Chapter Thirty-six

Coming of Age

She awoke alone. She was warm, the space next to her was warm, but she was alone. This was both a relief and a source of grief. The talk that they had last night had left her feeling raw, and she wasn't sure what to do. She had to accept the complete package, but she wasn't sure she could even handle the whole thing, let alone accept it. There were times that she wasn't sure of anything, even now. Just when she thought that she had a handle on things, something like this happened.

She had so many questions, but he wasn't here to ask. Use him and Kisame as a weapon? What did he mean by that? Gaara hated being used by anyone, but he was offering it up freely, but what did he mean? And what did he mean by telling her to keep the servants safe, they were demon, she was only human. What was he talking about when he said that she had power? What power?

This sort of thing was probably blatantly obvious; she just wasn't seeing it yet. Maybe later, when her head was in a better place, when she was able to focus more, she would figure it out. The distinct fact that she should get it, and get it right away, made her feel rather stupid.

Breakfast would fix that, she was sure. She just needed a little food to fire up her brain; then she would be a lot smarter. She was a little hungry, just hoped that nothing was red. Where was Gaara, anyway? They had been eating breakfast together lately…how mad was he at her? She sighed as she went into the bathing chamber. He had left her a simple red and black sundress. She frowned, feeling contrary. She didn't want a dress, she wanted shorts! He was just going to have to suck it up! She got cleaned up and marched to her own room, pulling on her shorts and a t-shirt. She was going to eat and then go down to the gardens to help Zetsu.

After scrounging up a bagel in the kitchen, she headed down to the gardens. A large shadow loomed over her, and she looked up to see Kisame. He was wearing a rather puzzled expression.

"Lord Gaara said that you'd be wearing shorts, was he also right when he told me that you were a little angry with me?"

"How- n-never mind, yes I'm mad at you. Do y-you have any idea h-how s-sick I was last night? Y-you didn't even try t-to hurry!"

"I'm sorry then; I was trying to make sure you didn't fall. Had I known that you were sick, I would've set a faster pace."

"How could you not know? How could you not be sick after that?" she shrieked at him. Uh oh, he was in trouble; her stutter had vanished. She was furious.

"Well, milady, I'm used to Lord Gaara's-"

"Don't you 'milady' me! Used to it? How could you be used to it? Never mind, I don't want to talk to you! Go away!"

"You have my apologies, but I am charged with your protection; I cannot leave you."

"Fine, then sit back in your pretty little uniform, wouldn't want to get it dirty, now would you?" she sniped as she marched off.

"Where are we going?"

"Me? I'm going to dig a hole, you're just following me around." She continued to the garden, her back stiff and pace brisk. Kisame bit back a sigh. The emperor hadn't been kidding; she had quite the temper when riled. This was one opponent that he would gladly let the emperor face on his own.

Hinata was muttering angrily to herself as she dug the hole for one of Zetsu's hydrangeas. It was supposed to be a white one with a cone-shaped bloom, with just the barest hint of green in it. He had offered to dig the hole for her, but she had refused. The look that she had given him had made him give her the shovel quickly before hurrying off to get the shrub. He had thought it prudent to avoid her anger, being the emperor's Chosen and all. So it was that he stood next to Kisame, both feeling awkward about her digging the hole, but neither wanting to do anything about it. Her mate was still rather temperamental at the moment, and wasn't one to be trifled with. What he had done to the jackal's brother yesterday had been shocking, and no one wanted to be on the receiving end of that kind of wrath.

Finally, Zetsu could stand it no more. He set a brisk pace to the vegetable section, muttering about a midmorning snack. He hoped a tidbit from that section would pacify Hinata. With their close bond, Gaara would be feeling anything that she felt, and he needed no help in getting angry. Hinata could very well be the death of them all.

Meanwhile, Hinata continued to dig, the hole now rather impressive. Seeing that she was going too deep, she set about widening it. Kisame hoped that Zetsu got back soon, before she had a whole bed excavated. Feisty little thing, and rather tough now that she was healthy, Kisame mused as he watched her. He was pretty sure that she was picturing his face every time she stabbed down with the shovel.

A sudden shout cut through her angry mutters, and she turned to see a serving maid shrink away from a young demon. He was a pure-blood, of that she had no doubt. Only the pure-blood clans had the means to dress in such fine clothes, especially the young ones. He appeared to be fifteen or so, five foot eight, on the burly side. He wasn't huge, but he was built, and the wide set of his shoulders hinted that he would be bigger still in the future. He was deeply tanned, had dark eyes with blond hair, which she thought was strange. It seemed that there was no rhyme or reason to the colors of the hair and eyes of demons. He had brown dress-pants on with a crisp white shirt. Ick; that brown didn't go with that white, even she knew that! It was the kind of white that seemed tinted with an icy blue color. Not pretty with that color of brown, with that weird olive cast to it.

The serving maid was a hybrid that favored her human side, judging from the way that she tried to flee the young one instead of stand her ground. She was in the simple outfit that most of the maids wore; black knee length skirt and blouse trimmed in white, with flat shoes. Her skin had a bluish cast to it, her eyes were pale blue, and her hair was blond with a green tint. She was taller than Hinata, but slightly shorter than the male.

The male was advancing faster than the maid, and seized her arm. He growled something at her even as the maid continued to struggle. Hinata narrowed her eyes. There was no way that she was going to let some little punk harass people in the gardens, especially so close to her little nook! She began to march over, ignoring the servants buzzing about, and Kisame, who was loath to stop her. He was pretty sure that it would end badly.

"Hey! You knock that crap off!" She was ignored, which only fueled her anger as he threw the maid on the ground. She was screaming now, trying to struggle free. Hinata yanked off one of her brown garden sandals and chucked it at his head. It landed with an audible thunk, and he turned and roared at her.

"You stay out of this you stupid bitch!" he began to advance on her. Kisame began to move toward them as well, but the youngling paid him no mind.

"When I say knock it off you knock it off, you little twerp! She is part of the emperor's staff!"

"No, the whore is my father's-"

"She's the emperor's now, and besides, you don't have the right to treat people that way, you brat! And watch your language!" She retorted angrily. He roared and charged her, closing the gap between them rapidly, but not before she let her other sandal fly at his face. He deflected it, and she gripped her shovel tightly, ready to smack him. She didn't need to.

Kisame had seized him by the seat of his pants and spun him around a few times before chucking him into the nearby pond. The brightly colored koi scattered, and he struggled to his feet, tripping in the water. Kisame hooted in amusement.

"Yeah! Ten points!" guarding Hinata could be fun, even when she was ticked at him.

The maid scrambled to her feet as Hinata reached her. She latched onto the girl with a bruising intensity as Hinata tried to calm her. The poor thing was shaking like a leaf and desperately trying to crawl into her lap.

A familiar mocking laughter filled the air as Gaara glided down from above. Hinata narrowed her eyes. She knew him by now, well, sort of anyway. She knew that he had been watching all this time. Just what was so funny anyway?

All manner of things, you feisty little kitten. I should've expected this from you. She scowled and sent him a vengeful mental jab; she was still rather angry with him, and the fact that he had sat back and watched after preaching to her last night just intensified it.

Gaara, however, paid her no mind as he approached the mass of servants, dismissing them all with a jerk of his head. Kisame returned to his charge's side, and reached down to pry the maid from Hinata. This sent her into hysterics and Hinata gave him a glare while she stroked the back of the maid's head. Kisame took a step back; what did one do in this sort of situation? He looked to his emperor for guidance.

"Don't you look at him! I'm the one you've got to worry about! You leave her alone!" she fired off at him. Man, he could not catch a break with her today! Gaara just chuckled softly in his throat.

"You little bitch! That's the emperor you're talking about! You kneel right now!"

"You shut up, you little twerp; I've heard enough out of you! And I don't kneel, I curtsy! I'm most certainly not going to now; he got all he was going to get yesterday!" Gaara choked back another laugh. He stood to the side; wanting to watch them both. The youngling bolted to her, intending to rip her apart.

Instead, he found himself lifted off his feet and then slammed brutally into the ground. The air left his lungs in a rush, and he heard and felt a couple of his ribs crack.

"Next time I won't be so gentle, youngling," the emperor purred dangerously behind him. He could feel his razor-sharp claws digging into his back as Gaara pinned him.

"Time to teach you a lesson in protocol and manners; if you move without my leave, I will rip out your heart and eat it." The youngling became very, very still.

"Lesson one: in the presence of the royal family you will bow to them, and obey. You most certainly will NOT call my bride any foul names. Lesson two: my servants are not to be harmed; only I have that right. That girl is mine now, and I don't share. Lesson three; when challenging a foe, you had better be able to back up your mouth. Kisame is far older than you, and far more skilled. Now then, for the most important one: You don't threaten my Chosen. Ever. Do so again, and I will make your darkest nightmare seem like a little slice of heaven, do I make myself clear?"

"Y-y-yes! I w-w-won't- I d-didn't know-"

"The simple fact that Kisame was here should've alerted you, little simpleton!"

"I-I-I w-w-won't c-c-c-cause any more t-t-trouble!" he began to sob uncontrollably, but the emperor was unmoved.

"Apologize to my bride, the maid, and Kisame." He sobbed out an apology; at least, they were pretty sure it was an apology.

"Good, now get lost; if I catch you in my gardens again I will make good on my threat." Gaara released him and the youngling ran off, tripping several times on his way out. Hinata couldn't think of a time in which she had seen someone move so fast.

Gaara turned his attention to the maid. His eyes narrowed at her, and she shrank into Hinata, clutching her tighter. Hinata was finding it difficult to breath now, but she didn't want to make her leave.

"Release my mate." The maid hesitated, and that was a mistake. Gaara seized her by the hair and jerked her head back. She cried out.

"When I give an order, you obey, now release her!" the girl hastily let go and scuttled behind her. Hinata narrowed her eyes and struggled to her feet, ready to tell him off.

"Don't you start, if she squeezed you any harder she would've cracked your ribs," he sniped at her as he tugged her away from the maid. He examined the shaking thing, walking in a slow circle all the while. Finally he spoke to her.

"Go to the medical wing, my father is there. He will see to your care. From now on you will be her serving maid. Report to her after my father releases you." She curtsied and darted off; relieved that he was keeping her.

"You're a jerk! How dare you treat her like that! She had been attacked-"

"And if she squeezed any harder she would've broken your ribs. Should've known that you'd dive into the deep end without bothering to learn how to swim first," he was amused at her antics. She was adorable when she was temperamental. He would be sure to tell his father about the shoes, he'd get a real kick out of that.

"You-"

"Oh be quiet, we all know that you're feeling a little fussy. Stop giving Kisame so much trouble." She stiffened and glared furiously at him.

"You- " this time he silenced her with an intense kiss. It was deep and a little forceful, but brief. It shocked her into silence. He chuckled softly; she underestimated him at her own peril.

"When she recovers from that see to it that she goes to the medical wing too; I want those ribs looked at." Kisame bowed as his emperor vanished into thin air.

"Well, the things that you miss when you go to get a snack," Zetsu said as he made his way over with a large watermelon and a sharp knife. Kisame grinned at him. Hinata was still staring at the spot where Gaara had been, trying to unscramble her mind from the kiss.

Shukaku was watching his son practice with a broadsword in the canyon that they often practiced in. He was a teenager now, nineteen to be exact, and had grown taller than his father. His build was similar, though, slender and sleek. He had a little more growing to do, to fill out his frame, but not much. His six-foot eleven-inch height garnered attention, his twenty-foot wingspan inspired awe, and his eyes were wicked and cunning. Yet, he was relieved to say that Gaara had not yet reached Saigai's level. However much it pained him though, he had to admit that the potential was there.

So far the only signs of him becoming another Saigai were his ruthless dealings with his fellow younglings. He had yet to torment the servants, and the way he dealt with the other nobles was more mischievous than outright malevolence. His hatred of humans was understandable, given what had happened to him, but he had left the Chosen of the other nobles alone so long as they kept away from him. The only other sign of Saigai had been his experimentation with mice. However, that had been necromancy, and the mice had been dead for a few hours. He had gathered them from an alley in the market, dead in traps set by the merchants.

The magic had turned their fur white, and he had made them dance- literally, dance- across his father's desk in the library while he had been lost in thought. He has sharply scolded his son for that stunt, but the youngling had shrugged it off, saying that since they were dead, and mice besides, what did it matter if he played around? The fact that necromancy was a magic that was strongly discouraged had meant nothing to him. The risks with such magic were high, the price of failure steep, yet he had waded right in, wielding it like a toy. It seemed he still had much growing up to do in some ways.

"Well, Father? Are you going to spar or watch me all day?" Gaara turned to him with a smug smirk. Shukaku returned it.

"Watch it, little youngling, I can still beat your ass," he retorted lightly, although they both knew that he would never really harm his son. It was much more effective to make him copy dictionaries. He had quite the collection now, and seemed almost proud of them, as if to say 'look how much trouble I can cause.' His son was entirely too mischievous for his own good.

The two squared off, ready to do battle, and Shukaku had to admire his son. He learned so fast, already he could take on demons that were entering into their first century. But Shukaku was just over thirty thousand years old; he had no chance against him.

In short order, his son was knocked firmly on his butt, the sword clattering away several feet. Gaara scowled at him, annoyed. Shukaku sighed softly; he gave him that same look whenever he deflected his son's questions about his grandfather. What was more; it was becoming harder to keep it up. He was slowly wearing his father down, but how could he tell him that the one his subjects kept comparing him to was a monster in every sense of the word, and that patricide ran in the family? He was so young yet…

Sudden movement; and he barely deflected his son's attack again, sending the youngling tumbling head over heels into the tiny stream in the canyon. His son, however, was laughing.

"You keep daydreaming, and one of these times I'm going to nail you!"

"Keep dreaming, little boy!" this was said with a smile.

"Ha, I'm taller than you now! Soon I'll outweigh you too!" Gaara rose to his feet and retrieved his sword. Shukaku sighed softly. He was right. He was growing up so fast; it seemed only yesterday that he was chasing him around trying to get him in his bath. Now he was coming of age right before his eyes.