Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

Special Thanks: goes out to AnnaUmulie97, rao hyuga 18, McKazekage, xanimejunkie, BubbleWarrior32, TheGirlWithNoIQ, xforeverherex, QueenP19, and sailorangelmoon1 for all your awesome reviews! Also thanks to everyone who keeps adding this story to their favorites and follows lists - each alert in my e-box definitely brightens my day!

Author's Note: I don't really have a lot to say at the beginning of this chapter, other than I promise you're finally going to get some more answers! Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

*~Chapter XXV~*

~Hidden~

Gaara was the first to notice Hinata's eyelids flickering as her consciousness returned. He leaned over her, relieved to see her gaze sharpen as she once again became aware of her surroundings.

He leaned back sharply as she sat up, seeming surprisingly alert for someone who had been unconscious only a minute ago. "Was it a d-dream?" Hinata looked from Gaara, to Neji, to Tenten, then back. None of them had to say a word; as soon as she saw their expressions, she knew.

"You all right?" Neji asked. His hyper-observant pale eyes steadily examined Hinata's expression, attempting to discern her answer even before she spoke it.

Pushing a stray lock of midnight hair off her face, Hinata nodded and smiled shakily. "Yes," she said reassuringly. "I'm fine." She hesitated for just a moment as her smile softened. "B-Big b-brother."

Letting out a quiet breath of relief, Gaara felt himself relax. He, too, had been shocked at Neji's announcement, but his years of surpressing his emotions had helped him hide his own reaction. Fortunately he had been paying enough attention to Hinata to catch her when she fainted, or else she might have hit her head on the table.

"That must be why Uncle never stopped us from calling each other brother and sister," Neji mused aloud.

Shifting slightly, Hinata leaned back against Gaara's chest as she nodded her agreement. "B-but he never saw fit to tell us, even though he made no effort to stop our sibling interactions. I wonder why not?"

Reaching out, Tenten picked up the discarded third scroll lying on the table and handed it to Neji. "Maybe the scroll explains further?"

Taking it from his wife, Neji found his place and went on from there. Once again his lips moved silently as he read, different expressions flickering across his features as he absorbed the information written there. When he was finished, he rolled up the scroll and set it next to the others on the table. "Hanzou's letter explained quite a bit more," he confirmed.

Gaara slipped his arm around Hinata's waist, helping to brace both of them for what they were about to hear. Hinata's hand slid across his arm so she could link her fingers with his and squeeze.

"While I was still a baby, Mother became very ill while carrying her and Father's second child - you, Hinata. Very late one night in December, a Healer was summoned to the house because Mother had gone into labor early. You were born that night, almost two months premature, but Mother didn't survive." Neji cast his eyes downwards, suddenly looking very sad. "Father always told me Mother got very sick and died while I was still a baby, but I never knew..."

"It seems very few did," Gaara said grimly. He wondered what could possibly possess a man to keep the existence of a sibling from his own child - children. His own father had certainly not been the best in the world, but at least he'd never kept the fact Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara were siblings away from each other.

Neji's expression tightened, and he nodded once in brisk agreement. "After Mother's death, Hinata spent the next two months in the hospital. You were very weak, being premature. When you were released, Uncle Hiashi and Aunt Hoshi offered to adopt you, since you needed a mother and it seemed highly unlikely the two of them would be able to have children of their own."

"M-Mother-" Hinata stumbled on the word and jolted slightly in Gaara's arms "-or, rather, Aunt Hoshi, never treated me like her niece. I had no idea..."

"She was your mother, for all intents and purposes," Neji said softly. "You're not disrespecting the woman who gave birth to us if you want to keep calling Aunt Hoshi 'Mother.'"

Hinata relaxed as she nodded gratefully at her brother. Gaara knew Neji's reassurance on the matter would greatly ease her mind, and she needed as much of that as possible since she was being hit from every side with such startling news.

"It was quite a surprise when, several years later, Aunt Hoshi got pregnant with Hanabi. You remember, Hinata, it was quite a difficult pregnancy, and though she was able to carry Hanabi to term, she didn't survive the birth." Neji shook his head. "According to Hanzou's letter, the complications she had are the kind which only happen once. If she had given birth to you, Hanabi would have never come to be."

Very slowly, Hinata shook her head. "The fact this secret's been kept all these years," she murmured. "How? How do you hide something like that from p-people? The walls have ears in the Hyuuga manor. D-Did everyone know about it except us?" Frustration dripped from her voice, and her hand curled into a fist against Gaara's.

Neji shook his head. "I don't know," he admitted. "It would make you think many people do, but they must have been forbidden from talking about it to keep us from overhearing and learning we were siblings."

"That's another thing that's b-bothering me," Hinata said. "Why all the secrets? I understand why they didn't want to tell us when we were children, b-but once we were older and would have b-been able to c-comprehend what they were telling us, why did they continue the charade?"

"I don't know," Neji admitted. "The only thing I can think of is perhaps because Father died when we were still so young. I was only four, after all. Perhaps Uncle thought telling us would do no good, anyway, so he just kept the secret." Frowning, the Hyuuga clan head rapped his fingers against his upper arm. "But, leaving that aside for a moment, I think this does, at least in part, explain why you've been in such danger - and why Uncle Hiashi never had you train to be a ninja."

Gaara felt Hinata perk up slightly. "I've b-been wondering about that," she said. "Are you finally g-going to explain?"

Neji glanced at Tenten, who arched one eyebrow and tilted her head slightly to the right in some sort of unspoken signal. After giving her a nod, Hinata's older brother looked back to her and Gaara. "Until now, only one person not born a Hyuuga knew about this," he said. "I told Tenten when we got engaged - one, because I knew she should know even the darkest parts of my family's history, and two, because I knew it would ensure there would be no argument from the Council when I announced our engagement."

"I can leave, if it is important what you are about to say remains only within the Hyuuga clan," Gaara offered. He hated to leave Hinata, particularly since he had a feeling this was going to rock her world once again, but he more than anyone could understand wanting to keep family secrets within the clan.

Hinata's hand tightened around his only a second before Neji shook his head. "No, you need to know this, too," he said. "You married Hinata, so you have just as much right to know this as Tenten did."

Gaara shot a look in Neji's wife's direction. She sat still and silent next to her husband, her expression oddly void of emotion. Her eyes, however, spoke volumes when she briefly met his. This is not going to be pretty, it seemed she was trying to warn him.

From what little Neji had said so far, Gaara could easily believe it.

"Not long after Konoha was first established," Neji began, "those of her noblest clans wishing to fill out her ninja ranks were quick to develop their own styles of fighting, most of which are still used today. However, three clans rushed to the forefront as the most promising of these ninja and their new techniques: the Senju, who had been chosen to be the leaders of the village, plus the Hyuuga and the Uchiha, the largest clans who had pledged their support to the village."

Hinata nodded, as if at least some of what Neji said sounded familiar.

"It didn't take long for rivalries to develop, however," Neji continued. "Both the Hyuuga and the Uchiha were desperate to develop the most powerful and useful fighting styles, and both clans were willing to do whatever it took. I cannot speak for the Uchiha, for they were as secretive as we as they worked and developed their own techniques, but the Hyuuga went about doing some things that went against some of the principles on which Konoha was founded."

As a man well acquainted with secrets himself, Gaara thought he saw where this was going. He had noticed something of a pattern whenever he had seen his brother-in-law on the defensive - whereas his wife and all the other ninja with whom he had traveled were always quick to draw weapons, Neji never once appeared with a blade in his hand. Instead, he always slid into a defensive stance, his arms positioned as if he were the weapon. It was a stance with which Gaara was well acquainted.

A muscle in Neji's jaw twitched tellingly for a moment before he continued. "For many years, the Hyuuga experimented on captives from other villages, and sometimes even upon members of our own clan, acting upon a theory one of the Hyuuga ninja had stumbled upon quite by accident." He shifted, pushing up the long, loose sleeve of his tunic to bare his arm. "I will not share with you the more gory details of this story, though I'm sure you've been able to fill in the blanks yourself. I will say after many years of experimentation, our ancestors finally found precisely what they were looking for."

"It appears your clan and mine have more in common than we thought," Gaara murmured into Hinata's ear. She let out a shaky breath, nodding silently in agreement.

"Throughout the body are pressure points which can be manipulated to promote healing," Neji continued, touching the tip of his index finger to various places on his arm. "However, our ancestor figured the same could also be done in reverse. If manipulated correctly, an enemy can be quickly incapacitated by striking any number of these points in various combinations." He frowned and yanked his sleeve back down. "It is our clan's deepest and darkest secret, the Hyuuga fighting style which we have jealously guarded for generations. It is a secret intended to be carried to the grave, even if it means sacrificing one's own life to prevent such secrets from falling into an enemy's hands."

Gaara was vaguely familiar with the concept, since Suna's own Healers sometimes used pressure points to heal simple maladies such as headaches, nausea, and joint aches in the elderly. He was shocked, however, that none of the Suna ninja had come up with such an idea themselves, particularly given the village's bloody beginnings.

Or, he thought grimly, someone did, and they were just never able to perfect it like the Hyuuga.

"Uncle mentioned in your letter, Hinata, that the Uchiha clan massacre was an asset to our family, though we had nothing at all to do with their deaths. Not long before the massacre, we discovered the Uchiha were stealthily trying to discover the secrets of the Hyuuga fighting style. It was even rumored they, too, were conducting experiments as we had several generations ago, but we were never able to prove it." Neji sighed heavily.

"What d-does all this have to d-do with me, though?" Hinata asked, obviously confused.

"I was just getting to that," her brother replied with a thin smile. "Over the years, rumors of our clan's abilities have spread amongst our enemies. Attempts have been made many times to try to discover our secrets, though thankfully all have failed. Another - albeit wrong one - has also spread: that the eldest child of the leader of the Hyuuga knows things not even the rest of the Hyuuga ninja do, some ultimate technique which puts all others to shame." He shook his head. "I have no idea how that one got started, other than perhaps out of wishful thinking by some other nation's ninja."

Gaara compressed his lips but said nothing. He had heard the rumor himself, though it had been only once and when he was very young. He had given it no further thought, especially not recently, but now he had to wonder - was it his father who had started such a rumor? And, if so, did he actually believe it? Was that possibly why he had arranged the marriage between Hinata and Gaara, hoping to get the targeted holder of such a secret within his grasp?

It made Gaara all the more grateful, as awful as it sounded, his father had died long before Hinata came to Suna. He fought back a shudder even as a chill raced down his spine. He didn't even want to think about such awful things. If it had been true, and such a secret had fallen into the wrong hands...

Very slowly, Hinata nodded. "I see," she murmured. "As Hiashi's elder d-daughter, it was assumed I would know such techniques. That is why Father said I was in such d-danger."

"It might also explain why he distanced himself from you. If he pretended you were weak and useless as a ninja, it would seem even more unlikely he would teach such secrets to you." Something else seemed to occur to Neji, and he gave a quick, decisive nod. "That also explains why he never had Hanabi trained as a ninja. If word did get out that you and I are brother and sister, all the attention would then shift to Hanabi, Hiashi's only child. It might also explain why he spoiled her so, to make it clear she was too valued to train as a ninja and be put in such danger."

"P-Perhaps it also p-played a role in his d-death," Hinata said softly, sadly.

Tenten nodded and spoke up for the first time in a while. "Yes," she agreed. "I was just thinking the same thing. Lord Hiashi knew he was dying anyway. As leader of the clan, and having made it obvious he didn't pass on the 'ultimate Hyuuga technique' to either of his children, he would be the apparent target." She shook her head slowly, an expression of awe overtaking her features. "His death might very well make all our enemies think the supposed secret technique died with him."

"Unless they automatically assume he passed it on to me, as the next clan leader," Neji said reasonably.

His wife frowned. "I don't like thinking about that," she said. Her hand once more went to her stomach, where she began to rub smooth, soothing circles over where her and Neji's child grew inside her.

"Hopefully your uncle thought of that, and made it somehow seem the secret technique had definitely died with him. Perhaps since the secret was only passed down to his children...?" Gaara trailed off. "It's worth considering, anyway."

Neji tilted his head in agreement. "With this new information, so many things which didn't make sense before are now," he said. "I can see things so clearly now. It makes me feel like an idiot for not doing so before." The expression on his face made it clear he did not appreciate feeling like an idiot.

"When we get back to Konoha, we can do some more investigating," Tenten remarked. "Now we know what to look for, so it should make things easier."

Having heard stories about the Hyuuga Council from Hinata, Gaara wondered if they were privy to any (or even all) of this information and would try to run interference. But if he'd learned anything about his brother- and sister-in-law, it was they were a very determined pair. They wouldn't quit searching until they got answers to their questions.

"We'll keep you updated," Neji told Hinata. "The minute we find out something important, we'll send a scroll directly to you here."

"Thank you," Hinata replied. "When do you have to leave?" Her fingers once more tightened around Gaara's, and he knew she was already missing her relatives and friends.

"Tomorrow," Neji said. "I know we intended to stay to ring in the new year with you here, but in the light of all this, I think it's best we get back to Konoha as soon as possible." His jaw tightened again, concern flashing through his pale eyes. "And especially considering the new threat to Konoha. The more people on hand to defend the village, the better."

"It will help, your knowing about the threat ahead of time," Gaara said. He paused a moment, ran a few figures through his head, then made a quick decision. "In addition, I can send several of our own ninja and military troops with you to help. Suna and Konoha are allies now, and we will help you defend your village." Guilt pricked at him, and he silently ground his teeth for a moment. "Especially since it is our fault Konoha is in danger in the first place."

"We do not blame you." Neji's response was firm and instantaneous. "But we will gratefully accept your help."

Gaara squeezed Hinata's hand, then swiftly pressed a kiss against the back of her head before getting to his feet. "If you'll come with me, I'll make arrangements immediately to organize a group to travel with you." He only wished he could go with them, as well. But his place was in Suna, where there already existed more than enough trouble to keep him occupied for a good long while.

After Gaara and Neji departed, the two women moved to the sitting room in Hinata's suite. However, Tenten wasn't able to stay long - her mostly sleepless night and a sudden bout of nausea made her have to give her excuses and retire to her and Neji's guest suite.

Feeling lonely after everyone's sudden departures, Hinata wandered around her rooms, feeling restless but too distracted to devote her attention to any one activity. Her mind spun dizzyingly from one thought to the next, all related to her family. There were so many things about her clan she didn't know. So many secrets - dark, ugly secrets.

Dropping down onto the bed, Hinata stared up at the frothy canopy above her head unseeingly as her mind once again took a sideways leap. She wasn't the person she thought she'd been these past eighteen years. Granted, she was happy to discover Neji's true relation to her - she had always thought of him as her older brother, so to find he really was made her feel somewhat gratified. But at the same time, she mourned the inevitable separation she would have with Hanabi. While she still thought of the younger girl as her sister, she wondered if Hanabi would see things the same way, particularly after all the recent strife in their lives.

She'll need to know eventually. She, Neji, Gaara, and Tenten hadn't had a chance to discuss what they would tell Hanabi, but she knew they would find time before those from Konoha left. Hanabi wouldn't like being left out of the loop, but at least for now, Hinata felt their silence to be the best course of action to take.

After a few minutes, the effect of Hinata's own mostly sleepless night began to catch up to her. Her eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and though she tried to fight the drowsiness, eventually she slid into a shallow doze.

She was almost fully asleep when a knock on the door startled her back into full awareness. Reaching for the kunai Gaara had placed beneath her mattress - one of the special ones Tenten made for her - she went into the next room and pressed her back against the wall next to the door. Though Matsuri was not in the room at the moment, there were many guards patrolling the halls of the mansion, and she was reasonably certain no one would be able to sneak past them. But, just in case, she followed the example Matsuri had set the night before. "Who is it?" she called firmly.

"Temari," came the muffled voice on the other side.

Relaxing her guard, Hinata opened the door. She was startled when her blonde sister-in-law swept in the room almost before the door fully opened, then snatched it from Hinata's grasp so she could quickly close and lock it firmly behind her.

"I'm sorry to barge in on you like this," Temari apologized immediately. "I know last night was rough, but I need to speak with you. It's crucial."

Hinata could tell by the look on Temari's face that Gaara hadn't had a chance to update her on recent occurrances. She decided to keep her mouth shut, at least until she could find out why her sister-in-law looked so pale and terrified. "P-Please, c-come sit and tell me what's going on," she said, motioning to the cushions in the corner where she, Neji, and Tenten had sat the night before.

Temari quickly lowered herself onto the indicated cushion, then fidgeted as if she wished to stand up again to pace. Her hands visibly shook as she pulled out a fan - a regular one this time, thankfully - then immediately slapped it closed and returned it to her belt. "I need your help," she whispered, at last looking up to lock gazes with Hinata. Her teal eyes, usually filled with strength and fiery determination, glittered with unshed tears.

The panic which had been simmering in Hinata's chest all night ratcheted up a few notches. "What's wrong?" she cried. "What's happened?" Seeing the usually unflappable Temari so close to crying unsettled her in ways she didn't quite understand. "Is it Itachi? Did something happen to him?"

"No, no, Itachi's fine." Temari shook her head quickly, vehemently. "He thought about coming with me, but we decided it would be a lot less suspicious if I just came on my own." Nervously, she reached up to tug on the fringe of her bangs hanging by her right temple.

Impatience joined the panic and confusion swimming around in Hinata's chest. "All right," she said, moderating her tone. "What's wrong, then? And what c-can I d-do to help?"

Smoothing her shaking hand across the edge of the cushion on which she sat, Temari's eyes nervously darted away from Hinata's searching ones. "Do you-" She stopped and bit her lip, rolling her eyes even as a tear trickled down her cheek. "This sounds awful of me," she moaned. "I'm so sorry, Hinata."

"I forgive you," Hinata rushed out. If Temari didn't tell her what was wrong right now, she might just crack! "Now what's wrong?"

Temari swallowed visibly. "I know it's only been a few days, but do you think there is even the slightest chance you might have conceived?" she whispered, pale cheeks flushing bright red with embarrassment.

Snippets from the conversation she and Temari had had in Konoha slammed into Hinata's mind with the force of a kick to the stomach. "Temari, are you...?" She couldn't finish the sentence.

Placing one hand over her mouth, Temari nodded wordlessly. More tears joined the first, trailing down her cheeks, over her fingers, and then dripping down onto her dark purple dress.

An entirely new feeling of panic seized Hinata's heart. "Oh no!" she whispered. "Are you positive? Is there any way it c-could just b-be residual nausea from the stomach v-virus you got while we were in K-Konoha?" Her hopes buoyed slightly at the thought.

Lowering her hand, Temari slowly shook her head miserably. "No," she whispered. "I mean - when you asked me if I was pregnant while we were in Konoha, I was sure I wasn't. And when the Healer who came to the estate to look at me told me I had the stomach virus, I thought that was the extent of it." She shrugged slightly, uncomfortably. "I admit I skipped my time last month, but the date had fallen on a particularly stressful week, so I thought nothing of it. Besides, it wasn't the first time, and I learned a long time ago not to get my hopes - or fears - up just because of a missed time."

Now Hinata's stomach was churning anxiously, even as her mind raced, trying to figure out when her own time was supposed to begin so she could find out quickly if she and Gaara had managed to conceive. It seemed so unlikely, considering they'd only been together two nights, but she supposed stranger things had happened...

Furiously wiping away her tears, Temari cleared her throat, drawing Hinata's jittery attention back to her. "When I missed again this month, I-I knew." She sucked in a deep breath, then let it out on a shaky sigh. "I knew I didn't dare go to any Healers here in Suna, so I asked your friend Sakura to examine me." A thin smile briefly twitched at Temari's lips, but it vanished just as quickly. "She confirmed it for me."

"Oh, Temari..." Hinata tried to wonder what it was like, having something so wonderful as being pregnant marred by the fact if word got out, the little life growing inside her would be extinguished as quickly as a candle's flame. "I d-don't know if there's a chance I am or not," she admitted quietly. She was unable to look up at Temari as she continued. "And I d-don't know how we c-can know until around the middle of next month."

"The middle of next month..." Temari repeated the words dully, some of the hope in her expression draining away. Her hand curled into a fist, which she pressed against her still-flat stomach. "We can hide my pregnancy until then," she whispered. "I'm not showing yet, and I shouldn't be by then, either, so it shouldn't be too hard."

Hinata hated to be a wet blanket, but she had to voice her next question. "What if I'm not?" she whispered.

The last traces of Temari's flush of embarrassment were rapidly overwhelmed by her returning paleness. "I don't know," she half-moaned. "I don't know." Drawing her knees up to her chest, she sank her hands into her hair, half tugging the blonde locks out of their confining ponytails. "If only we hadn't been so stupid!" she moaned. "It was just one night. We've always been so careful to take - well, precautions. But one thing led to another, and we got carried away..." Her forehead dropped against her knees, and her shoulders began to shake. "It was only one night - one time in one night," she repeated brokenly.

Scrambling off her cushion, Hinata almost skinned her knee in her attempt to get to her sister-in-law. Dropping down next to her, she threw her arms around Temari's shoulders and pulled the older woman into a tight hug. Her first audible sob broke free from Temari's throat as she threw her arms around Hinata and clung as if she were drowning. "I can't lose another child," she whispered brokenly. "Please, Hinata, I can't go through that again."

"I know," Hinata said soothingly. She gently but firmly held Temari as she continued to cry, forcing herself to set aside her own sympathetic tears so she could think clearly. They had less than a month in which to hide Temari's pregnancy from the Council, but if Hinata's own time came and went without any signs of her being pregnant, the point would come where the other woman's rapidly expanding belly couldn't be hidden any longer.

No! The word exploded into her mind with the same force as the fireworks the night before. This has gone on too long. Whether I am pregnant or not is not the point. That law must be eradicated, and now. Gaara would agree with her, she had no doubt. And if he knew his sister was pregnant again, they would be able to press the issue once more - but carefully, oh so carefully. If the Council discovered Temari's pregnancy too soon...

Hinata set her jaw, the determination rising up inside her unable and unwilling to be denied. She would see that law changed, and she would see Temari give birth to a beautiful and healthy child. There was nothing she could do about the trouble in her own life at this time, but there was something she could do to help her friends - her family.

And she would neither stop nor rest until she saw it done.

*~To Be Continued~*

Author's Ending Notes: Those of you who guessed before Temari was pregnant - well, you were right, I just couldn't confirm it at the time... (Sorry.) But don't worry - I have a plan! I just want to say I'm enjoying writing this story so much, and the experience is made all the better by the wonderful feedback you all keep leaving me. I appreciate you all so much, and am so thankful you all take the time to read this story and leave your thoughts for me. Your reactions really have blown my mind a few times, and I enjoy reading your reviews over and over again, especially when a scene isn't turning out just the way I want it and I feel frustrated. You all always cheer me up and keep me going, and I am just so grateful. Thank you. And also thank you for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it, and I also hope to see you again for the next update!