Disclaimer: certainly do not own Naruto

Hinata watched from the doorway and contemplated on what she was about to do. She still couldn't believe how her life had changed so drastically but rightly in the end. In the black sky seen through the small circular windows on the opposite wall, the stars were already out and twinkling. She could imagine the air with a bitingly cold undertone and was infinitely glad for the warmth inside.

'Except if they were back home, under the blanket she would have felt ten times better,' she thought longingly.

With these thoughts in mind, her eyes riveted back to the room in front of her. Or what was supposed to be an office but looked more like an archive section of a really messy, thousand years old abandoned library! She leant on the doorframe and watched as her husband painstakingly worked through what appeared to be mission reports. He was probably dealing with the reports from the new batch of chunins who got promoted last month after the exam in Kumo. Having been one of those chunins a long time ago, Hinata knew the reports were anything but neat, concise, cold hard facts. Impressionable new team leaders, like Kiba had been once, could be excessive with their words. When a small wince graced the frowning face of the kage, she couldn't stop the amusement from showing on hers.

"Wipe off that smile Hinata or I will," a voice brisk and exasperated rang out and brought her back from her thoughts. "Hina, I promise I will. I'm not actually finding anything funny right now!"

Casually, hands in the pockets of her black ninja pants, Hinata strolled in and sat in one of the visitors' chairs. She tightened her loose cardigan around her and sighed when he didn't even look up from the paper. She threw a glance at the opened scroll and the scratchy handwriting did not fail to make her wince too.

"Well dear husband, lately you've not found a single thing funny and going as you are, you'll drive yourself insane in just a short matter of time," she countered calmly, used to the late night placating by now.

Sitting up in the chair, she reached for the nearest stack of papers and busied herself with the tedious process of clearing the mess on the table. Meanwhile, he continued signing the scrolls, correcting and annotating as he went. They worked in perfect sync; they always have, as shinobi, a couple, leaders, parents. She understood the demands of his position and though they had their rocky moments, they learnt to make it work. It had become normal now, that when he was working late, very late, Hinata would come up as often as she could and keep him company. When the twins were born, these shared moments had been rare but it seemed to start up again. However stolen moments late at nights were not how Hinata envisaged spending the rest of her life. For one moment, the pen stopped moving.

"Where are the boys?"

Hinata paused in her humming, enough to say, "Asleep as usual. Do you miss them?"

She waited for his reply, knowing she touched a chord there. When none came, she pressed further.

"The leaf festival is approaching. I haven't been there in a while and now that the boys can travel without much fuss, I was thinking of taking them to Konoha. I could show them the Hyuuga compound and maybe teach them some things about the Byakugan in case they inherited it after all. What do you say?"

Gaara did not have much to say. The guarded expression on his face said it all, he thought. He did not like the idea of his wife and sons so far from him, especially when he barely had time to see them under the same roof.

"Gaara! Should I send a message to my father tomorrow then?"

"They have teal eyes like mine Hinata."

The young kunoichi chuckled. "That hardly discredits the fact that they could activate their kekkai genkai later on. They barely know how to manipulate chakra right now."

"Still, I don't know if I have enough shinobi to send to the Leaf with you. The village is so busy and I would not rest easy if I let you travel on your own with the children."

"Temari is going too. She promised Shikamaru-kun that she would be there as he would officially present her to his clan that day."

Gaara was momentarily blindsided. So much had been going on in his family and he didn't know. It would seem that he forgot how to take breaks. He had been Kage for so long now that his village was all he knew. When the twins were born, he had felt that balance shift. His sons depended on him to protect them and love them. He had no experience with the latter but the former was within his grasp. He had redoubled his efforts to expand the village, secure their alliances and trade.

"You could come with us," his wife said serenely, watching him fighting his internal battle against insecurity.

"I cannot leave the village hime. There is more things that I need to do."

"And these plans cannot wait for one week?"

He didn't answer and her patience wore thin.

"You know if you don't take a break soon, you'll make all of us miserable along with you. If you let that happen Gaara, the boys are going to grow up not knowing their father and resenting you for that. So I think it is highly time for you to stop working!" she ordered.

Shocked, pale eyes lifted to her.

"What?"

Unmoved, Hinata continued.

"You heard me. It's already past midnight and you're still working and this has been going on for nearly a year now. I don't even know when the last time we had a meal together as a family was. Stop now, please," she pleaded softly whole getting up and crossing to her husband.

Years ago, she would never have dreamt she'd be here, doing that; but now it was the most normal of things. Hinata sat on a corner of her husband's desk and indulged in the warmth of his hands as hers enclosed them. She rubbed gentle circles on his skin and the sand that had started to fret around, settled.

"You've been working too hard lately. And I can't put up with it anymore. You're endlessly tiring yourself and you barely have time for the boys. Lay back a little, bend, it wouldn't hurt," she whispered in a voice so low that it would have rang like a threat, if he hadn't seen the true worry lurking in her eyes.

"You're too good for me Hinata. Do you know that? I love you so much," he whispered back.

"And I love you too Gaara!"

Running a hand through her long, silky hair, Gaara brought her forward and sealed their whispered love with a kiss, so deep and soulful.