I was sixteen when the counsel decided I would be wed to Gaara.

My initial reaction was to chuckle lightly and ask, "Are you kidding me?", but Hyuga ladies never question their elders nor do they chuckle. Especially not the daughter of the head of the clan, soon-to-be Kazekage's wife.

Then again, I suppose this was all just a ploy to strip me of my title and ship me off to a man who couldn't even sleep and would probably kill me the first chance he gets.

Neji-nii-san assured me that that was not the case – Gaara was a man of power and was greatly admired by many, many women, so I should have considered myself lucky. And apparently he could sleep now, too. Joy.

But at sixteen, I was too infatuated with Naruto to ever look at another man. Too naïve, too foolish, to oblivious to realize that fairy tales hardly ever come true, no matter how good of a person you think you are.

Naruto and I had been close friends for about a year and a half, and I figured that if he's too dense to notice my feelings then he must not want them at all. That was my philosophy, and I stuck by it, much to the delight of Kiba and Shino.

According to them he was too much of a distraction to be a good thing. Sure, guys. Whatever puts you to sleep at night.

I was surprised to find out – after a few private visits with Gaara so that we would at least be somewhat acquainted – that he was the one who had been pushed to get married in the first place. It was like some cruel twist of fate for him, seeing as he has never loved anyone successfully.

He told me that his counsel requested that he either settle for a girl in Suna or Konoha, preferably someone in Konoha who had, oh perhaps, a powerful family name and a great influence on their people.

And so the main branch Hyugas shoved their nose where it didn't belong, keenly alerting Tsunade that there weren't many powerful families in Suna and that the Uchiha and Hyuga clans were the only suitable ones left in Konoha. Of course, the Uchihas could hardly be called 'suitable' since the sole survivors were both boys, not to mention traitors.

And so Hanabi and I were the only reasonable candidates for Kazekage's wife, and Father would rather surrender the secret of the Byakugan to the enemy than give up Hanabi. I was the obvious choice, and I packed my things the second the counsel dismissed me.

Gaara and I met with each other to talk perhaps twice before I was proclaimed his wife. Simply meaning that I was given a ring and my father signed his name on a piece of paper next to Gaara's and Tsunade's. I had no say, so I had no signature.

We didn't even have an appropriate marriage ceremony, not that I was complaining. I had no desire to get married – nor did Gaara, as I imagined (however he did agree to marrying me, which was most puzzling) – so no one wasted their time.

Temari was my savior for the first three months of our marriage – she did most of the talking for me and gladly took up the role as an older sister, reassuring me that Gaara needed a little while (try a freaking lifetime!) to settle into this new responsibility.

Granted, I wasn't the greatest wife in the world since I hadn't planned on getting married to someone I had only talked to twice, but I honestly felt like I tried my hardest.

I wasn't like an old English drama – you know, "Oh woe is me, who is not married to the one I love!" There was no time for that anyway. However, after the fourth month, our situation got better.

Gaara had been loaded with paperwork from the marriage – basically, forms registering me as a citizen of Suna, mail from townsfolk wanting to know if the marriage was true, a letter from the hokage reminding him that he needed to pay the fee for the ninja who escorted me. About three days after he finished the paperwork and had gotten a good-night's rest, he asked me if I would like to go to the annual festival in celebration of the end of summer.

I readily agreed, after being hardly anywhere since leaving Konoha. There was only so much Temari could do with me when she had a life of her own.

The festival was beautiful, as I had expected, and as we walked home I was glad we spent some time together. Now I laugh out loud when I admit to thinking about that – was this the same girl who had thought this was a joke yet months before?

I became even more pleased during the fifth month.

Gaara made up his own game as a child called sand-surfing, which was mostly self-explanatory. He molded a board of sand that was strong enough to hold himself up and kept one of his palms out to face the desert, using ninjutsu to make the sand dunes rise into what resembled waves (although I have no clue how he knew what waves looked like, since he admitted to me that he has never seen an ocean).

I remember how terrified I was when I first stepped on to that makeshift surfboard, testing my weight carefully to make sure I wouldn't fall through. Gaara got on calmly behind me, observing me with an amused sort of half-smile that I wasn't used to. I paused.

"What?"

He shook his head softly. "It's nothing. Let's go."

The board began to move across the sand in a fluid-like motion. I turned to the side and latched onto Gaara's arm for balance as we started to gain speed. His arm tightened in an almost protective way to keep me on board, and he raised his hand to call up the sand waves.

I hung on for dear life as we went up a slant and began to surf the sand, the hot wind tearing through our hair. I was screaming until I was sure that my vocal chords were bleeding, but the crashing sand was so loud compared to my own small voice that I doubt Gaara could hear me.

Eventually I began to feel a sense of balance, so I loosened my grip on Gaara's arm (which was just as well because I'm pretty sure I was throwing him off anyway) and a wave of excitement washed over me. We sand-surfed for probably an hour and a half before we decided to stop, and I was so overwhelmed with the exhilaration that all I could do for the rest of the day was smile.

The board dissolved under our feet when we stopped, and Gaara pointed to a series of stalls to our right.

"You can rinse the sand off if you want," he said. "It gets bothersome after a while."

I looked down and noticed for the first time that my legs were coated with clumps of sand from my knees down, as were my arms.

"What about you?" I asked, my eyes drawn to his muscled arms, layered with sand as mine were.

"I'll be fine," he assured me, bending over to pick up his robes. He was now garbed in his black fishnet shirt and black pants, presumably from his genin days.

I shrugged and walked over to the stations, cranking the water on and washing the sand off.

He walked over a few minutes later with his robes slung over one shoulder.

"The water feels good," I said, looking at his arms again. "And you're all sandy."

He shrugged. "I'll deal with it."

"So it's bothering you?"

… "No."

Liar. He was so uncomfortable.

I stared at him impassively for a few seconds before flicking him with water that had collected in my open palm. He blinked, raising his eyebrows.

I had no idea what possessed me to do that – maybe it was the heat. Suna's weather was known to make you delirious, even in December when it was still 89 degrees. But nonetheless, I heard him mumble a low 'fine' before he dropped his robes again and walked into the stall.

We both stood back from the spout above our heads so we wouldn't get wet and ignored the weird feeling of wet sand swirling around our feet.

I paused and looked up at him, a strange tingling erupting in my chest and a smile growing on my face. He rinsed the sand off of his arms and glanced up at me, seeing my expression.

"Something wrong?"

I jolted. "What? Oh, no, I'm good."

"Okay."

I bit my lip. "But, umm, Gaara?"

"Hmm?"

Acting quickly, I moved closer to him and kissed his lips softly. "T-thank you…for everything."

I backed away, only vaguely aware that I had water pouring down my body from stepping under the spout to kiss him. I backed away quickly.

A moment later I felt a rough hand cup my cheek. I looked up at Gaara, his oceanic eyes piercing mine.

"You're welcome, Hinata."

And then, regardless of the fact that he was getting wet, he leaned over and kissed me.

The next year was a long and difficult one. The sound decided to launch an attack on Konoha, and as their allies it was our duty to help out. We sent troops, supplies, medicine – anything we could. In return, we got all of the latest gossip.

Sasuke had returned of his own accord some time after I left and was feeding us information about Orochimaru (who honestly, we thought Sasuke could have killed by now, but that's not the point) and the rest of Oto.

Naruto had become hokage (shocker) in succession to Tsunade and Sakura was an ANBU medic. Neji had been rid of the cursed seal and was in my place now, at the request of Hanabi who was not ready to take on clan responsibilities yet. He and his wife, Tenten were the new heads of the Hyuga clan.

There were rumors that Naruto was trying to get my marriage to Gaara nullified so that I could come back to Suna, but those rumors were quickly smothered by the Hyugas, saying that I was happy here and didn't want to leave. They didn't even ask me if that were true, even though it was.

It was the day before my eighteenth birthday when I told Gaara that I was feeling dizzy frequently. I felt sick in the mornings but didn't let myself jump to conclusions just yet.

Temari glanced at me as I told him my symptoms and smirked, but Gaara didn't appear to catch on and said he would send for a doctor before he went into a meeting with the counsel again. Who knows what they wanted this time.

Temari was with me when the doctor showed up to the chamber I shared with Gaara and I repeated all of my symptoms. She took some tests and had me answer a few questions before taking her chart out into the hall to converse with her assistants.

Temari turned to me. "What do you think? Do you think you could be…?"

"I don't know," I whispered. "I mean, it would be great, but in the middle of a war? Having a baby wouldn't be the smartest thing to do…"

"I know. But what about Gaara?"

"We've talked about it a few times, and he doesn't seem totally against it."

"That's always good. Maybe we can…"

There was a knock at the door. "Lady Kazekage?"

I stood up, my hand unconsciously resting on my flat stomach. "Come in."

The doctor came in beaming. "Congratulations, Lady Kazekage. You're pregnant."

Temari and I turned to each other and embraced, jumping up and down and screaming. I was so happy, even though I wasn't even 18 and having a baby. But that was the last thing on my mind – I had to tell Gaara.

He didn't get out of the meeting for two hours. I was talking with Temari and Kankuro when a servant's child came in to tell me. I was popular with the servant's young children – there were about nine of them all together and this little girl, Kita, was the youngest.

"Hina-nee! Kazekage-sama's done with his meeting! Kaa-san said she saw him."

I jumped from my seat. "Thank you, Kita-chan," I said, kissing the top of her head and running off.

I took off in the direction of the counsel's main hall and saw Gaara walking the opposite direction as me. He looked tired, but I was so excited I barley noticed, and shouted out his name.

He turned to me and raised his nonexistent eyebrows in amusement, opening his arms so I could run into a hug, as he always did.

"Hinata-chan, why so happy to see me?" he asked, a playful smile on his face.

"I just have some amazing news, is all," I said, returning his grin. I pull him aside so the counsel wouldn't overhear us. "Gaara-kun, you won't believe this, but…I'm pregnant."

He froze.

The look on his face told me immediately that something was horribly wrong, and then he embraced me tightly and I could feel something wet dampening my shirt.

He was crying.

"What is it?" I asked. "What's wrong?"

Pulling away, he forced a smile. "Nothing's wrong – I'm just surprised, is all. I never expected…"

"Neither did I. But I am, so…"

Gaara sighed. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

Hurt from what?

He kissed my forehead and left before I had a chance to ask.

In the next two months, the battlefront had moved into Suna and it looked like it was here to stay. Gaara was keen on me staying in one section of the tower for most of the day, saying that he was concerned for my health and didn't want me doing much.

Temari scoffed at the idea, saying that I was capable of taking care of myself, which was true.

It was just funny watching Gaara deal with my pregnancy. You'd think he was the one who was pregnant, being an emotional mess from day one. It was cute watching him be protective of me.

In the middle of my second month, Temari remarked that I was starting to show more and more every day.

Gaara took that as an opportunity to propose a plan – the war was getting closer to the walls of the city each passing day, and you could even see the dust clouds from skirmishes in the distance. It was no longer safe here, and many Suna families were already packing up their stuff and heading to a different village to stay for the remainder of the war.

Now with me showing, it would be obvious that the Kazekage's wife had an heir, a target for enemy ninja. His plan was that for the rest of my pregnancy (and more likely until the end of the war) I stay in Konoha with one of my friends. The battle was far gone from there.

The plan was practical and easy, so I agreed. I was to leave two days from now and meanwhile, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro would be off fighting in Suna.

I suppose that was another reason why I was staying in Konoha – the tower would be lonely and empty without Gaara, something I couldn't deal with.

Three in the morning, the day I would leave.

I rolled over to face Gaara, gazing at his peaceful expression as he slept. It wasn't often I got to see this face – most of the time he was plagued by vicious nightmares that kept him captive in his sleep until I was able to rouse him.

They were punishment, perhaps, of the things he had done in his past – maybe his dreams were reciprocating him tenfold for the pain he caused to others. It always seemed the case.

I reached over and caressed his cheek with my hand, and within a moment his hand had reached up to clench mine and his eyes slid open.

"Morning," he murmured softly.

"Morning," I whispered back. I paused for a moment and then said, "I don't want to leave you."

He sighed and moved closer to me so he could wrap his arm around me.

"Neither do I," he said. "This war…it seems like a trap. I tell the counsel that I think we've been set up for something, but they won't listen."

I rested my head on his chest. "Do you want me to talk to them for you?" I was only half-joking.

He seemed to think I was entirely serious. "I don't want you talking to them. They're not the greatest people."

I chuckled. "I think you're exaggerating a bit."

He wrapped both arms around me protectively. "They'd make you fight if they could."

"Oh."

We were both silent for a while, just being in each other's presence. I could hear his heart beating beneath his shirt, calming my nerves just slightly.

"Hey," I said.

"Hmm?"

I cupped his face with both hands and pressed my lips to his. "Just be careful, okay?"

He returned my kiss, this time with more force. "Okay."

We made it to Konoha in two days by taking alternate routes so to stay out of the fighting zone. I was covered from head to toe in white robes that concealed everything but my eyes, barely making me recognizable when we reached Konoha.

The servant who accompanied me left when we reached the gates at my request and I made my way to the Hyuga manor, where I would be staying with Tenten. Most, if not all of the Hyugas were off fighting, including Neji.

Tenten opened the door to me before I even got there and helped me inside, taking me to my original room before I married Gaara. Most of my things were still there, untouched. I set my bags down and Tenten touched my arm.

"Come with me," she said. "There's someone I want you to meet."

She took me down a corridor to the room across the hall from what appeared to be the chamber she shared with Neji. The room she took me into, however, was a nursery, the walls painted a subtle mint green with tiny brown teddy bears stenciled into the border.

Tenten led me to the back corner of the room where a crib was erected, and inside was a tiny baby boy with patches of fuzzy brown hair.

"I just put him down for his nap, so I'm afraid you can't hold him right now," Tenten said, chuckling. "His name is Haru. He's mine and Neji's, obviously."

I nodded, gazing at the infant. "Is this why you're not fighting with Neji? You have to take care of Haru?"

She nodded. "Yeah. He's only three months old, so there's no way I could leave." She glanced at me. "So, did Gaara get a little protective? You got here on pretty short notice."

I laughed. "Yeah. The war's getting closer to the Suna walls, and he's been an emotional mess for the past month. It seemed like the right thing to do."

"An emotional mess?" Tenten asked. "Wow. He must have changed."

My eyes widened, realizing that I had never told her.

"Oh, it's not just the war," I said, taking off my robes. I had long black pants and a loose black t-shirt underneath that accented my slightly swollen belly. "I'm pregnant."

Tenten broke into a wide grin.

"Seriously? That's great, Hinata-chan! Oh, you'll have lots of fun," she said. She looked about the room for a moment. "Hmm…I'm pretty sure we can fit another crib in here."

It turned out that Ino wasn't fighting either, for some unexplained reason. She told us that she had gone to the hokage tower to ask Naruto where she was needed and he simply told her that she wasn't fighting and to go home.

Tenten and I agreed that Shikamaru had probably arranged something that prevented her from getting hurt; they were recently engaged.

She spent a lot of time with Tenten and me and was ecstatic when I told her the big news. We prepared little by little for the baby's arrival, with getting the crib assembled and whatnot.

Tenten was easily able to help with my weird cravings (…chocolate covered crab cakes and watermelon at two thirty in the morning).

However, it all changed with a knock on the door.

On my seventh month, a nervous looking man knocked on the door of the Hyuga manor with a folded letter in his hand. A servant answered the door, shared a few words with him, and let him into the living area where Ino, Tenten, Haru and I were seated and talking.

"Umm, excuse me ladies, but I'm afraid I have some bad news," he said. My eyes were glued to him in anticipation. "It appears one of your husbands is dead."

Tenten started trembling in horror and held on tightly to Haru.

"Oh my God…" she whispered, terrified. We both looked at each other, scared out of our minds.

It was either the Kazekage or the Hyuga Head.

"Thank you, sir," said Ino, intervening. She stood up and took the letter from him. "I'll take it from here."

He nodded lightly and left, the servant shutting the door behind him.

Ino opened the letter delicately and scanned it for a name. She walked over to us and looked up with a heartbroken expression on her face. Glancing up, she looked from Tenten, to me, and back to Tenten again. She wet her lips to speak, her voice wavered as tears stained her cheeks.

"Hinata, I'm so sorry…"

I felt my heart clench painfully and was only vaguely aware of Tenten and Ino hugging me and trying to soothe me through the tears that ran down my face. My arms had encircled my stomach tightly and the world went spinning as I passed out.

The men came back a week later, and I waited with Tenten and Haru for Neji.

"Are you excited to see anyone?" she asked, picking up Haru and resting him on her hip.

"Well, Neji, of course," I said. "And Hanabi, Kiba, and Shino. I'm just glad their all coming home, you know?"

She smiled. "Yeah, I know." She stood on her tiptoes to see the impending crowd. "What about Naruto? Have you missed him?"

I paused, unsure how to answer. "I suppose I did…" I thought. "I missed him for a little while, but after Gaara and I became closer I forgot about…well, most everyone. It sounds horrible, but…"

"It's okay," said Tenten. "I understand. But he really missed you, though."

I raised my eyebrows. "Really? We were friends and all, but I never thought…"

"Hey, things happen," Tenten said, shrugging. She looked ahead and her eyes lit up. "Oh! There's Neji!"

I stood back and let her have her time with Neji, who embraced her tightly and kissed her. He smiled, taking his son and walking towards the manor. Tenten looked over at me to say something, but I told her I'd meet her at home. I caught Neji's eye and saw him say something to Tenten and gesture at his stomach, but Tenten quickly changed the subject.

"Hinata-chan, is that you?" a familiar voice greeted. Turning around, I saw Kiba, Shino, and Naruto walking toward me, and I laughed inwardly at the expression on their faces as they saw my condition.

"Ohayo," I said softly, smiling at them.

"Hey, sorry about Gaara. He was really a great guy," said Kiba, giving me a shoulder-hug.

"Thanks, Kiba-kun. I'm glad you made it out okay."

He laughed loudly. "Yeah, I'm one of the lucky ones. A lot of people died, Hinata. Too many."

Shino spoke up. "We should probably get going," he said. Turning to me, he ruffled my hair. "Sorry, Hinata-chan. The hospital calls."

"It's okay," I said, and they left. Now it was just me and Naruto. I tried to strike up conversation.

"So, how do you like being hokage?" I asked. "Is it what you thought?"

He shrugged thoughtfully. "There's a lot of paperwork involved, but I like it. I can see why Tsunade-baachan was such a grouch, though," he said, a small grin on his face. "It's serious stuff. It's kind of scary, you know? Knowing that an entire village depends on you with their life."

"I know what you mean. Gaara talked a lot about that," I agreed.

His eyes widened slightly, like he didn't know what to say. He probably didn't count on me talking about Gaara so soon after his death. He changed the subject.

"So, is Suna as hot as I've heard?" he asked.

"Hotter," I said. "It's 89 degrees in winter."

"Ouch. That must've been a pain."

"Very much so. It's nice to be back in Konoha; I don't have to worry about getting sunburned in December," I remarked with a smile.

A sudden stab in my stomach contorted my face for a moment and I clenched my stomach in pain.

"Whoa, whoa, you alright?" Naruto asked, at my side in an instant. "It's probably not good for you to be out right now."

"You're right," I said, feeling the pain go away. "I'm stubborn, though. Anyone can tell you that." I stood straight again. "Well, I'd better get back to the manor. I haven't seen Neji as long as anyone else. Anyway, I have to go. See you around."

"Hinata, wait."

I paused.

Hesitating for a moment, he walked towards me and wrapped me in a gentle hug.

"Sorry, but I missed you."

"That's okay, Naruto; I missed you too."

Gaara's body was never found, but a memorial ceremony was held in Suna after the war ended to honor him for the lives he saved by fighting.

He was mummified and buried in a tomb arranged for the Kazekages, and the role of Kazekage was given to Temari as requested in his will.

I never went back to Suna, except for the ceremony – I continued my life in Konoha after giving birth to a daughter, who was the spitting image of Gaara.

Sabaku no Yukana was born on 25th of September, with dark red hair the color of fire and pupiless oceanic eyes. Her eyes were wide and round and rimmed with thick black lashes, she smiled and frowned easily, and was very stubborn.

Later after her birth, she and I moved into an apartment near the Hyuga manor so we could go and easily visit Neji, Tenten, and Haru. It was convenient and located close to the center of the village so the grocery store and other such necessities were within walking distance.

Naruto and I became close friends again, and even though most of the village thought that we'd be torn apart by Yukana's birth, it only made us closer.

I couldn't blame them, though. I was in love with Gaara and had his daughter; even I thought Naruto wouldn't want to be around me anymore. But he proved me wrong, and when I turned 21 we were married.

Ino heard a lot of gossip – some people thought me a tramp. First the Kazekage, and now the Hokage. Who next?

I ignored them – let them say what they want. It wasn't like I divorced Gaara or anything, and it's not like I married Naruto first thing after he died, either.

Sitting in the living room of our house, Naruto came in with 5-year-old Yukana sitting on his shoulders and sat down next to me on the couch.

"How're you feeling?" he asked, poking my stomach.

I smiled, feeling the babies kick.

"Fine, for now. You know how I get all moody."

Ah, twins. I was not looking forward to labor.

"Can I feel the babies kick, kaasan?" Yukana asked, climbing down off of Naruto's shoulders. She knew he wasn't her father, but it didn't stop her from calling him tousan. It made me happy, and I knew Naruto loved her, too.

"Sure, sweetie. Take my hand."

She put her tiny hand in mine, and I guided it to a spot where one of the twins had just kicked. She giggled in delight at the sensation, making me laugh.

At 24, I was a proud wife and mother and a sensei to a group of remarkable genin. It was a great feeling.

I knew Gaara wasn't mad at me. He knew I loved him, and that was enough to save him when he was alive. I see him every day in Yukana, and just knowing that a small piece of him will always be with me is enough.

I plan on making two more chapters - one in Gaara's POV up until his death and one in Naruto's POV.
Please review - let me know what I can do to make it better. I felt like it was kind of rushed, but I just wanted to get it done.
Thanks