AN: Since I'm on Chapter 5, it seems a fair tradeoff to give you people (if there is indeed, anyone reading this) Chapter 2. It's kinda hard to tell without much input. (mimichan88, winterkaguya, Jitchoo, your reviews were well welcome, and much appreciated!) Ironically, I think the current chapter i'm working on is getting darker. And wordier. Gahhhh. I need new mood music.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; Not the characters, the scenery, NOTHING.

Over time

Chapter two: Observations

A month into her year long ambassadorship, the young Hyuuga couldn't help but notice a few things about the Kagekaze. (When one spent 20+ hours a week with him, arguing and pointing out things, it was bound to happen.)

First of all, he was not unreadable. In fact you could, once you recognized the warning signs, call him very predictable (at least when it came to business).

Second of all, while he didn't talk often, he could talk at length. It seemed that it took patience and gentle prodding, you could get him to elaborate. If he thought you daft or uninterested as a result, she still didn't know, however.

Thirdly, if you see him blink more then once every 18 seconds, then he was actually listening to you.

Fourth, if you ever see his right hand twitch in response to an inquiry or an argument, shut up. If you were sitting near the person and it concerned something you were involved with, politely interrupt and offer an alternate opinion. If that doesn't work, drink your tea and wait for the Kazekage to take of it. If it twitched twice, shift to your left or right.

The fifth thing to remember was whenever you notice his handwriting turn into something that barely could count as chicken scratch, smile sweetly and make an excuse that you're tired and wish to reschedule. Make sure to add afterwards that you wish him a good night, and pray the next day he took the advice. If he didn't by the time of your next appointment, bite your tongue and try to decipher the codes. That… or hope that Temari knocked him unconscious for you. Then reschedule whenever he crawled out of the hole everyone assumed he slept in.

Finally, if you notice his left eye twitch at any point in time, avoid any and every form of persuasion and try and logically work your way out of this bind.

Not that Hinata was specifically watching him all the time, it was just that perhaps it was the most important person to take hints from other then essential rule that when Council member Sarubuta was present one should bind their chest to appear as flat as possible. Being unable to breath properly was far more preferable to having a letch stare and oogle your ample 'assets' like a starved pig does a pile of fruit. Exhaling choppily, she leaned back into her chair, pen held loosely in her hands. The mantle clock chimed five times and she grimaced. The sun would be setting soon, she hadn't finished the trade proposal over the base rate of rice based imports. Since it would officially be the weekend in 12 minutes (give or take), she expected to be lured of her temporary apartment by a persistent blond and her brunette cohort.

Biting her lip, she put pen to paper and tried not to listen to the ticking of the clock. 3 minutes and 31 seconds later, the a knock echoed through the room. Wait, Temari and Kankuro never ever knocked. Puzzled, Hinata pushed her chair back and exited the study, and focused, letting the door fade away. The person on the other side wasn't one she was expecting, nor did she want to see considering the amount of gifts. Another attempt to try and get her to agree to allow his son to try and tempt her into giving her hand in marriage. Shuddering, Hinata turned back to her study, quietly closing the door and praying the man would assume that she was not in her quarters and leave.

Settling back into the chair, she pulled out a book and idly began to flip through the pages, occasionally taking the time to scribble down notes on a piece of paper. 14 minutes later, Hinata placed her pen down, and moved to turn a page back, unable to decide on what to focus on when she felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise. Picking up the pen loosely, she waited a moment before twisting her body upwards, chair slamming backwards as she launched the pen like a senbon needle. Only to panic as it sunk into a wall of sand before it hit the one person she never imagined to be there in her study. Ever. Oh… dear…

"K-Kazekage-sama! I didn't kn-kn-know that you were… were. I mean I didn't…I'm so-"

"Come."

"Eh?" When the kazekage simply ignored her surprised outburst and turned to leave, Hinata found herself stumbling after him after picking up the chair and pushing it forward until it hit the desk with a thump. Outside her door, Hinata found herself sighing in relief briefly as she found Temari and Kankuro standing outside her door, with an exuberant Matsuri addressing her mentor as he exited the small apartment quietly. On quick inspection, Hinata noted that there was sand in the lock, which explained how in the world the red-head had gotten in so quietly. Kankuro would threaten to kick down the door if she didn't come out in a timely manor while Temari would try to flush her out with embarrassing threats. Both methods took time and if anything, the Kazekage hated waiting if he could help it, which thus explained why he was the one to retrieve her. Quick and efficient. Slipping the key into the lock, she turned it till it clicked and then quickly formed some seals, securing the small apartment to the best of her ability. Greeting her captors, she smiled softly as Matsuri and Temari ushered her down the hall, the two men following, one grumbling loudly and the other as quiet as death.

Outside of work, Hinata noticed the Kazekage's demeanor changed almost drastically. Outwardly it was still the same stoic, emotionless face, but how his eyes would dart from side to side occasionally as if he wasn't comfortable in public in the non-official way. Unless questioned by the three other members of the party, he did not respond to questions or comments, and even when he did, it was painfully brief. Swirling the unnaturally green liquid in her cup, Hinata crinkled her nose at the thought of drinking it. It smelt unnaturally sweet (and she did like sweets) but tasted like a bitter poison. It had been at Matsuri's suggestion she try it, and now she regretted agreeing to. One sip to be courteous would do.

"Oh stop sulking and say something already!" Kankuro whined at Gaara when he refused to talk for the umpteenth time. When he received a glare over the rim of the cup, Kankuro settled for scowling back, which for some reason, made Hinata giggle unexpectantly. The drink must have been stronger then she thought and she flushed bright red.

"What's so funny, Hina-chan?" Kankuro almost purred, quickly switching gears from glowering at his unresponsive brother to flirting halfheartedly with their guest.

"A-ah, nothing important." She tried to let it trailed off, mumbling a bit, but now she had gotten the attention of Matsuri and Temari as well.

"Gotta be something interesting." Temari stated, a grin forming as Matsuri raised an eyebrow.

" Erm…you just reminded me of how my sister and Neji-nii-san… bicker." Hinata admitted, flushing as she played with her cup.

"…Compliment or insult?" Kankuro questioned, not quite getting the joke (truthfully no one did).

"Erm. I don't know?" Hinata struggled to act innocent. It was painfully obvious that, no, it was not a compliment.

"Never mentioned much about your sister, though we all know your cousin needs to pull the giant redwood tree out of his ass." A quick gulp and Temari cocked her head, a grin on her face at the look of horror on the leaf nin's face.

"Neji-nii-san isn't that bad he's just…"

"Stuffy?"

"A total dick?"

"Too proud for his own good?" Oddly enough the last comment came from the Kazekage himself. Hinata blinked; she didn't think he was actually listening.

"Very confident in his abilities. And perhaps too overprotective." Hinata corrected them all, though in the back of her mind she knew that the three assumptions were at least partially correct. She just hoped she wasn't giving Matsuri a bad impression of her cousin. "Hanabi is worse… maybe. She's…"

"Fuck no, save us, there's TWO of them!" Kankuro blurted out.

"That's not it at all! Plus… plus… I don't think Neji-niisan… likes to be… coddled?" The wide smirks on the two older sand shinobis told Hinata that she had just said something terribly amusing. Even Gaara's mouth had turned up a tad. Her hands twitched and fiddled with her fingers, her face practically glowing as she regretted even opening her mouth. She moved to take another sip of her drink out of desperation when she realized something. Stopping the cup at her lips, she put it down again.

"Sooo, boyfriend at home?" Matsuri, wanting to feel like part of the situation, grinned at Hinata, who jumped slightly. Hinata shook her head, and then frowned as the room blurred a bit.

"F-f-for now, it is not in my best interests to… get involved with other people."

Matsuri frowned, though she nodded as if she understood. "Well maybe you just haven't met that special person yet?" Temari rolled her eyes slightly at this, knowing how thinly veiled the intent was. Hinata, however, had an unusual expression. Her eyes seemed to cloud over, becoming dull as faded chalk. The girl rolled an invisible marble in her mouth, as if she was swallowing something even more bitter then her drink. All eyes were on her, but she didn't care as the dull ache in her chest began to claw and rip into her heart again.

"I…" The girl stopped, forehead scrunching as if it was suddenly hard to talk. Almost instinctively, her hand moved towards her chest before it stopped and she let it clutch her other hand, nails digging deep into skin. "It would be… I suppose… it is somewhat… pointless."

"Eh? But why not? I'm sure every girl out there dreams of falling in love with that perfect guy, especially if he's sure to protect them forever, and..." Matsuri began, only to stop when Hinata made a soft choked noise. Slowly the pale woman shifted her way out of the round booth and stepped down to leave, only to smile at no one, eyes hidden.

"We of the Hyuuga clan have a saying; To fall in love is like crushing your own wings to dust." Her voice was barely louder then a whisper, her tone dead, "Marry for power, for family, not for yourself and you will die safe in your bed." Bowing quickly, she turned to leave, and this time her hand did claw at her chest. Hinata needed to get away quickly, before her loose tongue dealt any more damage.

As Hinata left the bar, Matsuri and Temari shared a look while Kankuro scowled at the both of them. "What the hell brought THAT up?"

"Well, at least we can confirm something." Temari said moodily, before pulling a half empty vial from her pouch. "Hyuuga Hinata has been drugged quite a bit in her life."

Both Gaara and Kankuro raised an eyebrow at their sister and comrade. Shaking the liquid in the bottle, Temari poured the rest into the nearly full cup left behind.

"It's a pretty potent sleeping drug and there was enough to make the girl pass out within minutes in a sip. Not only did she NOT fall asleep, just get as groggy our dear brother here after a few days (which I'll add, stop doing that you idiot), she realized a least something was off when she moved to take another mouthful. Guess I got to pay up my bet with that lazy idiot when I see him next." Matsuri sighed loudly as Temari finished her explanation, before blinking. Gaara had placed his elbows on the table, a intense look on his face.

"The reason for drugging the ambassador and putting our relations with our allies at risk?" He asked quietly, his eyes easily displaying his annoyance at the attempt to ruin ties with one of their closest allies. Temari snorted and shot back an equally annoyed glare.

"One, Hinata-san obviously hasn't been sleeping well for the last few days, at least. Two, Matsuri and I got some heads up on the girl FROM Konoha. And finally three, you better replace the guys monitoring her with someone, I don't know, competent." Temari scooted out of the booth, grumbling. Kankuro sighed and wordlessly followed his elder sister out, giving a grunt to the younger and a smile to Matsuri. Matsuri squirmed in her seat and played with her glass, before carefully asking Gaara what was wrong. Gaara didn't answer, lost in his thoughts.

When Hinata came in the following week, she acted as if nothing had happened. An odd reaction, Gaara noted as he watched enter his office from the corner of his eye. But then again, he did not expect complete normalcy from her, not from what he had observed about her. The woman had surprised him plenty of times in the first few weeks to make him be on guard and this had proven very useful.

"Hyuuga-san." She jumped a little as he addressed her suddenly mid-speech. Like a jumpy little wildcat, she took a step back and hugged the folder to her chest. Mentally rolling his eyes, he sighed loudly and sat up straighter in his chair. He wasn't interested in the visiting kohona squads due to pass through the upcoming weeks, at least it wasn't on the top of his priorities. He may as well get to the point, since he knew for a fact that she wasn't stupid, just abnormally timid.

"Why are you not bringing up last week's incident?" Gaara asked bluntly, staring straight at her. She fidgeted in place, uncomfortable when she was the topic.

"I… that is… I-I didn't feel that it was…" Suddenly the door slammed open, a smiling old man walking in with a scroll in his hand.

"Kazekage, I have the report you asked for, and my, don't you look ravishing today, my dear flower?" The man nearly purred in Hinata's direction, placing the scroll down on Gaara's desk before forcefully grabbing and kissing her hand.

"Omishi-sama, you flatter me unnecessarily." Hinata whispered softly, eyes staring at the floor.

"Such a demure little lady, are you not? I flatter you no more then you deserve." The overweight man grinned, ignoring Hinata's flinch as he let his thumb rub circles against her skin. Hinata couldn't completely hide her cringe at the feeling of those dry, rough lips scraping at her skin, but when the man stood up, still holding her hand, she tried her best to smile.

"Your praise is appreciated, but…" Hinata began, trying to redirect the conversation, but Omishi prattled on as if she had said nothing.

"Have you considered letting my dear Daisuke partake in your company? I assure you, he is as handsome as you are beautiful. A lovely couple, you two would make, and it would comfort this poor man's heart to have such a doting daughter like you to take care of me in my own age…"

More like you'd love to exploit her family ties and add more to your coffers, Lord Omishi, Gaara frowned as his hand twitched before shifting loudly, catching the old man off guard and allowing Hinata to snatch her hand back, discretely brushing it against her cotton pants.

"If that is all, Omishi, you are dismissed." Gaara ordered, earning a look of annoyance from the Lord who stormed out pausing only to giving a winning smile at the woman. When the door closed once again, Hinata couldn't help but exhale in relief, this time purposely rubbing her hand against her jacket.

"You should just refuse outright if his attention displeases you." Gaara said quietly, hand outstretched for the folder she held against her chest. Hinata blinked before holding out the folder, a soft smile on her face. Fingers brushed and slowly moved away.

"I'm used to it." Hinata replied simply, smile flattening a tad. Moments passed by for Gaara tried to decipher what the look on her face was when her shoulders jumped and she reached into her one of the pockets on her chest guard and pulled out a small blue rimed scroll.

"Ah, Kazekage-sama, this also was sent to my residence for you. I believe that it is a personal letter from Naruto-sama." Their fingers brushed again and she bowed and made to leave. He was a man who valued privacy after all. Opening the seal, he let his eyes scan the sloppily written letter and then sighed. Naruto was impulsive as always, with his sudden announcement about visiting Suna and Gaara in just a few days. There was an after note stating that the Hyuuga would be leaving just a day before him for a few days that demanded her talent, and not to worry, it was Just an B-rank (Just? Since when was a B-rank mission just anything?) and she would be back in a few days afterwards.

Re-rolling the scroll, he flipped open the ambassador's report. Unlike the bold, messy handwriting of the Hokage, the woman's was controlled and precise. None of the strokes were wasteful except for the occasional extra upstroke at the very end of a character. Memorizing the names of the squad leaders, some famous, other of little to no worth, before closing the folder and pushing it to the side. Gaara frowned as he caught himself rubbing his fingers together, his mind recalling how much cooler her fingers were compared to his. He also realized that she had totally avoided his question. This Hyuuga was definitely one to watch, with her ability to manipulate people with gentle smiles and soft, lulling words. She wasn't one to abuse it, thankfully, which smoothed away the inking of distrust. She was quiet, calm, yet thoughtful, as if just waiting to react and press for small advantages. Like a shadow, she listened and only commented if needed. If Gaara was the type of man who considered potential mates (He had no delusions of ever marrying. He'd leave Temari and Kankuro to further their blood line.), she would do best as the wife of someone in power; the pretty face in the limelight who whispered wise words to her husband behind a fan. Reaching for the next scroll, Gaara quickly forgot about the Hyuuga for a time and focused on serving the residents of his village to the best of his ability.

AN: Do I really need to beg? Reviews are much appreciated!