Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.
Special Thanks: goes out to rao hyuga 18, steampunk-crow, McKazekage, Uchiha Miyoki-chan, ssspooky, SinShu, xforeverherex, Sixteen1324, Dyani91, and sailorangelmoon1 for all your wonderful, encouraging reviews! I've had a bit of a rough week, and all your kind words have really helped keep me motivated and going through it. You all are, quite simply, some of the most amazing reviewers I have ever had in all the fandoms I've been involved in. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!
Author's Note: A somewhat shorter chapter, again, but I can promise the next few chapters will be longer. I'm particularly excited about the second scene in this chapter, since it sets up something else I'm excited to reveal in a later chapter. And, before I go giving away too much, I'll be quiet now and let you get on with reading. Thanks, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
*~Chapter IX~*
~Strife~
"You shouldn't have told her!"
"What, you were just going to keep it from her? Yes, that's a very smart idea!"
"No. I would have told her. I would have just found a-"
"A what? Better way to tell her? I hate to tell you this, but there is no better way to tell her!"
Hinata turned her head, instinctively trying to get away from the arguing voices close by. She recognized them - Lady Tsunade and Gaara. It was quite obvious they were discussing her, not even bothering to notice the fact she was able to hear their every word. How terribly rude!
"Perhaps finding a gentler way to tell her would have been better." Gaara's voice softened slightly as he spoke those words.
"There is no gentle way to tell someone their father is dead. Believe me, I've had to deliver those lines far too much in my line of work, and I've learned the hard way just getting it out and over with is the best way to go." Tsunade's, on the other hand, was still rough and slightly snappy as she responded.
Father. Everything came rushing back to Hinata then: the tense dinner, Lady Tsunade's receiving a scroll, the news Hyuuga Hiashi was dead, Hinata fainting...
She must have made some sort of noise, because a moment later Lady Tsunade and Gaara were both standing over her. "Hinata?" They said her name at the exact same moment.
Cracking her eyes open, Hinata stared up at her husband and her former village leader, noticing the way both of them were looking at her like they expected her to faint again. Since they were obviously also expecting her to say something, she obliged. "I agree with b-both your p-points." That, however, was not what she'd meant to say.
Now they both looked surprised, as if they hadn't realized she'd heard their conversation. It's their own fault - maybe next time they won't stand so close to me and talk so loudly.
The two shared a look which made her sure, surprisingly, their thoughts were running along the same line, then turned back to her. "Do you remember what happened?" This time Lady Tsunade's voice was much softer.
"Yes." Hinata sat up, forcing the other two to give her some space so they wouldn't bang heads. She was starting to feel rather smothered the other way. "I was told my father is d-dead." Her voice shook only slightly, which made her proud of herself. "And then I fainted. And then I woke up to the two of you arguing over me."
Gaara frowned, but Lady Tsunade seemed amused by Hinata's take on the sequence of events. "How are you feeling?" she asked.
Looking down at her hands, now folded peacefully on her lap, Hinata did a quick inventory of her own emotional, mental, and physical states, in that order. She felt surprisingly calm, considering what had just happened, and the fuzzy feeling she always experienced after waking up post-faint was finally easing away. "As well as to b-be expected, I suppose," she replied at length.
Leaning over her again, Gaara said, "It's a little after ten in the evening. The meal ended quite a bit ago, and as far as I know everyone else has retired to their rooms. Do you think you can go back to sleep, or do you need something?"
It was just about the longest speech she'd ever heard him make, at least in regard to her wellbeing. It was almost surprising, though also encouraging since she hadn't been certain how he'd react to her fainting all over him. At least he didn't picture her as weak. "I'm n-not tired." Now she was conscious again, Hinata's mind was busy spinning with thoughts and questions and all sorts of other things. She was anxious to ask them, but almost afraid to do so. Lady Tsunade and Gaara seemed tense, like they were trying to keep something from her, and she just didn't feel like trying to fight through those barriers tonight.
Turning away, the leader of Konoha dug around in the medical bag sitting on the chair next to Hinata's bed for a moment before pulling out a small pouch. "If you steep some tea with three or four of these leaves, it should help you sleep," she said. "Should you need anything further, send your maid for me. I'm one floor down and a few doors over." She acknowledged Hinata's nod, then offered a slight tilt of her head in Gaara's direction before slipping quietly out of the room.
Once the door leading to the hall closed behind Tsunade, Gaara sat down on the edge of Hinata's bed and stared at her as if not quite certain what else to do or say. At last he settled on, "I'm sorry about your father."
Avoiding his steady gaze, Hinata traced part of the pattern on her bedspread. "D-Did you ever meet him?" she asked. It seemed likely, since the two men had to have worked out the marriage deal involving her somehow.
"Once. A long time ago." Gaara's expression, when she peeked up at him, was as grim as his words.
It was not the response she'd been expecting, but since his tone made it clear he didn't want to discuss the subject further, she let it go. "D-Did Lady Tsunade say how...?" She hadn't quite worked up the courage to ask the woman while she was still in the room, and she still wasn't sure how to pose the question to her own husband.
"It happened two days ago." It was hard to tell if Gaara deliberately misunderstood her or not.
After nibbling her lower lip for a few indecisive moments, Hinata decided to go for it and repeat the question. "B-But how?" she emphasized.
Gaara glared at the floor as he finally, reluctantly, replied. "Assassination."
Heat flashed up Hinata's spine as, at the same time, ice balled into her stomach. "What?" she half-screeched. (In hindsight, the answer shouldn't have surprised her. Her father did, after all, have any number of enemies. She had a feeling the exact number had been even higher than she suspected.)
"Your little sister is fine," Gaara hurried to add. "No one else was hurt or killed. Just your father."
Hinata felt ashamed. She'd been so busy concentrating on her father's death, she hadn't even taken a moment to wonder about her sister. "N-Neji and Tenten will b-be in K-Konoha again soon," she murmured. "And I'm sure there's already an investigation g-going on. Were any suspects n-named in the scroll?"
Shifting uncomfortably, Gaara avoided her gaze again. "I didn't actually see the scroll, Hinata," he hedged.
Frustration flared hotly in her chest. "B-But you know?"
Gaara let out a long breath, which sounded just as frustrated as she felt. "No. But I'm sure if there had been, Lady Tsunade would have told me." Reaching out, he briefly touched the lock of hair dangling next to her left cheek before standing and turning away. "Good night, Hinata. I'll send Matsuri in when I leave."
Knowing she'd get nothing more out of the furiously reticent man, Hinata fell back against her pillows. "V-Very well. G-Good n-night."
A moment later Gaara was gone and Matsuri was slipping into the room in his place. She looked anxiously toward her mistress, then spied the pouch sitting on the bedside table. Advancing across the room, she lifted it and took a cautious sniff. "Herbal tea for sleeping, milady?" she asked.
Surprised, Hinata nodded. "Yes. Lady Tsunade g-gave it to me in c-case I have trouble sleeping tonight." Which, she thought wryly, was a distinct probability.
Matsuri held the pouch loosely in her hands as she turned back to face Hinata. "I'm so sorry about your father, milady," she said softly. "Lord Gaara told me what happened when he brought you back here." A wry smile briefly curled the corners of her lips. "I must admit it gave me quite a fright, him storming in here with you unconscious in his arms and a well-known Healer following directly behind him."
"I'm sorry," Hinata apologized automatically. "I'm afraid I q-quite lost my head when I received the n-news and fainted."
"You had every right to, milady," Matsuri replied decidedly. "Now, would you like me to brew some of this tea for you?"
She thought about it for a moment, wondering if she wanted more time to think about what had happened, or if she would rather forget about everything for a while and succumb to sleep. The debate didn't last long. There would be a lot to do and discuss in the morning, and she wanted to have a good night's rest so she would be ready to face those things. "Yes, please. Thank you, Matsuri."
Even with the tea in her system, though, it was a long time before Hinata managed to fall asleep that night.
Hinata woke abruptly the next morning. For a moment she lay still under her blankets, staring up at the sheer canopy over her bed as she thought about the eventful evening before. Father's gone. I need to get back to Konoha so I can help with the funeral arrangements, then find out what else he had planned for the family. And for me.
Only the slightest, pale hints of dawn lightened her narrow windows, so Hinata knew few would be up. Without waking Matsuri, whose room was just across the reception area of her suite, Hinata exchanged her pajamas for loose black pants, a soft lavender tunic, and slippers before she quickly ran a brush through her hair and pulled it back in a low ponytail.
Feeling restless, she slipped out of her suite and into the quiet halls of her new home. The lights along the walls were still dimmed to their usual nightly softness, and she knew it would be another hour before they would be brightened. The soft soles of her slippers allowed her to move silently through the halls as she wandered aimlessly, her deep thoughts her only companions.
It was interesting to her, though, feeling the stillness of the palace. She was used to the halls being filled with servants, as it was during the daytime and early evening hours. Though she didn't know too many of them yet, she was usually able to pick out a few familiar faces and share a quick smile with them as they passed, always pausing to offer her a bow of respect due to her position as mistress of the house.
Now, however, she met no one as she wandered. Hinata spared no thought to getting lost as she allowed her feet to carry her where they would, fairly certain she'd be able to find her way at least to one familiar landmark within the house to get her back to known territory. For now, she was content to stroll along languidly, occasionally peeking into rooms with open doors. Nothing interesting was inside them, of course, just lots of dust and some long-unused pieces of furniture. But it was still nice to be able to take her time and poke around without worrying about disturbing someone.
After what Hinata thought was a half hour or so of wandering, she began to hear voices. Pausing, she anxiously angled a glance back the way she'd come, wondering if she should slip away before she was discovered.
But then she heard her name mentioned, and all thoughts of leaving were instantly banished.
"...course Hinata won't be happy," a female voice was saying as Hinata crept closer. She was surprised to recognize it as her sister-in-law's. "I know I wouldn't be."
"Thank you, Temari. I'll be sure to keep that in mind." The dry response came from Gaara, easily recognizable by his gravelly voice. "Itachi told me the other day about your thoughts on visiting Konoha."
"Please don't drag me into the middle of this, Gaara." Itachi sounded decidedly bemused as he joined in the conversation.
"Oh, hush." A soft thud, then Temari continued. "But seriously, Gaara. Are you sure this is the best idea? She's not going to go for it, especially when everyone else leaves."
"Perhaps it's not the best idea." Gaara sounded slightly breathless and farther away as he replied this time. "But it is the safest. I've determined that much."
Some scuffling, and then Itachi spoke again. "What did Lady Tsunade say last night?"
Temari muttered something else, but Hinata wasn't close enough to catch it.
Gaara cleared his throat in what sounded like a reprimand before answering. "Quite a bit. We had a bit of a - disagreement about how the news was broken to my wife, but there's nothing we can do now. What's done is done. But she does agree with me. For now, our present course of action is definitely the safest. For all parties involved."
"Yeah, but she's not gonna be happy." Temari's unhappy tone was underscored by the harsh sound of metal scraping metal, and then there was silence for a few moments. Then she continued, "Hey, Itachi. You 'bout ready to go? I need to talk to you before we head out to breakfast."
Hinata bit back a gasp, realizing she was about to be caught. She flew down the hall on still-silent feet, catching the edge of the first open doorway with her hand so she could use her momentum to swing herself around and in as quickly as possible. Backing into the shadows in the corner of the room, she tried to quiet her breathing as she listened to the approaching footsteps - and voices.
"Are you sure you're all right?" Itachi sounded worried. "After the headache you had yesterday morning, I don't want you to push too hard today."
"I'm fine." Temari sounded testier than usual, as if her patience was already wearing thin, even though the day had barely begun. "The headache is gone, and I'm completely fine now. A little tired, but-" She stopped abruptly, sounding as though she had bitten off the rest of her sentence. "Itachi, I'm sorry."
"No. It's my fault." He sounded subdued as the couple drew even with the doorway to the room where Hinata was hiding. "I'm sorry."
"I don't blame you, Itachi. I never have." This time Temari's voice was soft, caring. "And I hope you know I never will."
Itachi's response - if there was one - was lost as he and his wife turned the corner and moved out of hearing range. Hinata let out a long, relieved breath and leaned her head back against the wall. Thank goodness she hadn't been caught eavesdropping, especially since Itachi and Temari's conversation, in particular, seemed sensitive in nature.
Gaara. Pushing away from her hiding place, Hinata went back out into the hall and looked in the direction from which she'd originally heard the voices. Only Itachi and Temari had gone past, which meant either Hinata's husband had gone in the opposite direction, or he was still in the room.
Her curiosity won out over her shy nature, and Hinata quietly moved to the half-open door from which the sounds of soft, grunting breaths were coming. Placing one hand on the knob, she pushed the door the rest of the way open, peering around it in hopes of seeing Gaara before he saw her.
It didn't take long to find him. Several mats were spread along the length of the floor of the appreciably sized room, with mirrors lining what part of the walls she could see. Several racks stood at the back of the room, housing workout paraphanalia - and weapons.
On the opposite side of the room, however, ropes had been strung from hooks in the ceiling to matching ones on the floor, forming an odd pattern. Gaara was swinging from rope to rope close to the ceiling, weaving in and out among them using his hands and his legs to maneuver. As Hinata watched, he caught a low-swinging rope with both hands and then shot his body through a slightly lopsided circle formed by another. He caught the next rope with only one hand, then swung himself around it before letting go and landing on one of the mats in a graceful crouch. For a moment he paused there, still as a statue except for the rapid movement of his - bare! - chest as he breathed.
Hinata must have made some sort of sound, because Gaara's head snapped up, beads of perspiration flying off the ends of his red hair and glinting in the light as his gaze zeroed in on her.
This time Hinata was sure she made a sound: a shameful, rather high-pitched squeak.
"Hinata." Gaara stood, one smooth, fluid movement, leonine and graceful. Pushing his hair off his forehead, he came toward her, his bare feet slapping softly against the mats. "You're up early."
"Lady Tsunade's tea wore off sooner than I expected," Hinata replied shyly. She wrapped her arms around her middle, clenching her hands around fistfuls of her tunic.
Gaara halted a few steps away, seeming to sense her desire for space. "Are you all right?" he asked softly.
She didn't dare pause long enough to do a full inventory of her emotions for fear of having to tell the real truth. "Yes." She glanced around the room, at the mirrors and workout equipment and rope course, then smiled thinly as she turned back to her husband. "I'm s-sorry to interrupt."
Shaking his red head, Gaara moved past her toward a bag she hadn't noticed earlier sitting against the wall. Pulling a canteen out of it, he took a long drink before capping it and dropping it, replacing it with a towel and a shirt. "I was finished anyway," he said. "It's almost time for breakfast, and I don't want to be late." After pulling on the shirt, he quickly used the towel to dry his face before leaving it draped over his hair. Leaning over, he picked up his bag and headed back toward her, his gaze sliding toward the door as he approached. "Want to walk back with me?"
Since one, Hinata wasn't sure where in the massive building she was, and two, she needed to head back to her own room anyway, she realized she didn't have much choice. "All right."
After flipping three switches to turn off the lights, Gaara closed the door behind him before starting off in the direction from which Hinata had originally come. He kept his pace ambling, so she was able to keep up with his longer strides more easily. "Out of curiosity, how long had you been standing there?" He was watching her intently out of the corner of his eye. He didn't seem particularly suspicious, or even curious, but Hinata could sense something beyond his outwardly casual demeanor.
"A little while," she admitted. "Long enough to s-see you working on the ropes." And long enough to get an eyeful of his chest, which was nicely muscled without being bulky, covered by a smooth layer of pale skin. She was ashamed to realize her fingers were itching to touch him, to discover if it was as smooth as it looked or if she could feel the ridges of his muscles beneath that pale, flawless skin. She wished she'd left her hair down so she could conceal the blush rising into her cheeks in response to her wanton thoughts.
Gaara nodded thoughtfully. "Itachi and Temari were in there with me earlier," he mentioned. "It's a pity you missed them."
Hinata wisely didn't comment on the matter. "I'm actually g-glad I found you," she said instead. "I n-need to talk to you."
Immediately her husband tensed, suddenly on guard. But against what? she wondered even as he replied, "What's bothering you?"
"Well, I know Lady Tsunade and my friends from K-Konoha are p-probably g-going to head b-back home today," she said carefully. "And I want to g-go with them. There is so much to d-do about-" she faltered, but only slightly "-my father's final wishes and the like. I'm n-needed in K-Konoha to help N-Neji and Hanabi and the rest of my family d-deal with this situation."
Was it her imagination, or did Gaara wince ever-so-slightly when she called Konoha "home"? She couldn't tell for sure, but felt badly anyway. As usual, his normally smooth expression gave away no more of his thoughts as he responded to her. "I need to talk to you about that, too," he said. "So I'm glad you brought it up."
Hinata smiled, glad to know their thoughts were running along the same lines. "P-Perhaps right after b-breakfast we c-can talk. And when I g-get back to my room, I c-can have Matsuri p-pack a b-bag for me while we're eating b-breakfast, then while we're talking." She was extremely satisfied with herself for coming up with such an efficient way of dealing with things.
This time she was certain she saw Gaara's expression crack. Coming to an abrupt halt, he caught her arm in a firm, but not painful, grip so he could pull her to a stop next to him. "Hinata, we really need to talk," he said. "Things aren't as easy as you make them sound. This situation is far more dangerous than you realize." Letting go of her, he ran his fingers through his hair again, dislodging his towel. "If only our conversation yesterday hadn't been interrupted," he muttered. "This would be so much easier to explain if you knew."
It was almost funny. There had been times in her life where Hinata had felt like those around her had been keeping secrets from her, but she always assumed it was because she was too young to understand. As she grew older, she began to think more about the abrupt halt to conversations when she walked into a room, or the careful looks someone would shoot her, or even the tense way others behaved around her, though she still didn't understand. She still felt like people were keeping secrets from her, but this time she knew she was more than old enough to understand. And it was beginning to make her very, very angry.
"I am n-not a child," Hinata said, her voice uncharacteristically cool and brittle. "And I d-do n-not like having secrets k-kept from me."
Gaara made a soft, odd choking sound, darting her a quick glance out of the corner of his eye before he pulled the edge of the towel over his face. "Oh, believe me," he said, voice muffled. "I am quite aware of the fact you are a grown woman."
Her cheeks went bright red and very hot. Hinata wasn't sure whether she should be flattered or shocked by her husband's tensely-spoken words. To hide how flustered she was, she folded her arms over her diaphragm and arched one eyebrow. "And?" she prompted.
Dropping the towel, Gaara met her gaze squarely, no hint of his earlier emotion - whatever it had been - visible on his face. "I will send word to the kitchen to have breakfast sent up to your room," he replied. "I think our conversation, long overdue as it is, is much more important than playing host and hostess to our guests. I will inform Itachi, Temari, and Kankuro of the decision, then meet you in your room in half an hour. Then I promise I will tell you what you need to know."
Hinata did not miss his odd choice in phrasing. What you need to know was certainly nowhere close to the expected term everything, but she knew it was probably the best deal she was going to get, at least for now, so she nodded agreeably. At least whatever he told her now would be sure to help her understand all the strange things that had been happening to her as of late.
Leaning in slightly, Gaara offered her an ambiguous little half smile before brushing his fingers over her temple. "Your room is just around the corner," he told her before turning the corner and vanishing down the hall in the opposite direction of their rooms.
Bracing her back against the wall, Hinata let out a long, shaky breath and closed her eyes. Finally, I'm going to get some answers, she thought, relieved. Then a sudden thought occurred to her, and her eyes snapped back open again in panic. But what if I'm not ready to hear what he has to tell me?
Of its own accord, Hinata's hand lifted to her mouth to muffle the frightened sound which curled out of her throat. What if he tells me things which turn everything I thought I knew into lies?
On the heels of that thought, horrifying enough on its own, came another, even worse one. And how can I be sure anything he does tell me is the truth? What if Gaara is planning on lying to me - and has been lying to me this whole time?
Hinata felt like the world had suddenly tilted off its axis, throwing her off-balance. Neji warned me this is a village full of liars, cutthroats, and murderers. I didn't believe him, but what if he's right? Tears filled her eyes, and her breath stuck somewhere in her chest, trapped by the panic rising into her throat. So help me, what if he was right?
*~To Be Continued~*
Author's Ending Notes: I know, evil cliffhanger again! But I can promise you will finally get some long-awaited answers in the next chapter. I'm so, so very excited for what's to come, I can barely hold it in! For now, though, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, thanks for reading, and I hope to see you all again come next update!
