AN: I am aware that it actually takes three days to get to Suna from Konoha. I'm too lazy to change it. :p A bit of a spoiler: Aka means 'red' in Japanese and Kiba's dog is (obviously) white. Gaara makes a comment about Akamaru's name so I wanted to make sure everyone was on track with that.

Chapter Ten

After Hinata left, Gaara stopped sleeping.

He did rest from time to time like he did before; cat naps when his mind and body were too tired not to take a small rest, but true sleep eluded him. In addition, he had also not entered his room since she had left beyond showering and dressing. Whenever he walked in there, he would smell her scent and look at his empty bed with longing.

Often he would go out in the middle of the night and explore the city. There were spots that he had wanted to take her but had been difficult because either he had been too busy or she had been too busy and was exhausted from work. When she returned he would make it a point to take her to those spots so she could see the beauty that he saw looking at his village.

As a surprise, Gaara had taken personal funds that he never used and put it towards building a smaller greenhouse inside the compound. There were actually a few places where something like that would be a welcome addition. It would be there for whatever she wanted to grow, since she seemed to love it so much.

When two weeks passed without any word from her, he had convinced himself that she was trying to get back into the swing of things, giving reports and settling back in her home. His siblings had been understanding and rarely mentioned Hinata and they never asked him if he had heard from her.

The third week he received one letter claiming to be from Hinata, but the letter itself had been so impersonal and formal that even with the handwriting looking the same he had held doubts. A thank you for allowing her to stay in his country, generic blurb about how she had enjoyed her stay and her work there, and well wishes. It was strange but once again he had told himself that Hinata knew what she was doing and things would work out as she planned.

A month went by with only one letter that seemed too formal and stiff to have been from her. When another entire month passed and he had heard nothing, he knew something had gone wrong. Still, he did nothing because he had promised he would wait for her and he was a man of his word. That feeling of dread he had felt before intensified with each day to a point where he now barely even took cat naps.

He had no idea how he managed to function properly but another day would go by and he would properly fulfill his duties as Kazekage. Personally, he became reclusive – more so than usual – and withdrawn. Kankuro had left on a mission, returned weeks later and he hadn't even gone to see him.

The third month passed and still nothing. Now his siblings were beginning to become annoyed and were voicing their opinions on the matter. Both of them were beginning to believe that Hinata wasn't going to come back at all, that she had lied. They suspected that she had 'tossed' their brother aside. He did not tell them about her clan issues, he simply told them that Hinata would not abandon him.

Not willingly.

The fourth month Temari told him he needed to write Naruto and figure out what the hell was going on. It had been something he had wanted to do since the beginning, but he refused. His sister was pissed that Hinata would leave for so long and not send even one real letter. As a political figure of his power and status, if he had held a relationship with someone he had a right to know what was going on if he was trying to pursue something more solid. Politically speaking she was absolutely correct. If a person in a powerful position wanted something or someone, he had a right to know the details. Unfortunately, their relationship had not been made official and he had never written the Hyuuga to claim he held an interest, so there was little he could do concerning pulling strings. They hadn't kept it a secret while she was here, not really, but no one in Konoha knew and that mattered.

A few days later he received a very strange letter from Naruto. He had a feeling it was about Hinata but it had been too vague.

Hey Gaara!

Neji is on vacation, s'bout time right? Anyway, we should hang out sometime, hit me up guy, you barely write me!

That had been it and he didn't know what the hell that was even supposed to mean. It had taken him a good day just to remember that Neji was Hinata's cousin, the other Hyuuga who had escorted her. Why Gaara should care about Hyuuga Neji being on vacation was beyond him. There was no mention of Hinata, but because Naruto had mentioned a Hyuuga it meant that somehow it was connected.

He thought maybe that Naruto was implying that Hinata was with him, but that didn't make sense, he would have just said that. The last part also sounded strangely suspicious, Naruto never complained about their lack of communication before.

I am missing something very important here, but without any details...

He found out what it was two days later when Hyuuga Neji, 'on vacation' demanded an audience with the Kazekage. 'Demanded' was the proper term to use and by the time word had reached him that Hinata's cousin was there Neji had managed to single handedly piss off every shinobi currently on watch at the gate and at the compound. If it hadn't been for Temari, things would have become quite ugly.

Gaara's aide had been flustered and red faced when he had burst through the door and it had taken him a minute to calm the other male down enough to tell him the situation.

"Tell him I'll see him," he gave his poor aide a small pat on the shoulder "let him come up now."

Something is very wrong.

Five minutes later a flushed and pissed off Temari stormed in with the Hyuuga right behind her. Gaara didn't really know Hinata's cousin that well, but 'angry' wasn't what he had been expecting. Over the years he had felt that the two of them held similarities when it came to expressing themselves outwardly, although Neji wasn't quite as bad when it came to being stoic. The long haired man usually had a calm, but serious air to him. Seeing him like this put Gaara off guard.

Smoothly, the Hyuuga produced a scroll from his robes and placed it on his desk.

"First," Neji's voice sounded calm despite his obvious irritation "could you kindly explain to me why, the moment you realized you had feelings for the Hyuuga heir, you did not – as you should being a Kage – inform the Hyuuga?"

Slowly, Gaara reached out and picked up the scroll. It definitely held the Hyuuga crest. He tried very hard to ignore the fact that Neji wasn't unjustified in his anger. Since Gaara had no real answer for Neji he decided to do what he did best, stare at the person until they got to their point. Realizing he wasn't going to get an answer, Neji tried another question.

"It never once crossed your mind to contact the Hyuuga with your intentions?"

"It did," the Kazekage answered honestly "however, by the time that had been decided, things had already progressed to a point where Hinata felt it would be best to go a different route."

"You could have at least written the Hokage." Neji seemed to be calming down, but the dread in Gaara's gut began to rise.

I think I know where this is going.

"I was under the impression the Hokage could not become involved with your clan's issues."

The Hyuuga gave him an exasperated 'man, you are dense' look "Under normal circumstances, yes. However, with you being the Kazekage, informing the Hokage would have made this situation a lot easier, Naruto could have gotten involved. By not informing anyone, not even through private means, this situation has escalated to a ridiculous level."

"…hit me up guy, you barely write me!"

"So Naruto is aware of the situation." Now the cryptic message made sense.

"Yes, he is well informed of the situation. There is very little he can do by himself."

"So what the hell is going on Hyuuga?" Temari came in, stepping forward "Last we heard Hinata said she was going to come back and then we hear nothing for four months."

"There is a very good reason for that," he said, turning to her "that is because Hinata-sama is under house arrest. She cannot leave the grounds, she is not allowed visitors and she is not allowed to do anything besides sit in her room until the child arrives."

"What did you just say?"

A cold pale gaze rested on him "Hinata-sama is pregnant. You didn't notice?"

No, he hadn't. Neither had Temari, if the way the color drained from her face said anything. Gaara felt as if he should be feeling something monumental, something incredibly powerful at the announcement, but he felt strangely numb. It was as if his mind was simply refusing to process the severity of the situation.

"Hyuuga, I'm assuming you're here, 'on vacation', because you wish to help. I cannot do anything if I don't understand what is going on." Gaara's voice continued to remain calm and controlled.

They had a bit of a staring contest, Neji trying to see if he could find something in Gaara's expression and Gaara revealing nothing. The only thing he could figure was that all of his years of being Kazekage were enabling him to detach and treat this as he would any other major situation the village would be facing. Then there was the fact that becoming upset or 'freaking out' wasn't constructive and it definitely wouldn't get Hinata back.

Neji motioned to the scroll "I am not entirely sure of the exact details as I was on mission when everything began. What I do know is that Hinata-sama returned, apparently had a routine checkup at the clinic and somehow the council of elders found out. She has been under house arrest since and I have a very good idea of what they could possibly be planning."

"Is the clan leader behind the council on this?"

"I…cannot say for sure," Neji frowned a bit in confusion and thought "he has been…strangely silent about the whole ordeal and has not become personally involved. Not that it would matter in this case. I am not sure if your system is similar to ours but our council can overrule the clan leader if they feel that the situation is desperate enough."

Gaara nodded "The system is similar. I can be overruled if the council believes I am making an unjust decision or one that could damage the village. In that sense, my power is not absolute. If her father is not interfering, it could be because he is waiting for a certain opportunity. It would make sense; sometimes as a leader you realize that some situations require you to wait until there is a good opportunity to turn the tide in your favor. It is something I would do, in any case."

His sister was shaking his head "Gods Gaara, the guy just told you you're going to be a father and you're acting like you guys are talking about the weather." Temari looked very shaken and he wondered briefly what it was she was really afraid of, the baby or him being a father.

The look on Neji's face seemed to indicate that he was slightly with Temari on that one.

Instead of responding to them he opened the scroll and read the contents. According to the scroll, the Hyuuga felt that Gaara had 'contaminated' their heir. Since he had never sent an official 'letter of intent' to be with their heir in a proper relationship, it was being assumed that he had never intended to do the 'honorable thing'. It was definitely heavily insulting in the most polite way possible, claiming that he had basically screwed their heir, left her to dry and they were really, really pissed off about it. They were demanding reparations due to the fact that Hinata could no longer be considered 'eligible' material for a proper political marriage and that this put the Hyuuga in an extremely difficult position, not to mention a 'bastard child' would be regarded as a great shame to their clan name. The amount of money they were asking for was about as much as the price for a small country. It included the stipulation that if he could pay all of it with a formal apology that they would try to 'work on something more agreeable' as long as he 'remained honorable' as a Kage should be and take responsibility for his 'mistake'. If he did not pay, Hinata's fate would be decided by the clan and the child would be taken into their custody and quickly be proclaimed as a Hyuuga to be raised accordingly.

"They are deliberately making it impossible for me to be able to make an attempt to claim Hinata," Gaara observed "This amount is exorbitant, even a daimyo would be strained to procure this sum. I can understand the demand for reparations, but not something like this. Why are they purposefully trying to condemn Hinata and claim…our child?"

I am going to be a father. I am not angry but if I had known she had not been taking any…it doesn't matter now.

"This is only speculation," Neji began to explain "but as a branch member, it is easy for me to see what they could possibly be planning. A few years back Hiashi-sama merged the main and the branch houses. The only reason it passed was because of the heavy backing he had acquired, trying to overrule the decision wouldn't have been logical if the majority of the main branch supported it." He smiled wryly "I can assure you, not everyone was pleased with this decision. To be honest, I am pretty sure the reason he was so heavily supported was because of his complete and domineering presence within the clan. No one in the main house would want to be on his bad side.

"This is important because it plays into why they would want the child. Hanabi-sama, if Hinata-sama does not take the leadership position, will automatically become heir. This would be a benefit if she believed in the house system, which she does not. However, if the council adopts the child and allows him or her the full benefits of being a part of the leading bloodline, that child could be declared heir."

"You mean they want to take away my brother's baby so they can manipulate and turn her into some sort of puppet?" Temari sounded disgusted "Why would they go so far? I mean, say what you want but they're challenging a Kage here."

"The older a person becomes, the less they believe in change." The Hyuuga said nonchalantly "The longer a tradition has been alive the less people are willing to break it. The reason for the main and branch houses, while definitely unjust and corrupt, is efficient in its own way. If it wasn't efficient, it wouldn't have lasted as long as it did and we Hyuuga have a very long history. Many people believe that without the house system the Hyuuga will become compromised and vulnerable. By having a limited amount of 'pure' Byakugan users it is harder for enemies to steal our talents. If you suddenly abolish that and have every member with a pure bloodline limit without planting the seal, you have basically given the enemy what they want on a silver platter. At least, that is the mindset."

"That's bullshit."

Neji smiled thinly.

"This is just speculation? There is no concrete proof of this." Gaara needed to know.

The Hyuuga shook his head "No, I have no proof; I simply know how their minds work. It's very easy once you're around them long enough. That is why I was upset with the fact that you had contacted no one, if you had at least contacted the Hokage, he could have somewhat become involved. He can't directly involve himself in clan matters but the Hokage could have gotten around that if he could claim that you held good intentions towards Hinata-sama. He cannot ignore another Kage, giving the situation enough importance to give him a loophole. At this point, it is either pay or try to force the council to move in your favor. If they refuse…"

"Temari, contact Kankuro and Baki." He stood "I will need a letter to be sent out immediately to the Hokage announcing my arrival in two day's time. I will need you three to take control while I am gone."

Both of them blinked at him in surprise. "You're gonna go for real, Gaara?" His sister sounded astounded. Unless it was of the utmost importance, a Kage normally never left the village. This was strictly personal and they all knew he would be unable to give a timetable of when he'd return.

"Well," Gaara lifted up Naruto's letter "according to this, the Hokage would appreciate a visit from me. It would be rude if I did not oblige an old friend." Bright green eyes shifted over to the Hyuuga "I have no intentions of paying this sum, but I have every intention of bringing Hinata, and our child, back to this village safely."

And if what Hyuuga Neji said was true, he already had an idea as to how. He didn't like manipulating people, but that didn't mean he wouldn't. For Hinata, there was very little he wouldn't do.

---

They left that morning, Neji claiming that he was more than ready to travel despite having traveled two days straight to get to Suna. Baki had insisted that Gaara at least take two elite shinobi with him, but he had refused. There would be no threat on his life that Konoha could not handle. Neji was to be his escort and that was sufficient protection for the way there.

For the most part, the two of them said little. Until they reached Suna's borders, Gaara had led. After that, Neji had taken the lead. The first night they said not a word to each other, which was fine as Gaara was lost in his own thoughts.

Now that he had a plan to solve their problem, there was little to think on besides the fact that Hinata had left him while pregnant. If he had known, she would not have left, he wouldn't have allowed it. Had she known? Did she know and didn't tell him because she had been afraid of what he would do? If she hadn't known, how did she feel now? Four months had passed, meaning that Hinata was either five or six months along already. Those months were gone, months where they could have dealt with the situation together, where he could have…

I am going to be a father.

If she had an idea of what was going on, she was probably terrified for herself and the child. How long had she been sitting there afraid? Did she know her cousin had left to find him or did she believe that he was still in the dark? What if they had told her that he had abandoned her? That they had informed him of the baby and he had decided to break all ties? She would be devastated. If she was under house arrest, were they allowing her to see a doctor? Were they making sure she was healthy?

There were so many questions and emotions moving through him that he felt like he had no other choice but to act unemotional about it all. He no longer felt numb, now he felt so many things he could not tell where what began and ended. The fact that Hinata was pregnant was an accident; neither of them had been trying to go for something like that. He had believed that as a medical nin she had access to contraceptives, obviously something went wrong there.

He did reason that he should have also used protection, but the fact that she was pregnant was not as devastating to him as it seemed to be to everyone else who had heard. Oh, it was shocking, he couldn't deny that, there really wasn't too much else he could think of that was more shocking from 'she's pregnant' besides 'your village has been destroyed'. They were pretty much almost on the same level concerning 'Things That Shock the Hell Out of People'.

What it boiled down to was that being upset about the baby would be the same as regretting, and he did not regret anything he had done with Hinata. He loved Hinata and in doing so had expressed himself the best way he had known how: physically. He was not a poet and he was not a romantic, he was practical and stoic. Now that she was gone, he did have a different perspective over things and the only thing he regretted was not telling her how he felt. With everything happening the way it was his initial fears of confessing his love being the same as making himself vulnerable seemed trivial. She had loved him unconditionally and he had hesitated, a part of him afraid of being hurt. Now there was a very good chance that those people could have convinced Hinata that he had abandoned her, simply because he hadn't been able to get over that one fear.

So yes, Gaara was definitely affected by it all, the thoughts were consuming him. If he had stayed in Suna and had Temari or Kankuro go in his stead, he would have been useless to his people. He needed Hinata as much as she needed him. He had to be the one to bring her home, no one else.

The second night Neji finally approached him. The Kazekage, ever the insomniac, hadn't even bothered to set up his tent, choosing instead to stand and look out in the distance. Before he retired for bed, Neji spoke.

"What do you plan to do if you do manage to win Hinata-sama back?" It was an honest question, one that Gaara felt the other man deserved to know.

"If she agrees, I will marry her. Immediately." He didn't turn to face Neji and Neji didn't try to confront him face to face.

"…Do you love my cousin?"

He didn't even hesitate. "Yes."

The slight tension that had been in the air between them lifted. "That was all I needed to know."

They said no more until they reached the village.

----

"Holy crap you came! You really showed up!"

Naruto pulled Gaara into a 'man-hug', to which he had returned lightly, unused to such displays of affection. He should have expected it, but had been years since he had last seen the now-Hokage.

Neji had departed, heading for his apartment, leaving Gaara alone with Naruto. There was one other person in the office, or rather, two. Inuzuka was the name if he remembered correctly, with his 'white' dog named 'Akamaru'. There was supposed to be a reason why he had named his dog a separate color from what he was but Gaara couldn't quite remember and since it had little to do with Hinata, didn't care.

If the tension between himself and Neji had been a little thick, the tension in the air between this Inuzuka and himself was massive. The other man was very angry and all of that anger was directed at him. It was confusing, because he didn't even really know this man, but once again since it did not involve Hinata he dismissed it.

"Yes, I left as soon as I could."

"Yeah, four months later." The Inuzuka. Somehow this man was connected to Hinata and was aware of the situation. Ex-teammate perhaps? Ex…boyfriend…

Hinata said she had never been with anyone before and had only loved Naruto. No, not an ex-boyfriend.

Naruto being Naruto wasn't going to let that slide. "Kiba, that's way out of line, man. Gaara didn't know alright?" In an attempt to change the subject "So, didja get how sweet I worded that letter? I wanted to make sure that if anyone got to it they wouldn't be able to figure it out."

"No one could have figured out that letter without being told." Gaara looked at him "I only figured it out once Hyuuga Neji stormed into my office days later."

The Hokage looked put out "Aw, man really? I thought for sure…well whatever." Just like that he was back to normal "Anyway, now that you're here, you got a plan? I'm one hundred and ten percent behind whatever you decide to do. I can't wait to stuff it to those stiffs; they've been pissing me off for months now."

Kiba growled "Which wouldn't have happened if someone had given a damn enough to…"

Naruto's gaze immediately snapped to the Inuzuka, frowning. "Look man, if you can't handle escorting Gaara around right I'll…"

Gaara would rather not have an escort if this was the case, but he remained silent.

"Whatever." Kiba stood up, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I got it Naruto," which was an outright lie and Gaara and Kiba knew it. There was going to be a confrontation, possibly a bit more violent than the one with Neji.

"So Gaara, you got a plan right? Tell me you got a plan because I'm fresh out of ideas and I can't stand the fact that they got Hinata locked up like this."

The Kazekage looked at the man Hinata had first loved. Like before, when Naruto had told him the story about the girl who had loved him, he looked…sad. A mixture of sadness and helplessness except now it was for different reasons. The first time was because he had to end up hurting someone he considered a good friend; this time because she was in pain and he could do nothing for her.

"Yes, I do have a plan. Unfortunately, I don't know if it will work, but I will definitely need your help and I believe if this is done right an opportunity will present itself to someone which will guarantee our success."

His plan required three players and one of them wouldn't even realize he was in the game. This plan heavily depended on Hyuuga Hiashi and Gaara had absolutely no idea how the man truly felt about his daughter. All he could do was hope and assume his suspicions were correct.

If not, he would lose Hinata and their child.