Chapter Nine

The Kazekage couldn't exactly remember when the last time it was that he had gotten good, solid sleep. Perhaps never, if he thought about it. Right now, however, as he opened his eyes and lay in his bed he realized that not only had he slept for longer than three hours but that all he really wanted to do was close his eyes and return to his dreams.

Something warm shifted beside him and he turned to look at Hinata sleeping peacefully, her head resting on his shoulder. Surprising, since he hadn't woken up because he had wanted to.

The second pound on his door did wake Hinata up. Startled, she sat up a bit in bed, pulling the sheets over her ample bosom. He remained where he was, feeling too drained to move. True to his word they had ended up not sleeping at all last night, which had been fine as his lover had been as insatiable as he. The two of them had ended up spending that time getting to know each other's bodies, trying to figure out who liked what, how, and where. It had been…a pleasurable experience. It wasn't during their lovemaking but after where Hinata had said something so innocent but so meaningful that he fully understood his feelings for her.

Right now, though, he was beginning to feel amused. There was another pound to the door and then someone, his aide it sounded like, called out his name. Hinata's face had drained of all color and she gave him a panicked look.

"W-what should we do?" She whispered, lying back down against him "They sound upset."

He closed his eyes. He was in a rebellious mood. "Ignore them. Eventually they will go away."

"Gaara!" She hissed and he fought the urge to smile. "We can't just ignore them. What if they break down the door?"

Still keeping his eyes closed he raised his arm and pointed. When she looked, she saw how his sand was already starting to crawl up the door, blocking anyone from entering.

"Go back to sleep." When he attempted to roll over she pulled on him until he was lying on his back again. He opened his eyes. Her face was flushed, her hair was messy and she looked just as tired as he was although it was a happy sort of tired. Raising a hand, his fingers brushed along her cheek. Beautiful.

"Gaara!" Temari's voice now "Gaara we know you're in there. It's almost noon, what the hell are you doing? Did you forget you have work?"

Hinata's eyes widened to saucers "It's almost noon? Oh...I can't believe…I have to get to the hospital!"

She was beginning to look distraught which was not amusing and he suddenly felt irritated with Temari. He knew that the last thing Hinata would enjoy was a group full of people bursting in with them in the situation they were in. Resisting the urge to sigh, he sat up, allowing the sheets to pool around his waist.

"Temari."

There was a small pause "Gaara! What's going on?"

"I will be in the office in two hours. At the moment I am somewhat busy." He ignored his lover's horrified gasp. There really wasn't any other way to get them to leave, they would have to know that their Kazekage was…busy. With things.

"What the hell do you mean you're busy?" Came his sister's voice from the other side of the door. "What could you possibly be busy with this late in the morning?"

"Temari," his voice was firmer this time "I will be in the office in two hours. Right now, I am busy."

There was murmuring and then an abrupt silence.

"Goddamn it Gaara you got two hours and I swear if you two aren't done I'm going to kick both of your asses. You hear me in there Hyuuga?"

Hinata made a small noise and buried her head under the sheets. Of course, Temari didn't wait for an answer and soon they were alone again.

"I-I can't believe you told them that…" her voice sounded small underneath the covers. He looked down at her frame before pulling the sheets down from over her head. He wasn't going to hold a conversation with his girlfriend while she was underneath his sheets. Not unless he was under them with her.

He didn't really want her to be upset, so he rubbed his hand up and down her arm soothingly "I am sorry, but they wouldn't have left otherwise and letting them in wasn't an option." He paused "Either way, we wouldn't have been able to keep this a secret."

With a sigh she sat back up "I didn't mean it like that. It's just…that sort of thing…it's private. It's not something you…" she sighed again when she found herself frustrated, unable to word herself properly.

Gaara didn't quite understand what she meant, but it was obviously important to her so it would have to become important to him. "I'm sorry. I will try not to put you in this sort of position again."

Her hand cupped his cheek and she kissed him briefly "That's not really it either but…thank you. It wasn't your fault; we both didn't keep track of the time. I'm really late, I better hurry and get ready…" she paused when he gently grabbed her wrist, keeping her from leaving. When he was sure she wouldn't jump out of bed his arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer, his lips nibbling on her ear. She let out a little breath "W-what?"

"I told her two hours," he murmured against her neck, placing a kiss along a mark he had made on her. "We still have plenty of time."

He hadn't been joking when he said he could become addicted, although it wasn't really to sex so much as it was to her. Kissing her, touching her, tasting her, it was never 'enough'. She didn't push at him when he started guiding her back to the bed but she was a little tense. The battle wasn't quite won yet.

"Weren't you tired a moment ago?" She protested weakly, a pleasurable chill moving over her as his hand moved to a spot he had discovered last night to be very sensitive. "A-and you're cheating."

"Yes," he said to both "but now I am very awake." Shifting, he began to slowly scrape his teeth along a sensitive part of her neck while his hand – ah, that was the noise he had wanted to hear.

Triumphant, he moved his body on top of hers and pulled the sheets over them.

That had been his rather enjoyable night and morning. The afternoon had been another story. Once he finally decided to walk into his office Temari and Baki had let him know that while they were happy that he was happy, he still had responsibilities and damnit, don't leave them hanging. Under normal circumstances he really would have felt guilty, but admitting to guilt would be the same as admitting that he regretted allowing things between himself and Hinata to go the way they had. He refused to do that. In all of his years as Kazekage, he had never once faltered or done anything to disappoint those close to him. They'd get over him being selfish this one time. Also, Temari really didn't have room to talk, she had ditched him more than once for Nara and he had never once complained. It had never even been a problem to him.

After that scolding things went back to normal. The meetings he was supposed to have had that morning had been shifted with the exception of those that didn't exactly need his approval to be passed. The more important diplomats were starting to fill in for the afternoon and none of them had been jilted. On that front, he was relieved, for pissing off more important diplomats came back to haunt and he didn't want that for his village. There had to be limits to his selfishness.

Gaara sort of went into a state of half-awareness after a few hours, half of him paying attention to what was going on and the other half was thinking about his more personal issues. In short, he had his lover on his mind as always, except now he was able to curb the more intense sensations. He was pretty sure that had been because of last night and was surprised to realize that crossing that threshold hadn't made things as worse as he had believed. It was easier now to split his attentions, an ability he had held prior to Hinata's arrival due to being forced to learn how to multitask as a Kage. He was glad to know that his ability hadn't been completely shot to hell.

As the day grew later he had wondered off and on what Hinata would do if he actually proposed to her. While they had agreed that they would stay together, nothing else concrete had been established between them. When he had first realized that his feelings for Hinata went deep he had known that as a political figure he could very well send a request to the current Hyuuga clan leader for Hinata's hand. An official request by a Kage would be difficult, if not impossible, for them to deny. Especially if he actively pursued it and not take their initial refusal as a final answer. Marriage wasn't a huge thing when it came to politics, arranged marriages were not only common but expected. At the time he hadn't been sure if he would really want to try and manipulate the situation that way. It really wasn't like him to do something underhanded and since he hadn't known how Hinata really felt about him he had just dropped it.

He really didn't want her in a position that would come out unfavorably for her but since she had not mentioned marriage, he wasn't sure if he should either. At this point he was fine with it, he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her and only her. Marriage would be the official 'icing' on the cake, so to speak.

Eventually, he decided not to dwell too much on it. Tonight he would bring up possibly addressing their relationship officially to the clan leader and to Naruto, perhaps making her 'sacrifice' a little easier to bear.

There ended up being an issue later in the evening that he had been forced to directly intervene. One of the diplomats, who actually was scheduled to be seen another day, had decided to spend his time getting obnoxiously drunk and stormed into the compound demanding to be seen immediately, threatening all sorts of things, including war, if the Kazekage didn't 'get off his ass' and hop to it because he was this guy from this village of this lineage and who did that redheaded bastard think he was anyway to tell him to wait his turn?

The man was so completely drunk that Gaara hadn't been able to even take him seriously. The 'red headed bastard' calmly explained to the drunken man that the reason he wasn't being seen right away was because he – the Kazekage - wanted to make certain that he would have more than enough time to listen to everything he had to say and give his full attention to the issue. It was flattery and an outright lie, but it had placated him enough for him to be escorted off the premises. Shortly thereafter all of the local bars and shops were informed that under no certain circumstances was that man ever to be given liquor in this village again.

A messenger had stopped by around dinner time with a letter from Hinata apologizing as she would not be able to tear from her work to come make dinner and if he could let the others know. He'd sent the messenger to go tell Temari since he was honestly too busy and he hadn't had any plans to go to dinner himself. He did read over the letter a few times, just because he loved her handwriting. It was definitely girly yet elegant in a 'professional' way.

Assigning missions had been the last thing on the agenda after all the meetings were over with. It was also time to balance the books for the month, meaning he wasn't going to bed until at least one am. This was disappointing and he had his aide go and tell Hinata to come and see him at her earliest convenience.

It was eleven at night when he finally saw her. Hinata looked as tired as he felt, her eyes were a little dark at the bottom, she was paler than normal and her hair looked like a windswept mess. No matter how she looked, however, he could not see her as anything short of beautiful. It was amazing to him how feelings and emotions could completely change a person's view of another. When he had first met Hinata he hadn't felt one way or the other towards her. Now he wasn't entirely sure how he ever could have not found her to be beautiful. Was it the same for her, perhaps?

"I see your day has been as fulfilling as mine," he had remarked when she entered. Her smile was small but genuine; amusement lit her eyes at his light teasing. He didn't joke often for he had realized his type of humor was considered 'dry' and 'not very funny' so he had stopped trying. It was highly refreshing to know that at least someone wasn't put off by him.

"Kaede scolded me for almost an hour and then picked on me the entire day," she said, but she didn't look all that upset about it "Um, after that there were actually a few medical emergencies that needed extra personnel so we all ended up helping and still had to complete our own work afterwards." Hinata looked pleased "It was productive. How was your day Gaara?"

Like him, she seemed to enjoy her work. He wondered when she was finally here to stay if he could arrange for her to work at the hospital. Hinata strictly as a housewife didn't seem to suit her and he really didn't need one; there were people who kept the compound clean. He did inwardly smile at how familiar she was being with him, outside of the bedroom of course.

He gave her a brief summary of his day, to which Hinata had thought the drunken diplomat incident funny in particular.

"He called you a what?" she had asked at one point, giggling.

"Apparently," he had said to her with a warm smile "I am a red haired bastard. I have to admit that I was also amused. It was simply too difficult to be insulted or take him seriously."

Somehow during their exchange his lover had ended up sitting partly on his lap and he found that he couldn't complain. If someone decided to burst in then they would burst in. One hand rested on her thigh and the other rubbed her back while she leaned against him, head resting on his shoulder.

"I asked you to come here because I had been unable to ask earlier if you would like to stay in my room until you leave. Unfortunately, I won't be able to come to bed until very late tonight, but I will come to bed." He gently pulled her down to his level and kissed her softly "I would like to wake up and see your face like this morning."

Her answering smile was bright as she nodded "Okay. I'd like that."

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It was three in the morning when he finally entered his own room and Hinata was, as expected, fast asleep. Since Gaara had slept longer than normal earlier today he was not at all tired now. He showered and when he emerged from the bathroom Hinata was awake, or half awake. She looked sleepy and she was rubbing at her eyes but she seemed awake. It was…cute. She was definitely very cute when she wanted to be.

"Gaara?"

"It is late, you should go back to sleep." Clad only in some pajama pants Temari had brought for him one year he slid into bed beside her, although he had no intentions of sleeping. It was such a strange but welcome feeling to have someone curl up and snuggle next to him. He remained on his back but he did put his arm around her and pull her close.

"What time is it?" Came the sleepy Hinata. She said something else but he couldn't make it out.

"It's three in the morning. Go back to sleep."

"But I haven't spent any time with you today, I missed you." Blinking, he looked at her. Her eyes were closed but she was frowning slightly "I want to talk."

Amusement crept up on him and he couldn't help it when his lips twitched slightly. A tired Hinata was a demanding Hinata it seemed "What would you like to talk about?"

"Mmmm…."

When she didn't respond after a while he thought she had fallen asleep. He was driven from his random thoughts when she suddenly made a small noise and sighed.

"I love you Gaara."

"I know."

"Gaara?"

"Yes?"

"You really do believe we'll stay together don't you?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

He paused "…Yes."

"Really really?"

"Go to sleep Hinata."

She went silent again and eventually he was convinced that she had finally fallen asleep. Was this what was considered 'weird bed habits'? He didn't mind it at all, it was actually somewhat funny. It also drove it home that he was indeed in a serious relationship and that someone was sleeping with him in his bed and that said person was very much in love with him. After sleeping alone for so long having someone there warming his side was…different. It made him feel that he was 'normal', whatever that truly meant. In a lot of ways he was painfully aware that he was different in his thoughts, beliefs, and actions. Not having someone beside him had seemed almost expected from people, because he was Gaara and Gaara was different in ways that would make it difficult for him to hold a steady relationship.

Yet here she was.

He almost said the words aloud then, even though she was asleep and wouldn't hear. Instead he pulled her a little tighter against his body and closed his eyes.

There were many more nights after that one in which they spent lying side by side. Some nights they did very little sleeping and quite a bit of lovemaking, some nights Hinata simply wanted to be beside him and he had no qualms with obliging her.

The two of them also became a little reckless. A lot of it was his fault because he found it very difficult at times to control his desire for her. One time she had asked him what his fantasy was. When he didn't exactly have any that he could think of, she told him two of hers, which was that she had fantasized them making love in his office and on the kitchen table. Of course, she never really expected those things to happen, which was why it was a fantasy. Well, after she had told him that he had found himself unable to stop thinking about it. The more he thought about it, the more he tried to figure out ways to actually accomplish it.

The kitchen one had been the easiest. One night he had professed that he was hungry and asked her if she wanted to tag along while he made himself a midnight snack. He had his 'snack' on the kitchen table and the kitchen counter and it had been delicious.

The office one was one he was still thinking on, but he had done something quite daring that he knew he probably would not do again because of the embarrassing situation it'd put Hinata in – along with the fact that it was probably wrong. During the middle of the day, he had seen Hinata walking down the hallway of the residential area. The next thing he knew she was biting his shoulder to keep from crying out as he took her right there against the wall. That one had definitely been completely his fault but he also hadn't really seen or touched her in almost two days. He hadn't realized how much that would affect him until it had happened.

He did eventually go and ask his brother if such things were normal. Kankuro told him that because it was Gaara and he'd been trying to bottle up and control his 'basic' nature for so long that it wasn't surprising he had a hard time controlling it now. He told him that eventually he'd calm down and settle into a "groove or whatever".

The two months went by incredibly fast and the extended time even faster. Hinata would be leaving him and it was expected that it would probably be a while before they could see each other again on a permanent basis. Her workload now consisted of simply wrapping up loose ends and setting up future correspondence for various things like specific medicinal ingredients and things of that nature. All in all, he had been very happy with the end results of the project. Suna now held a wider variety of herbs, the hospital was slowly receiving upgrades where needed and the medics held a wealth of knowledge about Konoha medical practices and would be able to teach it to others. It was projected that his people would heal faster, be fit for duty sooner, and the mortality rate for shinobi should sharply decrease, improving the quality of life.

There would be opportunities for Suna and Konoha to hold joint ventures in the future for medical purposes and trade would soon be established for the medical supplies that were a bit rarer but still highly effective. He really couldn't have asked for it to go any better and his letter of thanks to Naruto had definitely been heartfelt.

Hinata didn't know it, but the Uchiha situation had quieted down and was now a dull buzz outside of Konoha gates. Gaara had ended up having to speak up and support Konoha through a series of correspondence letters between the other nations and their ambassadors. At the present moment, Konoha held full custody of the missing nin and no, his memory had not returned and it was unsure if it ever would. Personally, the Kazekage felt that that was for the best. The darkness that the Uchiha had embraced ended up practically swallowing him whole and almost destroyed everyone else around him. Seeing his friend and so many others deal with that had been difficult when there had been little he could do. He did not enjoy feeling useless, especially when it came to those he deeply cared about.

He had asked Hinata only once if she would allow him to write ahead and inform the clan and the Hokage about their relationship. Hinata had refused, telling him that it would be better if she returned and then told them about the 'potential' relationship and convince the council to try and 'persuade' the Kazekage to seriously consider something long term. She did not mention marriage, although they knew that was what it would come down to if done that way.

If that would not work, she would beseech her clan and Naruto to allow her to leave the clan, abandon her position as a kunoichi and come to live in Suna as a civilian. He really didn't like that scenario but she had insisted that it probably wouldn't come to that.

The bottom line was that if her clan knew she had already had 'relations' with the Kazekage they'd be enraged, demand reparations for making their heir 'undesirable' for suitors and worst case scenario disown her for compromising herself in such a disgraceful manner. In short, they had to do it the sneaky political way so that feathers wouldn't be ruffled. The final argument had been for him to write a letter claiming that he was 'interested' in the Hyuuga, saving her a few steps. She said that it would be better to wait until she could get them on board with the idea. If she was the one presenting it, it would look as if she was trying to be proactive for the clan and it'd be more difficult for them to deny it.

"Father has denied every suitor who has asked for me." She had also explained. He was proud of the fact that he hadn't asked her who or how many had asked for her. Gaara hoped it meant that he would eventually get over his slight possessiveness of Hinata as being angry and jealous weren't feelings he enjoyed.

Gaara decided to try one last tactic on the second to last day of her stay there. It was one he hadn't been seriously considering until it started to really connect with him that she was leaving and he wouldn't be seeing her for an indeterminable amount of time.

"Hinata, stay here with me." They lay in bed, his arm around her waist with her back pressed against his chest.

"Mm?" Her voice sounded a little sleepy, which, considering what they had been doing for the past few hours made sense. "I'm here already."

The Kazekage's arm tightened around his lover "That is not what I mean. I mean, stay here, in Suna with me. Don't return to Konoha."

"Huh?" Now he had her attention, turning her body until she faced him. Their eyes met and his hand began to move along her side under the covers. Smiling warmly at him, she brushed her fingers along his jaw. "I can't do that Gaara, we know that."

"You could," he insisted "you could let me handle everything and stay here. Naruto would understand, I think he would even try to help if I asked." Pulling her close, he buried his face in her hair, the lilac and lavender scent she always held filling his senses "Stay here, don't leave. If you stay here I could protect you from your clan."

"Gaara…" she sounded a little sad. Her arms came around and she pulled him until his head was resting on her chest. Her fingers moved through his hair soothingly. "If I do that, it would create so much hostility. I'd never be able to return home, you would have to fight to keep me from being classified as a missing nin. It might not start a war but it would strain relations and you've worked very hard for the alliances you do have. I…I have faith that everything will work out."

A pause. He decided to be honest with her. "It's hard for me to explain this but somehow, I feel that if you leave something terrible will happen and I might not see you again." He felt tired all of a sudden "I am afraid." It was a whisper against her skin, barely audible.

Losing her would undo him, he knew this. Although he had trouble trying to say it verbally, he was in love with Hinata. Perhaps she understood, she never complained when he didn't return the words and she seemed happy with him.

Gently her hands pulled him up so that they were face to face "We will see each other again," she said, smiling warmly at him "I promise."

AN: It has only been recently that I've gotten back into the groove of writing and submitting things here. With that said, I am surprised and humbled by the amount of reviews my fics have been receiving. I understand that there are a lot of writers who hold way more reviews than I (their fics have been up longer so that is understandable) but it's pretty nifty to know that I've come to a point where my fics are good enough to be received well. It is a true honor and while I don't really like to give 'shout outs' to every single reviewer I receive for a chapter in the fic itself, I do smile a cheesy grin and I am grateful for more in-depth reviews. I do practically say this almost every chapter but I feel it's the least I can do, since I do not always respond back. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!