AN: After this I'll be caught up and updates will go to twice a week. So there'll be a chapter today and a chapter Friday with Verbal Confessions. I'd like to thank everyone who has left a review to this story as well as everyone who has added this to their watch or their favorites. I'm a slacker when it comes to leaving reviews myself but if I like a story and it's incomplete I'll add it to my story alerts so I find you folks just as awesome. :D
Chapter Ten
These attackers had to be idiots. If they had attacked while still in Konoha Gaara would have understood it. Attacking in the desert, his domain and element? Suicide. In addition, many of them were underground. Who did they think they were dealing with? He almost felt insulted.
The Kazekage motioned his men to secure the positions Hinata had seen through her byakugan. He ignored the bursts of sand as the attackers jumped into the air to attack his men. Focusing on the ones coming hard at the carriage Gaara knelt and slammed his hands on the ground.
"Sand Burial."
Three of the four men leapt out just in time, the last one was not so lucky and was crushed under the weight of the sand. Still kneeling, his gaze lifted up to the three men and sand erupted from his gourd, flying and entrapping the other three in mid air.
These men…are they bandits or hired mercenaries?
Within him he felt the demon stir, excitement growing at the prospect of him killing his three captives. Standing, the Kazekage tilted his head slightly at the three struggling forms and briefly debated on whether or not he should do just that. If he left one alive he could possibly get information from him.
"Dead shinobi can tell as much as living shinobi…" the demon. It wasn't often he heard its voice but he didn't try to force the demon to the back of his mind. He had bigger concerns.
It was a decent point at best, but he wasn't going to kill the men for that. He raised his arms, his eyes narrowing at the attackers. Perhaps if they had attacked him alone he might have been merciful. Unfortunately for them, he was not alone and he was very protective of his wife.
He winced as the demon let out a high pitched squeal of delight when he crushed the remaining three men, pleased to be tasting blood after such a long time. When Gaara had been younger killing had been almost like a high for him at one point, the knowledge that he held a life in his hand and could remove it literally with the clench of a fist had felt exhilarating. Now he felt only the need to protect his men and his wife and held no qualms about killing anyone who threatened that.
Turning, he ignored the mangled bodies as they fell to the sandy floor and regarded his men fighting. Two of his men were wounded, one more severe than the other.
Not all of the fighters are unskilled it seems.
One enemy broke through one of his men and came rushing towards him at an incredible speed. Gaara contemplated stopping him personally but then decided he'd let the man discover why the Kazekage was known to hold the ultimate defense.
So he was quite surprised when a figure appeared in front of him and took on a stance he had seen once before. The entire ordeal ended up being only a few seconds long as the man staggered in surprise and the figure struck, hands slamming into the enemy with extreme precision. When he had first seen Hyuuga Neji perform the sixty four palms technique on Naruto he had thought it interesting and deadly. It was no less different now with his wife as she successfully sealed off all of the man's chakra points, sending him flying. He hit the ground with a dull thud.
Then she turned to him, her face slightly flushed, pale eyes glittering in…anger? He found himself stunned at her gaze and actually hesitated when she turned from him and joined in the battle.
It was over in less than a minute. Hinata had been fast, deadly and precise; any enemy that came near her had been quickly dispatched. By the time Gaara found himself moving again the battle was over and his wife was kneeling over the more severely injured of his men, her hand emitting a soft green glow at his abdomen.
"I'm not an actual medical ninja but I've had training," she informed the man, her expression was soft and concerned "I can stop the bleeding but you'll need more medical attention when we arrive." His wife looked up at the other injured male who had a hand over a deep gash in his arm "It's just your arm right?" the man nodded "I'm sorry but can you give me just another minute?"
"Gather the bodies," Gaara said to his uninjured guard "Hopefully they will have something on them that will give us a clue as to who they are."
Hinata healed and Gaara helped his guard line up and inspect the bodies. He was able to determine two things; one, the men weren't bandits, they were all missing nin. Two, he had no idea who hired them and there was nothing on them to give even a hint.
"How many are alive?" the redhead asked.
"The three Hinata-sama dispatched on her own are all alive but unable to move." The guard crossed his arms and frowned despite the slight admiration in his voice at his leader's wife. "Tetsu can send a message ahead for reinforcements to meet us when we arrive and we can bind the survivors and bring them with us on foot."
"I leave it to you then." Considering the issue handled he walked away towards his wife.
The ones who were dead he had the sand drag them under a good distance before returning to the others. At that point Hinata was finishing her ministrations on his other guard, wrapping his arm in bandages.
"You should be fine as long as you don't try to overwork it," she said softly to him.
"Hinata."
Where before she had looked angry with him, now she was smiling. Something told him not to be fooled. As the two men helped the more injured one on to the front of the carriage he tried again.
"Hinata-"
"I know I'm your wife…" she began, cutting him off. Her expression changed to one of pain and disappointment "but I was also a shinobi. A-and a jounin at that. I'm…I'm not weak."
His eyes widened slightly in surprise. "I never said you were." And after today no one else would think it either. She had performed amazingly and he felt a sense of pride towards his wife. Weak? Hardly. "I simply-"
Standing, she turned her gaze away from him, her hand rubbing along her forearm. "Friends…friends fight together." It was quiet and soft but he heard it clearly.
His mouth closed and he looked at her. He had wanted to protect her and somehow that had been translated into him thinking she was weak. Crossing his arms he regarded her plainly.
"It wasn't my intention to insult you." He fought the urge to sigh "It just felt right to protect you. I promised no harm would come to you."
Thankfully her expression softened and her smile seemed more genuine "We'll protect each other."
The Kazekage was aware of how his wife had, in her own way, placed her proverbial foot down. 'Don't leave me behind again' was definitely just below the surface of her statement. He found himself smiling instead of being upset or angry. His gentle Hinata could be stubborn and fierce when she needed to be. He reached out his hand and she took it, the two of them walking back to the carriage together.
They continued their journey and arrived within the borders of his home around five in the morning that next day. Along the way several jounin had met them, taking the prisoners and the wounded back. Three of them stayed behind to accompany the Kazekage and his wife the rest of the way. When they reached the gates his brother was waiting for him. Gaara had the carriage go on without them when he noticed the strained look on Kankuro's face.
"Is this her?" He asked when they approached "She's the one you married right?"
"Hyuuga Hinata is her name." Gaara confirmed, his brow furrowing down slightly. Why was he agitated? "And yes, she is my wife."
He had to admit he was proud of her when she stood at her full height when his brother looked her over. The two locked stares for a moment and then Kankuro coughed, turning his gaze to his brother.
"Look man, I don't really care that you got married, good on you really," Kankuro said with a shrug "But the council is mad as hell and they want to see you immediately. They're convinced you tried to one up them or something."
As they walked through the pass leading into the city he closed his eyes briefly "I expected them to be angry. I'm sure they'll want to know why I suddenly decided to enter when I had denied them their requests for me to do so for months."
"Well, there's that and…"
That didn't sound good "And what? There shouldn't really be much more beyond that. It wasn't as if they hadn't wanted me to get married."
"Yeah well, let's just say you jumping into the Debut and getting married pissed off some really important people." His tone was severe and the Kazekage found himself genuinely confused.
He could feel Hinata's curious gaze on him and suddenly that girl from before flashed in his mind. Hikari her name had been. She had been angry at him about not marrying her and complained that he was obligated to do so after 'insulting' her and her family. What family could she have possibly been from that would cause the council to be upset?
"You'll find out." His brother warned as if reading his mind.
Gaara resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose from the emerging pounding of his head.
----
"You don't need to go."
"I know. I want to."
"They're not going to hold back because you are there."
"I'm sure they won't say or mean anything I haven't heard before."
Sitting on his chair in his bedroom he followed Hinata's movements with his eyes, slightly amused. It was interesting to learn that she was gentle and kind yet firm and unbending at the same time. It was different from the overly shy girl who stuttered horribly that he remembered those years ago. In her gait, the way she held her head up; typical noble breeding, her fighting style, all of it showed a mature and confident woman. She did still stutter but it seemed it was only when she was overly nervous about something. He had never met a woman such as her, someone who so skillfully kept the balance between her noble breeding and her deadly skills as a shinobi. Many noble women, if they did become kunoichi, would tend to lean one way or the other. Even his own sister was that way. Hinata was…
Perfect.
She had already put on one of her more elegant kimono, dark purple with white and pink sakura. Having just finished the obi she was now trying to pin up her hair. "You should just wear it down," he offered.
"It doesn't look as professional and strict then," she countered with pins in her mouth "Appearances are important."
He agreed "Yes, but I think you look beautiful with your hair down."
The room suddenly became a bit tense. Hinata froze, surprised and embarrassed since he could see her face turning red. Personally, he felt a little strange having said that out loud. It wasn't the first time he had called her beautiful and yet somehow this time it felt different. Before he had been making an observation based on what he had felt had been logical deduction. This time it was personal. He looked at her, how her arms were frozen up in the air with her hands holding her hair in place. He could see the marred flesh of her left arm from the injury he had given her so many years ago. He resisted the urge to go over and move his hands over the scars he had given her as a child.
In his mind he imagined himself standing up and walking over to her. She would look up at him with her wide pale eyes and he would pull her close, body flush with his. He would remove every single damned pin in her hair and run his fingers through it. When he would dip his head to taste the soft skin along her neck she would make that small gasping sound he liked and…
"I will be waiting for you outside." Gaara said stiffly, getting up and calmly walking out the door.
Why did I just run out of my own room? No, the real question is, what the hell was that?
When he found himself wondering if she would taste the way she smelled, like rain and flowers, he lightly thumped his head back against the wall he was leaning on and closed his eyes. It did nothing to cure his headache nor did it remove the increasingly disturbing thoughts of him unwrapping her from that kimono. That particular urge had reared its head that day in the desert when she had opened her kimono just enough for a very interesting view. It had distracted him so much he had forced himself to look out the window. He hadn't just been amused that day.
I can't think of her like this.
Which was difficult now that he was finally admitting to himself that he wanted her. It wasn't the same feeling as before with the others, where he had allowed them to use him for whatever reason. He hadn't really wanted those women, they had just satisfied the urges his body experienced. This was a completely different situation altogether in that he wanted more than just sex. He wanted all of those things Misa had asked of him that he had denied her and more.
Yet he was also afraid. The act itself satisfied a need but had always left him empty afterwards. It was the entire reason he had decided to give up on it completely. He didn't want to ruin what he had worked so hard to acquire because he couldn't control his annoyingly increasing hormones.
Hinata drug him out of his thoughts when she walked out – hair down – and looked up at him. She gave him a reassuring smile and reached out to take his hand.
I can't think like this. I want to protect her smile, not destroy it.
All of the council members were there and seated when the couple arrived. Kankuro was sitting to the right of the Kazekage's normal chair but since there was not an extra chair for Hinata, Gaara decided to stand.
"It has been a long journey," Gaara began, officially beginning the meeting "I hope this will not take long, my wife and I would enjoy the rest."
All of the older men exchanged looks before regarding their Kazekage. "My lord, was there some reason you decided to spontaneously enter the Debut when you had already sent a formal response stating you would not?" one of the younger men – which meant he was in his late forties – spoke up first. Like many of the other members, his head was wrapped in bandages and his face was clean shaven.
Thump, thump. His head began that incessant pounding. "You've answered your own question. It was a spontaneous decision." He deadpanned.
One of the older members, a man who had been around since his grandfather had ruled, sighed "We understand it was spontaneous and last minute, that is not what bothers us. The real question is why this particular girl?"
Gaara blinked once and he shifted his expression to one of slight confusion. "I am unsure as to why it matters who I married. If I recall, the council has wanted me to marry and secure an heir since I turned eighteen."
"Yes but Gaara-sama, that really isn't the point we're trying to make here." Another middle aged member "We simply do not understand why you married this particular woman when just before the debut you rejected the marriage arrangement for the Tsuchikage's sister."
I must have misheard that. "What arrangement are you talking about?"
All of the council, even Kankuro, looked exasperated with him "Gaara," Kankuro came in "Don't you remember a few months ago when the council had made arrangements for you to marry the Tsuchikage's sister to secure an alliance? When you were presented with the paperwork you rejected it outright, saying you had no intentions of getting married to anyone."
The back of Gaara's right eye began to throb "Kankuro, do you know how many marriage proposals I receive in a month? I can't remember all of them and I have always said the same thing." He looked at the council "Did you actually tell them I would marry her?"
"It was a favorable arrangement," came the eldest "and it was heavily supported due to the alliance it would bring. On your behalf we promised them that we would make all of the arrangements. When you rejected it, we informed them that you currently held no interest in marriage due to your commitments and they understood. When news of the Debut came around we were asked once again to reconsider and once again you rejected the proposal and claimed that you would not be participating in the Debut. The initial documents given to you had been the finalization of the marriage agreement."
This seemed to be news to Kankuro because he stiffened "I thought it had all been up in the air because you needed Gaara to confirm things. Are you saying you told them it would definitely happen? If that's the case then when Gaara rejected it you basically told them that it was because he was young and not yet interested in marriage?"
"…Yes. Something similar to that."
Full blown headache. He once again resisted pinching the bridge of his nose. "So now the Tsuchikaze believes I purposefully blew off his sister, lied about my interests for marriage, manipulated the situation so that I could participate in the Debut and pick someone else instead of having to choose her." It wasn't a question and Gaara was not amused by this news.
"Meaning that they think Gaara was reneging on the original agreement." Kankuro finished and then groaned "This is some deep shit."
"Well, it would not have come to this if you had consulted us Gaara-sama," another male, in his sixties came in "Yes, we made the arrangements and we had hoped you would have been agreeable since we would profit from such an alliance but we respected your wishes that you did not wish to marry for any reason. If we had known that you had already had Hyuuga-sama in mind from the beginning we never would have accepted the offer. Since you are still young we believed that you simply needed more time."
"That is not really an excuse to make arrangements in my name." Gaara said flatly "I understand that the council has the authority to make certain decisions in case of my absence or on issues that do not necessarily need to be brought to my attention. Agreeing to an arranged marriage on my behalf is something that should be brought to my attention." He crossed his arms and briefly closed his eyes. Gaara did sigh this time when he opened them. "There is no sense in continuing to debate it, what's done is done. What has the Tsuchikaze said in response to this?"
"He has written stating that he is disappointed in our dishonesty and in our inability to honor an agreement. He has not specifically specified war, but he has made it quite clear that he wishes a formal apology and reparations. He has expressed that his sister is most displeased with the situation and that she feels personally offended that the Kazekage went to such great lengths to back out of a marriage he had already agreed to in order to marry another woman."
I cannot believe the audacity of my council. If it weren't for the fact that the government and economy is dependent on these men I'd fire all of them.
"Invite the Tsuchikaze here." Hinata suddenly spoke up.
The entire room looked at his wife and even he had almost forgotten she was there even though she was holding his hand.
"Hyuuga-sama-" the eldest began.
"Yes, I should introduce myself. Please forgive my rudeness." Hinata stepped forward and bowed respectfully to them "I am the Kazekage's bride and I am honored to meet you all. I've been listening and I believe I understand your frustration. As a council it is your duty to ensure the growth and prosperity of your nation and you were doing what you felt was best for the Kazekage, my husband. These are unfortunate circumstances, the Kazekage truthfully held no intentions of marrying, he simply fell in love with me at first sight. The controversy surrounding his abrupt entry was definitely something I am sure he had never intended, my father has often told me that in youth we tend to rush into things."
She was…really good. Apparently, Hinata was educated in politics and diplomacy although as a Hyuuga that should have come as a surprise to him. Gaara couldn't even believe how the council's expressions went from surprised to thoughtful to even understanding at her words. He glanced over at Kankuro and mentally smiled at the image of his brother blankly staring at her with his jaw dropped.
"The council seems to be very concerned for the well being of the Kazekage as well" she contined, her voice still soft and polite yet commanding attention all the same "you went out of your way to be accepting of his decision when he had claimed he did not want to marry. That is not something often seen in other nations. However, I believe the problem now lies in the fact that the Tsuchikaze and his sister have misunderstood the situation in a manner that would prove difficult for Suna. I believe that if we invited the Tsuchikaze and his sister here, give them the royal treatment and calmly explain everything that we can manage to come to a new agreement concerning an alliance. It will not be easy, but I strongly believe the council is more than capable of handling such negotiations. Doing so in person instead of through correspondence will express our sincerity and show them how serious we are concerning what has transpired."
"T-the idea does have some merit," the youngest spoke up "and when we have them here in person we can work on them little by little. The Tsuchikaze doesn't seem like an unreasonable man."
By the time the council had finished going over everything Hinata had suggested they were convinced that they would be able to salvage the situation and come up with a way to reestablish a suitable alliance. They deliberated on it for a few more minutes before agreeing to hold a few more meetings in regards to their plan for coming up with a proper alliance proposal. Gaara figured that by the time all of this was over, they would have probably convinced themselves that it was all their idea to begin with.
When the meeting was adjourned and only the three of them were left Gaara turned to his wife. He smiled slightly at her. "You just manipulated my council to not only accept our marriage but to handle the mess they created on their own." He couldn't hide the admiration in his tone.
Blushing, Hinata looked down at the ground, fiddling with the sleeves of her kimono "I, um, well…t-they're a lot like the council of elders I have at home. I-I can't really influence them because they've never liked me but Hanabi-chan is really good at it. And well, it really does seem like they care, they just, um, tried to take matters into their own hands and it backfired horribly on them."
"I think I really like this girl, Gaara." Kankuro said "I can see why you fell for her at first sight."
The Kazekage stiffened at that. Oh right, Hinata had told the council he had entered because he had fallen in love and it had made him impulsive and reckless. He could probably tell Kankuro the truth but decided he would wait until later in a more private location.
He noticed that Hinata had probably come to the same conclusion as him when she blushed and gave Kankuro a nervous look.
"W-well…um actually," she began.
Reaching out, he cut her off by grabbing her hand and pulling her close. She gasped – he had no idea why but he really liked it when she did that – but didn't protest.
"Kankuro, please take care of things for one more day and have dinner sent to my room, I would like to spend more time with my wife."
His brother slapped him on the shoulder "Sure thing, I don't blame ya." He flashed Hinata a smile "Welcome to the family, I think you'll do just fine here."
-----
Despite how confident she had sounded when she had spoken to the council, Hinata was honestly flabbergasted that they had actually agreed to everything. She had seen Hanabi wrap the council around her finger dozens of times but she had never personally succeeded in being able to do so. Those men hadn't even put up a fight and Hinata was just shocked at how well it had gone. She could hear Hanabi's voice going 'Suckers!' and giggled.
"I am glad to see you're in a good mood." Her husband said although he wasn't looking at her. She could hear the slight amusement in his voice.
Her chest tightened and her stomach felt funny as guilt hit her. She had ended up lying to the council and about something significant to Gaara. Hinata had known that telling the council Gaara had changed his mind because he had seen a girl he had known thirteen years ago that he wanted to be 'friends' with again wouldn't have worked. Instead she had went with the obvious lie of 'love at first sight' that noble males constantly used as an excuse to marry a cute girl.
But now everyone is going to believe that we're in love…
Or at the very least that Gaara was in love with her. She felt horrible, Hinata wished that she could have had the opportunity to pull Gaara aside and discuss it with him before making such a claim. Her idea had been on the fly, all of the excuses and explanations she had come up with while listening to the conversation. She understood that she had placed her friend in an awkward position.
"I'm sorry."
They entered his bedroom and green eyes clouded in confusion "For what? You did an amazing job."
Was he really going to make this difficult? Her hand began to rub along the fabric where her scarred arm was. Now she felt horribly nervous. "W-well I…I told them that y-you entered because y-you we-were in lov-"
"That's fine." The Kazekage actually shrugged and began to remove his outer vest and jacket "It is a believable lie and one that anyone else would have to accept as well." He tossed the items on his chair.
Hinata stood there, just a few paces away from the door, her gaze at her feet. "W-well yes but…but you don't want that. Now you'll have to pretend. I've placed you in an awkward situation."
Half sitting on top of his desk he regarded her "We sleep in the same room and as ruler of this land it is not as if I'll have a lot of time on my hands in any case. I do not require sleep but as long as the bed looks as if the two of us…occupy it at night I don't think it will be a problem." His gaze had shifted away from her for a moment at the pause "Temari knows the truth and I'll tell Kankuro when there's a good opportunity."
It made sense when he put it that way. "B-but what about w-when we are together? P-people will expect us to um, a-act a certain way." Hinata tried, to no avail, to keep her face from heating up too badly at the thoughts that went on in her head concerning that statement.
Her husband looked away from her completely this time. "Then we pretend. We already hold hands so I'll just put my arm around you more in public or something similar. No one is going to demand we kiss or 'prove our love' as it is an invasion of my privacy."
"Oh." Hinata tried hard not to be disappointed. If she were honest with herself she was starting to actually like him and his insistence on them only being friends made her feel as if she was once again going to hold unrequited feelings for someone.
I just won't fall in love then.
So her husband only liked her as a friend and didn't find her appealing; that was fine. At least he would be kind to her and she wouldn't be unhappy with just being his friend. Eventually he would find someone that he was attracted to and fall in love with and…
"Hinata?" Gaara stood up, walking towards her with an alarmed expression "Hinata what's wrong?"
Something warm tickled her cheek. When she reached up to touch it her fingers came back wet. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her breathing but for some reason the tears wouldn't stop. When his hands touched her shoulders she found herself crying even harder and buried her face in her hands.
He continued to ask her what was wrong.
She had no answer.
