Time Travel Lovers **BEING REWRITTEN/EDITED WITH MAJOR CHANGES**

Chapter 45: Clarity

Gaara fell to the floor with a thud. His hand still entwined with hers. He now looked up to the woman who had save him. She was watching him with worry in her eyes.

"Gaara? Are you okay?" She slowly crouched down next to him, concern in her eyes. Eyes that looked fake to Gaara. The expression was real. But the eyes themselves looked fake.

He looked into those eyes and nodded.

She smiled. "T-that's good. This must be a big shock isn't i-it?" The stutter to her words confused him. Her smile tightened slightly but it passed by relatively unnoticed.

He nodded again. He didn't understand what was going on, only that Mother was silent and this woman made him feel warm. Not hot like the sun. Warm like safe. Something he didn't feel often.

She tried to stand up. Tried and failed. Instead she ended up releasing his hand and falling backwards.

"Hinata!"

The yellow man raced to her side. Hinata. Her name was Hinata.

The yellow man had scooped her up and carried her quickly to the kitchen where he placed her on the table. Gaara followed after.

Towels appeared next to her and her jacket was removed, showing a wound that still oozed blood. The cut was deep. Very deep. Gaara was sure he saw a sickeningly familiar sight of blood wet bone.

"N-nar... Naruto." The name was soft and strangled. The yellow blur came to a stop by Hinata's head, a hand cupped to her cheek. 

"I'm here."

"I-I can't h-hold it."

"Shhh. It's fine."

A white puff of smoke covered Hinata and then there was a girl on the table. She looked like Hinata. Just now a child about Gaara's age. It took a few seconds but Gaara's brain supplied: Transformation Jutsu.

When Gaara looked up from Hinata to Naruto he met a strong blue gaze. Wordlessly Naruto was covered in a puff of white smoke and the boy version of Naruto stared at Gaara for a few more seconds before turning back to Hinata.

"I have to set the bone before Kurama heals you okay?"

She nodded and bit her lip.

Naruto reached his hands into the wound and Gaara watched in fascinated horror as Naruto realigned Hinata's collar bone, then he seemed to fuse it in place with a bright red chakra. At the spike of chakra that came from the action Gaara felt his fear spike again. That felt like Mother.

Naruto whipped his head to face Gaara. "Gaara. I can't leave Hinata right now but I need you do something for me."

Gaara swallowed past a lump in his throat, he hadn't truly spoken to anyone in a very long time. Only screams of rage and mutterings said out loud to Mother. "What?"

"First, know that Hinata and I will never hurt you." Naruto stared at Gaara even though his fingers were still pressed into Hinata's shoulders. "Second, there is a seal placed next to the door and then one on each of the other walls. Go around and touch every seal you can find. It's fine if you don't get them all, if you get at least half that'll be enough."

Gaara nodded. Naruto turned back to Hinata and started to slowly feed chakra into Hinata's shoulder.

Gaara walked towards the door that most likely led outside. He found the seal tag next to the door and tentatively touched the seal. He felt a light static shock and then a blue shimmer spread out across the wall. He watched it coat the wall and then fade.

"Good job Gaara. Now do the rest." Naruto called from the kitchen. Gaara felt another spike of the chakra that felt like Mother's and felt a shiver run down his spine. Mother was still silent. Gaara closed his eyes and then opened them to look for the next seal and then set to work. 

One by one Gaara touched seals places on every wall of every room. He made his way back to the kitchen, touching the seals on the four walls before coming to stand on the other side of Hinata. The wound on her shoulder was glowing with red chakra, Gaara could see that it was closing slightly, he couldn't see her bone anymore.

She turned to look at him and smiled. "Y-you did a g-good," she took a short breath,"j-job Gaara."

Gaara just stayed quiet. The events that had led to her getting hurt replayed in his mind. "Why did you help?" The whispered question slipped from his lips.

"B-because you n-needed help Gaara." She tried to smile but instead fought a grimace of pain when the chakra in her shoulder flared slightly.

He shook his head. "Mother doesn't like you. Mother told me to run."

Naruto placed a slightly bloody hand on Gaara's shoulder. Gaara startled slightly and looked to Naruto quickly.

"Gaara, this might be hard to understand but that voice that you hear? That is not your mother. His name is Shukaku. He is a tailed beast that is sealed inside of you."

Gaara stared at Naruto. "But Mother protects me."

"Gaara. Your real mother, Karura, lives in your heart and so lives in your sand shield. But, the voice in your head, that is Shukaku."

"Shukaku?"

One side of Naruto's mouth ticked upwards. "Believe it. Your real mother  loved you. Every good mom loves their kids. I'm like you, I never got to meet my mom since she died right after I was born. But that doesn't mean she didn't love me and that I don't love her."

Gaara tried to process. Naruto could see the synapses firing behind Gaara's eyes.

"B-but Yashamaru s-said," Gaara was cut off by Hinata's hand coming to rest on his head.

"Y-yashamaru was o-ordered to lie," a deep breath by Hinata accompanied by a tight smile, "a-and make you angry. He l-loved you." Her face screwed up in pain momentarily but she held out and gave Gaara a soft smile even as sweat beaded her forehead.

Gaara stayed silent for a moment before he glanced a Naruto. "Why is Mo-," He cut himself off and grimaced slightly. "S-shukau afraid of you?"

Naruto smiled softly and placed a hand on Gaara's shoulder. He was a good bit taller than Gaara an he radiated a controlled calmness that made Gaara feel at ease. "Shukaku doesn't like me because I have his big brother sealed inside of me. I have a lot of things in common with you Gaara."

Hinata smiled gently and held out a hand. Her elbow remained on the table but her fingertips extended and lightly rested on Gaara's arm. "I-I need to s-sleep now but w-when I wake up we w-will talk more, o-okay?" 

Gaara nodded and Hinata's eyes fluttered shut. Her arm falling down softly. Naruto lifted his hand from Gaara's shoulder and started to clean Hinata up. At some point Gaara sat down in a chair and watched as Naruto wiped away all the blood left on Hinata and then she was being wrapped up in a blanket and Naruto carried her out of the kitchen. When he returned the silence between him and Gaara thick. Naruto eventually sighed.

"What should we do now?"

Gaara didn't have an answer.