaara had never been happier.

It was hard leaving Temari and Kankurou behind. They had developed a small bond between them before he was cast away but never-the-less, Gaara had never regretted or wished to change anything. And their uncle, Yashamaru, was more than happy to take Gaara in.

Sure, their relationship had started out a little rocky. What, with Gaara becoming depressed from being separated from his siblings and the harsh change in environment, not to mention the small fact that the little red-head wasn't really socially experienced. The only two people who had ever really talked to him now half-way across the world.

But, sure enough, as time went by, Gaara's and Yashamaru's relationship grew. Gaara stared to become attached to his uncle a little more each day and even started opening up and talking back to the older male.

Within the first year, they had a comfortable friendship between them. Where ever Yashamaru went, the young little red-head wasn't too far behind.

Yashamaru had even gone as far as to home-school Gaara so that the red-head would be more comfortable in his surrounding and so he could catch up to the other kids his age. By the time the next school year started, Gaara was almost a full grade a head and was actually placed in an older class.

However, despite his good grades and his attempts at making friends, Gaara never really made any friends. Compared to the other kids, he was viewed as a freak. His red hair, bright green eyes and pale skin stood out noticeably against everyone else in his class and even had some of his classmate's parents concerned about what kind of influence he would have on their children.

It didn't take long for the concern to turn into fear and fear into vocal disagreement for him to be allowed to attend at all. And eventually the other kids and the teachers began to pick up the negative vibes. It had gotten to the point that Gaara was getting into meaningless fights and sent home early almost every day.

And so, at the age of thirteen, Gaara was pulled out of public school and went back to being home-schooled. Not that he minded in the least. In all truth, Gaara had preferred his uncle to teach him rather than the closed-minded teachers anyways. Of course, not to say that Gaara had been purposely trying to get kicked out but rather the opposite.

Gaara loved school. He enjoyed learning new things, both vocally and visually, although he preferred the latter than the former. He had worked hard in all of his subjects and had even excelled at mathematics and history, more specifically historical constructions.

He hadn't been exaggerating before when he told Hinata that he learned everything from his uncle. It was true. From the day Yashamaru pulled him out of that school, Gaara went to every dig site and museum his uncle ever work at. If there was no work to be done or if there was something that was a little too advanced for Gaara to help with, he would spend his time reading some textbook or sketching his surrounds.

By the time Gaara had turned seventeen, he was already a third of his way through his first year of college for Constructional Engineering. When he was twenty, he had graduated from Cairo University in Giza with full honors and had landed an apprenticeship with a major corporation back in the States.

He had taken the job after reviewing over other various job offers and didn't hesitate to take them up on their housing offer until he was able to find something for himself at a later date.

Looking back even now, Gaara would still picture the proud look on Yashamaru's face. The memory being one of the very few that he treasured most.

It has been four years since then, and Gaara was now one of the corporation's leading Journeymen and top constructional designers on the pay-roll. Three months ago they had even given Gaara to option to choose any city he wanted to work in. And surprising enough, even to himself, he had picked his home town.

He couldn't really say that it had changed over the years, not really having any clear memories of any of the buildings. In all reality, Gaara had felt a sense of dread fill him at the sudden thought of seeing the bastard again. That really was something Gaara never wanted to experience if he could avoid it.

However, despite his less than pleasant desired to be reunited with the old man, Gaara did want to see Kankurou and Temari again. And he wasn't going to let some old-crazy bastard get in his way.

Actually, finding the two had been easier than Gaara had originally thought it would be. Temari's name came up under the directory as a private listing but there was also a business listing as well that even had Kankurou's name on it, which included both a phone number and address.

The address had turned out to be none-other than the tattoo parlor. Gaara couldn't really say that he was too surprised – after all, he did keep in touch with the two of them and Sasuke. He knew all about Kankurou's love of drawing and Temari's passion for business. So it made sense.

The little reunion was touching to say the least. Gaara had walked in just as Temari caught Kankurou sleeping on the front desk and was in mid-swing of smacking him upside the head.

Gaara could never forget the looks on their faces. How shocked and utterly happy the two of them became at the sight of them. Honestly, he never really expected anyone besides Yashamaru to look at him like that. The thought of more people that cared for him like that had made his heart warm.

Hell, Kankurou had even cried!

Gaara sat down on his burgundy recliner, linking his fingers behind his head as he leaned back. Turquoise-green eyes landed on the three picture frames on his desk. Smiling faces of himself and his sibling reflected back at him through the little glass frames, followed by one of himself and Yashamaru after graduation.

It was the last one, however, that he found himself looking at more times than not. The old, worn out picture of his mother that Temari had given him after he came home. Her lips were turned up in soft smile that seemed to warm the heart. Her hair was that of golden-honey, eyes a pale-sky blue. She was the very spitting image of Yashamaru. In all the years that he lived with his uncle, he never knew that the two of them were twins.

It saddened him a little to know that now. To find out that he was living with someone that was not only so close to his mother in her life but whom also shared her looks. However, it also made him a little glad too. After all, if he had known, then maybe he and Yashamaru would have never developed the kind of deep bond that they have today.

He couldn't help but wonder if she would have been proud of him. Despite the little side job helping out Temari and Kankurou on his days off, Gaara had a pretty good career of his own going for him. It wasn't like he needed the money or anything. In truth, he was actually doing this for free.

It had started out simple enough. Gaara had shown Kankurou and Sasuke some of his sketches from some of the various dig-sites he tagged along on. After a little bit of pestering, Sasuke was able to talk Gaara into drawing the phoenix. By the end of the week, it was tattooed – although painfully blistering afterwards – on his arm.

After that, Gaara would do the occasional sketch here and there and Kankurou and Temari would do the rest. A month later, Gaara knew every piece of equipment inside and out and how to operate it. He even knew all the different inks they used and the chemical components in each one.

By then, the shops reputation had seemed to sky rocket. Business was coming in faster than they could keep up with. Gaara had offered to come in and run the front desk while Temari and Kankurou did the tattooing, but even that didn't really seem to help all that much. Of course, there was always Baki to lean on too. But the old man was stubborn to the core and wouldn't agree to increase his four hours a day, three days a week any more than an extra hour a day.

So, Gaara told Temari to teach him what he needed to know. The ivory and lavender ribbon fan on her right shoulder blade was the end result.

It had been almost two months since then. The place was still practically booked solid but with Gaara helping out both Friday and Saturday night now, they were able to meet the demands. And the best thing was, helping out at the parlor didn't interfere with his job as a contractor at all.

The again, it did increase his work schedule from four long hour days to six. But he didn't mind so much. Hell, he preferred it. And it was easy to understand why.

Boredom.

Yep, Gaara gets bored. Very, very easily.

Any more that one day off and Gaara found himself completely bored with nothing to do. Sure, he tried to find some hobby or another to keep him busy, but they never did last long.

Gaara sat up and rubbed his eyes. He could hear to tell-tale sigh of customers from the front room as they entered the shop, more than likely the people that Temari had originally scheduled to be his first for the night.

He swung his long legs over the side of the recliner, the twisting motion causing him to feel something coil uncomfortably underneath him. He stood up and inspected the chair, a smirk lifting the corner of his mouth and he picked up a pecan-blue and white lace bra.

A very _familiar_ pecan-blue and white lace bra.

Gaara fingered the soft material. She had been interesting to say the least. Normally, Gaara couldn't stand people would stuttered and mumbled through their noses. But somehow she ended up different.

She didn't cower and run away like he had expected her to. No. Instead she stood her ground, demanded that he tattoo her and had even glared back at him.

_She_ _glared back at **him**!_

That alone had gained his respect. Gaara knew he wasn't a people person, nor was he that great at getting along with even after getting to know him. Hell, the only two other people that he could remember that didn't back down from him after getting one his glares – other than his family members, of course – was Sasuke and Naruto. And that wasn't saying much.

One, Naruto could be considered an idiot. Hell, the blond would probably try and make friends with a wild lion and not even notice the thing was chewing his leg off and for; two, Sasuke was a pig-headed asshole.

Enough said.

But her. This Hinata girl, was timid and shy. Not at all the kind of person Gaara would have expected to have the nerves to stand up to him. She wouldn't even look him in the face back at the front desk. Even when he made the point to speak directly to her.

Was it an act?

It could have very well been just an act. But to what point? Did she not see her own beauty?

Gaara was never really one to go into denial. So it was easy to admit to himself that he was attracted to the small girl. Who wouldn't be? Big, pale-blue eyes, pink lips, long leg, round hips, soft ivory skin that flushed pink just right, not to mention nicely shaped tits.

A small chuckle escaped him at the memory of Hinata's little embarrassing moment. It was quiet the humorous situation and would probably be one of the few memories he could look back on with a smile. She was pretty cute when all embarrassed like that. Almost as hot as when she glared at him.

Which brought him back to that one thought: was it an act?

Gaara gently folded up the lacey piece of lingerie and tucked it into his pocket. Deciding that it was best to just wait and find out the answer for himself when she came in next week for her appointment. It would also give him a chance to return her forgotten bra.

A small evil grin broke out across his face. He couldn't but wonder. What shade she would turn this time?

* * *

Holy crap! I swear, I meant to get this out sooner but the chapter just didn't want to end. I finally just thought "that's it – going to stop now". So I cut a good page or two. But I think you guys should be good with 40 pages anyways.

Now, as for the poll, wow. It was close for a little while, but now it's just no contest. So I'm just going to take the poll down early and start the outline and basic rough draft for 'Shinobi'. Please don't be mad because the results were a good 30 vote's difference. And just so everyone knows, I will be revealing the Mystery pairing soon enough. But anyhow:

Congratulations to the winners!!

**_Kakashi/Iruka_**

Thank you to everyone who voted. And a special thank you to everyone that reviewed and rated! Until next time!

Ja Ne!

PS: In response to the private message I received a few weeks back, just thought I'd clear up that I'm not a hyper-active gay guy. I'm a really hyper-active **_girl._**


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